Monthly Archives: July 2020

Cabbage pancake for brunch

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I have seen many variants of this on keto websites. This one works and is delicious and easy. It is full of fiber and protein and like the best brunch dishes, it is crunchy on the outside and delicious and soft and slightly quiche like on the inside. I served it with an olive tampenade and sour cream.

Mix one small shredded cabbage (3-4 cups) with 3/4 cup all purpose flour, salt, pepper and 4 beaten eggs. Heat a 10 inch non stick skillet with 1-2 tbsp of oil and pack the cabbage mixture in. Cover and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes till the bottom browns. Flip (using a plate, a large spatula or the courage of your convictions as Julia Child would say). Cook for another 5-10 minutes and drizzle some more oil all around the pancake. Slice and serve.

Spicy Olive Bread

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This is the spicy garlickly olive loaf from Bread Illustrated – the bread book from America’s test kitchen. This is my second favorite bread book- my heart still belongs to Artisan Bread in Five Minutes. Both books do a lovely job explaning the science of bread and are excellent for beginning – intermediate bakers. I liked this loaf- by itself with soup, toasted with eggs for brunch. But my family absolutely adored this bread- they finished this 1.5 lb loaf within 2 days. This recipe uses bread flour.

  1. Mix 3/4 cup of coarse chopped olives and 2 minced garlic cloves
  2. In a stand mixer with a dough hook- add 3 cups (16.5 oz) of bread flour, 2 tsp instant yeast, 2 tsp kosher salt, 2 tsp red pepper flakes and stir on low till mixed for about a minute. Add 2 tbsp of sugar to 1.3 cups (10.66 oz) of room temperature water and 1 tbsp olive oil. Once dissolved, add to the stand mixer. Mix on low for 2 minutes.
  3. Increase speed to medium low and knead for 8-10 minutes till the dough passes the windowpane test (rest the dough for a minute- can you stretch a golf ball piece of the dough thin enough to make a window that lets light through?). If not- knead for another 2 minutes. This dough will look a little dry- don’t add more water- the olives in the next step will make it wetter.
  4. Add the olive-garlic mixture 1-2 tbsp at a time while mixing on low. Take dough out on lightly floured counter- knead for a minute or so- make a round ball and place in an oiled container seam down.
  5. Proof for 1.5 or 2 hours till doubled in size
  6. Remove dough to a floured counter- flatten gently to a 10 inch circle. Shape the dough by folding the edges to the center. Flip the dough ball- seam side down and drag it in small circles on the counter till it is a taut ball covered with a thin layer of flour. This is important for the shape of the final bread. Lay the dough ball on parchment paper covered with a mixing bowl for the second rise for 30 min-1 hour till the poke test is positive (when you poke the dough- the dough should spring back minimally).
  7. Heat oven to 450 F and preheat a large dutch oven or a ceramic bakers cloche (this bread- like most nonenriched breads- needs steam at the start for the crust to develop)
  8. Carefully remove dutch oven or cloche from the oven and using the parchment as a sling, lower bread into the dutch oven (this is why I prefer the cloche)
  9. Bake covered for 30 minutes at 450F, then uncovered for 20-25 minutes at 375 F till interior temperature is 210 F and the bread is golden brown.
  10. Cool for 2-3 hours before eating (PS: this is an impossible instruction)

Easy and quick Gajar ka halwa

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Gajar ka halwa is a stovetop carrot pudding- a special occasion food. Is it your birthday? Did you do well on your exams? Is someone getting married? Is it Diwali? It is a beloved celebration food. The traditional route involves using khoya (milk solids) and boiling milk down and takes a while. This is my easier cheat using condensed milk.

Peel and grate carrots (medium grate)- I used around 650 g of grated carrots (if you have more carrots- add some sugar, if you have less carrots- your halwa may be a little sweeter). Add to large pot with 1 stick of butter. Cook for 10-15 minutes on medium till bubbling merrily. Add one 14 oz can of condensed milk, a handful of cashews, a handful of raisins, 1/2 tsp of cadamom powder and a pinch of crushed saffron. Cook on low for 20-30 minutes or so and you are done.

Eat it hot, eat it cold – delicious every which way. The flavor deepens over a day or two- if it lasts that long.

Dirty lemontini

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This is a drink I invented- it combines the best of a lemon drop and a dirty martini to make a unique drink that tastes of summer – no matter when you drink it. It’s the sweet vermouth I think that makes this so appealing

Shake with lots of ice : 1 part olive juice with 1 part lime juice and 1 part good gin and 1/2 part dirty martini. Strain and serve with a twist and at least 3 olives which are very much for eating no matter what the purists say.

Dirty lemontini

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This is a drink I invented- it combines the best of a lemon drop and a dirty martini to make a unique drink that tastes of summer – no matter when you drink it. It’s the sweet vermouth I think that makes this so appealing

Shake with lots of ice : 1 part olive juice with 1 part lime juice and 1 part good gin and 1/2 part sweet vermouth. If the one part measure is 30 ml- it fills one martini glass perfectly. Strain and serve with a twist and at least 3 olives which are very much for eating no matter what the purists say.

The easiest Palak Paneer

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There is a common misconception that Indian food is involved and takes a lot of prep time. Here is my recipe for a weekday palak paneer. Comforting, garlicky and delicious. I use vegetable stock and a tbsp of nooch (nutritional yeast) to give this a huge unmami boost. It tastes like you’ve slaved on the stove for hours.

Prep: Peel 2-4 cloves of garlic, chop a block of paneer into inch sized pieces (that is it!)

Cook: In 1 tbsp of oil, start a jeera tadka (1 tsp of cumin till it sputters, a pinch of asafetida, 1/2 tsp of turmeric, 1-2 dried red chillies broken into fragment). Wilt one pack of washed spinach (5 oz) and 2-3 cloves of garlic on high heat(1-3 minutes). Blend the spinach and garlic mix with 1 cup of vegetable stock (I use better than bouillon), 1 tbsp of nooch, 1/2tsp of coriander powder and 1/2 tsp of cumin powder.

While that is blending away, in the same pan, add one more tbsp of oil and lightly brown the paneer cubes. Add the gravy back- cook for 10 minutes on a simmer, add a dash of heavy cream, taste for salt and you are done

Serve with rice or roti or tortillas. Also good as a soup if you increase the liquid to 2 cups of vegetable stock.

Kadhi Gole

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Kadhi is a yogurt based curry common throughout India. Each family has it’s own kadhi recipe and they are all delicious. The Kadi pakoras from North India, the Sindhi kadhi from the North west. This is a Maharashtrian Konkani dish and a childhood favorite. My grandmother was from the Konkan area of India and this is her recipe. This is a fairly involved recipe- is it worth it? YES, a thousand times yes.

Gole are dumplings made of chana dal. Besan is chickpea flour or chana dal flour. Both chana dal and besan are available on Amazon or at your friendly neighborhood Indian store.

Gole: Soak 1 cup of chana dal in 5-6 cups of water for 6-8 hours. Process to a coarse grind in a food processor with 1 tbsp ginger, 1tsp turmeric, 1tsp of chilli flakes, a pinch of hing (asafetida) and some salt. Taste it- it should taste good. If you add a tadka and raw grated green mango and some coconut to this- it is ambyachi dal- also delicious but that is a differnt recipe. This shouldn’tbe a paste – make inch size balls from the chana dal. These are your gole.

Kadhi: If you are an Indian- skip this part. Make your own kadhi the way you like it. For others- this is my recipe. To 2 cups of yogurt, add 2 tbsp of besan and 2-3 cups of water. Whisk well till there are no lumps. In a pan, heat 2 tbsp of ghee or butter (has to be ghee or butter). Sputter 1 tsp of jeera seeds, add 1 tsp of turmeric and a pinch of asafetida and 2-3 dried red chillies and 5-6 kadipatta leaves (your standard Marathi jeera tadka). Add the besan-yogurt mix and 1 tbsp of ginger. Stir fairly frequently till it starts boiling. Then simmer on low for 15 minutes. This kadhi is excellent on rice.

Add the gole to the boiling kadhi- cover and boil for 10-15 minutes. Don’t disturb the dumplings while they are cooking- they won’t hold their shape if you do.

Make the tadka for topping the gole: This is an essential step. Heat 2-3 tbsp of butter or oil, sputter 1 tsp of mustard seeds (they will crackle and pop), add a pinch of asafetida, 1/2 tsp of turmeric, 2-3 red chillies torn into pieces and 4-6 cloves of garlic very thinly sliced and 1/2 tsp of salt. You want garlic chips but remember these burn very fast. Remove from heat when pale brown.

To eat with roti/parantha/naan or rice- take some kadhi in a bowl with 2-3 gole. Remove the dumplings on your plate and crush them, add the garlic chips in the flavored butter. The gole are eaten seperately from the kadhi.

Jackfruit Pulled Pork

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The food I miss most as a vegetarian is barbecue. Jackfruit barbecue has been a delightful addition to many restaurant menus. This recipe is the culmination of many trials and errors- jackfruit is cheap though and delicious. The texture is exactly like pulled pork – charred, slightly fibrous, delicious from the sauce. Great in tacos, on buns, in sandwiches or over rice.

I used canned jackfruit in brine ( I like this brand). This is a no-recipe recipe. The trick is to cook the jackfruit before you put it in the oven. Jackfruit is bland and needs the flavor soak. In 1-2 tbsp of oil, cook 1 small diced onion till pale brown, add 1 tbsp each of ginger and garlic. Add 2 14 oz drained cans of jackfruit. Add 1 cup of vegetable stock and cook on a simmer for 20-30 minutes till the jackfruit has softened and most of the liquid is absorbed.

Preheat oven to 450F. Mix your favorite barbecue sauce ( I like Memphis barbecue) with the jackfruit. Spread on a half sheet and cook for 15-25 minutes till charred in places but still juicy. That’s it! Keeps well for a week.

Mixed peel or candied orange and lime

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The Great British Bake Off will fill your heads with visions of Chelsea buns and Hot cross buns and candied citrus. This is a great recipe. I’ve made this twice and I’m yet to make any chelsea buns but as an after dinner snack, mixed peel is delicious with some dark chocolate.

As usual- I went with the Alton Brown recipe. He asks you to peel the zest using a peeler. Other recipes use the whole peel – pith and all and have to boil the peel multiple times.

Step 1- When anyone at home eats an orange or uses a lime/lemon- peel the zest into long strips and store it in a ziplock bag in the freezer till you have enough. Make sure the family cooperates, threaten them with loss of all citrus fruit if they don’t

Step 2: Once you have the zest of 4-6 oranges and 1-3 lime/lemons- put them in a pan with 3 cups of water. Boil for 15 minutes and strain

Step 3: Next comes the candy making. Add enough water to cover the peels and add the same amount of sugar by volume and simmer away for an hour or two. Measure the temperature every 5 minutes or so and when it starts climbing over 212F- use a heat proof glove (sugar splatter will burn your skin right off) and measure the temperature every few minutes till it hits 250F (around hard ball stage)

Step4: Pour over a wire rack and seperate and dry for 24-48 hours. The candied peel is ready when it makes a shattering sound as you drop it (Mary Berry tests it like that). The syrup is delicious too in cocktails.