Author Archives: delhigrl

Tofu chorizo beans and slaw tacos

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Tofu Chorizo: inspired by a purple carrot recipe I read today. Start with some oil, add 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 onion, ½ a pepper, 4 cloves of garlic and 1 packet of crumbled firm tofu. Stir and roast on medium high heat till nice and brown. The original recipe added 11/2 tbsp chili powder. I added a Brazilian barbecue rub which I found in my pantry. It was a good choice – the sugars caramelized and everything turned toasty.

While the tofu was browning I

1) opened a bag of angel hair slaw

2) made my favorite slaw dressing- ¾ cup yogurt, 1 clove garlic, a handful of cilantro, half a jalapeño, 2-3 tbsp olive oil , 1 lime and my secret ingredient – 2 tsp of tahini. Give it a whir in the vitamix and season

3) opened a can of veg beans in tomato sauce

4) sliced some onions

5) toasted some tortillas

6) left the coleslaw “deconstructed” because of a fussy 9 year old

7) opened up some sour cream (for same fussy 9 year old)

Took about 30 min total and I have leftovers for lunch! The tofu chorizo technique is outstanding – I will definitely use it again perhaps with some barbecue sauce

Spinach pasta

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My version of Spinach pasta. I start with an old favorite modified Sanjeev Kapoor saag planner base.1tbsp cumin, Olive oil, crushed whole garlic, one dried red chili- heat and then wilt 5 oz of spinach (I always cheat and use the pre washed baby spinach- I know, it’s horrible for the environment). Then add 2 cups of veg broth, boil for 15 min. Whiz through the vitamix, add 1tsp of cumin powder and 4 tbsp of heavy cream. For protein -I’ve used tofu in the past, today I fried up some vegan sausage pieces (I like smart dogs from lightlife). Boil spaghetti, toss with sauce, garnish with fried capers (my favorite garnish for pasta). If you don’t have capers, add a squeeze of lemon. Parmesan optional to top it off. My 9 year old took seconds 🙂

Tomato and preserved lemon chutney

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ETA: works just as well with one dried lime (pierced) and I’ve started adding a tbsp of sugar in this chutney as well

I am Indian and I make many different kinds of chutneys and sauces with tomatoes.

This is my 15 min version

2 tbsp Olive oil, 1 tsp cumin seeds, asafetida pinch, 1 red chili- add one can of tomatoes blizted through the food processor with 3 cloves of garlic and 1 inch of ginger and half a preserved lemon. Cook for 15-20 min. Add 1 tsp cumin-coriander powder and 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar and salt to taste (it needs lots of salt). Cook till the tomatoes are shiny and glistening.

So very good ! The vinegar comes from ketchup recipes and the preserved lemon gives the chutney it’s sour fermented umami flavor

Spring roll Dosa

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Of all the street food in Mumbai, my favorite is the spring roll dosa

Here is my version of it

Filling: use a cast iron skillet – it’s the only thing that can potentially mimic the high BTUs of a professional kitchen’s wok. Oil, onions (1 large), 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp garlic, 1 red pepper- stir fry, add cabbage ( one packet of angel hair slaw). Stir fry for a minute till cabbage is heated through. Top with my favorite sauce of 3-4 tblsp soy sauce and 1 tbsp butter (remember not to salt this dish- the soy is plenty salty). Top with toasted sesame

Made dosa, add stuffing – so delicious

Cauliflower sheet pan pasta

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My favorite sheet pan recipe: based off a Melissa Clark NYT recipe. Roast cauliflower with cumin, salt and pepper – 450 for 20 min, add pasta , dollops of ricotta, garlic, capers and breadcrumbs with melted butter- back in oven for another 10. Serve with a squeeze of lime. A weekly regular at our house

Original recipe :https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018580-spicy-roasted-broccoli-pasta

Lasun chutney ( Garlic coconut dry Maharashtrian chutney)

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My favorite condiment as a child was the dry garlic chutney that could accompany anything, rice, paranthas, vada pav. So good with everything.

Here is my recipe

200g dried unsweetened coconut flakes ( 1 packet)

¼ cup sesame seeds

1 head garlic

10 arbol chillies

3 tbsp degi mirch (or regular chilli powder or cayenne pepper)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp oil

Add oil to a pan with the chillies, heat till you can smell the chillies. Toast the sesame seeds and coconut flakes till they just start to turn brown.

Add to a blender or food processor with the garlic (I used my trust Vitamix which makes micemeat of the sesame seeds)

Refrigerate for, oh I don’t know, several months? It never lasts that long in my house.

Preserved lemons or limes

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I was introduced to the idea of preserved lemons through a Moroccan recipe with whole preserved lemons. Preserved lemons are routinely used in India but as pickles – never cooked over heat directly.

My first attempt ended in failure, I used chilies and lemons and salt and had a horrid fungal growth within a week . For my next attempt I used whole lemons with salt as instructed without chilies and I kept off the fungus for a full 5 weeks.

My 3rd attempt (I am persistent) I went the Indian pickle route- I sliced the lemons into eights and I added turmeric with the salt. It worked, the preserved lemons stayed good for months. I now sometimes add whole spices, all-spice berries and peppercorns and dried red chilies etc to different batches and I refrigerate my preserved lemons.

I use these lemons in dals ( wonderful in dal-fry) and pastas. They are particularly good in cold pasta and couscous salads.

Meyer lemons work better than regular lemons. Limes work even better, the picture below is of preserved limes.

Recipe:

4-5 lemons or limes- preferably organic- washed and dried – they need to be dry, very very dry

salt

dry spices- peppercorns, all-spice, cloves, etc etc

slice lemons, add one layer to a clean dry bottle, top with salt and some spices

Did I mention that the bottle and lemons have to be dry.

Add more lemons, add more salt till all the lemons are used up.

Lots of salt.

Refrigerate , turn the bottle upside down every day for the first 2 weeks or so.

They will be ready to use in 3-4 weeks.

Cauliflower pasta (based on a Marcella Hazan recipe)

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I wrote this recipe down a while ago. This pasta is a huge hit at our house, the only real work is breaking down the cauliflower. I love recipes that cook for a while without much intervention. The Marcella Hazan recipe adds a half cup of onion (in place of the garlic) and doubles the butter. Sacrilegiously, I like my version better. At the end, the cauliflower should be soft enough to break down. I remember a America’s test kitchen episode where they discussed how the grassiness of cauliflower goes away with a longer than 20 min braise. This is important in this dish

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower- finely chopped into florets

4 cloves garlic

1 cup vegetable stock

1 can tomatoes

1 cup cream

2 tbsp butter

Melt the butter, add the garlic and cauliflower, let it sizzle. Add tomatoes, cook for 10 min. Add the stock- cook for 20 minutes till cauliflower is soft. Add cream. Add salt to taste.

Add pasta, top with parmesan.

The cauliflower, butter, tomatoes and cream get together to make magic.