Author Archives: delhigrl

Cannellini beans and pasta with miso and fennel

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This is a time for luxurious and delicious food. This one is comforting and the sauce comes while the pasta boils. I do like fennel with white beans, the flavor combination works well with the butter and cream. This is a no recipe recipe. Boil water, cook pasta. While that’s going on – make sauce. In 2-3 tbsp of butter, add a tsp of fennel seeds and 1-2 tbsp of chopped garlic and a tsp or so of crushed red pepper flakes. After a few minutes- add a rinsed can of cannellini beans. Cook till the beans brown slightly, add about a 1/4 cup of heavy cream, half a tsp of miso and half a tsp of vegetable base (I use better than bouillon). Add pasta and Parmesan. Enjoy

Quarantine pesto : arugula and peanuts

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Pesto is a delicious and extremely quarantine friendly sauce – no basil? But you have that arugula from 2 weeks ago- half of it is just fine, oh here is some parsley too. No pine nuts? Well- I found a jar of cocktail peanuts. No pecorino? That pre-grated Parmesan will work. It’s the sharpness of the garlic with copious amounts of olive oil that is the main flavor of this sauce- anything green and anything nutty and anything cheesy will work

In a food processor – add 4 cups of greens (I added 3 cups arugula and 1 cup parsley), add 1/2-3/4 cup nuts (I used cocktail peanuts), 2-5 cloves of garlic (I like the spice of raw garlic) . Whiz till smooth. Add a cupful or so of grated Parmesan and a half cup or so of good olive oil and salt. Taste and use

I plan to toss this pesto with some pasta for dinner and roasted potatoes for crunch and perhaps some fried up veggie dogs for protein

The best rajma

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Rajma is every North Indian’s favorite comfort food- so tinkering with the recipe is akin to sacrilege. This one is very good though and is probably worth the criticism from all the Indian nanis.

Rick Martinez’s pupusa recipe for BA (which is also on this blog) starts with charring onions till they are almost black and then purée-ing them with pinto beans. This rajma recipe starts the same way. It’s the butter and the charred onion together that gives this 10 minute rajma recipe it’s deep deep flavor. This is a no-recipe recipe.

You have to use pressure cooked (I use my Cuisinart) red kidney beans for this one. The liquid is essential. You also have to pre-soak the beans – you can get the beans soft without soaking in the pressure cooker but they don’t taste anywhere as good.

Heat 2 tbsp of butter- add 1 tsp of cumin seeds and 1 small diced onion on high heat with some salt and red pepper flakes. Stir frequently till onion is charred in places (takes about 5 minutes). Add 2-4 cloves of garlic(minced) and 1 tbsp of tomato paste. Stir for 30 sec or so. Add rajma with liquid. Add 1 tsp of cumin powder and 1 tsp of coriander powder. Boil for 2-3 minutes and taste for salt. Serve on rice!

Potato sagu

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I’ve been on a quest for years for the perfect sagu recipe – the kind served with rava idli and ghee at the udupi restaurant in Bangalore. I think this might be it. The trick is to thicken the potato curry with ground roasted chana dal – it’s delicious with rice, dosa, roti or Malaysian parantha (a store bought treat – sadly too unhealthy for daily eats)

Step 1: roast and grind 1/4 cup chana dal and make a slurry with about 1/4 cup of water

Step 2: routine South Indian tampering or tadka – heat 1-2 tbsp of oil, add 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds, once they start sputtering add 1/2 tsp each of cumin seeds and turmeric, add a pinch of asafetida, 2-4 curry leaves and 1-2 dried red chilies. Add 1 tbsp of ginger and 1 tbsp of garlic and roast for 30 sec or so.

Step 3: add 2-3 peeled and chopped (into inch cubes) potatoes and salt. Cover potatoes with water and boil for 10 minutes till potatoes are cooked

Step 4: add chana dal slurry and boil for 5-10 minutes. Remove off heat. Adjust salt, squeeze a lemon to taste and garnish with cilantro and roasted cashews.

This one is easy. Knife work involves peeling and chopping the potatoes and ginger and garlic and cilantro (about 10 min). Other prep work is the chana dal powder (5 minutes). Cooking time is around 20-30 minutes but with minimal involvement after the tadka. Yep- a good week-night meal.

Grits with blistered vegetables

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This is one of my simplest weekday meals. Prep work consists of smashing 2-3 cloves of garlic. It is delicious every time – top it with cheese, sausage, veggies, fried egg – it’s a very comforting dinner when you’ve had an extremely annoying day at work.

Grits: I use Alton’s foolproof recipe. Boil 2 cups of water and 2 cups of whole milk. Add one cup of grits (stone ground is best) and 2-3 crushed whole garlic cloves while whisking continuously. Simmer on low heat for 20 minutes while whisking every 4-5 minutes especially in the corners. Add salt and 4 tbsp of butter.

Blistered haricot beans and corn: heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil toll smoking. Add frozen beans and corn- cover for 5 minutes. Once blistered, add lots of pepper and 1 tbsp of butter.

Add veggies to beans and top with some gochugaru pepper or not 🙂

Another Gen Tso Tofu

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I do like Chinese American food, the sweet salty combination is very appealing. I’ve made many versions of Gen Tso’s tofu and this one may be my favorite. The sauce is adapted from a gen tso chicken recipe by Grace Parisi.

First crisp the tofu in your favorite way – today I pressed the tofu, diced it into 1 inch chunks and dredged it in 1 tbsp corn flour, 1 tbsp panko breadcrumbs and 1 tbsp sesame seeds. Then I pan fried the tofu in 1 tbsp oil till the tofu was browned all over. Air frying the tofu works well too.

In the same pan, add another 1 tbsp of oil, 1 tbsp of ginger and 1 tbsp of chopped garlic and 4 scallions chopped into 1 inch chunks. Add the sauce (1/2 cup vegetable broth, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp sriracha) till it starts to simmer. Make a slurry with 1 tsp of cornflour and 1-2 tbsp of water and add 1-2 tsp at a time till the sauce thickens.

Add the tofu and 1 tsp of sesame oil and toss.

Enjoy over rice

Japchae by Mangchi

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So lately I’ve watched a lot of Maangchi- a Korean lady with a fabulous youtube cooking channel. Her videos are entertaining and educational- she cooks and talks just like grandma. Of course, Korean food is not known for its vast vegetarian options so when this potentially customizable one popped up- I was all on it. These noodles are very very different texturally- they are sticky and transperant and very chewy, not unpleasantly so but it was unexpected.

I had to order the sweet potato starch noodles from Amazon but I had everything else- well mostly. Here is Maangchi’s recipe and my version follows below.

Soak: 7-8 dried shitake mushrooms in 1/2 cup of warm water for 30 minutes. Soak 8 oz of the sweet potato starch noodles in cold water for 40 minutes

Protein: I used one block of frozen tofu (defrosted and squeezed and then crumbled). Marinate with 2 tsp soy sauce, 2 tsp brown sugar and 1 tsp sesame oil for 15-20 min and fry up in a non-stick pan till browned.

Egg garnish: Beat 2 eggs with some salt and make a small thin pancake on the same non stick pan on very low heat. Cut into strips

Seasoning sauce: 1/4 cup soy sauce, 3 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp black pepper and 5 garlic cloves minced.

Now assemble and chop:

In a large pan: chop the soaked mushrooms, 8 oz of crimini mushrooms chopped into strips, 1 large onion in slices, 1 large carrot into matchsticks. Toss all the vegetables with 1/4 cup vegetable oil and 1/4 cup water.

Add 8 oz baby spinach on top- do not mix, snip the soaked noodles with scissors (this is impossible prior to soaking) and lay on top- do not mix. Pour seasoning sauce over this (yes- do not mix). Add a tight fitting lid and cook for 10 mintues on moderate heat. After 10 minutes – stir well and cook for another few minutes till the water is almost all absorbed by the noodles.

Decant into a large serving platter, add tofu and egg strips. Add 1 tbsp of sesame oil and 1 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds.

Serve with sriracha if you wish.

 

 

Chickpea pasta with spinach

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This is a riff off a NYT recipe and is a true no-recipe recipe. It’s creamy, nutritious and delicious. The pasta water, the chickpea water and actual cream all make this a very luxurious dish.

Soak one cup of chickpeas for 8-12 hours and pressure cook for 15 minutes. Strain the chickpeas but keep the water.

In 2 tbsp of butter, add 1 tsp of cumin seeds and 1 tsp of fennel seeds. After they sputter, add the chickpeas and toast on mod-high heat till browned in part.

Add 3-4 cloves of finely chopped garlic and 5-6 oz of spinach. Add salt and pepper and 1/4 cup of heavy cream. Thin out using some of the chickpea water.

Add cooked pasta of choice, add Parmesan cheese. Thin with pasta water if needed. Add red pepper flakes if you wish

Pound cake by Alton Brown

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Somedays you need the comfort of a good old fashioned pound cake. This one from Alton’s lovely “I’m just here for more food” which is my most used cookbook works every single time! It is the buttermilk that gives this cake its super tender but still firm crumb. This cake is also sensational toasted a few days later (if it lasts that long)

I use a 10 cup bundt pan for this- but you can use any pan you wish- I’ve never tried cupcakes with this recipe but they should work fine as well- just go down on baking time. This is a good 1st cake recipe for kids or anyone new to baking.

Step 1 is essential  (several hours before baking): Bring 2 sticks of butter, 3 eggs and 1 cup of buttermilk to room temperature

Step 2: Heat oven to 325F and Cream 2 cups of sugar and 2 sticks of butter. This is the most vital step and my stand mixer makes this a breeze. Alton in his book explains that creaming means a) the mixture looks homogenous and fluffy b) you can still feel the individual grains of sugar between your fingers. Always scrape the bowl once

Step 3: Add the eggs one by one and add 1tsp of good vanilla extract. Beat on high for 3-4 minutes untill the mixture is well incorporated and fluffy. Remember to scrape the bowl.

Step 4: Add 3 cups of flour (14.5oz) and 1 cup of buttermilk to the mixture gradually. I add each in thirds- alternating the flour and the buttermilk. Scrape the blade and the bowl at least once to make sure you don’t have unmixed batter

Step 4: Pour into prepped bundt pan (I use Pam baking spray) and bake for an hour. Cool fo 15 minutes

This is delicious plain or with any toppings.  I served this last week with rasperry coulis (1 bag of frozen rasperries, 3 tbsp of sugar, the zest of one orange and 1/4 cup of fresh orage juice) and orange whipped cream (whip 1 cup of heavy whipping cream with 1/4 cup of sugar and zest of one orange)

Simplest rajma rice : Kidney beans rice bowl

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Rajma (kidney beans) rice bowl: My simplest rajma recipe. In your pressure cooker (electric or otherwise)- sizzle 3-5 cloves of garlic for a minute or two. Add one cup of soaked kidney beans and 3 cups of vegetable stock (I use better than bouillon) and 1 tsp of red pepper flakes. Cook for 15 min on high pressure. Corn: Add frozen corn in a skillet with some butter – cook covered for about 10 minutes till the corn is slightly charred. Top with salt, lots of pepper and 1 tbsp of butter. Make bowl: rice, rajma, corn and pickle.