Easiest butter chicken gravy

Posted on August 18, 2019 by delhigrl

my quickest indian tomato curry recipe: Heat 1 tbsp ghee or butter- add 2 cardamom pods, 3 cloves, 1 inch stick of cinnamon and 6-10 whole peppercorns. Add 1 tsp of grated ginger and 1 tsp of grated garlic. Cook for 15 -30 seconds, add a small 14 oz can of tomatoes (I puree whole tomatoes), Add 1 tbsp of honey and 1 tsp of degi mirch (chilli powdwer found in indian store with a lot of color)- cook for 20 minutes and add some water if needed (1/4 cup or so). Finish off with 3 tbsp of heavy whipping cream, 1/2 tsp of garam masal and 1 tsp of crushed kasoori methi (fenugreek seeds). Can be doubled and frozen before adding cream.

Gen Tso Tofu

Posted on August 6, 2019 by delhigrl

Here is a Gen Tso Tofu recipe that works. It’s modified from a purple carrot recipe. Gen Tso is not healthy (it has 1/4 cup of sugar) but it is delicious and divided into 4 portions- it is fine for an occasional treat. I served this on white rice

Step 1: Make crispy tofu: You can dredge pressed or dried tofu in cornstarch and fry or use my airfried tofu recipe

Step 2: Make sauce: Mix 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tbsp finely chopped garlic and 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger. Add 1-2 jalapenos sliced in half with the seeds removed

Step 3: heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil, add the tofu, add 3 scallions cut in half and chopped into large chunks (2-3 inches). Once the scallions wilt a little, add sauce, stir for 2-3 minutes till tofu becomes sticky. Serve on rice.

Bean and Cheese Pupusas with creamy coleslaw

Posted on August 5, 2019 by delhigrl

This was a very fun and very delicious recipe. Plus- these refried beans are the bomb. I modified this Bon Appetit recipe a little bit- the video in the recipe is very helpful if you are making these for the first time

Pupusas are Salvadorean treats- made from the same masa as tortillas- they are the Salvadorean equivalents of the Indian Kachori- in fact, the refried beans will taste great as a filling for a kachori or a parantha (note to self)

Step1: Make refried beans. Heat 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil. Add quarters of 1 onion wiht the petals all seperated- char them well at screaming high heat so that almost all the onion petals have some black char on them. Blend the onions and 1 can of pinto beans (14 oz) well. Add 1 tbsp of cumin seeds to the oil and ad the bean mixture back to pan and stir for 10-15 minutes till thickned – cool and then add 1 cup of grated whole milk low moisture mozarella.

Step 2: Make masa: In a stand mixer, mix 3 cups of masa harina (I used the Bob’s Red mill one) with 2 3/4 cup scalding hot water and 2 tsp kosher salt. Be careful with the speed, the water will splash. Make sure all the masa is hydrated and then rest for 20 minutes or so. Divide into 12 portions and cover with a damp towel

Step 3: Make pupusa: Keep a little oil to lubricate your hands, take some masa- flatten it, add 1-2 tbsp of filling, cover the filling, flatten the pupusas. Rinse, lather, repeat.

Step 4: Cook pupusas: On a very hot pan, cook on either side till browned (takes about 3-4 minutes per side)

Step 5: Serve with salsa (store bought in my case) and coleslaw (my old tried and true recipe is 1/2 cup yogurt and 2-3 tbsp of hot mufaletta pickle- mix and add cabbage- this doesn’t in any way resemble the traditional curdito or any real coleslaw recipe, but it is creamy and tangy and delicious)

Handkerchief pasta with pesto

Posted on July 16, 2019 by delhigrl

Nebraska has a 2-3 month growing season and when the basil grows high- it is time to make pesto! I like a mixture of basil and parsley in my pesto- I like the “greener” taste that parsley gives to the pesto.

Nothing goes better with pesto than fresh pasta. Today we made handkerchief pasta (Fazzoletti) -simple,silky and delicious. It is essentially ravioli sheets cut into squares. My pasta machine makes this very very easy but here Mark Bittman shows how you can use a rolling pin to achieve the same effect (https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/dining/12mini.html)

Pesto: 2 cups basil leaves, 1 cup parsley leaves, 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts, 1 clove garlic, 1/2 cup Parmesan reggiano, 1/2 cup olive oil: Use food processor to make a fine paste. Stores in the refrigerator for 3-4 days

Pasta: 2 cups all purpose flour, 2 eggs, 3 egg yolks, 1 tsp salt. Make a fairly dry dough using the absolute minimum amount of water needed ( I used 2 tbsp today). It takes me 4-5 minutes using my kitchen aid stand mixer

Rolling pasta: I used the pasta attachment to my kitchen aid. Start on the first setting- run the dough through thrice (folding into an envelope each time). Decrease the setting by 1 in each subsequent run all the way to the thinnest setting (8). Use flour liberally to prevent the pasta sticking. Cut into large 4 inch squares. Cook in salted boiling water for 3 minutes or so (add the squares one at a time- they tend to stick)

Thin pesto with pasta cooking water, toss with pasta and enjoy the taste of spring.

Wonton soup

Posted on July 14, 2019 by delhigrl

Quick wonton soup recipe

Broth: Boil for 15-20 minutes: 1 quart vegetable stock ( I used better than bouillon), 1 tbsp garlic, 1 tbsp ginger chopped fine, 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 2 tsp sambal olek

Toppings:

Tofu: 1 14 oz package- stir fried till brown all around

Wontons: I used prepared potstickers (shitake and vegeatable dumplings)

Greens: wilted spinach

Herbs: cilantro, scallions

Chinkiang vinegar (or seasoned rice wine vinegar) with chopped chilies for heat

Noodles: Boiled rice noodles

Mix all together, add a squeeze of lime and some peanuts for crunch with extra sriracha if you wish

Tamarind Cream Pie

Posted on May 15, 2019 by delhigrl

Lemon cream pie is my absolute favorite pie- so when I saw this recipe for Tamarind Cream pie from Melissa Clark- I knew I had to make it. It’s topped with a citrus whipped cream rather than a meringue This pie is tart and complex and fruity in all the correct ways with a buttery graham cracker crust. I’ve made this twice following the recipe almost precisely – this recipe works !

Preheat oven to 350F

Crust:In the food processor- add 170 g of graham crackers and pulse them into crumbs (not powder). Add 6 tbsp of melted butter and mix by hand till the crumbs are moistened. Pack into a 9 inch pie plate on bottom and 1-2 inches up the sides. Bake for 12 minutes till golden brown (this burns quickly ! Start watching from 10 minutes). Cool

Filling: Mix 1/4 cup of orange juice with 1-2 tbsp of lemon juice and 1/2 cup of tamarind paste (I used the Swad brand) with 1/2 tsp of kosher salt. If you are using fresh pulp- make sure you taste it and you may have to vary the proportions to get it as tart as you wish.

In your stand mixer- whisk 4 egg yolk for 5 minutes, add 1 can of sweetened condensed milk (14 oz) and slowly whisk in the tamarind orange juice mixture till just combined. Scrape down the sides to make sure everything is well incorporated.

Add to cooled pie shell and bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes till the filling is just set (jiggles slightly when moved without any browning). Refrigerate at least 2 hours (preferably overnight)

Topping: Whisk 1/2 cup whipping cream with 4 tbsp sugar till soft peaks form. Add the zest of 1 orange

Serve pie slice topped with whipping cream

Pita at home

Posted on April 14, 2019 by delhigrl

I try out a lot of recipes, this one was incredible fun. I’ve only had fresh pita once, at Shaya in New Orleans. This pita turned out as good as that one in my very first attempt. If you are new to breads, this would be a good place to start. This one is modified from a David Tanis recipe from the NYT.

A pizza stone or a hot cookie sheet is essential

Make sponge: 1 cup lukewarm water, 1/4 cup chapati (or whole wheat) flour, 1/4 cup all purpose flour, 2 tsp instant yeast and 1 tsp sugar. Mix well and keep in a warm place while you measure the other stuff.

In the bowl of your standmixer, add 2 cups of all purpose flour, 2 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tsp kosher salt. Add sponge- knead on low (or by hand) for 4-5 minutes. The dough should be soft. I had to add 2-4 tbsp of extra water.

Refrigerate overnight or not. The flavor is much better when you refrigerate it but it works perfectly well without this step.

Proof covered in a warm place in an oiled bowl till doubled in size (took me 90 minutes using the proofing setting at 85F in my oven).

Handle dough gently and using a bench scraper, divide into 8 equal parts. Roll gently into round balls and allow them to rest for 10 more minutes.

Preheat your oven to 475 and warm your pizza stone.

Roll each dough ball into 8 inch discs. I put them on parchment (3 at a time) and used a pizza peel to slide them onto the pizza stone. Cook for 2-3 minutes, they will puff up beautifully, use tongs to flip, cook for an additional minute and you are done!

Serve with anything – we ate them with palak paneer.

Alu Chana

Posted on April 9, 2019 by delhigrl

This is my version of Alu-Chole

Pressure cook for 15 min on high

1 cup of soaked chickpeas, 2 tea bags, 1 stick of cinnamon, 2 large black elaichis, 8-10 whole peppercorns, 2 cloves, half an onion whole, 1 star anise pod with 2 cups of water and 1 tsp salt

Discard whole spices and onion

In a pan- add 1 tbsp oil, add 1 tsp cumin seeds and 1 red chilli, add 2 chopped russet potatoes (inch sized cubes). When browned a little, add 1 tbsp chopped ginger, 1 tbsp chopped garlic, 1 tsp ajwain seeds, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, 2 tsp pindi chana masala and 1 14 oz can of whole tomatoes.

Cook for 5 minutes, add the chickpeas, cook for an additional 15 minutes

Add 1 tsp each amchur powder, garam masala and crushed kasoori methi,

Eleven Madison Park Granola

Posted on April 9, 2019 by delhigrl

I’ve never eaten at Eleven Madison Park even though they offer a vegetarian tasting menu. I’m waiting for my 10 year old to become a little more adventurous. But their granola is sublime. I’ve previously substituted walnuts and pecans for the pistachios and raisins for the sour cherries. I would keep the liquid proportions the same because they are perfect. I found this recipe in the NYT.

Heat oven to 300

Mix 2 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1 cup unsweetened dried coconut flakes, 1 cup shelled pistachios, 1 tbsp kosher salt (decrease if using fine salt) , 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds

In a small utensil, heat 1/3 cup olive oil, 1/3 cup maple syrup and 1/2 cup light brown sugar till the sugar dissolves

Pour over dry ingredients, mix well and bake for 30-35 minutes (tossing the ingredients every 10 minutes) till golden brown

Add 3/4 cup dried sour cherries.

Enjoy however you love granola, with yogurt, milk or in our house- just snacking on it.

Delhi Girl Meets Food

Vegetarian recipes in an Indian kitchen in Nebraska

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