Papad Ki Subji

With so many events going on in the blogsphere, it is difficult to keep track of them all and much less actually participate.
Each time I read about a new event I make fancy plans of sending in a dhinchak (for those not from Pune or Mumbai, this loosely translates into cool, fantastic, incredible) entry. But when each day of the work week pans out like a manic Monday, all those plans fall by the wayside.

I was not able to participate in several RCI events and felt terrible about that. Wasn't going to let RCI:Rajasthan slip by in a similar fashion. This wonderful blog event, initiated by Lakshmi of VeggieCuisine , urges us to explore the varied regional cuisines of India and is one of my favourite blog events.

The only problem this time around was that I didn't posses a single book that had Rajasthani recipes. I couldn't even rely on previous Rajasthani meals as I had Rajasthani food just once; daal-baati served with an outrageous amount of ghee.

After hunting around for inspiration I settled on papad ki subji. The idea of using papad was rather intriguing. Going by the many versions I found for making this subji there didn't seem to be a right or a wrong way to make it. This suited me just fine as I'm notorious about not sticking to a recipe.

(Standard disclaimer: the food in the picture is tastier than it appears.)

One of the versions that appealed to me used methi seeds. I happened to have fresh methi leaves on hand so I added those as well. If one type of methi is good, two types will be better. Right?
Absolutely!

This subji came together in no time. Almost no preparation required.
The dahi (yogurt) made it nice and tangy. Had I used regular or low-far yogurt, it would've been creamier. The papads get incredibly soft and the resulting texture of the dish is similar to the Maharashtrian Daal-Phal (waran-phal) or the Gujarati Daal-Dhokli.

Papad Ki Subji
(serves two)
Ingredients
2-3 avegage sized papads (I used Lijjat plain urad papads)
2 tbsp methi seeds, soaked in a cup of warm water
3 tbsp dahi (yogurt)
½ tsps each mirchi powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder
1 cup fresh methi leaves, chopped
1 tbsp oil
dash of hing (asafoetida)
4-5 stalks of cilantro, chopped
a pinch of garam masala, optional (I didn't use any)
salt to taste

Method
Soak the methi seeds soak in warm water for ½ an hour.
Break the papads into small pieces.
Heat the oil, add the mirchi, turmeric and cumin powders.
Add the hing and the methi seeds (with ½ of the water).
Cover and cook for a few minutes, till the methi seeds soften slightly.
Add the methi leaves and cook for a few more minutes.
Add the yogurt and a cup of water and let it come to a boil, stirring frequently.
Add the papad pieces and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.
Taste and add salt accordingly. I didn't need to add any salt.
Enjoy with hot rotis.

My entry for RCI: Rajasthan, hosted by Padmaja.

Tamale Pie: Stacked

Tamales are made usually made by steaming corn dough (masa) wrapped in corn husks. A filling is optional. More about them here.
Though I used similar ingredients, the method of preparing them is not the same (didn't steam them in corn husks). So what I made is technically not a tamale pie. But it is so good!

This is one of our new favourites. I made it for the first time a few weeks ago and I've already made it twice since then.
Instead of making individual pies, I stacked the ingredients in a pan and baked it. Much easier to make and serve. But you can get fancy-shmancy and serve individual portions like in the picture.

The base of this pie is polenta. Make your own or buy it pre-made. Either is fine. Making polenta is easy, just ask her.
The polenta is topped with a bean & green mixture and some sharp cheddar. A few minutes in the oven is all that is needed. Top with fresh salsa and dinner is served!

It is with the bean & green layer that you can get really creative. Literally anything goes.
So far I've used a combination of black beans, cannelini beans, leeks, and mustard greens. But a garbanzo bean, spring onion, and kale combination won't be too far behind.

Tamale Pie
(Inspired by a recipe in the Moosewood Restaurant New Classics.)
Enough for four quasi hungry people.
Use the quantities given below just as a guideline.

Prepare the polenta
You will need about 12 polenta slices.
Cook both sides of each slice, till it is slightly crispy.
Set aside.

Prepare the (simple) salsa
Mix together 2 cups cherry tomatoes (halved), 4-5 stalks of cilantro (chopped),
½ cup chopped onions, salt and pepper to taste.

Prepare the beans and greens
You will need:
2 cups cooked beans
4 cups cooking greens
1 cup leeks, chopped
8-10 stalk cilantro, chopped
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp oil
salt, to taste.

Heat the oil and add the cumin & oregano.
Add the leeks and cook till they soften (4-5 minutes).
Add the beans. With the back of a spoon mash most of the beans, leaving some intact.
Add the greens and mix well.
Cook for about 10 minutes.

Assemble the pie
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Lightly grease a 13x9 baking pan. Arrange the polenta in a single layer.
Spread the bean & green mixture over the polenta.
Top with a couple of cups of shredded cheese (sharp cheddar is recommended).
Bake for about 10-15 minutes.

Before serving top with salsa and chopped cilantro.
Enjoy!

Sending this pie to DK's A.W.E.D: Mexican Food event.

Who You Calling Weird?

Haven't I done this before?

That was my reaction when Sra tagged me for the weird things meme.
What I had been tagged for earlier was the random things meme.
Clearly I must've misread the theme of that meme b'cos weirdness was what came out rather than randomness. Take another look to see what I mean.

Anyway, here are some food-related weird things:

• Supermarket cakes.
  I'm done with them, finito, khatam. At birthday parties if I notice the cake is from a supermarket, I go to great lengths to avoid it. Same routine at work.
  Even if I don't notice the box it came from, a small taste and it is immediately apparent where it came from.
  Can one even call such cakes food? What are they made of?
  Not everyone will find this weird. But some find these tendencies extremely weird and snobbish. What e.v.e.r!


• Idli-bhajji
  I had this years ago and still remember how annoyed I was then. You take a perfect idli, dip it in perfect bhajji batter and fry it. In the process waste two perfect ingredients. What a shame!


• Ripe Mango-vegetable Salad
  Have a salad; enjoy a mango. Don't put them together; unless it is a fruits-only salad.
  Plain mango, aamras (mango juice/ pulp), mango milkshake, mango ice-cream. All ok.
  I will not cannot eat a mango in any other form. Not even aamrakhanda (mango shrikhanda).
  So to see a mango in a savoury dish or to see a mango rubbing shoulders with an onion... That is just wrong. So wrong.


• Poli/ Chapati/ Roti
  I can't make decent ones even if my life depended on them. Frankly I gave up trying years ago. Parathas, I can manage. Not polya.
  Growing up, we'd have a lady come in every morning to make polya for the family. What a luxury.
  Now I have a nice Indian lady who lives in our neighbourhood make polya for me several times a week. Lucky me!


• Bowl matters
  I prefer eating in a bowl rather than a plate. This drives the significant-other nuts.
  

Anyone who hasn't been tagged and would like to do this meme, consider yourself tagged by TheCooker.
But specifically I'd like to tag a fellow Punekar, the person behind Adhi Potoba.

Agretti Parathas

The CSA season is in full swing. Every week the bag brings us just-harvested, lovingly grown, organic vegetables. A recent bag contained, amongst other things, bok choy, cilantro, broccoli, baby carrots, kale and agretti. While reading the newsletter that accompanies the produce, I mentally made plans for each item; but at the last one I hit a major speedbreaker.

Each year we get introduced to a couple of new vegetables/ cooking greens. Last year it was lamb's quarters. This year it is agretti. More about agretti here.

When presented with a new cooking green, I usually try them for the first time in a daal or in parathas. Both don't need a recipe per se which make them ideal for experimentation. If the green is not welcomed in the daal or paratha avatar, it is unlikely we'd like them prepared any other way. But so far we haven't met a cooking green we didn't like.

This time I made agretti parathas. Here is a picture of the parathas and a spring (bunch?) of agretti.

We were quite happy with the results. The inherent sourness came through quite well.
The only herb/ spice I used was chopped garlic and some mirchi powder. Next time I can load up on the spices as this is quite a sturdy green. Owa (ajwain, carom) with agretti already sounds good.

Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat flour (atta)
1 cup chopped agretti
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 tsp mirchi powder
4-5 stalks of cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Method
Heat the oil over medium high heat, add garlic. Don't let it brown.
Add the mirchi powder, salt, and agretti.
Cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the cilantro.
Let cool slightly before adding the flour.
Add water as need to make a soft dough. Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into about 20 pieces.
Roll each piece into parathas of even thickness.
Use a little oil and cook both sides of the parathas on a heated pan.
Enjoy with yogurt!

These parathas go to Srivalli's Roti Mela.

Birthday Cupcakes

Years ago I saved this recipe (from a much forwarded email) and promptly forgot about it.
I chanced upon the recipe when going through my archives looking for a new recipe for chocolate cupcakes.
This recipe is astonishingly similar to the one from One-Pot Cakes so I suspect it originated there.

These were the cupcakes I made for my daughter's birthday last month.
I made several batches of these cupcakes and each batch baked up consistently good. Soft and sweet; not the toothache inducing sort of sweetness. The cupcakes remained moist even a couple of days after they were baked. A keeper recipe, no doubt.

Ingredients
6 tbsp unsalted butter
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 ¼ cups brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
a pinch of salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 ¼ cup flour
½ cup hot water

Method
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Prepare the cupcake pan (either grease and flour the pan or use cupcake holders).
Put the butter in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 45 seconds.
Add the chocolate and microwave for about a minute; till the chocolate is mostly melted.
Stir the mixture till the chocolate melts completely.
Add the brown sugar and stir till combined.
Add the eggs, vanilla, and salt and mix well.
Add the flour and sprinkle the baking soda. Mix well.
Stir in the hot water.
Spoon the batter into the cup; roughly ½ full.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes; till a tester inserted in one of the cupcakes comes out almost clean.

Though the yield is supposed to be a dozen cupcakes, I always had some batter leftover. So I'd say each recipe yields about 14 cupcakes.
Cool completely before frosting.
The cupcakes deflate slightly as they cool.

The frosting was similar to the one used here, except I omitted the coffee powder and the liqueur.
The cupcakes were topped with one of these flowers.

It Was A Good Year

It all started with wanting to participate in Nupur's A to Z of Indian Vegetables.
It has been a year since my first post and quite a year it has been!

I had no idea where I was headed with this blog (not sure I know even now). But blogging has been one of the most creatively satisfying projects I've ever undertaken.

Along the way I've met some truly wonderful people, people I wouldn't have met if it hadn't been for this blog. A few of them right in my back yard.

A huge thank you to all who have visited my blog, commented on the posts, tried some of my recipes and, most importantly told me how they turned out.

Thank You!

Flowers From My Kitchen

The child couldn't make up her mind.
One day it was butterflies. An hour later ladybugs were requested.
Finally, she settled on flowers.
We were talking about the decorative topping for her birthday cupcakes.

Several year ago I had made simple designs using melted chocolate piped onto parchment paper and I remembered being quite happy with the results. Great to embellish simple cakes.
But since she wanted colourful flowers (not just chocolate flowers), I turned to candy melts.
Though the process of making these flowers is just a little time consuming, the results are so wow-inducing that it is worth all the time.

Here is how I made them:

Step 1
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (not wax paper).
Melt about ½ cup of chocolate chips. I usually microwave them for about 20 seconds at a time till most of them are melted. At this point, stir the chips till they all melt and become smooth.
Spoon the melted chocolate in the corner of a zip top bag. Snip off a tiny piece of that corner. How much you snip off depends on how thick you want the outline.
Pipe the desired shape onto the parchment paper. Since I was making flowers, I piped an outline of the flowers.
Let the outline dry completely before moving onto Step 2.

Step 2
Follow directions on the package to melt the candy pieces. Spoon the melted chocolate in the corner of a zip top bag. Snip off a tiny piece of that corner.
Pipe the melted candy to fill in the petals and the center of the flowers. Make sure you completely fill into the outline.

Don't worry about flowers not being smooth. The side that is visible right now is the wrong side. The other side that is perfectly flat and smooth will be visible on the cupcakes.

After the flowers have cooled they slip right off the parchment paper.
They can be stored for several weeks in an airtight container.
As they taste pretty good on their own, you have to hide them from sneaky people.

The finished product:

Here is a flower topped cupcake. These were some super moist chocolate cupcakes. More about them in the next post.

PBP: Peanut Butter Pear Sandwiches

These sandwiches are a favourite snack.
Any kind of pear will do. As long as it is not too ripe and retains a bite.
Unsalted crunchy peanut butter is preferred.
Snack on!

Raaga, these are coming your way; my entry to AFAM: Pear .

Oh Crepe!

"You haven't made crepes in such a l-o-n-g time. Could you please make crepes, please please".

Such a simple request. But this guilt package was twice as heavy. First, the obvious guilt of not having made something that they enjoy so much. Second, the request was for crepes. Those ridiculously easy to make crepes.

So here I was serving up crepes for breakfast wondering why I don't make them often enough.
We've enjoyed crepes for breakfast and dessert. We once even had them for lunch at a fast food place, but those were ginormous ones stuffed with spinach, onions, cheese etc. Totally spoilt the delicateness of the crepes.

Apart from being so easy to make, they can be made ahead for time. Not only can you store the batter in the fridge for a couple of days, the crepes can be stored (separated by wax paper)for just as long. Such lifesavers.

This time I made several substitutions, replaced part of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour, one egg with an equal measure of egg substitute, 1 tbsp of butter with a tbsp of oil. I was quite happy with the results.
The amount of sugar is greatly reduced as I much prefer to sweeten things with fruit or yogurt. Another reason for not making the crepes sweeter is that they can also be used for savoury fillings or toppings. Less work is good; especially since I'm not inclined to making two versions of the batter.

Crepes
Ingredients
¼ cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup all purpose flour
2 eggs (or 1 egg and egg substitute for 1 egg)
½ cup milk (nonfat is ok)
2 tbsp butter, softened (or 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp oil)
1 tbsp sugar (or more)
pinch of salt



Method
Mix all the ingredients and run them through a blender or food processor till well combined.
Heat the pan (I use a 6-inch nonstick pan) and add a tiny dab of butter.
Pour a little less than ¼ cup of the batter in the middle of the pan.
Lift the pan and twirl the pan to spread the batter evenly, covering the entire pan.
(With just a little practice one gets the hang of it and is able to make the crepes of even thickness and avoid the supercrispy outer edge. Not that the edges are a bad thing.)
Cook for about 1 minute on medium heat. The crepe will start pull away from the sides of the pan.
Flip and cook the other side for about 45 seconds.
Makes about 8 6-inch crepes.
This recipe can be easliy doubled.

Some Variations We Enjoy
In addition to the usual yogurt and fruit (even here the permutations and combinations are endless), PBJ is good too.
A little bit of Nutella-love spread on the crepe and topped with a little chocolate sauce and some toasted nuts.
Fruit and thinned jam.
Spinach and cheese.

One day, some day I want to try this crepe-cake.

Chocolate (shrug)

Around this time of the year, my son and I have a conversation which typically goes:

Me: So, what cake do you want for your birthday?
Him: Plain Chocolate. shrug (not even looking up).
Me: Filling?
Him: Chocolate. shrug (still not looking up).
Me: Frosting?
Him: Chocolate. My usual. Why change a good thing? (Can't argue with that).
I thought our conversation ended here, but moments later he continued (finally making eye contact) 'This time, how about chocolate-hazelnut with a bit of coffee in there somewhere?'

Aww, me boy is growing up!

Though this is without doubt our most favourite cake, it was never requested by the kids as the birthday cake. The cake is not too sweet but is moderately rich. The hazelnut flavour is just fantastic.
I usually use hazelnut meal but if I take the time to buy the nuts, roast, and grind them, I'm amply rewarded.

Most often, I make a chocolate-ganache which acts as the frosting and the filling. This time I made a chocolate-coffee frosting (recipe below) which turned out to be just right. So incredibly flavourful, full of that coffee-chocolate taste; a perfect foil for the hazelnut cake.

Hazelnut-Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter
1 ½ cups turbinado sugar (see Notes below)
2 large eggs
1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
1/3 tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 ¾ cup sour cream (low fat is ok)
1 cup finely chopped toasted hazelnuts or hazelnut meal(see Notes below)
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or 3 oz coarsely chopped dark chocolate.

Method
Grease the baking pans (one bundt, two 8inch round pans, or one 13x8 pan).
Preheat the oven to 350C.
Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
Cream the butter and sugar till well blended and fluffy.
Add and beat the eggs, one at a time.
Add the dry ingredients to the butter-egg mixture alternately with the sour cream.
Stir in the chopped hazelnuts.
Pour the batter in the prepared pan(s) and bake 35 mins (25 mins if using two pans) or till a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Notes
Instead of the turbinado sugar, 1 cup packed brown sugar can be used as well. But the turbinado sugar is preferred as it adds a bit of a crunch.
You can increase the amount of the hazelnut up to 1½ cups; proportionately decrease the quantity of the flour. If you increase the hazelnut any more, the cake doesn't hold well; been there, done that.

Chocolate-Coffee Frosting
1 cup whipping cream, chilled
¼ cup cocoa powder
½ cup confectioners sugar
1 tbsp instant coffee powder
1 tsp coffee liqueur

Mix all the ingredients and beat on medium speed for about 1-2 minutes (or till the mixture gets stiff enough for spreading).