Sauteed Chard and Roasted Beet Penne

 

I should probably rename my blog, “Sometimes I Cook” because that’s a much, much truer title than my title from my high-school/college yesteryears of “cooking during the breaks” since… well, real life (and not even real-real life, grad-school-real-life, which is not the same as ‘real person’ life) does not really contain ‘breaks’ in which to cook to one’s heart’s content [because I’m either recovering from jet lag; excitedly looking forward to weekends to …catch up on all the work; or enjoying non-Indian food (hello burgers! hello smoked salmon! hello RAW SALAD)]. Which explains the last ~2-3 years.

Therefore, it’s not a question of what will I cook today, but do I have

a) time

b) ingredients

c) motivation

d) time

(did I say time already?)

to possibly throw something together today?

Sometimes, all of the above comes together, and motivation is sparked.

Fresh farmer’s market veggies paired with creamy herby goat cheese over whole wheat penne and tiny multicolored tomatoes — a combo that hints at the closing of summer, and the coming fall.

Sauteed Chard and Roasted Beet Penne

Original recipe

Ingredients: 

1 pound beets, with greens

1 pound rainbow Swiss chard

Coconut oil spray (or other oil spray or just oil/butter)

1 teaspoon butter

1/2-1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon whole cumin seeds

Small heirloom tomatoes, chopped in half

Salt and pepper to taste

Whole wheat penne – 8 oz (half a box)

Goat cheese – plain, or an herb flavor like I happened to get

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Rinse beets and chard. Cut greens off of the beets and set aside. Spray the beets with coconut oil, or rub a little coconut oil/olive oil/butter all over and place cover each with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour or longer; remove when tender if pierced by a fork. Allow to cool and then peel (they should peel easily) and chop into slices or rounds. Set aside.

Meanwhile, chop up the beet greens and stalks of the chard into small bite-sized pieces. I left the chard greens out to use as salad, or cook for something else, but you can leave them in if you like.

Heat olive oil and butter in a large pan on medium heat. When melted, sprinkle in the cumin seeds and let them brown a little (1-2 minutes). Add the chard and beet greens, toss and sauté until tender. Towards the end of the cooking, add the chopped tomatoes and cook them a little but not too much. Add salt and pepper (if you like pepper, eww, none for me please).

Boil water for pasta. I don’t usually add salt but you can if you want. Cook pasta until al dente; drain and toss with the chard/beet mixture.

To serve, sprinkle some chopped beets, along with goat cheese, on top of a healthy scoop of pasta/veggies.

Sooo delicious. The chard/beet stalks are so tender, and there are so many pretty colors! Plus, the tried-and-true goat cheese/beet combo is just the bomb. I’m obsessed with roasted beets and this just enables the obsession.

Hope you make it, and enjoy it. A certain roommate thought it smelled good. But then again, she’d eat anything:

 

 

Stovetop Chocolate Chip Cookies (With a Few Indian Twists)

While I’m here in Mumbai, I really miss baking. And I really miss super dark chocolate. When I came across some ideas for making cookies on the stovetop, it was too hard to resist. So what if I lack some “essential” factors like a mixer, oven, vanilla extract (substituted with vanilla essence here — it smells different but serves the same purpose!), and real, > 60% cocoa chocolate chips? Make do with what you have. A good life mantra for more than just cookies, I think.

And so, cookies on a pan it is!

The below recipe is assuming you’re cooking in 91 degree weather (real feel 109 degrees F), sweating bullets, and you plus your cookies are melting. If this is NOT the case, you can omit all the crazy “GOTTA MAKE SURE MY COOKIES STAY NOT-MELTED” steps involving air conditioning and whatnot.

Stovetop Chocolate Chip Cookies (with a few Indian Twists)

Adapted from Baketitude

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (which is easy in this insane summer heat)
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/4 cup grated jaggery
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons ghee
1 egg (or 2-4 tablespoons dahi [yogurt])
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons atta (whole wheat flour)
Optional: handful of rolled/quick/old fashioned oats if batter is too wet
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt, or less if your butter is salted

Combine the melted coconut oil and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence. Whisk in the cocoa powder. Pour into a flat container. Put in the freezer. It should harden pretty quickly. This is the beginning stage of chocolate chunks!

In the meantime, cream the jaggery, sugar, butter, and ghee. I’m not too sure about this ghee addition, it doesn’t cream very well. But it was in the original recipe and definitely adds another depth of flavor.

Add the egg and cream some more. Add the teaspoon of vanilla essence.

Now add the flour, salt, and baking powder. If the dough seems too wet add some oats.

Stow away in the fridge. Take out your chocolate chunks and with a knife, start slicing in chunks. They should crack into irregular shapes pretty easily. Get them down to a small-but-still-delicious size and then immediately stick back in the freezer. Coconut oil can melt in the blink of an eye so work quickly!

Go somewhere where there is A/C, turn it on, and let the room get cool. Bring in your dough and chocolate chunks. In front of the A/C, pour in the chocolate and combine thoroughly with the cookie dough. Quickly quickly put it in the freezer to chill.

On a nonstick skillet or dosa pan, spoon small balls, slightly flattened, of dough, about 3-5 at a time. Cover with as air-tight of a lid as you can find.

Cook over very low heat for 5-7 minutes. They might not look done on top but like most chocolate chip cookies, they taste better at this stage.

With a spatula, remove from heat and let cool.

Ta da! Chocolate chip cookies!

The first time, I think my heat was too high and I also flipped the cookies – do not do this. It actually dried out the cookie. Ever have a dried out cookie (versus overbaked)? It’s edible but not ideal. Also, the coconut oil chocolate chunks will ooze out so it’s hard to tell if the bottoms are burnt or if they’re just covered in chocolate. Which, in my opinion, is not necessarily a bad thing…

The second batch?

Utter deliciousness.

Absolutely the Best Chocolate Cake Ever

Basically after everything I bake, I say to myself, okay, no more baking, Sam, because really, it’s just not doing anyone any favors. So many (not everyone [hey if you live close to me please come by and get a piece of cake if you so desire], but lots) of my favorite people kind of live far away, and if I’m not baking cookies, well, it’s hard to mail anything else. Which means that I’m basically eating what I make. And my family, who are happy to eat it, but I know it’s not really *healthy* to be constantly making desserts to eat. Subsequently, I force myself to look only at the cooking/savory sections of cookbooks and not think about potential concoctions of flour, cocoa, sugar, and fat du jour.

Hah. So I think all these things. And then I find myself feeling a little cabin-fevery, freezing, bored, unfocused.

Then, what happens?!?!!? I’m preheating an oven to 350˚F and greasing some pans and mixing wet separately from the dry and mashing avocado…

Wait. What?

Oh yeah. And I turned it into *THE BEST FREAKING CHOCOLATE CAKE + FROSTING EVER.* Also, it’s whole wheat and vegan, but… you SERIOUSLY would N.E.V.E.R. KNOW!      It’s just …

Absolutely the Best Chocolate Cake Ever

Adapted from Avocado Central

Cake:

6 oz high quality dark chocolate (i used a mixture of Baker’s bittersweet chocolate bars, and leftover dark chocolate bars. I’m a dark chocolate fiend. There’s plennnty of sugar to round it all out, don’t worry).

1/4 cup cocoa powder

3 tablespoons water

1 large Hass avocado

2 cups water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons almond extract

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 cup granulated sugar-in-the-raw (or whateva sugar)

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 1/2 cups (or 300 g) whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose)

1/2 cup ground flax seed (original calls for almond meal, but I was too lazy to make some)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

Frosting:

Here’s what *I* did, based on what I had on hand. Refer to original recipe for…well, the original recipe.

1.5 Hass avocados

2/3 cup powdered sugar

4 Medjool dates

1 banana

2 small packets of honey (either ‘borrowed’ from Panera, or 2 teaspoons form the jar you bought in honesty)

Several grinds of sea salt or a pinch or two of salt

Lots of cocoa (1/4-1/2 cup, or until it’s chocolatey enough. Original recipe does *not* add enough, for sure.)

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder

Strawberries and whipped cream for serving

Directions for cake:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease two 9 inch cakepans and dust with cocoa. Seriously. This will give it an amazing crunchy ‘crust’ (wrong word for cake but that’s what it is).

In a glass bowl, combine the chocolate, 4 tbs cocoa powder, and 3 tbs water and set over a pan of simmering water to melt. Stir and melt chocolate until combined and melted.

In a large, high-lidded bowl, add the avocado, 2 cups water, oil, 1 teaspoon espresso powder, the melted chocolate, almond extract, white vinegar, and the sugars. Tip: use an immersion blender to blend it all up, or food processor, or a whisk + strong arm muscles. Get that alllll good and blended.

In a separate, large bowl, mix flour, flaxseed, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt.

Add wet to dry and mix until just combined; don’t overmix even if there end up being little blobs of unmixed flour here and there. It won’t affect the taste or anything.

Pour evenly into the cake pans (this is where having a kitchen scale reallllly comes in handy) and bake for 45 minutes.

When a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, take out and allow to cool. 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a cake stand + plate (one for each layer) and let cool as long as humanly possible. AKA, like, barely an hour, in my case. In the mean time, do those dishes and whip up some frosting:

Frosting: 

In a food processor, add avocado, dates, and banana and mix for a while until as broken down as possible. Then add the rest of the ingredients and adjust to taste.

Put half the frosting on the middle layer, then put the second cake layer on top and frost the top of this. You really don’t need to frost the entire cake; the cake is supremely moist and delicious and you really won’t miss anything. Plus it lets the “crust” stay nice and crispy and delicious.

Decorate with strawberries (I removed the stem, then I cut each in half lengthwise, then again, to make hearts!). Serve with some whipped cream if desired and more strawberries!!

It was actually kind of funny, in a “what a funny coincidence” kind of way. Today, my parents took my brother back to school. I was working on some grad school stuff and then decided to take a study [baking] break as I am wont to do. I made the cake (with only a few minor mishaps, including a little bit of a sea salt explosion and quick thinking of what I could replace almond meal with). I was thinking, how nice would it be to have some strawberries alongside? (chocolate covered strawberries are probably tied for favorite dessert in the world, the other being chocolate lava cake, and the other being strawberry short cake, and other being mint chocolate chip ice cream…) I decided I’d forgo them since we didn’t have any. I had just finished frosting the cake when parents walked through the door, my mom holding a Costco-sized container of strawberries!

Such perfect timing.

Since I’ll be in India for my birthday this year, my mom had been secretly planning to give me some early birthday presents tonight. I had no idea but decided to bake a cake anyway… funny how things work out!

Anyway.

This cake was like, I can’t even describe it, the freaking BOMB. Moist. Delectable. Crunchy, crispy edges, super moist. The frosting was the perfect consistency, and you can’t really taste the espresso but I think it definitely brought out the cocoa-y ness of the chocolate like it is supposed to do. Definitely recommend the strawberries as an accompaniment. You canNOT taste the avocado at all! It’s so, so, so, so, so, so good. I literally outdid myself. I really can’t believe how delicious it came out. Seriously, you’ll never need another cake recipe again. Drooling. Dying. Loving this.

Now I’m watching “Failure to Launch” for like the 27th time (it never gets old for me, one of those movies) and mellowing out the sugar/chocolate rush. Hey, I ran and walked in this bitter icy cold this morning. Chocolate cake is totally my dinner. I’ll go back to writing my lit review tomorrow. 🙂

Other chocolate cake recipes:
Beet Chocolate Cake (with peanut butter saucy frosting)

German Chocolate Cake (Vegan)

Chocolate Pudding Cake

Khandvi – A Gujarati Snack

Khandvi is a simple, filling Guju snack made of dahi (yogurt) and besan flour (chickpea flour). It’s a rather novel texture, almost like a solidified custard consistency. It’s pretty easy to eat 5-6 of these at a time.

To make these, I used some haldi (turmeric) and mustard seeds I brought back from India. I was missing a few things (curry leaves, hing, etc) but they still came out delicious.

Khandvi 

Adapted from Veg Recipes of India

For yellow part:

1 cup chickpea flour

3/4 cup plain, unsweetened yogurt

2 1/4 cups room temperature water

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon ginger purée

Pinch of onion powder + pinch of garlic powder (or pinch of hing/asfoetida, if you have)

Pinch of salt

Whisk together the yogurt and water, and then add the spices and mix. Add the chickpea flour and whisk until no longer lumpy.

Spread some oil on two large, rimmed pans and set aside. Nonstick pans work even better.

In a nonstick sauce pan on very low heat, heat the mixture until it solidifies. The original recipe notes it takes 17 minutes to reach the desired consistency, and this is about how long it took for me, too. To test whether the consistency is good, take a small spoonful onto the pan and let it cool a little, then try to roll it. If it rolls, you’re in the clear! Take the mixture off the heat and spread it out in a thin layer across the pan, as evenly as possible.

For “filling” and topping:

2 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut

2 tablespoons cilantro or a pinch of coriander powder

1 teaspoon coconut milk or water (or omit)

Mix these together and sprinkle around on the thin layer of chickpea/yogurt.

1 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

2 teaspoons sesame seeds

pinch curry powder or 8-10 curry leaves

Heat oil and add mustard seeds, cook until sizzling. Add the curry and the sesame seeds, cook until sizzling/browned. Take off heat.

Assembly: 

Cut the yellow lengthwise into strips, and then roll roll roll. You can do a variety of shapes and sizes. After rolling, arrange on a serving dish and spoon the mustard seed/sesame seed/oil mixture across them. I also sprinkled black sea salt for flavor and color contrast!

Soft yet crispy, sweet yet savory, delicate yet filling. A snack of contrasts that won’t fail to please! Khana swadisht thaa!

Also because I am a wimp I left out spicy green chilis. You can add these in the batter or in the filling if you so wish.

Spiced Mixed Pulses Soup

I don’t really experiment with dried beans or lentils much, but I saw a little bag of mixed pulses in the store and it was just so colorful and pretty that I bought it. Thus, I had this bag of dried pulses and had to do something. So, I made some soup! Perfect for the lovely 97 degree November days we’ve been having!

Spiced Mixed Pulses Soup

Adapted from Lisa’s Kitchen

1 small bag of mixed pulses (see original recipe for exact amounts; the types and amounts don’t matter toooo much). I had channa (chickpeas), some different beans, and some different daals (lentils).

Mix together in a bowl:

1 small red onion, chopped very finely

1 tablespoon garlic/ginger paste

3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Cayenne if you want some kick (I didn’t… I’m boring)

Remaining ingredients:

2 tablespoons ghee, butter or oil

1 small tomato, seeded and finely chopped

handful of dried curry leaves

1/4 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup coconut milk

Fresh cilantro.

Soak the pulses overnight (this is why I don’t deal with dried legume stuff). Drain, and bring to a boil in enough water to cover the pulses with about 2 inches of water to spare. Simmer for about 1 hour.

Mix together what I told you to mix together above.

Heat your fat of choice in a pan and add the mixture in the bowl to it; saute for 5 minutes. Add the tomato, curry leaves, hing, and salt to taste. Cook and stir often for 8-10 minutes. Add this to the beans. Pour in the coconut milk and simmer for 20 minutes.

Garnish with the cilantro and serve hot. Additional garnish: some extra coconut milk!

Enjoy. Love me some fiber, protein… coconut… yum. This was pretty tasty and went very well with sweet potato parathas. Other accompaniments would be some dahi (yogurt), or rice, or both, and a sweet lime pickle.

So many dishes, though… I can make such a mess in the kitchen. It’s kind of unavoidable especially with Indian food… or so I’ve found thus far.

 

So that’s my kitchen, here in our little ground floor flat. Hope you like the soup. I recommend it.

Sweet Potato Masala Parathas

Mmm, parathas. Delicious breads fried in ghee and stuffed with stuff, be it aloo (potato), gobi (cauliflower), paneer (cheese), palak (spinach)… Or in my case, leftover sweet potato masala (sweet aloo masala?).

First, the masala I used. This is a rather unorthodox method of making parathas but don’t you worry, it’ll be yummy.

Sweet Potato Masala

Adapted from VahChef

Sweet potatoes: I used 4 and they were all varying in size and length. About 500 grams, peeled and cubed.

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon garlic/ginger paste

1/2 tablespoon large black mustard seeds

2 tablespoons urad daal

1 small red onion, chopped

1 tablespoon turmeric

1 handful curry leaves

Salt to taste

Boil the sweet potatoes until fork tender. I accidentally overcooked them, making them mushy, which didn’t bode well for this masala on its own. But as parathas… it’s perfect.

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. When they sizzle, add the cumin. When that fries, add the urad daal and turmeric. Add the rest of the ingredients and saute until the onion is browned and tender.

Add the sweet potatoes and let it fry for 3 minutes ish, or until the sweet potatoes caramelize a bit.

Serve!

Parathas

I used the techniques used in this recipe from vegrecipesofindia.com

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon oil

pinch of salt

water (< 1/2 cup ish)

Dough: Combine 1 cup of whole wheat flour with a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of oil, and add enough water until a dough forms. Knead this dough and then let it ferment for 25 minutes under a dishcloth.

After 25 minutes, divide the dough into balls and roll out into small rounds.

Heap a few tablespoons of the sweet potato mixture into the center, and then take the sides of the round and bring them together on top of the stuffing, to make a little twisted dumpling.

Roll this out again, and make a bigger round.

Spread some ghee over the surface of this and, on a hot tawa, fry until it gets golden brown in places. Spread some ghee on the uncooked side and flip and cook the other side. Ta da!

Bear with me. This was my first attempt and it was a lot of fun. I don’t usually do step-by-step photos but the process was pretty cool (and messy).

So after you make your dough, roll out a thick round about 3-4 inches in diameter. Spoon some of the prepared filling into the center.

Do THIS! Make a little dumpling out of it. Take the sides and pinch them together.

Then, you’re supposed to squish this and roll them out again, bigger, without actually tearing them. I didn’t really succeed at the no tearing thing.

But: browned sweet potato innards = YUM.

This was my best paratha. Soooo good.

Probably one of my favorite cooking adventures so far. And, a plus, because the sweet potato masala I thought I messed up got a second life as paratha stuffing!

Oats and Coconut Payasam

Payasam is very similar to kheer. It’s called “kheer” in North India, while usually referred to as “payasam” or some variant thereof in South India. A lot of dishes are kind of like that: similar dishes, different names. Just to make things nice and confusing for the foreigner. But you get the hang of it pretty quickly!

Anyway,  a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. And sweet, this is. Sweet and spicy and crunchy and smooth and creamy. Payasam (according to wikipedia) comes from a “peeyusham” meaning nectar or ambrosia… An accurate description.

You’re probably wondering, ‘okay, what is this, whatever the name is!?’ Well if you haven’t read my banana kheer post (shame on you), kheer/payasam is basically pudding/porridge made with various ingredients: usually some grain (or banana!), nuts, ghee, sugar, spices and milk.

I got this recipe from VahChef at http://www.vahrehvah.com. His Indian cooking YouTube videos are hilaaarious and I highly recommend.

Oats and Coconut Payasam

Adapted from VahChef

1-2 tablespoons ghee

15-20 cashews, chopped roughly

1 tablespoon golden raisins

2-3 tablespoons of oats (I ended up using a bit more)

1/2 cup freshly grated coconut (You could probably use unsweetened desiccated coconut, or go ahead and test your coconut cracking skills)

2 cups or 500 mL milk

1 cup water

Sugar: I used 1 cube of jaggery and a sprinkle of granulated sugar. Original recipe says 1/2 cup sugar. Add to taste.

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

Sliced almonds for garnishing

Heat ghee in a pot, add cashews and raisins and fry until the raisins puff up and cashews are golden brown.

Add the oats and coconut and stir until you can smell some coconutty fragrance/you see a slight color change. (2-3 minutes)

Add the milk and water and cook on low heat for a while until the milk reduces and the mixture thickens. You can add more water to dilute if it gets too thick.

Add sugar and let it melt; add the cardamom and take off the heat.

Sprinkle almonds on top and serve, warm or cold. Or room temperature. It will basically taste yummy in any form.

This was so good. I wouldn’t really mind eating this for breakfast every day. I gave some of this to my neighbors and landlords in return for goodies that they gave to me! I got good reviews from them, so let that be your guide and just go ahead and make this. MmmmMMm.

Banana Kheer

I’ve come full circle to why I started cooking in the first place, which was mainly to use up the bazillion bananas bestowed on us by my grandma who didn’t seem to accurately anticipate just how many bananas a family of four could eat in a week.

I have made so many banana breads in my life, I almost don’t even want to look at one anymore. Almost.

But, I’ve found a new, easy, delicious use for using up ripe bananas.

Enter: Kheer, a sort of pudding-like dessert flavored with jaggery/sugar, dry fruits (aka raisins, etc), nuts (usually kaju, or cashews but also badam(almonds) and pista(pistachios), and a yummy mix of spices. Yet another indian dessert that is malleable to many different versions (like halwa). Usually it’s made with rice; I replaced the rice with banana!

Banana Kheer

Adapted from what I watched my postdoc do:

3 large, overripe bananas, peeled and mashed/chopped

0.5 – 1 L milk (i’ve had success with both)

1-1.5 cubes jaggery (how sweet do you like it?)

1 tablespoon ghee (butter could work)

a handful of cashews, raisins

2 whole cardamom pods

Milk masala mix, which includes cardamom powder, mace, saffron, and nutmeg

Heat the ghee in a pan and toast the cashews/raisins, stirring quickly, until golden brown. Set aside.

Bring milk to a boil (watch that pot!!) and then add bananas; cook and continuously stir until the milk reduces a bit.

Add the jaggery and let it melt. Taste-test.

Continue to stir for a while until the milk reduces a lot and the mixture becomes super thick.

Add the spices (watch out, the milk may curdle. It’ll still taste good).

Finally, stir in the cashews and raisins, with the ghee.

 

Enjoy banana kheer for breakfast, dessert, snack, lunch, dinner… if you’re like me and don’t mind having dessert for dinner sometimes.

Update:

Chocolate banana kheer!

Because… how could this not happen?

And it’s so easy!

Basically, towards the end of cooking, add 2-3 heaping tablespoons of cocoa powder.

Use a fork to stir it in so you don’t get cocoa powder everywhere. This also smooths banana clumps.

Let it continue to cook until desired thickness.

Bam. Chocolate kheer.

I didn’t have any, but I’d totally top this with whipped cream.

Now where’s the peanut butter? Because I’m getting more ideas…

Beetroot Halwa

Tonight I finally used the six beets I purchased a while ago, then sort of forgot about.

I painstakingly peeled them and grated each one manually, making for very pink fingers.

Then, I ran out to the shop next door and bought some fresh Amul milk — 500 mL, in a little plastic pouch (TetraPak).

Halwa is an Indian dessert that’s often prepared during festivals, like Navratri or Diwali (so I am told by Wikipedia). Indian desserts can be simple or super complicated — luckily, halwa is pretty easy! It’s basically beetroot pudding with cashews (kaju) and golden raisins, flavored with cardamom.

I’ve had lots of halwas in my day now, including carrot halwa, moong daal (a type of lentil/pulse) halwa, and suji ka halwa (semolina flour). This is my first attempt. Feast your eyes.

Beetroot Halwa

Adapted from Veg Recipes of India

3 cups beetroot, peeled and finely grated (about 6 small beets)

500 mL milk

2 tablespoons ghee

1 cube of jaggery (or 4-6 tablespoons of sugar)

1/3 teaspoon cardamom powder

15-20 whole cashews* (maybe extra if you’re prone to nibbling on cashews)

1 tablespoon golden raisins*

Combine the milk and beetroot in a pot and bring to a boil. Stir and boil/simmer until most of the milk is evaporated.

Stir in the sugar and ghee and cook a bit more until the milk is almost completely evaporated.

Add the cashews, cardamom, and raisins and cook until no more milk is left and it is cooked.

Ta da!

Tender beetroot made into a delicious, and actually rather healthy dessert. This was so good. Going easy on the ghee and sugar (beets are sweet by themselves so not much sugar is necessary) makes for a very tempting dessert/snack.

*Next time, I would toast these in ghee before adding for extra flavor.

My First Indian Cooking Adventure in India, Unsupervised

Today I’m breaking my food blog hiatus with a little something called Indian Cooking.

After living here for three months (I’ll be here until next summer) and having absolutely NO motivation to cook…

(reasons/excuses why: I live with a South Indian roommate, who loves to cook; food here is very inexpensive [we can get dinner for two for about $3 and be satisfied], the kitchen is different (no oven, different cooking vessels like a tawa, pressure cooker, etc); lack of familiar ingredients (curry leaves? mustard seeds? fenugreek?)

… I have broken the cycle. And no longer will subsist on yogurt (dahi) by the gallon and fruits, or order in, when left to my own devices.

Aside: I went to the veggie man two stores down from us and he was super nice and helped me pick out the fresh veggies, which happened to be okra.

With roomie gone for the day and evening, and doing the best I could to remember her techniques, I made …

Okra Subzi with Chapati

Adapted from Life.

Chapati Ingredients:

Some amount of whole wheat flour (maybe 1.5-2 cups)?

1 teaspoon ghee

pinch or two of salt

1/2 cup of warm water

Subzi Ingredients:

1/4 kg okra (bindhi), chopped into two or three pieces each

1 tomato, chopped in smallish pieces

2 potatoes, chopped in similar sized pieces at the tomato

Optional: 1 green chili, with or without seeds removed, depending on your spice tolerance (I omitted)

1 tablespoon your favorite cooking oil

1 tablespoon unsalted ghee

2 teaspoons mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 handful curry leaves

a few pinches of salt

Directions:

In a bowl, add the flour and mix with the salt and the ghee. Make a little well and add the water, a bit at a time, until you have a workable dough. Knead with your hands. Cover with a cloth and let ferment for 25 minutes or more. Once fermented, make little round balls of dough about 1-1.5 inches in diameter.

Heat oil in a cooking vessel like the one in the pictures, or in a normal pan. Add the potatoes, and allow to cook for a bit and get a little brown and crispy on the edges. Add the okra and cook. Splash some water into the pan to “deglaze”, stir/scrape down, and cover to let everything soften. Add the tomatoes after a bit and mix.

In a separate pan, heat the ghee. Test it out with a small mustard seed; if it sizzles in the pan it’s ready. Add the mustard seeds and immediately take off the heat, allowing to cook a little bit. Add the cumin seeds and curry leaves, stir, let sizzle. Add the turmeric and ground cumin and mix.

Add the above to the okra mixture and combine; continue to let cook until veggies are cooked through.

For the chapati, roll out each dough ball. I don’t know what I did wrong, I think the dough was a bit too dry. You should try to aim for nice and round chapatis. I however decided to go the entertaining route and make all kinds of shapes!

Heat a tawa over medium heat. Once hot, place the chapati and cook halfway through. If you see bubbles forming, great! You can use a dishtowel to push down on these bubbles to try to get them to spread throughout the bread. Flip it and cook the other side.

My first chapati ALL BY MA SELF. *beams* 

Once cooked, place on a plate and if desired, spread some ghee on it. The ghee helps with flavor and helps it not dry out. Let’s just say I put a substantial amount of ghee on these.

Continue in this manner until all the chapatis are done. Always cover with a dishcloth or with a lid of some sort to prevent drying out.

To serve, spoon some subzi, two or three chapatis, and a dollop of yogurt onto your South Indian-style thali (plate).

And dig in.

Below are some fun photos of my first time trying the process.

I got a LOT of bubbles with this one!

Notice the jar of ghee in the back. It did not go un-used.

I was so taken and distracted by the bubbles that I burned it. 😦

Me pointing out my beads of sweat. It’s kinda humid here in good ol’ Mumbai. I can pretend cooking is a workout.

My chapatis were so odd. I decided to nickname them all.

“Crab claw”

“Actually Decent/Amoebic”

“An Old Woman Looking To the Right” (see the big nose?)

“One of Those Psychology Inkblot Things”

“Mitten for Double-Thumbed Person”

“Budding Yeast”

“Don’t Mess With Deformed Texas”

Sadly, my first chapati attempt came out more like pita chips. Nothing a little ghee can’t fix. But I will hone ma skillz and wow you all in due time. I thoroughly enjoyed my first attempt!

            

Also, sorry for the horrid quality on the photos. Internet speed/access is a whole diatribe I won’t get started on right now…

I’ve attempted Indian cooking before, at home in the US, and I definitely don’t know what I’m doing. You can check them out anyway:

Aloo Gobi Mattar, take One and Two