Fusion Pub-Grub

After a long day at work, some days all I want is to come home, defrost a TV dinner and catch up on TV shows. But in the best interests of my health, I put a simple meal together most days. And then there are days when culinary creativity is the best antidote to all of the work stress. Today was one of those 'outburst of culinary creativity' days.

Last week, I strolled over to the farmer's market near work to get some dumplings (so amazing.....but that's for another day) and fresh produce. I found a beautiful looking, small yellow cauliflower that I bought pretty much the moment I set my eyes on it. I've been eyeing colorful cauliflowers for a while, but the ones in grocery stores are just too large for one person to consume....unless I want to eat cauliflower for a week. Oh what would I do without farmers' markets and 'petite-sized' vegetables!! But anyway, I've been wondering what to do with that cauliflower without drowning its natural color in a sauce. A quick internet search led me to cauliflower rice, which is really pulverized cauliflower. And then came the idea of a Mexican-food and pub-grub inspired, Indian-spiced dinner. Fish tacos with a yummy green masala marinade, cauliflower rice with green peas, and spicy masala fries. Interested now, aren't you? Alright well then, here's the recipe. I really just threw this one together without precisely measuring ingredients. It's one of those recipes where you don't need to measure ingredients perfectly.....just go with your judgment and ask me (or anyone) when you hit a roadblock. :)

Fish Tacos with Cauliflower Rice and Masala Fries

Yup.....that's the yellow color of the cauliflower....no turmeric or coloring added!!

The Fish 

A generous handful of cilantro (coriander leaves)

1-2 green chili peppers 

Couple of cloves of garlic

A small knob of fresh ginger

A spoonful of chopped onion

Turmeric

Salt

Cumin powder

2 medium to large fillets of fish

Rice flour

Oil

Throw all the ingredients into a food processor with a spoonful or two of water. Grind it into a fine paste. Apply the paste to the fish and keep it aside for about half an hour. After that, dredge the fish in the rice flour and shallow fry in a teaspoonful of oil.

The 'Rice'

1 small yellow cauliflower

Half a cup of green peas

A clove of garlic

Salt

Pav Bhaaji Masala or Garam Masala

Oil

Wash the cauliflower and separate the florets. Now pulse it in a food processor until you get a fine short-grained rice type consistency. Heat a tiny bit of oil in a pan and lightly brown some garlic. Now add the cauliflower and pan-fry for 5 minutes. Then add the rest of the ingredients and cook until the peas are done.

The Fries

1 medium to large potato

Salt

Sugar

Red chili powder

Turmeric

Coriander powder

Cumin powder

Oil

Cut the potatoes into matchsticks. Heat a teaspoonful of oil. Throw in the potatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes. Then add the salt, sugar and spices. If the spices start smoking, add a tiny bit of water. Cook until the potatoes are done. 

The Tacos

Heat small tortillas or rotis/chapatis. (I used the latter). Add shredded, cooked fish and tomato slices and prop the tacos up in a plate. (Restaurants have really pretty taco stands...maybe I should get one of those.) Add some sour cream or mayo if you like that. A little bit of peach or pineapple salsa will work wonders too! 

Serve all of the components with a few slices of lime and some ketchup. Bon appetit! And here's one more photo....

Photo Recipe: Pasta with Arugula and Chicken

Hello there! Many moons ago, when this blog was still new, I did a photo recipe post about fried rice. I like photo recipes - they allow me to post when I don't feel like typing out a recipe and work well for easy recipes that are just meant to inspire some ideas. Well at least I hope they inspire ideas.... :) Here we go with another photo recipe then.

Tonight, I made pasta for dinner (with no intention of immediately writing a post about it). Pasta is good for lazy days when all you have the energy for is boiling water and opening a jar of sauce. But it's also great for creative days when you want to experiment with sauces. And experiment I did. Here's what I had left of this week's grocery: arugula, poached chicken, heirloom yellow tomato and a decent, cheap Riesling. This is what it ended up coming together as:

How you ask? Start with putting a pot of salted water to boil. Then bring out a skillet or saute pan and throw in some olive oil. When the oil is hot enough, throw in garlic, red pepper flakes and thyme. Let it sizzle around in the pan. Choose your own herbs if this is not your combination.

Then it's time for some chopped, cooked chicken. You can also go with raw, marinated chicken. If you're a vegetarian, I'd say mushrooms....or bell peppers....or whatever else you're craving. Get the meat/veggie to brown up a little and then throw in your wine of choice. I had a Riesling...you could go with Marsala or Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Noir. Or no wine if you don't drink or are serving this to kids. Go with a splash of stock or some lemon juice....or a mix of the two. Let the meat simmer away for a few minutes, smelling glorious.

In the meanwhile, get some tomato chopped up and clean the arugula. If you don't like arugula, try spinach or chard. At this point, the pasta should also be cooking...just in case you forgot. :) The scene at this point is about like this :

When the liquid in the skillet has almost evaporated, throw in some salt, pepper and the vegetables from that beautiful scene above. Let the greens wilt.....won't take more than 2 minutes. Now add a little bit of the water the pasta was cooking in just to have enough liquid for the pasta. Simmer for a minute or so and then throw in the drained pasta. Et voila!!

Dinner is ready! Add some grated cheese if you like that.....I'd say Parmesan or Gouda. Slurp the deliciousness off your plate!

A Tale of Spice(s)

No surprises here given the blog title, but I love spices. You can use one to add a particular kind of flavor, like cinnamon in your oatmeal, or you can mix and match to build layers of interesting flavors (now you also know that I binge watch Chopped!). There is a spice somewhere that pairs with almost any food out there. Spice blends like curry powders, garam masala and Italian season have been around forever making every cook's life easier. But you know what's more fun? Making your own spice blends. And that is just what I have for you in this post.

This is a spice mix that I put together for roasting sweet potatoes. This happened at some point when I fell in love with sweet potato fries, but eating those all the time is just too unhealthy. So I started experimenting with spiced, roasted sweet potatoes as a substitute and that's when I hit upon this spice mix. It will work with regular potatoes, carrots and squashes (butternut, acorn) as well. I haven't tried it on other vegetables or on meat, but let me know if you try it. This blend is a breeze to make if you have a coffee or spice grinder, or a mini food processor that can chop nuts. If not, there's nothing like grinding whole spices with a mortar and pestle after a long, frustrating day at work/school/home. So here we go....

Spice Blend for Roasted Vegetables

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 cloves
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon brown sugar
scant 1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
1/4 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
1/4-1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder

Grind the fennel, coriander and cumin seeds, and the cloves together. Add the remaining ingredients. Mix well and store in a dry, airtight container. That's it......easy-peasy!

Notes:
1. You can dry roast the seeds on a dry skillet for a couple of minutes before grinding if you prefer it that way.

2. Choose your grind for the spices....I typically go with slightly coarse, as you can see in the picture, but that has more to do with using a mortar and pestle. You will likely get a finer grind with a grinder / processor.

3. You can leave the brown sugar out if you don't like the sweetness, but I find it helpful for the caramelization when roasting.

Veggie Delight

Hello readers....well at least those of you that have still been following this long dormant blog! I've lost count of how many disappearances and comebacks I've had on this blog, so let's not go there. But here I am with a new blog look, new ideas (see the About page for more) and a brand new recipe! This one will hopefully delight my vegetarian readers. This one also makes eggplant (brinjal / aubergine....what's in a name) taste awesome for all those of you who don't like it.....so try it and tell me what you think!

Sweet and Sour Eggplant

1 medium eggplant, diced
1/2 large-ish red onion, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1.5 teaspoons red chili pepper paste / hot sauce (or more if you like it)
2 tablespoons honey
1.5 teaspoons cornstarch
2 cups water / vegetable stock
1 tablespoon white vinegar
salt, to taste

Heat oil in a saute pan or any other wide pan. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onions soften (and turn pink....you don't need to brown them). Throw in the eggplant, cover the pan and cook until the eggplant softens. If the eggplant starts sticking to the pan, add a splash of water. When the eggplant softens, add the bell pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes.

For the sauce, combine the tomato paste, soy sauce, chili paste, honey, salt and water in a bowl. Add the sauce mix to the vegetables and let it come to a boil. In the meanwhile, make a slurry with the cornstarch and a tablespoon of water, and add it to the boiling sauce. Mix well and cook until the sauce thickens. Finally, add the vinegar. Serve with steamed rice and most importantly, enjoy!

Notes:

1. While I prefer homemade chili paste (soaked dried red chili peppers ground in a food processor / grinder with some water), feel free to use Sriracha or any other hot sauce.

2. Some people prep the diced eggplant by adding salt, letting it sit, draining the liquid and then rinsing and drying the eggplant. I am too lazy to do it, but feel free to go ahead if that's how you like it.

3. Substitute honey with sugar if you want to....just might need more mixing to dissolve the sugar. Substitution is probably not one to one, so check it out.

4. Add more slurry with the sauce is too watery even after you let the sauce cook with the slurry in it.

Fusion Fun

Hello, readers! A new post has been long overdue. Vacation's over, the work rhythm has been found again, and it's time to say hello to some creative inspiration. So let's go back to talking food. And the topic du jour is.......cauliflower!!!

That wasn't very exciting, was it? Yeah, cauliflower doesn't exactly make most people jump up and down with joy, but I'm going to make it fun. Cauliflower can be bland and a tad overwhelming (natural flavor wise), so infusing it with other flavors is key. I think roasting and spicing are two processes that can really elevate recipes involving cauliflower. I used both to create what I'd like to call a fusion recipe that combines pasta with cauliflower and a fragrant spice blend. I am not a fan of mayonnaise for the most part, and rely on lemon juice, vinegar and oil to dress salads. But this time around I decided to use mayo (the low fat kind) and realized that it makes the whole cauliflower-spice combination even better. Ok enough chatting…..let’s get to the food.

By the way, I split the recipe up into three sections. That way if you only want cauliflower roasting tips (because nowhere else will you find how to do it...haha) or a salad dressing, you're good to go.

Curried Cauliflower and Pasta Salad

Step 1: Roasting Cauliflower

1 large head of cauliflower

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

Salt, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C).

Chop the cauliflower into small to medium sized florets. You want to avoid very small florets, since they shrink when roasting.

Mix the florets with oil and salt. Spread them evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes…a little more or less depending on your oven.

Step 2: Curried Mayonnaise Dressing

¼ cup mayonnaise (whatever kind you like…I used light mayo)

½ teaspoon red chilli powder

a small pinch each of turmeric, ground cumin and ground coriander (small pinch….literally)

2 pods of green cardamom

2 cloves

a little mace (optional….can use a pinch of nutmeg instead)

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Note: It is totally ok to use garam masala or curry powder instead of this spice mix. It will taste a little different, but still good. Try to keep cardamom in though.

Grind the cardamom, cloves and mace together. Add all the spices to the mayonnaise and mix well. Season with salt if required.

Step 3: Assembling the salad

½ cup pasta (I used a mix of macaroni and thin spaghetti)

1 tomato, chopped

2/3 cup roasted cauliflower

10 black olives, pitted and halved

¼ cup green peas, boiled

Canned artichoke hearts (optional), chopped

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Combine the cooked pasta and vegetables, pour the dressing and mix well. Ready to serve.

Notes:

1. The mere mention of curry powder is enough to send me off an a rant, but hey it's all about convenience. Besides, this is not Indian food, so curry powder is legit. Some curry powders are better than others. Try Trader Joe's if you live in the United States.

2. Play around with the other vegetables in the salad. Use carrots and bell peppers or simply stick to cauliflower and peas

3. It's a salad so ingredient quantities are to be played with until you find what works best.

Comfort Food (a.k.a Gimme Some Cheese)

This has probably been the longest I’ve gone without writing a post so far. Between defending a dissertation proposal, celebrating a million holidays (ok fine….two) and travel prep, I really have felt like there has been too much on my plate. But at 36,000 feet above ground, there is no better use of my time than to get back to blogging. Yes, I am that person who keeps staring at the map on the little personal screen you get on airplanes. And yes, writing certainly trumps staring at the screen and counting the hours to home.

Anyway, celebrating two major holidays (Diwali and Thanksgiving) meant that a lot of cooking and eating took place. In addition, being in India on vacation means it’s going to be food all the way. So much to post about…….

Crappy airplane food reminded me of good old comfort food, so that’s what this post is going to be about. While anything cooked by mom tops the comfort food charts, macaroni and cheese is a pretty good substitute when I am left to my own devices. Mac and cheese - so good, yet so bad for you. I am sure most of you have eaten it in restaurants or have made your own versions at home. Now call me crazy, but I like my mac and cheese to have more substance to it. I've figured that vegetables do that very well for me. Plus they take a little bit of guilt out of eating all that white sauce and cheese. Some of you are probably very skeptical about this, so I’d say give it a shot and tell me if you like it.

Here’s my version of veggie mac and cheese with broccoli. You can use other vegetables too…more about that in the notes that follow.

Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli

1.5 cups macaroni (uncooked)

1 cup broccoli florets

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons chopped onion (optional)

2 tablespoons flour (all purpose or whole wheat)

1 cup milk or half and half

½ cup pasta cooking liquid or water

1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese

up to ½ cup breadcrumbs, more or less as you prefer

salt, to taste

ground black pepper, to taste

red pepper flakes, to taste (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Take a square 8 inch baking dish and grease it lightly with cooking spray or butter.

Using a large enough pot and a lot of water, cook the macaroni according to the directions on the package. About 3 minutes before the pasta is done, add the broccoli. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and set aside. At this stage, you will want to save some of the cooking liquid. It is advisable to avoid overcooking the pasta until mushy. It will get cooked in the oven again.

Heat the butter in a pan and cook onion until it starts softening.(Skip if you’re not using onions. Start with flour in that case.) Then add the flour and cook until it turns a nice golden color. Avoid browning the flour…doesn't yield very good results. Once the flour turns golden (and smells nice), slowly add the milk or half and half, stirring continuously to ensure that there are no lumps. Then slowly add the water or cooking liquid. Stir away for 2-3 minutes. At this point the mixture should start thickening. Don’t worry if it doesn't thicken much….so long as it’s not very watery. Mix in 1 cup of cheese and turn the heat off. Mix well until it is combined. Then add in the salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.

Mix the sauce with the pasta and broccoli, and transfer it to the baking dish. Top with the breadcrumbs and remaining cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes, and then serve.

Notes:

1. If the sauce seems too thick before adding the cheese, add extra water/cooking liquid/milk – up to half a cup.

2. If you want to use other vegetables such as carrots or mushrooms, I would suggest sautéing them separately in a pan until just cooked and mixing them with the sauce and pasta. Green beans can be used in the same way as the broccoli.

3. If you like more spice, experiment with nutmeg or a pinch of garam masala. It works wonders. 

Paneer: Part II

September is almost over!!! So much for more frequent posts. Oh well, two in a month is still more frequent than I usually am, so the goal for birthday month has been achieved. Sort of.... I'll dedicate the post to the weather which makes me want to nap instead of working. At least blogging is more productive.

Anyway, I realized that I never did a follow up post on what I made with the paneer I'd posted about a loooong time ago. So here's what I did. I cooked it with onions, tomatoes and bell peppers for some yummy Paneer Masala. Yeah, how creative is that name? Who cares about names when the food tastes great, right? Right!! Since we agree on that, let me jump straight to the recipe. Enjoy!

PS: If you made this recipe with modifications or if you usually make it in a different way, do leave a note about it.

Paneer Masala

1 cup diced paneer (diced as in medium sized chunks, not too large)
1/2 medium red onion, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 to 1.5 teaspoons oil
1 bay leaf
2 pods of green cardamom
4-5 black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon ginger paste
1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon each of coriander and cumin powders
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
Optional - 1/2 teaspoon kasuri methi (dried fenugreek) 
salt, to taste

Heat the oil in a medium sized skillet or saute pan. Add the bay leaf, cardamom and peppercorns and let them sizzle for about 10 seconds. Add the onion to the pan and saute it until the onions turn pinkish. (If you're using another kind of onion, cook it until it turns translucent but don't brown it.) Now add the ginger and garlic pastes, honey, and the spice powders other than garam masala. Let it all cook for 2-3 minutes. Throw in a couple teaspoons of water if you think the spices/pastes are burning. 

Add the tomatoes and bell pepper into the pan. Cook until the tomatoes are done, about 5-6 minutes. The oil sort of separates from the tomatoes when they're done, but don't worry if it doesn't seem to. Now add the salt, garam masala and paneer. Mix well to ensure that the paneer is coated with the spices, but don't crumble it. Finally add the kasuri methi and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium to low heat.

Serve with parathas, naan or whatever other bread you fancy.

Notes:

1. It looks (and cooks) better if all the vegetables and paneer are diced to approximately the same size.

2. For those unfamiliar with kasuri methi, they're dried leaves of the fenugreek plant. Fenugreek is a commonly used green vegetable in Indian cooking. The fresh leaves have a slightly bitter, but not overpowering taste. If you don't find dried fenugreek, just leave it out....the paneer will still be tasty.

3. As always, play with the quantity of spices and find what works best for you. 

Let's try some tofu!

Helloooooo world! I am back after an uber long hiatus.....2 months. Yikes! I need to write a few blog posts in quick succession to make up for that. I am not going to bore you with long tales of how I was busy working. Let's just go on to more interesting things......food!

I would say I have pretty good memory. I remember names and faces of people I've met just once. I also remember random conversations with strangers. But when it comes to planning dinner ahead, I am that person who forgets that the chicken needs to start thawing much before you want to cook it. And don't say thaw it in the microwave.....it ends up getting half cooked! So anyway, I bought some beautiful green beans at the farmer's market to make an Asian stir fry with the beans and chicken. Aren't they nice??

Twenty minutes before starting dinner, I remembered that the chicken was in the freezer......fail! So in my search for a substitute, I thought of tofu. 

Now I am not really a huge fan of tofu. I didn't like the way it was cooked when I ate it for the first time. And being a non-vegetarian, I didn't have a reason to force myself to like vegetarian protein sources. A while ago, I made myself try some tofu that a friend had cooked. Surprise, surprise........I liked it. Since then, I've wanted to try my hand at it and I finally picked up some cubed super firm tofu at the grocery store. Yes, I'm lazy and don't want to bother with cutting up tofu. 

Anyway, I whipped a spicy tofu and green bean stir fry for dinner tonight. Don't let the spicy scare you......just leave the red pepper flakes out and that will take care of the spicy.

Spicy Tofu and Green Beans

For the tofu :
8 oz. package of extra-firm tofu
1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
1 teaspoon soy sauce
a dash of red chili sauce

For the beans/sauce :
green beans, as many as you like
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, minced
3-4 button mushrooms, sliced
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon chili sauce
1.5 teaspoons light brown sugar
1/3 cup water, chicken stock or vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon white vinegar
2 teaspoons oil
red pepper flakes, as much as you can take.....or none

If you're not using cubed tofu, chop the block up into small cubes and mix it with the other three ingredients listed above. It should look like this. Leave it aside for 20 minutes. 

In the meanwhile, trim the ends of the beans and cut them into medium sized pieces. I ended up with a little over a cup of green beans.

Heat a teaspoon of oil in a skillet or saute pan. Add the tofu and cook for about 5-6 minutes or until it is lightly browned. Take the tofu out of the pan. This is what it should look like.

Now add the remaining teaspoon of oil to the skillet. Add the ginger and garlic in and cook it for a minute or two. Add the beans and saute for 4-5 minutes. Add some of the stock/water, cover the pan and let the beans cook, about 6-7 minutes. Mix the soy sauce, chili sauce, sugar, five spice powder, pepper flakes and remaining stock/water. Add the sauce mix to the pan when the beans look about done. Let it cook for 2 minutes. Add the tofu and mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms look done. Dissolve the cornstarch in a teaspoon of water and add it to the pan. Stir until the sauce starts thickening and then turn the heat off. Finally, stir in the vinegar.

Eat it with steamed rice, noodles or just by itself.

Notes :

1. With all those sauces and stocks, there's enough salt in there. Add more if you think you need it.

2. As always, customize the quantity of spices and sauces to whatever your palate can enjoy. If you follow it as is, you just might need a sweet side dish.

Fall Diaries, Edition 1 - Butternut Squash

Hello readers!! The sporadic blogger is back with a brand new post going ga-ga over her favorite season. We’re almost into winter here but let me say it….I love fall!! The weather is just right – yeah spring is nice too, but fall is better. And oh the gorgeous leaves! As much as I love flowers, I can’t get over the red, orange and yellow leaves all around.

Anyway, since this space is all about food let’s get to the best thing about fall – all the glorious vegetables! Fall is the time to bring home an assortment of pumpkins and squashes – and it’s really difficult to not find something you like. Oh well, as long as you like vegetables, you should find something you like. So what’s on top of my list? Undoubtedly has to be butternut squash and that is what this edition is going to be all about.

For the uninitiated, butternut squash is a sibling of the pumpkin and has a mildly sweet taste. It is wonderfully adaptable since it blends seamlessly into various cuisines. You can steam, roast or pan fry the squash, use your choice of cooking fat, add meat or keep it meatless and season with all the spices you care (or dare) to throw in.

What I have in this post  is a much loved Moroccan inspired Butternut Squash and Chickpea Stew. It is a little sweet, a little spice and immensely flavorful. The stew is pretty much a one pot meal and all it needs is a little bit of cous cous (or rice) on the side to make a hearty and healthy meal. And if the meat lover in you is skeptical about this one, I’d urge you to go ahead and try it once. You won’t regret it. If you really just have to have some meat, I’d suggest leaving the chickpeas aside and adding some lamb instead. The recipe and cooking time will need some tweaking though.

Disclaimer – This one is definitely not original. I first found something similar in Sally Schneider’s ‘A New Way to Cook’. Additional inspiration came from one of my favorite food blogs – Smitten Kitchen.

Butternut Squash and Chickpea Stew

1.5 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow or white onion, cut into ½ inch cubes

18 ounces butternut squash peeled, seeded and cut into ½ inch cubes

1 cup chickpea cooking liquid + ½ cup apple juice + water as required 

1.5 cups cooked chickpeas or canned chickpeas (drained and rinsed)

1-2 tablespoons raisins

1 inch piece fresh ginger, finely chopped

2 large cloves of garlic, minced 

1 medium tomato, diced small

1 inch cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

Ground black pepper, to taste

Red pepper flakes, as required

A pinch of saffron, crumbled

Salt to taste

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

In a large pot, combine the oil, onions cumin, cinnamon, ginger, garlic and black pepper. Cook until onions turn translucent. Add squash and saute for 2-3 minutes. Then add the remaining ingredients, except salt and cilantro. Cover and cook till squash is about 2/3rds done (about 12-15 minutes) . Then add salt and some of the cilantro. Uncover and cook till squash is tender and liquid has reduced enough to make a thick stew. Garnish with the remaining cilantro. 

Notes : 

1. 18 ounces of diced squash is about 1.2 pounds. Butternut squash is hard as a brick when it's raw so buying it pre-diced may be a good idea.

2. If you're using canned chickpeas, use vegetable stock instead of the chickpea cooking liquid.

3. Cilantro hater alert - Use parsley instead of cilantro. It's not the same, but it's better than nothing.

When zucchini meets Indian food....

Hello world! We’re halfway through October and I suddenly realized that it has been a month since my first holler. For all my rant about the ‘food I love’, I haven’t shared a thing yet and that’s certainly an oops moment for a (wannabe?) blogger. So it’s time to get started on the food trip readers! Fasten your seat belts and let the journey begin…..

Since I’m taking you through the A to Z of the food I love, let’s start with Z for zucchini. As I type ‘zucchini’ I can already feel some of you losing interesting and thinking of better things to eat and read about. If I still have you hooked to this post, I promise this will get interesting…….and if you eat this you won’t even believe there’s zucchini in it. The vegetable lover in me rediscovered zucchini this summer and the versatility of this green squash is simply amazing. Roast it, saute it or combine it with chocolate in a freshly baked bread…..there’s something for everyone. And if none of these ideas are appealing enough, zucchini and Indian food is a match made in heaven. I did say this would get interesting…….

So there I was one fine evening with cabbage and zucchini in the refrigerator and the desire to whip up something fun. And thus was born ‘Zucchini Cabbage Kofta Curry’. A vegetarian kofta curry is by no means an innovation and is quite the staple in Indian restaurants all over the world. For the uninitiated, ‘koftas’ are dumplings made from vegetables or meat and the curry bit comes from the koftas being simmered in a spiced sauce. Vegetarian koftas are usually made with cabbage, carrots and/or cottage cheese. Now zucchini is not typically found in India or used in Indian cooking. Well maybe it’s available in the new and fancy grocery stores in big cities, but it’s definitely not used in traditional cooking. So the creative genius in me decided to throw zucchini into the koftas and the rest, as they say, is history......

By the way, the picture is not that great because my camera decided to die on me just I was about to take a picture and I had to let my phone do the honors. 

Zucchini Cabbage Kofta Curry

For the koftas / dumplings :

2 cups shredded cabbage

1 cup shredded zucchini

1/2 cup chickpea flour (a.k.a besan)

2 small slices of whole wheat bread ground into breadcrumbs

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon powdered cumin

1/2 teaspoon powdered coriander (powdered cilantro seeds)

1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder (ground cayenne pepper)

salt 

Mix all the ingredients together and divide the mixture into 12-13 equal sized portions. Make sure the portions are reasonably round shaped and space them evenly on a greased cookie sheet. Spoon a drop of oil over each portion if you'd like to. (You don't need to think 'oil rig' here....just a drop). Preheat the oven to 400 F and bake for 15-20 minutes. 

For the curry :

1 tablespoon oil (I use canola)

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 pods of green cardamom

1 pod of black cardamom

a tiny bit of mace (skip it if you can't find it)

1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon sugar 

1/4 teaspoon powdered cumin

1/2 teaspoon powdered coriander 

1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder

3/4 teaspoon garam masala (store bought spice mix)

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1.5 cups water

salt, as preferred

Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat and add the whole spices (ingredients 2 through 5). Fry the spices for about 10-15 seconds and then take the pan OFF the heat. Mix the tomato and ginger garlic pastes and add them to the pan with a few teaspoons of water. Mix well and return the pan to the heat source. (DISASTER ALERT : Refer to the note below). Let the pastes cook together for 3-5 minutes. Then add the sugar, salt and spices and mix well. Add water, cover the pot and let the sauce come to a boil. Add the koftas to the curry (SLOWLY) and simmer for 6-7 minutes. Combine the cornstarch with a teaspoon of water and add it to the curry. Stir gently until it begins to thicken. Voila!! Serve over rice or with bread.

Notes :

1. Adding any kind of paste to hot oil has all sorts of disastrous potential. Stuff may splatter all over you and your stove. So make sure the pan is off the heat source for a few seconds before throwing the pastes in and have a lid handy to cover the pot and contain the splatter.

2. Cornstarch acts like slow relief medication in my experience. It takes a little bit of time (in single digit minutes) for the curry to become really thick. Remember that before dumping half the box into the sauce.

3. The quantities of sugar and spices are indicative. Adjust them to your spice tolerance levels.