Mango Bread: Luscious, Delicious

I don't think there's a fruit in the world that can compare, even distantly, with the luscious mango.

I am not talking about the sorry, hard, pale-yellow approximation available here in supermarkets. What I mean is the radiantly golden, deliciously juicy mango that makes an appearance in Indian markets at the beginning of summer.

There really is nothing like an Indian mango, especially the variety called the Alphonso. The bright orange flesh of that fruit, its deeply velvety texture, its sinfully decadent richness of taste is to be eaten to be believed.

This summer, when we traveled to India despite all our worries about the sweltering May heat, the fact that we could gorge on the Alphonso until we could almost eat no more-- almost, but not quite--was enough to make the nasty weather bearable.

Coming to today's recipe, I love making fruit (or veggie) breads, but last Saturday I didn't have any bananas, carrots or pumpkin pulp on hand. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention, and when I saw in the pantry a tin of mango pulp that I'd picked up on my last visit to the Indian store, I had a delicious thought.

Now let me make this clear: mango pulp, even the variety that claims to be made from Alphonso, is not all that great. It is too sweet with added sugar and always tastes a little tinny. Still, it comes in handy for mango lassis and shakes, and being a bit of a mango freak, I usually keep one or two tins around.

To make a long story short, I decided to use the mango pulp to make a mango bread. I worked from my pumpkin bread recipe, modifying it as I went along. Since the pulp was much thinner than the canned pumpkin puree one would use for a pumpkin bread, and I wanted to use more of it to get an intense mango flavor, I used a little more flour, cut down on the sugar and water, and doubled the amount of pulp.
The resulting bread was surprisingly delicious, although let me be the first to admit that fresh mango puree would make it much, much better (try it, you lucky souls who live in India). The bright orange of the baked bread was also gorgeous. The two cups of mango puree gave the bread just the right mango-ey punch.

To go with my favorite fruit, I used cardamom, my favorite spice. These two are wonderful flavors both on their own and married to each other.
So here it is, a very special recipe for a very special bread. This one goes to Sweet Vegan!, the vegan food event I am hosting through Oct. 31.

Luscious, Delicious Mango Bread

Whisk together:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 level tsp powdered cardamom seeds

1/4 tsp salt

In a bowl, beat together until well mixed:

4 tbsp canola or other flavorless vegetable oil

3/4 cup sugar

Add 2 tbsp flax seed powder and beat in.

Add 2 cups mango pulp and beat until well mixed.

Add the flour mixture and mix well.

You can add about 1/2 cup of slivered almonds to this, although I didn't because I didn't have any on hand.

Pour the batter into a standard 9X5 inch greased loaf pan and bake in a 350-degree oven around 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, or with a few crumbs stuck to it. Please note that because no two ovens are the same, even at the same temperature, the bread might take more or less time to bake in your oven. Whatever you do, don't skip the toothpick check!

Cool on a rack before unmolding and cutting into slices.

Enjoy!

Update: The second time I tried this bread, I reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup. The result was just as good, so in the interests of health I am going to update the amount in the recipe above from 1 cup to 3/4.

Toques Off! Uma's Millet Dosa

Time was when I was addicted to cookbooks. I would buy them, borrow them, subscribe to food magazines, and read the Wednesday food sections of any newspaper I could lay my hands on. Until I discovered the wonderful world of food bloggers.

Maybe this is how Columbus felt when he landed in the New World. Or maybe not. But truth be told, it was a pretty exciting discovery for me. Here were all these talented people sharing delicious recipes they had cooked up themselves or that had been passed on in their families for generations. It was almost too good to believe.

What was most surprising was the generosity of it all. I remember asking a colleague once for a recipe of an Irish soda bread she was known for making, and pat came the answer: "I don't give it out. It's a family secret." Now I have occasionally run into people who won't share recipes, but honestly, what's the fun of cooking and coming up with recipes if you are the only one who's going to ever make them? No fun at all.

Which makes all that you do all the more special. Since discovering food blogs, I find that I don't need cookbooks and magazines for inspiration, although I do still hold on to a few old favorites. And most of what I read in the food sections of the two newspapers we subscribe to, The New York Times and the Washington Post, pales in comparison to the gorgeous creations of just regular folks like you cooking every day in their home kitchens for their families.

So after that long preamble, here's my point: I've been reading so many of your blogs for so long now, and instead of handing out an award or two, I thought I'd pay tribute in the way I know best: with your recipes, cooked in my kitchen. And the way I'm going to do this is by picking up one blogger ever so often and showcasing one of their recipes that I loved.

My first pick is Uma, the lovely lady from Essence of Andhra.

There are many reasons. For one, Uma is a super-talented cook and most of her recipes make me really want to rush to the kitchen and start cooking. For another, she is sweet and considerate: one of the nicest persons I know in the blogosphere. Plus she has on her blog many nutritious recipes for meals that can be put together in minutes: a blessing for the hurried yet adventurous cook.

I wanted to cook nearly everything on her blog, but I picked out this Millet Dosa because it sounded so very unusual to me. I eat and make dosas all the time, but never before have I tasted one made with millet.

I followed Uma's recipe to the letter, so I'm not going to post it again. I must say these were not only quick, they were absolutely delicious. I spread them out thin and they had a most wonderful crispy edge. The flavor of the millet was unbelievably good. I served them with just a pat of vegan spread for breakfast on Saturday morning, and Desi, who's quite a dosa gourmet, loved them.

Thanks, Uma, for a delicious keeper recipe, and for your great blog!

Beet-Barley-Brown-Rice Pilaf with Ginger-Lime Dal

Given how much I love beets, I surprised myself the other day when I realized I've never posted a recipe with this wonderful, healthful veggie, unless you count this curry.

I am not sure what I love more about the beetroot: its gorgeous color, its earthy flavor, or its highly nutritious properties. Or, maybe, its long shelf life: it keeps forever in the refrigerator (okay, maybe not forever, but for a few weeks) which is important in my kitchen that's far from organized

This week, I've been rather busy at work so I haven't been able to go buy any veggies, and have been relying on the frozen ones I always keep on hand for exactly just such occasions. I also had, sitting there, three very lovely beets whose greens I had already used up.

Now I had been wanting to make something fun for this month's Jihva for Ingredients which is being hosted by Suganya. The theme she chose is Whole Grains.

The beets gave me a great idea. In my pantry was some barley leftover from the last time I cooked a barley risotto. So out it came, along with some brown rice, and together with the beets, frozen spinach, and some sambar powder, it morphed into my Beet-Barley-Brown-Rice Pilaf.

The dish took minutes to make and was simply gorgeous to look at, with the jewel-like color that beets impart to anything they touch. It also tasted amazingly good, and was perhaps one of the healthiest dishes I've ever cooked. And I cook healthy most of the time.

To go with the pilaf, I made some very simple, very quick, very delicious Ginger-Lime Dal.

The whole meal was ready in less than 45 minutes, and made for a truly wholesome dinner with nothing more than some microwaved papad. I think I could eat this every day.

Beet-Barley-Brown-Rice Pilaf

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice + 1/4 cup barley, cooked(I put them together in the rice cooker and follow instructions for cooking 1 1/4 cups of brown rice)

2-3 medium-sized beets, skins scrubbed clean, then grated

1 10-ounce package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed (I just do this in a microwave which saves a LOT of time)

1 habanero pepper, finely chopped (replace with 2 or 3 of any other hot chili peppers if you don't have habanero. You need a good amount of heat, though, because it has to stand up to the sweetness of the beets and the robust flavor of the brown rice and barley.)

2 heaping tbsp sambar powder

1 onion, sliced thinly

1 sprig curry leaves

1 tomato, chopped

2 tbsp canola oil

2 tbsp grated coconut, for garnish

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions, curry leaves and chili peppers and stir until the onions turn translucent but not brown.

Add the chopped tomato and sambar powder. Stir until the tomato turns mushy and expresses the oil.

Add the spinach, mix to coat with the spices, and then add the grated beets.

Add salt to taste.

Cover and cook for a few minutes until the beets are tender.

Now mix in the cooked rice and barley. Mix well.

Add the coconut and either mxi it into the rice or just leave on top as a garnish.

You can also add some coriander, if you like.

Serve hot with the Ginger-Lime Dal (recipe follows).

Ginger-Lime Dal

Ingredients:

3/4 cup moong dal, cooked until soft

1 tbsp grated ginger

2 green chilies, slit

1/2 tsp turmeric

Juice of 1/2 lime (can substitute with lemon)

1 tsp mustard seeds

3/4 tbsp canola oil

Salt to taste

Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds. When they sputter, add the green chilies.

Stir for a few seconds, then add the ginger and stir again for about a minute. Do so on medium heat so the ginger doesn't burn.

Add the turmeric. Stir in.

Add the moong dal and salt to taste.

Let the dal cook for another 5 minutes on low heat. Turn off the heat and squeeze in the lime juice.

Serve hot with the beet-barley-brown-rice pilaf.

Enjoy!

Thai Green Curry

Thai curries can be a lifesaver on busy days. Or at the very least a timesaver. I usually have jars of homemade Thai curry pastes -- red and green -- sitting around in my freezer, and I pull one out for those nights when I don't have much time to fuss around with a fancy recipe, but want something extraordinarily delicious anyway.

If you invest some time in making the paste and freezing it beforehand, it takes just moments to chop up some veggies, pull out a can of coconut milk, and whip up a lipsmacking curry that makes for a very special meal when served with nothing more than simple boiled rice.

While it's easy enough to just buy the curry paste from any Asian grocery store (it keeps forever in the refrigerator), I make my own for two reasons: I like making things from scratch, and-- importantly-- most store-bought versions are not vegetarian.

The paste recipe does require some special ingredients from the Asian store: lemon grass, for instance, and galangal, a ginger-like rhizome with a unique flavor. You can substitute this with ginger, at a pinch. Once you have assembled the ingredients, you will have enough paste to make the curry many times over.

I substitute the shrimp paste that's usually found in Thai green curry paste recipes with some Worcestershire sauce (make sure you get the vegan kind because there are non-vegetarian versions out there) or just Tamari, as I did this time. If removing the shrimp paste makes a difference, I haven't noticed it.

I made this Thai-style curry for Harini or Sunshinemom's Food in Colors: Green event. True to its name, the curry has a lovely, pale-green hue complemented by the dark green basil and the zucchini.

So here you go, first with the paste and then with the curry. Enjoy!

Thai Green Curry Paste

Ingredients:

1 tbsp tamari soy sauce

3 stalks of lemon grass. Discard the tough outer leaves and use the lower part of the stalks. Chop.

1-inch piece of galangal, grated (can substitute with ginger)

Zest of one lime

4-5 hot green chillies, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

6-8 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

20-25 peppercorns, powdered

1 tsp coriander seeds, powdered

5-6 cloves, powdered

1 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil

Grind all the ingredients in a blender or food processor. If needed, add some more oil. Put in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and store in refrigerator or in the freezer, if you intend to hold on to it for a while.


Thai-style Green Curry

Ingredients:

3 yellow potatoes, diced and then boiled until just tender (you can leave out the potatoes and use any mix of vegetables in the curry including green beans, bell peppers, carrots...)

2 medium zucchini, diced

1 large onion, sliced finely

1 tbsp grated ginger

2 small hot green chilies, finely minced

1 package silken extra firm tofu, cut into 1/3 inch cubes (make sure you get the SILKEN extra firm -- I used Nasoya brand--because the texture makes all the difference. Soft or even firm tofu won't hold their shape in the curry and regular extra firm tofu is too textured for my liking. The silken extra firm tofu also does a great job of sucking in the wonderful flavors of this curry.)

1 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil

2-3 heaping tbsp green curry paste (recipe above)

1 14-oz can coconut milk

1 tbsp sugar

Salt to taste

8-10 basil leaves, rolled up and cut into ribbons

Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the onions and stir for a few minutes until translucent but not brown.

Add the ginger and green chillies and stir for a minute.

Add the green curry paste and fry, stirring constantly, until the paste becomes fragrant and begins to express the oil.

Add the potatoes and stir for a few seconds

Add the zucchini and stir again until the vegetable starts to tenderize

Add half the coconut milk and salt to taste. Let the curry simmer on low heat until the zucchini is just tender with a slight bite.

Add the remaining coconut milk, tofu, sugar and salt and just warm through before turning off the heat.

Add the basil and stir in.

Serve hot with plain boiled rice. A squirt of fresh lemon or lime juice tastes great with this.
**
Here's a recipe for Thai Red Curry Paste, and more Thai-inspired recipes.

Sweet Vegan! Calling All Cooks

This had to happen. I just had to challenge all you cooks out there to flex your delicious imaginations and come up with sweet desserts and treats that are absolutely free of any and all animal products. In other words, vegan sweets.
While it is not hard at all to cook and eat vegan most of the time, sweets can be a bit of a challenge to the most seasoned vegan cook. Western desserts, usually baked, rely heavily on eggs, butter, cream and other dairy products. Indian sweets are also usually dairy-based, which puts them on a vegan's list of just-can't-eat foods.

But at the same time, there are cooks out there who are every day challenging our long-held notions about cooking with animal products. Today, not only is it possible to make vegan versions of most popular sweets, it is also possible to make them just as delicious, if not more so.

For this event, just think different. How about almond or soy milk instead of cow's milk? Ground flaxseed or cornflour or silken tofu instead of eggs? Soymilk curdled with vinegar instead of buttermilk? And if you just cannot do without the sour cream or the cream cheese or the whipped cream, remember, there are vegan options of all these foods available at health food stores and even, sometimes, in your regular supermarket. Most are surprisingly good.

Of course, if your recipe does not require an animal product in the first place, you don't have to worry about the substitutes at all.

I'd love to see what you can come up with, and no, you don't have to have a food blog to enter this event. The recipe does have to be newly posted, though, so please don't send old blog posts unless you cook and post the recipe again for this event.

Send as many entries as you like and link back to this post. Feel free to use the logo. If you need help, there are already many bloggers out there who have posted countless recipes for sweet vegan treats. All you need to remember is the recipe has to be sweet and none of the ingredients should have an animal source. So no butter, milk, cream, ghee or other dairy products, no eggs, and no honey.

Your entries should reach me before 6 pm Oct. 31 at vaishalihonawar[at]gmail[dot]com, or just click on the Email tab in my profile. Include these details:

Your blog name

Your blog url

Url of your entry

A picture about 300 pixels in width

Good luck, everyone, and sweet eats!

Moroccan Chickpea Stew

Moroccan food is among my favorites when we eat out. For one, it is never hard to find vegan dishes in Moroccan restaurants because the cuisine of that region is rich in vegetables and grains and legumes and spices.


Then there are the candles, the belly dancing, and all those other fun trimmings. What's not to love?

But if you are willing to forego the extras, it can be quite easy to whip up a divine Moroccan dinner right in your own kitchen. Better, you can make it really healthy.

This Moroccan Chickpea Stew that I'm serving up today is just such a fragrant concoction, and I'll bet you will want to eat every last drop of it right at one sitting.

I love chickpeas-- they're quite possibly my most adored legume-- and I sometimes really, really crave them. As I was this weekend, when I decided to make this stew. I use a number of veggies in this stew, so it makes for a complete meal with some couscous, bulgur, rice or even some polenta, which is what I served it with.

The chilli paste I stir into the stew at the tail end is called Harissa, and it is a traditional North African paste that is just bursting with flavor. Don't skip it, because it really makes a huge difference.

Moroccan Chickpea Stew

Ingredients:

1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked for a few hours or overnight, then cooked until tender in a pressure cooker or on the stovetop.

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, finely diced

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp grated ginger

2 red bliss or yellow potatoes, diced

2 carrots, finely diced

20 cherry tomatoes, halved, or about 5 plum tomatoes, quartered

1 zucchini, finely diced

1 green pepper, finely diced

1 tbsp coriander + 1 tsp cumin seeds, ground into a powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

2 tbsp thyme, remove leaves from stems and run a knife through them.

Heat the oil and add the onions.

Fry until the edges are browned. Add the ginger and garlic and saute another minute.

Add the chickpeas and about 2 cups of liquid. Add tomatoes, coriander-cumin powder, potatoes, turmeric and salt to taste.

Cover and cook about 20 minutes.

Add the thyme, carrots, zucchini and green peppers. Cook another 10 minutes until all the vegetables are tender.

Check salt. Stir in 2 tbsp of the Harissa paste (recipe follows).

Serve hot.

Harissa paste

15 red chilies, soaked for about 2 hours and then drained

8 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt to taste

1 tsp cumin seeds + 1 tsp coriander seeds, lightly toasted, then powdered in a spice grinder.

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and process until fairly smooth. You can freeze the remaining paste in an air-tight jar.

***

Here's Freddie out for a leisurely morning walk. He loves to walk really, really slow, taking his time to sniff every calling card he finds along the way. Strange, those dogs.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

The great news about being vegan is, you don't have to give up the most wonderful food ever available to mankind: chocolate.

Vegan chocolate is easily available, and truth be told, it is no different-- in any way-- from regular chocolate that has dairy products in it. One of my favorite bedtime treats is a tablespoon of Ghirardelli's White Mocha Hot Chocolate stirred into a cup of soymilk. Heaven AND vegan. And there are many, many varieties of vegan candy and vegan chocolate chips to be found at stores like Whole Foods.

Whole Foods and Ghirardelli also both make vegan chocolate chips for baking. To make the Chocolate Chip Cookies I am sharing today, I used Whole Foods' 365 Days brand of unsweetened dark chocolate chips. Not only are these chips delicious, they're really pretty in these cute little rectangular shapes they come in.

I just got back from a hectic work trip to Boston (which is why I've not been posting) but the minute I got home today I rolled up my sleeves and baked these cookies because I just couldn't leave these chocolate chips uneaten any longer.

The cookies have a lot going, texture-wise. The powdered rolled oats give them a wonderfully chewy texture. The chocolate chips give a silkily gooey mouth-feel. And the walnuts add a rich crunch.

I truly enjoyed making and eating these marvelous cookies. Hope you do too!


Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mix in a bowl:

1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together until well mixed:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup canola oil

1 tbsp molasses

1 tbsp ground flax seeds + 3 tbsp water, beaten together

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp almond milk (can use soy milk)

Add the flour and beat in until smooth.

Now add:

1 1/3 cups rolled oats, ground to a powder

1 cup walnuts, toasted lightly, then chopped

1 cup vegan unsweetened dark chocolate chips

On a greased cookie sheet, drop large balls of the cookie dough, about 2 inches apart.

Bake in a 375-degree oven for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are lightly brown. They will still be soft in the center.

Keep the cookie sheet on a rack for a few minutes. Then remove the cookies from the baking sheet and transfer to the rack to cool completely. They will firm up as they cool.

Dig in!

***
One of Opie's favorite pastimes is to sit in the front yard and look for squirrels scurrying around the oak and maple trees on our street. He then barks at them to call them...to play? I have no idea, but he does look adorable doing it.


***
And finally here are some wonderful critters having a great time with our flowers. Have a nice weekend, everyone!

Lemony Vegan Cupcakes with "Cream Cheese" Frosting

Baking cupcakes that are moist, light, eggless and dairyless seemed like an almost insurmountable challenge to me when I first went vegan. Brainwashed as I had been through years of baking about the importance of butter and eggs to the process of cakemaking, I believed that a good cake was impossible to make without these ingredients.

I admit I lived through a few mistakes: cupcakes that weren't fluffy, cupcakes that were too tough, and cupcakes that just weren't, well, what cupcakes ought to be. Until, inspired by some cake veganizing tricks from the fabulous book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, I improvised this recipe. And then, I felt like a Cake Einstein.

My Lemony Vegan Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting are, to me, a small triumph for veganism. They taste so good, I bet they'd convert any sceptic. Desi is a regular cupcake gourmet and even he agrees these are among the best he's tasted.

So go on, I dare you. Put on your baking gloves and take a stab at these. I know you'll be back for more!

I am sending on this recipe to Fanny at Foodbeam who is hosting the September edition of Sugar High Fridays.

Lemony Vegan Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup turbinado sugar (you can use regular)

1 cup almond milk + 1 tsp vinegar, mixed and set aside to curdle for a few minutes

1/2 cup vegan butter like Earth Balance at room temperature

1 tsp pure lemon extract

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and mix well. Set aside.

In another bowl, with a hand mixer or a stand mixer set to medium speed, cream the vegan butter and the sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add the two extracts.

Add the flour mixture in three batches alternating with the almond milk, beating in well after each addition so there are no lumps. Scrape down the bowl after each addition.

Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Divide the batter equally among the cups, filling each cup about 2/3rds.

Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven about 22 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Set aside on a rack to cool completely before frosting.

Faux Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1 8-oz package of vegan cream cheese like Tofutti, left out of the refrigerator for at least an hour to soften.

1/4 cup sugar, powdered

1/2 tsp powdered cardamom (optional)

A couple of drops of yellow food coloring

1/2 tsp pure lemon extract

Put all ingredients in a bowl and beat with a hand mixer for a minute or two until light and fluffy. Using a spatula or, if you have one, a pastry bag, decorate each cupcake any way you wish. I go for the abstract art, as you can see!

Enjoy!

Spicy Vegan "Kheema" (Mince)

After going vegan, one of the happiest realizations I had was that it was not really the meat I missed in dishes I would no longer cook or eat: it was the spices.

In fact, whenever I remember an old favorite, like a meat curry or biryani, I find that cooking the dish with vegetable substitutes and the same spices gives me the same satisfied feeling. In the past, I've shared recipes for such old favorites as My Dad's "Not Mutton" Mushroom Curry and biryani. For these I used vegetables like mushrooms to substitute for the meat, but in today's recipe I use a more common meat substitute: textured vegetable protein, or TVP.

Kheema, or mince, usually refers to lamb or goat meat mince in India. The TVP granules are made of soy and have a great, chewy texture besides loads of great protein. So you get all the joy of eating kheema without the fat and cruelty. What more could one ask for?

I make the vegan kheema almost exactly like I used to make the regular version: with lots of veggies and spices. As I almost always do, I made my own spice mix, but you can subsitute with garam masala powder if you happen to have it on hand. I also add some coconut milk to my kheema which takes the edge off the spices, while adding yet another layer of flavor and texture.

The end result is a highly nutritious, delicious dish that's wonderful with chapatis and even rice. Trust me, you'll never miss the meat. And it takes far less time to cook than meat would, which, in my book, makes it an all-round winner.


Vegan "Kheema"

Ingredients

1 cup textured vegetable protein or TVP, soaked in boiling water for at least 15 minutes. Drain and squeeze out the excess water.

1 tbsp canola or any vegetable oil

1 tbsp grated ginger

5 cloves garlic, minced

3 tomatoes, diced

1 cup carrots, cut into a very small dice

1 cup green peas (I used frozen)

1/2 cup frozen corn kernels

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 cup coconut milk

4-5 sprigs of mint, leaves removed from the stems, then chopped

Grind into a fine powder in a coffee/spice grinder:

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp poppy seeds

3 cardamom cloves

4 cloves

1 1-inch stick of cinnamon

2 red chillies

1 tbsp peppercorns (use less or skip if you don't want the kheema to be too spicy)

Heat the oil in a wide saucepan.

Add the ginger and garlic and saute for a minute until fragrant but don't let it burn.

On medium heat, add the spice powder and stir to toast, about a minute.

Add the carrots and stir for a minute.

Add the tomatoes and stir. Cook for a few minutes until the tomatoes are broken down and the juices have evaporated.

Add the peas, corn kernels and the textured vegetable protein. Add the salt.

Cook for about 15 more minutes, until all the flavors have blended.

Add the coconut milk, mix in, and turn off the heat. Add the mint and mix.

Serve hot with chapatis or rice.

***

Here's a lovely Dahlia from our yard. Have a nice weekend, everyone!

Kashmiri Collard Greens

I had never eaten collard greens before I moved to the United States. When I did start eating them, I'd usually buy them frozen and then saute them with some simple spices like mustard and green chilies. But while I liked them enough, I wasn't really moved. Also, the fact that they take extra-long to cook put them somewhere at the bottom of my list of green favorites.
Then I found a recipe that intrigued me. It came from Madhur Jaffrey's fabulous cookbook "World Vegetarian," and, surprise of surprises, it was a recipe for a Kashmiri-style preparation.

This recipe takes a long time to cook: almost 2 hours. But all the ingredients go into the pot right at the beginning and you don't have to babysit them. So after I get back from work, I can throw together the ingredients into the pot, slap on a lid, go out and water the garden and then walk my dogs without a care in the world. Meanwhile, the collards cook themselves. The most you might need to do is check a couple of times to make sure not all the water's evaporated before its time.

The collards are hefty, so although the long cooking tenderizes them, it doesn't reduce them to a mush. They retain a wonderful texture and bite, and absorb all the myriad flavors of the spices and tomatoes.

I loved this recipe, and I know it's one I will be making again and again. Here goes!

Kashmiri Collard Greens

(adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian)

Ingredients:

5-6 large collard leaves, stems removed, then rolled up and cut into long, skinny ribbons

1 tomato, dunked into boiling water for a minute, then peeled and diced

1 large onion, thinly sliced

3 large cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp grated ginger

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1 1/2 cups water

Heat the oil and add the onions. Saute on medium heat until nicely browned.

Add the ginger and garlic and stir for a minute.

Add the tomato and stir for another minute.

Add the collard greens, salt, red chilli powder and water.

When it comes to a boil, cover with a tight-fitting lid, turn the heat to low, and allow the veggies to simmer away for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

If there is still water remaining at the bottom of the pan, turn the heat to medium or high and let it evaporate.

Serve hot as a side dish with rice and dal or with rotis.

[collard greens subzi]

Peas and Mushroom Biryani

At my home, biryani is always a hit. After all, what's not to love in a dish that combines the richness of a spicy sauce with the pure fragrance of basmati rice and the decadent sweetness of raisins and nuts?

But biryanis in restaurants often suffer from fat overload. The rice is usually greasy and so is the sauce. And while all of it tastes pretty good, you get up from the meal feeling like you ate for four instead of one.

That's certainly not the case with my decadent Peas-and-Mushroom Biryani which uses a smidgen of canola oil and a cup of coconut milk. Since the biryani can easily feed at least six people, the amount of fat consumed per person is still very low.

I use mushrooms here because of their robust texture that stands up well to strong spices. And peas are a perfect match to mushrooms, so in they went.

I've had a really long day today, so I am going to shut up now and just let the biryani do the talking for me. Enjoy, everyone!

Peas and Mushroom Biryani

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Basmati rice, washed and drained

1/2 tsp turmeric

4 cloves

4 cardamom pods

1-inch stick of cinnamon

2 bay leaves

3 cups water

1 pound crimini mushrooms, quartered

1 cup green peas (I used frozen)

3 tomatoes

1 cup coconut milk

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

1 1-inch piece ginger, grated finely

6 garlic cloves, crushed into a paste

1/2 cup of cashew pieces and raisins

1 tbsp + 1 tsp canola oil

1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves

In a spice grinder, grind to a powder, then toast lightly in a dry skillet:
1 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp black peppercorns

3 cardamom pods

3 cloves

1-inch stick of cinnamon

In a saucepan, heat the water and add the whole spices and turmeric to it. When the water comes to a boil, add the rice.

When most of the water is absorbed by the rice, turn the heat to low, cover tightly with a lid, and let the rice cook on low heat for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in another, larger pot with a tight-fitting lid.

Add the sliced onions and saute over medium heat until the onions turn golden-brown.

Add the ginger and garlic and saute another minute.

Add the mushrooms and tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes have broken down completely.

Add the toasted spices and stir in.

Now add coconut milk and peas and salt. Cook another 5 minutes over low heat.

Now layer the cooked rice on top of the sauce in an even layer. Cover with the lid and cook for about 15 minutes on very low heat.

Heat 1 tsp oil in a saucepan. Add the raisins and nuts and stir until the cashew nuts are lightly browned.

Garnish the biryani with the nuts and raisins and coriander leaves. You can also garnish with crisply fried onions.

Enjoy piping hot!

[vegan mushroom biryani]

Baingan Bharta with Whole-Wheat Naan

I've perhaps been guilty of posting too many eggplant recipes in this space over the summer, but what can I say? I have little resistance to this wonderful, healthful veggie, and I cannot help but keep making it in every different way I can. Desi too loves eggplant, so I get no arguments from him when I cook it.

Today's recipe, Baingan Bharta, is, of course an Indian classic with many versions. My mom used to make it with yogurt and without tomatoes and, I think, she even added some coconut to it. Nothing but the eggplant itself was cooked. I do make that version sometime, with soy yogurt or just without any, and it is truly lip-smacking.

But this version that uses more spices and the richness of tomatoes was what I was craving today when the rain doused Washington and kept us indoors all day. That, with naan.

Naan is a popular north Indian bread that anyone who has ever eaten in an Indian restaurant would be familiar with. It's a soft, pillowy, often triangular-shaped bread that's baked in a clay oven.

I, of course, don't have a clay oven so mine just gets baked in the regular oven. I try to make my naans healthier than restaurant versions by using a mix of bread flour and white whole-wheat flour. They taste just as delicious, without making you feel all sticky inside from that white flour, if you know what I mean.

Baingan Bharta and Naan go perfectly well together, the spices of one complementing the yeasty-soft freshness of the other. This meal sure lifted my spirits on a gloomy, wet day!
Baingan Bharta

Ingredients:

2 medium eggplants or 1 large one, halved, placed cut-side down on an oiled baking sheet, and roasted in a 350-degree oven about half an hour until the flesh is tender.

1 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil

2 medium onions, sliced

2-3 banana peppers, chopped (you could substitute serrano or jalapeno)

2 tbsp grated ginger

8-10 garlic cloves, grated or minced very fine

4 tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 tbsp coriander seeds, powdered

1 tsp cumin seeds, powdered

1 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/4 cup finely chopped coriander leaves

Salt to taste

In a saucepan, heat the oil and add the onions. Saute slowly over medium to low heat until they start to caramelize and turn quite brown but do not burn.

Add the ginger and garlic and saute for another minute.

Add the coriander powder, cumin powder, chilli powder and turmeric. Mix well and stir to toast the spices.

Add the tomatoes and banana peppers and, over medium heat, cook until most of the juices of the tomato have evaporated.

Scoop out all the flesh from the cooled eggplant skins and chop roughly. Add to saucepan. Mix well.

Cook for another 5 minutes until the eggplants and tomatoes have turned into a homogenous mush. Add salt to taste.

Turn off heat and add coriander. Mix well and serve hot with naan.

Whole-wheat Naan

Ingredients:

1 cup bread flour

1 cup white whole-wheat flour

1 1/4 tsp yeast

2 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil

3/4 cup soy yogurt

1/4 tsp salt

Water as needed

Sesame seeds for sprinkling over the naan (I use unrefined sesame seeds, but the white ones will do perfectly well)

Mix the two flours and the yeast and salt thoroughly in a bowl if making by hand, or in the bowl of a stand mixer.

Add the oil and yogurt and knead for about 10 minutes, using low speed if using a stand-mixer, to form a smooth dough. Add water if necessary.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl and turn it over once to coat all sides.

Let it rise about 2-3 hours in a warm place.

Divide the dough into six balls. Let them stand around 10 minutes. Then, roll each ball into an oval, about 6-7 inches in diameter at the longest point. Make sure you roll out the naan evenly and don't roll it out too thin, to ensure it puffs up in the oven.

Brush with oil and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top of each oval.

Preheat an oven to 475 degrees, placing a pizza or baking stone on the middle rack. I just use four unglazed clay tiles that I bought long ago from a hardware store and they do the job just as well.

Place as many naans as possible on the stone without overlapping. I just bake two at a time.

Bake about five minutes. The bread will puff up and light brown spots will appear on the top when it's done.

Serve hot with the bharta.

Enjoy!

Garlicky Orzo with Cherry Tomatoes

My vegetable garden got off to a late start this year because I was in India during the spring when I'd have normally started working on it. As a result, it is only in the past couple of weeks that I have been able to start picking some deliciously ripe cherry tomatoes from my plants (the ones that the squirrels and birds miss, that is).
Growing cherry tomatoes is gratifying because the plants produce so much fruit. I take a cupful of these grape-sweet beauties to eat with my lunch almost every day now. And I am always trying to find ways to add them to the recipes I cook.

Last night, with not much time left on hand after walking the dogs and running a couple of errands, I debated between ordering out and throwing something together that would take me less than half an hour. Eating in won, and that was because I knew I had on hand some orzo pasta and a basketful of just-picked cherry tomatoes that could be rustled together into a tasty and nutritious meal.

Orzo is one of Desi's favorite pastas, because, I suspect, it looks a lot like rice which is his favorite food in the world. It is also quick-cooking because of its tiny size -- a boon for the busy cook.

The pasta sauce is extra simple but also extra flavorful: extra virgin olive oil, tons of garlic and pepper. The cherry tomatoes and a handful of fresh basil, also from my garden, provide even more flavor and freshness.
I had on hand some vegan mozzarella from Vegan Gourmet that I picked up last week. It was so creamy and delicious, I had to read the label again to make sure they hadn't sneaked in the real thing on me. Since basil, tomatoes and mozzarella are a match made in tastebud heaven, I diced up the mozzarella and added it to the pasta.

I've basically already given you the recipe above, but let me go through it step by step. Trust me, if you try it, you'll be hooked.

Garlicky Orzo With Cherry Tomatoes

Ingredients:

1 pound orzo

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp ground black pepper

8-10 garlic cloves, sliced thinly

2 cups of cherry tomatoes, halved

A couple of handfuls of fresh basil leaves, cut into strips or just torn by hand

About half of an 8-oz package of vegan mozzarella cheese, cubed (add more if you like!)

Salt to taste

Cook the orzo al dente according to package instructions and drain.

Heat the olive oil in a wide saucepan.

Add the garlic slices and stir for about a minute until they are just very lightly brown. Do not burn them!

Add the black pepper and stir for a few seconds, then add the orzo. Stir it well to coat with the flavored oil.

Turn off the heat and add the cherry tomatoes, basil and mozzarella. Salt to taste. Toss and serve immediately!

It's as simple as that.

Cardamom-Scented Applesauce Mini-Muffins

Others may have brunch, but at our home we have pre-breakfast.

Pre-breakfast is a word coined by the imaginative Desi to describe a small meal he likes to have each weekend after waking up and before walking the dogs. It is not in any way to be confused with breakfast which is a more elaborate and substantial meal he usually makes himself once the walk and gym are out of the way. Desi always shares pre-breakfast with the doggies who are by now well familiar with the routine and start hanging out at the table before he even gets there.

At its most basic, pre-breakfast is whole-wheat toast with peanut butter and jelly, but sometimes I make healthy snacks like muffins or scones or nut breads that I can stow away in the refrigerator and which are ready to eat after a quick zap in the microwave or the toaster.

These bite-sized applesauce mini muffins are a perfect example of pre-breakfast at our home. They are low in fat and made with whole wheat pastry flour and are light and delicious and quite guilt-free for morning eats. I use cardamom and cinnamon to spice them up and the fragrance of the baked muffins is beyond description.

Yes, they are sweet, but then what's life without some sugar?

Desi has such a sweet tooth, in fact, that he'll sometimes eat these with a dollop of jelly, but they are perfect on their own. Here they are!

Applesauce Mini-Muffins
Ingredients:
Mix together in a bowl:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

A pinch of salt

In a larger bowl, whisk together to mix:

1 cup applesauce

3 tbsp canola oil

2 tbsp ground flax seeds mixed with 4 tbsp water

3/4 cup sugar

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a few strokes just until all ingredients are moistened. Don't overmix to make a smooth batter: lumps are fine, even good.

Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan and divide the batter equally among the cups.

Bake in a 400-degree oven for 10-12 minutes. When they are ready, the muffins will be lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin will come out clean.

Enjoy!

Navratan Kurma

It is Ganesh Chaturthi today, the birthday of India's beloved elephant-headed god, Ganesha or Ganapati, and the Indian blogosphere has been abuzz with greetings and photographs of the festival.

I haven't celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi for years, because neither Desi nor I are big on religious rituals. But when this festival rolls around each year I cannot help but miss those wonderful days of my childhood in Bombay when my cousins and I would wake up early in the morning, filled with anticipation for the five fun-filled days that lay ahead of us.

There was that raucous trip to the idol-maker with my father and uncles to pick up the clay Ganesha idol, beautifully formed and painted in garish but still pretty colors. On the walk back to my uncle's home, where the idol would sit in a decorated niche for the next five days, we would shout ourselves hoarse screaming "Ganapati Bappa Moraya," (Salutations to Ganesha) in an effort to out-cry every other group carrying their own little idol to their own home.

It was a time to meet relatives, those you met regularly and those you only saw once a year when they came to pay their respects to the deity. It was a time to get together with girlfriends and make the rounds of every home in the neighborhood that had their own Ganesha idol, simply so we could eat the prasad (a sweet offering for the deity) that was distributed to guests. It was a time of eating some of the most wonderful food made by the women in the family who would all get together in the tiny kitchen at my uncle's home and turn out the most amazing dishes.

On the evening of the fifth day, the idol would be carried to the sea, where it would be immersed. It was a poignant time for us kids, although I can imagine now that the adults were perhaps more than just a little relieved after the busy five days.

All this reminiscing made me want to cook up some wonderful Indian sweet today, but unfortunately I just didn't have the time. So instead I am going to share another dish that I made for last night's dinner and which, to me, is special enough: Navratan Kurma.

The word "kurma" works like magic on Desi who for some reason will eat anything with this suffix. But he is more than a little partial to Navratan Kurma which incorporates spices and vegetables with the sweetness of fruits and nuts, and is quite delicious. It is also typically rather rich because it uses a good amount of cream.

I replaced the cream with a ground paste of cashewnuts, which is a much healthier substitution and which goes perfectly with the fruits and spices. In fact, even in my pre-vegan days, I'd often use cashewnut paste or pistachio paste as a substitute for cream in meat and vegetable dishes.

I used vegetables I had on hand, including sweet potatoes, potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, and carrots, but peas, beans and peppers would also be great here. I also added some soy yogurt, which I love, to the recipe, and I think it really enhances the taste.

So here it is, my Navratan Kurma. Enjoy! And a Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to all.

Navratan Kurma

Ingredients:

3 cups mixed vegetables, chopped in a fine dice, and then cooked or microwaved until tender. (I used a mix of potatoes, sweet potatoes, zucchini and carrots and nuked them with about 1/2 cup of water for around 8 minutes in a microwave-safe bowl covered loosely with a ceramic dish.)

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1 medium onion, diced

2 tbsp minced garlic

2 tbsp grated ginger

1/2 cup soy yogurt

2 pineapple rings, chopped (I used canned)

1/2 cup cashew nuts, soaked in about 1 cup of water for about half an hour and then ground into a fairly smooth paste (I like a few bits of cashew in there but you could grind it very fine if you prefer).

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

1 tbsp canola oil

3 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped

For the masala, powder in a spice grinder:

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)

1 tsp peppercorns

4 green cardamom pods

5 cloves

1 tsp poppy seeds

2 1-inch pieces of cinnamon

2-3 dry red chillies

Set aside.

In a saucepan, heat the canola oil. Add the onion and stir occasionally until brown spots appear.

Add the ginger and garlic and stir another minute. Do not let them burn.

Add the powdered spices and stir until coated with oil and lightly toasted, about a minute.

Now add the tomatoes and turmeric and cook, stirring, until the tomatoes break down.

Add the soy yogurt and let the paste cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add salt.

Add the cooked vegetables and mix well.

When the gravy comes to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer on a low flame for another five minutes for the flavors to incorporate.

Add the pineapple rings and cashewnut paste and heat until just warmed through.

Turn off the heat and garnish with coriander leaves.

Enjoy!

***

I'll leave you with a picture of Freddie after his appointment today with the cardiologist who sedates him every few months for an ultrasound of his sweet little heart which is functioning with a broken mitral valve. The old guy was completely out of it when Desi took this picture, in fact he still is as I write this, but he still looks awfully cute, doesn't he?