Kathirikka Kai and Vendakka Kuzhambu...

...or, in a little more English, Eggplant Subzi and Okra Sambar.

A typical homecooked meal almost anywhere in India is made up of a gravied dish, a starch such as rice or flatbreads (chapatis, rotis, naans...) made of wheat or other grains, and a vegetable side-dish.

In the southern state of Tamil Nadu, where Desi comes from, the gravied dish, usually made up of lentils for a vegetarian meal, is called a sambar or a kuzhambu. In a traditional home you'd eat eat it by mixing it with rice and then scooping it up with your fingers (clean!) into your mouth-- my favorite way to eat anything because it's so much more sensuous that eating with steel implements!

To break the monotony of the rice and sambar, and to add more nourishment, a kai (bhaji in Marathi, subzi in Hindi), a cooked vegetable side-dish, is served.

Then there are other trimmings, like pickles which are nothing like the ones you get here in the U.S. but rather fiery-hot tidbits steeped in oil and chilli powder that make the tastebuds sing. There are chutneys of all sorts, made from herbs, vegetables, fruits and what have you. Papads or poppadums, crispy, crackly lentil crackers that can be fried or roasted on an open flame or microwaved, or crunchy vadams made of sago or rice or even potatoes, which are dried in the sun and then deep-fried to give more delicious company to the delicious meal already on your plate.

A kuzhambu can be made with almost any vegetable, but this time I made it with okra because I have all this wonderful okra still growing in my veggie garden and Desi loves okra kuzhambu (I know, I know, it's my third okra recipe in as many weeks!). I paired it with eggplant kai because these two are a classic combination that go together like salt and pepper.

I make it with fresh ground spices, and if you have a few basic Indian spices in your pantry, you can make it quite easily. If you absolutely have to, you can substitute the fresh ground masala with 1 tbsp sambar powder. You can also use frozen okra if you can't find fresh.

Enjoy these recipes, and the rest of the week!

Vendakka (Okra) Kuzhambu

(Makes six servings)

Ingredients

About 15 okras, cut into rings about 1/3-rd of an inch thick, or 1 16-ounce package frozen okra, thawed

3/4 cup tuvar dal or yellow split peas, soaked about an hour. Add 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp salt, cook until falling-apart tender, either in a pressure cooker or on the stove top (cover with water, bring to a boil, and let it simmer. A pressure cooker's much faster).

2 tsp canola or other vegetable oil

2 tsp tamarind paste mixed in 1 cup of water, or 1 lime-size ball of tamarind soaked in 1 cup hot water for about 1/2 an hour. Crush the tamarind with your fingers to squeeze out all the juices, then discard the solids and retain the water which will be a deep brown.

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

A generous pinch of asafetida (optional)

2-3 sprigs fresh curry leaves

For the fresh-ground masala:

1/2 tsp oil

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tbsp bengal gram dal (chana dal)

1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi seeds)

A generous pinch of asafetida

2-3 dry red chillies, broken into pieces.

1/2 cup coconut milk or 1/4 cup grated coconut mixed with 1/4 cup water

To make the masala:

Heat the 1/2 tsp oil and add the other ingredients except coconut. Roast on a medium-low fire until lightly golden-brown and fragrant, about five minutes. Stir often to make sure that the spices roast evenly. Remove to a blender.

If you are using the grated coconut, add it to the skillet after removing the spices. Roast very quickly, stirring all the time, until the coconut is lightly browned, then transfer to the blender. If you are using coconut milk, as I did, you can skip this step and add the coconut milk directly to the blender.

Blend the masala into a fine paste adding just as much water as is necessary to keep the blades moving. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tsp of oil. Add the okra and fry on medium-high heat about 2-3 minutes until they start to get tender.

Add the tamarind paste and bring the mixture to a boil. Let it simmer about 5 minutes.

Add the ground masala and the cooked tuvar dal and more salt if needed. Stir together and bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. If the kuzhambu is too thick, add some water and stir to mix.

Heat the remaining 1 tsp of oil in a small saucepan. Add the mustard and cumin seeds and asafetida. When the seeds sputter, add the curry leaves. Turn off the heat and pour the mixture into the sambar. Stir to mix well.

Serve hot with boiled brown or white rice and Katthirika Kai (recipe follows)
Katthirika (Eggplant) Kai

(Makes six servings)

Ingredients

4 medium-sized eggplants (I used a slender white eggplant but you can use Italian eggplants or the tiny, round, purple Indian ones. If using the Indian eggplants, increase the number of eggplants to about 8). Cut the eggplants, skin and all, into a 1-inch dice. Mix 1 tbsp of tamarind paste with enough water to cover the eggplants (or alternatively use the method described in the kuzhambu above to make tamarind juice with whole tamarind pods) and boil until the eggplant is nearly but not quite tender, about 7-8 minutes in a microwave.

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tbsp black gram dal (udad dal)

Roast in 1/2 tsp oil and grind into a powder:

1 tbsp bengal gram dal (chana dal)

2-3 dry red chillies, broken into pieces

1 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds

To prepare the kai:
Heat the 1 tbsp of canola oil in a skillet.

Add the mustard seeds and, when they sputter, add the black gram dal. Stir until the dal turns lightly golden, about 1-2 minutes.

Add the onion and saute about 2 minutes or until it turns translucent. Add the eggplant and stir-fry for another minute or two.

Now add the powdered spices, turmeric and salt and mix well. Saute for another 3-5 minutes or until the eggplant is tender.

Garnish, if desired, with coriander. Serve hot.

Modaks (Sweet Indian Dumplings)

Celebrations in India often hinge around religious events, but you don't have to be religious to join in the fun.

This week, Hindus celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi, a festival so crammed with food and festivities that as a child it used to be my favorite time of the year-- more so than even Diwali, the mother of all Hindu festivals.

Ganesh Chaturthi is the birthday of Ganesh or Ganapati, a lovable, child-like god of many contradictions: his friend and vehicle of choice is a tiny, playful mouse and that's quite a tall order given that Ganesh himself is a pretty chubby guy with the head of an elephant, trunk and all. And despite his mischief-loving and sometimes smarty-pants disposition chronicled in dozens of bedtime stories, he occupies a hefty position in the Hindu pantheon of 30 million gods, as the deity of wisdom, intellect and knowledge.

He's also a popular guy: different groups of Hindus pledge allegiance to different gods, but everyone adores Ganesh no matter who their family deity is. So no wonder then that they throw him a bigger birthday party than they do for almost anyone else. One, in fact, that lasts five, 10 and, in some cases, even 20 days.

There's one more thing that makes Ganesh Chaturthi unique: it's not just celebrated within families; but by entire communities together, including people of different faiths. In Maharashtra -- the state where I grew up-- everyone in the neighborhood would pitch in to buy large Ganesh idols that would then be housed in decorative tents or pandals. Music would blare from loudspeakers, sometimes songs of praise for Ganesh but just as often raucous and raunchy Bollywood movie music. It was the time of year when you didn't rush to ask the organizers to turn it down: instead, you joined in the spirit and grabbed at a chance to play hooky from homework.
The Ganesh idols are always made specially for the celebration, and always immersed in the sea at the end of the festival. Some were -- and still are-- incredibly ostentatious, covered in diamonds (not real), shimmering glass or silver or gold and sometimes dozens of feet tall. But they were not the only highlight of these pandals. Communities competed to come up with topical and mythological themes to decorate their pandals: you'd find everything from social issues like women's upliftment to tales like the Ramayana featured. There were even contests for the best Ganesh decor. This year, in Pune, where the community Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations first originated and which has been particularly hard hit by the H1N1 virus, there's even a Ganesh pandal with a Swine Flu theme. :)

When I lived in India, one of the high points of this time of the year was making the rounds of the best known Ganesh pandals around the city to ogle at the various idols.

But the most fun was to be had at my family's five-day celebration--always held at the home of my uncle who got the honor since he was the oldest male in the family-- because of the incredibly delicious food that my mother and aunts cooked up each day.

Ganesh's most lovable quality, to my mind, is that he loves to eat. The food, then, always had to be special and, as with all Hindu celebrations in my part of India, it had to be vegetarian (because, dummy, gods don't eat innocent animals). Of all these dishes, each unique, nothing was more special than Modak, the sweet-stuffed dumpling (steamed or fried) that is said to be Ganesh's most favorite of all foods.

While I don't celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi any more in my home far from India, I always get nostalgic when this time of year rolls around. And while I don't always make the effort to coordinate food and festivals as my mom and aunts did, this year I decided to go ahead and make modaks during Ganesh Chaturthi, partly because I wanted to share with all of you this wonderful, delectable sweet.

I like the steamed version of this dish, but I'd be lying if I were to say I didn't love the deep-fried version more. Biting through the crispy exterior to get into the soft, squishy, sweet surprise inside is an experience that has to be eaten to be believed.

I make my modaks as traditionally as my mom and aunts made them, but because I don't always get the same ingredients here, I made some modifications. They worked so well, I couldn't tell the difference. For instance, because I use pre-shredded coconut which is dryer than coconut that's freshly grated, I added a tiny bit of coconut milk to give the filling the right texture. I also added a few drops of lemon juice to the intensely sweet filling-- although this is not a traditional ingredient, I think it really cuts through the cloying sweetness without making the filling sour.

Here's the recipe. Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to all!

Modak

For the dough:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup rava (cream of wheat)

2 tbsp transfat-free vegetable shortening

Enough soymilk to knead

Mix the ingredients together into a stiff but pliable dough. Cover and set aside at least half an hour.

For the filling:

In a heavy bottomed skillet, mix together:

1 cup shredded coconut (I used the pre-shredded kind from Whole Foods)

1 cup finely grated jaggery (found easily at Indian grocery stores)

Toast on a low flame until the jaggery is almost melted through. Keep stirring because coconut burns very easily.

Now add:

3 tbsp canned coconut milk

1/2 tsp ground green cardamom seeds

1/4 cup finely chopped cashew nuts

Stir together well, mashing in any lumps of jaggery that might remain. Once everything is well-mixed add 1/2 tsp of lemon juice, then turn off the heat and set the mixture aside to cool.

Break off a piece of the dough, about 1 inch in diameter. Roll into a ball and then, using very little flour, roll into a disc as thin as possible, about 3 inches in diameter.

Place a tablespoonful of the filling in the center. Now gather the edges of the on the top and pinch to seal into a pointed tip. Moisten with some water if needed to ensure a tight seal because you don't want the modak to come apart while it's frying.

Heat enough oil to cover the modaks in a skillet. Once the oil temperature reaches 375 degrees, deep-fry the modaks, a few at a time, until they are golden-brown all over. (Frying at this temperature ensures that the food will absorb almost no oil.)

Remove to a dish lined with paper towels to absorb any excess grease. Cool to lukewarm before eating.

Peach Jam

Where did the summer go?

This morning, temps were in the 60s when I woke up-- a big change from the 80-plus-degree mornings we have had these past few weeks in the Northeast. It's refreshing but oddly odd, as the changing of seasons tends to always be, no matter how often we go through the process.

I love and hate each season, as I do summer, but there's one huge reason why I wait for it to come around each year more than I do any other season: the abundance of fresh vegetables and fruits which open so many delicious possibilities for a vegan cook. And when summer inevitably begins to wind down, I can't help but feel a little wistful and sad, as if a dear friend were saying a long goodbye.

This summer, I did something I hadn't done regularly in the past: I made preserves. Whenever I could find fruit at great prices, I picked up an armful and cooked up homemade jams and jellies. Strawberry, peach, blueberry...trust me, they tasted better than anything I've bought in a jar off a shelf. What's even better: I knew exactly what was in each of them.

Today, I wanted to share my peach jam recipe. This recipe is just enough to fill about one jar or so. Right now, new as I am at this, I don't want to be bothered with all the sterilizing and canning and whatnot that usually goes with making preserves that can be preserved for weeks and months... Well, maybe next year.

Here's the recipe. Enjoy, all!

Peach Jam

Ingredients:

4 perfectly ripe peaches. Cut a cross just through the skin on the bottom of each peach (not the side that attaches to the stem) and place them in boiling water for a minute. Remove, dunk in cold water to stop the cooking, cool. You can now easily peel the peach by pulling at the skin where you made the cut. Cut the peach in half, remove the pit, then chop the peach into a fine dice.

1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (I add sugar a little at a time because there's no telling how sweet the peaches will be. So play it by ear.)

1 1-inch stick of cinnamon

Place all the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed pan. Stir and crush the peaches with a potato masher. If you want a really smooth consistency, process the peaches first in a food processor until they are almost a puree.

Bring the mixture to a boil. Stir with a ladle and crush the peaches down with the potato masher as they cook. Allow the jam to cook about 30 minutes or until it is quite thick.

Cool and refrigerate in an air-tight jar. This usually lasts me at least 2-3 weeks. If you are making larger quantities, be sure to follow instructions for canning to keep your jam from spoiling.

Okra With Onions and Potatoes

Vegetarians and vegans are always pointing to famous vegetarians and vegans, because-- I guess-- not only is it gratifying to know that there are successful people out there who embrace a cruelty-free lifestyle, but also because it is a small defense tactic. After all, people tend to view us meat-free people as kooks, a myth perpetrated in no small measure by television and the rest of the media which tends to usually present us as airheads acting on a whim.

In real life, however, studies have shown that the most intelligent among us are more likely to embrace a meat-free lifestyle early in life. It does make sense, doesn't it? After all, one would have to be sensitive and strong to make and carry out life-changing decisions that run counter to what the rest of the world is doing. Besides, the greatest intellects of the past are on our side. From Pythagoras to Leo Tolstoy to Gandhi to Einstein and George Bernard Shaw, each one of these great people embraced and expounded the virtues of a vegetarian diet.

I am also often thrilled to find glimpses of sensitivity toward the creatures of the world in some of the greatest works of contemporary art and literature.

Recently, I finished reading what must be one of the most evocative books I've ever laid my hands on, Joyce Carol Oates' We Were the Mulvaneys. This 1996 book documents the lives and times of a happy, bustling family that goes through a terrible tragedy, careens helplessly toward a breakup, then reunites toward the end of the book.

Oates is a great writer who needs no introduction to any book lover, but I especially love her liesurely, indulgent style, her way of grabbing your attention and then keeping you hanging in suspense before you get the answer, her remarkable eye for the smallest of captivating details that most of us might just brush past without noticing.

One of the things I loved about this book was how beautifully Oates portrays the chemistry between humans and animals. There are plenty of animals in this book, because the story begins on a farm. Among the most evocative of relationships is that between Marianne Mulvaney and Muffin, her cat. Here's what Oates writes about an aging Muffin.

"Marianne waved away a swarm of mosquitoes, seeing that Muffin was sitting, or lying, in the grass, sphinx-style, forepaws neatly tucked beneath his chest, tail curving around his thin buttocks. She picked him up gently and held him. How thin he was! Yet how soft and fine his fur. He did not resist her; but neither was he kneading his paws against her as usual, nor did he begin to purr immediately."

Surely Oates must love cats, for who else but a cat lover could capture so vividly one of these classy, enigmatic, independent creatures! And I loved that throughout the book, she turns an equally compassionate, understanding eye toward animals.

Near the beginning, through the voice of Judd Mulvaney, she writes: "There were many deer on our property, in the remoter wooded areas, but it was rare for any to pass so close to our house, because of the dogs. (Though our dogs never ran loose at night, like the dogs of certain of our neighbors and a small pack of semi-wild dogs that plagued the area. Mom was furious at the way people abandoned their pets in the country-- "As if animals aren't human, too.")"

Don't you just love that?

***

Now on to today's recipe, Okra with Onions and Potatoes, which is one of my favorite side dishes. I adapted this recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian where she describes the dish as being from the state of Gujarat in western India.

Although the original dish did not include onions, I added them because I love the complimentary flavors of onions and okra when they are teamed together. With its sweet-sour-spicy notes this dish is bound to captivate any palate, even one that claims to hate okra.

Here's the recipe. Have a great weekend, all!
Okra with Onions and Potatoes

Ingredients:

20 pods of okra, cut into 1/2-inch rings

3 yellow potatoes, cut into a 1/2-inch dice, then boiled until tender (I cover the diced potatoes with water in a microwave-safe dish, place a lid or a plate on top, and zap it for four to five minutes.)

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp ginger paste

1 tbsp garlic paste

1 tsp ground coriander seeds

2 tsp ground cumin seeds

1 tsp red chilli powder

2 green chilies, minced

1 tsp sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil

Heat the oil in a saucepan or skillet.

Add the mustard and cumin seeds. When they sputter, add the onions and stir-fry until the onions become translucent and golden spots begin to just appear.

Mix the coriander and cumin powders and the ginger and garlic pastes in a small container with 4 tbsp of water. Add this mixture to the onions and cook, stirring, until the water evaporates.

Add the tomatoes, okra, potatoes, chilli powder, green chillies and salt and stir thoroughly. Add half a cup of water, bring to a boil, cover and simmer over medium-low heat about 10 minutes or until the okra is tender.

Add sugar and lemon juice. Check salt and garnish with mint or coriander leaves if desired.

Serve hot with rotis or dal and rice.

Murtabak: A Malaysian Treat

I first had Murtabak long, long ago, in the days before I became a vegan, and I loved it. This delicious Malaysian dish is typically made by stuffing minced meat, usually lamb, and eggs inside the folds of a paper-thin flatbread. It reminded me somewhat of a paratha, although that is more often vegetarian, so I wasn't surprised to hear that Murtabak first originated among Malaysia's huge Indian population.

When I announced Malaysian as the cuisine for this month's It's A Vegan World, I knew rightaway that I wanted to make Murtabak again, but this time a vegan version of it. I don't often cook with meat substitutes because I don't care much for them, but I also wanted to make sure I kept the integrity of this satisfying, hearty dish that makes one want to burp with satisfaction and lick one's fingers till every last bit is gone.

TVP was out because even softened and cooked, it is not soft enough for stuffing inside a delicate bread. After looking over the meat substitute shelf at Whole Foods, I finally picked up a package of vegan sausage (Gimme Lean).

The meat, or in this case the vegan sausage, is cooked with a mixture of spices and onions not unlike a kheema would be. Contrasted with the crispy-thin overlay of bread, it is deliciousness itself.

So here's the recipe, and a reminder to get cooking and send me your vegan Malaysian dishes before the deadline, Sept. 5. This is not difficult, folks-- Malaysian cuisine is chock-full of delicious vegetarian foods that would appeal to anyone's tastebuds. In fact, here's a great resource from a reader who just sent in her recipe to IAVW: Malaysian Delicacies. Sudha's blog has lots of delicious-looking vegetarian dishes to get you started, if you haven't already.
Enjoy, all!

Murtabak

For the bread:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour plus more as needed

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup soy yogurt

2 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil

2 tbsp flaxmeal + 6 tbsp water, whisked together

1 tsp salt

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix. Knead the dough around 10 minutes, adding more flour if necessary, until you have a smooth dough. Place in an oiled bowl or container, turning over once to coat the top of the dough, cover, and set aside at least for half an hour.

For the stuffing:

1 pound ground vegan sausage (I used Gimme Lean)

1 medium onion, minced

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp garlic paste

1/3 cup black raisins

1/4 cup sunflower seeds (optional-- I like the slight crunch they add)

2 green chillies, minced

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp garam masala

1 cup firm tofu, crumbled

Juice of one lemon

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp canola oil

Heat the oil in a skillet and when warmed, add onions. Saute until they begin to soften, about 8 minutes.

Add the ginger and garlic, stir quickly, then add the sausage, breaking it up into little bits as you put it in the skillet.

Stir-fry until the sausage starts to brown, then add the powdered spices and salt to taste and stir fry for a few more minutes.

Add the crumbled tofu and stir again. If the sausage is still clumping together, mash it down with a ladle or with a potato masher until it is broken up into tiny bits.

Cook for about 5 minutes, then add the raisins and sunflower seeds and mix thoroughly. Add lemon juice, sugar and mint and stir in. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool.

The assemble the murtabak:

Tear off a lemon-sized piece of the dough and roll it between your palms into a smooth ball.

Using just as much flour as is necessary, roll into a very thin disc, about 8 inches in diameter. The dough will put up some resistance at first, but it will relax eventually. You should be able to see the countertop through the rolled disc, that's how thin it should be. Don't worry-- the dough is pretty elastic and doesn't tear very easily.

Now place about 3-4 ttbsp of the stuffing in the center of the disc, leaving a border of about 2 inches.

Fold over the top and then the bottom of the disc over the stuffing, and then fold in the sides, until you have a packet. Push the stuffing into the corners of the packet using your fingers, so it is even.

Sprinkle some flour on the countertop and roll the packet out into a square of about 6 inches.

Heat a cast-iron or non-stick griddle and smear some oil on it. Now place the murtabak on it and cook until golden-brown spots appear on the bottom. Flip over and cook until spots appear on the other side.

Before serving, cut into four squares.

Serve hot with a spiced herb dip (recipe follows).

Spiced Herb Dip

1/4 cup loosely packed mint leaves

1 cup firm tofu

1/2 cup soy yogurt (optional)

1/2 cup soy milk

1 green chilli, minced

Salt to taste.

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until you have a smooth dip. Add more soy milk if necessary.

Remove to a bowl.

Vangyache Bharit

I haven't yet posted an eggplant recipe this summer despite my obsession with this incredible vegetable, and here's the story why: I planted half a dozen eggplant seedlings this year, but being the slow-learning gardener that I am, I planted them a little too late. It was only a week ago that I finally started seeing tiny, bulb-like eggplants sprouting, and they are still too small to be picked. At the same time, I've been deluged by other veggies from my garden and have been trying to resist buying more from the market simply because I have no room to store any more.

Then this week my neighbor, Heather, offered me a beautiful purple eggplant she got from her CSA. I grabbed it, brought it home, and as I cut blissfully into its succulent flesh I realized just how much I had missed the little fellow.

Since it was a weeknight and I was running short on time, I decided to do what my mom did in a hurry: make Vangyache Bharit, a Maharashtrian-style mashed eggplant dish whose more popular north Indian version, Baingan Bharta, is often found in restaurants here.

While I love Baingan Bharta, I have a special place in my heart for Vangyache Bharit which is a very different recipe, despite the similar sounding name. Baingan Bharta is made with a cooked tomato-based sauce and is spicier, while Vangyache Bharit is creamy and tangy and mellow with yogurt and requires no cooking other than roasting the eggplant. Which in turn makes it a perfect dish for a hurried meal.

Besides, it's perfect comfort food, reminding me of times long gone and never forgotten.

There are many versions of this dish, including some that add tempering at the end, or add ginger and garlic and other spices or condiments, but I prefer to stick with this super-simple version that I find the most delicious, not least because it allows the eggplant's subtle but amazing flavor to shine through

Enjoy, all!
Vangyache Bharit

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant, slit in half. Place in an oiled, oven-safe pan, cut side down, and roast in a 400-degree oven for 25-30 minutes. (My mom would roast this directly on the open flame of the gas stove, but I use a toaster oven which is perfect for this. If a knife pierced through the center slides in easily, it is thoroughly cooked and ready. Remember, half-cooked eggplant will be bitter and tough and will turn you off this delightful vegetable forever, so don't take shortcuts here).

1/4 cup shredded coconut (I use pre-shredded coconut from Whole Foods because that's all I get here, but freshly grated coconut would be wonderful).

1/4 cup soy yogurt (it works beautifully in this dish as a replacement for regular yogurt)

2 green chillies, minced

1/4 cup packed mint or coriander leaves, thinly shredded

1/2 medium onion, finely minced

1 tsp roasted cumin powder (optional)

1/4 tsp red chilli powder (optional-- don't add if you don't like too much heat because there's already some from the green chillies)

Salt to taste

Scoop the flesh of the roasted eggplant into a bowl. It will be golden brown and really tender. Mash with a fork until you don't have any large lumps.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.

This is perfect with any spicy dal-rice combination or with biryani. I also love to just scoop it up with a chapati.

Fried Green Tomatoes

I'd been wanting to make Fried Green Tomatoes ever since I first heard about the southern American classic, which was quite a few years ago, but I finally only got around to it this past weekend.

I was watching the movie Fried Green Tomatoes on television and those thick slices of gorgeous, green-gold goodness called out to my tastebuds louder than I could resist. Since I have plenty of green tomatoes growing in my backyard right now, the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

Although the name of this dish makes it sound deep-fried, the tomatoes are actually shallow-fried in just a little more oil than one might use to saute veggies. Typically, fried green tomatoes are not vegan. You need to make an assembly line with milk, flour, eggs and finally cornmeal, coating the slices of tomato in each before they are fried.

Soymilk, I knew, would do perfectly instead of the milk, but for the eggs I decided to substitute flaxmeal plus water. This is because the eggs act as a glue in this recipe to which the cornmeal, that gives the tomatoes a crispy outer golden coating, adheres. And flaxmeal whisked with water produces a gooey mixture very similar to eggs in texture. Plus, like eggs, it has protein and a good quantity of omega 3 fatty acids which are really, really good for you. If you don't have access to flaxmeal, I'd suggest just dipping again in milk for a second time and then in the cornmeal.

Here's the recipe. Enjoy, all!

Fried Green Tomatoes

2 large green tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Sprinkle the tomato slices with salt and ground black pepper and set aside.

1/2 cup soymilk

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbsp flaxmeal whisked with 4 tbsp of cold water. If the mixture is still too thick and gummy, add some more water for an egg-like consistency.

1/2 cup cornmeal

Place the soymilk, flour, flax mixture and cornmeal each in four separate containers, deep and wide enough to submerge the tomato slices.

Heat 2 tbsp of canola or other vegetable oil in a cast-iron or non-stick skillet.

Dredge each slice of tomato in the soymilk, then the flour, then the flax and finally the cornmeal, and place into the hot skillet.

Fry on each side about 2 minutes over medium-high heat or until golden brown.

Remove to a dish lined with paper towels to absorb any excess oil, and sprinkle with some more salt and pepper when hot, if desired.

I had a little extra batter left over and I also fried up a few slices of zucchini. Yum.

You might want to try making bhujias or pakoras with green tomatoes too. Follow this recipe for the batter, dip the green tomatoes in it, and deep fry.

***

My laptop crashed the other day, taking with it lots of photographs of dishes I'd meant to blog about, which is the reason I've been a little slow these past few days. The worst is past, though, and I hope to be back to my usual blogging schedule from now on. Thanks for your patience, dear friends and readers!

Also, I am hoping to see more of you participate in It's A Vegan World: Malaysian this month. The deadline's September 5, so do send in your favorite dishes. Bloggers and non-bloggers are both welcome to participate. I'm waiting!

Vick, Speciesism, and Healthy School Lunches

Michael Vick is back. He has signed up with the Philadelphia Eagles, and the deal is estimated to be worth as much as $6.8 million.

So a ruthless dog killer gets back to life as usual, with little more than a rap on his knuckles for what most of us would agree was one of the most gut-wrenching, horrific crimes against animals seen in recent times. Before we know, Vick will once again be the huge sports star he was before April 2007, in a position to be a role model to thousands of children, and his sickening past will be all but forgotten by most.

I am all for second chances and rehabilitating criminals. I am not for glorifying them. If Vick had done this to human beings, would we be so ready and willing to forgive him? Of course not.

Here's what I don't understand. A dog who bites instinctively gets labeled "vicious" and is put down almost immediately. But when someone like Vick kills several dogs in a premeditated fashion and in the cruelest of ways imaginable, he gets away with the lightest of sentences. Are we saying that a dog is smarter -- and therefore we are holding it to a higher standard-- than Vick? Must be, because we are punishing the animal more harshly for a smaller crime than we are a human being for a much, much bigger one.

Or is it, as some animal rights advocates like Peter Singer have called it, just speciesism-- the act of discriminating against animals because we consider them lower species whose pain and suffering is simply not important?

Vick got away because the lives of animals have little value in our world. Every day we ignore animal abuse as if it were an unchangeable fact of life when the power to change it actually lies within each of us. Why else do we take our kids to zoos and circuses as if they are places of wonder and joy instead of animal suffering and abuse, which they are. Why do we eat animal-based foods, and then profess to love our dogs and cats? Why do we get shocked that people in other parts of the world eat dogs and horses, then turn to our plates and gobble down steaks and nuggets made from equally sentient cows and chickens?

Let's think about it.

Now here's another story that appeared this week in my hometown newspaper, The Washington Post. The Obama camp is criticizing posters put up by the Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine in Washington's Union Station because they show a little girl, who happens to be a vegetarian, with a thought bubble rising from her that says, "President Obama's daughters get healthy school lunches. Why don't I?"

The outcry is over the fact that the president's daughters are mentioned and according to all the pundits that the Post spoke to, the president's children have always been off limits.

Frankly, I don't see what the brouhaha is about. The president's daughters are not mentioned by name, nor are their pictures on the ad, and what's wrong with making a great point very relevant to our changing times: that children who go to public schools should have healthy vegetarian and vegan options, just like children who go to private schools do?

Childhood obesity is at a record high. Wouldn't it be wonderful if children could choose from fresh fruits and vegetables and wholegrain foods at school instead of the meaty, cheesy, unhealthy stuff cafeterias mostly offer now?

Do you have a child in public school? If yes, do you think your kids should have vegetarian and vegan options at their schools? Now is the time to let your local Congressman know, because Congress takes up the Child Nutrition Act for reauthorization in October. What they decide will determine what your kids eat at school. It's important, and it's personal.

You can also sign a petition for healthy school lunches at PCRM's Web site right here.

Have a great weekend, all!

Green Tomato Masial and Okra Subzi

Feeding time at our home is a bit of a frenzy, and with three dogs and two cats, each of a different size and with different needs, you can guess why.

Just as the grass is always greener on the other side for us humans, cat food is more desirable to dogs than what's in their own bowl and vice versa. So the struggle begins with trying to keep each out of the other's bowl. This means a lot of careful separation with baby gates and stringent supervision. One lax moment would mean Opie would have licked clean the cats' tiny bowls before I could say "No!".

Freddie, our darling oldie, is also the smallest of our dogs. His teeth are weak and he refuses to eat kibble, so he is on a canned food diet. He also likes to wait to ingest anything other than what he's supposed to eat, if he can get it, before he gets to his bowl. So his food hangs around for hours before he touches it and that, naturally, sets Opie and Lucy off into a contest to see who can get into Freddie's food before he gets to it.

Then there's Pie, our black cat, who's watching her weight, or rather whose weight we are watching. Pie is more than a little food obsessed and every morning I wake up to her constant chant of meows as she demands that I get up at once and feed her. One of the ways she manages to eat more than her share is by bullying the more peace-loving Pubm to give up her food.

For some reason, human food is the most desirable of all to canines of all sizes, shapes and temperament. Even the vegan food on my plate, strangely enough, is irresistibly attractive to these four-legged weirdos. Not so much for Lucy, who doesn't like vegetables, but for Freddie and definitely for Opie-- who, and I am not kidding-- will eat anything. He takes tofu, carrots, spinach, edamame, lettuce, potatoes, upma, dosa, dal and bread delicately from my hand and follows it all with a satisfied roll of the tongue over his mouth as if to say a lipsmacking thank you!

But Opie's most favorite food of all has got to be rice. He would eat bowl after bowl of plain boiled rice if I let him which of course I don't, because just like us humans dogs have to watch their carb intake AND their meals need to be balanced. I often kid that he must be a South Indian at heart, like Desi, because of his love for rice.

And now for a South Indian dish that works wonderfully with rice (for humans). This Green Tomato Masial is a treat we enjoy usually only in the summers when I can grow my own tomatoes and pick them off the vine before they can be touched by even the palest shade of orange. A green tomato has a character of its own, quite different from its ripe version. It's tart and tangy and firm, and in this masial it is a treat unlike any other.

I had a while ago posted my tomatillo masial, which is my winter version of this dish, but I wanted to share this too since it is one of Desi's favorite dishes, and also quite easy to make.

To go with my Green Tomato Masial, I made an utterly simple but also utterly delicious okra subzi which is exactly how my mom always made it, and which I absolutely adore. The flavor here comes from the wonderful caramelization of the onion and the okra which makes everything taste sweet and rich. So much, in fact, that as a child okra or ladies' fingers (bhendi in Marathi or vendakka in Tamil) were my favorite veggie!

The okra, along with the green tomatoes, comes from my backyard. I find okra one of the easiest veggies to grow because I can plant the seeds directly into the soil once the coldest of days is past, and the seedlings come up with little fuss. With regular watering and feeding, they give me slender and tender fingers of okra all summer which taste far better than the bags of frozen, slimy supermarket stuff I have to put up with all winter.

Here goes. Enjoy, all!


Green Tomato Masial

Ingredients:

3/4 cup tuvar dal (yellow split peas or pigeon peas), covered with water, then pressure cooked or boiled until tender.

4 medium green tomatoes, chopped into an even dice of about 1/2 cm.

1 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil

1 heaping tbsp sambar powder

1 tsp mustard seeds

A generous pinch of asafetida (hing)

1 sprig curry leaves

2 green chilies, slit through the middle.

Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a saucepan.

Add the mustard leaves and asafetida. When the mustard sputters, add the curry leaves, stir quickly, then add the green tomatoes.

Cook until the tomatoes break down and get quite tender, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the sambar powder, stir thoroughly, then add the cooked tuvar dal.

Add salt to taste, and add water if the mixture is too thick. Let it come to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes so all the flavors come together.

Garnish, if desired, with chopped coriander leaves.

This dish is best eaten with plain boiled rice, but it also goes quite well with chapatis.

Okra Subzi

Ingredients

About 12 fresh okra, trimmed at both ends, then cut into very thin rings, about 1/4th of a centimeter wide (if you cut them too thick, they will not cook through before they start to brown)

1 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil

1 small onion, very thinly sliced

2 dry red chillies, broken into smaller pieces

Salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Heat the oil in a cast-iron or non-stick skillet

Add the onions and red chillies and stir until the onions just begin to brown.

Add the okra and fry, stirring frequently, until they are quite brown and crispy.

Add some salt and pepper at the very end to season.

Serve hot!

The Green Tomato Masial goes to Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook for the 14th edition of her now legendary and healthful My Legume Love Affair. Thanks, dear Susan!

It's A Vegan World: British. The Roundup.

I learned about British foods by name in the books of the wonderful British authors who I read growing up. Scrambled eggs and sardines in P.G. Wodehouse, hot buttered scones and ginger beer in Enid Blyton, salmon and asparagus in Somerset Maugham... I had almost no idea what they would taste like, but they sounded strange, exotic and attractive at the time. Still my first introduction to British food on British soil was anti-climactic, if anything.

I had just spent the whole night and half the day at the airport and in a plane. I had butterflies the size of eagles in my stomach: it was my first trip abroad and I was joining a group of 12 journalists from around the world on an eight-week fellowship to learn all we could about journalism in Britain. I was already more than a day late because of passport-authorizing delays in India and although I'd been up nearly 24 hours I had no time to stop or grab a bite before I had to rush off to join the others who were already touring the BBC and were about to leave for the office of the legendary London Times.

My first meal was a dinner buffet laid out for us by the Times as we chatted with the top editors there (Rupert Murdoch -- who owns the Times-- wandered in at one point, realized he was in the wrong place, and excused himself immediately. But at the time it was a huge thrill for all of us to see one of the news business's biggest moguls in the flesh).

I picked up a piece of tuna fish and some salad and immediately regretted it. Perhaps it was the fatigue, or my spice-ravaged tastebuds were just not used to it, but the fish tasted terribly bland and the salad was-- well, I've said it many times before, I am not a fan of raw salads.

Over the next few weeks, though, I had enough time and opportunity to try out all kinds of British food and I am happy to say that I never again ate anything I absolutely didn't love. Of course, we always ate at restaurants, but the restaurants were certainly doing a great job of making the local food nothing short of delicious even to tastebuds as diverse as those in our group-- we had fellows from South Africa, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, among others.

But the food I ate was either meat-based or dairy-based (this was in my pre-vegan days), so when I got ready to announce It's A Vegan World: British last month, I confess I was just a wee bit worried-- how easy would it be to strip meat, fish, eggs and dairy from British food and still make it spectacular? I decided to go ahead because I reminded myself of all you adventurous cooks out there. You didn't let me down and thanks to you, we have a great feast here that would convert any skeptic.

So here, without further delay, are your wonderful creations (in alphabetical order, by your names). Thanks to each one of you for participating-- what can I say, you're amazing!
Brown Scone by Arathi of Arathi's Kitchen


Irish Soda Bread by Champa of BangaloreBaker


Leek and Potato Soup by Claire of Chez Cayenne


Spotted Dick by Jaya of Jayaspace


Oatcakes by Jules


Cranachan by Jules


Shepard's Pie by Maria of Vegan Dinners


Mulligatawny Soup by Meena of Chettinad Fiesta


Soda Bread Scones by Pavani of Cook's Hideout


Blueberry Cake by Priya of 365 Days of Pure Vegetarian


Cherry & Peach Crumble by Priya of Akshayapaatram


Scones by Priya Narasimhan of Priya's Vegetarian Recipes


10 Vegan Pickles from the British Raj by Ramki of One-Page Cookbooks


Vegan Tattie Scones by Sweatha of Tasty Curry Leaf



Colcannon by Sweatha of Tasty Curry Leaf


My recipes:
Savory "Lamb" Stew (Scouse)


Scottish Shortbread



Sandwich Bread


Cucumber Sandwiches


Whole-wheat Blueberry Muffins


Blueberry Jam

Do let me know if I missed anyone-- it is not by design, and I'll add you immediately.

Also, if you haven't already, do catch up on past editions of IAVW. We have meat-free, dairy-free, fish-free and egg-free feasts from Morocco, Thailand, Mexico and Italy. And this month we're featuring Malaysian vegan cuisine, so don't forget to send in your recipes!

Cheers, all!