Saturday, May 3, 2014

Still Cooking From Boxes: Baby Corn Hara Masala, The Indian Version of Chili Verde.

   We're 19 days into the moving process around here. We're still living out of boxes, and spending every spare moment looking at wood for cabinets and granite for counters. We've bought our appliances but right now the kitchen is a wasteland. There are no cabinets, no stove, no fridge, no sink.... anyone who's ever done this gets the picture. The Family Room  started as a Brady Bunch wonderland of grasscloth and beadboard.


Yes, we had it all. We had the lava rock, we had the heavy oak mantle, and I'm sure there's a bottle of Boones Farm hidden around here somewhere, all that was missing was Alice.


That was until we went to work on the grasscloth with a Paper Tiger. Yes, that's not just an expression to me anymore. It's a nifty device sort of like a cheese grater for wall paper.


After a day and a half work, we now have the Brady Bunch Family Room, Paranormal Activity version.


But one cannot strip wallpaper all day, or even more than a few hours without getting hungry. So, meanwhile, back at the boxes.... which we are keeping in our friend's kitchen, I went looking for something I could find to cook, and cook with.

   Now the last time we moved from LA to Sonoma, I discovered that I had actually packed garbage. Not the coffee grounds and banana peel kind of garbage but you know the kind of stuff, broken pencil stubs, half empty boxes of birthday candles, a broken yoyo, you know, stuff. This move I didn't exactly do that. I did do a drawer purge this time, but I also made my own new series of stupid moves. For some reason I don't remember, I packed a can of baby corn. Baby corn? That's something I can picture Don Draper enjoying on a salad in Mad Men. I didn't know what to do with it. Hell, I don't even remember buying a can of baby corn, let alone packing it carefully in newswrap. But evidently I did, and I found it today, along with my food processor. For the life of me I don't know how or why I packed some of the stuff I did. I thought I was packing smarter this time. Evidently not.

   It does sound like some sort of twisted game show. You got a can of baby corn, a food processor, whoops no blades! Oh, there they are packed with the shoes. Who did that? Never mind, just cook lunch. But, what does one make out of that? I had no idea, so I consulted the one thing I couldn't lose in packing.... the internet! I made a beeline to the website of renowned Indian chef the late great Tarla Dalal. Believe it or not, she had just the answer, a recipe for baby corn in a Hara Masala (green masala) sauce. It included everything I had in the house. And the other thing about this dish, it cooks in about 10 minutes! Nothing wrong with that. After all the Paper Tiger awaits. I picked up a couple of onions, a bunch of cilantro and a tomato. Bingo, done! 
 

Baby Corn Hara Masala


Here's What You Need:
1 can of baby corn
1 cup of chopped onion
1 tomato
1 and 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro
salt to taste
1 shallot chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
3 Tbs coconut oil
2 serrano chilies
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger

Here's What To Do:
 Locate your food processor, when you find it, fill it with 1 and 1/2 cups of cilantro,
1/2 inch piece of ginger, 1 shallot peeled and chopped, i cup of chopped fresh onion...


2 serrano chiles,1 tsp of cumin seeds,1/2 tsp of lemon juice.


Toss in 1 and 1/2 cups of cilantro...


...and start your engines.


Set the Hara Masala aside.
In a skillet or kadhi, heat 3 Tbs of coconut oil.


 When the oil is hot, add in the green chili masala.


Cook everything for about 5 minutes.
Add in the baby corn, and 2 Tbs of water.


Mix everything together well and add salt to taste.


Cook everything for another minute.
Add in 1 tsp of lemon juice and 1 tsp of sugar.


Mix everything together well
Sprinkle a bit of tomato strips over the dish and serve it up hot and spicy.


Spicy, and a bit sweet, this dish is a great side and who would have thought baby corn would find a home outside of a late 50's cocktail party? Coming up next, Sonoma Wine country meets Indian food as I get crazy with grapes, did I mention that I found my blender.....follow along on Twitter @kathygori

7 comments :

  1. Kathy. Here's an ode to you! !

    http://aalayaminspiration.blogspot.com/2014/04/artist-feature-when-desi-cuisine-goes.html?m=1

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    1. Thank you sooooooo much! You make me blush. I love your site and am so flattered to be included. You two have done a great job.

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  2. The recipe is creative and fun and pretty but what stopped me in my tracks? The Paper Tiger and grasscloth. Oh Kathy I was there not that many years ago! I actually painted some grasscloth because the notion of stripping it was beyond me when I first moved in and it actually was interesting; paint with some texture. But three years ago I wanted it gone and the Paper Tiger and I became fast friends! All I know is this. I will never, EVER put up wallpaper again. I will do creative paint techniques possibly because those are easy to change but never again the paper or the Paper Tiger. Hope you're having fun! XO

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    1. Ha! I thought you could relate. I was having flashbacks to the time I tried to remove mylar wallpaper off the guest bath downstairs after watching an episode of this old house. Yes as a kd I was the one who tried to jump ff the roof after watching Superman

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  3. Baby corn hara masala looks so yumm and easy to make too.. I am surely going to give this a try.

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    1. Tarla Dalal was such an inspirational chef. I love her recipes.

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  4. Nothing like living in the construction site... I'm amazed you manage to keep cooking and blogging!

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