Staight Out Of The Garden...Peppers In An Almond Cream Curry...But Wait, It's Vegan!

    
   I grew up a working class city kid. My mom who was no great shakes in the kitchen (never preheated an oven, 'cause...why?) had a regular rotation of meals that centered around making the money stretch to payday. As we got closer and closer, the entrees got weirder and weirder. Waffles made with beer or seven up instead of milk,  the same tired piece of meat making an appearance in its' third outfit of the week, pasta, big bags of loose hot dogs, fish sticks on Friday, Rice and Beans, and of course 89 cent boxes of Kraft Mac and Cheese. To this day I cannot eat hot dogs, and it took me years to get around to pasta again. I still have a weakness for Mac and Cheese.

   One vegetable that made regular appearances was The Pepper. The pepper could be chopped up and served with whatever meat was still hanging around,  or it could be stuffed with rice and drenched in tomato sauce. When I got out on my own, I never wanted to see another pepper again, unless it was a poblano and served as chili relleno. Peppers reminded me of things being tight. After a dinner of peppers the next step was "Kathy, get the Iron Box".
  
   The Iron Box meant that after dinner my parents would sit at the kitchen table and place small amounts of money in small white envelopes which had names on them like "doctor" "PG&E" "House". There was even an envelope for paying off my sister's  birth who at that time was 3 years old. They would kid about owing money on us...and perhaps one of us would be repossessed.  The first depiction of a family like mine on TV was Roseanne, and this scene in particular.



So, that's why I hated peppers.
  
   26 years ago when I started cooking Indian food, I was a vegetarian and so was crazy about all sorts of vegetables...except peppers as an entree. The I discovered  the many ways Indian cuisine used peppers, not just for spice and heat, but as the main feature of a dish. I tried cooking some Anaheim chilies and was hooked. The Iron Box was long gone, I was grown up and peppers were delicious when the budget wasn't holding a gun to ones' head.

   When we bought our house in Sonoma, we xeriscaped for the drought, removed the lawn,  built big wooden planter boxes on a drip irrigation system, and started growing vegetables. One of the first things I planted was Anaheim peppers. They can be prepared a variety of ways in Indian cuisine, and this recipe is simple, quick, and makes a great main dish served with spiced Basmati rice. Plus it's vegan, so there's that. Get your Anaheims ready and break out the coconut milk. Peppers are going Uptown!

Anaheim Peppers in Almond Cream Curry

Here's What You Need: 

2 Tbs vegetable oil 
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 shallot finely chopped
1 cinnamon stick
1 Tbs finely chopped fresh ginger
2 Tbs ground almonds
1 Tbs coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili
1 lb Anaheim chilies
2 fresh tomatoes
2 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground cardamom


Here's What To Do:

Slit the Anaheim chilies down the middle and remove the seeds.
Rub them with a bit of oil and place them in a microwave-safe bowl.
Microwave them for about 3 minutes, you just want to soften them a bit. ( I do this sometimes with Anaheims and eggplant if I am in a hurry)
Take the softened Anaheims, remove the stems and cut them into slices.

Heat 2 Tbs of vegetable oil in a skillet or kadhai.
When the oil is hot, toss in the onion.
When the onion has started to brown a bit, add in the cinnamon stick, chopped shallot, chopped ginger, ground almonds.

Stir fry this over a medium high heat until the spices and ground almonds begin to darken. This happens pretty fast, about 3 minutes.
Add in the ground coriander, cumin, and Kashmiri chili.

Stir this around for about 15 seconds, then add in the coconut milk.

Bring this to a boil then turn the heat down to low, put a lid on the pan, and let it cook for about 10 minutes.
Check it every now and then to make sure nothing is sticking or burning.
When the mixture has reduced to a thick sauce, pour everything into a bowl and set it aside.
Meanwhile back at the pan.... add another Tbs of vegetable oil and when it's hot toss in the sliced Anaheim chilies.

Turn the heat down and bit and saute them for about 5 minutes.
Cut the tomatoes into 1 inch thick wedges.

When the peppers start to look glazed, toss in the tomatoes.

Stir everything around.

Turn the heat up and saute for another couple of minutes until the tomatoes soften.
Pour the sauce back into the pan.

Lower the heat and continue to cook for another few minutes....make sure nothing is burning.
If it starts to stick or burn you may add a bit of water to keep things moving.
When the peppers are soft but not too limp add in the cardamom and salt.

Once again, stir. Take the pan off the heat, add in another Tbs of coconut milk to smooth things out and serve over spiced Basmati rice.

Sprinkle a bit of cilantro on top of each plate. I happened to have some fresh, raw, shredded coconut so I scattered a bit of that on top also.

 
   This dish was delicious. Not too hot, creamy without any cream and filling. Alan who has never been a vegetarian loved it. He was totally happy with his peppers and never missed any meat. Obviously this Hyderabad classic is going to be a keeper at our house, especially since we have a bumper crop of Anaheim chilies this year!
Coming up next more Indian treats from the garden follow along on Twitter @kathygori 

19 Eggplants And Counting... Japanese Eggplant in Red Miso.

    
   When we planted eggplant this spring, we planted a wide variety. We planted the small Indian globe eggplant, the large Italian eggplant, and of course Japanese eggplant. I had no idea we'd have such a proliferation!!!! We are drowning in eggplant and I love it. Maybe because I grew up in an Italian household I have eaten eggplant in it's various permutations since day one. Then 25 years ago when I started cooking Indian food, I was introduced to the large variety of eggplants that were available. So, of course when we planted this Spring, we had a little bit of everything, only a little bit wasn't so little after all.

   Usually when cooking eggplant, I've either cooked them in some Italian recipe or cooked them Indian style. I've roasted, stuffed, and pickled but never have I cooked them Japanese style. I figured it was about time.... So...I gathered up my Japanese Eggplants...

Japanese Eggplant With Red Miso aka Nasu Dengaku

Here's What You Need:
2 large Japanese Eggplants
2 Tbs vegetable oil
3 Tbs red miso
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs Sake
2 Tbs Mirin
2 Tbs water

Here's What To Do: 
Preheat the oven to 392 degrees.
Pick your Japanese eggplant (if you're growing your own) Excuse opportunity to show off the eggplants.

Wash and dry therm and cut them into rounds.

 Then quarters.

Place the cut up eggplant in a colander sitting over a bowl, and sprinkle it with 3 Tbs of kosher salt.

Rub the salt around on the eggplant pieces and then let everything sit for 10 minutes.
Rinse the salt off of the eggplants.

The water in the bottom of the bowl? That's the bitter liquid leached out by the salt.
Dry the eggplant, rub it with 1 Tbs of vegetable oil, and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Spread the pieces out so they're not sitting on top of each other.

Place the baking sheet of eggplant pieces in the oven.

Roast them for 20 minutes. You are looking for the eggplant to be slightly browned.
Meanwhile make the sauce.

Whisk together the sugar...

...Red Miso...

...Sake...

 ...Mirin, and water. Stir everything together until it is well mixed.

After about 20 minutes take the tray of eggplant out of the oven and drizzle the sauce over the eggplant pieces.

 Stir everything around until each piece is coated with sauce.

Then slide the tray of eggplant back into the oven for another 10 minutes, or until the sauce caramelizes.
Take it out of the oven and serve it up!

   Sweet and salty, this oven roasted eggplant is a great go to for when you don't feel like getting out the grill. It goes great with any vegetarian meal, or as a side dish with meat or fish. Coming up next, all vegetables all the time, as a big part of our harvest comes in. Of course we're not neglecting dessert either and this is a great time of year for perfecting your "specialitie" for the up coming holidays. I got that. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

Raw Spinach, Coconut, and Peanut Salad, A South Indian Side Dish.

   I wasn't doing a whole lot of cooking from January through mid April. Having chemo, and a lot of doctors visits didn't exactly put me in the mood for cooking and entertaining. I just didn't have the energy or the appetite. Now that I've been done with that for a month and a half, I have gotten my energy and my appetite back. Last weekend we decided to have a couple of very close friends over so that I could break out  my cooking skills again. Normally at our house we do a LOT of entertaining. There's always someone here to sample the latest thing I'm experimenting with, so it felt really weird getting back behind the stove again and cooking for a group. But you know what? Cooking is a lot like riding a bicycle or roller skating (a lot safer than roller skating) and once I was rattling my pots, pans, and clay again I found myself back in business.

   I decided to make the menu simple, and light for the holiday weekend. I made a selection of vegan dishes and then took Kheemah and shaped it into individual sausages for grilling. Sort of like hot dogs, but not. That way, I figured Alan could grill the final product while I concentrated on the vegetables. So, what I'm going to be featuring here are the various things I fixed for that meal. Fast, easy, and healthy, they fit into any sort of entertaining plans and are regularly served at our house, company or not.
 
   The easiest of these is an Indian raw spinach salad that's easily put together with any bag of pre-washed spinach in just a few minutes.

Raw Spinach, Coconut, and Peanut Salad,  aka Palak Koshimbar

Here's What you Need:
2 bags of  chopped prewashed spinach or 6 cups
2 Tbs coconut or vegetable oil
6 Tbs of fresh grated coconut, or dry unsweetened grated coconut moistened with a bit of water
4 Tbs of ground peanuts
1 tsp of cumin seed
a pinch of hing (asafoetida) (optional)
3 tsps lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt1/2 tsp sugar

Here's What to Do:
Wash and dry your spinach, then chop it.

Mix the spinach, coconut and peanut powder together in a large bowl.

In a small pan heat the coconut or other vegetable oil.

When the oil is hot, add in the cumin seeds.
Cook them until the cumin seeds darken a bit (just a few seconds actually).

Then add in your pinch of Hing if you are using it.
Pour the oil and spices over the spinach mixture in the bowl.

Stir everything together then add in the lemon juice...

Sugar and salt.

Mix again, and that's it you are done.

Pop it into the fridge to chill a bit and serve when you're ready.

   That's it! It couldn't be easier or more delicious. You see why I included this dish in my first big back in the kitchen day? It's an easy make ahead (a few hours ahead ) dish which always helps. Coming up next, a picnic ready Indian Potato Salad Sookhe Aloo. It's another make ahead dish, easy, vegan, and gluten free. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

A Keeper For Summer Weekends, Roasted Pepper Salad With Peanut Dressing.

      

   We're still in the midst of our house renovation here in Sonoma, target date for completion is mid July, and I'm nearing the tipping point. Most days finds me Googling plumbing and lighting info or working in the garden getting things ready to set up the growing beds and readying space for fruit trees. I think the chickens may be part of phase two as I don't think I could do more research into poultry housing, I'm having enough trouble with my own. I'll be so glad when all this is over and we can get back to our real work which contrary to how things may appear in real life is not LED experts, but writers. I also am eager to get into my new kitchen and get back to a regular schedule of cooking with all my tools close at hand and not scattered amongst boxes marked "Fragile". So I'm still cooking in my borrowed kitchen and so as not to get too messy, I'm leaning toward Indian dishes that are fresh, fast, and above all easy. Enter the late great Indian chef Tarla Dalal and her Roasted Pepper Salad with Peanut Dressing.

Roasted Pepper Salad With Peanut Dressing

Here's What You Need:

1 green bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper

1  and 1/2 Tbs olive oil plus a bit extra to rub the peppers
1/2 cup of roasted unsalted ground peanuts
3 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro
salt to taste
2 cups arugula
1 tsp dried red chili flakes
2 Tbs lemon juice

Here's What To Do:

Most people seem to like roasted peppers, and rather than buying them canned or out of a bottle, it's easy to make them at home whether one uses a gas flame, barbecue, or the broiler of the oven.  Lightly rub the peppers with vegetable oil and either place them on a baking sheet under the broiler, or on the grill or as I did on a low gas flame on top of the oven.

Keep the flame low, and keep turning the peppers till they start to char.

When each peppers skin is blackened, drop it into a brown paper bag and seal it tightly. Keep the pepper in the sealed paper bag for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes take the pepper out and rinse it under cool running water, while rubbing the charred skin off.

When the blackened skin is gone, pat the pepper dry and seed it.

Chop the pepper into strips and then squares.

Add the arugula on top of the roasted peppers.

Now, a note about the arugula. 

Tarla Dalal in her original recipe uses alfalfa sprouts. I didn't see any that morning, so I decided to use some fresh baby arugula. Another good possibility might be pea shoots. Actually whatever green appeals to you as peppers go with nearly everything.

  

Put the 1/2 cup of peanuts into a grinder and crush them up.

Put them into a bowl and add the olive oil...

The chopped fresh cilantro, lemon juice, and the red peppers.

Mix everything together well.

Then mix the Peanut Dressing into the greens and peppers.

Blend everything together well.

If you need to add a bit more olive oil it's perfectly ok.
When it's all blended together well serve it up and enjoy.

This salad can be made ahead and served at room temperature, but actually for better flavor, it's best to serve it right away.

  

   

   So that's it. Anything that's that fast, cheap and easy shouldn't be and usually isn't legal, but this is. It's a dish you can have on the table in under an hour and for Summer cooking that's a bonus.. It's great with grilled meat or fish, which is how we served it. A great Indian rice dish would also make a perfect accompaniment, no meat or fish necessary, so it's great for vegan or vegetarian meals, plus it's gluten free.  Coming up next, I ran across something that's new to me, red corn. Can't wait to give it a while. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori