Red Pumpkin Is Not A Mid 80's Spy Movie, But It's Tasty, and Vegan.

   
   Stuff has been crazy mad around here lately between writing and cooking.  Most of what I've been cooking I've not been able to publish here yet because it's for the CocoaPlanet Modern French Cafe here in Sonoma, but I have managed to get back to some home focused Indian dishes...thus, the Red Pumpkin.
    
   Now, I happen to like pumpkin in any form but to be honest pumpkin isn't always available, and even when it is, all pumpkins are not created culinarilly equal.  I've learned this the hard way several times, and so when I cook "pumpkin" many times I reach for the trusty butternut squash. Every year I grow a LOT of butternut squash. I store it in a cold room in the garage and then finally cube, vacuum seal and freeze it for future use. I am never without butternut squash. So when looking at my vast array of squashes, I turned to one of  the Grande Dames of Indian cuisine the late great Tarla Dalal who has an amazing and very simple recipe for Maharashtiran  style red pumpkin.

   I have to admit, besides being able to use one of my favorite vegetables I love the name Red Pumpkin even if I don't actually have one...it just reminds me of the cheesy Red Sonja movie from the 80s.



Which reminds me of the time I found myself seated on a couch at a producer's house party eating Mexican BBQ and talking to a perfectly normal sort of person who turned out to have been Red Sonja. Go figure. Seems like there was a lot of "Red" themed movies back then... Red Dawn, Red Heat...you get the drift. What's that got to do with Pumpkin? Nothing... just background. So without further ado here's... red pumpkin/butternut squash easy, simple, totally vegan, and gluten free.

Maharashtiran  Style Red Pumpkin/Butternut Squash

Here's What You Need:
3 cups of cubed butternut squash
2 Tbs vegetable oil (I always use coconut oil)
6 curry leaves (if you don't have them just omit as there's no real substitute)
1/2 tsp brown mustard seed
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp chopped shallot
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp kashmiri chili
1/2 tsp garam masala
salt to taste
2 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro

Here's What To Do:
Get your spices together.

 Chop the shallot.

Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet or kadhai.

When the oil is hot add in the mustard, curry leaves, and cumin seeds.

When the mustard seeds start to pop and cumin seeds start to toast  (this happens fast so be prepared) add in the shallot.
Saute for about 30 seconds.

Add the squash cubes...

...turmeric, kashmiri chili powder, garam masala and salt.

Add in  1/2 cup of water.

Stir everything together well, and put a lid on things.

Let everything cook for about 12 minutes.

Check the vegetable every now and then to make sure nothing is sticking or burning.
When it's cooked through, serve it up garnished with the chopped cilantro.

All you need with this for a perfect lunch is some spiced Basmati rice and a roti or two and you are golden! All it takes is about 30 minutes from start to finish and that in my opinion makes it the perfect working weekday meal.

Coming up next...more vegetables of course and there always has to be something sweet. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori . Stay tuned...no flipping!

What's Cooking? Basundi, The Gujarati Classic Slow Cooked Dessert.

    

    
   Dealing with the new house and a whole bunch of other stuff I'll get into later has been a lot of work. Last week finally, the last of the boxes left the living room and we started to get an idea of just what goes where, and also what that "what" should be. There's also the issue of how the house works with people besides ourselves in it. One of the things that appealed to us about the place was how it would work for entertaining. The way we designed the place was with friends and family in mind and we were eager to take it for a small test spin. Each weekend we've been having a few friends over to see how everything works.
 
   One of the major changes has been in the dining room table. Instead of the long  reclaimed barnwood table we had, (now out on the deck) there is a new hammered copper dining room table, square shaped that seats 8 or 10.

Turns out people like that shape better than hollering down a long table. But what to put on that table? Last weekend moving with baby steps we had a few people over for dessert. After 3 months away from them I wanted to get my mitts on my clay pots again.

  
What better way to break in the table and re-christen one of my clay pots then with famed Gujarati chef Tarla Dalals recipe for the slow cooked milk pudding known as  Basundi.

    Basundi and variations of it are found all over India. The best way to think about it is as a slow cooked rice pudding.... without the rice. It's one of the easiest recipes you'll find anywhere. With just a few ingredients it's simple in preparation. The thing that makes Basundi special is that it's true slow cooking. With a little bit of effort and bit more investment of time, you can easily make this Indian classic. With the weather starting to change around here, it's the perfect dessert to make on a cool and rainy fall afternoon.

Basundi

Here's What You Need:
2 litres of milk (full fat)
1 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 cup chopped pistachio
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/2 tsp saffron

Here's What To Do:
Pour the milk into a wide bottomed pot, or a clay pot.

Turn the flame up.

 Bring the milk to a boil.

When it boils turn the heat down to low and cook it until the volume is halved. Keep a spoon nearby and stir the milk occasionally so nothing sticks.

If you're using a clay pot, always use a silicone or wooden spoon to keep from damaging the clay.
When the milk is reduced by half you're ready for the next step.
Add in the sugar.

Keep cooking it on a low flame and keep stirring until the milk starts to thicken.

Remember to scrape down the sides of the pan as you stir to prevent sticking, scalding, or burning. This should take about 25 minutes.
When the milk has thickened, add in the ground cardamom.

Stir the cardamom in well. Keep cooking and stirring for another 20 minutes.

When the basundi has thickened, it's ready to serve. You can serve it warm or let it chill a while and serve it cold as I did.
To chill it, take it off the flame and let it cool a bit.

When it's cooled enough, pop it in the fridge until you're ready to serve it.
Before serving, toast the saffron in a small cast iron pan, then crumble it.
Set it aside.
Chop the pistachios.

Ladle the Basundi into small serving cups. I used katoris.

Crumble a bit of the toasted saffron on top of each serving, followed by a bit of chopped pistachios, and a few slivered almonds.

 Serve it up.

I served it with a hot unsweetened spiced tea. Basundi is thick and rich so you don't need large servings to satisfy.  This recipe made 8 servings.

 
   It felt great to get back behind the stove working the clay pots again. Now that I have them out of their boxes, and safely stowed in the kitchen it's time to break out the dal. Fall's a coming as is my first crop of pineapple guava.

A spicy sorbet, or a chutney, I haven't quite decided. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

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

Khandvi, Gujarati Street Food Made Fast and Easy!

   It's been about a week since I've had the use of my stove, and with all that's been going on around here, I've been in desperate need of some kitchen therapy. When I was just about to have a total melt down the thought struck me, what about the microwave? That in itself is probably a measure of desperation since I mainly use my microwave to melt things, heat things quickly and warm buckwheat pillows. When I start turning to it for any sort of "serious" cooking I am indeed in trouble. However, there are some dishes that are just made for the microwave and Khandvi the popular Indian street food is one of them.

   When we were in Artesia last month we ate (among a whole bunch of places) at the Surati Farsan Mart and amazing place that specialized in all sorts of tasty savories and sweets, among them khandvi. If you've never had them, Khandvi is a noodle made of besan (chickpea, aka garbanzo bean flour) curds or buttermilk and spices. Quickly cooked and set, the batter is cut into strips, rolled up and sprinkled with fresh coconut, cilantro, mustard seeds and chilies. It's the perfect finger food, and did I mention it's gluten free? Once we got back from LA I couldn't wait to give homemade khandvi a try. The day my stove broke seemed to present the perfect opportunity.

   This popular Gujarati street food is very very easy to prepare and about the only tricky part is shaping the khandvi. It may take a couple of practice batches but once you get the feel for it, it's a snap. Trust me. It took me two tries to get the khandvi-making knack, but the third time was the charm and now I'm a khandvi rolling machine. All you need is a bag of garbanzo flour, and a tub of yogurt. And some mustard seeds. And some cilantro.



And some practice.

Khandvi

Here's What You Need:

1 cup of besan flour (garbanzo bean flour aka chickpea flour)
1 cup of plain yogurt
1 cup of water
1/8 tsp of turmeric
salt to taste
a pinch of hing (Asafoetida)
1 Tbs vegetable oil ( I use coconut oil)
1 tsp of mustard seed
2 Tbs of chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbs of grated fresh or frozen unsweetened coconut
1 serrano chili split in half
tin foil.

Here's What To Do:

In a large microwave-safe bowl mix together the besan flour, the asafoetida, and the turmeric.

Add in salt to taste. I usually add in about 1 tsp. When the batter is mixed check it and see if you need more.

Stir in 1 cup of yogurt.

Mix everything together well. The one thing you want to avoid in making this batter is lumps. Try to get it as smooth as possible.

When the yogurt is thoroughly incorporated, add in 1 cup of water.

Blend everything together well.

When the batter is nice and smooth, pop it into your microwave for 1 and 1/2 minutes.

When it's done, take it out and mix it together well, smoothing out any lumpy parts.

Make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl. The batter is cooking and you want it to be smooth so that it can cook evenly. Raw garbanzo flour can have a bitter aftertaste so it's important that it 's cooked through.
While the batter is cooking in the microwave, spread a couple of long pieces of tin foil out on a counter or work surface. Set them aside.
After you've smoothed the batter again, put it back into the microwave for another 1 and 1/2 minutes.
Take it out again and give it another smoothing beating. You can use a mixer if you need to.

Pop it back in the microwave for another 1 and 1/2 minutes.
When you take it out for the final time, whip it again. It'll be thick but try to get it as smooth as you can.

Now, this is the only tricky part where it's important to work fast, as the batter will start to firm up and set.
With a spoon, drop a  strip of batter along the edge of one of the sheets of tin foil.

Take a flat edged spatula and spread the strip of batter down the foil, almost as though you were plastering a wall.

Drop another strip next to the one you just spread, and then spread that one too.

Keep doing this until the foil is covered with a thin smear of the batter.
Let the batter set for 5 minutes.

The traditional way of doing this is to grease the back of a thali (large steel serving plate) and spread the batter on that, but since you may not have those around, I used foil which also makes it easier to clean up afterwards.
Once your batter has dried, take a knife and trim off the ragged tops and sides.

This will make them even and easier to cut and roll.
Cut long strips down the length of the batter on the foil.

With the tip of your knife lift up the top edge of the strip and start rolling, gently.

Keep rolling...

...until you have a nice khandvi.

When you feel it's the right bite size, cut it and place it on a serving plate.

Keep doing this until all the batter has been cut and rolled.
I kept having this song running through my head while doing this.
"Rolling, rolling, rolling, keep that batter rolling, on your foil keep rolling, Khandvi !"
Sort of like Rawhide...??? Anyone? Well, it kept me in the zone, what can I say.



When all the khandvi have been rolled, arrange them nicely on a serving plate.
Sprinkle them with the grated coconut.

And then add on the chopped fresh cilantro.

Now for the chaunk, or tempering.

In a small skillet heat 1 Tbs of vegetable or coconut oil.

When the oil is hot, toss in 1 tsp of brown mustard seeds.

Add in the serrano chili split down the middle.

When the mustard seeds start to pop, pour everything over the khandvi on the platter.

And serve it up.

   There they are, a delicious finger food, perfect as a party appetizer. A little bit of practice and you'll be rolling these little buggers easily and in no time. You'll love them and your gluten free friends will love you for it.

    In closing, I just want to mention the passing of one of the great Indian chefs and food writers, Tarla Dalal. I have always loved her recipes, and though she is gone, all that she contributed, bringing Indian cuisine to people like me will be ever appreciated.

      Now that my stove is back in action I'll be cooking up some more Indian street foods for holiday party giving, and a special return to my Italian roots. Follow along on Twitter kathygori