Sweet Potato Paruppusili

I was looking for something mild and complementary to go with Pippali rasam, a favorite rasam of mine that is usually a post-partum meal served with rice and ghee.

Paruppusili being another childhood favorite of mine, I decided to serve a simple meal of pippali rasam, rice and sweet potato paruppusili for the grown-ups one night, kids got some rice and a bowl of steamed veggies after trying a spoonful of the rasam and paruppusili and categorically rejecting them. It takes at least 15 tries before I give up on a food, so, 14 more to go before I back off feeding the paruppusili to the kids...

Same recipe for paruppisili as always - simply soak the toor dal (plus a red chili or two) for a few hours, grind to a fine paste, microwave till it is cooked a bit - not raw anymore and not a hard solid yet. Break it up and pan fry in oil. At this stage, it can be cooled and stored in the freezer to be added to any favorite vegetable.

Cook the sweet potatoes in the microwave till fork tender not mushy. Start the tempering in a pan. Then add the cooked sweet potatoes and paruppusili and saute together till well combined. Serve warm.

Opo Sqash and Green Beans Warm Salad

Poduthuval, Poriyal, Thoran, Koottu are the generic names of some of the vegetable sides that typically accompany a  simple south Indian meal of rice and sambar or rasam. If the sambar or vetha kozhambu is spicy, then the vegetable side will be mild and complementary.

This combination of opo squash and green beans (plus carrots usually) is a favorite of mine, next only to the Chaenai Elavan Koottu. These days, as I don't serve a typical south Indian meal, the vegetable sides become either a warm salad or side for a weeknight meal. Opo Sqaush Carrot Mor-Kozhambu is more like a rich soup nowadays, served without the typical rice and spicy side.

I use frozen green beans and par cook it in the microwave to cut the cooking time. Then throw it in with the opo squash so they finish cooking together. Opo squash cooks up fast and is mostly water.

Tempering is quite an integral part of many south Indian dishes - either as a garnish or incorporated with the dish at the start. Heat oil in a pan, when shimmering add some split urad dal, when it turns golden brown add some mustard seeds and when they pop add the curry leaves. At this point, if using this as garnish, turn off heat and pour over the finished dish like sambar or rasam or vegetable salad like the recipe here, and stir well before serving.

Cooked Kadalai paruppu aka Chana dal is a favorite additive to vegetable sides to add some protein. Simply  cook it in the microwave or stovetop till soft but not mushy.

Ingredients
½ cup cooked chana dal
½ Opo Squash, peeled and diced
2 cups of par-cooked cut green beans or Italian green beans
2 Tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes (optional)
salt to taste

curry leaves and cilantro for garnish

Tempering: 1 Tbsp oil, ½ tsp urad dal, ½ tsp mustard seeds, 4 curry leaves, 1 long dry red chili broken into pieces

Start the tempering, when mustard seeds pop add the vegetables, cooked chana dal, and salt cover and cook till veggies are done. Stir in coconut flakes if using, garnish and serve warm or at room temperature.

Mini Pepper Poppers

Bajji, Pakoda, Ulunthu (Urad dal) Vadai, Masaal Vadai, Samosa... deep fried snacks were quite an indulgence around monsoon season when I was young. Of course, they were made for festivals and guests, and just because as well. Bajjis were my favorites - batter-dipped and fried eggplant, large green chilies, carrots, onions.

The weather being cold and soggy, and it being winter break for the kids, we felt like having some home-made deep-friend snacks.

Mini Peppers are so cute and colorful and have become my favorite indulgence of late, along with Baby Bella aka Cremini mushrooms.

Rather than the usual Baajjis, we had some Jalapeño and Mini Pepper Poppers, with some Habañero (seeded) thrown in the filling for the adults. Not an unusual recipe, but, quite satisfying nonetheless... Save any leftover filling in the fridge and use as sandwich spread

Ingredients
12 Jalapeño, Mini Colorful Peppers,
½  Habañero pepper, seeded and finely minced (optional)
8 oz Cream cheese or Neufchâtel cheese
grated cheddar and mozarella as much as needed for the filling
garlic, herbs, finely minced
1 Tbsp finely minced drained, squeezed pineapple bits (optional)

some milk, flour for coating
about 20 oz. breadcrumbs or as much as needed for coating

oil for deep frying

Preparation

1. Filling: Mix the Neufchatel cheese, freshly grated cheddar and mozarella, some minced seeded habañero, finely chopped pineapple, minced garlic and set aside
2. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise, seed them, and scoop some filling in and keep handy
3. Have a bowl of milk, a plate of flour, a dish of breadcrumbs ready
4. Heat the oil to about 375°F
5. Dip the filled half peppers in milk, then in flour, allow to dry; then dip in milk and then in breadcrumbs and allow to dry; then once more in milk then in breadcrumbs and deep fry
6. Drain in a paper towel and serve with favorite dipping sauce

Cari Chay Vietnamese Soup

With the winter weather here, soups, stews, and casserole are on the menu pretty much every day. Most of the time, there is no particular recipe to follow - I simply add a bit of this a dash of that, a fusion of flavors, tailored to my taste...

For a while I've been leaning towards South East Asian cuisine - Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, Myanmar... subtle differences in local ingredients and flavors make these unique, but many of them have similarities as well. If I am able to find the specific ingredients at the local Asian store, I am pretty excited to use it, else I try to substitute as possible.

Now, not having visited many of the SE Asian countries, I don't quite know the native aromas and presentation other than what I see in restaurants and books, so, no claim to authenticity here.

Curry leaves is an acquired taste - it is not quite bitter like the Neem leaf, but, has a mildly bitter flavor and some subtle undertones. Curry leaves and curry leaf powder (not the generic spice mix sold as "curry powder") are available at most Indian stores.

Any favorite combination of vegetables would be fine - I like eggplant and tofu typically, but also find that soups are a great way to use up the broccoli stems I save up after using the florets in other dishes.

Ingredients
Cari Chay Spice Mix:
2 tsp Madras curry powder
1 tsp Curry Leaf powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Annatto seed seasoning (Achiote) powder
1 tsp lemongrass powder
2 tsp brown sugar (less if preferred)
½ tsp turmeric powder
4 to 6 curry leaves

1 Tbsp finely chopped or grated ginger
1 Tbsp finely minced garlic

Vegetables— broccoli stem, potatoes, carrots, jalapenos, onions, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, tofu

14 fluid ounces coconut milk
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
salt to taste

Preparation

1. Combine the Cari Chay Spice Mix and keep handy; chop the vegetables and keep ready
2. Heat the oil in a pot, add the onions, ginger and garlic, sauté, then add the Cari Chay spice mix and sauté till aromatic
3. Add the chopped vegetables, some salt, a splash of water, cover and cook till vegetables are cooked through yet firm, not mushy
4. Stirin the coconut milk, simmer on medium low heat for about 4 to 5 minutes; off heat garnish with curry leaves
5. Serve warm with Bánh mì or plain rice

Chermoula Mushroom and Potatoes

Chermoula is a North African spice-paste/sauce-mix with rich flavors that I appreciate in Indian curries. For this recipe, I deviated slightly from my Chermoula Eggplant Two Ways formula in keeping with my fusion cuisine signature.

I had just a couple of wedges of Preserved Lemons left and thought they'd be perfect for this batch of Chermoula. When I make a batch, it is usually a large one, so I store it in the fridge for upto 5 days and use it up to flavor different dishes.

Potatoes and mushrooms with sauteed onions are such a perfect combination, and with some green bell peppers they turn heavenly.

So, I decided to serve them in two ways:

1. Chermoula Mushroom and Potatoes, infused with South Indian flavor from Curry leaves and dry red chilies
2. South Indian pan-sauteed Mushroom and Potatoes with Curry Leaves, Tempered with Mustard Seeds and Urad Dal

Chermoula Mushroom and Potatoes

For Chermoula sauce:
2 Tbsp coriander powder
1 cup loosely packed fresh chopped cilantro leaves, stem and all
2 Tbsp sweet paprika powder
1 Tbsp whole black pepper
2 Tbsp chopped garlic
1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp turmeric powder
4 Tbsp Sambal Oelek
2 wedges of preserved lemon
2 Tbsp olive oil

3 medium Idaho potatoes, peeled and cubed (or any other variety of potatoes)
8 to 10 Baby Bella or Cremini - small Portabella mushrooms, sliced
6 to 8 Snow peas (optional)
6 curry leaves (available at Indian stores)
1 Jalapeño pepper sliced
1 medium green bell pepper chopped into chunks (optional)
1 small yelow onion, diced
1 Tbsp olive oil

Preparation

1. Combine the chermoula ingredients and grind to a fine paste, adding water if needed
2. Par-cook the potatoes in the microwave
3. Heat olive oil in a pan, add the curry leaves and jalapeños and sauteé a bit; then add the onions, chermoula paste and lower the heat to medium and sauté stirring frequently till the chermoula paste loses the rawness and turns a richer, deeper color
4. Add the mushrooms, snow peas, bell peppers and par-cooked potatoes, cover and allow to simmer for a few minutes over low to medium-low heat till flavors meld and potatoes are cooked through but not mushy
5. Serve warm with plain hot basmati rice or flatbread 

Mushroom and Potatoes South Indian style

Many of the vegetables sides I grew up with were made in the simple South Indian style of tempering with mustard seeds and urad dal (peeled, split black gram), with curry leaves and dry red chilies, some salt; and perhaps some grated coconut. 

To this day, I love green beans and all varieties of string beans, snake gourd, chayote squash and pumpkin cooked this way.

Ingredients

½ tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp split urad dal

2 Tbsp vegetable oil or sesame oil

6 to 8 fresh curry leaves

2 to 3 dry red chilies, broken to release the seeds

1 tsp turmeric powder

¼ tsp asafoetida powder

salt to taste

Peeled, cubed and cooked potatoes, firm not mushy

Sliced Portabella mushrooms (or any other favorite)

diced onions

Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a pan, when the oil is shimmering, add the urad dal and allow it to get golden brown; then add the mustard seeds and cover with a screen lid to contain the splattering mustard seeds, then immediately add the dry red chilies and then the curry leaves; allow the curry leaves to crisp up a bit, then add the asafoetida and turmeric powder
2. Add the onions and sauté a bit, then add the potatoes and mushroom, stir well and cover and cook on medium-low heat for a few minutes till mushroom sweats and is not raw anymore
3. This dish is fairly dry so cook till excess water from the mushrooms and onions are gone
4. Serve with rice and sambar or koottu or dal

Moghrabieh with Pan-cooked Chicken and Vegetables

I cook Moghrabieh every once in a while, not as often as cous-cous or pasta or rice— sometimes adding it to soups for body, sometimes making a casserole with a bunch of other vegetables, but usually, I serve it in place of rice with some vegetables.

I have to admit that I am a rice cooker fan - the standard electric kind. Many dishes get done without much fuss using my rice cooker - from the simple yet fragrant subzi biriyani to the creamy polenta. Quinoa, barley, millet all get cooked in the rice cooker, much like rice. And so did this moghrabieh.

Chicken breast is rather simple in this meal - marinate in a favorite marinade and pan cook it till done.

Veggies are just steamed - except, I then quickly pan-sauteed the carrots in a bit of broth to add some flavor.

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked moghrabieh pearls

2 cups broth or water

1 tsp crushed caraway seeds (or cumin seeds)

1 tsp dried sumac or crushed fenugreek leaves ("Methi leaves" in Indian stores) 

1 tsp dried crushed mint leaves

1 Tbsp olive oil

salt as needed

Preparation

1. Sauté the uncooked moghrabieh in olive oil, adding the dry spices; then transfer to the rice cooker, add the broth or water and cook in the standard rice cycle; fluff when done and keep warm.
2. Serve it as-is with some sides like Indian Kofta curries, or Tagine, or add it to soups.