Purple Yam Ube Kachori and Mushroom Poblano Pepper Savory Kachori

Kachoris are stuffed fried breads from India, usually with savory filling, served with chutneys. Mung beans, chick peas, peas and carrots, potatoes are some of the popular stuffing. They are perfect tea time snacks and are good travel bread, much like parathas and rotis.

I had some ube purple yams and wanted to try Ube Kachori. But, rather than make it savory, went with the natural sweetness of the yams enhanced by flavorful coconut flour.

A sack of coconut flour has been lending itself well to some of the recipes and am liking the results so far.

For the savory kachori, a mash-up of mushrooms, Poblano and Anaheim peppers came in handy.

I prefer the dough to be seasoned a bit with salt and spices, or brown sugar for the sweet kachoris, but, that's optional.

The trick is to fry at medium-low heat, and usually I find that I am not the best person to deep fry anything. However, these turned out all right.


Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup plain yogurt

2/3 cup warm water (plus or minus a few Tablespoons)

1 Tablespoon white sesame seeds

1 Tablespoon red chili powder (optional)

Salt to taste
oil for deep frying

Filling:

Sweetish:

1 teaspoon coconut oil 

1/8 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup steamed and mashed purple

Savory:

2 button mushrooms

1 Anaheim or Poblano pepper

1/4 shallot

1/2 inch piece ginger

1/8 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon coconut oil

Preparation

1. Dough: Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, add the liquid a little at a time till a soft elastic dough forms; cover it and set it aside while getting the filling ready
2. Sweet Filling: Steam the ube purple yams, mash them, add coconut flour and coconut oil to be able to shape them into smallish balls about 1.5 inches diameter
3. Savory Filling: Finely mince the ingredients (except coconut flour and oil) and sautee it in coconut oil till rawness goes away; off heat stir in coconut flour and shape into 1.5 inch balls
4. Heat the oil at medium low to about 350 ° F
5. Divide the dough to make enough 2.5 inch diameter balls; flatten each ball in the palm while pressing the center to form a cup or a bowl shape; place a filling-ball and gather up the dough into a ball again with the filling enclosed; flatten this loaded dough ball with the side of the palm
6. Deep fry in oil till golden brown all over, on both sides
7. Serve warm with chutneys and dips

Purple Yam Ube Oven-Roasted Fries

Filipino Purple Yams, Ube, promptly show up at the local Asian market during season every year. They have a gorgeous purple flesh and a delicately sweet taste, primarily used in desserts.

Since I am not fond of desserts much, I went with a simple oven-roasted purple yam fries. Tossed in coconut oil with a dash of salt, single layer in a roasting pan, in a 425°F oven for about 15 to 20 minutes. That's it. A perfect Autumn snack ready in no time.

Caribbean Squash Coconut Cumin Koottu

There are days when I barely make it home from work - not just the traffic, but the killing headache and associated nausea makes it all the more challenging to get home safely. Focused on deep breathing during the commute, all I can think of is getting home, hugging an ice pack and curling up on the sofa...

And on such days, just to make it fun for the kids, they get cereal or waffles or pancake puffs or something topsy-turvy for dinner - something that Papa can easily handle after his longer day at work.

I saw this West Indies/Caribbean Squash at the local market - it didn't have a specific name, so, not sure what it is called... Its taste and flesh reminded me of large sections of Matthanga, which along with Elavan made the delicious Olan, the best version, of course, being my mom's. I've always had a soft spot for Matthanga, it has a delicate sweet flavor, with a pumpkin-like soft texture when cooked.

Anyway, other than the fact that cutting and cleaning the squash is a pain, this is a simple dish that comes together quickly.

Garnish with cilantro and serve warm with naan, paratha or brown basmati rice.

Ingredients
3 cups of diced squash
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
salt to taste
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
cilantro for garnish

for the coconut paste:
¼ cup grated coconut
1 Tablespoon cumin seeds
2 or 3 dry red chilies

Tempering:
½ teaspoon split urad dal
¼teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon coconut oil
6 to 8 curry leaves, if handy

Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a pan, add the turmeric powder and the squash, some salt and water, cover and cook till squash is soft but not mushy, drain any excess water
2. Meanwhile, grind the coconut paste ingredients together
3. Stir in the coconut paste and the brown sugar, adjust salt to taste
4. Tempering: heat the oil, add urad dal, when it turns golden brown add the mustard seeds; when mustard seeds pop, add curry leaves if using, turn off heat and pour over the squash curry

Stuffed Snake Gourd with Coconut Flour and Chickpea Flour

Snake gourd has a distinctive taste and texture that I grew to love thanks to my mom's cooking. There are just two or three different ways in which she usually cooks it, almost always with coconut or with lentils or both.

The one issue I've always had with snake gourd is that it can be too mature and bitter if not picked when tender. Mature snake gourd tends to be woody and chewy, and not suitable for consumption.

This time, I was in the mood for stuffed snake gourd. Much like stuffed bitter gourd, it is easy enough to scoop out the pulpy innards and par-boil the snake gourd cylinders in some salted water.

The filling or stuffing was the tougher decision. Any old stuffing would be fine, like, seasoned ground meat, flavored brown rice and barley, Textured Vegetable Protein TVP, beans or lentils with quinoa and veggies... but, I wanted something different, something easy to make, yet flavorful. So, I turned to my newest obsession: Coconut Flour.

Chickpea flour and Coconut Flour stuffing:

Ingredients
¼ cup coconut flour
¼ cup chickpea flour
¼ cup finely diced onions
¼ cup finely dices tomatoes
¼ cup cooked chickpeas
salt to taste
2 Tablespoon coconut oil

Simply heat the oil in a pan, add the onions and tomatoes, saute a bit, then add the flours, keep the heat at low and stir continuously till the flours turn a light nutty brown, not too dark. Stir in the chickpeas and turn off heat. That's it.

The filling would be powdery flour mixture that might have a beady breadcrumb-ish texture, which will clump up nicely when packed tight. And that's what I was going for.

Fill the boiled snake gourd cylinders and bake them in a 425°F oven for about 15 minutes, with a touch of oil brushed on. Turn the stuffed snake gourd cylinders in the oven half way through cooking to brown on all sides.

Serve warm, garnished with spring onions and cilantro, drizzled with Lemongrass Flavored Coconut Milk Sauce as in the Stuffed Kohlrabi recipe.

Snake Gourd with Chickpeas and Coconut

Snake gourd, when cooked just right, has a wonderful blend of textures - a mild crunch from the skin and a mellow softness from the flesh.

No fanfare this time, just a simple coming together of flavors that mean comfort for me. Growing up primarily on Palakkad cuisine, coconut was ubiquitous, as was plenty of vegetables. So, I went with a touch of salt, turmeric, and dry red chilies, with the proteins coming from chickpeas. I could eat a plate of this whole and call it a sumptuous dinner.

Ingredients

1 large snake gourd, cleaned and sliced

1 cup cooked chickpeas, seasoned

2 to 3 Tablespoon dry grated coconut

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

3 dry red chilies, broken into smaller pieces

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 Tablespoon coconut oil

salt to taste

just enough water to immerse and cook the snake gourd

Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds; when the mustard seeds pop, add the dry red chilies, allow to toast a bit, then add the turmeric and snake gourd and saute a bit
2. Season with salt, cover and allow to cook till snake gourd is tender but not mushy; drain any excess water
3. Stir in the chickpeas and dry grated coconut, stir well, serve warm

Peach Chili Salsa

At the Farmers market, I've grown addicted to eating the fried Kenyan bread, Mandazi, which comes with a sharply piquant chili chutney. Of course, there is barely half a tablespoon of chutney that comes with each bread, and I wasn't going to eat several fried breads to satisfy my chili chutney craving.

After one such excursion, while the fire from the chutney was still blazing in my tongue, I decided that some equally fiery salsa was called for to enjoy the small bag of tortilla chips we had stashed away for the weekend treat. The other adult enjoys piquant foods way more than I do, and has better tolerance for chilies than me. So it was going to be a special treat to be enjoyed with a good pint of dark beer.

Now, peaches are in season. Peaches and nectarines and plums make wonderful sauces and chutneys, bringing a fruity aroma and mildly sweet flavor that complements many dishes. So, to balance the fiery chilies, I went with mildly sweet peach and nectarine to make this simple uncooked salsa.

Simply grind the ingredients, adjust flavors to taste and enjoy.

Ingredients
1 peach, chopped
1 nectarine, chopped
½ teaspoon brown sugar
3 Thai green super chilies
3 dry red Japanese chilies
1 Tbsp lime juice (more to taste)
salt to taste

Beets and Purple Carrot with Brown Rice, Barley, Mung Bean Cutlets

What to do with leftovers might be a troublesome prospect for some. It happens to be quite an exciting enterprise for me.

About 1½ cups of stuffing for the Stuffed Kohlrabi in Coconut Sauce was leftover (on purpose). Also, some purple carrots and beets and red cabbage were handy. That's how these loaded Beets and Purple Carrot with Brown Rice, Barley, Mung Bean Cutlets came about.

Ingredients
1½ cups Barley, Brown Rice, Mung Bean prepared as shared in Stuffed Kohlrabi recipe
1½ cups combined grated purple carrots, beets, red cabbage, lightly sauteed with salt
¼ cup coconut flour
¼ cup fine corn meal
Up to 1 cup all purpose flour (a little at a time, as needed)
salt to taste
oil as needed

2 to 3 cups of Panko seasoned bread crumbs

Preparation

1. Combine the sauteed purple carrots, red cabbage and beets with the brown rice+barley+mung-bean filling
2. Add the corn meal and coconut flour and stir till incorporated
3. Add some all purpose flour, a little at a time, to make a thick dough-like batter that can be shaped into golf ball sized spheres
4. Have the Panko breadcrumbs hand on a plate
5. Heat a pan to medium high
6. Press each dough ball into the breadcrumbs and flatten a little; also, press in breadcrumbs to the topside so that both surfaces are coated
7. Place gently on the hot pan and cook; flip and cook both sides till breadcrumbs get crisp and golden and the cutlets hold together
8. Serve warm with favorite chutneys, including Green Papaya, Green Mango, Kohlrabi Chutney