Home-made Falafel with Chard

Masala Vadai, a ubiquitous south Indian fried snack, is what came to mind when I first encountered Falafel ages ago. The name was new, but the flavor and appearance was all-too-familiar. Chickpeas being a staple in Indian foods, plus all the grams and pulses and lentils, it is not surprising that versions of fried chickpea patties and lentil patties were ubiquitous in India, and I grew up taking them for granted.

Over summer, it was so much easier to make falafel on and off at home and serve with some pita or home-made naan, plus some assortment of fresh filling like olives, feta, tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, onions, lettuce, and home-made hummus.

My favorite of course was to serve falafel with little bowls of bib/Boston lettuce which seem perfect for filling with fresh veggies from the garden.

Simply soak the chickpeas overnight, then grind them up coarsely. I like to add chopped onions and chard from the garden to this, season with salt, and knead a bit. If it seems too loose to shape, I add a sprinkling of my favorite coconut flour. With its high fiber content, coconut flour works well to thicken as needed. Chill for a hour in the fridge before shaping into patties for deep frying.

Home-made hummus has always been a fun endeavor. Usually a batch of hummus gets made once a week or so and saved in the fridge to act as spread for wraps or toppings for salads.

Home Garden Pea Tips with Beets, Chickpeas, Potatoes

Pea tips with Papaya salad is quite wholesome and I make it every once in a while in late autumn and early winter when pea tips are available in the market easily.

Pea tips themselves can be an acquired taste. The tips have to be tender, not chewy/woody/fibrous. Since I had a bunch of pea plants in the garden, ready to be retired, I went through and snipped some pea tips for sautéing.

Some marinated beets, and new potatoes from the garden, plus snap peas and spicy chickpeas rounded out the plate.

These would be perfect over some bulgur or cous cous or even some brown rice, presented as a Buddha Bowl, a hearty vegetarian fare.

Fenugreek Leaves, Snap Peas, Purple Carrots, Chickpeas, Freekeh Bowl

Bowls! Bowls! Bowls!

What's not to love about them?

Bibimbap has always been a favorite, as is Donburi minus the raw fish.

The base doesn't have to be rice. Any combination of whole grains works. Not too long ago, bowls were so trendy. I suppose they still are.

In any case, this is a spillover from the previous recipe of  Freekeh, Pearl Millet, Wild Rice Tabbouleh. I had cooked enough of the grains to save some for later while I used some of it for the Tabbouleh. And it is these lefetover Freekeh, Pearl Millet plus Wild Rice that formed the base for this bowl.

Fenugreek is an amazing plant. Tender fenugreek leaves are quite the staple in Indian cuisine. As are the fenugreek seeds, which have interesting properties including being a natural galactagogue, which I diligently indulged in during post-partum days. Dried fenugreek leaves are available in Indian stores and are quite potent, a little goes a long way, and can be added to dressing or soups. The delicate fenugreek leaves from the garden seemed like a good addition to this bowl, sautéed with a pinch of salt and olive oil.

Some snap peas from the garden were handy as well. Before I get to pick them and use them in some interesting way, the older child gobbles them right off the plant. Of course, that was the idea when I planted these peas, to serve as a preferred snack for the kids. But, there was enough left to sauté and add to this bowl.

Some sautéed onions is always a good addition. Plus some julienned purple and yellow carrots. And of course, spiced chickpeas. Simply cook the chickpeas and then sauté in oil with a sprinkling of cayenne pepper and salt.

Bowls are just like a filling salad, so, I prefer to drizzle some dressing. This time, as always, the dressing is a quick mix of some staples in my kitchen: Tahini, Sriracha, Bragg Liquid Aminos, Mirin, Apple Cider Vinegar, Grape Molasses, Red Wine Vinegar, Lemon juice, Ginger. A little of this and a little of that till it feels right.

Topped with some nigella seeds and sesame seeds, this makes a perfect meal to pack for office lunch.

Fresh Garbanzo Beans with Nectarine Summer Salad

Fresh Garbanzo Beans are everywhere now! What used to be a seasonal find is apparently available year-round -- according to Califresh website -- wherever stores can stock it and sell it reasonably fresh. (No, I have no affiliation with the company, it just happens to be the kind I found at a nearby grocery store.)

Shelling these fresh garbanzo beans aka chickpeas is a Zen-like activity, much like shelling Fava beans or good ol' green peas. I could have tasked the kids with it, but, I needed the down time to just sit in one spot and focus on one thing at hand.

So, as I sat there in the backyard, with a pile of these pods, I decided I am not going to be in any rush to get it done. The house finches were monopolizing one of the porch feeders, until a black-headed grosbeak stopped by for a snack - a rare visitor. Of course, chickadees knew not to compete with the house finches so they flocked to the feeder on the pear tree. All the while, a couple of hummingbirds were creating a racket darting back and forth trying to cut off the other one's approach to their feeder.

I am digressing... Gripping each pod with fingers, gently massaging the pea inside till the pod pops open to reveal a solitary large green pea/bean, (and, sometimes twins), is only fun as long as there is just under a pound to shell at a time, which is all I had at hand.

Steam it for about 15 to 20 minutes so as not to be mushy but tender and eat it as-is, or seasoned. Or, sauté it in olive oil, or even pan-roast it. Toss it into pasta or rice or curries. Make fresh chickpea hummus along with edamame, if preferred.

This time, I went with a simple summer salad: Some colorful bell peppers, shallots, English cucumbers, celery, cherry tomatoes, feta, and of course, a ripe but firm nectarine--its mild sweetness enhances most simple salads and salsas.

A simple vinaigrette with a splash of apple cider vinegar, a spot of honey, a drop of lime juice, a pinch of salt, and a touch of olive oil is all it takes to bring this colorful fresh summer salad alive.

Roast Butternut Squash with Chickpeas

A wholesome simple winter meal which I like to serve as a warm salad, this roasted butternut squash dish is quite versatile. A bit more gravy and it can be a curry eaten with naan or rice; boiled in vegetable broth, it can be a delicious soup served with homemade dampers.

In this recipe, I toss in some garlic and cooked chickpeas with roasted butternut squash and fiery spices and serve it topped with shredded zucchini, thinly sliced red onions, and a wedge of lemon, plus some plain yogurt on the side. This is a fairly typical way of serving a spicy vegetable side with flatbreads like parathas and naan in India.

As I don;t typically measure the spices for such an impromptu dish, here's just a list of the ingredients used: tamarind paste, tomato paste, garam masala, turmeric and salt to taste.

Pearl Barley, Kale, Lentil Salad

Now that summer is here, (sort of), meals are getting easier and lazier. Chilled or room temperature salads, fresh vegetables and fruits, quick smoothies, and no-fuss sandwiches are becoming the staples. Not much baking or slaving over the stove most days.

This quick salad just feels so nutritious, even if I am no nutritionist or an expert of any sort. My favorite way to serve/eat this is on a "bowl" of Boston Lettuce leaf: scoop some into a crisp Boston lettuce leaf, either roll it up for easy no-spillage eating, or gather up the edges like a taco and munch on.

Of course, any combination of salad ingredients like carrot sticks, olives, chickpeas, pumpkin seeds, feta, bell peppers taste wonderful when served on a leaf of lettuce.

Ingredients
Pearl barley cooked al dente
Green or brown lentil, cooked al dente
Kale, chopped, and wilted
cooked chick peas
feta
Kalamata olives
sun-dried tomatoes
finely chopped carrots
finely chopped red onion (optional)
toasted pine nuts  and dried cranberries (optional)
Dressing: lemon juice, olive oil, black pepper, plus salt if needed

Combine the salad ingredients, adjust dressing to taste, serve at room temperature or chilled

Barley, Lentil, Chickpea, Spinach Stew

Four simple powerhouse ingredients - chickpea, lentils, barley and spinach, plus some onions, garlic and tomatoes come together for this flavorful, hearty winter stew.

I cook barley in a rice cooker: 1 part barley to about 3 parts water or stock. I like to stock up on dry beans, soak and pressure cook them in batches and freeze them for later use. so, there is usually about 3 or 4 varieties of cooked beans in the freezer, ready to be used.

Brown or green lentils have a full-bodied flavor and don't get too mushy when pressure cooked, which adds to the texture of the stew.

I like the nutty crunch that the cooked barley adds as well.

Sometimes, I use Kale in addition to (or instead of) spinach in this recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup cooked barley
2 cups cooked brown or green lentils
1 cup cooked chick peas
10 oz frozen chopped spinach
3 cups fresh kale, chopped finely
2 cups vegetable stock or water

3 to 4 dry red chilies
1 medium onion diced
1 cup canned diced tomatoes
1 cup tomato sauce
1 Tbsp chopped garlic

2-inch piece of Indian Cinnamon bark
1 black cardamom
2 medium bay leaves

1 tsp turmeric powder
1 Tbsp paprika powder
1 Tbsp coriander powder (optional)
salt to taste

Preparation

Combine the ingredients in a pressure cooker and cook till first whistle, turn off and allow to cool and release pressure a bit.

Open the lid when safe and simmer the stew in the pressure cooker for a few minutes till desired consistency.

Adjust flavors, garnish and serve with home-made herb dampers or Indian flatbreads.

Cauliflower & Spinach Yogurt Soup

This cauliflower and spinach dish can be served as a slightly thin but chunky soup or as a fairly thick curry with coconut-rice or naan. What I like about this version is the splash of yogurt to add some creaminess in the end.

Bell peppers, carrots, even potatoes are a great way to make this soup hearty, if preferred.

Ingredients
½ cup cooked/canned) garbanzo beans*
2-3 cups cauliflower florets
2-4 cups baby spinach leaves, cleaned
6 cups vegetable stock**
1 small yellow onion diced finely
4-6 garlic cloves, minced finely
2 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 cup diced tomatoes (canned or fresh)
2 Tbsp Madras curry powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper powder
1 tsp black pepper powder
1 cup fat free plain yogurt
chopped spring onion for garnish
1 Tbsp canola oil
salt to taste
* 1 cup if making into a thick curry, reserve half of it for thickening
** or bullion cubes dissolved in water per package directions


Preparation

1. Heat the canola oil in a pot, add the onions, ginger, garlic and sauté till aromatic and onion gets translucent
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, except yogurt, stir well, cover and cook till cauliflower is done but nor mushy; adjust salt to taste
3. If serving as a thick curry, puree or mash the reserved garbanzo beans and cook till thickened to desired consistency
4. Beat the yogurt till slightly creamy, keep handy
5. Before serving, stir in some yogurt to desired proportion (I like a generous ½ cup of yogurt per 2½ cups of soup) and garnish with chopped spring onions

Cholay Bathura

Also, known as Channa Bathura, this is one of my favorite foods: Cholay is chickpea curry and Bathura is fried indian bread. It can be served as a snack, or as a meal along with rice pilaf or biriyani, and raita.

Poori is also fried indian bread, but, is usually made with whole wheat flour whereas bathura is usually made with all purpose flour; pooris are smaller than bathura: poori is about 4 inches in diameter, whereas bathura can be about 8-10 inches in diameter.

Since i don't have a large enough pot for frying 8 inch diameter bathura, I make what i call "mini bathura" which is about 4 inches in diameter, the size of a poori.

Bathura to me is sort of the savory version of Elephant Ears, and can be served as first course with any north indian meal, and can be paired with any other curry besides cholay.

Here's one of my versions of this popular north indian dish.





Ingredients

For Bathura:
2 cups all purpose flour
salt to taste
buttermilk
oil for frying

Preparation: Bathura

1. add some salt to all purpose flour and knead it into a soft dough by adding a little buttermilk at a time
2. cover with a damp cloth and set aside, and make the cholay recipe below
3. when cholay is simmering, heat some oil in a pan for frying the bathura
   
4. divide the dough into golf-size balls (or smaller if you want smaller bathuras)
5. roll out each ball into a flat round shaped bathura, about quarter inch thick and 5-6 inches in diameter (if you have a larger pot for frying them, make the bathuras even larger in diameter); dust frequently with all purpose flour so the dough doesn't stick to the roller pin
   
6. when oil temperature is about 350 F, fry one bathura at a time till it puffs up, turns golden brown on both sides
7. drain on a paper towel lined dish, serve hot with cholay
   

Ingredients

For Channa/Cholay:
3 cups of cooked chickpeas, drained
1 medium yellow onion,diced finely
2-3 medium tomatoes, diced finely
2-3 medium potatoes, diced
4 cloves of garlic
2" piece of fresh ginger
2-3 Tbsp Cholay Spice Mix*
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice (optional)
1 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro for garnish
salt to taste
1 cup water, as needed

*Cholay Spice Mix:
3 Tbsp coriander seeds
2 Tbsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 Tbsp whole black peppercorns
3 dry red chilies (more if you like the heat)
2 indian bay leaves
2 2" Chinese cinnamon bark(Cinnamomum cassia(L.) Presl)
1 star anise
3-4 cloves


Preparation: Cholay

1. Ginger-Garlic Paste: Pound/blend the ginger and garlic to a smooth paste and set aside
   
2. Spice Mix: Dry roast the Spice Mix ingredients and blend them to a fine powder; this spice mix can be stored in an air-tight container for a month or two; also, can tweak the proportions of the ingredients for the Spice Mix to suit your taste
3. Potatoes: Boil or microwave half the diced potatoes till they are cooked but firm and hold the shape, set aside; cook the rest of the potatoes till they are mushy, then mash them and set aside
4. Sauce: heat the oil in a large enough pot, add the onions, pounded ginger+garlic paste, small amount of salt and 1 Tbsp of the Spice Mix and sautée till onions turn translucent; add the tomatoes, brown sugar and sautée some more; add 1 cup of water and the mashed potatoes (add more water if you prefer a thinner gravy) and stir well
5. Chickpea Cholay: add washed cooked chickpeas, cooked diced potatoes and adjust the spices and salt to taste; simmer for about 10-12 mins till the flavors are well-rounded and the consistency of the dish is somewhat thick
6. Garnish: off heat, stir in 2 Tbsp lemon juice and garnish with cilantro
7. serve warm with lime wedges and slit green chilies on the side, along with bathura

Pakoda: chickpea onion fritters

Pakodas (aka pakoras) is one of my favorite tea time snacks, along with some home-made mint chutney, sweet-and-sour tomato chutney or tamarind-date chutney. Pakoras can be used in kadhi, a gujarathi dish.

There are quite a few variations of this recipe and am sure all of them turn out fine... this here is just one of the versions I default to. Adjust the proportions of rice flour to chickpea flour to suit your taste. Also, I've tried making these fritters with all-purpose flour and some cornstarch plus maybe some rice flour... it is quite flexible and depending on how crunchy or how soft I want it, I adjust the flour. So, this recipe is not quite set in stone - as with all my recipes ;)

Ingredients
1 cup chickpea flour (besan)
½ cup rice flour
1 medium onion finely diced
1-2 Tbsp red chili powder (more or less, adjust to taste)
salt to taste
water as needed
vegetable or canola oil for frying

Preparation

1. heat oil in a pan for frying
2. meanwhile, add the chickpea flour, rice flour, onions, chili powder and salt to a mixing bowl
3. add water a little at a time and knead to form a slightly loose dough, but not watery or runny
4. when oil is about 350-370° F, fry the dough in batches: without crowding the pan drop about 5-8 tablespoonful of dough in the oil, one tablespoonful at a time, and fry till they are nice and brown on the outside and cooked through on the inside.
5. drain on a paper towel and keep warm till all the pakodas are done
6. experiment with the chickpea-rice flour ratio till you find a satisfactory mix: i like the pakodas a bit crunchy on the outside and a little chewy on the inside - the crunchiness i believe comes from rice flour.