Hwyl Gardd: Bye For Now Garden

It has been a while since I cooked anything new that I haven't shared here before already... So Delectable Victuals has been enjoying a quiet vacation.

We did finally get the garden to rest till next spring - got the last of the green tomatoes that won't get a chance to ripen on the vine, chilies are potted and brought back indoors, Rainbow chards are clipped down, radishes are pulled out, grapes are harvested (well, only about 6 reasonable bunches in all)...

As I looked back over the years, I seem to be taking fewer photographs of the garden - much like there are fewer photographs of my kids now that they are not infants anymore. But, here are the few that I managed to click this year.

Hyacinth Beans with Home-garden Butternut Squash

Short, dark, broad, green Hyacinth beans, (Avarakkai in Tamil), used to be a favorite bean variety in my mom's kitchen. Avarakkai poduthuval simply saut ed and tossed in with dry grated coconut + green chilies paste is still one of my favorite sides, not to mention Avarakkai Paruppusili.

The dried seeds of Hyacinth green beans goes by the name of Mocha Kottai in our family. It is versatile - can be used in sambars, curries - but the most I remember it for from childhood is Mocha Kottai Chundal ('Ch' as in chair) / Sundal. It was a staple during Navarathri festival - the nine-nights ten-days long festival which incidentally is going on now, today being the 10th day, Vijayadasami.

The first of the half-dozen or so home-garden butternut squash we harvested, together with Hyacinth beans makes this wonderful side which can be served with roti, naan, paratha, rice and sambar.

Ingredients
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, cleaned, diced
1 cup dry Hyacinth beans, soaked overnight, cooked till done but not mushy
1 tsp cayenne pepper powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 Tbsp coriander powder
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 green chili (optional)
tempering (optional): mustard seeds, urad dal
salt to taste

Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a pan; add the tempering if using and allow mustard seeds to pop and urad dal to turn golden brown
2. Add the squash, chilies, spices, toss well, add a few Tbsp of water, cover and cook till squash is done but not mushy
3. Add in the cooked Hyacinth beans, adjust salt to taste, sauté together and allow to brown a bit

Zucchini Paratha

I was hanging on to the very last half of the home-garden zucchini after the Zucchini Three Ways, wondering how best to use it, and it struck me to just grate it and fold it into the paratha dough I was making the other day.

Serve with any of the favorite curries or dals/koottus, an array of chutneys, or even just pickles and thokku.

Since I don't measure exactly for roti/paratha dough, this is a rough estimate - adjust water/flour as needed to get a dough that can be rolled flat and cooked on the griddle without getting sticky or brittle.

About 4 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups grated zucchini
water as needed (zucchini has quite a bit of water)
salt to taste
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tsp turmeric powder (optional)
2 Tbsp Smart Balance™ Omega Butter Light with Flax Oil (or any other favorite butter substitute)

Very much like in the Flaky Paratha recipe, combine the ingredients using a little water at a time, and knead to a smooth elastic dough, pinch off balls and roll flat adding layers by folding. Pan/griddle cook.

Home-garden Zucchini Three Ways

After the round of Zucchini breads and soups and curries and grated fritters/hash and what-not, we had one last home-garden Zucchini left from this season's harvest.

Not quite the fan of fried foods (and not because I don't like the taste or anything), I was trying to resist the urge to make a snack feast much like the pakora/bajji my mom used to make on rainy days... it seemed like a perfect overcast day with a hint of Autumn in the air.

Rather than deep frying, I went with shallow frying. And that's how these hot delicacies came into being in my kitchen and disappeared in a short time. I used just one half the large foot-long 4½ inches diameter home-garden zucchini for this and it was plenty.

Technically, they are not cooked up in three different ways, but, three different batters make for an interesting spread. Kids liked the Shredded Wheat one the best as it was the crunchiest for them.

Simply cut into preferred shape about 2 or 3 millimeters thick, dust with flour, keep handy. Prepare the batters and keep handy as well. Shallow fry in batches. Serve with favorite dip/sauce or chutneys. I went with a quick and easy favorite: Combine equal parts of ketchup and Sambal Oelek for a Hot+Sweet Chili Sauce. Kids preferred just the ketchup, of course.

The quick picture I took doesn't justify the taste and the satisfaction it gave us that day.

Zucchini 65: Very much like the Hong Kong Bitter Melon 65 recipe, the rich red light batter seemed like a good first way. So, I shallow fried a batch using much the same batter as before.

Zucchini Tempura: Much like my usual vegetable tempura batter, this is light and crispy and best enjoyed right away. Any standard recipe for tempura batter is fine - prepare the batter just before frying and use it up quickly.

Shredded Wheat Breaded Zucchini: Shredded wheat cereal has lent itself to a few other dishes as a breading ingredient, much like in breaded chicken recipe shared here. I use the unfrosted, plain old shredded wheat, of course. Combine it with some stale old cheese crackers to form a crunchy coating for any breaded-and-fried dish.

What should I do with the last half of the home-garden zucchini? I've been asking myself as I eye the half dozen on more butternut squashes that are ready to be picked in the garden which is getting ready to close down for this year.

Home-garden Yellow Squash, Chard, Green beans, Tomatoes

Another delicious meal straight from the garden: the yellow Mexican squash was ready to be picked. Some chard, green chilies, green beans and tomatoes were ready as well. They all came together for this simple vegetable medley, with some corn kernels and onions.


Simply sauté together till vegetables are cooked but not mushy. Add favorite spices. I used one of my favorite store-bought paste: Maggi™ "Kitchen Secrets"™ Bhuna Masala Paste for Vegetables and Dal.

Home-Garden Summer Squash, Chards, and Pearl Onions Curry

It would be nice if I had the help of a gardener, somebody who knows what they are doing when it comes to growing plants. As it happens, I am an urban farmer at heart with nothing other than passion to support this fantasy. I lack the stamina or the knowledge to sustain vegetable gardening, even if the weather permits. Which it doesn't where I live. So, I make the most of the few months from April to September, knowing that a greenhouse is out of my limits for now.

Thanks to wonderful nurseries around town (one just around the corner from my house), I do get to plant some favorite vegetables and watch them grow. If harvesting the weed-like oregano and mint and fennel and rosemary and lavender from the garden gives me pleasure, it makes me ecstatic to get the squashes and green beans and eggplants and chards and lettuce and onions from the home garden.

Over the years, many simple and surprising recipes have come out of the home-garden harvest. I cannot imagine life without composting. Kids, thanks to support from their school, are well aware of organic waste and remember to dispose of it in the compost bin in the kitchen, which dutifully gets emptied into the Earth Machine in the backyard.

A big question I was asked when I was a newbie home gardener was whether it was worth it? It is hard to answer that question. Obviously depends on what we mean by "worth it". The effort vs. the cost is probably the topmost factor people like to weigh. And, home gardening is a lot of work, especially if doing it yourself.

Over the years, considering what it has offered in terms of intangible lessons and returns, I'd emphatically say it is well worth it. Knowing how plants grow, where our food comes from, how to care for the earth - composting, recycling - plant diseases, interdependence of nature's creatures, soil nutrition, harvesting, bugs and their role in the garden are at some level hands-on for the kids, allowing me to learn a lot in the process.

We still have to buy vegetables from the markets as we are not entirely sustained by our garden and we do visit the local farms for fresh produce on and off, so it is not like we are self-sufficient with a teeny patch of backyard garden.

I am rambling... back to the recipe. It came about as I went into the garden one evening and noticed the few vegetables that were more than ready to be harvested - summer squash, about 3 dozen little pearl onions and several large leaves of chards.

Mint, fennel and rosemary fresh from the garden gave the herbal base for this recipe. Some store-bought Rogan Josh Curry paste and Kashmiri Masala Paste gave the rich, spicy sauce base for the curry. Serve with brown rice, roti or naan.

Simply simmer together till vegetables are just cooked, adjust flavors to taste. Serve warm.

Easy Breaded Pan-fried Chicken Breasts

So, what's special about chicken breasts, right? Marinate, then pan-cook or oven-bake or deep-fry, breaded or plain, serve with a salad and a possibly some sort of bread/starch and there you have it - a simple well-rounded delicious meal.

This recipe was inspired by a recent grocery shopping trip when I casually (and quickly) browse the packaging for meal ideas. Some old non-crispy crackers and unfrosted shredded wheat cereal came together for the breading.

The sauce is optional. Kids don't care for it. Just some rosemary and oregano leaves from the garden ground up with tomatoes, basil and garlic, cooked down to reduce a bit so the flavors meld.

And, the garden lettuce was ready to be harvested, with hopefully plenty more to come for the rest of the summer. We had gone berry-picking, our usual summer favorite. Marion berries are my favorite, next only to raspberries and blackberries. So I had picked some, while kids and D were picking blueberries and raspberries. The thorns are nasty so nobody else wanted to pick the Marion berries with me...

That's how this simple salad came about - just home garden lettuce with some ripe juicy Marion berries and almonds with a simple lemon juice and olive oil vinaigrette.

Ingredients
2 or 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced up if too thick
1 cup unfrosted shredded wheat cereal
1 cup cheddar-flavored crackers
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
2 to 3 Tbsp Olive oil

marinade: red wine vinegar, soy sauce, Patak's™ Kashmiri masala paste(optional)

Preparation

1. Marinate the ½ inch thick chicken breasts in enough marinade for about 2 or 3 hrs. If making on a weekend, I marinate right after brunch/lunch to cook it for dinner (refrigerate on warm days)
2. Grind the shredded wheat cereal and crackers to breadcrumbs texture, keep handy
3. Heat the oil in a pan, coat each chicken breast piece with the breading mixture, arrange on the pan, allow to cook over medium-high heat for 3 minutes or so till the crust is formed
4. Flip and cook the other side, adding more oil if needed
5. Check to see that the chicken is cooked through (I am happy if internal temperature is 170°F off the pan)

Home Garden Chards, Zucchini, Pearl Onions Soup

After a month of practically zero cooking thanks to visiting my family, it feels nice to just throw something together (as is my wont) for a quick meal back at my nest.

There is something romantic about cooking (and eating) at an odd hour late-night, especially after returning home from a long trip, and having only a few things in the cupboards/pantry - even if it is just heating up a can of beans or having fresh rice with Indian pickles.

Of course, the kitchen cupboards are usually well-stocked with spices, and the pantry has some canned essentials like beans, coconut milk etc., so, it isn't really a big deal to scrounge something up for a quick bite.

Anyway, the onion seeds we had saved from last year were thrown in a small patch in the garden and they sprouted up nicely, which I had been using before I went on the summer vacation.

Now that I am back, I see that there are a bunch of little onions all crowding together, looking like gorgeous little pearls. A bit of cleaning, no tedious skin-removing, and I have a ton of pearl onions to incorporate in my cooking. Of course, red pearl onion arachu vitta sambar is my all-time favorite South Indian dish, but these white/yellow pearl onions are great even in salads as they are not too pungent.

A large zucchini, some chards, some green chilies, mint, and pearl onions - all from our garden - came together quickly for this coconut-milk-based soup for our first brunch after we got back.

The flavoring is simple as I went with Italian spices I had handy - just dry/ground spices like garlic powder, celery seeds, basil, oregano, marjoram. I crushed some mint leaves and green chilies to keep things green for the flavoring. It is best enjoyed chilled or at room-temperature on a warm summer day.