Two New Indian Dishes That Need a Little Work — Indian Chinese Fried Rice and Leek Pappu

Every now and again, it's good to remind myself why I have this blog.  I have to admit that I maintain this blog not just for your readership and comments (though those aspects are certainly appreciated), but rather to remind myself of what I have made in the past, what worked and didn't, and to basically tell myself what I should and should not make in the future.  This post is an excellent reminder of why this blog has been so helpful to me over the years — I know that if I didn't memorialize these new recipe attempts, I would probably repeat the same mistakes in just a few months.  

One of these dishes — Indian Chinese fried rice — I have wanted to make at home for some time.  The other dish — leeks with moong dal or leek pappu — I decided to make out because I had more leeks in the fridge than I knew what to do with.  Unfortunately, both turned out to bland and will require significant modifications to make them worth making again in the future.  The fried rice just tasted like lightly flavored vegetables and rice, and the leek pappu tasted like…well, leeks and pappu.  The details on each unsuccessful recipe attempt follow the dishes' respective pictures.

Indian Chinese Fried Rice

I adapted this recipe from a few different sources on the internet.  I tried to focus on the ingredients I had at home though, and to try to really enhance the flavors through using more different types, and greater quantities of, flavor-enhancers than the internet recipes included.  The smells that emanated from the pan after adding all of the aromatics together was quite enticing, and I think the ultimate problem may have been using too much rice in the dish, which of course diluted the flavors.  It is interesting to note though that I generally used far less rice than the recipes I found on the internet, so I really wonder how so many Indian blogs can recommend what must really be incredibly bland recipes.  In any case, here is a quick summary of what I did:

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsps. vegetable oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsps. minced fresh ginger
• 1/4  onion, chopped or approx. 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 red pepper, coarsely chopped
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1 cup shredded cabbage
• 1 – 2 tbsps. soy sauce
• Approx. 3 cups cooked rice
• Chopped scallions for garnish (optional)

Directions:

• Heat vegetable oil in a large pan, and add garlic and ginger, sauteeing on medium-high heat for 2 – 3 minutes
• Add onion, and saute until onion is translucent
• Add red pepper and carrot, and saute vegetables, covered, for 5 minutes or until softened
• Add cabbage and cook an additional 3 minutes or until cabbage is cooked until taste (I prefer my cabbage to have a bit of crunch)
• Finally, stir in the cooked rice and soy sauce and mix ingredients well until combined and hot.

Leek Pappu

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup moong dal
• 1/4 tsp. turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 2 dried red chilis, broken in half
• 1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium leek, white and light green parts thinly sliced
• vegetable oil
• water
• salt

Directions:

• Combine dal and 1.5 cups water in a medium pot, and bring to a boil on medium-high heat.  
• When boiling, reduce heat to a simmer, add turmeric to pot, stir and cover.  Cook approximately 20 minutes or until dal is tender, adding more water as necessary.  
• In a seperate small fry pan, heat a small amount of vegetable oil on medium heat.  Add mustard seeds, and when they start to pop, add other spices, and cook until garlic is fragrant.
• Add the leeks, and continue to cook on medium heat until the leeks are tender – add water if necessary to ensure leeks do not stick to pan.
• Once leeks are cooked to your taste, add the leek and spice mixture to the dal, stirring well.  Salt to taste and serve.