Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

Tag: Cooking — Vegan Recipes

  • Trio of New Indian Dishes

    I think I've been in an Indian food rut of late, having run through the handful of Indian vegetarian recipes I usually make a few times over the past couple of weeks.  This newfound desire to try out some new recipes, particularly North Indian recipes, thankfully came at the same time as the closing sale at a local Borders (20% off the entire store!).  I spent a good chunk of time one afternoon browsing the cookbook section, and settled on Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Cooking and Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian.  

    When I had a friend over for dinner recently, I tried one new recipe from each of these cookbooks, as well as, for the first time. an childhood favorite — Spinach Rice — from Saranya Mandava's newer cookbook, Millennium Mixture.

    Trio of New Indian Dishes 

    Unfortunately, the results was a bit mixed.  The first dish I made was Julie Sahni's Potatoes Smothered in Shallots (link is to a website that reproduces the recipe).  I substituted new potatoes for the standard potatoes called for in the recipe, but other than that, followed the fairly simple recipe as is.  In addition to potatoes and shallots, the recipe calls for only salt and pepper.  I should have realized that that simplicity would mean an incredibly bland result (think plain potatoes with salt and pepper, and just a hit of shallots), but unfortunately I didn't and so missed the opportunity to make it more flavorful.  Oh well.  Flipping through the rest of Sahni's book, I think the other dishes will be equally as bland so I will probably just use the recipes as bases for new experiments.  

    The other two dishes turned out really well, and I am really happy I decided to pick up the Madhur Jaffrey compilation book, which has a ton of interesting-looking recipes.  I tried her Green Beans with Cumin and Fennel recipe, particularly because I have never cooked with fennel seeds.  I really enjoyed the multi-layered flavor they brought to the final dish — so much so, that that following week, I made the recipe again!  To add an interesting starch to the meal, I cooked the Spinach Rice recipe from Millennium Mixture, which was an exact replica of one of my favorite childhood dishes (spinach rice with some plain yogurt was a complete, and satisfying, meal for me for many years).  As the dish was simmering, the smells emanating from the kitchen actually reminded me of my childhood.  Thankfully, I didn't mess up the result, and I'm definitely going to be adding both recipes to my regular cooking rotation!

  • Potato Vindaloo…A First (Maybe Last?) Try

    I bought some pre-combined vindaloo spice powder at Kalustyan's in New York a few months back, but have been a little stumped about how best to use it in my vegetarian cooking.  I finally decided that I can't make the perfect the enemy of the good, and endeavored to use the spices with some russet potatoes.  The end result was just ok — it was a little bland for my tastes (others who are new to Indian cooking will probably find it to have a good level of flavor) and I don't think the potatoes really absorbed the full flavor of the spices.  I think maybe I need to use a porous vegetable that will break down during cooking and better absorb the flavor of the powder, and to make it more of a curry than a dry dish like the potato vindaloo had turned out.  But for those who like potatoes and want a new variation on a potato dish, the recipe I put together is below the picture:

    Potato Vindaloo 

    Recipe

    • 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1/2 inch segments
    • 4 cloves garlic, sliced
    • 3 dried red chili peppers (available at Indian grocery stores)
    • 4 tbsps chopped onion
    • 1 heaping tbsp vindaloo powder
    • 1 – 2 tbsp vegetable oil
    • 1/4 cup water

    Directions

    • Heat vegetable oil on medium to high heat, and when heated, add garlic, dried red chili peppers and vindaloo powder
    • After one minute, or after garlic becomes fragrant, add the onion and stir, cooking for another 3 minutes
    • Add the potato, and stir to coat the potatoes with the spice mixture
    • After coated, add 1/4 cup of water and cover the pan to cook the potatoes.
    • Stir periodically and cook until potatoes are tender and cooked throughout

  • Vegetarian Times’ Grilled Hearts of Romaine with Balsamic-Shallot Vinaigrette

    As regular readers of MadhuKnitsandCooks.com know, I have been making a concerted effort to use more of my cooking magazines, especially my stacks of the Vegetarian Times.  Generally, this has been meant flipping through past issues to get meal ideas, but this past month, I made a big advancement in that I used the current issue of the Vegetarian Times! 

    I tried the Grilled Hearts of Romaine with Balsamic-Shallot Vinaigrette recipe in the May/June 2010 issue, which unfortunately isn't available online as well.  Instead of grilling the lettuce on a stove-top grill pan or an outdoor grill, I ended up charring the lettuce on a cast-iron skillet.  The hearts of romaine weren't fully intact after I had cleaned them, so the leaves were a little more evenly cooked than I imagine they would be than if they were still together.  I also used plain balsamic instead of the prepared vinaigrette called for in the recipe, but it turned out incredibly well.  The lettuce was really flavorful after charring, and shallots and balsamic worked really well together so that the dish was almost spicy.  I definitely look forward to making it again, especially when I next have company over (perhaps this salad and some sort of "upscale" pizza would be a good combination!).  

    Grilled Romaine 

     

  • A Slightly Failed Attempt at Hot and Sour Cabbage

    I continue to make good progress using my cooking magazines, with one of the latest adventures focusing on the Vegetarian Times March 2010 Hot and Sour Cabbage recipe.   Unfortunately though, my attempted experimentation with a new type of cabbage didn't quite work out as I didn't quite know the difference between napa cabbage — which was called for in the recipe — and savoy cabbage.  When I went to the local grocery store, I picked up the cabbage that was labeled "napa", even though Andy pointed out that it seemed like it was plain, green cabbage (read: savoy cabbage) which I have used a few times before.  But because it was labeled "napa", I thought I should just go with it.  Well, that turned out to be incorrect, and as such, the dish didn't quite turn out the way I had hoped.

    Hot and Sour Cabbage 

    The main issue seemed to be that savoy cabbage leaves were seemingly thicker and take longer to cook than what I imagine napa leaves take, so that the balsamic vinegar didn't quite coat all of the leaves so some leaves had a really strong balsamic taste while others lacked the flavor.  In addition to making an uneven flavor, the vinegar also didn't quite mix with the sesame oil, ginger, soy sauce and other flavor additions, so I didn't really experience the "hot and sour" nature of the dish (which was quite nice) except in a few random bites.  Hopefully I'll be able to find some real napa cabbage next time so I can really make this recipe the proper way!

  • Fresh and Light Spinach-Zucchini Soup

    This is going to be the first of many reviews of recipes in my cooking magazines.  I have decided to make a concerted effort to go through and use my stacks of magazines, so that they aren't just unnecessary clutter in my apartment.  I chose to pursue this effort after flipping through some of my old issues one evening, and realizing that I hadn't made a single recipe in them.  It's really quite ridiculous that I pay money for these, and I generally get good results while also pushing myself to use new ingredients, so there isn't really much reason for me to not put them more to use. 

    Given the recent change of a season in Washington, I decided to start with some light recipes that would highlight the flavor of fresh vegetables.  I found a great Spinach-Zucchini Soup recipe in my September 2009 Vegetarian Times issue that called for a lot of lemon juice and fresh herbs (mint).  I tried it on a Sunday afternoon, and it ended up being a fantastic light lunch.  I made a few alterations to the recipe, and I look forward to making future changes because the recipe seems pretty adaptable.  I substituted fresh cilantro for the mint because I had it in the fridge, I used 5 ounces of spinach instead of the 4 called for the in recipe, and finally, I reduced the amount of lemon zest a bit, and just squeezed half a large lemon into the recipe to taste.  The soup was very light and fresh-tasting because of the lemon (but not too lemony, which I am not a fan of), and I look forward to making it again throughout the summer!

    Spinach-Zucchini Soup 

     

  • Wonderfully Fresh and Flavorful Vegan Meal — Indian-Style Roasted Cauliflower, Chinese-Inspired Sauteed Spinach and Red Quinoa

    I have been trying to create new versions of some traditional Indian dishes that I like — so adapting the usual spice blends I use for the vegetables I ate growing up to new ingredients, and trying to cook things differently by using new techniques.  Through these adventures, I recently made what in my mind was a pretty successful dinner — it was flavorful, quick, and used good, fresh ingredients.  Details about the meal — an Indian-style roasted cauliflower, a super-simple Chinese-inspired sauteed spinach and cooked red quinoa — follow the picture.

    Roasted Cauliflower and Chinese Spinach 

    Roasted Cauliflower

    Ingredients

    • 1 medium head cauliflower, cleaned and coarsely chopped into 1/2 – 3/4 inch segments
    • 2 cloves garlic, sliced
    • 1 tsp mustard seeds
    • 1 tsp cumin (whole not ground)
    • 3 dried red chili peppers
    • olive oil
    • salt and pepper to taste

    Directions

    1.  Pre-heat over to 450 degrees, and cover a large baking sheet with foil

    2.  Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, and add mustard seeds.

    3.  When the mustard seeds start popping, add cumin and break the red chili peppers in half, adding them to the saucepan as well.  Mix together.

    4.  When spice mixture is fragrant, add sliced garlic and saute until garlic also becomes fragrant but before it burns.

    5.  Immediately add cauliflower, and toss for 1 – 2 minutes to ensure the cauliflower is completely covered by the olive oil and spice mixture.  

    6.  Remove pan from heat, and place the cauliflower on the prepared baking sheet in one layer.  Add additional olive oil and toss, if the cauliflower pieces aren't covered by a very light layer of oil.

    7.  Place baking sheet in oven on the highest rack, and roast for 15 – 20 minutes or until the cauliflower has browned to your liking, and is tender.  Liberally season with salt and pepper, and serve.

    Chinese-Inspired Sauteed Spinach

    Ingredients

    • 1 bunch spinach, thoroughly cleaned, patted dry (this is important) and with only the ends trimmed
    • 5 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
    • 1 tablespoon soy sauce, additional to taste
    • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
    • 2 dried chili peppers (optional)
    • Vegetable oil

    Directions

    1.  Heat 2 – 3 tsp. of vegetable oil on medium-high heat in a large saucepan.  Add garlic and red chili peppers, and cook until mixture is fragrant (approx. 1 – 2 minutes).

    2.  Add spinach, tossing with tongs to ensure all spinach wilts evenly.  After the spinach is lightly wilted, add the soy sauce, tossing to coat.

    3.  Once the spinach is cooked to your liking, stir in the sesame oil and remove from heat.  Serve immediately.

  • Baby Corn Manchurian

    Indian-Chinese food (or Indo-Chinese) is one of my favorite types of food.  It's basically fast-food Chinese with Indian spices or influences, and has become increasingly popular with Indian communities in the U.S. the past several years.  I experienced Indian Chinese food for the first time since my childhood about 6 years ago when I went to Tangra Masala in New York, which has since become one of my favorite restaurants in the country.  I haven't really attempted Indian Chinese food at home though because the flavor mix in the dishes is so powerful that I always have trouble figuring out what spices to use.   

    I decided to take the plunge though recently because I had some leftover baby corn in my fridge, and Baby Corn Manchurian is one of my favorite Indian Chinese dishes.  I did some googling, and settled on a few sites to help guide my first attempt:  Cooking and Me (thanks to Nags to the permission to comment on the awesome blog) and Sulekha.com.  

    Baby Corn Manchurian 

    I mostly followed the recipe on Cooking and Me, though I did make a few alterations.  My ingredient substitutions included:

    • Using all-purpose flour in place of maida
    • Grinding yellow corn meal to make the corn flour 
    • Adding 1/4 cup water to the flour mixture to allow it to more easily coat each piece of baby corn
    • Adding one finely chopped serrano pepper and more soy sauce
    • A few "turns" of fresh ground pepper in place of "pepper powder"

    I also cooked the dish slightly differently because I was multi-tasking in the kitchen that day, and so I cooked the vegetable mixture on the stovetop for about 10 minutes longer than called for in the recipe on lower-heat.  I also cut the baby corn into 1-inch segments instead of halving them, and fried them in my deep fryer for about 4 minutes, or until golden brown.  

    As you can see from the picture, I ended up making the "dry" version of the dish, and not the version that included the extra sauce — I generally prefer my Baby Corn Manchurian dry, and was also worried that the gravy would dilute the flavor of the dish.  

    Overall, I enjoyed the dish but I felt that something was still missing — and I think that ingredient was a little bit of tomato paste to give the dish a bit more tartness and therefore resemble most Baby Corn Manchurian dishes that I've had.  I also think that instead of prepared ginger garlic paste, I may use fresh ginger and garlic instead to really pump up the flavors of the dish.  An alternative way to prepare would also be to just deep fry the baby corn as directed with the flavorful coating because the crisp baby corn without the vegetable tasted quite good on its own with a little salt and pepper.  

    Any ideas on how to improve this first attempt at Baby Corn Manchurian are more than welcome!  Thanks again to Cooking and Me, and Sulekha, for their recipe guidance!

  • Lentil and Vegetable Soup — Excellent for All Seasons!

    Last year, Andy and I went to his co-worker Claudia's condo for a Mexican cooking lesson.  Among the delicious things we ate was a super-yummy and filling lentil soup.  Although Claudia didn't use many vegetables in her version of the soup (potatoes, tomatoes and onion), with the bountiful set of vegetables from my weekly CSA deliveries, I decided to make her recipe into more of a vegetable and lentil soup this year.  I've made the soup about 3 – 4 times this spring, summer, and now fall.  Each time I've used a different set of vegetables and the result has never disappointed, so I would definitely recommend customizing this recipe to incorporate your favorite ingredients, no matter the season!  I would also recommend making this soup over weekends to serve as several weekday take-to-work lunches as well.

    Lentil Soup 

    This recipe makes about 4 meal-size servings.

    Ingredients

    • 4 cups water
    • 1 cup lentils, washed and picked through for stones (though I admit I do a cursory job of this)
    • 1 medium onion, quartered and then 3 of the sections chopped
    • 4 cloves garlic, 2 cloves whole and 2 coarsely chopped
    • 2 hot peppers (serranos, jalapenos and/or poblanos depending on your preference), sliced
    • 1 green bell pepper, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
    • 2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
    • 1 medium carrot, sliced into 1/2 inch circles
    • 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
    • 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
    • 2 tbls. vegetable oil
    • salt and pepper to taste

    Directions

    • Bring water, lentils, the full quarter of the onion, the 2 whole cloves of garlic and 1 tsp. salt to a boil
    • After the soup boils, reduce heat to a simmer for 20 minutes.
    • While the soup is simmering, in a separate medium saucepan, heat vegetable oil on medium heat.
    • Stir into the saucepan the chopped garlic, chopped onion, hot peppers, green peppers, tomatoes and carrot, and saute for 5 minutes.
    • Add in the garlic powder and ground cumin to the saucepan, and saute mixture for another 3 – 5 minutes or until vegetables have just become tender.
    • Stir the saucepan contents into the soup, and simmer the entire mixture for another 15 minutes or until the lentils are cooked to your taste.  Add in additional salt or pepper as necessary (if the soup tastes under-flavored, adding a modest amount of salt can really bring out the flavors).
    • Remove soup from heat and serve immediately.  Adding homemade croutons or crushed tortilla chips helps make this soup into a filling main course.

  • Rasam — A Light and Spicy Indian Tomato Soup

    One of my favorite Indian dishes is rasam — a light tomato broth that is wonderfully flavorful and can be enjoyed with rice and yogurt in addition to just being delicious on its own.  After long salivating for rasam on my journeys home to Michigan, I finally decided to try it on my own.  I bought some rasam powder (a mix of ground spices that you can find at any Indian store), and instead of following the rather bland directions on the box, I tried to incorporate items that I know my mom uses when she makes rasam.  The recipe follows the picture below.

    Rasam 2 

    Ingredients

    • 4 cups water
    • 2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
    • 1/3 cup chopped onion
    • 1/2 jalapeno, chopped
    • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
    • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
    • 2 tsp. prepared rasam powder
    • 1 tsp. mustard seeds
    • 2 dried red chili peppers
    • 1 tbsp. vegetable oil

    Directions

    • Place water in medium pot, and turn heat on burners to high.
    • Add in chopped vegetables and rasam powder, and stir well.
    • Bring mixture to a boil, and boil for 3 – 5 minutes.  Reduce heat to a simmer.
    • At the same time, heat vegetable oil in a small saucepan.  Once hot, add mustard seeds and break the 2 dried chili peppers in half and add them as well.
    • Heat the mustard seeds and peppers until the mustard seeds pop.  Once they do, add the entire contents of the saucepan to the simmering pot.  
    • Stir the soup well, and then serve when desired.  Although excellent on its own, rasam can also be served on the side of any Indian meal or with just rice.

  • Indian Style Cabbage Stir Fry

    The weekly CSA deliveries continue to make me try new recipes — or at least in this case, a recipe I have never tried despite eating several times.  For two or three weeks, I received a small head of cabbage in my share.  I've never actually cooked with cabbage, but I remembered that my mom made a tasty Indian cabbage dish that I used to eat a decent amount growing up.  So I called her up, and got her recipe — which sure enough, was extremely easy to follow, cooked up incredibly quickly and will definitely be repeated next time I pick up some cabbage!

    And the best part — which I learned at work the next day — is that a whole head of cabbage has less than 300 calories!  That means each serving of this recipe is maybe 75 – 100 calories at most! 

    Cabbage (Indian Style)

    Makes approximately 6 servings

    Ingredients:

    1 small head cabbage, outer green leaves removed and thoroughly washed (approx. 6 cups of cabbage, after chopped)
    1/4 cup peas (can be frozen)
    1/2 cup shredded carrot
    1 thai green chili pepper
    1 tsp. mustard seeds
    2 cloves garlic, sliced
    3 dried red chili peppers (can be found in Indian grocery stores), broken in half
    1 tsp uridahl
    1/2 tsp cumin seeds
    1/4 tsp turmeric powder
    Vegetable oil
    Salt

    Directions:

    1.  Chop the cabbage into small pieces — approximately 1/2 inch wide by 1 – 2 inch long pieces.
    2.  Place cabbage in the microwave for approximately 2 minutes to pre-cook.  Also place peas and carrot in the microwave for approximately 1 minute (if frozen, for 2 minutes).
    3.  At the same time, heat 2 – 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a saucepan on medium-high heat, and add mustard seeds.
    4.  After mustard seeds pop, add garlic, red chili pepers, uridahl and cumin, and quickly saute.  You want to cook until the garlic softens, but before it browns.
    5.  Immediately add the cabbage, peas and carrot; sprinkle on the turmeric and salt to taste; and ensure that the seasonings and oil coat all the vegetables. 
    6.  Saute the mixture for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring regularly until the cabbage reaches the consistency you desire.  Add more salt to taste before removing from the heat. 
    7.  Serve hot with basmati or long-grain rice, or Indian breads.  Think about how something so delicious can be so good for you!