Aloo Gobi (Indian-Style Cauliflower & Potatoes)

ALOO GOBI

FROM: http://www.quickindiancooking.com/2007/03/16/aloo-gobi/
and posted with kind permission of Mallika, who originated the recipe there.

Photos are mine taken in my own kitchen.

This recipe serves four:

400gms cauliflower, cut into large florets
4 large new potatoes halved or two large normal potatoes peeled and quartered
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
Half inch ginger, grated
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
Half tsp garam masala
Quarter tsp turmeric powder
Half tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp oil
Fresh coriander to garnish
Salt to taste

Heat the oil and fry the onion, garlic and ginger. Throw in the potatoes, all the powders apart from the garam masalas, add a tiny bit of water, cover the pot and cook the potatoes.

Don’t add too much water but make sure there is just enough to cook the potatoes.

When the potatoes are almost cooked (you will be able to insert a fork into the potatoes with some difficulty), add in the cauliflower.



Again, cover the pot and cook until the cauliflowers become soft and a fork can be inserted into them easily.

It’s very important to add the cauliflower when the potatoes are almost cooked or they’ll be overcooked.

Add salt and sprinkle garam masala and fresh coriander to finish. This dish should be served bone dry, ideally with some naan or roti.

River's Note:
Excellent quick version of this dish - I'll be making it this way now Those who don't enjoy their Indian dishes quite as hot and spicy as we do, however, should be aware that the chilli powder in the recipes means powdered chillies (I used cayenne) and might find it a bit HOT. Please add your chilli powder with due caution.

Potato, Pea and Mushroom Curry

POTATO, PEA AND MUSHROOM CURRY (INDIA)

This recipe had its origins around 25 years or more ago with one by Charmaine Solomon. It has then of course been transmuted somewhat :)

3/4 lb small red potatoes (the kind that look the size of new potatoes)
3/4 lb mushrooms (button and cremini is what I use, mixed)
1 cup peas, shelled (ok to use frozen - but save them for the last ten minutes)
1 smallish onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic or to taste, finely chopped
1/3 cup or so chopped fresh coriander / cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp or to taste grated ginger root
1-1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp cayenne or to taste
3/4 cup of water
1/2 tsp sea salt or to taste
1-1/2 tsp garam masala (your own mix or a good commercial blend)

Scrub the potatoes and if there are any larger ones halve them to about the size of the button mushrooms. If you only have larger potatoes, that’s okay - just cut them lengthways a couple of times and then across to the same rough size as the button mushrooms.

Wipe the mushrooms and, if there are larger ones, halve them. But the dish requires a chunky look rather than a ‘chopped’ look.

Put the onions in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook in a little water (or, if you prefer, you can use a couple of tsp olive oil) until they start to go translucent. Add the garlic and the ginger and throw in the the coriander leaves and give it a stir around for one minute or two. Add the turmeric and cayenne. (If you’re not sure about how ‘hot’ this will be with the cayenne, you can add a quarter tsp and then, later, add the rest if you think it would be good.) (If you are using fresh peas add them now and stir these quickly with the other vegetables). Add the water and salt, if using, and cover, lowering heat to simmer, and cook for 15 minutes.



After that 15 minutes, add the garam masala and stir well and, if you have decided to use the frozen peas instead of the fresh ones, add these now. Add a little water if you think it needs it before covering the pan again for another 10 to 15 minutes. You want the potatoes to be just cooked, not broken or mushy.



When the potatoes are done, the liquid should be just about evaporated but the dish should be coated in a light sauce containing the spices. Taste for seasonings and adjust, stir well.

Garnish with more chopped coriander leaves.



You can serve with basmati rice or, like we do, with brown basmati rice - or of course your favourite Indian bread. Add a small ‘salad’ or two and you’re well away!



This one, which we decided to have today, was just tomatoes with chopped onion, a tiny dash of salt, lemon juice and a sprinkle of ground cardamom. The green leaves of course are coriander/cilantro :)

Enjoy!

Spicy Hot Pot

SPICY HOT POT

Today I felt as if we needed some serious veggies for our midday meal! I had been looking at a recipe in Barnard & Kramer's The Garaden of Vegan a while back, and thought that might be a good idea. Unfortunataely, as luck would have it, I didn't have any home made veg stock in the freezer, I had no green beans, no chickpeas, no cashews, and precious little cilantro, etc. etc. What I did have was an appetite. This is my adaptation of their Spicy Vegetable Hot Pot, simplified in method (don't need to fuss around much if you're not sauteeing in oil, after all). The mushrooms were added for nutrition and for added flavour, considering the kind of stock I was reduced to using.

2 cups vegetable stock (I used a low-sodium cube *sigh*)
5 or 6 ounces onion (half a large one), chopped
2 carrots (about 7 or 8 ounces), chopped
2 potatoes (around the same as the carrots in weight), chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp curry powder (I actually still have some left over from summer!)
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
1 small red thai chili, minced (seeds and all for me - you might want to remove them)
1 Tbsp grated ginger (I used the kind from a jar)
1 cup cauliflower, chopped (from my freezer)
2 cups cooked soybeans (from my freezer)
2-1/2 cups mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 apple, chopped
1 cup frozen green peas
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped

I scrubbed but didn't peel the potatoes, carrots or apple.

Pan went on a medium-high heat with the vegetable stock. Onions went in next, quickly followed by the carrots, potatoes and garlic. Then the spices, chili and ginger and the heat was lowered to a simmer. After around 10 minutes the root vegetables were no longer hard. I added the cauliflower and soybeans (still feeling the chill) and the mushrooms and raised the heat. Another 5 to 8 minutes and they all seemed ready to have the apple, peas and cilantro join them. These took only a couple of minutes or so, because they really only needed to be heated through.



I served a salad to start, as usual (I'll spare you the photo this time!), and accompanied the hot pot with some wholewheat couscous. There's enough left for one enormous meal for two persons (and probably even three meals for two, depending on how much grain is consumed with it).

NOTE: It was very good. I'll do it again, probably tweaking the spices to make it a little 'hotter' and adding a little more of this and that. But bland it was not; it lives up to its name. Also I liked it with the peas - probably better than I would have liked the green beans, and the mushrooms must stay in, for me, regardless of what kind of stock I use. I love soybeans, but I also like chickpeas. I'm not sure what I'd use next time :)

SPICY RED DRAGON PIE

There are several versions of a Red Dragon Pie circulating on the net. The original is probably this one: http://www.unicorn-grocery.co.uk/recipes.php?i=4 And this is my take on it.

My usual way to make this is to soak a couple of ounces of wheatberries overnight and cook them with the adzuki beans. This time I have used a couple of ounces of pot barley instead. The barley gave it a nice texture with bite.

SPICY RED DRAGON PIE

The Pie Filling:
4 ounces (by weight) adzuki beans, soaked overnight
2 ounces ( ditto) pot barley, ditto
1 brown onion, chopped
1/2 lb. carrots, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1-inch piece peeled ginger, very finely chopped
1 tsp or more crushed chile peppers
1 Tsp Tamari or Braggs
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1tsp or so of mixed herbs such as parsley, thyme, oregano
1 cup or more bean stock (or what you need to keep the mixture moist)
salt & pepper & cayenne to taste

The Potatoes:
3/4 lb red potatoes
a little low-fat soymilk for mashing the potatoes
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast for the potatoes
salt and pepper to taste for the potatoes
2 or 3 green/spring onions, finely chopped, for the potatoes

Garnish:
spirnkle of faux parmezan cheez or homemade similar, dash paprika, parsley


Drain the beans and barley and simmer for 3/4 hour or until cooked in a quart or more
of water. Drain, but save the stock for later.

NOTE: This part of the recipe can be done ahead of time - you can even cook and save the beans and barley and freeze the mix until needed. OR you can proceed with the recipe until the point of putting on the potatoes and stop there a day ahead or freeze until needed. OR you can make and freeze the whole recipe. It is very very forgiving.

To continue . . .
Put a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the onion and carrot and a little bean stock to cook until soft along with the garlic, chiles and ginger. Add add the cooked beans and barley and mix well.

Add the tamari, tomato puree and herbs to some of that cup of bean stock. mix, and add to the pan. Stir, and then add as much of the bean stock as you need to keep it from going dry - about a cup - bring to the boil, lower to simmer. (Use water or veg stock if you run out of bean stock.)

Simmer for about 20 minutes to blend the flavours nicely.

Meanwhile boil the potatoes and mash hem with the soymilk, add the nutritional yeast, salt and pepper and chopped green onions.

Taste the bean mix for seasoning and correct, adding salt, pepper and more cayenne if necessary. Put it in a lightly sprayed casserole dish and spread the mashed potato mix over the top. Sprinkle the top with the vegan faux cheez or nutritional yeast and crumb mix (if used) and sprinkle a little paprika.

Bake at 350F for 45 minutes, in which time the potatoes should have browned and crisped.

Add a sprig of parsley or something green if you like and serve with green vegetables or a salad.

Reheats nicely in oven (cover with foil) or microwave.

Serves 4.

OKRA WITH POTATOES (INDIA)

This was our lunch today, accompanied by red lentil dhal and a salad of cucumber, tomato and onion. Decadent!

OKRA WITH POTATOES

This lovely recipe was inspired by one by Madhur Jaffrey - and its origin is of course Indian. The serving size of this dish is easily adjustable, and you can of course play with the spices a bit. This recipe served the two of us generously, and, if doubled or trippled, would keep nicely in the refrigerator for leftovers. It uses garlic but no onion. NOTE: If you prefer your cooking non-fat, omit the oil (I do) and simply throw everything in together - it works just fine, believe it or not!


For Two Persons:

2 Tbsp chopped ginger root
2-3 cloves garlic
t tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne or more (to taste)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil (or as little as you can get away with) - can be omitted, as per note above.
1/4 tsp brown mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
5 oz (80 g) fresh okra/bindi/ladyfingers, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch diagonal slices
1 - 5 oz red potato (80 g) - boiled - in 1-in. cubes
2 or 3 canned tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 - 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup coriander leaves / cilantro, chopped, for serving
water as per instructions below



Boil the potato, assemble the spices, trim and slice the okra/bindi. Put the ginger and garlic into a small blender container with a Tbsp of water and blend into a paste, add the next four spices and mix well in a small bowl and reserve.

Select a skillet that will hold all ingredients and add the cooking oil over medium-high heat, then add the mustard and cumin seeds. The mustard seeds will quickly start to pop (stand back!), so turn down the heat to medium-low and add that spice paste you have made (previous paragraph). Give it a quick stir for a few seconds then add the potatoes, okra, tomatoes, salt, lemonjuice, sugar and 1/4 cup water (or a tad more, stirring well to coat all ingredients in the flavours. When the mixture starts to simmer, immediately turn the heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes on low. Test the okra for tenderness (it should not be overcooked) and stir again. The dish will be moist but not runny, the potatoes having thickened the sauce and all the spices, tomatoes, etc., will have coated the vegetables.

Serve hot, garnished with the chopped coriander leaves / cilantro, with basmati rice (we use brown), dhal, and perhaps a small salad / kachumbar dish.

Looks great - good enough to eat - and tastes heavenly.

CABBAGE & POTATO SOUP

I made this for our evening meal - it is deliciously creamy without being sinful! We like that :)

CREAMY CABBAGE AND POTATO SOUP
(Low Fat)

Serves 4, but can easily be doubled.

2 cups good vegetable stock, homemade preferred
1 cup cabbage, shredded
8 oz. potato, peeled and diced
1/2 cup chopped leeks (a mild onion also works well - I’ve tried both)
1 tsp Dijon mustard
3/4 tsp vegan worcestershire sauce (read the label - no anchovies)
1/4 tsp caraway seeds
1-1/2 cups soymilk (I used light soymilk, but you could go all out and use regular)
1-1/2 Tbsp cornstarch and enough water to dissolve
freshly ground black pepper to taste
salt to taste if needed (much will depend on your veg stock)
dash tabasco sauce (if you dislike it, skip it, but it gives a lovely little tang)
Garnish: a little fresh chopped chive or parsley or herb of choice.

Heat the stock over medium-high heat and add the vegetables. Reduce heat and simmer until tender.

Add the Dijon mustard, worcestershire sauce, caraway seeds, stir well and simmer a few more minutes to blend all flavours. The result may be thick, so watch that it doesn’t burn or catch on the bottom of the pan.

Remove soup from heat. Take half the soup from the pan and puree in a blender with some of the soymilk. Return puree to pan and stir well with the remaining soup. Add the remaining soymilk and the cornstarch mix. Bring the soup back to the simmer and stir carefully until heated through and thickened by the cornstarch. Taste and add the tabasco and salt (if used) and pepper and give one last stir for luck!

Garnish and serve.

SPICY CHICKPEA AND VEGETABLE STEW

This was our main meal yesterday - with huge leftovers, I might add.

SPICY CHICKPEA AND VEGETABLE STEW

2 Tbsp oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp curry powder (use your own mix, if you have it, or a good commercial brand)
1-1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1 small fresh red chilli, finely chopped (or more if you like it HOT)
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
1 Tbsp wholemeal plain flour
2 cups water
1 large vegetable stock cube, crumbled
1 medium carrots, chopped small (carrot cooks in its own good time, so keep it small)
1 medium potato, chopped
1/2 small cauliflower, chopped
250 g green beans, chopped
1 medium apple, peeled, chopped
425 g chickpeas, drained (I use two cups my own pre-cooked chickpeas)
200g carton plain soygurt *
2 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)** - or more to taste
1/4 cup chopped roasted cashew nuts

Heat oil in large pan, add onion, stir over medium heat for about two minutes or until onion is translucent. Add garlic, curry powder, other spices, chilli and ginger, and stir over medium heat for 1 minute. Stir in flour, stir over high heat for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and gradually stir in the combined water and stock cube, stir over high heat until mixture boils and thickens slightly from the flour.

Now add the carrots, potatoes, cauliflower and green beans, cover, simmer for about 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Add apple, chickpeas, soygurt* and coriander/cilantro leaves, stir over medium heat until heated through.

Sprinkle with nuts before serving and add another sprig or two of the coriander leaves/cilantro if you like.

SERVES 4 generously.

*NOTE 1: I cannot readily buy plain soygurt, so I often make do with a substitute such as thinned-out vegan sour cream OR I zap soft silken tofu in the blender with a squeeze of lemon and use that. Works just fine :)

**NOTE 2: For those who cannot abide cilantro (coriander leaves) - and it seems to be a genetic thingie - you could leave them out or add a little chopped basil or parsley for flavour and color.

GREEN BEAN AND POTATO CURRY

OK, this was for lunch yesterday - served with a side salad only - made from scratch. I didn't have green beans in the fridge after all, so I substituted yellow wax beans and it turned out just fine :)

This is an easy fix, although it does take a few minutes for those vegetables to cook. It reheats very nicely the following day.

(If you’re really really in a hurry, you can use canned tomatoes (although they won’t look as pretty as the fresh sliced ones), canned or frozen green beans, and ginger and garlic out of a jar. The vegetables will take less time to cook, especdially if you cut the potatoes into a smaller dice. Making it from scratch, obviously, tastes nicer.)

GREEN BEAN AND POTATO CURRY (INDIA)

1 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp crushed red chilies - or use whole fresh ones, to taste
3 or 4 fresh tomatoes, sliced
1 tsp salt or to taste
1-1/2 tsp fresh gingerroot, finely chopped
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp cayenne pepper - or to taste
1/2 lb fresh green beans, cut in 1-inch lengths
2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and diced
1-1/4 cups water
Garnish: chopped cilantro leaves, finely chopped fresh green chilies

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the cumin seeds and mustard seds together with the chilies, stirring well. The seeds will start to pop - stand back! Quickly add the tomatoes (which will stop those seeds from flying out of the pan) and stir for about 3 minutes or so.

Add the rest of the ingredients, except for water and garnish, to the pan, stirring well for about five minutes.

Add the water and reduce the heat, simmering for 12 to 15 minutes or until everything is nicely tender but not mushy.

Turn out onto a platter, garnish, and serve with hot boiled rice.

Very easy and very good.