khitchari

Khitchari is this amazing one-pot meal that is thought of as a cleansing nourishing dish in ayurveda. and it is incredibly tasty as well Basically khitchari has rice, moong beans, onions, vegetables – and it is the blend of spices that gives it the ultimate healing properties : turmeric, cloves, peppercorns, dried red chilis, cumin, garam masala, and tons of black pepper – all sauteed in ghee.

I was making khitchari this morning – and I can’t help thinking of how alike it is to life. khitchari – the mishmash of everything good and bad. can you bite into a chili by itself ? but a khitchari would be incomplete without it. think of pepper on its own. and it in this wonderful pot. pepper takes the khitchari to an entirely new level! khitchari is taking all that life throws at us – and making it beautiful, nourishing, satisfying. and the ‘secret ingredient’ that binds it all is the ghee – pure and brimming with good things. much like the love we hold in our hearts as we go through life – and how it colors everything. binds it all together.

I love the khitchari that life is! here is to more of it – both eating and living
With love, S.

the zen meditation of cooking..

I love cooking! Its not something I would have said 2 years ago, but now, I’ve found it to give me a deep sense of peace. Of seeing my efforts transform into nutrition, and good health for my body and my family. Mostly, its the sense of being present. Of being in the kitchen at the right time, with no agenda other than to prepare food. There is no sense of urgency, and there is no goal (other than to hope that the food is edible ). At that moment, all I’m doing is being..in its true sense. Nothing else matters.

Like any other art, to truly enjoy something, you have to first practice, develop ease in the art to actually create your own traditions and routines. Cooking to me used to feel awkward. And then I realized one of the reasons for that-even before I started cooking, I wanted it to be perfect and taste amazing..I was judging it even before I began! and that takes all enjoyment out of something. I then started to cook, without expecting anything. I was okay if the lentil soup didn’t taste exactly the way it was ‘supposed’ to. It helped that my hubby loves any food I make-irrespective of its taste. I was generally my own worst critic. and then I dropped the critic bone!

I also found simple recipes that allowed me to simply experience flavors without complications. to simply appreciate the scent of cumin, the taste of garlic. My favorite dish that I enjoy making is moong dal using moong beans. Recipe follows. Most of all, I love it that my loved ones can enjoy something that was made by me for them. A gift.

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Recipe for Moong daal:

1 cup moong daal washed and drained

4 cups of water

1 tsp turmeric

1tsp salt

Combine these four ingredients and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer covered till the daal is soft. Ladle half cup of the daal into a bowl, mash into a puree, and return back to the pan, and bring to desired consistency.

Tadka:

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 green chilli finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh ginger minced

2 cloves of garlic minced

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 lemon

1 tablespoon ghee or oil

For tadka, heat the ghee or oil. Add cumin seeds, let them brown for about a minute. Then add the ginger, garlic and green chillis and saute till the raw taste of garlic is gone-about a minute. Add this tadka to the prepared daal, and mix in the cilantro and lemon juice. Your daal is ready to serve!!

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With love, S.

pistachio macaroons..

These are the most delicious cookies I have ever made! This past weekend, I was in the baking mood. I have wanted to make macaroons for a long time-simply because they use only egg whites and nuts powdered..(no cholestrol involved, and healthy protein) and also because I wanted to try the technique-of beating egg whites till ‘they are stiff and dry’. And if I am going to be making macaroons, why not go for something decadent!

This recipe is what Nigella Lawson calls the one she is most proud of, in her book ‘baking and how to be a domestic goddess’. It has two macaroons sandwiched with a pistachio buttercream frosting in between. So, I tried it..and now, each time I bite into it, I cannot believe I made this!!! It is delicious! See picture:
pistachio-macaroons.jpg
though its hard to get a taste of how soft and chewy it is from the picture..and let me know if you want the recipe..the new food processor we got came in very handy for this recipe to grind the nuts. and having a hand-held mixer is helpful for beating the eggwhites.
Love, S.

Banana nut muffins

When there are ripe bananas at home, it goes without saying that I will make banana nut muffins. Two reasons for this: 1) they are yummy and good for you and 2) I have a fool-proof recipe for this!! . The recipe I use is from Tyler Florence who has a show on foodnetwork. and he is a perfectionist. Everything he makes sounds and looks delicious (though I haven’t actually tasted his food -oh yeah, this chef insisted several times that I sample his cooking but you know what a busy celebrity I am-just haven’t got the time ). Kidding aside, he takes that extra bit of effort that makes it a winner. same with this recipe. Usually banana muffin recipes just add mashed bananas-this recipe makes that into two steps: mash part of the bananas and beat the rest with sugar. Here is the recipe modified by me to make it somewhat more healthy: (I’ve reduced the sugar and added whole wheat flour). This makes about 2 dozen muffins-you can half the quantities to make just a dozen. Usually thats what I do-though this time I made the full quantity and have frozen half of the muffins.

Mama, this one is for you! .

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1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or whole wheat flour)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup walnuts (or pecans), chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly butter 2 muffin tins.In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together like you mean it, for a good 3 minutes. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill them about halfway. Give them a rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.

Bake until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before turning the muffins out. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Hope you enjoy them if you get a chance to bake!! .

Love, S.

Apple Pecan coffeecake

So, yesterday was sunday evening-and daalu and I decided to cook at home instead of going out for dinner. And you won’t believe the result of a simple decision like this : a home filled with various aromas wafting through the air! Abhi made dal makhani, this lentil dish made with black urad dal. We had been to the farmstand earlier in the day and came home with some beautiful roma tomatoes, yellow onions (huge and beautiful!) and thai basil which smelled heavenly! Knowing that we were about to eat fresh vegetables which were grown organically right in this soil, itself does something to one’s gastronomical senses-they become aesthetically pleased . So, cooking was a treat for Abhi. Its his meditation-he first prepares, cutting all the veggies finely just like a chef, and boiling the dal. And then he does his magic! . I have never managed to replicate any of his dishes. and he doesn’t have a recipe! He also made potatoes mildly flavored and fried crisp, for the side.

Meanwhile, I carried on with my baking. I told you, there were many aromas wafting in the air! One one side there was garam masala and cumin. and on my side there was cinnamon and nutmeg.

What better to bake with, in fall, than apples! . Its the season for all kinds of apples. And I knew I wanted something with apple cinnamon. So I went to one of my favorite websites: vegetariantimes.com. And searched for apple: here is what I came up with: apple pecan coffeecake!! check out the recipe at:

http://vegetariantimes.com/recipes/7090?section=

I immediatly loved the recipe: 1) because it has no butter! just buttermilk, which you can use non-fat yogurt and milk for, and 2) just 2 tbs of oil, for which one can use canola oil, the most heart healthy one and 3) no sugar, maple syrup instead, which is supposed to be the best natural sweetner and 4) whole wheat pastry flour. what better healthy baking recipe can one ask for!

So, I decided I wanted to make this, but before I could print it, our computer started having problems-aol kept shutting the page. and I got really bugged by it. Its amazing how quickly we can get triggered when things don’t go exactly the way we planned or want them to! But daalu was sweet, he figured it out, installed firefox, and printed the recipe for me. The result was delicious! . We had it for breakfast this morning and it was pretty filling. The recipe said it was to serve 6, I think its more like 8-10.

So, you start baking, then you start baking healthy! . I hope you enjoy your apples this fall!

Love, S.

ps: check out daalu cooking up his magic! harry potter could learn a potion or two from him . And also my belated pictures of blueberry muffins and the coffeecake (the cinnamon looks dry on top-this morning it had completely been absorbed into the surface and looked much better!). 

Blueberry muffins..

So I decided last nite that it was time for the muffins of the week to be made-the blueberry anti-oxidant filled ones . Abhi had oatmeal yesterday and the look on his face pretty much proclaimed the need for it .

Immediatly I reached my favorite baking book-’how to be a domestic goddess’ by Nigella Lawson. The fact that I love a book with that title, I know, is bringing you giggles! . But NIgella’s writing is so cool and so beginner-friendly, its been a major factor in my baking adventures. And she has delectable pictures, which in my mind is a major factor in whether I’m going to try the recipe!

Not to mention my dear friend Heidi who first introduced me to baking. The first time she came over-she saw my measuring cup-which was this small plastic cup we use for measuring rice. I did not even know you have measuring cups and spoons here!! That was about 1.5-2 years ago, and I have come a long way since then. Even she is impressed . I now have a stocked pantry with all my ingredients, and I always have frozen blueberries, so they are the easiest to make.

So, last nite, I measured out the ingredients very responsibly, going by Nigella’s tip, so that all I had to do this morning was to melt butter, beat it with the egg and buttermilk and add to the dry ingredients (adding b’s at the end) and put it in the oven. I even made it healthy by replacing half the flour with whole wheat pastry flour. Except that I overslept! So Abhi did have oatmeal this morning. But after he left, I mixed it up, and 20 minutes later they are ready . Now I get to sample the muffins first! Don’t they look yummy! I told you I was on my way to being a domestic goddess .

ps: Okay, so I took pictures of the muffins to post-I hope to get to uploading it sometime soon!