Rēwena Bread (Māori Potato Sourdough)

I'm still working out the details for this one. I've found a few rēwena bread recipe floating around online. Most of them are pretty consistent in their ingredients, but the preparations vary wildly. I read over a few of them and then picked one and gave it a try. Feeding the rēwena bug is also up for the debate. Most instructions say to feed it with "potato water" and sugar. But the details are unclear.

The implication in most of the recipes is that you should just pour some lukewarm potato cooking water in and let it do its thing. However, it's also possible that they mean potato mashed into some of its own cooking water. This second approach makes more sense to me. It seems like repeated additions of water would just dilute it further and further.

I found one recipe that advised adding raw potato. I found another that recommended adding flour. But then other people saying that flour shouldn't be added. I've also found recipes indicating that the entire bug should be added to the dough and then a bit of the dough pinched off to make the new bug. Other recipes indicate that only a portion of the bug should be added and the remainder fed and allowed to grow and develop further. I'm taking my best guess at how to feed the bug and keep it alive. We'll see how it goes.

Rēwena Bread

Slightly adapted from Super Value

Ingredients

• 5 c. soft (cake/plain/standard) flour¹
• 6 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt² (optional)
• 1-2 Tbsp. dry milk powder³ (optional)
• 500mL rēwena bug
• 350mL water

Directions

1. Combine dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
2. Make a well in the centre and pour in the bug and about half the water.
3. Mix the flour into the liquids working from the centre outward.
4. Turn out onto counter and begin kneading, working in more water as necessary. (You may not need all the water or you may need a bit more depending your flour and how hydrated your bug is.) DO NOT knead for more than 10 minutes! The dough should become supple and silky.
5. Set in a covered bowl to rise for a few hours. It will probably take at least two hours and may take four or more depending on how active the bug is and how warm the room is.
6. Once the dough no longer returns an indentation from a wet finger pressed ~1cm into the surface, knock it back.
7. Shape into loaves, cover, and set to rise again. This rise will likely take an hour or two.
8. Preheat oven to 230°C (450°F) and spritz loaves generously with water.
9. If using an open-topped cooking vessel, place a pan of boiling water on the bottom rack of the oven. If using a vessel with a lid (like a Dutch oven), cover it before placing the bread in the oven.
10. Bake at 230°C (450°F) until crust begins to colour. This took ~30 minutes for me. (Much longer than I'd normally expect.) Remove the water pan or uncover the cooking vessel after the first 10 minutes.
11. Reduce oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) and continue baking until cooked through. This took an additional 30 minutes for my batch (which was baked as one large loaf in a Dutch oven).

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Rēwena Bug

Slightly adapted from Super Value

Ingredients

• 1 medium-sized potato
• 2 c. water
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 2 c. soft (cake/plain/standard) flour

Directions

1. Slice the potato and boil it in the water until tender.
2. Set aside to cool until lukewarm. DO NOT drain!
3. Mash the potato directly into the cooking water.
4. Add the sugar and flour and continue mashing until a uniform slurry is achieved.
5. Pour into a clean jar, lightly cover, and set aside at room temperature for 1-2 days.
6. After a day or two it should be active enough to bake with, although the flavour won't be fully developed yet.
7. Feed every day while being kept at room temperature. Seal and store in fridge if you will not be baking often.
8. Feed with sugar and potato cooking water and/or mashed potato and/or flour.

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¹ Using soft flour for bread is highly unusual. I was extremely dubious about its use here. Remarkably, it worked quite well! The resulting bread was decidedly more cakey than a standard loaf, but it developed enough gluten structure to trap the gases produced and reasonable rise. ^Back
2 If you're going the route of adding the whole bug to dough and then pinching off a piece for next time, then it's probably best to omit the flour as including it could slow down your bug. ^Back
3 Adding a bit of milk powder can add a bit of extra flavour and improved texture if your bug is on the younger side. ^Back

Stifado (Greek Beef Stew)

This was really nice. I served it with whole wheat pitas and a big bowl of Horiatiki salad and it made a wonderful dinner (and great leftovers the next day too)! I'm not used to including tomatoes in beef stew, but they were actually quite nice. There's not so much tomato in that it comes out like a chili. It's just enough to add an extra layer of flavour and it does go well with the feta.

I used standard pre-cubed stew meat, despite the author's dire warnings against this. They said that the origins of "stew meat" can be mysterious and it's better to buy a chuck-eye roast and trim and cube it yourself. This may be true, but we still had a bunch of cubed stew meat from my parents in the freezer. It's good beef and it needs eaten, so I didn't have any compunctions about using that instead of a roast. It was delicious and came out beautifully tender!

Stifado

Adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2020

Ingredients

• 1kg cubed stewing beef
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 200g cremini mushrooms, quartered
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 3 1/2 c. frozen pearl onions
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/8 tsp. allspice berries, ground
• 2 large tomatoes, cored and chopped
• 2 1/4 c. vegetable broth
• 3/4 c. dry white wine
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 c. fresh flat-leaf parsley
• crumbled feta

Directions

1. Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper and set aside.
2. Heat oil over medium heat.
3. Add mushrooms and water, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally until mushrooms have released their liquid (5-10 minutes).
4. Add onions and sugar and cook, uncovered, for another 10-12 minutes.
5. Add tomato paste, garlic, cumin, and allspice and cook for 1 minute.
6. Add broth, wine, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, and beef.
7. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer.
8. Transfer to oven and bake at 150°C (300°F), uncovered, for 1 hour.
9. Remove pot from oven and stir stew.
10. Return to oven and continue to cook, uncovered, for another 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
11. Remove from oven and stir in parsley.
12. Serve sprinkled with feta cheese.

Haree Phool Gobhi Paneer (Broccoli and Paneer)

While I'm reasonably used to seeing cauliflower curries, broccoli curries are much less common. Apparently broccoli was not traditionally grown in India nor part of the local cuisine. It is now found in Western-style supermarkets and Iyer features a few broccoli recipes in his book. This is one of them.

Haree Phool Gobhi Paneer

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 450g broccoli, cut into florets
• 1 Tbsp. amchur (mango powder)
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric¹
• 1 c. water
• 100g paneer, crumbled
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 tsp. Punjabi garam masala

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add cumin and sizzle for 10-15 seconds.
3. Add broccoli, amchur, and turmeric and stir-fry for ~1 minute.
4. Add water, paneer, salt, and tomato and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes.
6. Stir in cilantro and garam masala and serve.

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¹ Substitute fresh turmeric for dried if available. Peel a 1cm long piece of turmeric and slice it wafer thin. ^Back

Keerai Pachadi (Sautéed Spinach Raita)

This raita uses sautéed spinach rather than the raw cucumber I'm more familiar with, and it's delicious! The blackened chiles add a bit of smokiness without much heat and the whole thing comes together very quickly. The most time-consuming part is chopping the spinach.

We adjusted all the ingredients up slightly in order to use up the spinach we had on hand; the recipe here uses the original proportions, and makes ~2.5C of raita.

Keerai Pachadi

660 Curries

Ingredients

• 360mL plain yogurt
• 2.5mL salt
• 30mL corn or canola oil
• 5mL black or yellow mustard seeds
• 4-6 dried red chiles, to taste, stems removed
• 225g fresh spinach, rinsed, dried, and finely chopped

Directions

1. Whisk together yogurt and salt in a large bowl.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat.
3. Add the mustard seeds and cover until they stop popping, ~30s.
4. Add the chiles and cook until they blacken, ~15-20s.
5. Add the spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted; continue cooking until softened, 2-3 minutes for baby spinach, 6-8 for older greens.
6. Mix spinach mixture into the yogurt and serve.

The yeast is all gone. The yeast has been all gone for over a month now. Where is all the yeast?

There has been a lot of panic buying during this pandemic. I think there have also been a lot of people who are suddenly doing a lot more home cooking, so there's a bit of increased demand right now. This is all understandable. And, given that, I was expecting a few things to become grocery store rarities for a little while: frozen veggies, toilet paper, rice, beans, maybe even milk and eggs. (Eggs have turned out to be even more in demand and harder to get than I had guessed, but I was at least expecting some increased demand. Also, we have chickens, so not being able to get eggs at the grocery store really isn't an issue for me.) What caught me completely by surprise was the sudden run on flour and yeast. And the yeast part of the equation, in particular, has been especially problematic.

Flour has been in stock (at admittedly low levels) intermittently since this whole thing started. Yeast, on the other hand, just flat-out vanished pretty much immediately and hasn't been seen since. During my first pandemic grocery shop I saw that all but two industrial-sized packages of instant yeast had gone. I thought about grabbing one but concluded that a) even I don't need to buy my yeast in bulk quantities quite that large and b) I really prefer "traditional", non-instant yeast. I figured I'd just grab some in a week or two once they'd restocked. My yeast supplies were getting a little low, but they weren't critical yet, I'm sure it'll be fine, right?

Fast forward a few weeks and now I'm almost completely out of yeast and there's still none to be had at the grocery store. Uh-oh...

This bread was my stop-gap solution. I made bagels on Monday. I made enough dough for 12 bagels, but I only baked 11. I mixed some water into the remaining dough, plonked it into a mason jar and let it ferment overnight. The next day I made what was supposed to be an unleavened/naturally fermented seed bread. But I dumped my faux starter in along with the other liquids and mixed it into the dough. I then proceeded to make bread as normal.

The resulting bread definitely isn't a sourdough, but it is distinctly flavourful. It's a hearty loaf, to be sure. Not as light and fluffy as many of the breads I've made, but it's decidedly lighter than other unleavened/naturally fermented loaves I've experimented with in the past. I'd say this is a nice middle ground. And I was able to pinch off a bit of the dough and pop it back into the mason jar with a bit of water to ferment and get ready for the next batch of bread!

Semi-Sourdough Seed Bread

Adapted from the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

• 430g hard whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 100g of bagel dough mixed with 100mL of water and left to ferment overnight
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 3 Tbsp. sunflower seeds
• 2 Tbsp. everything bagel topping
• 1 tsp. sesame seeds

Directions

1. Combine flour and salt and mix thoroughly.
2. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the reserved dough mixture and 1 c. of water.
3. Mix the flour into the liquids working from the centre outward.
4. Pinch off ~1/4 c. of the dough and combine with 1/4 c. of water in a mason jar. Set aside for your next batch of bread.
5. Turn the rest of the dough out onto the counter and begin kneading. Work in additional water as you knead. You may not need the full 1/2 c.
6. Once the dough has taken up enough water, begin kneading in the seeds. Aim to knead for a total of 20-30 minutes.
7. Shape into a ball and set in a covered bowl to rise. It will likely need 2-4 hours for this first rise.
8. Once the dough no longer rebounds after a wet finger is pressed ~1cm into it, knock it back. Knead for a few strokes if you wish.
9. Shape into a ball and allow to rise again. This rise will probably only take ~2 hours. Maybe less.
10. Knock the dough back again and shape it into a loaf. (I chose a round hearth loaf for this one.)
11. Allow to rise for an hour or so.
12. Preheat oven to 230°C (450°F) and place a pan of boiling water on the bottom rack once the oven is preheated.
13. Spritz the loaf with water and slash the top.
14. Bake at 230°C (450°F) for ~10 minutes.
15. Reduce oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) and remove water pan.
16. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for another 30 minutes.

Papads (Pappadums)

I hadn't had papads in years! I had forgotten how much I enjoyed them. This was my first time cooking them at home. All my previous pappadum experiences involved deep-fried renditions at Indian restaurants. Of course, the deep fry method produces delicious results, but it turns out that the flame-toasted wafers are just as good! And I feel much less guilty about eating a bunch of them with my lunch this way.

Iyer recommends cranking the burner up to medium-high and toasting the papads over the open flame. Perhaps our burners produce a higher flame than expected, but I found that mine kept catching fire when I did this. Turning the heat down to medium-low produced much better results. You may have to play around with settings a bit until you find what works well for your stove.

A flame-toasted papad served along side a pulao and raita for lunch.

Papads

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredient

• uncooked lentil wafers¹

Directions

Gas Stove

1. Set burner to medium-low.
2. Place papad directly on burner. It should start to blister in spots after a few seconds.
3. As soon as it starts to blister, flip it over. More blisters will begin to form.
4. Keep flipping it every few seconds, moving it around to make sure that it gets fully and more-or-less evenly cooked.
5. Repeat with more papads until you have as many as you need.

Electric Oven

1. Place a rack as close as possible to the heating element and preheat broiler to high.
2. Toast the papads until they blister and turn light brown (2-3 minutes).

Deep Fryer

1. Preheat oil to 190°C (375°F).
2. Lower a papad into the hot oil and keep it submerged with a pair of tongs until it expands and turns yellowish-brown (~5 seconds).
3. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to cool and drain.
4. Repeat with more papads until you have as many as you need.

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¹ Iyer recommends papads made from skinned split black lentils/mapte beans. You may see this listed as "urad" or "urid" flour on the ingredient list. My papads were made with a mix of urad and white rice flour. Varieties abound! You may also find papads made with mung/moong bean flour, potato starch, and/or tapioca starch. Feel free to experiment with different types... with the caveat that some of them may cook differently than others. ^Back

Shundal (Chickpeas with Coconut Sauce)

Another recipe that I thought I'd written up ages ago. This one is nice, but I have to admit, there are other chickpea curries I like better. Still, it's nice to mix things up every once in a while.

Shundal

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. sesame or canola oil
• 2 Tbsp. yellow split peas
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds
• 4 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies, stems removed
• 2 c. water
• 1 tsp. tamarind concentrate
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 3 c. cooked chickpeas
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt¹
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4 tsp. ground asafetida
• 12 fresh or frozen curry leaves
• 1 c. shredded fresh coconut or 1/2 c. unsweetened dried shredded coconut, reconstituted²
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add split peas, coriander seeds, and chilies and roast, stirring occasionally, for 1-2 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and skim spices from the oil. Set the spices aside to cool for 5 minutes.
4. Once the spices are cool, grind.
5. Whisk tamarind concentrate into the water.
6. Reheat the oil over medium-high heat.
7. Add the mustard seeds to the hot oil, cover, and cook for 30-60 seconds. (They will pop like popcorn.)
8. Add chickpeas, salt, turmeric, asafetida, and curry leaves and stir to coat.
9. Pour in the tamarind mixture and bring to a boil.
10. Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for ~10 minutes.
11. Stir in the ground spice mixture, (reconstituted) coconut, and cilantro and serve.

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¹ Tinned legumes generally contain salt. If using home-cooked chickpeas without salt, add up to 1/2 tsp. additional salt. ^Back
2 To reconstitute coconut pour 1/2 c. boiling water over it and set aside for ~15 minutes, then drain. ^Back

Chai Patte Waali Chana (Tea-Simmered Chickpeas)

I was sure that we'd already written that recipe up ages ago, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. Hopefully this isn't a duplicate post. I didn't want to risk leaving this one out though. It's one of those things that didn't sound great to me at first, but I really loved once I tried it. The idea of a tea-based curry seemed strange to me and not particularly appealing. The fact it doesn't have much in the way of seasonings beyond the tea and some garlic and ginger didn't do much to reassure me either. But this is a really excellent curry! One of my favourites and one that I recommend to others who want to try a homemade curry but may not yet have an extensive collection of spices.

Chai Patte Waali Chana

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. black tea leaves
• 2 Tbsp. mustard oil
• 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds
• 3 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1 Tbsp. minced garlic
• 2-4 fresh green Thai or cayenne chilies, minced
• 3 c. cooked chickpeas
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• juice of one lime

Directions

1. Bring water to a rolling boil over medium-high heat.
2. Add tea leaves to boiling water, remove from heat, and set aside to steep for ~5 minutes.
3. Strain out and discard the tea leaves, reserving the tea.
4. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
5. Add cumin seeds and sizzle for 10-15 seconds.
6. Add ginger, garlic, and chilies and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.
7. Add chickpeas, cilantro, salt, and turmeric and stir to thoroughly combine. Cook for ~1 minute.
8. Stir in tea and bring to a boil.
9. Lower heat to medium and coo, uncovered, until thickened (~10 minutes).
10. Remove from heat, stir in lime juice, and serve.

I ran across this recipe while searching for breakfast ideas and decided to whip up a batch to have on hand throughout the week. The author warns that these are rich, decadent, "almost a cupcake" muffins, not to be had every day. And they do have a large amount of sugar and oil in them, so I agree that they probably shouldn't be a regular breakfast offering. That said, despite the rich ingredient list, I didn't find that they tasted as rich and decadent as I was hoping for.

To my palate, these don't taste like the dark, sweet, fudgy bakery muffins the recipe promised. They mostly taste like baking soda. With just a mild chocolate flavour. They are light like a cupcake and the crumb is nice and tender, but the flavour just isn't there! I stuck pretty much to the recipe this go 'round, only swapping out some of the white sugar for brown. I think I'll make a few more changes next time though and see if I can come up with something that I like better.

I think these muffins would actually work really well with whole wheat flour. Chocolate and banana are both good strong flavours that should stand up well to the whole wheat without being overwhelmed by it. At the same time, I think the slight nuttiness of the whole wheat will add a nice extra layer of flavour to them. And I think the extra fibre provided by the bran will provide a pleasant texture and mouthfeel that will make them seem a bit more virtuous and breakfast-y.

I'm also definitely going to swap out the baking soda for baking powder. I was surprised that the original recipe called only for soda and so much of it as well. I was tempted to swap it out this time, but I thought I should try to stick to the recipe to give it a fair chance and to give myself a baseline to work from. I can now definitively say that baking soda is NOT the way to go for this one though!

To improve the banana and chocolate flavour, I figured I'd toss in an extra banana and some melted dark chocolate. The cocoa powder on its own just wasn't cutting it. It just wasn't chocolate-y enough! I'll start out with just a small amount of chocolate, but I suspect I may want to add even more than I've listed below. The extra banana should help to boost the banana flavour as well as add a bit of extra sweetness without needing to dip into sugar jar again. As with the chocolate, I suspect that I may want to add even more banana, but I'll start with just one more and see where that gets me first.

The recipe I'm writing up below is NOT the recipe I made today. It is untested and presented as-is and without any guarantees of tastiness or edibility. I'll include a link to the recipe that I used today in case you want to try it in its original form. What I'm writing up here is basically a notes-to-myself version of what I want to try next time that incorporates the changes outlined above. Hopefully I'll be able to come back sometime in the not-too-distant future and update this with a report on how this worked out.

Dark Chocolate Banana Muffins

Adapted from Fork Knife Swoon

Ingredients

• 7 Tbsp. milk
• 85g dark chocolate, divided
• 3 large ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 c. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. Dutched cocoa powder
• 250g soft whole wheat flour
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F) and add liners to your muffin tin.
2. Heat the milk until very warm and steaming -- but not boiling! -- by whatever method you prefer. I like stove top, but microwave also works.
3. Coarsely chop the chocolate and mix half of it into the milk. Stir until chocolate is fully melted and and thoroughly mixed.
4. Stir in mashed bananas, vanilla, oil, applesauce, and egg.
5. Mix in both kinds of sugar.
6. Sift in cocoa and mix well.
7. Add flour and salt. Do not mix it in yet.
8. Sift baking powder and baking soda into the bowl on top of the flour.
9. NOW give it a good stir, mixing in all the dry ingredients.
10. Stir in the remaining chocolate chunks.
11. Spoon batter into lined muffin tin. This should be enough to make one dozen 5cm (2") muffins.
12. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 16-18 minutes.
13. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.

My original breakfast plans for this morning fell through, so I needed a last-minute replacement. It needed to be something quick and easy to throw together and something that didn't require toast or bread. I was also looking for something hot -- no cold cereals or smoothies please!

I turned up a few plausible options, but these "Italian baked eggs" won out. They looked the quickest to throw together, would used up a few eggs, and would be a good use of some of the extra meat sauce we had left in the fridge. The original recipe calls for marinara sauce, but I figured that using a bit of meat-y tomato sauce would work just fine (and add a bit of extra protein and veg to boot). I also swapped out the gruyère for cheddar, since that's what we had on hand. And I used a splash of cream in place of the milk since I already had the cream for another recipe and knew I wouldn't need the whole carton. I also baked the eggs in individual custard cups rather than doing two each in larger ramekins.

These eggs came out great! The Kidlet loved them just as they were with a 10-minute bake at 220°C (425°F). I am going through a phase where I like my eggs a little more well-done, so I popped mine back in the oven at 200°C (400°F) for another 10 minutes. I think if I were doing them again, I'd try baking at 200°C (400°F) for 15-20 minutes and see how they looked.

Italian Baked Eggs

Adapted from Damn Delicious

Ingredients

For Each Egg You Will Need:

• 1/4 c. marinara or Meat Sauce
• 1 Tbsp. milk or cream
• 1 Tbsp. grated cheese¹
• 1/2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan
• pinch of black pepper
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil

Directions

1. Place the sauce in the bottom of an oven-safe custard cup or ramekin.
2. Break an egg and add it to the cup over the sauce.
3. Add milk (or cream), both kinds of cheese, and pepper on top of the egg.
4. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15-20 minutes. (Adjust time depending on how soft or hard you like your eggs.
5. Sprinkle with basil and serve with warm Garlic Knots or toast.

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¹ The original recipe calls for gruyère. I used cheddar. I think you could use just about any reasonably firm cheese here. I think low-moisture/pizza mozzarella or provolone would be my top choice. Something like Colby or jack would probably work as well. Gouda or Edam might also work, but they wouldn't be my first pick for this recipe. I'd steer clear of things like emmenthal, havarti, or feta as they are too strong, too creamy, and too salty and crumbly respectively. You definitely have some flexibility and leeway when it comes to cheese choices though! ^Back

Vengayam Chana (Chickpeas in Onion Sauce)

This was the very first chickpea curry we ever made. It appeal to me because it allowed for starting with dried chickpeas whereas pretty much every other chana recipe in the book lists cooked chickpeas in the ingredients. This meant that I didn't have to worry about trying to cook a pot of beans before assembling the curry. I could just toss them into the slow-cooker and let them do their thing.

Vengayam Chana

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. dried chickpeas
• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 6 green cardamom pods
• 4 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies, stems removed
• 2 (3") cinnamon sticks
• 2 onions, 1 halved and sliced, 1 chopped
• 2 tsp. Sambhar masala
• 3/4 tsp. tsp. black salt
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 400mL diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp. tamarind concentrate
• 2 fresh green Thai or cayenne chilies, stems removed
• 2 c. water
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 c. unsweetened shredded dried coconut
• 15 fresh or frozen curry leaves

Directions

1. Rinse the chickpeas thoroughly.
2. Add water to cover and bring to a rolling boil. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside for at least 1 hour.
3. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
4. Add cumin seeds, cardamom pods, dried chilies, and cinnamon sticks and cook for ~1 minute.
5. Add the sliced onion and stir-fry for ~5 minutes.
6. Add sambhar masala, black salt, and sea salt.
7. Transfer onion mixture to slow cooker.
8. Combine diced tomatoes, chopped onion, tamarind paste, and fresh chilies in blender and purée until smooth.
9. Pour puréed mixture into slow cooker.
10. Add 1/2 c. water to blender and swish it around to rinse out any bits left in the jar. Pour this into the slow cooker as well.
11. Add the remaining 1 1/2 c. water along with the cilantro, coconut, and curry leaves.
12. Drain the chickpeas and add them to the slow cooker as well.
13. Give the contents a stir, cover the slow cooker, and cook on low for 12 hours.
14. Serve over rice.

Khatte Meethe Chanay (Sweet and Sour Chickpeas and Kidney Beans)

I was initially dubious of this recipe. I like kidney beans in chili. I wasn't sure I'd enjoy them in a curry. And I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the contrast of the chickpeas with the kidney beans. As it turns out though, it was great! Kidney bean curries are amazing. And I really liked the sweet-sour combination.

Khatte Meethe Chanay

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 red onion, minced
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 4-6 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies, minced
• 1/4 c. ginger paste
• 2 Tbsp. ghee or oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 2 Tbsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt¹
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds, ground
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. cardamom seeds from green pods, ground
• 3 c. cooked chickpeas
• 2 c. cooked kidney beans
• 1L water
• 2 tsp. tamarind concentrate
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine onion, garlic, chilies, and ginger paste.²
2. Heat ghee over medium-high heat.
3. Add cumin seeds and simmer for 10-15 seconds.
4. Add onion mixture and stir-fry for ~5 minutes.
5. Add coriander, salt, sugar, fennel, turmeric, and cardamom and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
6. Add chickpeas, kidney beans, and water.
7. Stir in tamarind concentrate.
8. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 25-30 minutes.
9. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

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¹ If you've cooked your own chickpeas and kidney beans from dried without the addition of any salt, you may need additional salt during cooking. Add up to 1/2 tsp. additional salt for salt-less legumes. ^Back
2 If you have a food processor, you can leave the onions, garlic, and chilies in large pieces and use fresh ginger in place of ginger paste. You will need three 1x2" slices of ginger each ~1/8" thick. Combine these ingredients in the food processor and process until minced. ^Back

The lemon and fennel in this bread are a subtle presence. Very mild, but they add a nice extra layer to the flavours.

Lemony-Fennelly Bread

From the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

• 2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1/2 c. warm water
• 830g hard (strong/bread/high grade) whole wheat flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. fennel seeds
• 2 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 1 c. warm buttermilk
• 1/4 c. honey
• juice of one lemon
• 1 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Directions

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and set aside for ~10 minutes.
2. Combine flour, fennel seeds, salt, and lemon zest and mix thoroughly.
3. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk and honey.
4. Stir buttermilk mixture into dry ingredients until partially mixed.
5. Combine lemon juice and water and add it to the flour mixture.
6. Finally add yeast mixture and mix well. (Mixing in this order protects the yeast.)
7. Knead for at least 20 minutes, then smear the cold butter onto the counter and continue kneading the dough on top of the butter. Knead for another 10-20 minutes.
8. Shape the dough into a ball and set in a covered bowl to rise for ~90 minutes.
9. Knock dough back, knead for a few strokes, shape back into a ball and return to the covered bowl to rise for another hour or so.
10. Knock back again, divide into two equal portions, and round each one, smoothing the gluten layer on top and pulling it taut. Cover and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
11. Shape the dough into loaves (pressing flat, folding into thirds, and then rolling up jelly-roll-style).
12. Place, seam-side-down, into greased 8x4" loaf pans, cover, and set to rise for 30-45 minutes.
13. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 50 minutes.

American-Style Spaghetti Sauce (Minus the Hypertension)

Normally, if I'm craving pasta, Hazan is my guy. His Classic Pasta Cookbook has served us in good stead for many years. It has a huge variety of amazing recipes. All the classics plus a bunch of less well-known ones as well. It is full of wondrous and delicious things. This is not a Hazan recipe. Not even close! I can see some similar elements to his marvelous ragu/Bolognaise recipe, but the ingredients are completely different. This sauce looks like what would happen if a Bolognaise and a pomodoro sauce had a baby and then moved to the States and discovered the canned goods aisle in the supermarket. It is very tomato-y, has no dairy and less beef than I'd expect for a standard ragu and uses A LOT of canned ingredients. But, if what you're craving is a big ol' plate of American-style spaghetti and meat sauce, this looks like a very nice rendition of it. And that's exactly what I wanted today.

I tried to stick pretty much to the recipe as I was building this sauce. I did add a carrot since it seemed like it would go well with the celery and onion, but no other additions were made. Carrot just feels like such a natural companion of onions and celery in the pot. It's mirepoix! A classic sauce/soup foundation.

It felt like way too many tomatoes going in -- a whole large tin of diced tomatoes and a large tin of tomato sauce? Really?! -- but I stuck to what it said. My tin of tomato sauce was slightly smaller than the one called for in the recipe, but I couldn't find any that were exactly right and I didn't want to open a second tin just to use <1/3 of it. Besides, there's already so much tomato in this recipe! I think it'll be fine.

The original original recipe (from the blog author's mother) calls for "1 can of beef broth (condensed!)". Her write-up simply asks for "1 15-ounce can of beef broth". No mention of how concentrated it should be. Around here beef broth usually comes in a can or a carton. The cartons are not condensed. The cans are. But the cans are also only 284mL (10 fluid ounces). I'm not sure whether they just get larger cans there or whether she was using some variety of non-condensed beef broth or what. I decided to just go with one 284mL can of condensed broth. Hopefully that's alright.

The last change I made was to completely omit the salt. I usually halve the salt called for in recipes from American authors. In my experience using the full amount of salt results in a dish that is nearly inedible. The idea of adding any salt at all to this recipe made me nervous though. It already has tomato sauce (which contains sugar and salt) and beef broth (very salty). The sauce is still simmering on the stove right now, but after tasting it, I think that leaving out the extra salt -- a whole teaspoon! -- was the right call. Honestly, I think I probably should've halved the sugar as well. It is very sweet. I thought 2 Tbsp. seemed like a lot of sugar, but I was trying not to deviate too far from the recipe. And it is meant to be an American-style sauce after all.

I think I will want to tweak this a bit more if/when I make it again though. Maybe it's not really American-style if it's not full of sugar and salt, but I think it still could be. I think the tomato-y, beef-y spirit of the recipe could be preserved while scaling back the sugar and salt to more tolerable levels. And, while I'm tweaking anyway, I think it'd be nice to trade out a portion of the black pepper for a touch of crushed chili flakes. Nothing major, just something to give it another layer of flavour and a tiny bit of heat.

American-Style Spaghetti Sauce

Adapted from Foodie Crush

Ingredients

• 450g lean ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped fine
• 5 cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 (156mL) can tomato paste
• 1 (800mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (680mL) can tomato sauce
• 1 (284mL) can condensed beef broth
• 2 (284mL) cans sliced mushrooms, drained
• 1 c. red wine
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tsp. chopped fresh basil
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/4 tsp. red chili flakes

Directions

1. Brown the beef over medium heat.
2. Add the onion, garlic, celery, and carrot and cook until vegetables soften (5-7 minutes).
3. Add cloves and bay leaves and cook for another minute or so.
4. Stir in tomato paste an allow for another 1-2 minutes of cooking.
5. Stir in remaining ingredients.
6. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered for 3-4 hours.
7. Serve by mixing cooked spaghetti into the sauce and then dishing up individual portions.

This pie did not go as planned. Just about everything that could go wrong, did. I mixed the gelatin in at the wrong point. The meringue didn't whip up properly. I had to ditch the whole batch and start over again. I ended up making a French meringue rather than the Swiss one called for in the recipe. And then, because the French meringue is uncooked, I had to try to bake it in the oven rather that giving it a quick blast under the broiler to brown it. On top of that, I ended up baking it to at too high a temperature which then required me to take it out before the meringue had fully set. And heating the pie back up caused filling to liquefy, so then I had to toss it back in the fridge to try to get it to set again. By the time I'd reached the end of the whole process and managed to assemble the pie, I felt like it was cursed.

Even with all that, this pie was amazing! Seriously, so delicious. I can't even imagine what it would've been like if I'd managed to do it right. Definitely one to try again.

Banana Pudding Pie

Adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2020

Ingredients

Crust

Original Recipe

• 4 c. Nilla Wafer cookies
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Lazy Way

• 1 ready-made graham cracker pie crust

Filling

• 2 tsp. unflavoured gelatin
• 1 3/4 c. half-and-half (10% cream), divided
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 5 large egg yolks
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• pinch ground cinnamon
• pinch ground allspice
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 2 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced

Meringue

Swiss Meringue¹

• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 4 large egg whites
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

French Meringue

• 4 large egg whites
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/2 c. sugar

Directions

Crust

Original Recipe

1. Pulse cooies, sugar, flour, and salt in food processor for ~10 pulses.
2. Add melted butter and pulse until combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
3. Transfer to 9" pie plate and use your hands to press the crumbs firmly up the sides of the plate. The walls should be at least 5mm thick and go all the way up to the top edge of the plate.
4. Press the remaining crumbs into an even layer on the bottom of the plate. Be sure to firmly press into the corners.
5. Bake at 160°C (325°F) for 18-20 minutes.
6. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Lazy Way

1. No prep needed. Crust is ready to use.

Filling

1. Sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 c. of the half-and-half and set aside.
2. Whisk sugar, egg yolks, flour, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and remaining 1 1/4 c. half-and-half until fully combined.
3. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly and scraping corners, until mixture thickens (5-7 minutes).
4. Remove from heat and whisk in butter, vanilla, and gelatin mixture.
5. Stir bananas into hot filling.
6. Pour filling into crust.
7. Cover and chill for 4-24 hours.

Meringue

Swiss Meringue

1. Whisk all ingredients together in a heatproof bowl.
2. Place bowl over saucepan filled with a couple inches of boiling water.
3. Whisking gently but constantly, cook until mixture reaches 71-73°C (160-165°F). This should take ~8 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and whisk on high speed until meringue forms stiff peaks (2-3 minutes).
5. Uncover pie and spread meringue over filling. Make sure to spread it all the way to the edges.
6. Heat broiler and broil until meringue is well-browned (1-2 minutes).

French Meringue

1. Combine egg whites and cream of tartar and beat until frothy.
2. Add sugar 1 Tbsp. at a time while continuing to beat on high speed.
3. Continue beating until stiff peaks are formed.
4. Uncover pie and spread meringue over filling. Make sure to spread it all the way to the edges.
5. Bake at ?? for ??. I tried baking it at 450°F (230°C), but had to take it out after only 8 minutes as the top had become excessively brown and was in danger of burning. I'll try 400°F (200deg;C) next time and see how that goes.

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¹ The original recipe calls for 2/3 c. sugar total (1/3 c. granulated, 1/3 c. brown). This did NOT work at all for me. I don't know if the problem was too much sugar or something else, but it certainly seemed like A LOT of sugar for the amount egg and the mixture was thick and sticky and syrupy, almost like molasses. I didn't want to try the Swiss meringue again after one failed attempt, so I just whipped up a quick French meringue since they're reliable and I've never had one fail. If I were going to try the Swiss meringue again, I'd start by adding less sugar and see if that helped at all. Hence the reduced sugar quantities above. ^Back

Kishmish Kala Chana (Black Chickpeas with Raisins)

This is another curry from my backlog of long overdue write-ups. We made this... several years ago now. I just never quite got around to writing it up. It was decent. I think I'm just too used to yellow chickpeas to really appreciate the black ones. I'll keep trying other black chickpea recipes until we've used up our current supply. But I have to admit, I probably won't bother restocking. I'd much rather focus my energies on the legumes I really enjoy: pigeon peas, yellow peas, chickpeas, and just about every lentil in the book. That said, if you find yourself with a bunch of black chickpeas and need a way to use them up (or if you just really like black chickpeas), this is a nice treatment of them. And if you don't have any black chickpeas on hand, Iyer notes that yellow chickpeas are perfectly acceptable as well.

Kishmish Kala Chana

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Ragahavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. golden raisins or sultanas
• 1 c. boiling water
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 4-6 cloves garlic
• 4 fresh green Thai or cayenne chilies
• 3-4 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 c. tomato sauce
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 3 c. cooked black chickpeas
• 2 c. water
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 2 tsp. Dhania-Jeera Masala

Directions

1. Pour boiling water over raisins and set aside for ~30 minutes.
2. Drain raisins, reserving soaking water.
3. Combine raisins, onion, garlic, and chilies in food processor and mince. If you don't have a food processor, mince by hand. Stir in ginger paste.
4. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
5. Add raisin mixture and stir-fry for ~5 minutes.
6. Add the reserved soaking water and deglaze the pan.
7. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has been absorbed (2-4 minutes).
8. Add tomato sauce and salt.
9. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for ~15 minutes.
10. Stir in chickpeas, water, and 2 Tbsp. cilantro.
11. Raise heat to medium and bring to a boil.
12. Simmer vigorously, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened slightly (8-10 minutes).
13. Stir in cream and spice blend and simmer, uncovered, for another 2 minutes.
14. Sprinkle with remaining cilantro and serve.

There is a note from Iyer at the end of the recipe saying that it can be made into an interesting soup as well. He recommends adding a bell pepper and a bit of Punjabi garam masala to the mix.

Rajasthani Petla (Scrambled Chickpea Flour)

I've seen both chickpea flour and tofu used to make faux scrambled eggs in vegan breakfast dishes. In this curry the intent isn't necessarily to mimic eggs, but the effect is similar. Give this a go if you're in the mood for something a little different!

Rajasthani Petla

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. chickpea flour (besan), sifted
• 2 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. Rajasthani garam masala
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 c. water, divided
• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp. ground asafetida
• 1 Tbsp. Ginger-Chile Paste
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine chickpea flour, coriander, salt, garam masala, cayenne, and turmeric.
2. Whisk in 3/4 c. water to make a thick paste.
3. Whisk in the remaining 1/4 c. water to thin the mixture from a paste to a batter.
4. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
5. Add mustard seeds, cover, and sizzle for 30-60 seconds.
6. Add adafetida followed by ginger-chile paste and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
7. Reduce heat to medium-low and pour batter into pan.
8. Stir constantly as batter begins to form curds and clumps. After 5-8 minutes it should come together into a soft ball.
9. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 3-5 minutes.
10. Transfer petla to cutting board and sprinkle with cilantro.
11. Chop into bite-sized pieces.
12. If you wish to add tomatoes or other vegetables, return the chopped up pieces to the pan along with any additions and cook until heated through.

The Kidlet wanted to make the monkey bread recipe out of her cookbook today. It calls for 1 lb. of pizza dough. I have an excellent pizza dough recipe. It makes ~3 lbs. of dough. I thought about scaling back the recipe but, after discussing it with TF, I opted to make a regular-sized batch of pizza dough and then just look for something to do with the remainder. Normally pizza would be a no-brainer. But we don't have any mozzarella on hand right now. And with COVID-19 keeping everybody at home, I can't easily run out and get some. So I asked the Internet for other ideas on what to do with my leftover pizza dough.

Most of the recipes I came across were just variants on pizza: pizza with unusual toppings, stuffed pizza, deep-dish pizza, calzones, pizza bites, pizza skewers, pizza pinwheels, etc. Even when I specifically looked at pages that claimed to have compiled lists of non-pizza recipes, they were still basically just pizza with different topology.

I did manage to turn up a few recipes that were actually not pizza. Sadly, I didn't have the ingredients for a lot of them. Many still required mozzarella. Others were after meatballs or sandwich meats. And a few required sour cream, cottage cheese, or cream cheese. This left me with only a handful of recipes. The scrambled egg pockets and the "quichzza" didn't really appeal and I was NOT prepared to make a kilo of pizza dough crackers. So that left me with pretzel bites (a strong contender), Cheddar-onion focaccia (which got TF very excited), and garlic knots (which got an extremely enthusiastic vote from the Kidlet).

I've made garlic knots before, but I've never really been impressed with the flavour. The garlic never has enough presence. These ones seemed like they had a lot of promise though. Rather than brushing them with garlic butter before and/or after baking, you drown them in an herby garlic butter mixture. It's not just brushed on, they're swimming in it. Now that sounds more like it!

Garlic Knots

Slightly adapted from Foodie Crush

Ingredients

• ~1kg Pizza dough
• 1/2 c. salted butter¹
• 1/2 c. olive oil
• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Prepare the pizza dough as directed and let it complete its first two rises.
2. Press the dough into a large flat rectangle and cut thin strips/ropes off of it.
3. Tie each dough rope into a knot and place on a greased baking sheet.
4. Cover and set aside to proof for 30-45 minutes.
5. Bake at 220°C (425°F) for 10 minutes. Lower temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake for another 5 minutes. (If you made smaller knots then you may not need the last five minutes.)
6. Meanwhile, heat the butter and oil over medium heat.
7. Stir in the garlic, oregano, and parsley and cook for 30 seconds. Do not allow garlic to cook or brown. You want it hot but not really cooked. Set aside.
8. Transfer rolls to a large serving platter and sprinkle with Parmesan. If you used unsalted butter, sprinkle the rolls with a little salt at this point too.
9. Pour the garlic butter mixture over the rolls and serve.

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¹ If you don't have any salted butter on hand, use unsalted and sprinkle the rolls with a bit of flaky or coarse salt when they first come out of the oven. I think I used ~2 tsp. of coarse sea salt. ^Back

Bhuna Hua Besan (Toasted Chickpea Flour)

I'm not sure this really counts as a recipe. It's only one ingredient and the procedure is very simple. Toasted chickpea flour comes up in quite a few curries though, so it's worth having the procedure written down. Mostly it just requires patience.

Bhuna Hua Besan

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredient

• 1 c. chickpea flour (besan)

Directions

1. Preheat a large pan over medium heat.
2. Add flour and toast it, stirring constantly with a spatula, until flour turns reddish-brown (15-20 minutes). Do not rush it. Do not increase the heat. Just stir.
3. Once flour has achieved its toasted reddish-brown colour and smells nutty, transfer to a plate to cool.
4. Store unused portions in an airtight container in the fridge.

Gujarati Kadhi (Yogurt Curry with Cumin and Curry Leaves)

This is a very simple, thin curry. It's basically just a sauce. There's no meat, no legumes, no vegetables, no cheese. It's nice over rice, but definitely not the most substantial of meals. Having an extra bit of dal and/or some sort of vegetable dish on the side would help make it a more balanced meal.

Gujarati Kadhi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 c. plain yogurt
• 2 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. chickpea flour (besan)
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. bishop's weed
• 1/2 tsp. fenugreek seeds
• 2 Tbsp. ghee
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 5 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies, stems removed
• 12 fresh or frozen curry leaves
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Whisk water into yogurt.
2. Sprinkle in the chickpea flour, whisking thoroughly to avoid lumps.
3. Stir in sugar, salt, turmeric, bishop's weed, and fenugreek seeds.
4. Bring to a simmer, whisking occasionally, and cook until thickened (~15 minutes).
5. Meanwhile, melt ghee over medium-high heat.
6. Add cumin seeds and chilies and coo for 15-30 seconds.
7. Remove from heat and add curry leaves.
8. Once the yogurt mixture has thickened, add the ghee mixture and simmer for another 5 minutes.
9. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Makhani Dal (Whole Black Lentils in a Creamy Sauce)

It's been quite a while since we made this one, but apparently I failed to write it up when we originally cooked it. As far as I recall, it comes together very easily and was delicious. It's worth noting that what Iyer refers to as "black lentils" are sold as "mapte beans" here. There is another variety of black lentil that can occasionally be found. They are usually sold as "black lentils" or "beluga lentils", but are NOT the variety required for this recipe. Beluga lentils are lenticular in shape. Mapte beans are more-or-less cylindrical.

Makhani Dal

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. whole black lentils (mapte beans/sabud urad)
• 3 c. water
• 1/4 c. ginger paste
• 2 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 1/2 c. khoya (milk solids) or heavy (35%) cream
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. Punjabi garam masala
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne powder
• 2-3 Tbsp. unsalted butter or ghee
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Rinse the lentils thoroughly.
2. Add lentils to pressure cooker with water, ginger paste, and garlic pasted.
3. Cook on high pressure for 45 minutes then allow for a 15 minute natural release.
4. Meanwhile, combine yogurt, khoya/cream, salt, garam masala, and cayenne and mix well. If you're using khoya, you'll need a blender to get it smooth and properly mixed.
5. Once lentils are cooked, stir in butter/ghee and yogurt mixture.
6. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Vengayam Avarai (Green Beans with Saucy Onions)

I have not been great at remembering to tweak our produce basket deliveries so far this year. This has resulted in us getting a bunch of "surprise" baskets on Wednesdays. Usually it's all the kind of stuff we'd be getting and eating anyway, but it has required some meal plan reworking to try to make sure it gets used before it goes off. My most recent blunder resulted in us getting a head of cabbage. Two weeks in a row. We used up one, but the second's been sitting in the crisper awaiting its turn.

After perusing the curry cookbook for a while, I decided to get some green beans and potatoes to do a nice, multi-veggie curry. Except then I "double-booked" the potatoes. So then I was left with both green beans and cabbage needing to be used up and no plan for them since I'd already cooked and eaten all the potato. This curry was my solution to the bean issue. (They were already getting toward the end of their shelf life, so they were by far the more urgent of the two.)

Vangayam Avarai

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 Tbsp. skinned split black lentils (urad dal)
• 1 small red onion, halved and sliced
• 2 fresh green chilies, sliced diagonally into 1cm pieces
• 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds, ground
• 1/2 tsp. fenugreek seeds, ground
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 450g green beans, trimmed and sliced diagonally into 1cm pieces
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 12 fresh or frozen curry leaves
• 1 c. water
• 1 Tbsp. rice flour

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add mustard seeds, cover, and sizzle for 30-60 seconds.
3. Add lentils and cook for another 15-20 seconds.
4. Add the onion, chilies, ground mustard, fenugreek, and turmeric and cook for 1 minute.
5. Add green beans, salt, and curry leaves and cook for ~30 seconds.
6. Stir in water.
7. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes.
8. Sprinkle in rice flour, stir a few times, and remove from heat.

Nayee Toram Paruppu (Pigeon Peas with Ghee)

This is probably the simplest curry possible. A dal of puréed pigeon peas with just a bit of salt, turmeric, and ghee stirred in. It is apparently the first solid food offered to babies in many parts of India. It is also surprisingly tasty considering the extremely simple ingredient list!

Nayee Toram Paruppu

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. skinned split yellow pigeon peas (toovar dal)
• 3 c. water
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 2 Tbsp. ghee

Directions

1. Thoroughly rinse the pigeon peas.
2. Combine peas with water and bring to a boil.
3. Skim off foam, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 20-25 minutes.
4. Purée peas either in a blender jar or with an immersion blender.
5. Stir in salt and turmeric and simmer for an additional 3-5 minutes.
6. Drizzle with ghee.
7. Serve over rice.

We were getting pretty low on bread and the weather is still too cold to really be pleasant outside, so I figured it'd be a good day to do some baking. Flipping through the cookbook, I found this potato bread recipe. Not only did it sound like a lovely, herby loaf, but it would also perfectly use up that last half cup of cottage cheese that's been sitting in the fridge for weeks now. And, I just happen to have fresh dill on hand at the moment. Perfect!

This is an absolutely wonderful bread. Very tender and moist with a mild, herby flavour. Even after being cut for a couple days, it's still just as soft and fresh as the first day. Very impressive!

Herbed Dinner Loaf

From the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

• 2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1/2 c. warm potato cooking water
• 2/3 c. mashed potatoes
• 1/2 c. cottage cheese
• 1/2 c. hot potato cooking water
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. minced fresh dill
• 2 tsp. minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tsp. minced celery leaves
• 1/8 tsp. dried thyme
• 450g hard (strong/bread/high grade) whole wheat flour

Directions

1. Sprinkle yeast into warm water and set aside for ~10 minutes.
2. Combine mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, hot water, oil, salt, dill, parsley, celery leaves, and thyme and mix well.
3. Measure out flour into large bowl and make a well in the centre.
4. Pour potato mixture into well.
5. Add yeast mixture.
6. Mix, working from the centre outward.
7. Once most of the flour in incorporated, turn out onto the counter and begin kneading.
8. Knead for 10-20 minutes adjusting with more flour or water as necessary. Dough should be quite soft.
9. Set in a covered bowl to rise for ~1 hour.
10. Knock back and set to rise for another 30-45 minutes.
11. Knock back again and shape as desired. I made a pan loaf, but it could also be baked as a "cottage loaf" in a casserole dish or pie plate. Allow ~30 minutes for proofing.
12. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 40-45 minutes.
13. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out to finish cooling on wire rack.

Limboo Podi Maas (Mashed Potato Curry with Lime Juice)

I was initially planning on making a somewhat more involved potato curry over the weekend. But we were running low on bread and I found a potato bread recipe that would also perfectly use up the remaining cottage cheese that's been sitting in the fridge for a couple weeks now. A quick flip through the curry cookbook led me to this mashed potato dish that I was able to throw together as a light lunch. I reserved a small portion of the mashed potatoes for the bread and just tossed the rest back into the pot for the curry.

This is a relatively plain and starchy curry. I would've preferred to serve it with some veggies and some sort of protein. But, with some spicy lime pickles and a roti, it's not bad as a light lunch.

Limboo Podi Maas

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 450g russet (or other floury) potatoes, cubed
• 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 Tbsp. skinned split black lentils (urad dal)
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 10 fresh or frozen curry leaves
• 2 fresh green Thai chilies, coarsely chopped
• juice of 1 lime

Directions

1. Boil the potatoes for until very tender (~8 minutes).
2. Reserve 1 c. of the potato cooking water.
3. Drain the potatoes and coarsely mash.
4. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
5. Add mustard seeds to hot oil and cook, covered, until seeds stop popping (~1 minute).
6. Add lentils and sizzle for another 15-20 seconds.
7. Add turmeric.
8. Immediately add potato cooking water.
9. Add potatoes, cilantro, salt, curry leaves, and chilies and reduce heat to medium-low.
10. Cover and simmer for ~10 minutes.
11. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice.
12. Serve with poori or roti and spicy pickles.
13. For a more complete meal, serve with dal and veggies as well.

This is basically a paneer curry. It's just that instead of pressing the curds into a solid block and then cutting it into cubes as you'd see for most paneer curries, you make little cheese dumplings (chenna) instead. Once the curds are drained, you mix in some flour and a tiny bit of water and shape them into little balls. These dumplings are then simmered in a savoury tomato-spinach sauce.

Chenna Saag

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

Chenna

• 1L half-and-half (10% cream) or 2L whole (3.25%) milk
• 3-4 Tbsp. vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. rice flour

Sauce

• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. ground Deggi chilies¹
• 1 tsp. Dhania-Jeera Masala
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 450g frozen chopped spinach
• 1 c. water

Directions

Chenna

1. Bring the cream/milk to a boil.
2. Immediately remove from heat and stir in vinegar 1 Tbsp. at a time. Keep adding vinegar until the curds have completely separated from the whey. The whey should be clear, not cloudy.
3. Line a colander with butter muslin or a triple layer of cheesecloth. Pour the curds and whey into the lined colander to drain the curds. Set aside to drain for an hour.
4. Dump the curds out of the cheesecloth and sprinkle with the rice flour.
5. Wet your hands and mix the curds to form a crumbly "dough".
6. Form the dough into walnut-sized balls and set aside.

Sauce

1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the cumin seeds and sizzle for 10-15 seconds.
3. Add onion, ginger paste, and garlic and stiry-fry for ~5 minutes.
4. Add tomatoes, salt, ground chilies, dhania-jeera masala, and turmeric and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for ~5 minutes.
5. Add the spinach and cool until fully thawed.
6. Add water.
7. Place chenna in the sauce.
8. Carefully spoon some sauce over the chenna.
9. Lower heat to medium. Simmer, uncovered, basting the chenna without stirring, for 15-20 minutes.

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¹ If Deggi chilies aren't available, then a 1:1 ratio of ground cayenne and sweet paprika makes a reasonable substitute. ^Back

Tarbooz ki Subzi (Watermelon with Garlic and Chilies)

Watermelon was on special last week, so I grabbed one. It was huge! The Kidlet loves watermelon and was very excited. But even she can't eat that much watermelon before it goes off. That's where the watermelon curry came in. I was dubious of something I normal associate as a sweet fruit in such a savoury application, but I was also quite curious. As it turns out, I'm not a huge fan, but I'm glad I tried it. It's not terrible, it's just not my cup of tea.

Tarbooz ki Subzi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 (1.4kg) piece of watermelon
• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp. bishop's weed¹
• 1/2 tsp. nigella seeds
• 4 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 4 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Peel the dark green skin from the watermelon. Do not remove the light green rind.
2. Separate the light green rind from the red flesh and cut both into 2cm cubes, keeping them separate.
3. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
4. Add the cumin, bishop's weed, nigella, and chilies and cook for 15-20 seconds.
5. Add the garlic and cook for another 30-60 seconds.
6. Add the turmeric.
7. Immediately add the watermelon rind and salt and stir-fry for ~5 minutes.
8. Add water, cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for ~10 minutes.
9. Stir in the watermelon flesh, raise heat to medium-high, and simmer vigorously, uncovered, for ~5 minutes.
10. Sprinkle in cilantro and serve.

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¹ If you don't have bishop's weed a 1:1 ratio of dried thyme and ground black pepper makes a reasonable substitute. ^Back

Cook's Country calls this "quick mushroom bolognese", but this is a bit optimistic; even if you have a food processor and thus don't need to mince the mushrooms by hand, they take quite a while to cook down. The result is tasty, though, and while the mushroom chopping is tedious it's easy to make.

Rotini with Mushroom Bolognese

Cook's Country

Ingredients

• 1 lb rotini or similar pasta
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb cremini mushrooms, finely chopped (or minced in a food processor, if you have one)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 large carrot, finely chopped
• ½ tsp salt
• ⅓ C tomato paste
• 4-6 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ C dry white wine
• ¼ C freshly grated romano

Directions

1. Boil pasta water, add salt and pasta, and cook al dente. Drain, reserving 1 C pasta water.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a deep skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, carrot, and salt and cook until the mushroom has released its liquid and reduced, 15-20 minutes.
3. Stir in tomato paste and garlic and cook until fragrant, ~1 minute.
4. Add white wine, deglaze, and cook until evaporated, ~2 minutes.
5. Add the reserved pasta water, deglaze again, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in romano and pasta. Serve with parmesan or additional romano.

Horiatiki (Greek Village Salad)

I love Greek salad. Especially when it's got lots of stuff in and isn't completely overwhelmed by the lettuce. Horiatiki is like a chunky, lettuce-less version of the typical North American take on Greek salad. And it's amazing!

I see prepared horiatiki for sale at the grocery store every once in a while, but it always looks a bit sad. Now that I've had a chance to try making my own, I'll just do that in the future. It's very easy to put together and it keeps extremely well. And I could eat it all day! Seriously, this salad is delicious.

Horiatiki

Slightly adapted from A Spicy Perspective

Ingredients

Salad

• 1 English cucumber, cubed
• 1 500mL basket cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 small red onion, chopped fine
• 1 c. pitted kalamata olives
• 1/2 c. fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 200g feta cheese, cubed

Dressing

• 1/4 c. red wine vinegar
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the oil into the vinegar.
3. Whisk in remaining dressing ingredients.
4. Pour dressing over salad and mix well.

Vengayam Adai (Multi-lentil pancakes with onions and tomatoes)

These aren't really pancakes in the sense we usually mean the word in Canada; they're savoury, a bit spicy, and best served as accompaniment to a curry, although you can eat them on their own (and they are quite tasty). Served with curry they're great either as a side dish, or topped with curry and eaten that way.

As written the recipe calls for just chopping the onions and stirring them into the batter; symbol and I both think it would be much improved by browning the onions first, since they don't really get a chance to brown while the pancakes are cooking.

These are really at their best right off the stovetop; the batter will keep in the fridge for at least a week, so if you don't want a full batch, prefer to refrigerate the batter and cook more as needed rather than cooking a batch of pancakes and reheating them.

Multi-lentil pancakes with onions and tomatoes

660 Curries

Ingredients

• ½ C long-grain white rice
• ¼ C chana dal (yellow split peas)
• ¼ C moong dal (skinned split green lentils)
• ¼ C toovar dal (skinned split yellow pigeon peas)
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 4-6 dried red chiles, stems removed
• 2-4 fresh green Thai chiles
• 1 C plain yoghurt
• 1 C finely chopped red onion
• 1 large tomato, cored and finely chopped
• ¼ freshly chopped fresh cilantro
• 25-30 curry leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground asafetida

Directions

1. Combine rice and all three dals in a medium-size bowl. Fill halfway with water, and rinse the legumes by rubbing them between your fingertips; the water will become cloudy. Drain the water and repeat until the water becomes relatively clear.
2. Drain, then fill the bowl halfway with warm water and add the coriander seeds and dried chiles. Cover and let it sit at room temperature until the legumes soften, 1-4 hours; then drain.
3. Combine the legumes, fresh chiles, and 1 C water in a blender jar. Blend until they form a slightly gritter batter.
4. Return the batter to the bowl; stir in the yoghurt, onion, tomato, cilantro, curry leaves, salt, and asafetida.
5. Heat a bit of oil in a medium-sized nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour ½ C of the batter into it and spread it out with the back of the ladle to form a flat circle (it's too thick to flow out on its own). Cook until small bubbles start to form on top and it loses its sheen, ~5 minutes, then flip and cook the other side, 2-4 minutes. Eat immediately.

Palak Sengdana nu Shaak (Spinach with Peanuts)

We had a bit of leftover potato curry and some mixed lentil pancake batter left over for dinner tonight, but I felt it was a bit lacking in the vegetable department. (I know potatoes are vegetables, but they belong with grains and other starches nutritionally.) Looking for something quick and easy that we had all the ingredients for already, I came across this shaak. Perfect! Plus, I love the combo of peanuts and leafy greens.

I ended up using a mix of frozen chopped spinach and frozen chopped kale for this. I'm sure fresh would be best, but being able to toss a bunch of pre-chopped frozen greens in the pot keeps things extra simple.

Palak Sengdana nu Shaak

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds, 1 tsp. whole, 1 tsp. ground
• 2 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1/2 c. unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne powder
• 1/4 tsp. asafetida powder
• 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 c. water
• 450g frozen chopped spinach
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add whole cumin seeds and sizzle for 15-20 seconds.
3. Add ground cumin, coriander, peanuts, sugar, sea salt, cayenne, asafetida, and turmeric and sizzle for 5-10 seconds.
4. Add water, spinach, and ginger paste.
5. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes.

Shakarai Urulikazhangu Kari (Whites & Sweets With Peas)

This simple potato curry comes together very quickly and easy; the most time-consuming part is chopping the potatoes. The end result is mostly a mix of potatoes with some peas and a thick, starchy sauce binding it together.

Shakarai Urulikazhangu Kari

660 Curries

Ingredients

• 2 medium russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 2cm cubes
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp urad dal
• 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
• 12-15 curry leaves
• 2 fresh green Thai chiles, stems removed, bisected lengthwise
• 1 C frozen green peas, thawed
• 1 tsp salt

Directions

1. Combine sweet potatoes in a large saucepan with 3 C water.
2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are fork-tender, 8-10 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 C water.
3. Dry the saucepan, add the oil, and return to medium-high heat.
4. Add the mustard seeds and cover until they stop popping, ~30 seconds.
5. Add the urad dal and stir-fry until golden brown, 15-20 seconds.
6. Add the cilantro, curry leaves, and chiles; they will sizzle in the hot oil.
7. Immediately add the potatoes, peas, salt, and reserved cooking water. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, ~5 minutes.

These eggs are a classic accompaniment to ramen, sliced in half or in quarters, or can be eaten on their own as a snack. The seven minute boiling time gives them firmly set whites, but yolks that are still slightly goopy, and the long marinade infuses them with flavour.

The marinade can be used for two additional batches of 8 eggs (for a total of 24) and will keep for about a week in the fridge.

Soy Marinated Eggs

Cook's Country

Ingredients

• 1 C soy sauce
• ¼ C mirin
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp freshly grated ginger or ginger paste
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 8 large eggs

Directions

1. Whisk together all non-egg ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil.
3. Gently lower the eggs in.
4. While the eggs are cooking, prepare a large bowl full of cold water.
5. When the eggs have cooked for seven minutes, remove them from the pot and transfer them to the cold water bath. Leave them for five minutes.
6. Transfer the eggs to a small container or large zip-lock bag, cover them with the marinade, seal, and refrigerate for 3-4 hours. (Do not exceed 4 or they will become overly salty.)
7. Remove the eggs from the marinade and store in the fridge until eaten.