Chori Ane Sengdana nu Dal (Cowpea-Peanut Dal)

I was in the mood for beans tonight. I felt like some sort of small whole legume would go well: mung beans, mapte beans, cowpeas, moth beans, etc. In the end I settled on this cowpea dal. It takes a while to cook but is quite straightforward to make. And I enjoyed the sweet, sour, and spicy aspects of it. It doesn't need much to round it out to a full meal. I served it with a simple carrot curry and some rice and paratha. If you wanted to dress it up a bit, I think sonth (tamarind-date chutney) would complement and accentuate the flavours. But I really liked it just as it was honestly.

Chori Ane Sengdana nu Dal

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. red cowpeas (chori/sabud chowli/adzuki beans)
• 4 c. water
• 6 pieces dried black kokum
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted roasted peanuts
• 1 Tbsp. jaggery
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4 tsp. ground asafetia
• 2-3 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 12-15 fresh or frozen curry leaves
• 2-4 fresh green Thai chilies, halved lengthwise

Directions

1. Rinse the beans thoroughly, then add hot water to cover and set aside for 1-2 hours.
2. Drain the beans, return to pot, add water, and bring to a boil.
3. Skim off any foam, add kokum, reduce heat to medium, partially cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for ~20 minutes.
4. Add peanuts, jaggery, salt, turmeric, and asafetida, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for another 20 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, melt 2 Tbsp. of ghee over medium-high heat.
6. Add cumin seeds and sizzle for ~10 seconds.
7. Stir in ginger paste and cook for ~1 minute.
8. Toss in curry leaves and chilies, stir once or twice, remove from heat, and set aside.
9. Once beans have finished their second 20-minute cooking period, stir in the ghee and spices.
10. Cover and simmer for another 20-25 minutes.
11. If desired, stir in 1 additional Tbsp. of ghee.
12. Serve with rice.

I needed something to use up sourdough starter that wasn't bread or cake and didn't have a long fermentation period. Oh, and it also had to be something that I had all the ingredients on hand for already. And, since we're running very low on eggs right now, that ruled a bunch of stuff out.

In the end I settled on these "everything cookies". They're basically an oatmeal cookie that uses sourdough starter for the flour and liquid components of the recipe. They're sweetened with a mix of brown sugar and mashed bananas. And they don't need eggs because the recipe basically starts by getting you to make a flax egg out of starter and ground flax seeds.

Everything Cookies

From Cultures for Health

Ingredients

• 1-2 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 Tbsp. ground flax seeds
• 225g (100% hydration) sourdough starter
• 1/3 c. canola oil or melted coconut oil
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 c. quick or rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 c. chopped nuts¹
• 1/2 c. chocolate chips (or chopped up chocolate)
• 1/2 c. dried fruit²
• 1/4 c. unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Mix the mashed banana(s), ground flax, and starter and let stand for 3 minutes.
3. Stir in oil, brown sugar, and vanilla.
4. Dump in oats, but don't stir them in yet!
5. Add baking soda, salt, and cinnamon on top of oats and stir to combine.
6. Mix in nuts, chocolate, dried fruit, and coconut (if using).
7. Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheet and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10-15 minutes (mine took 13).
8. Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack to cool.

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¹ We used slivered almonds this time, but there are lots of other options: walnuts, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans... Maybe even pine nuts, cashews, or pistachios. ^Back
2 We used dried cherries for this batch. Some other things to consider: rasisins/sultanas, apricots, currants, cranberries, dates, mango, papaya... I might also consider trying dried pineapple, blueberries, or strawberries. ^Back

Cheesy Breadsticks (Sourdough)

I have not been having good bread days lately. I just haven't had the spoons to do it properly. I thought I'd get a good batch made this weekend, but I was very tired this morning and forgot to zero the scale which resulted in some very stiff dough. I tried to amend it a bit, but I was worried about overshooting and didn't add enough water. So my bread is not shaping up great so far. I'll bake it off tomorrow morning, but I don't have high hopes for this one. Maybe I can take another crack at it next weekend.

In the meantime, I decided to use some of the excess starter to make breadsticks. These also could've used a little more care and attention, but they still came out pretty good.

Cheesy Breadsticks

Slightly adapted from Sourdough Companion

Ingredients

• 340g soft flour¹
• 9g coarse sea salt
• 25g unsalted butter
• 125g cream cheese
• 200g ripe/active starter (100%) hydration
• 180mL water
• extra cheese, cubed (optional)

Directions

1. Mix flour and salt.
2. Cut in butter and cream cheese.
3. Mix in starter and water to form a soft dough.
4. Knead for a minute or two, then cover and leave to rest for about an hour.
5. Stretch and fold, flip over, cover, and rest for another hour.
6. Give it one or two more stretches at one-hour intervals (depending on how lively the dough seems). If desired, work in some extra cheese on the last stretch.
7. Shape dough into a ball and leave to rest for 20-30 minutes.
8. Press flat and cut into thirds.
9. Cut each third into long, skinny rectangles.
10. Stretch each rectangle to desired length and place on a greased baking sheet.
11. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30 minutes. (You may need more or less time depending on the thickness of your breadsticks.)

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¹ I used a mix of white and whole wheat. ^Back

TF hasn't been feeling well lately and I wanted to make her a nice breakfast both as a treat and to give her one less thing to think about in the morning. I've made a few differet varieties of baked eggs before, but this recipe was particularly appealing today because it allowed me to use up one of the leeks that's been sadly waiting in the back of the fridge for a bit over a week now. (I had plans for it but kind of lost the plot and now it's gone begging.)

I really liked this as something to kind of mix up our breakfast routine. It was very tasty and pretty easy to make. I do think I'd use a bit less cream next time though. I feel like 2 Tbsp. per egg is a bit much. I might try cutting it back to 1 Tbsp. and see how that goes.

Shirred Eggs with Leeks

Slightly adapted from The Modern Proper

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 leek, thinly sliced (white and light green parts only)
• 1 bell pepper, sliced
• 4-6 green onions, sliced
• 6 large eggs
• 6 Tbsp. heavy or table cream (35 or 18%)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 3-4 Tbsp. grated Parmesan
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F) and grease 6 ramekins or custard cups.
2. Melt butter over medium heat.
3. Add leek, bell pepper, and green onions and cook until softened.
4. Divide leek mixture between ramekins/custard cups.
5. Break an egg into each up.
6. Pour 1 Tbsp. of cream over each egg.
7. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, Parmesan, chives, and parsley.
8. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for ~15 minutes.
9. Serve with buttered toast.

Masala Pudhina Paneer (Spiced Minty Paneer)

I would've sworn we'd already written this recipe up, but I can't find it anywhere, so I guess it got missed. It's been ages since we last made it, so the details are a little fuzzy, but I do remember this being the recipe that introduced me to the idea of mixing seasonings into the curds before pressing homemade paneer.

Masala Pudhina Paneer

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 4L whole (3.25%) or 2L half-and-half (10% cream)
• 1/4 c. vinegar
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro, divided
• 2 tsp. Balti Masala
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 6 Tbsp. canola oil, divided
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/4 c. tomato paste
• 1/4 c. mint leaves, chopped
• 1-2 fresh green Thai chilies, thinly sliced
• 1 c. water
• 1 c. half-and-half (10% cream)

Directions

1. Bring milk to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.
2. Stir in vinegar and remove from heat.
3. If the whey still looks milky (rather than watery) after 30-60 seconds, stir in another Tbsp. or two of vinegar.
4. Line a colander with a double layer of cheesecloth and pour the curds and whey into it to separate them and allow to drain for 5-10 minutes. The whey can be saved for baking or making soup stocks or discarded.
5. Add cilantro, balti masala, and 1 tsp. of salt to the curds and mix well.
6. Fold over the edges of the cheesecloth to cover the cheese.
7. Place a water-filled pot or other heavy object on top and press the cheese for 3-5 hours.
8. Remove the weight and the cheesecloth and cut the paneer into cubes.
9. Heat 1/4 c. of oil over medium heat.
10. Fry the paneer for 7-10 minutes, doing your best to get the cubes brown and crispy on all sides. Transfer to paper-towel-lined plate to drain.
11. Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. of oil over medium-high heat.
12. Add the onion and cook for 5-8 minutes.
13. Stir in tomato paste, remaining 1/4 c. cilantro, remaining 1/2 tsp. salt, mint, and chilies.
14. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for ~5 minutes.
15. Stir in water.
16. Add the paneer, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally for ~10 minutes.
17. Stir in the half-and-half and increase heat to medium.
18. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for ~10 minutes.
19. Serve with rice and your favourite flatbread.

Simla Mirch Paneer (Bell Pepper and Paneer Curry)

I don't remember when we made this one. I don't really remember what it was like. But it's checked off in the book, so we definitely made it at some point. Sorry I don't have a more detailed and interesting post for it.

This is a very easy (and relatively quick) curry to prepare if you can buy a bag of frozen fried paneer cubes from your local Indian grocery store. It's a bit more time-consuming if you have the fry the paneer yourself. And moreso if, like us, you tend to make your paneer from scratch so that it can be made lactose-free. I highly recommend making use of the pre-fried paneer if you can tolerate the lactose.

Simla Mirch Paneer

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 c. water
• 1/4 c. raw cashews
• 2 large red bell peppers (~450g), cut into 2cm pieces
• 6 green cardamom pods
• 1-4 fresh green Thai chilies, chopped
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2-1 tsp. cayenne powder
• 250g fried paneer cubes
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine water, cashews, bell peppers, cardamom pods, and chilies and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally for 20-25 minutes.
3. Puree the mixture (either in batches in a jar blender or directly in the pot with an immersion blender).
4. Return the pureed mixture to the pot (if it was removed).
5. Stir in salt, cayenne, and paneer.
6. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally for ~5 minutes.
7. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

I'm still waiting for this "bread" to finish baking. Normally I'd wait 'til I'd tasted it to do the write-up, but I'm at loose ends right now and I know I'll probably forget if I leave it 'til later, so I'm putting this down now. I can always come back later and add notes and alterations.

This recipe seems to be very much in the family of quick breads that are actually cakes baked in a loaf pan. It has a shocking amount of sugar and butter. I think I'll probably want to try to reduce both the next time I make this, but I just followed the recipe for today. We'll see how it tastes once it comes out of the oven...

Sourdough Maple-Walnut Quick Bread

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Baking

Ingredients

• 170g whole wheat flour
• 120g all-purpose flour
• 100g sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 170g sourdough discard (unfed starter)
• 1/2 c. milk¹
• 1/2 c. maple syrup
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp. maple flavouring (optional)
• 1 1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 23cm by 13cm (9"x5") loaf pan.
2. Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix well.
3. In a large measuring cup, whisk together starter, milk, maple syrup, eggs, melted butter, and maple flavouring (if using).
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until just combined.
5. Stir in walnuts.
6. Spoon batter into prepared pan and smooth the top.
7. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 60-70 minutes.

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Variations

Healthier Maple-Walnut Quick Bread

Ingredients

• 290g whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 170g sourdough discard (unfed starter)
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/2 c. maple syrup
• 2 large eggs
• 1 very ripe banana, mashed
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 tsp. maple flavouring (optional)
• 1 1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 23cm by 13cm (9"x5") loaf pan.
2. Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix well.
3. In a large measuring cup, whisk together starter, milk, maple syrup, eggs, banana melted butter, applesauce, and maple flavouring (if using).
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until just combined.
5. Stir in walnuts.
6. Spoon batter into prepared pan and smooth the top.
7. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 60-70 minutes.

Vegan Version

Ingredients

• 290g whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 170g sourdough discard (unfed starter)
• 1/2 c. oat milk
• 1/2 c. maple syrup
• 2 flax eggs
• 1 very ripe banana, mashed
• 1/4 c. coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 tsp. maple flavouring (optional)
• 1 1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 23cm by 13cm (9"x5") loaf pan.
2. Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix well.
3. In a large measuring cup, whisk together starter, milk, maple syrup, eggs, banana melted butter, applesauce, and maple flavouring (if using).
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until just combined.
5. Stir in walnuts.
6. Spoon batter into prepared pan and smooth the top.
7. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 60-70 minutes.

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¹ The original recipe called for buttermilk, but a) I didn't have any and b) my starter was already quite acidic, so I just swapped in some milk for the buttermilk. If your starter is less acidic, you may want to use buttermilk or stir a little vinegar into your wet ingredients. ^Back