Roasted Chestnuts

I was away from blogging for a week now, but it sure does feel like a long time. Friends visit and an unexpected jaunt are to be blamed at. I did miss participating in few events, but I hope to make up for it with regular posts hereafter.

I have never laid hands on chestnuts so far. But I have longingly looked at Indira devouring them year after year. This year I was lucky to find them at Whole Foods. They were $8 a pound. Ah, what the heck. All in the name of blogging.

I roasted them like I did jackfruit seeds. But you will have to mark an ‘x’ at the top of the nut, helping steam to escape while roasting. Slowly roast ‘em on a cast iron pan, until the outer layer is dark brown in colour. The shell gently opens like a flower, as they heat through. Let it cool down a bit and enjoy ‘em while they are still warm. I was pleasantly surprised that they tasted more like jackfruit seeds, but moist and subtly sweet. The flesh was smooth and soft.

I hope to find more of ‘em throughout this winter and I would be glad to find out any recipes using chestnuts. I should thank Indira for alluring me toward these humble, yet delicious nuts, which, otherwise, would not have drawn my attention with their unassuming looks. I hope you would pay a second look next time you find ‘em at your grocery store or when a roadside vendor is roasting ‘em on an open fire.

Starting The Day Right

You all know how I whine over eating the blah oatmeal for breakfast. But, over time, to my surprise, I happen to appreciate it. With mercury falling day-by-day, I am not up for cold cereal either. There is no denial that oatmeal is, by far, one of the healthiest breakfast you can have. “What cannot be cured must be endured”, says my dad. So, instead of whining, I decided to dress it up, making breakfast a treat, than a chore.

Being vegan or not, I love soy milk with my cereal or oatmeal. It lends a sweet flavour without the cholesterol. But if soy milk is not your thing, you can use regular milk. I perk it up by adding a dry fruit and a nut and/or seed. Dried berries, raisins would work too. Try unsalted, roasted pepitas, for something different. Since I decided to make one of my favourite combinations today, which is dates and pistachios, I am sending this to Chandrika’s AFAM – Dates.

Ingredients

Quick cooking oats – 6 tbsp
Water – 1 cup
Soymilk – ½ cup
Flax seeds – 1 tbsp
Dates – 10, pitted and chopped fine
Pistachios – ¼ cup, finely chopped

Method

Bring water to a boil. Add oats and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add flax seeds, switch off the flame and add soymilk. Garnish with dates and pistachios and serve warm.

Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

Being vegan doesn’t mean there is no indulgence. Craving for a snack one evening, I came across these cookies. They were originally shortbread, but I reduced the fat almost by half and made them into cookies. I love lemon poppy seed muffins, no wonder I loved these cookies too. Lemon in cookies is very interesting and the poppy seeds are mildly crunchy at the back of your mouth. These cookies are a keeper.

Ingredients

Unbleached all purpose flour – 1 cup
Poppy seeds – 1½ tbsp
Corn flour – 1½ tbsp
Nutmeg – 1/8 tsp
Salt – 1/8 tsp
Margarine – 5 tbsp
Sugar – 1/3 cup
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
Lemon zest – 1 tbsp
Vanilla – 1 tsp
Water – 3 tbsp

Method

Preheat the oven to 375F. Mix flour, poppy seeds, corn flour, nutmeg and salt together. In a separate bowl, cream margarine, sugar, lemon juice, zest and vanilla together. Add the flour mixture to the margarine mixture and mix lightly. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of water at a time and knead very lightly till the dough comes together. Don’t add water more than necessary.

Line a baking sheet with silicone sheet or spray with a nonstick spray. Pinch a tbsp of dough, form a ball and lightly press flat. Bake until the edges are lightly brown, about 18-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and store in an air tight container. This yields about 13 cookies. Recipe adapted from Tassajara.

Saving Thai Croquettes

One of my favourite bloggers, Susan of Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, invited fellow bloggers to help her save a recipe. November being Vegan month at Tasty Palettes, I couldn’t ask for a better reason to participate. The croquettes being Thai flavoured were also part of the reason for my interest.

When I say Thai, these flavours come to my mind – vegetables, spices and coconut. I improvised the recipe to include all these aspects. Sweet corn tastes great in most of the savoury cake recipes I have come across. So that was to be one of my special ingredients.

After mixing the ingredients, I realised the need for starch. And I quickly microwaved a sweet potato. And the batter was fairly sweet, hence I omitted any sweetener altogether. I was almost done and still had not added coconut milk yet, and the mixture was already moist. Debating over whether to add fresh or desiccated coconut flakes, I decided to go with the drier kind, as there was enough moisture in the batter.

Even though Susan bakes her croquettes, I pan fried them with a quick spray of olive oil. Well, I was not only running late for dinner but hungry too. The croquettes were quite forgiving. They were easy to flip without any additional oil. Now you don’t have to worry about those additional calories.

And it was perfect. The corn (I used fresh) was plump and sweet, and the lightly toasty coconut flakes added a mild, but pleasant aroma in the background. Though tomatoes were added as a garnish for their colour, I should say, they are a must, for the burst of freshness they provided complimented the croquettes. Next time, I wouldn’t even mind pulsing the corn, I would add them whole.

Ingredients

Green beans – 1½ cup, chopped
Corn – 1½ cup, fresh or frozen
Sweet potato – 1, medium sized
Red curry paste – 1½ tbsp
Basil leaves – a handful, chopped
Lemon zest – 1 tbsp
Soy sauce – 3 tbsp
Ground flax seed – 1 tbsp
Desiccated coconut – 2 tbsp
Corn flour – 4 tbsp
Salt
Pepper

Method

Blanch green beans or cook them in the microwave for about 6 minutes, until they are half done, but still crunchy. Let the beans cool down a bit and pulse ‘em in a food processor along with corn, 2 or 3 times. Take care the vegetables don’t get mushy. Transfer to a big bowl.

Wash the sweet potato. Pierce them several times with a fork. Microwave for 4 minutes. Turn the sweet potato over and cook for 4 more minutes. Slit the skin and scoop the flesh out in to the bowl with green beans and corn. Add rest of the ingredients into the bowl. Mix well and form patties.

Spray oil over a flat pan and put it on a medium heat. Neatly arrange the patties and cook for about 3 minutes. Flip and cook the other side for another 2 minutes. Garnish with thinly cut scallions and chopped tomatoes. Serve with a dipping sauce.

Susan, I hope I saved your recipe rightly. This is my entry for Can This Recipe Be Saved?

Last, but definitely not least, my Soba noodles entry, for this month’s DMBLGiT, hosted by Jennifer of Bake or Break has been awarded for its originality.

Gallery here and winners announced here. My sincere Thanks to all the judges and Congrats to other winners.

Marinated Cauliflower In Coconut-Chickpea Flour Gravy

I was looking for an elegant one-plate dish, and came across this marinated chicken recipe. The gravy was what caught my attention, and I duly veganised it. Boy, the taste knocked my socks off. The gravy was smooth and creamy. I used homemade coconut milk, as I find the store bought ones to be excessively creamy. The chickpea flour, instead of the usual, but bland corn flour, added a subtle flavour. I am going to try this technique for other gravies too. There is nothing I would change in this recipe except, making a double batch next time.

Ingredients

Roasted Cauliflower

Cauliflower – 1, big, cut into large florets
Chilli powder – ½ tsp
Olive oil – 1 tbsp
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
Salt

Coconut-Chickpea Flour Gravy

Onion - 2, small, sliced
Green chilli – 2, minced
Garlic – 4 cloves, minced
Tomato – 2, cubed
Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Chilli powder – ½ tsp
Cinnamon stick – 1 inch
Chickpea flour/besan – 3 tbsp
Coconut milk – 1 cup if homemade, 2/3 cup if store bought
Oil
Salt

Method

Soak cauliflower florets in salted hot water for 5 minutes. The florets not only get cleaned but softened. Drain well. Prepare the marinade by mixing oil, lemon juice, chilli powder and salt in a large bowl. Add the florets and coat well in the marinade. Leave it aside for 15 minutes.

If you are making coconut milk at home, soak 2/3 cup of grated coconut in 1 cup of warm water for 10 minutes. Put this in a blender and grind to a smooth mixture. Drain this mixture using a cheese cloth. Extract as much milk as possible. Discard the pulp and reserve the milk.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with foil. After the florets have marinated for 15 minutes, arrange each floret separately on the baking sheet. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the florets have cooked and browned toward the edges. Carefully remove the florets from the baking sheet and set aside.

For the gravy, heat oil in a sauce pan and sauté onions till light brown. Add green chilli and garlic and brown for additional couple of minutes. Stir in tomatoes, dry masalas (cumin, coriander, chilli, turmeric), cinnamon stick and salt. Cook on medium low heat, until tomatoes are soft and the spices are not raw, about 5 minutes.

Dissolve chickpea flour in 3 cups of water, without any lumps and add to the onion+tomato mixture. Bring this to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. The gravy will thicken as it boils. Stir in coconut milk and heat through.

Plate the gravy with roasted cauliflower florets on top. I served mine with brown rice.

Marinade cauliflower with 2 tbsp of yogurt instead of oil+lemon juice, for a vegetarian version. Recipe heavily adapted from Vij’s.

Vegan Ventures

You all know Tasty Palettes is going vegan this month, mainly to keep track of vegan recipes for my cooking repertoire. But after seeing Asha’s comment about making this an one-time event, I thought ‘Why not?’. It may be difficult to go vegan for a month even if you are a vegetarian. But we all have recipes that are tasty, healthy and most importantly, vegan. Pooling those recipes in one place would be of immense help to our vegan friends, would-be vegans and on-and-off vegans like me (if there is one!). Hence I invite you all to participate in this one-off event ‘Vegan Ventures’.

Here are the guidelines:

1. Vegan recipes in Indian cuisine are aplenty. From everyday dal to simple pulao, those simple and easy recipes are perfectly vegan. But try something new, a vegan recipe that you have been wanting to try, a recipe that you would entertain your vegan friends with. Refreshing vegetables, interesting vegan substitutes, chic desserts, well, you get the idea.
2. Any information and ideas on vegan living are wholly welcome.
3. Please make your entries special by creating especially for this event.
4. Feel free to use the logo.
5. Include a link back to this post.
6. Send your entries by November 30, 2007 to tastypalettes@gmail.com with the subject ‘Vegan Ventures’. Include your name, your blog’s name, the permalink of the entry, a picture of your gorgeous recipe (if any) in your email.
7. You don’t have a blog? No worries. Send your entries with a picture to tastypalettes@gmail.com.
8. I will post the round-up during the first week of December 07.

If you are new to veganism, these are the don’ts.

• Any kind of meat or seafood
• Dairy products – milk, yogurt, butter, cheese etc
• Egg
• Honey
• Gelatin
• Any other animal products or derivatives

And these are the dos.

• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Grains
• Beans, legumes, lentils
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Soy products like tofu, tempeh, miso, seitan.
• Non-dairy milks like soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, coconut milk.
• Sweeteners like agave nectar, maple syrup. I am going to allow sugar, as vegan dry sweeteners are not accessible to everyone.
  

Please feel free to add/correct these lists as I am new to Veganism too. Here are some vegan resources – List of vegan foods, vegan.org.

Event roundup here.

Mixed Vegetables with Coconut-Black Chickpea Rice

November is Vegan Month. Veganism is not just a diet, but a philosophy of cruelty-free lifestyle. For health/environmental/ethical reasons, some of us choose not to consume animal products. From eggs or dairy at the dinner table to fur or leather in the living rooms, there are so many don’ts in the life of a vegan.

I have almost been a vegan for about four months for health reasons. Almost, except for a cup of coffee everyday. I was energetic through out the day, without any afternoon energy slumps. Best of all, I felt good inside out. And then came the holiday season and a vacation. There ends my vegan story. But this month, Tasty Palettes is going vegan. I have decided to record few of the vegan recipes that I learnt and any new recipes I try as an aid for me and all those vegan out there.

I start with a delicious recipe from an equally delightful cookbook – Vij’s Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine. Written by a restaurateur, the recipes appeal to cooks, both novice and expert in Indian cuisine. I am very happy with every one of the recipes I have tried from it so far.

The vegetables called for, in this recipe were unique. Hearty potatoes, tart tomato and sweet delicious corn, served with coconut-chickpea rice, was delicious enough to make this over and over again. I have slightly adapted the recipe according to my liking. The recipe calls for red cabbage, though radicchio works equally well.

Ingredients

Rice

Black chickpeas – ½ cup
Grated coconut – 3 tbsp
Basmati rice – 1 cup
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Curry leaves – few
Oil – 1 tsp
Salt

Vegetables

Green cabbage – 1 cup, cut into thick long strips
Red cabbage – 1 cup, cut into thick long strips
Potato – 2, cut into thin half moons
Corn, fresh or frozen – 1 cup
Tomato – 1, finely chopped
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Kalonji seeds – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder – ½ tsp
Oil – 1 tsp
Lemon juice
Salt

Method

Soak chickpeas overnight in 2 cups of water and ¼ tsp of salt. Next morning, drain chickpeas and pressure cook until three whistles without adding water. Cook rice with a cup of water. Fluff and cool the rice till each grain is separate. In a kadai or skillet, heat oil, splutter mustard seeds. Add curry leaves and coconut and toast for a minute. Add the cooled rice, chickpeas and salt. Combine thoroughly. Keep warm.

For the vegetables, heat oil in a separate pan. Add mustard, kalonji and cumin seeds, and allow them to splutter. To this, add tomatoes, coriander powder, red chilli powder and salt. Sauté until tomatoes are pulpy. Add sliced potatoes, and cook for 4 minutes, sprinkling water if necessary. Finally add corn, green and red cabbage and stir for 2-3 minutes. The vegetables should be slightly cooked, but crunchy. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

Place rice in a bowl and spoon the vegetables over top and serve.