Back again with Kohlrabi

Yes, the blog hasn't been updated for a while.  - big kitchen remodel, packing boxes, unpacking of the said packing boxes (ongoing process).   The cooking has been focused on fast and easy and using as few dishes as possible. To celebrate the  getting back of my kitchen, and the privilege of using multiple dishes  and  the opening of the farmers market, I present  ...drum roll

 Kohlrabi stir fry.

2 big kohlrabi   peeled.

1/2 thumb sized piece of ginger cut into matchsticks

1 14 oz packet frozen pigeon peas.

1/2 tsp of cumin seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

5 curry leaves

3 Thai chillies slit in half.

Salt  to taste.

1 lime cut into halves.

3 tsp of oil

Peel the kohlrabi and cut off the tough ends from the top and the bottom. Cut it into quarters and slice  width wise as thinly as possible. Or use the slicing blade of the food processor like I did.

Heat the oil in a wok or a skillet.   Add the cumin and the mustard seeds. Wait for the mustard seeds to pop. Add the Thai chillies and the  curry leaves.  Add the sliced kohlrabi, pigeon peas and ginger and saute on high for about 7 to 10 minutes. The pigeon peas should get fully cooked through and the Kohlrabi should be crisp tender.

Add salt. Squeeze the juice from one half of the lime and add more if necessary to taste.

Leftovers  serve really well as a sandwich filling  with some baked tofu and faux vegan cream cheese.

Keeps well in the fridge for up to a week.

Irish potluck

My wonderful friend Sarah's parties are the stuff of legend- great food, wonderful company  and just plain overall fun. When she invited me to a spring potluck  in March I jumped at the chance. For days, I looked at the ingredients in my fridge and pantry and pored over recipes hoping to find the one  that would call out my name. Come party day - I still had not decided what to make.  Four hours before the party I was hit with an epiphany - this was no ordinary potluck - it  was a St. Patrick's day party- duh .. March 17th and my friend loves themes…

What I ended up taking was far far from Irish as can possibly be - but it was green and garlicky and delicious

I ended up making these Greek Style Green Beans. Splendid Table - I love you!

 

 I followed the recipe closely- with just a few tweaks. I used Frozen Green beans - a mix of haricot verts and Romanos.  The only olive oil  I had on hand was garlic infused olive oil.. More garlic the better right? And I didn't have dill so I left it out  and I did double the recipe. I dragged out my cast iron Dutch oven, prepped the ingredients, set it on the stove at low and went about my other chores.

The  beans were everything they were  promised to be. Garlicky, spicy and full of  the promise of spring.

Leftovers taste great in a Pita pocket with some hummus.

2 lbs frozen green beans ( a mix of yellow and green romanos and haricto verts)
Veg oil cooking spray
3 tbs of garlic infused olive oil
8 cloves of finely chopped garlic
2 large tomatoes chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
A few dashes of  Kashmiri Lal Mirch (in lieu of the cayenne)

Spray a cast iron dutch oven with cooking spray.  Add the olive oil, garlic, green beans and tomatoes. Don't stir. Set the pot on the burner over the lowest possible flame and cook for 45 to 50 minutes without stirring.  Turn the heat up and cook off the water ( another good 20 minutes)  Season to taste with salt,pepper, Lal Mirch and a few more splashes of olive oil.

Cauliflower and tofu scramble

I am missing Mummy and the food she cooks. I am missing her cauliflower palya. Try as I might I never manage to cook the cauliflower fully - my definition of done does not match the family's. So I proceeded to grate the cauliflower (less chance of under cooking; that was my theory) it and make it into a scramble with tofu.
And yooo hooo !!!!
The result was a hearty scramble with cauliflower lending a creamy taste almost like fresh grated coconut.


Serves 8 easily as a side.
Keeps well refrigerated for up to 5 days.

1 head cauliflower
1 block tofu
1/2 red onion chopped into a fine dice.
thumb sized piece of ginger grated
2 thai chillies ( leave this out if you want a milder scramble)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2tsp paprika (optional)
4 tbsp oil
salt and pepper to taste.
1/2 lime juiced.
6 stalks of cilantro finely chopped

Wash the cauliflower, cut into florets and grate . Use a food processor, doing this with a hand grater takes a long long time.
Wash and drain the water from the tofu and microwave it for 5 minutes. This will help extract the moisture. Drain the water from the cooked tofu. When it is cool enough to handle, mash the tofu.

Heat the oil in a large saute pan or wok. Add the cumin seeds and wait until they crackle. Add the onions and the thai peppers and saute until the onions are transparent. Add the mashed tofu and cook turning it around a little until it begins to brown in spots. Add the cauliflower and mix well. Season with salt and pepper and continue to cook until the raw smell of the cauliflower disappears and the cauliflower softens ( at least 5 minutes). Add the chilli powder (if using) , cilantro and the lime juice and and toss well. Turn off the heat.

Serving suggestions
It was a taco filling the first night
It filled a panini for lunch the next day
It went into a pita pocket for a snack

Kohlrabi demystified

Kohlrabi or nool kol or navil kosu (that literally translates to peacock cabbage) belongs to the cabbage family.  It goes to say, most things you can make  with cabbage you can make with Kohlrabi.

Use a paring knife to peel the Kohlrabi. Remove the tough woody parts on the ends.

Some suggestions ( not actual recipes )

Kohlrabi slaw

 Find your favorite cabbage slaw recipe. Substitute  shredded Kohlarbi for the cabbage and if you make a slaw with an apple cider vinegar dressing, invite me for dinner.

Kohlrabi Apple Salad

 You want to use a tart and firm apple for this… a combination of Granny Smith and Pink Lady will be excellent.  Go for a ratio of 1:2 on the Kohlrabi and the apples. Cut both into matchsticks. Add some cilantro (2 tbsps) or herb of your choice (mint would be good, so would dill)

Make a dressing  with  grape seed oil and lime juice (  a ratio of 1:3) and a dash of mustard to help the emulsification. Add some cumin (1/8 tsp), paprika, salt to taste and a pinch of brown sugar to the dressing and whisk again. Toss with the Kohlrabi and apples and enjoy. You could get really creative and add some slivered almonds or toasted pumpkin seeds or walnuts.

Kohlrabi Stir Fry

Cut into matchsticks and stir fry with garlic and red pepper flakes

Kohlrabi palya

This is the  Indian stir fry. Chop up the kohlrabi into even pieces.  Heat about a tablespoon of oil and add 1/2 a tsp of mustard seeds and 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds. Once the seeds  splutter add the kohlrabi and a pinch of turmeric. Cook stirring often until the Kohlrabi has softened ( you should be able to pierce it easily with the tip of a knife). If it gets dry, add a splash of water. Season to taste with salt and lime juice.

Kosambri and Masoor Dal Tacos

This is a simple weekday dinner with very little prep time and some largely unattended cooking time. The lentils and the kosambri were served with brown rice for dinner. Left overs were packed separately  to be eaten with hard shell tacos and they made an excellent school lunch.
I spent some time every weekend communing with my pressure cooker. I usually cook enough lentils and beans to last me through the week.
The french lentils were cooked and ready and this dinner almost made itself.

Serves 4 to 6
inspired by this ppk recipe

For the lentils
2 cups French lentils (or whole masoor dal) cooked.
1 yellow onion diced
1 serrano pepper chopped fine
1 fresh Anaheim pepper chopped fine
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
salt to taste

Directions for cooking lentils
Cook lentils in a large stock pot using 3 to 3.5 cups of water per cup of lentils. Cook the lentils on a medium flame. It should take you about 25 to 30 minutes.
If there is too much water left in the pan after cooking the lentils, drain the lentils. Reserve the water and use it to flavor soup or stew.

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the mustard seeds and cover the pan with a lid. Once the seeds have crackled nicley, add the peppers and the onion. Saute until the onion browns nicely. Add the cooked lentils and salt to taste. Cook for another 5 minutes for the flavors to meld. The lentils should not be too soupy or too dry.


For the kosambri
Kosambri is an indian salad typically made with a single vegetable (cucumber, carrots or cabbage), soaked moong dal , seasoned generouly with lime and salt and tempered with mustard seeds, curry leaves and green chillies.

6 large carrots grated ( I use the food processor)
Juice from 2 limes
salt to taste
1/4 c cilantro ( leaves and stems chopped finely)
2 serrano peppers or 4 thai chillie peppers chopped really fine
4 -5 curry leaves
1 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp asafoetida
3 tsps oil.

In a large bowl  mix the carrots, salt, cilantro and half of the lime juice. Taste and adjust as necessary. The mixture should be fairly tart. ( don't worry the tempering will balance it out).
Heat the oil in a small sauce pan. When the oil is hot, add the mustard and the asafoetida. Wait till the seeds crackle and splutter. Add the curry leaves. Pour this hot oil over the carrots. Mix it in and taste. Add more salt or lime juice if necessary.

For the tacos:
Fill the hard shell tacos with the lentils and top with the kosambri.

The family heirloom and some green beans

There it was wrapped in yellowing newspaper with rust stains on it. But it was beautiful and the hubby assured me that all it required was a good scrubbing to get rid of the rust. So I carted it all the way from Bangalore to Portland in my suitcase this time. It has now been passed down from Mother in Law to Daughter- in Law for 3 generations. I am talking about my family heirloom - the 'bandale' or the wok.
A pound of green beans and  this recipe resulted in these crunchy, spicy green beans. I loved the idea of using nuts for texture. I modified the recipe and eliminated a few steps to make it a one wok recipe.

Serves 4 to 6
Total time from start to finish (30 minutes)

1 lb green beans
1/4 c dry roasted  Peanuts
2 tbsp dry roasted Sesame seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp whole Cumin
3 to 4 dried red peppers ( I used a combination of Anaheim and Ancho)
2 tsps canola oil
1 tsp sesame oil
*1 inch piece of ginger cut into matchsticks
*2 cloves garlic minced
salt to taste
Juice from half a lime (or more)

Wash and string the green beans.
Combine  the peanuts, sesame seeds, corainder, cumin and dired red chillies and grind. The mixture should be fairly coarse.
Heat the canola and the sesame oil in a big wok.( The wok should not be more than half full when you add the green beans)
Add the ginger and garlic and stir for a minute. Add the green beans, increase the heat to high. Keep stirring often. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes, slating the beans half way through the cooking. The beans should cook through but still retain a bite.
Add the ground nuts and spices and stir fry for a couple more minutes. Squeeze lime juice over the beans.
Serve hot with rice.
* The powdered nuts with the spices really elevated this recipe from the ordinary. I couldn't really taste the ginger and the garlic- so you might want to either add more or leave it out entirely.

Asparagus with Garlic

It is hard to write an intro to a recipe when you are trying to watch Rescue Me on another laptop at the same time especially an episode with lots of ghosts. I have been dreaming and waiting for the perfect bunch of asparagus to make  Smitten Kitchen's ribboned asparagus . I had the Asparagus, but not the patience to shave it into ribbons.

Asparagus  1 bunch -washed, woody ends snapped off and sliced thinly across the diagonal
Garlic - 3 cloves sliced thinly
Red pepper flakes - a generous pinch
Salt to taste
Oil - 1tsp

Heat a wok and add the oil. Add the garlic and saute for a minute. Add the asparagus, salt to taste and chilli flakes and saute for just a minute and a half. Serve warm or cold.

Curry leaves+cumin+potatoes+roasted poblanos = Taco fillling

This post should really be titled,'Lazy taco filling' or  ' How to make people feel you have slaved hours in the kitchen'. There really isn't a recipe. You preheat the oven and chop up some potatoes into a baking dish. Then you swirl around some oil.  Toss spices over the potatoes, shake it about and put it in the oven. While the potaoes are roasting, you take a pobalno pepper (Pasilla pepper) and roast it directly above a gas flame. If you don't have a gas stove; put the peppers under the broiler. When it is nicely blackened on all sides, put it in a bowl and cover it with a lid allowing it to steam. After about 40 minutes or so, when your potatoes are ready, pull them out of the oven and then add the roasted, peeled and chopped poblanos.
For the recipe
Oven  - 375 degrees ( Convection Roast)
Russet potatoes  -4 diced
Cumin seeds - 1tsp
Curry leaf powder - 1 shake around the baking pan
Chilly powder or paprika - 1/2 tsp or to taste
Salt

Variations: Substitute yams or sweet potatoes for the russet