Indulge at Restore | Restore by Nandi
Tag

fusion food

Browsing
Recipes

Recipe: Not Quite Authentic, But Quite Amazing – Green Quesadilla

By

We can’t get enough of food inspired by Mexican cuisine at home, and after last week’s Mexican-style pineapple salad, I thought it would be perfect to share another delicious recipe in the same vein. This green quesadilla, truthfully speaking, is re:store style – a cross between Indian and Mexican, but leaning towards being an Indian dish with a Mexican name. For the culinary purists out there, no, this is not authentic. For the rest of us who love our fusion food and things that taste good under any moniker, I can assure you that this green quesadilla is quite amazing just the same. If you don’t believe me, ask my mother-in-law, who at 85 relishes it to the point of requesting it specifically when it’s been missing from our menu for even a week!

I can’t recall exactly how it came into being, but can make a vague guess that I must have had an excess of broccoli in my kitchen one day. I must have decided to pack it all into a quesadilla, to use up my stock while also ensuring that my family got a good load of greens that day. I do know that when I began serving it to them, my grown kids didn’t blink twice, distracted by the yummy cheese that holds the “tortilla” together (you’ll see why I use the quote marks when you read the method). I realised then that this dish is ideal for my readers with kids, especially younger ones who detest vegetables and need to be tricked into having them. In fact, calling it a quesadilla – even when you’re using ingredients that are so basic to an Indian kitchen – will also help with this, as children are always curious about trying new things and are likely to enjoy the novelty.

It has since become a staple at home, and I usually accompany it with a soup of some sort. Depending on your personal preferences, I can recommend several of my recipes for this pairing too. From the richly indulgent to the comfortingly simple, I have shared quite a range on this blog. Do check out my minestrone, zucchini soup, vegan whole corn and lemongrass soup, broccoli and almond soup or watermelon gazpacho at leisure.

Long before I encountered real quesadillas, and long before those of us who grew up in Chennai had the slightest clue what Mexican cuisine was all about, I enjoyed another dish based on the same concept at my friend Sharmila’s home. Whenever a small group of us would land up there after school, surprising her mother who would be unprepared to serve lunch for unexpected guests, she would take some rotis and whip up a simple, but extremely satisfying, treat for us. She would put some jaggery between two rotis and flip them on a pan with ghee. The jaggery would melt, bind the bread together, and would ooze out so appetisingly the moment you took a bite. Looking back, I can imagine how this clever innovation came into being. I’m sure you can too. Do you have a dish like this, one you put together in a rush one day that then became a regular?

The category of so-called quesadillas is, as proved by Sharmila’s mother, a highly diverse one. Sprinkle some idli podi on it and make it a South Indian version. Change up the veggies so they fulfill a specific dietary restriction, or to make a colourful version. Add textures or ingredients that you like. Just remember that the cheese is the main factor. Without it, the whole thing will literally fall apart!

This green quesadilla makes for a filling dinner, or even a healthy snack. I flatten and slice it like a pizza, but you can also roll it up like a kati roll. Serving it in different ways will also keep your kids (or their grandmothers!) happy and enthusiastic. Isn’t it so interesting how our tastes when we are very young often have much in common with our tastes when we are very old? With that in mind, I’m delighted to share with you my recipe for a green quesadilla that is sure to satisfy several generations of your family!

Green Quesadilla

(Yield: 3 quesadillas)

 

Dough

¼ cup all purpose flour

¼ cup whole wheat flour

¼ cup water (or enough to make a tight dough)

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon oil

 

Filling

½ cup broccoli

¼ cup green bell pepper

¼ cup spring onions

2 teaspoons olive oil

Salt to taste

1 pinch pepper

½ cup grated cheese

 

Butter to cook

 

Make a tight and smooth dough using all of the dough ingredients and set aside. When it’s ready to be worked with, make six small balls of dough. Roll them out with the help of some flour. The method in my roti post may be useful here if you want to know how to do this.

Cook all six rolled-out rotis on both sides partially. Set them aside.

In a pan, add the oil. Once it has heated, add the vegetables. On a medium to high flame, stir the vegetables and cook them al dente. Add salt and pepper and mix well.

To assemble the quesadilla, place three rotis flat. Then, scoop the vegetables on top of them, making sure that most parts of the roti are covered. Now, sprinkle the grated cheese. Cover each of these prepared rotis with a plain one, sandwiching the veggies. Press down with your hands.

Add butter or oil on both sides of each quesadilla and cook on a hot griddle. Flip carefully. The cheese will hold the vegetables together, but be gentle anyway, else they will open up.

Cut them in half and serve. You may add jalapeños to the vegetable mix, or serve some alongside. As I said earlier, a soup makes a great accompaniment if you want to round it out into a full meal. A salsa or dip of your liking will also make it more delicious as a snack. You may want to adapt my peach salsa recipe, using complementary ingredients.

There you have it – a cheesy, nourishing dish that somehow blends the comfortingly familiar with the intriguingly foreign. Do you also make your own quesadilla-ish recipe, using the simple Indian roti, and how do you do it? I would love to know!

View Post
By
Recipes

Recipe: Sweetness Meets Nutrition – Mexican-Style Pineapple Salad

By

With the fruit being in season, a wonderful meal of Thai-style pineapple rice led to an equally delicious pineapple curry, as you may have enjoyed recently too. I’m delighted to conclude this recipe series with a Mexican-style pineapple salad that I hope you’ll be just as excited by! As I had mentioned in one of the previous posts, I often grill pineapple for dessert. If you already have cut pineapple on hand, as I do with the abundance of it on the market right now, it’s so easy to do. As I was preparing some the other day, it occurred to me that grilled pineapple could make a perfect salad ingredient. In the magical way that food does, the idea transported me back to travels in South America, and I knew just how to prepare the dish.

I feel like I mention this in pretty much every blog post, but it’s true: I’ve been consuming a low-carbs menu for some months now, and am on a constant quest to diversify it. Salads are a reliable way to do so, and I’m always looking for new methods of preparing dishes in this category. You can turn this salad into a more complete meal by adding black or brown rice to it, which will fill you up while also being more nourishing than white rice. As an aside, if you’re a fan of black rice, be sure to try out this sticky rice and mango pudding from my archives. Also, while we’re on the subject of Mexican-inspired dishes, do try my peach salsa and Mexican-influenced Buddha Bowl recipes out too!

Despite my carbs-free diet, which I abide by as much as I can, I have also been trying to be kinder to myself about slipping off the bandwagon. Attempting to inculcate a mindset of judging my own food choices less is a work in progress, but it’s also a matter of practice. I know many of us struggle with this, which is why I’m sharing my own efforts to strike a balance. So nowadays, instead of chastising myself because a certain item or an extra helping may impact my health negatively, I am telling myself: “This will nourish me and give me joy”. Rather than eat something rich while feeling miserable and guilty about its sugar or carb quotient, which reduces my pleasure in the food or beverage itself, I am making it a point to mindfully enjoy it. This is a better attitude than self-criticism. It also helps you moderate your diet when you look at all parts of it the same way, rather than only the parts of it that you consider indulgent. Moderation in greens, moderation in goodies, and so on. It’s perfectly okay to eat what you’d like to eat – just eat it in the portions that are best for you.

This salad, as nutritious as it is, began with just such a spark of choosing joy over judgment. Of course I could have eaten the pineapple raw, but grilling it brought out flavours to the fruit that it wouldn’t have gotten to experience otherwise. Then, warm memories of a trip to Mexico embellished the rest of the recipe in my head: corn, jalapeños, kidney beans and chipotle sauce found their way into it. The result? Delicious, craving-satisfying and loaded with nutritional value even while it also packs a punch in the taste department.

One of the things I love about this dish is that while it’s internationally-inspired, the ingredients are locally grown or easily available. This gave me the idea of not just grilling the pineapple, but also giving the corn the Indian street food treatment. I wanted to bring the flavour of the wonderful roasted corn that we get at beaches all over India into the dish too, so I added some lemon and chilli powder and prepared that separately.

With the five year anniversary of this blog approaching (do follow me on Instagram for some celebratory fun soon!), I’ve been thinking about the broad range of recipes covered here, and I noticed that one of the things that many recipes have in common is that you can cook them no matter where you are. The ingredients used are largely simple and widely available, and the substitutes you can use to make them local or seasonal for you should be pretty intuitive. For instance, for this recipe, I found and ordered chipotle online, to add a bit of authentically Mexican flavour. If you’re unable to source it yourself, using paprika – which incidentally also originated in Mexico but which is widely available in supermarkets in India and abroad – will easily create the ideal dressing alternative. As I say often: good cooks always innovate, with what’s in reach!

 

Mexican-Style Pineapple Salad

(Yield: Serves 2)

 

1 medium-sized pineapple

⅓ cup finely chopped spring onion

2 tablespoons chopped jalapeños

½ cup kidney beans (rajma)

1 roasted whole corn

¼ cup coriander leaves

¼ cup finely diced bell peppers

 

Dressing

Juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon taco seasoning

1 teaspoon chipotle chilli (substitute: paprika)

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon olive oil

 

Slice the clean pineapple into circles. Grill approximately 2 cups of chopped slices in the oven or on a pan until charred. Allow to cool, then cut into small pieces and add to the bowl. Then, add the remaining vegetables.

Mix the dressing ingredients in a cup and pour over the assembled salad. Serve with some crunched-up nacho chips. If you have some fresh avocado, or some guacamole, these will also make a perfect accompaniment.

The nacho chips that I sprinkled over the salad evoked the texture of the maida-based tostada bowls that I’ve enjoyed similar Mexican salads in while travelling in the United States. Scrumptious and crispy, the bowl is a treat to eat along with the salad and the guacamole that is customarily served. While I know how it’s made, I don’t have a mould to make them with, and I’m wondering how to improvise. Would you have any suggestions? I’d love to scoop some of my Mexican-style pineapple salad into a homemade tostada bowl next time, and enjoy that crunchiness too!

View Post
By
Recipes

Recipe: Better With A Jiggle – Saffron-Pistachio-Rose Panna Cotta

By

Some years ago, I shared a recipe for a vegan lavender panna cotta, and this dessert has been on my mind yet again. This time however, the non-vegan variety is what I’ve been craving. Perhaps I am drawn to dairy in desserts because it is the basis of most Indian sweets, and therefore is a part of what I grew up eating. Although it is not Indian in origin, panna cotta certainly hits the spot as a milk-based, delicious sweet treat. It is light but satisfying, and I love that it lends itself to a range of flavours. While playing around with possible flavours, I hit on a combination that retains a sense of the regional. So here you have it: a saffron-pistachio-rose panna cotta.

While many people enjoy their panna cotta with a coulis made of berries, I prefer a pistachio topping. I find it complements the saffron. It’s is one of my favourite flavours, and when I make my pistachio cake at re:store (available in saffron, rose and classic variants), I often make a tiny cupcake for myself from the batter. This panna cotta therefore brings together all the flavours that I have tried, tested and tasted time and again and know work well with pistachio.

You may wish to use agar-agar if you prefer, but I find that this substitute just doesn’t give the dessert the jiggle that gelatine does. If you ask me, a good panna cotta should jiggle. Perhaps it’s just a matter of presentation, but as I’ve said often, presentation is key when it comes to sweet treats. The eye eats first.

Remember that you can make sugar-free and vegan panna cottas, using any medium (almond milk, coconut milk, etc). I often do. Today, however, I felt indulgent… The saffron I used was some absolutely beautiful Spanish saffron that dear friends who live in Spain gave me when they visited. So many friends of mine scattered across the globe tend to bring gifts that can be used at re:store or in my kitchen. The lavender in my previous panna cotta recipe was a gift as well. I’m grateful to have these delectable ingredients, alongside my local and seasonal ones.

A pinch of Spanish saffron, with distinctly Indian touches of pistachio and rose water… And yet it’s memories of a trip to Rome that emerged as I prepared this lovely dessert. Wherever we went, we gorged on authentic panna cotta, tiramisu and gelato. Reminiscing on my Italian sojourn must have been what inspired me to become interested in making ice cream. As I’ve said on this blog before, I consider myself an eternal student, and I’m literally going to sign up for a course. Isn’t it wonderful how food is a way to travel, especially in these difficult times when travel is sometimes not possible, or just not what it used to be? It’s all the more special when we are able to evoke memories or aspirations of travel right in our very own kitchens.

Saffron-Pistachio-Rose Panna Cotta

(Serves 4)

Panna Cotta

7 grams gelatine

3 tablespoons cold water (to soak)

1 cup cream

1½ cups whole milk

1⁄3 cup sugar

A pinch of salt

½ teaspoon saffron + 1 tablespoon milk

 

Pistachio Topping

¼ cup shelled, toasted and sliced pistachio

 

Rose Cream

½ cup whipping cream

1 teaspoon rose water

 

Soak the gelatine in cold water for about ten minutes. Soak the saffron in milk.

In the meanwhile, add the cream, milk and sugar along with the salt in a saucepan. Allow to cook on a medium flame, stirring occasionally.

When the mixture is ready to boil, add the soaked saffron. Bring to a boil and turn off the flame.

Allow to rest for about ten minutes, and then add the bloomed gelatine. Due to the heat, the gelatine will melt. Stir well, pour into a mould and set overnight in the refrigerator.

When you are ready to serve the panna cotta, prepare the topping of rose cream. Whip the ingredients together in a bowl until you get soft peaks, or the consistency that you prefer.

Now, it’s time to assemble the dessert. Dip the mould in which the panna cotta has set in warm water. Turn it upside down onto a serving plate. Garnish the panna cotta with a sprinkling of pistachio, a dollop of the whipped rose cream and rose petals if you have them. You will have an aromatic, alluring-looking dish, replete with a plethora of flavours. You can keep this saffron-pistachio-rose panna cotta in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. It’s a perfect dish to prepare in advance when you are expecting guests, and it is sure to wow them visually too.

Saffron, pistachio and rose are international flavours as well as Indian ones, and I hope that they are easily available to you. The panna cotta base is beautifully adaptable, so you’ll easily be able to swap any of them out if you don’t have something on hand.

Aside from how gorgeous it is to the eye and how delicious it is to savour, what I like most about this dish is that it is a symbol of how food can make the world a smaller place. As we span worlds and cuisines, here’s an ongoing wish for the end of the pandemic and for us all to be able to communicate, commute, share and care again as easily as we did before.

View Post
By
Recipes

Recipe: A Feast Of Its Own – Seven-Grain Khichdo

By

For centuries, Gujaratis observed the harvest season of Sankranti (which takes place in January) with a special dish, a seven-grain khichdo which celebrated the bounty of the earth. It was originally made with fresh, still green grains, and cooked for many hours in a large brass pot on coal. It would be prepared right before the harvest itself, when the grains would be ripe and tender. What constituted the seven key ingredients of the recipe depended on what was being grown, and some ingredients that we may think of as being legumes or lentils also qualified. It was also sometimes made with fewer. It was called “saat dhaan” – “seven grain” – when made with all the staples, and “paanch dhaan” – “five grain” – when a couple were eliminated for reasons of convenience, availability or taste. Pearl millet (bajra), wheat, rice, split pigeon peas (toor dal), sorghum (jowar) and green gram (moong dal) were among the traditional staples used. Over time, changes in agriculture and culinary life have allowed us to enjoy this wonderful dish whenever we please.

Even still, it’s a dish with a long preparation and cooking time, so I think of it as a Sunday dish – the kind that you begin working on as soon as you wake, and which is hot and ready just in time for lunch with the whole family. This was exactly how I used to see it being prepared in my sister’s home when I would visit her when she first got married. Her mother-in-law made an amazing seven-grain khichdo, and I would observe as she soaked each ingredient separately early in the morning, then as she literally pulled out the big old brass pot and coal in order to cook it in the time-honoured way. I had the good fortune of experiencing this whole process, just as I used to watch my own mother make Navaratri handvo authentically. Biting into the piping hot khichdo when she served it at lunch after having worked on it since the crack of dawn was unimaginably beautiful. My sister and I now make this khichdo in our own ways, with our modern appliances, but of course it’s her mother-in-law’s recipe that inspired us to keep this time-consuming (but so rewarding) dish in our own repertoires.

Another significant change that has come with urbanisation is that while certain ingredients began to become available year-round, access to fresh ingredients became limited. Thus, a contemporary saat dhaan khichdo will be more likely to use dried ingredients. Here, too, availability determines what you can use. For instance, in Gujarat and Maharashtra you can get readymade chaffed wheat, with the skin removed. I haven’t been able to procure the same in Chennai, so I have to pound the grain gently, to remove the outer covering.

Hand-pounding each grain individually is an important part of the process when using dried ingredients. Each one needs a different type of pressure. Bajra and jowar can be pounded very coarsely, for example, whereas wheat breaks when you do so. Of course, if you happen to have the tender green grains, there’s no pounding required.

Then there’s the individual soaking too, with each grain requiring a different duration. Wheat, bajra and jowar take the longest, whereas rice can be soaked a few hours after the overall preparation has started. As you will likely be making this khichdo with a mix of readymade, hand-pounded or fresh grains that you have available, do use your familiarity with the ingredients to determine the preparation time you need. In addition to the grains mentioned earlier, some I have used or heard of being used in this khichdo include black-eyed peas and green chickpeas too. It just comes down to availability, but the trick is to strike a balance between heavy grains and the lighter variants.

That is because this seven-grain khichdo is itself a very filling dish. While it was a part of Sankranti traditions that honoured the harvest, there is also a science as to why it was made this way. Mid-January would still be winter in Gujarat, and a heavy dish like this made of up whole grains would take a long time to digest. It would increase the metabolism and keep the body warm through the day. It is meant to be enjoyed at lunch, served hot and without need for accompaniments, except some pickled green chilli and kadhi (which is similar to more kolumbu) if you have it.

In terms of spices, the authentic version of this dish required no sautéing and very minimal spices. Everything just went into the large brass pot and cooked away for hours. The flavours of the grains would be allowed to dominate, with just a bit of ajwain (which aids digestion), and the two quintessentials of turmeric and salt being added. That and ghee – a couple of dollops of glorious ghee are an important part of this khichdo.

My sister’s mother-in-law would include a bit of dhaniya-jeera (coriander-cumin) powder, while my sister chooses to add curry leaves and garam masala. I don’t use any of these, but I do use tomato. Play around as you wish to as well, until you hit on the seasonings you most enjoy.

Seven-Grain Khichdo

(Yield: 2-3 persons)

25 grams whole wheat (chaffed)

15 grams broken bajra

50 grams rice

15 grams green whole mung

15 grams yellow split mung dal

¼ cup green peas

¼ cup fresh green pigeon peas

Water to cook

2 tablespoons ghee

½ teaspoon ajwain (carom seeds)

¼ teaspoon asafoetida

1 crushed tomato

¼ teaspoon turmeric

Salt to taste

1 – 2 cups hot water

Soak the grains individually until they are tender to touch, in water about an inch higher than the level of the grains.

When cooking, add 2½ times water to the quantity of grain.

You may pressure cook the bajra and wheat together as it takes a longer time to cook these grains. Set aside.

Next, pressure cook the rice and green whole mung and yellow split mung dal together. Set aside.

In a kadai, add ghee and once it becomes hot, add the ajwain first and then the asafoetida. Next, add the crushed tomato and then all the spices.

Now, add all the grains together to the hot, spiced ghee in the kadai. Stir on a medium to low flame.

Keep stirring. Add some hot water if required, especially if you like the khichdo to be soft as I do.

Once cooked, serve hot along with a garnish of green chili and coriander leaves.

The long preparation and cooking processes that go into a good seven-grain, or even five-grain, khichdo mean that it’s really meant to be a feast, just as it originally was during Sankranti. I recall how whenever my sister’s mother-in-law prepared it, she would distribute it to their neighbours as well. It is a meal in itself, meant to be shared, and meant to be consumed immediately after the many hours that the cook would have spent putting it together.

As with all tasty things that are best shared, I hope you’ll whip up a nice big batch the next time that you have half a day to linger over putting a meal together. Then, I hope you’ll gather your favourite people around the table, and enjoy this traditional Gujarati khichdo, with all the joy that the farmers of yore would have felt as they feasted with their loved ones right before the big harvest.

View Post
By
Recipes

Recipe: Tic-Tac-Taco – Indian Tacos

By

If you’ve been following this blog even for a short while, you’ll know that we are huge fans of Mexican cuisine in my home – both authentic and Indianised, or should I say re:store-ised, versions. This Mexican-inspired Buddha bowl is one example of how these flavours are enjoyed by my family. I’m very happy in my own world of fusion tastes, and am always on the lookout for how to make simple meals more enticing. I happened to come across a photo of Indian-style tacos, but without a recipe, and this inspired me to come up with my own. One day, I had some leftover roti dough, and had the brainwave of putting them to use in this way. The soft taco shells were therefore made by hand, and the entire recipe was made from scratch.

If you think about it, there are already plenty of versions of Indian tacos out there. The kati rolls that are a very popular form of street food fit the bill. They’re perfect for eating on the go, and fit easily into office and school lunch packs. While those are rolled, these tacos are open-faced. I’ve chosen to fill them with two Gujarati staples: potato sabzi, and a salad called kachumber. Where Mexican tacos use red bean paste, I’ve opted for a sweet mango pickle. The overall effect is a fun, international twist on simple Indian cooking.

This is a recipe that lends itself to variety. Replace the pickle with another that you prefer. You may want a spicy or tangy one, if you don’t have a sweet tooth. Substitute the potatoes for a different filling of your choice. Make a Jain version without potatoes or onions. Eliminate the Greek yoghurt dressing and make it vegan. Simply consider the recipe below as a base for your own versatile experiments.

I’ll let you in on a secret… We have a Mexican dinner night every week at home, with crispy tacos and other dishes that veer towards the slightly more authentic (although, as I explained in my Buddha bowl series, authenticity isn’t what I aspire to as much as sheer enjoyment is). I thought that this soft shell version would be a great way to serve a traditional Gujarati meal without anyone thinking that it’s boring. It’s so very delicious no matter if you eat it in a taco or a thali, but the appeal of food so often comes down to presentation. This is why, in addition to the plain rotis and the yellow theplas, I also tried out a roti made with spinach purée for an attractive green appearance. We all need a burst of colour now and then to get us going, and for me, cooking has always been something that fulfills this need – beautifully!

Indian Tacos

(Yield: 6-8 tacos)

 

Taco Shell

Theplas or rotis (recipes here)

Pickle of your choice (I like to use a sweet grated mango pickle), or a sauce of your choice

 

Potato filling

200 grams boiled potatoes

3 tablespoons oil

3-4 cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons finely chopped onions

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 finely chopped green chilli

Salt to taste

 

Kachumber

¾ cup finely chopped onions

1 cup finely chopped tomatoes

1 cup finely chopped cucumber

2 tablespoons finely cut coriander leaves

1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 finely chopped green chilli

Salt to taste

 

Greek yoghurt

1 cup yoghurt

2 cloves finely crushed garlic

6-8 finely cut mint leaves

Salt to taste

 

Paneer

½ cup grated paneer

 

Mash the boiled potatoes coarsely with your hand while they are still warm.

Heat a pan and add the oil. Once the oil is heated, add the cumin seeds. Allow them to splutter. Then, add the garlic and the potatoes. Allow the potatoes to become crisp, then add the onions. Add the remaining spices and stir well. Allow to sauté and turn golden slightly. Remove from the flame and set aside.

As for the kachumber, simply put the ingredients together in a bowl and set them aside.

Then, whisk the ingredients of the Greek yogurt together until they are blended well.

To assemble the Indian tacos, place each soft roti or thepla in a taco holder. Use the recipes here, and just add some puréed spinach to the dough if you’d like to make the green ones in my photographs.

Spread a layer of the pickle or sauce of your choice onto the Indian taco shell. Then add a tablespoon or so of potatoes. Top this with the kachumber and the Greek yoghurt dressing. Add a squeeze of lime if you like, then sprinkle the grated paneer on top. Finally, a garnish of coriander leaves will finish the dish off perfectly.

These Indian tacos are a great way to pep things up a bit and get the family to eat more, even though each of the individual components is part of a fairly typical and simple Gujarati meal! It’s all about the presentation, and the taco style makes everything all the more attractive and adds a sense of novelty to the meal. I particularly like to make them in smaller sizes because there’s an irresistibility quotient to them, just like with cupcakes, and no one can stop at just one or two!

View Post
By
Recipes

Recipe: Garlicky Goodness – Asian-Style Buddha Bowl

By

Having travelled through the tastebuds from right here in South India to Mexico and the Middle East and North Africa, the internationally-inspired Buddha bowl series on this blog arrives at its final destination: back on this continent. As I’ve said earlier, every one of these dishes qualifies as fusion cuisine, a tribute influenced by foreign flavours but by no means authentic. The same goes for this delicious, garlic-infused bowl of goodness, reminiscent of cooking from East Asia.

Indians have been very fond of Asian cuisines for the longest time, and what we eat here is really its own sub-cuisine, commonly known as Indo-Chinese food. While I’ve loved ordering these dishes while dining out, I had always been under the impression that Asian cooking involved too many ingredients or prep and that it somehow wouldn’t work for me. All this changed with the lockdown, which has had my daughter living here with us for the past few months. It’s a joy to have her safely here, rather than alone in Mumbai during the pandemic, and what she’s brought along with her is her love for Asian-inspired recipes. They are her own cooking go-to. Somehow, these dishes seem to come together rather naturally for her, and they taste fabulous. Due to her influence, I’ve been leaning towards (and learning how to make) this cuisine more and more, and enjoying the homemade versions, which tend to be healthier.

Fortunately for us, the ingredients are easily available and fresh. The recipes my daughter and I make together are all vegetarian or vegan, which suits us both. We have lunch together daily, and it’s wonderful to share dishes that I’d always only associated with the restaurant experience. I belong to a generation for whom Indo-Chinese food usually had something to do with a social or celebratory occasion, as I described here, so some of those special memories are also evoked at home now too. Nowadays, due to the large expat population in Chennai, we are lucky to also have a proliferation of Korean and Japanese restaurants, giving diners lots more wonderful variety when it comes to international food. My Asian-influenced and daughter-inspired Buddha bowl below, however, takes its cues from the Indo-Chinese restaurants that I was first exposed to. As a relative newbie to recipes like this one, I can assure you that this one is so easy and so tasty to make that you’ll be whipping it up in no time too!

Asian-Style Buddha Bowl

(Serves 2)

Garlic Rice

2 cups cooked rice

2 tablespoons finely sliced spring onions

2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic

1 tablespoon sesame oil

½ tablespoon light soy sauce

Salt to taste

Garlic Bok Choy

1 tablespoon crushed peanuts

½ tablespoon sesame oil

1 bunch cleaned and dried bok choy

½ tablespoon sliced garlic

½ teaspoon grated ginger

2-3 finely cut shallots

¼ teaspoon honey

Salt to taste

A pinch of chili flakes

A dash of lemon

Tofu

6 – 8 slices tofu

1½ tablespoons light soy sauce

1 tablespoon hot water

A pinch of sesame seeds

¼ teaspoon honey

¼ teaspoon sesame oil

Broccoli

1 cup sliced broccoli

Salt to taste

Garnish

Cilantro (finely chopped)

Spring onions (finely chopped)

Chili flakes

 

As with all Buddha bowls, each component must be made separately and brought together only when you are ready to serve the meal. Begin by preparing the garlic rice. In a pan, heat the oil. Add the garlic and allow it to sauté until it is golden and aromatic. Now, add the rice. Stir. Add the salt, soy sauce and spring onions. Mix well and set aside.

Then, prepare the garlic bok choy. Heat the oil in a pan. Once it is hot, add the garlic, ginger and peanuts. Stir them together. Now, add the bok choy and the honey, allowing the flavours in the pan to coat the leaves well. Sprinkle salt, add the dash of lemon and stir. Set aside.

I prefer the leaves to be a bit raw and crunchy. However, if you like them cooked well and wilted you may make them this way. You may also replace the peanuts with cashew nuts. If you have a nut intolerance, you can avoid the nuts altogether.

To prepare the tofu, first stir all the ingredients except the tofu together in a cup to make a sauce. Set this aside. Now, sauté the tofu lightly in oil.

To prepare the broccoli, drop the sliced vegetable in hot water for a few minutes. If you prefer to, you may sauté it next, or leave it as is. Remove and sprinkle with some salt.

Start assembling the bowl by plating the rice, followed by the boy choy and the broccoli. Finish these off by adding the tofu, which you can top with a teaspoon of the prepared sauce. Place the remaining sauce near the bowl to use as a dip for the tofu and even for the vegetables, if you like them crunchy like I do.

Before serving, garnish the bowl with the cilantro, spring onions and red chilli flakes. As I said right at the start of this series, a beautiful bowl allows the eyes to feast first, and I encourage you to pick one out that elevates your experience of the meal.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these Buddha bowl recipes, which pay tribute to different cuisines that I have loved. For other meal-in-a-bowl dishes, do click on the link and see some of the recipes I’ve shared over the years that fit the bill. Some of my favourites include two Indian classics, the dal dhokli and khatta mung, as well as another Asian-style dish, a stir-fry. I hope you’ll check them out!

View Post
By
Recipes

Recipe: The “Shah-shouka” – Middle Eastern/North African Buddha Bowl

By

Ever since the lockdown began several months ago, I have been coming up with different ways to keep our meals at home interesting, since we cannot dine out. This has meant celebrations in our own garden, as well as creating new trends to look forward to. This Sunday breakfast bowl is one of them.

Our Sunday brunches contain lots of variety to suit everyone’s tastes – my son always wants waffles or pancakes, others have a craving for avocado toast, and so on. I found that the best way to get everyone to try out different components of the spread I wind up serving is to make a brunch bowl, with a little of everything. I strike a deal with my kids: not only do they eat the sweet waffles, but they also get some protein from eggs, plus a boost of avocado.

The star of our meal is the shakshouka, an egg-based dish from the Middle East and North Africa, which I personally encountered in Turkey first. Continuing the Buddha bowl series (previous instalments here and here, and more to come), it’s one of the items from our Sunday spread that everyone in the family agrees on, and wants second helpings of. It’s so popular at home that we call it the “Shah-shouka”.

As I always say with fusion food, we can only make interpretations. My “Shah-shouka” is truly my own, rich with the flavours and style that are unique to my kitchen, just as yours will be your own too. The best part of this for me is that it’s one of the many dishes that gets a dollop of my homemade all-purpose tomato puree, which I also use in my Mexican-influenced Buddha bowl. It’s amazing how versatile it is and how it goes into everything. My version of this dish is Indianised, of course, along with certain ingredients like olive oil that I just have a preference for. You could use rosemary or thyme instead of cumin, if that’s your taste, and make your own interpretation.

If you don’t eat eggs, you can turn this dish into one that is not just vegetarian but vegan, simply by substituting them for tofu slices. They will give you the same protein quotient that eggs do. There’s always a simple solution to everything when it comes to improvising in the kitchen.

“Shah”-shouka

(Serves 2)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups seeded and diced colourful bell peppers

2-3 spring onions

3-4 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons cilantro

2 tablespoons parsley

1 cup boiled potatoes

½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder

½ teaspoon paprika (adjust to your taste)

2 tablespoons re:store tomato purée

4 eggs

1 tablespoon feta cheese

Salt to taste

Slices of sourdough and avocados while serving

Heat the oil over a cast iron skillet. Add the onions, garlic, bell peppers and potatoes. Stir on a high flame until they are brown. This will take about 5 minutes.

Reduce the heat and add the spices. Once they have come together, add the tomato purée.

Make sure that all the vegetables are well-coated with the purée and the spices.

Once the mixture is hot, make 4 indentations and pour the eggs into each of them. Allow the eggs to cook to your liking, and season them with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the cilantro and crumble the feta cheese over everything. You may add some cherry tomatoes if you’d like the dish to look dramatic.

Here at home, we serve our “Shah-shouka” with the works: sourdough slices, waffles and lots of fresh avocados. Adding these sides to our individual servings indeed turns this egg dish into a Buddha bowl. This hearty and filling dish is a great way to relax over a meal as a family. I hope you’ll make this a part of your brunch this weekend, too. The portions above serve two, but a larger pan and doubled ingredients will let you serve four. However you choose to have it, tell me how you like your shakshouka. Do stay tuned for another meal-in-a-bowl soon, from yet another part of the world.

View Post
By
Recipes

Recipe: Travelling Through Food – Mexican-Influenced Buddha Bowl

By

As promised, the Buddha bowl series now goes international, after the comfortingly familiar South Indian Buddha bowl. This is a Mexican-influenced Buddha bowl, and I’m making sure that you notice that I emphasise the word influenced.  My family enjoys Mexican-style cuisine very much, and I always end up making the more popular dishes, such as tacos, salsa, nachos and even my vegan take on chili, which you may remember from awhile back (this is a vegan recipe too). But over the years, whenever Mexican friends have visited my home, as much as they relish the meals I put together for them, they also tease me by saying that my style is Indian-Mexican, not authentic. I’m proud of this though. To me, fusion cuisine is all about feeling inspired and bringing different worlds together.

I’ve only spent one night in Mexico, en route to Cuba several years ago. That night, my family and I enjoyed dinner at a really nice restaurant, where we ordered a delicacy featuring black ants as a key ingredient. While I didn’t have a bite, my kids found the dish crunchy and tangy and very exciting. What to us was an adventurous dish was just local cuisine in another part of the world. Most of the Mexican food we had tried before was in the USA, and that too must have been one degree removed from authenticity. So to return to today’s Buddha bowl, let’s just say that it has a hint of Mexico, my culinary interpretation.

I often make this Mexican-influenced recipe for lunch, and the current abundance of avocados on the market is all the more reason to do so. These come from Karnataka, where the climate is conducive for their growth. Perhaps it’s because of my Macrobiotics background, but I feel that when all the ingredients in a dish are locally sourced, they tend to go together better. Aside from the fruit, the bowl contains cilantro rice, beans, vegetables and two types of salsa.

I was thinking about the term “Buddha bowl”, and although I know it’s a recently coined term, I believe I can imagine the thought process behind it. Could it be that it was because the Buddha carried a bowl for alms, and as he went from home to home, always received a motley combination of foods, just like the different components of this modern dish?

Carrying a bowl to seek food alms also exists in the Jain community, which many members of my family belong to. My sister, who lives in Mumbai, frequently has saintly women and men come to her home. They carry a bowl, called “patra”, and are supposed to graciously accept whatever is offered to them, although they can request a preferred quantity so that there is no wastage. The alms they receive are called “bhiksha”. Their arrival is considered a blessing, and whatever has been cooked at home that day will be shared with the monks, who are known as “Mahasatiji”. In the Stanakvasi sect of the Jain Shwetambari tradition, there is no idol worship, so the preaching of these monks is sacred and so is their presence. Whenever a Mahasatiji has come by while I’ve visited my sister, I’ve noticed that it feels like a special occasion. There is some protocol involved: the person offering alms needs to have bathed, there is some chanting, and then the Mahasatiji will bless the home before moving on to the next one, where the next person offering alms will look into the bowl and determine what to offer. If my sister had offered roti, for example, they will ensure they offer something that goes with it.

The Mahasatijis also ask for a teaspoon of chickpea flour, which they use to dry wash their patras. They won’t even waste this, as they will let this dry and eat it as well. They do not use soap due to the chemicals, and refrain from electricity too, so they take the stairs up six floors to my sister’s house. The tradition has many principles based on nature and doing no harm.

The patras themselves are made of natural wood, with lacquer, and I have seen them being sold as antiques as well. Perhaps I noticed this because I am always looking for interesting crockery and props for my photoshoots. What kind of vessels do you serve your Buddha bowls in? I’d love to know, as you try out more of this series.

Mexican-Influenced Buddha Bowl

(Serves 2)

 

Beans

½ cup beans (soaked overnight)

2 tablespoons tomato purée (find my recipe here)

Salt to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon chipotle cooking paste

 

Tomato salsa

2 tomatoes

Salt to taste

3 slices jalapeño

1 tablespoon cilantro

1 tablespoon finely chopped onion

1 tablespoon olive oil

 

Pineapple salsa

2 cups finely chopped pineapple

2 tablespoons finely cut jalapeño

2 tablespoons cilantro

2 tablespoons finely cut onion

Salt to taste

Spicy red sauce

 

Cilantro Rice

1½ cups cooked rice

1 tablespoon oil

¼ cup finely cut cilantro

½ lemon

2 slices jalapeños

Salt to taste

 

Vegetables

2 cups sliced bell peppers

1 cup whole corn

1 teaspoon oil

Salt to taste

Pinch pepper

 

Topping

1 avocado

Salt to taste

Olive oil to drizzle

A squeeze of lemon

Prepare each component, and keep them separate until you are ready to assemble and serve the bowl. Here is the method for the beans. First, pressure cook the beans in water. In a pan, add the oil. Now, add the purée, chipotle paste and salt. I used my fabulous all-purpose tomato puree, which you will surely find convenient to have on hand for many recipes too. Stir. Finally, add the beans. In order to make it in a slightly more gravy style, I added some of the water that I had kept aside.

Next, here are the methods for the two salsas. For the tomato salsa, begin by roasting the tomatoes directly in a low flame until the skins are charred. Peel the charred skins and chop finely. Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl. Mix well and refrigerate until use. For the pineapple salsa, simply combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Refrigerate until use as well.

Now, onto the cilantro rice. In a pan, sauté the rice in oil. Add all the other ingredients and stir on high until it all comes together. You can replace the rice with any grain of your choice.

The vegetables should be sautéed in oil on a pan, and seasoned with salt and pepper as you stir.

Assemble the different components in two medium-sized bowls and add the toppings. Make sure you slice the avocado just before serving, or it will lose colour. Remember what I said in the previous Buddha bowl post about the aesthetics of this serving style and feasting with the eyes first. This dish is best enjoyed warm. You may wish to sprinkle some crushed nacho chips on top for texture too, and I think my kids wouldn’t mind some authentic, crunchy black ants either, if we could find that recipe! As you can see, I’ve also added a bit of green salad on top, as I do love my veggies.

I mentioned earlier that there are avocados galore on the market now, so be sure to come back for the next post, where they will be a starring ingredient…

View Post
By
Recipes

Recipe: Easy As “AB… Z” – Simple Zucchini Soup

By

The first time that I tasted this sublime soup was when I was visiting a dear friend who was unwell at home. Valli Subbiah is an amazing person with an exceptional gift with kids, and even though she was feeling poorly, her hospitality was as gracious as ever. She offered us this simple, flavourful zucchini soup in mugs. At her place, what was served was more of a hot beverage than a soup, but I made it in a thicker consistency when I tried replicating it at home. Valli was sweet enough to share the recipe with me, and we are both happy to share it with you today.

I’m not a great fan of zucchini, so the fact that this dish captured my heart says a lot about how tasty it is. Since having this soup, I’ve been reading up about the vegetable (well, technically it’s a fruit – did you know?) and am delighted to have found a way to consume something that’s so good for us. It is excellent in supporting or easing menopause and post-menopausal health concerns, and is rich in fibre, folate, Vitamin C and a host of other nutrients.

Zucchini is native to South America, which naturally meant that European colonials began to export and cultivate it too. It’s a late addition to Indian markets, but it’s well-suited to our climes and has a fast growing period, which has made it become popular on our menus over the last decade. I certainly never had it while growing up, and am glad it’s so easily available now. Its novelty to us is revealed in the fact that we don’t have names for it in our own languages. If we are non-English speakers, we just call it “jukini” or “jugni”, in our Indian accents!

Despite the main ingredient being of foreign origin, the most interesting part of this recipe is the distinctly South Indian twist. I love the kick that curry masala gives this soup. It seasons the dish without overpowering the taste of the zucchini. I like dishes which can be subtly enhanced in this way, while retaining the basic flavours of ingredients. If you’re a fan of fusion cuisine, some of my other recipes in this category are here.

There are a few types of zucchinis available in Indian markets, and certainly even more abroad. I used the green one and decided to leave the skin on as it was very thin, and I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that it’s also good for you. The bitterness of vegetable skins is why people usually discard them, but it’s often the case that nutrients may be packed within. Besides which, leaving the skin on meant that the colour of my soup really popped. You know how I always say that food must please the eye first, which is why attractive plating is so important when you serve a meal.

The aesthetics are also important to me as a photographer. Most of you know that the dark and moody tones of the Dutch masters are my inspiration, and I try to replicate the visual effect of their paintings through my own Indian still life and culinary images. However, while doing the photoshoots for this recipe (yup, I did a few – I have fun playing with different looks and pursuing the perfect one), I decided to step out of my comfort zone and challenge myself by making white the key note. I was aiming to capture summer’s brightness in these images, and I enjoyed the result, even though deep, sombre tones will always be my big love. I’m curious to know what you think of this style. I’m always excited about new discoveries both in the kitchen at re:store and behind the camera at Nandi Shah Photography.

It’s birthday month right now at our household, with both my husband and I being June-born. But I’m off sugar for three weeks, and after the cake binge we had on this blog (therefore, at home as well!) recently, I wanted to think up something fun but healthy to share to celebrate. I’d never have imagined that zucchinis would be a part of it, but here we are. This surprisingly simply and surprisingly mood-uplifting zucchini soup really does make me feel like raising a mug or a bowl in a toast!

 

 

Zucchini Soup

(Yield: 2 servings)

 

200 grams chopped zucchini

30 grams shallots

2 – 3 cups hot water

Salt to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ teaspoon curry masala

 

Sauté the shallots in olive oil. Then, add the chopped zucchini and stir for a bit.

Next, add two cups of hot water and cover the pan with a lid. If you want the soup to be a little thin, or want to serve it as a beverage, use the third cup of water as well. As you can see from the photos, I personally prefer it thicker. Allow the vegetables to cook until they are tender.

Finally, add the curry masala and turn off the flame. Allow to cool just a little and blend. Serve the soup while it’s still warm.

Now that I’ve been swayed by the charms of the zucchini, I’m curious about other ways in which I might enjoy preparing it. I’ve heard that zucchini flower fritters are a fun snack, and that the flowers themselves are quite pretty, with yellow petals that brighten the plate. I haven’t seen them outside of photographs, but I’m certainly intrigued about getting my hands on some – both for the taste, and for the look! Another simple way to use the vegetable/fruit is to slice it up, roast it with a drizzle of olive oil, and serve it with a dip. A slightly more adventurous idea, but which is actually quite easy in preparation, would be zoodles. Made with a spiraliser and eaten either raw or cooked, zoodles are an ideal alternative to pasta for those who are on gluten-free diets. Do you have more ways to incorporate zucchini into your meals? Let’s chat in the comments.

I hope you’ll enjoy this simple and wonderfully spiced zucchini soup, and that it will taste just as extraordinary to you as it did to me the first time I had it at my friend Valli’s house. That day, as we sat around exchanging stories and sipping at this deliciousness, we all felt a little better about everything. Some food items and some friends just have that effect, don’t they? I know how important it is to bring comforting things into our lives at this time, and I hope that this recipe will be one of them. May good health return to us all on the planet, and with it, may we cherish our diversity and honour our oneness.

View Post
By
Recipes

Recipe: Making The Most Of Mangoes 3 – Mango Osaman

By

Osaman is a kind of thin broth made in Gujarati kitchens. It’s rather similar to rasam, although certain ingredients like tamarind are eliminated whereas other ingredients like jaggery are used. As I’ve said numerous times in other posts, every community and region in India will have its own variations on certain staples: rices, curries, dals and so on. With it being mango season here – in the country as well as on this blog! – this ripe mango rasam I shared a couple of years back was on my mind. That was when an idea struck: why not make the traditional osaman I had grown up with, but with a luscious, fruity twist?

Osaman is essentially made using the water that dal is boiled in, and served alongside the same dal in a meal. Inspired partly by mango rasam and partly by the Gujarati curry known as fajeto (which is similar to Tamil cuisine’s morkuzhambu), I blended some ripe mango into an osaman as a culinary experiment. The result was something delightful, and I’m excited to share it with you today. This mango osaman is my own recipe, bringing together various comforting influences into a single dish.

Despite being popular in Gujarati homes in the summer, the yoghurt-based fajeto is a heavier dish, and is not among my family’s favourites. They’ve been getting their dairy intake from this lovely lassi anyway, so this osaman was the perfect substitute, allowing me to bring mangoes into our lunch preparations in a new way as well. It’s been much appreciated, and I’m sure it will become a part of our regular meals over many mango seasons to come.

Ripe Mango Osaman

(Yield: Approximately 5 cups)

 

3½ cups water

1 cup ripe mango pulp

½ cup boiled toor dal

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt to taste

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

½ teaspoon red chilli powder

2 teaspoons jaggery

2 teaspoons ghee

½ teaspoon mustard seeds

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon grated ginger

2 dry red chilies

A handful of finely cut coriander leaves

In a pot, add the dal, mango pulp and water. Mix well, using a hand blender.

Add the salt, cumin powder, coriander powder, jaggery, turmeric powder and grated ginger to the pot. Allow to boil for about five minutes so that the flavours come together nicely.

In a small pot, prepare the tadka (seasoning). Add ghee. Once it’s hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dry red chillies. As soon as they begin spluttering, add the red chilli powder and immediately pour it over the hot osaman.

Squeeze some lemon juice over it, and garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Just like rasam, this ripe mango osaman works beautifully both as a warm beverage and as an accompaniment to rice. I hope you’ll enjoy this Gujarati-Tamil fusion dish of mine. I’m simply thrilled to have one more recipe to make the most of my mango madness with!

 

View Post
By
Load More