Someone said the other day that preserved lemons were out of fashion. They might be, but not in my kitchen. It is harder to find really good ones, tho, so it is a boon to make your own.
Some dishes need a tangy dressing – salads appreciate it, and Brussels Sprouts really pick themselves up when they come within cooee of a tangy dressing.
We roast Brussels Sprouts and serve with a dressing with preserved lemons and spring onions. If it is the season, we toss in cumquat juice and peel. This salad is AMAZING.
Another wonderful dish from #PlantBasedIndia. No pic, unfortunately - I am cooking later and it is too dark and too hurried for pics.
So Marcha nu Shak, Capsicums in a peanut-sesame-chickpea crumble. Oh my! First a mix of well-crushed peanuts, whole sesame seeds and chickpea flour is toasted till darken. Then bite-sized capsicum pieces are sauteed until soft and browning. Finally spices and the peanut mixture is added with a little water so that it clumps and becomes like a crumble.
Today I have a variation on sautéed or stir fried okra for you. It is a dish heavy with coriander leaves that lightens the deep flavours of onion, ginger and garlic. It is delicious – something that can accompany other Indian dishes, or can be eaten as a delicious mid-afternoon snack.
Rasam – I cannot say enough about this wonderful Tamil dish that wakens the digestive system and enlivens the palate. We have quite a number of different recipes. Today’s pic is one that includes some toor dal, is flavoured with tomato and uses lemon as its tart/sour flavour.
The fennel and white bean salad is not really Indian, despite coming from #PlantBasedIndia cookbook. 2 Indian spices don't make it Indian in my reckoning.
The original recipe uses oranges and grapefruit, but these aren't ripe enough yet, so I used what I could from the garden and pantry to layer citrusy flavours. Cumquats, lime juice, makrut lime zest, powdered dried oranges, powdered nasturtium powder and an orange-herb powder from dehydrated oranges. (Powders all from the garden produce.) Also added garden herbs and herb flowers.
The Shahi Gobi - royal cauliflower in a rich tomato base - was also delicious, although the pic in the book is quite different.
Roasted cauli is mixed with a spicy tomato-onion base, some more spices and cashew-almond cream that has saffron and rosewater in it. More of the cream over the top and some herbs.
and instead of the capsicum dish I made rasam with the horse gram I sprouted overnight. The sprouts are cooked first (best to cook horse gram sprouts), and I used the #InstantPot for that. Then most are blended with spices to make a paste. Than they are all cooked together with other spices, tamarind, curry leaves etc. Horse gram makes dark dark coloured dishes. Very earthy in tasted. Delicious. Very healthy.
We love our salads and often they are made using whatever is on the kitchen bench. Here it was snake beans (simmered till tender), quarter of a fennel bulb, a couple of radishes, quarter of an onion, fresh dill, some daikon radish shaved thinly, and 4 or 5 spring onions. They are scattered with nigella seeds.
At these times we like to add a delicious dressing. Once you have a few dressing recipes under your belt they can be thrown together very quickly. This one is a yoghurt based dressing that is gorgeous for salads like this. It can be spread over the vegetables, or the veg can be dipped into the dressing.
I adore dishes that can be made in 10 mins or under. This is an easy pasta dish – delicious – that is the perfect week night dish. It is great for lunches too, if you are at home. Put the pasta on to cook, dice the avocado, make a herb-garlic oil, mix all together and serve.
I am not much of a breakfast eater, and in general prefer the savoury options common in Northern and Eastern Europe, and those of India and S.E. Asia, to the sweet and sickly options of the West English speaking countries. Don’t get me wrong, I love a true French croissant with jam, and sometimes pancakes with honey (or sugar and lemon juice). I even have a large container full of my overnight oats mix on standby for mornings when I am super hungry as there is no other cereal in the house. But mostly we either skip the morning meal or prefer something more savoury. Even the overnight oats is unsweetened beyond the dried fruit and dried citrus that it contains.
Breakfast Rice and Raisin Porridge
This breakfast, however, is a little sweet – it has raisins in it – but is rice based, so that is a plus. It is for the days that I do crave some sweetness. Rice is ground to a coarse mix then cooked with the dried fruit. Cinnamon is added to bring a warm sweetness to the dish. You can sweeten it more with your sweetener of choice – I’ve always loved Golden Syrup. It is also great with spiced glazed apples or poached oranges and vanilla ricotta.
Rice porridge is mostly made for breakfast but in this house, it can be eaten at any time of the day. It is a great Winter dessert when your cupboards are bare. Rice and raisins – there isn’t anything more simple. Top with cream and fruit.
This dish can also be made savoury – omit the raisins and cook with Indian spices. Gorgeous. Use spices that you might use for Upma. Top with cashew nuts sauteed in ghee.