Baingan Dal (Charred Eggplant with Lentils)

I will not talk about isolation. I will not talk about isolation. I will not talk about isolation. I will not talk about isolation. I will not talk about isolation.

Dang it, I did. 

And it's all because of them lentils. Other people hoard toilet paper. Apparently, I hoard lentils. It's the Indian in me. If everything else fails, there is always rice and dal. So it is a good thing that the family likes dal, because lately it's been dal with everything. 

I never really had dal when I was growing up, per se. We tended to have the much lighter version of lentils, a soupy concoction called 'saar', which was a much tangier, watery version of the thick lentil dal that was usual in the North of India. It was either saar or rasam, which was a much spicier and brothier version that was traditional to Tamil Nadu and the South Eastern coast of India. 

My taste for thick, creamy masala dal developed from my university days in Delhi, where a version was served with every meal in the hostel mess, as well as from my dad, who preferred this version from his army days. He described those days with a hint of nostalgia - the terribly cold nights when they staggered into camps at the very end (dad was an electrician in the army), carrying their heavy packs, huddled under thin blankets that barely kept out the biting mountain cold, the hard, snowy ground  under which they made camp, the tents that did nothing to shield them from the cutting wind, the army days were not a good memory for my father - but he did describe the dal, straight from steaming cauldrons, eaten with rotis, a taste my dad has kept to this day.

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Sour Evans Cherry Jam and 'The Canning Kitchen' FBC Blog Tour and Giveaway

There are times when I feel that just yesterday was the beginning of summer, and as I sit down to write this, we are almost in the middle of August. These precious, fleeting days of summer are almost at an end, and this year I took a break from blogging to work on a personal project that is close to my heart. I have also been cooking, and eating a lot, and one of the joys I have rediscovered is cooking just for the sake of cooking – not to photograph or write or think deeply about what I was making. I needed this break for many reasons, not least because I was also mentally and physically exhausted and not taking the time to recover my joy of living and just being.

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Is Local The New 'Sacred'?

Is local the new 'sacred'? This is the provocative question asked by sociologist Mervyn Horgan in his thoughtful analysis of the movement against development and to protect agricultural land in Nova Scotia. Horgan’s article focuses on the story of four farmers in rural Nova Scotia who submitted an application to rezone their land for commercial development. This led to an outcry – with the intention of keeping the farmland rural – led by the group, No Farms, No Food who worked collectively and overturned the rezoning of the land. Horgan argues that by invoking the ‘sacred’ aspect of local, No Farms, No Food successfully mounted a campaign that not just reverses political decisions, but also “turns the world around.”

A similar protest occurred in northeast Edmonton, when agricultural land was rezoned for low-density housing. In this case, however, the project went ahead. While sympathetic to the agricultural cause, the mayor of Edmonton did not, however, see the economics working out in favour of keeping the farmland intact. These articles spurred me to write this piece on local farmer John Schneider of Gold Forest Grains. John’s story is familiar – local, organic farmer tries to make a living by standing by his principles and hoping that we do the same.

There is no doubting that the words ‘local’ and ‘organic’ are trendy. But what does this mean for the people who farm organically? I wanted to talk to a person who has made being local and organic part of his life in an unassuming way – not because it is cool or popular or ‘what we should be doing’ – but because of his longstanding belief that we need to look after the land for future generations.

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Turkey Tom Yum Soup (Thai Hot and Sour Soup)

Oh this soup! This beautiful, bright, clean, fresh, spicy-hot, sour soup. Tom yum soup, or simply translated, hot and sour soup. When winter arrives - and mark my words, it's coming - this is the soup I turn to all the time. I first tasted this soup when I was living in Delhi, and a date took me to this place called Turquoise Cottage. I was fresh off the first-time-out-of-home boat, and the flavours of Thailand were a revelation to me. I was pretty addicted to Thai food from the get go, and  when I had the opportunity to backpack around South East Asia, my first stop was Thailand and it's fabulous street markets.

While this soup might seem pretty ubiquitous, with a version in every Thai place, for me this is the ultimate comfort food. And it's certainly addictive with its clear spicy soup broth and is also a great vehicle for a lot of proteins. The most popular version of this soup is tom yum goong, or with shrimp, but a lot of places serve it with other meats as well. When my brief from the Turkey Farmers of Canada arrived for this month, with it's request for soup, I knew immediately that this was the soup I was going to make, especially with the leaves floating down from the trees, that characteristic nip in the air and the birds flying south (take me with you, birds...)

The recipe for tom yum soup varies from family to family, and this is my version of it. The Thais are all about balancing flavours, and this soup is certainly a prime example. I start with a chicken or turkey stock, preferably unsalted. I then add the classic aromatics of Thai food, lemongrass, hot red bird's eye chillies, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, kaffir lime zest, lime juice and fish sauce. I let the aromatics infuse, after which I poached the turkey straight in the broth, to maximise its flavour. Once the turkey is cooked, and the broth strained, I add freshly shredded lime leaves, lemongrass hearts and shimeji mushrooms (my favourite kind, though you can substitute these with pretty much any other variety of mushrooms) and then it's all about balancing the soup the way you like it. You can stir in the chilli sauce for added heat and spice, and a pinch of palm sugar calms everything down beautifully.


The ingredients may feel like they are difficult to source, but any Asian grocery will have them, and I have also seen them in larger Superstores. A lot of these ingredients can be bought fresh, then frozen. The strained broth can also be frozen, just thaw, season and add your fresh ingredients for the perfect easy supper.

So what are you waiting for? Head on over to the Tasty Turkey website to download your recipe now.

Click for the recipe - Turkey Tom Yum Soup (Thai Hot and Sour Soup)

And as usual, if you have any questions, mosey on back and I'll be more than happy to answer them for you :) Enjoy!

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Moroccan Spiced Carrot and Coriander (Cilantro) Soup

 I hereby decree October as month-of-the-soup. Or at least, tear-my-hair-out-at-all-the -produce-landing-on-my-doorstep-and-winter-is-coming month. Okay, soup month it is. With the leaves turning and falling off, and the first frost already here, I've been airing out my sweaters and winter coat, and trying hard to find a hat to fit my large head. It's sad to see Kay's garden being bedded down for the winter, and to know that soon, the vibrant green lawn is going to covered under a blanket of that fluffy stuff. So in many ways, I've been frantically trying to hold on to the last few days of autumn and the waning daylight hours.

I've found that one of the best ways to preserve our harvest bounty is to soup it up. I've made jars and jars of salsa, tomato sauce, pickles, jams and preserves. So much so, that I've run out of jars and cupboard space, so my eyes fell on the freezer. I freeze a fair bit, mainly beets for soups later on, and butternut squashes, but this time round I decided that soup was where it was at.  

So I am all souped up. A delicious leek, fennel and potato soup,  sunchoke soup, lots of beet soup, my favourite curried butternut squash soup, and this yummy Moroccan spiced carrot soup - which means that my freezer is pretty full of these warming comfort foods to keep us going through winter. Let's just hope it's not a long one like last year!

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Mexican Style Jalapeño Pickles

One of the nicest things about summer in Edmonton is the abundance of produce that shows up every year. These gorgeous jalapeño peppers (along with more beans) literally showed up on my doorstep last week. These are Andrea's, and were kindly dropped off at my door, late at night, by another friend, Addie. Yes, we live exciting lives around here. 

I've been meaning to make jalapeño pickles forever, and I love small batch preserving. But for whatever reason, I just never found enough time, or the fresh peppers. When Andrea asked if I wanted some of her fresh ones, I leapt at the chance. Thanks to fresh carrots from my own garden, I finally got the opportunity to make these escabeche style pickles I've been craving for so long.

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Masala Pepper Mutton Chops

If there is one thing any blogger dreads, it's those two words - writer's block. I don't know if its post-holiday blues, but I've struggled to even sit in front of the computer, let alone process any pictures, or read or write. Most of the time its easier to pull the covers over my head and stay in bed. The smartphone doesn't help... it just means access to emails and papers, and harder to write on it, so its an easy way out... albeit one that doesn't help in the long term, as it merely enables the wallowing. And I can keep pretending that I am working, with the odd status update on Facebook, or a Twitter message... or an Instagram post. I am fooling no one though, because I am not actually writing.

It shouldn't be so hard. I assumed that when I got back from India, I'd be brimming over with ideas and that words would flow out of me in this easy, effortless stream. I assumed I'd be refreshed and head back with a clear head, with my life in order, with enthusiasm for writing up and testing all the recipes I brought back with me.

Instead, each day has been a drag. Its a struggle to get out of bed in the mornings. Only the fact that my kid needs to be packed off to school gets me up. Jet lag didn't help. I didn't have any on the way in to India, so I naively thought that I'd be fine getting back - I wasn't. It took me a week to get over it, and all I want to do is sleep, sleep and sleep some more.

How do I get over it?

Frankly, I don't know. I just don't. When words are your living, losing them creates a massive hole in your world. How I am going to patch it, I honestly don't know. What I am going to selfishly ask, is for your support, as I fight my way out of this. It feels like a fight, and I don't want to give it up. I love doing what I do, and I love my readers, and it feels like I am letting you down by not posting every week. I am sorry, and I am going to ask you to bear with me while I get my head straight and my inspiration, passion and drive back. I am reading and rereading this Food Bloggers of Canada post, and I am hoping that following its advice will bring me back, refreshed and ready to rock again.

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Easy Chicken Mughlai

  

India, a land of contrasts. Every time I think I have a handle on this extraordinary country, it throws me a curveball. From the first step off a long flight, the smell of wood smoke, chill and the hints of dust in the air... the cheerful faces of relatives, even at the unearthly hour of 3 AM...  the sparkling lights of Christmas time (any excuse for a holiday, here) and of course, the hot food at my aunts, that she prepared for me, even though she works full time.

I loved the feeling of being home with my aunt  Jessie. I've already spoken about my aunt, in this post here, but I have to reiterate, that she's an amazingly simple, elegant, down to earth person, who happens to be a super cook to boot. Lucky uncle and my cousin Jas.

The next morning brought back to me why I miss India so much. As Adz and I, bleary eyed, straggled our way downstairs - jet lagged and exhausted - the aroma of fresh, hot chai floated up and into our grateful insides. Along with sizzling, hot, buttered rotis and a crisp fried masala egg... well, to be honest, that's my idea of heaven. 

I've been documenting my everyday adventures here on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, so don't forget to head over and ogle the beauty of my chais and chapathis :)  

As it turned out, my aunt decided to take the day off, and along with another of my aunts, Aunt Justine and my cousin Jas, we decided to hang out in Bangalore, refreshing my memories of choking traffic and the sheer chaos of riding on roads without rules. I was mentally compiling a list of ten things about traffic and driving in India, and I will definitely share that with you all soon... trust me, it will make for exciting reading.

Meanwhile, when we got back from our meanderings, my aunt Jessie had been cooking all morning. On our way back from the airport, the driver of our car noticed that the vegetable trucks had just started unloading vendors loaded down with fresh greens and vegetables. A quick word to my uncle, and we stopped right there by the roadside, and off they went to grab some bargain fresh fenugreek, cilantro and spinach.

(Note: apparently, as the day gets on, prices go up significantly, so it does pay to be out at 4.30 AM)

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Indian Street Food - Vada Pav (Spicy Potato Patties in a Soft Roll) With Dry Garlic/ Chilli/ Coconut and Cilantro/ Mint Chutneys

Winter's here in earnest. Halloween was (thankfully) warm(ish), but come the first of November, the snow's started, and yesterday we had almost a foot of snow. Now I'll be the first to admit that winter is not my season... but then I am grateful that it didn't start early this year like last year, where it was so bitterly cold in October. Winter this year is also mitigated for me, as I count down the days when I am heading to India for Christmas with Adz. + 28 C has never sounded so good!

That said, I know I haven't posted for a few weeks here. For the first time in almost four years, I was really really sick. The flu's been around for a while, but I've never felt this sick in a long time. Its taken me almost two weeks to get back to normal, and I still have the odd twinge here and there along with a lingering tiredness which is incredibly frustrating. Add that, and a whole slew of other things, and its not been a great month one way or another. But thankfully, I am now feeling much better and normal service is resumed.

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'Pumpkin Pie' Ice Cream with Pecan Praline

While I really don't appreciate the onset of winter, I do love autumn. I love the colours, the brisk breezes, the crisp crackle of leaves underfoot, the dark hints of woodsmoke in the air, the abundance of fall produce and the comfort of walking into a warm, cosy house when your nose is really really cold. And if it is sunny and bright, which it tends to be here in Edmonton, then so much the better. The sky is always a bright blue, and the sunshine, while not the warmest, gives you a feeling of cheer and that everything is all right in the world.

I also love autumn cooking. I make spiced soups, hearty stews, baked casseroles, curries and cakes. And I must admit, typical fall holidays like Canadian Thanksgiving and Halloween are growing on me... the last one, thanks to one overexcited little kid and an equally overexcited big kid.

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Zucchini and Onion Bhajis (Indian Spiced Zucchini and Onion Fritters or Pakoras)

It's been a good season for zucchini. Then again, when is it not a good season for zucchini? This year, I thought I was prepared for them. Well, sort of prepared... I did not reckon for all the ones from the farms and neighbours coming in to me as well. Its like I was taken over by the giant zucchini monsters... and there are SO MANY of them... I even ran out of space to put them in. Aaargh... zucchini, help.

So they now live in a cooler somewhere in the kitchen and I try not to look too hard for them. I am going to have to sort them out soon enough, but for now, out of sight, out of mind.

But.



The one thing that I did do with my early ones was grate them all and pop them into the freezer. I was thinking about these Lemon Zucchini Cookies when I was doing that. But then I realised that they would work perfectly for these bhajis too. So now my zucchinis are doing a happy dance, because not only do they get made into cookies, but there's nothing better than hot, crispy zucchini onion bhajis with a steaming cup of chai on a cloudy, grey autumn morning.

I can live with that. Take that, Mr. Over-proliferating Zucchini.

These bhajis are an adaptation of my onion bhajis. The sliced onion adds a nice hint of sweetness to these delicately spiced morsels. I served them with a lemon cilantro mint chutney that cuts through the richness of these bhajis.

Recipe:
(Printable Recipe)

For the Zucchini and Onion Bhajis

2 medium zucchini, coarsely grated (around 750g total weight)
2 tablespoons kosher or coarse sea salt
1 medium onion, thinly sliced 
1 1/2 cups chickpea flour (gram flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon mild chilli powder (or 1/2 teaspoon hot cayenne pepper)
More salt to taste
1/4 cup water, if required
Unscented oil to deep fry (I used canola) 

Lemon Cilantro - Mint Chutney 

Large handful fresh cilantro
Large handful fresh mint
Juice of one large lemon + extra to taste
1/4 cup water (as required to blend)
Salt to taste

Method: 

Place the grated zucchini in a large bowl and sprinkle over the kosher salt. Stir well and leave for about an hour. Drain and rinse the zucchini well, squeeze out the excess water, then place in a bowl.

Add the onion, chickpea flour, baking soda, whole and ground cumin, coriander, chili powder and salt to taste.

Using your hands (beware, this is messy) or a spatula, mix everything together very well, until it comes together as a very thick batter. Add a splash of water too loosen the batter, if it feels too stiff.

Heat the oil in a deep pot to 350 F. Using a tablespoon measure, gently drop in small balls of the zucchini-onion bhaji batter into the hot oil. Fry, turning every so often for 4 - 5 minutes, or until the bhajis are golden brown and cooked through.

Lift the bhajis out, using a slotted spoon, and drain well on kitchen paper. Serve hot with the lemon-cilantro-mint chutney.

To make the chutney, blitz together all the ingredients until smooth, using just enough water to blend. Taste and season with more lemon juice and salt, if required. This chutney is quite fresh and tangy, so load up on the lemon juice, if you like it.

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Indian Classics - Paneer Muttar/ Matar (Indian Spiced Green Peas and Paneer Curry)

I have always wondered why some people like gardening more than others. What is it that makes people perfectly happy to grub around in the dirt, get excited when talking about the differences between sheep and cow manure, look anxiously at the black clouds, hoping against hope that hail won't wreck this season's vegetables, spend hours researching tomato plant rot, guard their trowels and tools jealously, and rarely want to go on vacation because the garden might suffer... 

Sounds familiar? These guys are the gardeners. I wrote a couple weeks ago about them in my post for the Canadian Food Experience Project. 

One of the reasons that Kay gardens is because his memories of his mother's garden. Every time he sees Adz picking and eating a pea pod, straight from the plant, he remembers his own days of eating sweet, fresh peas, straight from his mum's garden. And I have similar memories of eating produce from my mother's garden too, though, not peas. Okra and eggplants, perhaps.

But we did have a good harvest of peas this year, and I even managed to save some from Adz's grabby hands :)

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(Super Easy) Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream

I fell in love with making ice creams way back on one of my first trips to Canada. My father-in-law who is usually the inspiration for most of the ice creams on this blog, has a really old Donvier that he pulled out one year, and made an absolute smashing lime sorbet. Can you say hooked? Well, yeah. Hooked. 

Ever since then, one of my dreams on moving back to Canada has been to get my very own ice cream machine... and no sooner did I land in Edmonton, than I got myself my very own ice cream machine. And once I had it, I don't think I've ever bought ice cream again. Because, and you have to trust me on this one, there is nothing quite like homemade ice cream. Especially as a summer's hurrah!

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Grilled Padrón Peppers and Home Grown Heroes

'It all started with an eighty nine year old professor leaning on his shovel' - Maryanne. 

Heroes are very personal, when it comes to me. I have heroes, people I would go 'squeeeee' and faint if I met them, but they're not necessarily people I like to talk or write about... I am a little bit funny like that. I think even my husband would struggle to name a person who he considered my 'hero', both in the food world or otherwise, simply because I find it hard to articulate what it is about a person that I like and admire. Its easy enough to spout out names with the hopes that one or two 'click' but this was not what the challenge was all about for me. So, to be honest, I did think about maybe not taking part this time around. What changed my mind was that I had already missed one posting, as things were a bit manic in my world, and I didn't want to miss another one. Plus, as it is, I was already going to be late with this post too.

Once I took away the personal aspect of this topic, though, something did strike me. Who were the people, Canadian and otherwise, that I admired most when it comes to food, both the eating of and growing of it? Well, other than my mom and grandfather, who are kind of, not Canadian?

Well, those people who grow food. Not specifically farmers, though they are pretty admirable, but all those ordinary people who grow food in their back gardens. Not to blog, tweet or talk about it, but just for the sheer joy of watching things grow and sharing the bounties of harvest.

Well, I know people like that. And one of my favourite persons is the lovely Maryanne, who plants her own 'guerilla garden' as she likes to call it. This is community gardening, but not like we know it. This is just gardening, planting food for the fun of it, and for the pleasure that it brings.

I asked Maryanne how she got started with her 'guerilla garden', and she talked about how she had always wanted a garden while living in a condo. Amidst all this, she said she used to get together with a group, who worked in an set of offices, behind which was a patch of grass and hedges. The professor, in particular, kept mentioning how well tomatoes would do just up there, against the brickwork of the building. But, despite thinking about starting a garden there, she didn't particularly relish beginning the process. And then, fate took a turn, whereby part of the lawn was dug up for replacing pipes. Once that happened, the aforementioned eighty nine year old professor took it upon himself to hurry the process along, digging a giant trench for the tomatoes, and the rest, she says, is history. She recounts a funny story about the first garden year, where they decided to plant potatoes in straw bales... 'mouse heaven' says Maryanne. 'What were we thinking?' she recalls ruefully... thankfully, the lesson was learned, and there were no more mouse condos.

I found out about the garden from my husband, Kay, when we first moved to Edmonton and were living in a condo in Garneau. Kay lent a hand in getting the garden in shape one year, and we spent many days and evenings, just hanging about, sitting around a firepit and eating fresh, local produce that was all grown in the garden. It inspired a sense of camaraderie, that did a lot to ease my way into a new city and make new friends. 

The garden has been going along for a few years now. Maryanne points to a pair of scissors on a small table by the water hose. That pair of scissors is left there, so if anyone stumbles on the garden they are more than welcome to take a piece of it home... fancy some fresh, organic lettuce? Or some beans? Broccoli? Well, its all there to share. Its part of the magic of guerrilla gardening. Its what makes my food heroes special.

I am certainly not a gardener. That would be my husband, Kay, and my little girl Adz. As Adz poetically put it, 'dad is the grower, mum is the cooker'... gotcha in one. So I admire people that garden for the fun of it. They are my heroes. 

To celebrate home grown produce, I decided to share a simple recipe, but one that completely and utterly depends on the freshest produce. One of Kay's colleagues recently brought back Padrón pepper seeds, and Kay grew them in pots on the deck. We were lucky enough to get a whole bunch of peppers, and as we were told, all we did was douse them in some fresh olive oil, and grill them until the skins blistered. We then ate them, dunked in a titch of crystal, flaked sea salt, and all I can say is, this is what summer is all about. Sweet, salty heat, utterly moreish... so much so that Kay has now been told that there better be a lot more of these delicious little guys grown next summer. 

Apparently eating Padrón peppers has been likened to playing roulette. While the majority of the peppers are mild, with a light heat to them, 20% tend to be super hot. The only way to tell? Eat them. Now that sounds like my kind of roulette :) 

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Indian Classics - Pandi Curry (Coorg Style Dark, Rich Pork Curry)

Coorg, or the Kodagu district in Karnataka, is a beautiful little hill town on Eastern slopes of the Western Ghats. Its intense green hills are lush with coffee plantations and the fragrance of citrus and spice is one of its best known characteristics. Its hard not to be totally captivated and fascinated by this small, magical piece of India, and its also one of the country's best kept secrets.

Coorg is heavily reminiscent of my childhood. Growing up, I went to a private school, which also had a boarding school attached to it, run by nuns. The boarders were usually girls from Coorg, and two of my best friends were girls who hailed from this lovely place. I saw Coorg through their memories and descriptions, and when I went there to see for myself, I was not disappointed, it was a beautiful place, made even better by the wafts of fragrances that I spoke about.

The first time I ever went to Coorg was, weirdly, for a debating tour. A friend and I took thelate evening bus from Mangalore, and we reached the capital of Coorg, Madikeri (or Mercara) at 3 AM in the morning. And holy (word) was it ever cold there. Both my friend and I had no idea how cold it can get in Coorg, coming from hot and humid seaside Mangalore (that said, now that I have experienced the Edmonton winter, I laugh at our feebleness) The temperature was about 18 or 19 degrees, and we had no sweaters or blankets or anything remotely resembling warm clothes. We actually wrapped ourselves up in our Indian shawls, called dupattas, and huddled into a dingy bench in the bus station. As we'd reached there at a silly hour, there were no buses to get us anywhere to where we wanted, so we had to stay in that bus stop till almost six in the morning. Both my friend and I were so grateful when the chaiwallahs (or in Coorg's case, coffeewallahs, more on that in a bit) started their lilting tunes... we must have gone through gallons of hot, milky coffee to keep us warm. 

We finally managed to grab another bus at 6 AM, which took us to the college hosting the debate. I still vividly remember the beautiful morning mist that we drove through, and the dew still cold and wet on the coffee plants in the estates. Early morning students were already up and about, and we were soon fed and ready for the tournament (we won, in the end... made that journey worthwhile :)) We then spent the rest of the afternoon at another friend's place and we were taken on a tour of her coffee estate, before finally wending our way back home.

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Mangalorean Fried Prawns With Chilli and Vinegar (Sungtan Meeth Mirsang)

So the Yeggies came and went, and as I predicted, I didn't win :) But I did get the opportunity to chat about food with CTV's Morning Live with host, Stacey Brotzel. I haven't been on TV since my Masterchef days, so I hated how I looked and sounded, obviously. Of course, I then had to go and have a look at my old MC video and I was kind of shocked how much my accent had changed and how blimmin' young I looked in those videos. Anyway I'll let you be judge, as the video is over here. Just try not too laugh too hard, will you?

Meanwhile, in other news, Aditi has been getting all cheeky on me. Today, I had a ladybird fly into my hand. So I got all excited, and told Aditi, 'hey, look, a ladybird flew into my hand... I am going to be so lucky' At which point, she deigned to look up at me from her game, all bored, like, and went 'yeah mom, you are lucky. You have me'... ooooh, that li'l monster. If she didn't have her moments like the one below, she'd be sold to the gypsies in a second (kidding, of course, no one would pay anything for her, in fact they'd probably pay me to take her back, haha)

So what did she say that made me bawl? Well, she's been getting an allowance of a dollar every Friday, and she has been saving up hard for a backpack toy. Every week she counts her coins and decides how many more she needs for the toy.

So she comes up to me a few days ago and said, 'Mom, I've decided not to buy the toy after all'. So I said, 'Why not, Aditi?' She then says to me, 'Mom, cause next Sunday is Mother's Day and I have two more Fridays to go before that... and I want to spend all my coins buying you the best present in the world!' I was stunned and asked 'Did Dad tell you to do this?' and she was like 'No, I just decided this, and of course Dad will be taking me to get you a present, but I want to spend my own money and its going to be the best surprise you ever had'.

I think I already got the best present in the world!

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Quick Spiced Egg Curry

 

I had the funnniest conversation with one of Adz's classmates today.

Little B - Hello, are you Adz's Mommy?
Me - Why, yes, I am, love.
Little B - But, why are you brown?
Me - Sweetie, cause I was born in India, and we are brown skinned.
Little B (pointing to Adz) - But she's white.
Me - That's because her daddy is white.
At this point, Adz interjects - Little B... in the summer I go brown, just like my mommy... and in the winter I am white, like my daddy. I am multicoloured (I think she meant to say mixed race, but got confused)
Little B (also completely confused at this point) - Well... all my family are white and my mommy and daddy too. But not my grandma... she is pink!

I still haven't stopped laughing... and I really want to see B's grandma now :) Gotta love kids, they are just so innocent, aren't they?

Up until this point, I was having a bit of a difficult day. It was little things really, missing one bus, then the next one turns up late, which means you miss the next one, realising halfway through the journey that you'd forgotten the child's snack for school, then getting stuck in a long lineup at the grocery store, all the while panicking about being late... the list was endless. Typical Monday morning, actually. But the I had the conversation with Little B, and the laughter made it all better. Laughter has a funny way of doing that to you, actually, doesn't it? And kids too... they really have no filter :)

The recipe I am posting today is one of my standby favourites and never fails to make me happy too! I went back to my easiest curry, this delicious egg masala. This recipe started off as an inspiration from one of Madhur Jaffrey's cream sauces, but I have tinkered with it so much that I am going to claim it as my own (forgive me, queen of spices!)

It's a super quick dish to put together. I start with my rice, put the eggs on to boil, then whip up this sauce. By the time the eggs have been boiled and peeled, the sauce is ready and the rice is cooked. Honestly, Indian food doesn't get quicker than this. I like to use cream when I am feeling indulgent or am making it as a side dish for a party, but I use light coconut milk when I am making it at home. I leave that up to your preference. For me, this is one of the first dishes I learned to make when I was away from home, and its still one of my best. Easy and simple doesn't mean sacrificing flavour and this dish is ample proof of that. You can also amp up the spice by adding more cayenne or hot chilli powder, but I like this curry quite mild, as you can really taste the delicate nuances of the spices in it. If you're making it, I urge you to play with the spicing, and do come back and let me know how you liked it, and I do hope that you like it as much as my family does.

Even that rat of a child of mine, who can easily chow down spicy peanuts and crisps that make my eyes water, but whines at any hint of a curry... but that's just kids for you, sigh :)  

Recipe:
(Printable Recipe)

6 eggs, hardboiled
1 tablespoon unscented oil
1 small onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 inch piece of ginger, grated to a pulp
1 tablespoon ground coriander
½ tablespoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon hot cayenne pepper
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1 cup coffee cream (18%) cream or you can use light coconut milk
¼ cup hot water, if required
Salt to taste
Fresh chopped cilantro, to garnish
Rice or naan, to serve

Method:

Peel and halve the eggs.

Place the oil in a sauté pan on a medium heat, and add the finely diced onion. Fry for 5 – 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent and just beginning to brown.

Add the garlic and ginger and sauté for a minute, until the garlic is fragrant. Add the ground coriander, cumin, turmeric and cayenne and cook, stirring for an additional minute or two.

Add the crushed tomatoes. Cook for another 5 minutes, until the mixture begins to dry out a little. Season with a little salt.

Gently fold in the cream or coconut milk and bring the sauce up to a gentle simmer. If the sauce thickens too much, add a little hot water to thin it down.

Stir in the chopped cilantro, then adjust seasoning, adding a little more salt if required.

Lower the eggs into the curry. Reheat gently, and serve hot with rice or naan.

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Kerala Style Sweet and Spicy Prawn Fry

The original Malayali name for this dish is Eruvum Madhuravum Ulla Chemmeen Varathathu. I now challenge you to say that fast ten times :)

Malayalam is a pretty complicated language, and a lot of Kerala dishes have very complicated names. My favourite South Indian restaurant in Liverpool, Maharaja, had a delicious Kerala aubergine curry on the menu, one that Kay just adored, and it was called  Vazuthanangapal curry. Poor Kay always struggled to order it. Though he just told me that they've taken it off the menu now... perhaps no one ordered it because of its name! 

I loved growing up on the Indian coast. Fish days were always exciting, and dad would load up on fresh fish, crabs, clams and prawns straight off the dock. Mum would spend the afternoon cleaning the fish, deveining and portioning up prawns and crabs and on clam days we almost always had a delicious clam and dumpling curry or clams with coconut. I really miss the fish and seafood of my childhood, and now I am unfortunate enough to live in a landlocked province, I miss it even more. Ocasionally we are lucky enough to get fresh clams or fish, but I am almost always too impatient to make the slow curries of my childhood and I end up steaming and eating it in a hurry, which I guess is a real shame. 

That said, in India, we didn't normally experiment wildly with different dishes from various parts of the country. Indian cuisine is very regional, and its not often that home cooks venture out of their comfort zone. So most of the food we ate was very much traditional, and it was rare to get a taste of a different region, let alone different countries (maybe the odd Chinese food, but to be honest, the Chinese food we ate was as far away from traditional Chinese cuisine... as, well, the moon is from the earth? Hehe) It was only once I grew up and moved to university that I tried out European food, and I still recall my first taste of Italian food... which again, was very different from the traditional Italian food that I eventually ended up eating in Italy :) 

But mum was a school teacher in Kerala, also known as God's own country... so we did get some very Keralite food on ocasion. My paternal grandfather was also from Kerala, one of the older plantation owners there, but moved to Mangalore to be with my grandmother. Sadly many of his recipes are no longer with us, as no one thought to write them down thanks to the expectation that Indian recipes would always be passed down through the oral tradition... again, something that has now, sadly, been lost. But that something I am aiming to change. My notebook is now full of old Indian recipes that I hope that I will have the time to make and test soon. 

 

That said, this recipe comes from an excellent book that I was recently sent from India. On ocasion, I get my sister and mum to send me a care package, mainly general items from India that are not available here, like these coconut shell ladles in the pictures for this post, some lovely sandalwood soaps and such like... 

This time round I got them to send me a ton of older cookbooks, and my mum sent me this excellent book called The Essential Kerala Cookbook by Vijayan Kannampilly. I already own a few books in this collection, all published by Penguin India, and I've never had a dud recipe ever. Which is really saying something... I do adapt these recipes though, since they make no concession to the less spice tolerant palate, but on the whole I love making these dishes as my everyday meals for the family. 

The recipe for these sweet and spicy prawns jumped up out at me when I was reading through the book, and I almost could taste these just from the ingredients. Kannampilly calls this a Christian dish, and I agree, as I have had numerous variations of this dish in my own home. But as prawn dishes go, this is now up there for me as one of the favourites. Its almost too easy and unbelievably quick to prepare, usually taking me less than 20 minutes to make. I start my rice at the same time as the prawns, and when the rice is done, the prawns are sizzling. Add a light salad and that's supper sorted in less than 30 minutes. Now that's what I call a winner of a recipe. 

And the flavours? Well, let me put it this way... the first time I made this, my husband, him of the jaded-not-another-for-the-blog-recipe palate, went 'Wow!!! Mich, this is delicious... what on earth did you do to those prawns?'  So that's a success, I take it? 

The taste is delicious with complex flavours all melding into each other. Considering that this dish has only red chillies as the major spice, that's really saying something. But for me, this is the ultimate comfort food. Sweet, spicy, tangy and fresh, with the fragrance of curry leaves... its a dish that defines Kerala, and the beautiful coast I grew up on. And that's magical, indeed.

Recipe: 

(Printable Recipe) 

Serves 4 - 6 as a side dish 

Adapted from Vijayan Kannampilly's 'The Essential Kerala Cookbook' 

1 bag (400g) large frozen prawns, peeled, but ideally with the tails left on, thawed
2 tablespoons coconut oil (or any other neutral oil) + a little extra
1 large onion, finely diced
2 small tomatoes, finely diced
1 teaspoon sugar

Marinade:

1 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped
3 - 4 teaspoons red wine vinegar
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
Salt to taste

Spice paste:

5 long mild red chillies (or 1 tablespoon mild Kashmiri chilly powder, see spice paste instructions)
About ½ cup hot water
4 - 5 cloves of garlic, crushed

Garnish:

1 tablespoon coconut or neutral oil
10 - 15 curry leaves

Method:

Marinate the prawns – place the thawed, cleaned prawns in a bowl, and add the ginger, red wine vinegar, turmeric and about ½ teaspoon of salt (or to taste) Place in the fridge for at lease 1 hour.

Make the spice paste – soak the dried chillies in the hot water, topping up with a little extra, if required for about 5 - 10 minutes. Drain, reserving the water. Blend to a fine paste with the garlic cloves, adding about 2 tablespoons of the reserved chilli soaking water, or as required to make a loose spice paste. Keep aside. Or - place the mild Kashmiri chilli powder in a bowl, add the crushed garlic and water to make a spice paste. Reduce water to ¼ cup if making this version.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a heavy based pot, and add the marinated shrimp. Cook on a high heat, until the shrimp are just pink. Remove to a bowl.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in the same pan. Add the onions and tomatoes, and fry for 2 minutes.

Reduce the heat and add the spice paste to the pan, and fry for about 3 - 4 minutes, stirring constantly, and adding a little more oil, if required.

Stir in the prawns and fry together for another 2 - 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

Stir in the sugar, and adjust seasoning to your taste.

To make the garnish, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a small pan, and toss in the curry leaves. Sizzle for about 30 - 40 seconds, then pour over the whole thing into the prawn fry. Serve hot with rice.

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