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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'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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Sparkling Sweet and Spicy Pepper Jelly (

Preserving has never been a huge part of my everyday life, back in India, or even in England. I love my family's spicy pickles, or preserved lemons and limes, but other than that, I have never preserved or canned and it wasn't a technique I was comfortable with for a long time.

How things have changed...

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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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(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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Curried Parsnip Soup

A week or so ago, the temperatures really dropped in Edmonton. As I was walking to school with Aditi, all bundled up against the snow and wind, I said to her, well, Aditi, looks like winter's finally set in! Cue, wailing and nooooooo... but it's not even Halloween yet! Sorry kid, but Halloween's all well and good, but winter's here and this was one of the shortest autumns I've had so far. Now its time to pull out the giant winter coat, wear three layers of clothes, double up on the socks, look like weirdo in gigantic winter boots. Makes me feel like letting out a wail and a half too!

Of course, the fact that Halloween's around also means that poor mommy was out yesterday in a snow storm, trying to find a bloody ladybug costume for a pampered child 

(Just as an aside, do you know how hard it is to find a ladybug costume for a four year old? Its easier to give in and let her go as Tinkerbell or Cinderella instead... but way too many princesses in the world, thank you v. much! Argh! PS - I did find a costume in the end... even if when I got home my ears were all but fallen off because of said snowstorm... aaaarrgh, again! PPS - Here's a picture of said pampered child in her ladybug costume... it was worth all that frostbite) 

So of course, as soon as the weather turns miserable, all my root vegetables come out and the blender starts working overtime. And if I can add a shot of curry powder to the soup, well, all the better. In my humble opinion, there is no such thing as too much spice, is there?? 

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Indian Classics - Potato Pakoras (Potato Bhajias or Spiced Fritters)

Canadian Thanksgiving has just been, and what a lovely day we had. I certainly have a lot to be thankful for. My family, my friends, my wonderful husband and child, all the people I've met here in Edmonton, and who have become such a big part of my life. Thanksgiving is certainly special, and while we don't necessarily celebrate it a huge way, we certainly had a wonderful time surrounded by family and friends. I do miss my own family back in India, but even the distance is bridged with regular phone calls and Skype meetings.

Its certainly been a pleasant week on the whole. My in-laws arrived last week, and my child hasn't stopped bouncing since. We love having mum and dad with us, even if it forces me to give up my slobby ways and be more organised, for a change. We even have meals at regular mealtimes, wow, and that's a real change for me :)

But of course, that's not the point of this post, now... what's the point again? Ah yes. More potatoes. Just what you all wanted, right? Right?

As I frantically try and use up all my millions of potatoes, I am pulling recipes from all over. We've had my MIL's scalloped potatoes as a staple food. We've had potato curries and masalas and hash browns. We're having potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner... and as a snack in between :) Which brings me to these potato bhajias or pakoras. This is a recipe from my mum, one that she uses to make cabbage pakoras (that recipe's coming soon) and I adapted it to suit my potatoes.

There really isn't very much to this recipe, especially once you get the consistency of the batter right. The idea is to get to the same consistency as heavy cream, so that when you dip your spoon in it, the batter drips off heavily at the end. If you make your batter too thin, it won't coat the potatoes. Too thick, and the outside pakora coating won't be as crispy. So make sure you add the water bit by bit, and stop when you get to the texture you like.

If you have a mandoline, the slicing of the potatoes takes next to no time at all. If not, slice them thinly, as uniformly as you can, as they then cook evenly in the oil.

My mum always tested the oil by dropping a small blob of batter in it. If the batter rose quickly to the surface and was covered in bubbles, then the oil was the right temperature. I decided to be a little more scientific about it and take the guesswork out (or just crabby, I suppose) If you have a candy or oil thermometer then the oil needs to heat up to 375 F (if you don't have a thermometer, I very highly recommend you get one, the ease of making such deep fried dishes is immense, and they don't even cost a lot) Once the oil is at the right temperature, then you can slide in the coated potato slices, one at a time, and making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Essentially, when you overcrowd the pan, the temperature of the oil drops, and the pakoras won't cook as evenly.

These pakoras are best eaten as soon as they cool down just a little, as hot as you can take them, basically... the fresher they are, the crisper they taste. However, if they do get cold, place them in a single layer on a baking tray, and you can reheat them quickly in a preheated 400 F oven for about 5 - 7 minutes, turning once, to get back some of the crispness. These pakoras can be served with any kind of chutney. My favourite is mint chutney, but they go well with a variety of them (check out some of my recipes here and here)

For me, this is a taste that takes me straight back to India and to my university days. My friends and I used to hang around the dhabas (street eateries) all the time, and chow these down by the dozen, all dipped in spicy hot Maggi chilli sauce and ketchup. A hot cup of freshly made masala chai, and this is the perfect afternoon snack, especially now that the days are getting crisp and cold, and the leaves are all blowing away in the chilly wind.

Recipe:
(Printable Recipe)

2 large potatoes, scrubbed, no need to peel
1 cup chickpea flour (gram flour)
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon whole cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon hot chilli powder
½ inch piece of ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 green chilly, finely chopped
Salt to taste
Sparkling water (or plain water) around ¾ cup
Enough oil to deep fry, I use canola or vegetable

Method:

Slice the potatoes thinly as you can or around ¼ mm if you have a mandoline. Rinse the slices, if you wish, and dry with paper towels.

Sift together the chickpea flour, ground coriander, ground cumin, turmeric, baking soda, whole cumin seeds and chilli powder.

Stir in the grated ginger, crushed garlic and green chillies.

Slowly add enough water to make a thick batter, the consistency of heavy cream. I used roughly ¾ cup, but it depends on how dry your climate is, so adjust the water accordingly.
Add salt to taste (I use about ¾ teaspoon)

Heat the oil in a deep pot to 375 F. Coat the potato slices in the batter and gently slide into the hot oil, three, four slices at a time, depending on the size of your frying pot. Don't overcrowd the pan, or the pakoras won't fry evenly.

Deep fry, turning often, for 4 - 5 minutes, until the pakoras/ bhajias are a deep golden brown. Gently lift from the oil, using a slotted spoon, and drain on kitchen paper.

Serve hot with chutneys or ketchup.

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Potatoes In A Spicy Yoghurt Sauce (Dum Aloo Kadhi)

 

Remember how, this time last year, I was ranting away at my zucchinis? Well, this year, its potatoes. Kay planted around thirty potato plants in our neighbour's garden this year, and despite the hail battering, they have all prolifically produced potatoes (I love alliterations, me!) A lot of potatoes. Many, many hundreds of potatoes. Maybe even thousands and millions of potatoes (ok, a teeny exaggeration, perhaps)

I literally have potatoes coming out of my ears... a giant number of them, all lovely, and firm and red skinned and yellow fleshed... sitting there in baskets... looking at me with their potatoey eyes... just begging to be eaten, used up or given away. Our friends have already been at the recieving end of our potato shares, and I joke that I feel like a dealer, standing around on street corners going 'man, you wanna potatoes?' 

You think I am kidding? Look! 

And the picture is only of the little guys. Kay sorted them out, and stored the large potatoes in the garage for now. I am still not quite sure how to preserve them, but I am frantically researching. 

Jokes aside, we do have a gigantic harvest this year and I've been frantically cooking anything and everything potato. I've already run through all of my staple recipes and am now madly making anything that looks good and is remotely potato friendly. So, expect to see a lot of potato recipes here this month (and the next, and the next...)  
 

Thankfully, one of my recipe inspirations came thanks to my friend May, who posted this delicious looking Dahi Kadhi (Hot Spiced Yoghurt Soup). It inspired me to make this popular Indian recipe called dum aloo or potatoes simmered in a gently spiced yogurt sauce. May's yogurt soup had no potatoes in it, but at this time any recipe that can have potatoes dunked in it, is getting potatoes dunked in it.
This recipe worked out brilliantly, even if I do say so myself. Our potatoes are lush and sweet and this delicate, tangy-spicy sauce gently enhances their flavour without overpowering them. Its a fantastic dish for easy, nutritious suppers, and it goes well as an accompaniment to all sorts of dishes. 

A couple of things do need to be kept in mind while making this dish. The yogurt needs to be at room temperature or just very slightly chilled while making this dish. Make sure you take the pan off the heat and let the oil cool a little, before adding the yogurt mixture, as adding cold yogurt to hot oil can make it split. Once added, keep the heat medium-low, and bring the yogurt to just steaming point, and try to avoid boiling it, which can also make it split. The chickpea flour actually is there to make sure yogurts don't split, but I've found that yogurts here are not the same as in India and tend to split faster. 

If the yogurt does split, not to worry. Take off the heat and whisk hard for a few minutes, and this should emulsify it a little. In all honesty, splitting doesn't really affect the taste of this dish, its a purely aesthetic issue. 

The tarka at the end just lifts the whole flavour of the dish, making it truly amazing. May has a lot more in her tarka, but I kept it simple here. But do check out her recipe for the lovely soup, which I shall be making soon enough. Its not like there aren't any potatoes to go around, haha.

Watch out for more potato recipes coming your way soon... and if you want some, hop on by, and you can have some :)
 

Recipe:
(Printable Recipe)

Serves 4 as a side dish

1 kilo fresh potatoes, scrubbed, peeled if necessary and cut into chunks
Cold water, enough to cover the potatoes
Salt to taste

For the yogurt sauce:

2 cups plain or greek style yogurt, at room temperature
½ cup whole milk
¼ cup chickpea or gram flour (besan)
1 inch piece of ginger, grated
1 - 2 hot green chillies, sliced finely
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon hot cayenne pepper (optional)
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon unscented oil
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
1 small onion, diced fine
1 cup hot vegetable stock

For the tempering, or tarka/ tadka/ phon:

½ tablespoon unscented oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 - 2 sprigs curry leaves, picked (about 10 - 12 leaves)
2 long dried red chillies
2 whole garlic cloves, slightly bruised

Method:

Place the potatoes in a deep saucepan and cover with cold water. Add salt to taste, bring to the boil, and cook the potatoes until soft and tender. Drain and keep aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt and the milk. Sift over the chickpea flour and whisk until there are no lumps. Stir in the grated ginger, green chillies, turmeric, garam masala, ground cumin and cayenne pepper (if using) and mix well.

Heat the oil in a deep pan, on medium heat, and add the fennel seeds. When they start to sputter, add the onion. Fry for about 5 - 6 minutes, until the onion is soft and just beginning to colour.

Take the pan off the heat and let cool for a few minutes. Gently whisk in the yogurt mixture, little by little, scraping the sides and making sure that the oil is all emulsified into the sauce.

Place back on a low heat, and incorporate the stock, gently whisking it in. Season to taste. On a low heat, bring the sauce to a very gentle simmer and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Fold in the potatoes into the yogurt sauce and bring back to a simmer for a minute, then take off the heat and keep aside while you make the tempering.

To make the tarka or tempering, heat oil in a small pan. Add the mustard seeds. When they sizzle and sputter, add the red chillies, the garlic and the curry leaves. Saute for abotu 30 seconds, then pour the whole lot over the potatoes in the yogurt sauce. Cover quickly to trap in the aromas.

Just before serving, gently stir everything together, check and adjust seasoning and serve just warm. This dish goes well with any accompaniment like rice, Indian breads or pita bread.

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