Vegetable Kurma

Equipment needed: pressure cooker (but you could just simmer things longer, as I may do)

Ingredients:

2 Tbs oil (I used olive)
--
Measure into separate bowls
1 stick cinnamon
4 cloves
2 star anise
--
1 L onion, chopped
--
1 Tbs ginger garlic paste (if you don't have this, just finely chop, then grind, equal parts of fresh ginger and garlic)
--
1 L tomato, chopped
--
1 L carrot, cubed
1 c green beans, chopped into about 2" pieces
1 medium potato, cubed
--
salt to taste (start with 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric
--
Ground masala
Grind into paste:
5 (or more) green chilis
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp aniseed
6-8 cashews
3 Tbs coconut
1 Tbs coriander (cilantro) leaves
--
1 1/2 c water

Instructions
1, Heat oil in a pressure cooker or large, deep (and heavy) pan. Sautee cinnamon, cloves, and star anise for about 2 minutes.

2. Add chopped onions, sautee for another 2-3 minutes, then add ginger garlic paste and cook for a minute.

3. Add tomatoes and sautee until the tomatoes get a bit soft, then add green beans, carrot, and potato.

4. Add salt, garam masal, and turmeric, then the ground masala. Now, sautee for 2-3 minutes.

5. Add water, close pressure cooker, and cook 'til the rocker starts, then remove from heat. Let sit for 5 minutes, then cool under running water.

6. Serve over rice. We had this over tamarind rice - it's not a low-calorie meal!

Tomato soup

1 med onion
6 tomatoes (used 4 romano, 1 home grown, 1 heirloom)
3-4 cloves crushed garlic (or to taste)
8 cups broth (or broth/water, water)
3 tbs tomato paste
1 cup precooked brown rice
dash of liquid smoke
s. handful of fresh oregano, chopped
s. handful of fresh basil, chopped
white miso - start with a teaspoon, increase if you feel it is needed
1 tbs Braggs
Fresh pepper
1/3 c. nutritional yeast
pinch of hot pepper flakes or more, to taste

Saute onion, add garlic (to taste--I used 3 cloves), saute for a bit. Add tomato, tomato sauce, rice, water, spices, nutritional yeast, and liquid smoke. Add Braggs and salt to taste. Boil for ~1/2 hour, or until water volume is about half what you began with. Add 1 tsp miso, check flavor, add more if needed.

Serve with croutons.

Roasted green beans

These were really great, and so easy! We'd gotten about 1/2 lb. of fresh green beans at the local farmer's market and really wanted to use them. I trimmed the ends,then sprayed them with olive oil, sprinkled with a touch of sea salt - and then roasted them at 400F for about 15 minutes, in one layer, stirring them about a bit. What you want is some browned bits, but not too much.

Chana Masala: Amendations

Chola Chana Masala

Ingredients:
Roast the dry spices briefly in the pan before heating the oil and set aside for later:
1/2 tsp garam masala
6 pieces clove
1 piece cinnamon
5-6 pepper corns
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander seeds

Main dish:
* 3 tablespoons oil
* Pinch of asafetida (Hing)Increase slightly
* 1 teaspoon cumin seeds used ground cumin
* 1 tablespoon gram flour (Besan) aka chickpea flour
* 1 large tomato or 1 15 1/2 oz. can of chopped tomatoes, drained (but save the liquid!)--if using tomato, try two
* 1 tablespoon ginger paste
* 1 teaspoon chopped green chilies use 1 Thai bird chili, instead
* 2 teaspoons coriander powder
* 1/2 teaspoon anchur powder
* 1 tbs garam masala
* 2 tsp coriander powder
* 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
* 1/2 teaspoon black salt
* 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder use ground chili pepper flakes instead
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
* 1 15 oz can of chickpeas (kable chana, Garbanzo beans)

* 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro (Green coriander)
* 2 teaspoons lemon juice
* Thinly sliced tomatoes for garnish

Method:

1. Drain the water out of the can of chickpeas and wash the chickpeas well. Set aside
2. Blend the tomatoes, green chilies and ginger to make a puree.
3. Heat the oil in a saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if the seed cracks right away the oil is ready.
4. Add the asafetida and cumin seeds.
5. After the cumin seeds crack, add the gram flour and stir-fry for a minute.
6. Add the tomato puree, coriander powder, turmeric, red chili powder, anchur powder, garam masala, black salt and cook for about 4 minutes on medium heat.
7. The mixture will start leaving the oil and will reduce to about half in quantity.
8. Add the chickpeas and a half cup of water or the reserved tomato juice and let it cook for 7 to 8 minutes on medium heat, covered.
9. Press the chickpeas with a spatula so they soften. Note: add more water as needed to keep the gravy consistency to your liking, and let it cook for few more minutes on low heat. We added at least 3/4 cup more water and it could have used more.
10. Add the dry roasted spice mix, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, and cilantro. Let it cook for another minute (simmer on lowest setting, for 15 minutes if time is available to allow flavors to mature.
11. Garnish with thin tomato slices,and/or fresh cilantro.

Spicy tomato rice - a new favorite!

Sia, at Passionate about Life 'n Spice posted this lovely recipe, which we both enjoyed SO much! Since there are after all only 2 of us, it has lasted a good few days. We added a whole can of black beans & one of stewed tomato, after the first 2, to boost the protein and just because - delicious!

soy mayo

from smoothie at the postpunk forum - I'm glad someone brought it back up, because I'd meant to try it! and now I have good reason to do so, because I am not sure we can easily get vegannaise here, and nayonnaise - well, er, sucks. to me.

place 1 cup of soymilk in your blender, and blend it for a minute. slowly add 1 cup of canola oil while still blending, and then add a bit of regular vinegar + a bit of salt. you will now have the best vegan mayo on earth.

Brussels sprouts with caramelized shallots - yum!

I'd bookmarked this recipe a very long time back, forgot about it, then found it again. I'm glad I did! Using the food processor made VERY fast work of slicing up all those shallots & brussels sprouts. We also cut the butter in half (using earth balance instead, a vegan margarine - we could as easily use olive oil) and lessened the sugar. Next time we'll try using brown sugar or maple syrup instead. But - yes! This one's a keeper. Courtesy of Epicurious.com

Brussels Sprout Hash with Caramelized Shallots Bon Appétit | November 2007

Molly Stevens

Thinly sliced brussels sprouts are sautéed with shallots in this comforting hash.

Yield: Makes 8 to 10 servings

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, divided
1/2 pound shallots, thinly sliced
Coarse kosher salt
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
4 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 pounds brussels sprouts, trimmed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup water

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in medium skillet over medium heat. Add shallots; sprinkle with coarse kosher salt and pepper. Sauté until soft and golden, about 10 minutes. Add vinegar and sugar. Stir until brown and glazed, about 3 minutes.

Halve brussels sprouts lengthwise. Cut lengthwise into thin (1/8-inch) slices. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sprouts; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until brown at edges, 6 minutes. Add 1 cup water and 3 tablespoons butter. Sauté until most of water evaporates and sprouts are tender but still bright green, 3 minutes. Add shallots; season with salt and pepper.

Garlic aoli

Garlic Faux Aioli. Speaking of that, get pumped for a:

Recipe!

Straight from a wonderful blog (could it be...seitan?) I just discovered, here's one I plan to try SOON. Actually if you follow the link, I think you might very well feel as I do - you have to try damn near everything!

Ingredients

1 package Silken tofu – Mori Nu style

3 cloves of garlic

2 T mustard

1 T apple cider vinegar

Directions

• Blend it all together in a blender and then let it chill out in the fridge. Put it on your food. Cooking is harrrd.

Celery soup

lovely with some crusty homemade garlic bread, this evening's meal is courtesy of mike, who has been doing the lion's share of cooking lately due to my workload. we had some celery that we feared would succumb to the dreaded limp-celery disease, where it's only good for broth making, so of necessity found this easy, tasty (and healthy) soup. I didn't feel guilty about taking seconds on this, and there's a small serving's worth for lunch tomorrow. this might be good with different herbs - mike added a touch of curry (1 tsp); or sage, dill - use your imagination! other changes: add in roasted veg, or small cubes of potato, stir in a bit of milk - do what you will, because the celery is just lovely in this, holds its own.

added note: I heated the leftover portion today, and added about 1/2 c of cubed, cooked carrot, 1/2 tsp of srichaca sauce, and some salt to taste. even better!

In pursuit of the perfect Chana Masala

This one is a keeper, found via YouTube - the wonderful cook who does vahrehvah.com has posted a video and recipe for one of our all-time favorites. Give this a try! It's different from our other recipe - more 'fruity,' somehow, quite delicious and very low-fat, which is a major plus. You should have smelled the chana masala spices being toasted, the entire house was deliciously redolent - I had taken a nap (knocked out, I think, from the anti-allergy meds I took, and exhausted from an interview journey) and I think the scent awakened me.

Next time we'll up the heat a bit, perhaps using a Thai bird chile pepper rather than the dried red Mexican peppers. Mike found a nice recipe for homemade chana masala powder that we like very well also, so I'll put that first:

Chana Masala Powder
copied from Lisa's Kitchen

1 tablespoon of coriander seeds
2 tablespoons of cumin seeds
2/3 teaspoons of black cardamom seeds
1/3 teaspoons of yellow cardamom seeds
1 2/3 teaspoons of black peppercorns
2 - 3 dried red chillies
1/3 teaspoons of whole cloves

pinch of ground ginger
pinch of mace
pinch of nutmeg
1/3 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon of amchoor powder

Dry roast the seeds, peppercorns, chillies and cloves in a large frying pan over low heat until they begin to brown. Transfer to an electric coffee grinder with the ground spices and grind to a fine powder.


Chana Masala
copied from (with full and grateful credit): http://www.vahrehvah.com/recipedetails.php?recipe_id=3259

200	grams	channa (1 15.5 oz. can
25	grams	channa masala pdr (2 Tbs)
1	springs	coriander leaves (I increased this quite a bit as I love cilantro)
1	pinch	cumin
1	tbsp	ginger garlic paste
2	green	chillies
1		lime
3	tbsp	oil
2		onions
1	to taste	salt
2		tomatoes (or 2 15.5 cans of diced tomatoes)
1	pinch	turmeric (optional)
few	piece	whole garam masala (1 bay leaf, several cloves, several cardamom pods, 1 stick of cinnamon)

Soak dried chickpeas (chole) in water overnight or to cook the same day soak them in warm water for atleast 5-6hrs Pressure cook chole Drain the chole, reserve the liquid Chop up onion, tomatoes Heat oil in a deep saucepan and add cumin seeds whole garam masala When the cumin seeds change color add chopped onion to it and saute till they are brown Add the Ginger-garlic paste to it and saute for couple of minutes Add all the tomatoes dry powders to it and saute add salt Saute the tomatoes till they are soft and mushed up, Add the chole to the mixture and mix gently so that chole are properly coated in the mixture Add the reserved water depending on the gravy you need, check and adjust the seasoning Simmer the stove and cook covered for 5-6 minutes and garnish it with cilantro leaves Serve it with bhature, puri or chapatti with sliced onion and lemon wedge by the side