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I think I may have found the most PERFECT masala recipe I've ever tried, and all thanks to Sangeeta of Banaras ka Khana blog. Her blog is one of my favourites, because she has North Indian recipes which are not so well known (at least to me) as the usual things you get endlessly everywhere. I like reading about typical everyday recipes which are still not common outside of individual homes, and Sangeeta's blog is the perfect place to find these.
I tried this masala with cooked chickpeas because I had some, and loved the result so much that I've made it (with different dals) four times in the last 10 days... although not (yet) with the original split chickpeas (or chana dal) that Sangeetha used. I've tried it both as a thick sauce and as a runnier one, and it makes not a whit of difference - other than the clingy sauce is better with whole chickpeas.
I reduced the peppercorns to 1/2 tsp because I can't take the heat from them (but chilli-heat is more than bearable, go figure), but otherwise the recipe is no different - well, apart from having used chickpeas, that is. Do try it - it's pretty quick to make, too, especially if you use canned chickpeas.
Recipe for: Chana bhuna
Ingredients:3-4 cups cooked chickpeas (or two cans' worth)
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 tbsp ghee or oil (I used oil)
1 tsp cumin seeds
Salt to taste
For grinding:
1/2" piece cinnamon stick
1 small black cardamom (seeds only)
1 htsp coriander seeds
1 htsp cumin seeds
2 cloves
4-5 dried red chillies (or to taste)
3 garlic cloves
1" ginger root
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp amchoor (dried raw mango) powder - optional
3-4 tbsp water
Method:1. Grind all the ingredients for the masala into a smooth, fairly thick paste. Use only as much water as required to make it smooth.
2. Heat the oil/ghee in a pan, then add the cumin seeds.
3. Once the seeds sizzle, add the chopped onion and stir.
Let it cook on low heat for 15 minutes or so, till it becomes soft and pinkish.
4. Now add the ground masala paste to the cooked onion
and stir it in.
5. Fry it (bhuno) on low heat for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently, till the paste is well amalgamated, thick and intensely aromatic. Any excess water should have evaporated.
6. Now add the chickpeas along with salt to taste
and stir till it is all well mixed.
7. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes more (longer if it is watery), then take it off the heat.
Serve hot with chapaties or puris.
Note: The curry tastes best when the masala coats the chickpeas thickly, so make sure the masala is not runny.
RECIPE: CHANA BHUNA
Ingredients:
3-4 cups cooked chickpeas (or two cans' worth)
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 tbsp ghee or oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
Salt to taste
For grinding:
1/2" piece cinnamon stick
1 small black cardamom (seeds only)
1 htsp coriander seeds
1 htsp cumin seeds
2 cloves
4-5 dried red chillies (or to taste)
3 garlic cloves
1" ginger root
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp amchoor (dried raw mango) powder - optional
3-4 tbsp water
Method:
1. Grind all the ingredients for the masala into a smooth, fairly thick paste. Use only as much water as required to make it smooth.
2. Heat the oil in a pan, then add the cumin seeds.
3. Once the seeds sizzle, add the chopped onion and stir. Let it cook on low heat for 15 minutes or so, till it becomes soft and pinkish.
4. Now add the ground masala paste to the cooked onion and stir it in.
5. Fry it (bhuno) on low heat for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently, till the paste is well amalgamated, thick and intensely aromatic. Any excess water should have evaporated.
6. Now add the chickpeas along with salt to taste and stir till it is all well mixed.
7. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes more, then take it off the heat. Serve hot with chapaties or puris.
Note: The curry tastes best when the masala coats the chickpeas thickly, so make sure the masala is not runny.
Serendipity isn't something that manifests itself often in my life, so the rare occasions that it does, it's very exciting. On the day after I made the baked cabbage-onion masala vadas, I saw a recipe for vada-kari (literal meaning "curry made from vadas") on Srivalli's blog. There I was, with day-old vadas to hand, and there it was, a recipe to use them - like I said, exciting!
I think this particular curry must originaly have come about as a way of using up stale, hard vadas that would not otherwise be edible to most people - the fact that I like to nibble on them is by the way. I'm not most people. Nor are, I suspect, most people me. (It works both ways, as you can see. Hehe.)
Anyway, I changed very little from the original recipe, except perhaps the quantities. Oh, and I omitted the fried gram because I didn't have any, and reduced the quantity of coconut. It was one heck of a tasty curry, and the plump vadas, juicy from soaking up the liquid from the gravy, were delicious. I had them over rice with a simple cabbage-peas dry curry. Yum-my. Thank you, Srivalli's mother, for providing the recipe for vada-kari.
Man, do I love ever my fellow-food bloggers and their wide variety of homespun recipes! Long live the Internet, I say.
Recipe for: Vada-kari (lentil fritters in tomato-coconut gravy)
Ingredients:
About 8 day-old paruppu vadas (baked or fried)
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 tsp ginger-garlic, grated
3 tsp oil
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves for garnish
For the ground masala:
1/2 tsp fennel/saunf
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp poppy seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2" piece cinnamon stick
2 cloves
3-5 fresh green chillies
5 cashewnuts
5-6 coconut pieces, each about 2cm long (or 2 tbsp grated coconut)
Method:
1. Heat one tsp of oil and fry all the ingredients for the ground masala till aromatic.
Add the coconut pieces/grated coconut and stir-fry for another two minutes, then remove to a plate and set aside to cool.
2. Heat the other tsp of oil and fry the tomatoes till they are mushy. Set aside to cool.
3. Once they are all cool, grind the fried ingredients and the tomatoes to a smooth paste using a little warm water if necessary. Reserve.
4. Now heat the remaining oil and add the ginger-garlic paste, stirring for 30 seconds or so.
5. Then add the onions and fry till they become soft and turn pale brown.
6. Next, add the ground masala paste and stir it in,
adding a cupful of water.
You can add a little more water at this stage, depending on how many vadas you have.
5. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat and simmer the gravy for 5 minutes or so, till it comes together and starts to thicken.
6. Drop the vadas into the gravy now and simmer the curry for 2-3 minutes, spooning the gravy over the vadas occasionally, if necessary.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with idlis or dosas, or over rice if you like. Add a dry vegetable curry for a complete meal.
Note: If the curry sits for a while, the vadas will absorb the moisture and make the curry very thick.
RECIPE: VADA-KARI (LENTIL FRITTERS IN TOMATO-COCONUT GRAVY)
Ingredients:
About 8 day-old paruppu vadas (baked or fried)
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
3 tsp oil
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves for garnish
For the ground masala:
1/2 tsp fennel/saunf
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp poppy seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2" piece cinnamon stick
2 cloves
3-5 fresh green chillies
5 cashewnuts
5-6 coconut pieces, each about 2cm long (or 2 tbsp grated coconut)
Method:
1. Heat one tsp of oil and fry all the ingredients for the ground masala till aromatic. Add the coconut pieces/grated coconut and stir-fry for another two minutes, then remove to a plate and set aside to cool.
2. Heat the other tsp of oil and fry the tomatoes till they are mushy. Set aside to cool.
3. Once they are all cool, grind the fried ingredients and the tomatoes to a smooth paste using a little warm water if necessary. Reserve.
4. Now heat the remaining oil and add the ginger-garlic paste, stirring for 30 seconds or so.
5. Then add the onions and fry till they become soft and turn pale brown.
6. Next, add the ground masala paste and stir it in, adding a cupful of water. You can add a little more water at this stage, depending on how many vadas you have.
5. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat and simmer the gravy for 5 minutes or so, till it comes together and starts to thicken.
6. Drop the vadas into the gravy now and simmer the curry for 2-3 minutes, spooning the gravy over the vadas occasionally, if necessary.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with idlis or dosas, or over rice if you like. Add a dry vegetable curry for a complete meal.
Note: If the curry sits for a while, the vadas will absorb the moisture and make the curry very thick.
This is a spice mix that I improvised. Stop. Made improvised karela (bitter melon/gourd) rice with it. Stop. Yummy. Stop. Karela rice recipe to follow. Stop. End of message. Stop. I mean it. Stop. Stop it! Stop. Stop! it! STOP.
Recipe for: Vegetable rice spice mix
Ingredients:
3 tbsp toor dal
3 tbsp chana dal
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (shahjeera if you have it)
1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 petals of star anise
1/2" piece cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
4-5 cloves
seeds of 1 black cardamom
5-6 dried red chillies (optional)
3 tbsp mixed seeds (pumpkin seeds, linseeds, hemp)
Method:
1. Dry-roast the chana dal, toor dal, coriander seeds and red chillies together, till the dals turn a light brown and the red chillies turn darker. Set aside to cool.
Roast the mixed seeds over medium-low flame they are toasted. Set aside to cool.
Roast the remaining ingredients on medium-low flame till they turn colour and give off a nice aroma. Be very careful not to over-toast or burn any of the ingredients.
2. Grind all the toasted ingredients except the mixed seeds to a fairly smooth texture (like sand).
3. Then grind the pumpkin seeds/linseeds/hemp separately to a slightly coarser texture, being careful not to turn them to a paste.
4. Mix the two powders together and store tightly sealed. This should stay good for 2-3 weeks. Use as required to flavour dry vegetable curries or rice dishes.
RECIPE: VEGETABLE RICE SPICE MIX
Ingredients:
3 tbsp toor dal
3 tbsp chana dal
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (shahjeera if you have it)
1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 petals of star anise
1/2" piece cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
4-5 cloves
seeds of 1 black cardamom
5-6 dried red chillies (optional)
3 tbsp mixed seeds (pumpkin seeds, linseeds, hemp)
Method:
1. Dry-roast the chana dal, toor dal, coriander seeds and red chillies together, till the dals turn a light brown and the red chillies turn darker. Set aside to cool.
Roast the mixed seeds over medium-low flame they are toasted. Set aside to cool.
Roast the remaining ingredients on medium-low flame till they turn colour and give off a nice aroma. Cool.
Be very careful not to over-toast or burn any of the ingredients.
2. Grind all the toasted ingredients except the mixed seeds to a fairly smooth texture (like sand).
3. Then grind the pumpkin seeds/linseeds/hemp separately to a slightly coarser texture, being careful not to turn them to a paste.
4. Mix the two powders together and store tightly sealed. Use as required to flavour dry vegetable curries or rice dishes.
If someone gave you an orange, an apple, some brewed coffee, cloves and some honey, would your first thought be: “Oooh, now I can bake a cake!”? No? Thought not.
No surprise, it would certainly never have crossed my mind that these were actually ingredients for a very special cake, had I not come across these items in a recipe on the Net, led there by a series of blog hops (starting with Shankari & Rajesh’s blog, Sacramento Spice, where she has a regular feature called “Sundays with Marlena Spieler”, showcasing Jewish recipes).
Eventually I moved on to google for general information on Jewish culture and Jewish food traditions, and pretty soon I was goggling at a cake recipe that called for the apparently random selection of ingredients I'd mentioned earlier. This cake is traditionally baked on the Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, and symbolises a sweet start to the year.
When I made the cake, even knowing that it was from a tried and tested traditional recipe didnt stop me wondering how it would turn out. I had to use a small can of mandarin orange rather than the whole fresh orange (peel pith and all) the recipe called for (because I didnt have it), and I substituted strong instant coffee for the brewed stuff (because ditto)... and decorated the top of the cake with whole pecans, but those were the ONLY changes from the original.
The cake was surprisingly good - surprising to me, because I couldn't help considering the combination of ingredients somewhat outlandish - very moist and with deep flavours, and it stayed that way for the couple of days that it survived before being demolished.
It's too late - or maybe too early? - to offer good wishes for a happy Jewish New Year (because it occurs around September)... and it's wee bit too far into this new year 2010 as well for new year wishes, but I'll take the opportunity to wish everybody many happy cake experiences, both baking and eating, for the year and the decade to come. I can do that, can't I?
Recipe for: Honey cake
Ingredients:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup dark honey
1 egg
1 small orange, left unpeeled and cut up small (I used a small tin of chopped mandarins without peel)
1 small apple, cored and chopped (no need to peel)
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee (I used instant)
1-1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup raisins
15-20 whole pecan nuts (optional)
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Spray a nonstick 1.5 pound loaf pan with Pam.
2. In a large bowl, combine the oil, sugar, honey and egg.
Beat till mixed. (I used a manual beater).
3. In a blender, combine the orange and apple, add the coffee
and puree the mixture. It doesn't have to be very smooth.
4. In another bowl, place the flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt.
5. Add a third of the fruit and coffee mix to the oil-honey-egg mixture, stirring well.
6. Add a third of the flour mixture, stirring again.
Continue adding in this manner till all the ingredients are combined.
7. Add the raisins and stir them in.
8. Pour the batter in a loaf pan. Arrange the pecan nuts on top, pressing them very gently into the batter.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, or till a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
10. Let the cake stay in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Serve at room temperature.
This masala powder is very aromatic and keeps for a few months if stored in an airtight jar. The measures I'm giving here makes enough powder to use twice, but the amounts can easily be increased proportionally to make more.
Clockwise from the top: Urad dal, cinnamon stick, fennel seeds, chana dal, coriander seeds, cumin seeds. Centre (from left): Cloves, cardamom pod, black peppercorns
Recipe for: Masala powder for carrot rice
Ingredients:
2 tsp urad dal
2 tsp chana dal
2 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 inch stick cinnamon
2 cloves
1 cardamom pod
2 dried red chillies
5-6 curry leaves
1 tsp oil
Method:
1. Heat the oil in a pan and add all the items. Fry on medium heat, stirring frequently, until the dals turn golden and aromatic.
2. Let cool completely, then grind to a fine powder in a spice or coffee grinder. Store in an airtight jar for upto 6 months.
