A quick weeknight meal, a take on popular street food from India. Chaat is a form of street food usually sold at road side stalls, and has found it’s way into restaurants as well due to its popularity. My favorite chaat dish is ‘Jhaal Muri’ which means Spicy (hot) Puffed Rice. My version has a lot more vegetables and legumes than the traditional one, so it makes for a hearty meal.
What You Need
How it’s done
Mince the jalapeño. Crumble the rice cakes. Defrost the frozen edamame and Soycutash. Mix everything together. Enjoy! The heat from the jalapeño gives this dish the “Jhaal”, the crunch from the rice cakes, the tang from the lime juice, help being all the flavors together.
I shared the Yogurt Stew recipe earlier- here’s the other component of the meal inspired by Niloufer Ichaporia King’s My Bombay Kitchen.
I had a little bit of a few vegetables in my fridge that I wanted to make into one dish, and was found the Parsi Claypot Recipe in the book. The recipe called for Dhansak Masala and Parsi sambhar masala, both of which I did not have. What I found interesting is that sambhar masala which sounds very much like the quintessential south indian spice mix, sambar powder, is quite different. For one, it has no coriander while sambar masala has lots of it; it has asafetida, which is excluded from sambar powder. I had on hand South Indian sambar powder and mahrashtrian goda masala, and combined they meet all the ingredients ( and a couple more) of the two masalas that The Parsi Claypot recipe called for. I am quite sure this dish can be made on the stovetop and can produce the same results, however, I did bake it per the original recipe.
What You Need
How It’s Done
1. Prep the vegetables by cutting them even sized, about an inch length each, mincing the green chillies
2. Put in a bowl and mix all the ingredients together, coating the vegetables with the spices, and set aside while the oven preheats(10 minutes)
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
4. Prep an oven safe pan with a bit of oil.
5. Spread the vegetables evenly in the pan and cover tightly with aluminum foil
6. Bake for an hour till the runner beans are sepia in color- that’s when they are cooked.
The longer this dish stays, the more it absorbs the flavors. It’s a perfect side for chapati a and complemented my meal of kadhi chawal (Yogurt stew with rice).
We recently went to this mediterranean restaurant in Burlingame called Taste in Mediterranean, that has the best menu, especially if you’re a vegetarian. They have a range of vegetable stews that one usually doesn’t see on menus, and then there are the soups that are not on their menu as they change daily. One of them that inspired this post is the Yogurt Soup. I was very excited to try this soup as it reminded me of a few yogurt stews that are made in India- in the North, there are variations of Kadhi (Punjabi, Rajasthani, Gujarati and many more), and in the South there are Moru Kozhambu, Moru Kootan, Erissheri and many more, all use Yogurt or buttermilk as the base. The recipe I have today is inspired by Niloufer Ichaporia King’s My Bombay Kitchen. I was going for a Parsi lunch with mixed vegetables and Kadhi. The recipe has modifications as always 
What You Need
How It’s Done
1. Prep the vegetables: mince the chillies and ginger; for mild heat, slit the chillies. dice the onion
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan
3. Add the cumin seeds and when that sizzles add the curry leaves, asafetida and turmeric. Asafetida and turmeric are staples in most regions of India, and are added for their medicinal qualities. Asafetida aids digestion and turmeric is a natural antiseptic.
4. As you smell the asafetida in the hot oil, add the onions and sauté till browned on the edges. I usually add a pinch of salt to help the process. Reduce heat to simmer
5. Whisk the gram flour in the water so there are no lumps. Add the ginger and chillies to this mixture.
6. Add the gram flour mixture to the onions and whisk. The heat will thicken the sauce so it’s important to keep whisking so its not lumpy. Cush the kasoori methi and add, mixing it all in.
7. Continue whisking as you add the yogurt or buttermilk. Heat through, being careful not to let the mixture boil, as the yogurt/ buttermilk can split. Remove from heat and mix in the line juice.
Serve as is or with rice. My Parsi meal had it with my version of Parsi claypot vegetables….coming soon!
A quick recipe that came out of not wanting to use coconut….because I didn’t have any.
What You Need
How its done
- Cook green garbanzo with a little water and salt in the microwave, ~ 5-7 minutes on high usually cooks it
- Chop the green onions and chillies; dice the tomatillos
- heat oil in a pan and add the green onions. Sauté a few minutes till the onion looses it raw flavor
- add the tomatillos and cook on high flame so they char a bit; add the chillies and cook till the tomatillos are lightly browned. Add the green garbanzo, salt and pepper
- Blend the mixture into a smooth paste, adding a little water.
- Chutney is ready! Serve with chips, carrot, upma or idli.
I know there seems to be a theme with my blog these days..soups and salads! What can I say, some ingredients just beg a certain preparation to bring out their best! Frozen Green garbanzo was a discovery at the Indian store a couple of weeks ago. It made me curious. Of course, we’ve all had garbanzo beans, wonder what green garbanzo tastes like? Does it take time to cook? How will it taste? It cooks in a few minutes in the microwave and are crunchy in texture. They’re packed with nutrition as you can see here, a great source of protein, especially if you’re a vegetarian. I wanted to taste garbanzo like it is and so I decided to make this salad, south indian style.
What You Need
- 1 Pkt Frozen Garbanzo Beans
- 6 small radishes
- 1/2 Yellow Bell pepper
- 2 Tbslp chopped cilantro
- 1/2 a serrano pepper
- 1 Tbslsp oil
- 1/2 tsp asafoetida
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- Juice of a lime
- Salt and pepper
How its Done
- Rinse the garbanzo beans in cold water and cook in the microwave for 4-5 minutes with a little salt, till done (beans will be crunchy, but cooked)
- Dice the radishes and the bell pepper; Add to the garbanzo beans
- Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When the seeds start spluttering, add the asafoetida (optional, but it adds flavor and really helps the digestive process with legumes and beans)
- Add the flavored oil to the vegetables, add salt and fresh ground pepper, minced serrano, cilantro, lime juice and mix it all together. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.
Serve chilled or at room temperature. The salad is crunchy and refreshing and goes really well with spicy food. Just the colors in this salad will make you want to eat it all up! The crunchy garbanzo and radish with the sweet peppers are another reason.
