Pan Asian: Vegetable Kurma (South India)

With spring upon us and summer right around the corner, I’m inspired  to get outside more, and start hitting the farmers market for fresh produce. It’s also time to start shedding that winter weight and get healthy again, and vegetables are the perfect tonic. Since the south of India is known for its primarily vegetarian diet, and also some incredibly tasty dishes, I looked in Healthy South Indian Cooking by Alamelu Vairavan and Patricia Marquardt for inspiration, and pulled this amazing recipe for Vegetable Kurma. It uses carrots, potatoes, cauliflower and peas, but feel free to use whatever vegetables you like. I also substituted cashew nuts for almonds (since I didn’t have any handy), and, of course, upped the heat quotient by adding more green chilis. While the dish is simple to prepare, there are a lot of ingredients involved, but mysteriously enough, no garlic! Though it turned out great, I think next time I will add some garlic as it can only enhance an already delicious dish. Also, salt to taste as I believe the recipe called for not enough salt.

The Recipe

from Healthy South Indian Cooking (Hippocrene Books, 2008)

by Alamelu Vairavan and Patricia Marquardt

Ingredients:

½ cup ground fresh coconut or unsweetened coconut powder

1 green chili pepper

12 raw almonds

1 tablespoon white poppy seeds (optional)

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

2 thick slices ginger root (peeled)

1 tablespoon roasted chickpeas

2 tablespoons canola oil

6 to 8 curry leaves

1 dry bay leaf

3 or 4 slivers cinnamon sticks

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped tomato

2 cups peeled and cubed Idaho potato

½ cup peeled and thinly sliced carrots

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon curry powder

½ cup green peas (fresh or frozen)

1 cup cauliflower florets

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1.)   In A blender combine coconut powder, green chili, almonds, white poppy seeds, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, ½ teaspoon fennel seeds, ginger root slices, chickpeas. Add 2 cups hot water and grind the ingredients to a smooth paste.

2.)   Heat oil in a wide-bottom saucepan over medium heat. When oil is hot, but not smoking, add curry leaves, bay leaf, cinnamon sticks, remaining cumin and fennel  seeds. Cover and fry to a golden brown.

3.)   Add onion and ½ cup of the chopped tomato to saucepan and stir-fry for a few minutes until onion is lightly translucent.

4.)   Add potato and carrots to saucepan. Add turmeric powder and stir well.

5.)   Add curry powder and stir-fry for a minute or two.

6.)   Add peas and cauliflower to mixture and stir fry for a couple of minutes.

7.)   Add ground spices from the blender to vegetable mixture in saucepan plus 2 cups of warm water. Mix thoroughly.

8.)   When mixture begins to boil, reduce heat. Add remaining ½ cup chopped tomato, salt and cilantro leaves. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Serve with rice or bread.

Serves 6

 

Read Full Post »

Home Cookin’ in Kandy

Lunch is served at my Uncle Wilson’s place in Kandy

Despite Sri Lanka’s compact size (roughly about the area of West Virginia), there are definite regional variations in its cuisine. The food from the south is said to be spicier and more fish-based, as is exemplified by one of my favorite dishes from that region, fish ambul thiyal; whereas Tamil cuisine from the northern city of Jaffna  tends towards using a lot of tomato and tamarind as the basis for their spicy curries. Upcountry cooking, on the other hand, focuses largely on the bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables that grow in this mountainous central region of the country; while coastal cooking relies heavily on the use of the ubiquitous coconut.

Located in the central highlands, Kandy was the last Sinhala holdout against British colonial rule. As the seat of Sri Lankan kings and the site of one of Buddhism’s most important shrines, the Dalida Mahligawa (or Temple of The Tooth), which supposedly holds one of Lord Buddha’s teeth, Kandyans are proud of their heritage, and equally as proud of their cuisine, which is largely vegetarian. It’s probably got as much to do with what’s available in the proximity as much as an adherence to Buddhist doctrine, which eschews meat.

Some of the vegetables from my uncle’s garden

At his modest house overlooking the migthy Mahavelli River in Kandy, my Uncle Wilson has always taken great pride in his garden, which is flush with all kinds of produce. Mango, papaw and king coconut trees share space with spiky green jackfruit, pumpkin, and plantains. Greens such as gotu kola and koakka grow in the backyard. Under the ground, he’s got tubers like manioc and sweet potatoes growing. He even used to have a paddy field in his front yard until he gave up the land so that one of his sons could build a house there.

King Coconut growing in Uncle Wilson’s yard

His garden, in fact, is almost a microcosm of these central highlands, well-known as the center of tea production in the country, but a veritable Garden of Eden as well. I took a trip to the central Kandy market to get a better idea of this region and all it has to offer.

Durian

banana blossoms

bitter gourd

wood apple

damsons

sugarcane

guava

watermelon

Meanwhile, back at the house, Uncle Wilson’s cooks Kumari and Saroja were busy preparing lunch, which proved to be a veritable vegetarian feast including such dishes as red rice, white rice, jackfruit curry (kos), boiled manioc (battala), coconut sambol, dry fish curry (karola), banana blossom curry (keselmuwa), young jackfruit curry (polos), and egglant (ela batu). Most of the produce came straight from the garden, and anything that didn’t was from close by. Lunch was symphony of different tastes and textures, and even though I’m no vegetarian, I would have no qualms about eating food like that everyday.

young jackfruit (polos)

ripe jackfruit

dry fish

yams

pol roti

banana blossom curry

eggplant

young jack curry

curd

for dessert–curd with treacle

a righteous spread!

Read Full Post »

Pan Asian: Vegetable Ramen (Japan)

homemade veggie ramen

I doubt that there’s a person on the planet who has not eaten ramen. The most basic of all meals, this instant noodle soup, is both low-brow and high-brow–the sustenance of college students and starving artists as well as ravenous chow hounds sniffing out the next food trend. But somewhere between simply filling up a cup with boiling water and all those fancy schmancy offerings at new noodle houses, which are popping up all over the place, there has got to be a good version one can make at home without too much fuss. Well, congratulations! You’ve come to the right place–Pan Asian–where quick, easy, delicious, and healthy Asian food is well within your reach.

For Asians, soup is comfort food, and Ramen, a Japanese noodle dish, is probably the most well-known soup of them all. Named after the Chinese wheat noodles that one slurps up out of the savory broth, there are infinite varieties of this dish, and in my one, I substituted the ramen itself for thick, Thai rice noodles. Like many Asians, I have an aversion to wheat gluten, so the rice noodles will do just fine, and for the broth, I use a simple combination of vegetable stock, soy, sauce, mirin (a sweet Japanese rice wine), and white miso. Aside from that, feel free to use your imagination and use any vegetable (or even meats) that you want. I tailored this dish specifically to vegetarians since I was getting more requests for vegetarian recipes here on Pan Asian.

I also don’t normally eat any type of tofu product because tofu is a highly processed food and most of the soy grown in the U.S. is genetically modified, but I happened to find a brand of fried soy puffs which specifically listed “non-GMO soy” as one of its ingredients. This is why California’s proposition 37, regarding the labelling of GMO foods, is so important. If given the choice, I and I assume most people, would go non-GMO.

That said, the fun part of this dish is the garnishes. I used fresh chopped scallions, green chilies, fried shallots, and Sriracha sauce to liven up my soup. A few shakes of fish sauce or soy sauce cannot hurt either. Go crazy! I didn’t break a raw egg on top because I didn’t have any, but next time!

topped with chopped scallions & green chilies, fried shallots, and Sriracha

The Recipe

13 oz. (375 g) fresh ramen noodles

1 Tbsp. oil

1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, crushed

5 oz. (150 g) oyster mushrooms, halved

1 small zucchini, sliced into rounds

1 leek, white & greens parts, sliced

4 oz. (100 g) snow peas, halved diagonally

4 oz. (100 g) fried tofu puffs, cut into match sticks

1 quart vegetable stock

1 ½ Tbsp. white miso paste

2 Tbsp. light soy sauce

1 Tbsp. mirin

1 cup (90 g) bean sprouts

1 tsp. sesame oil

4 spring onions, thinly sliced

4 oz. (100 g) enoki mushrooms

1.)   Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to boil. Add noodles and cook, stirring to prevent sticking, for 4 minutes, or until tender

2.)   Heat oil is a large saucepan over medium heat. Add ginger, garlic, oyster mushrooms, zucchini, leek, snow peas and tofu puffs, and stir fry for 2 minutes. Add the stock and 300 ml of water and bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer.

3.)   Stir in miso, soy sauce,  and mirin until heated through. Do not boil. Stir in bean sprouts and sesame oil.

4.)   Place noodles in the bottom of six serving bowls, then pour in the soup. Garnish with spring onion and enoki mushrooms.

Serves 6

Read Full Post »

NYC’s Anjappar Restaurant — For Authentic Chettinad Cuisine

Anjappar — located at Lexington Ave. & E. 28th St in Manhattan’s “Curry Hill”

I have long been a fan of Chettinad food ever since I ate at the Anjappar Restaurant in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Yes, Anjappar is a chain, that happens to have locations all over the world–including the Middle East, U.S., Canada, Singapore and Malaysia. They finally made it to one of the biggest foodie towns in the world–good old NYC–to which I say, ‘What took you so long?’ But, really, ‘Better late than never,’ is more apropos. For despite its status as a franchise  (like Mickey D’s or Burger King), Anjappar serves up some of the tastiest, most authentic Chettinad food, this side of Chennai.

And just what is Chettinad cuisine, you ask? Unlike much southern Indian food, which is mostly vegetarian, the Chettiars, a merchant caste in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, who comprise about 14% of the population, do relish their chicken, mutton, and fish. And the way they prepare those meats is unlike any other Indian food you’ve ever eaten.

Mutton Sukka Varuval
(Fresh tender cuts of goat marinated in crushed pepper corns fried with chopped onions and curry leaves

Take, for instance, the Mutton Sukka Varuval, whose description in the menu does this dish absolutely no justice. Goat, usually a tough customer, comes out moist and tender here, coated in a fragrant paste of spices–including coriander, cumin, fennel, cardamom, cloves–ginger and garlic with fried onions and curry leaves to push it over the top on the flav-o-meter. Such complexity and layering of flavors is the hallmark of this cooking. My only criticism was that there was not enough chilies in the mix, which probably would not have been the case had I been served this dish in Chennai (Madras). Maybe I should have gone for the Chicken 65, boneless cubes of chicken breast marinated in a variety of spices that is supposedly super-hot. The only problem was that my lunch companion was vegetarian, so I did not want to order half the menu only to eat it myself.

The kingfish Thali meal

While he opted for the Chettinadu traditonal vegetarian Thali meal for a main course, I got the Kingfish thali. Both meals came with rice, chappathi, sambar, rasam, kootu, poriyal, lime pickle, curd, and pappad–all standard South Indian veg dishes–while mine came with an extra side of Kingfish masala curry made with a tamarind flavored gravy. Though tasty, the portion of fish was tiny, and I was glad I had ordered the mutton to supplement it.

 

Anjappar also features biriyani, and a selection of south Indian breads such as dosais, parathas, and utthupams. There were also some prawn and crab specials, but way above my budget for lunch. Your best bet is to come here with a bunch of people so you can order several dishes and try a bit of everything because I suspect everything here is good! Even the ambience and tasteful decor of the place proved very relaxing, and the service was up to snuff, making Anjappar a place that demands another visit.

 

a cool and comfortable interior makes for an enjoyable dining experience

Read Full Post »

Home Cookin’

Just another lunch at my Aunty Dora's flat on Park Street

 

I didn’t title my cookbook Rice & Curry: Sri Lankan Home Cooking for nothing. The best Sri Lankan food your are likely to get in country or abroad, for that matter, is not in a restaurant, but rather at someone’s home. Don’t get me wrong: I love to eat out when I’m traveling and check out new places, but sometimes you get food fatigue on the road. The best remedy for that is a home cooked meal. You know exactly where the food came from, who cooked it, and you can have it as spicy as you like–and as much of it as you like as well!

 

My Aunt Dora’s flat on Park Street in an area called Slave Island, is usually my base of operations when in Colombo. It’s centrally located, and my regular trishaw driver Nimal hangs out at the temple under the Bo tree across the street. I call on him to make many of my lunchtime excursions because he knows all my regular spots, and can weave in and out of gridlocked traffic to get me where I want to go,  no problem. It’s sometimes  a hairy ride, but never a dull one.

 

One Saturday, I was ready to take my cousin Sam’s family out to lunch somewhere, when his wife Charmalie started complaining that they had too much food in the house. Iraesha, the cook, had left several curries in the fridge, and they would apparently go bad if we didn’t eat them that day. Far be it from me to waste good food. Plus, I had been eating out almost every day for both lunch and dinner since I had been in Sri Lanka, and I needed a little break.

 

rice, the starting point of any good meal

 

parippu or dahl, when added to rice makes a perfect protein

 

miris malu or red fish curry

 

polos or young jackfruit curry

 

mallun or sauteed greens

 

fresh gotu kola salad

 

a gotu kola sambol

 

curried brinjals or eggplant

 

potato curry with kiri hodhi

 

fried onion sambol

 

I counted 10 different dishes–including rice–and all of them were good. I certainly didn’t expect such a grand lunch, but then I realized that this is how they eat everyday. And why on earth would you want to go out if you had food like this? They must look at me like I’m crazy or something.

Read Full Post »

Pan Asian: Mixed Vegetable Curry (Rasa Kayi) — Karnatka, India

 

I’ve been eating a lot of meat recently, so during my last trip to the local farmers’ market, I decided to go vegetarian for lunch and this is what I came up with. Feel free to use any vegetables that you like or have on hand. For a total vegetarian meal, pair it up with some rice and dhal (lentils) as I did. You could also just as easily enjoy this dish with some naan bread. Trader Joe’s sells a particularly good garlic naan in the freezer section, which I use a lot. Just pop it in the toaster oven and slather it with a little butter or ghee and you’re good to go. With such tasty vegetarian dishes as this, I guarantee that even the most committed carnivore will not miss their meat for one meal.

 

The Recipe

4 oz. (100 g) carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

4 oz. (100 g) potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

4 oz. (100 g) green beans, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

3 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 onions, sliced

1 sprig curry leaves (optional)

1 green chili, slit lengthwise

1 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. coriander powder

1/2 tsp. turmeric

salt to taste

4 oz. (100 g) cauliflower, separated into florets

1/2 cup coconut milk

spice paste:

4 garlic cloves, peeled

1-inch piece of ginger, finely chopped

2 green chillies, finely chopped

1/2 tsp. fennel seeds

4 oz. (100 g) tomatoes, diced

1.)   Grind all ingredients for the spice paste in a blender, and set aside.

2.)   Heat oil in a large pan. Add onions, green chili, and curry leaves, and cook until onions are soft. Add the carrots, chili powder, coriander, turmeric and salt. Mix well. Lower the heat and add potatoes. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

3.)   Add the cauliflower and green beans together with the spice paste and mix well. Cook covered another 10-15 minutes.

4.)   Remove pan from heat and slowly add the coconut milk, stirring to blend well. Serve hot.

serves 2-4

Read Full Post »