Aloo Gobi Masala

I've been interested in amchoor (mango powder) for ages--even bought some--but only recently got around to using it in a recipe from The Asian Vegan Kitchen.  Mango powder--made from sour, unripe mangoes--is a souring agent, just like lemon juice or vinegar.

This dish combines creamy potatoes and cauliflower with a lot of spices.  I found that I needed a considerably longer cook time, and thus more water, before the veggies got tender enough.  The mango powder flavor was barely detectable; I think you could play with using more.  And the spiciness (though this varies greatly depending on the chilies you use) was considerable--just right, actually.

Aloo Gobi Masala

(from The Asian Vegan Kitchen)

Ingredients

oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 green chili, cut in half lengthwise

1-in piece ginger, peeled and minced

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp coriander

1 small head cauliflower, in small florets

2 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

salt to taste

2-4 TB water

1/2 tsp cayenne (or to taste--this was pretty hot)

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp mango powder (or more?)

cilantro for garnish

Instructions

1. Heat oil, cook mustard and fennel.  Then, add chili and ginger, and cook briefly.  Add turmeric and coriander.
2. Add cauliflower and potatoes and salt.  Stir to coat.  Add water and cook covered over low heat until veggies are tender (10-30 minutes).
3. Add cayenne, garam masala, and mango powder.  Serves about 4.

Spinach Dal (Dal Palak)

Blogger had a meltdown last week, and several of my posts were lost.  The thought of starting over, combined with incredible busyness, has kept me from posting.  But it's time for a little catch-up.

This dish sure doesn't look like much, but Amey of vegan treats and eats is right: it's delicious.  Is it a dal?  Is it a vegetable dish?  Who knows.  I found myself wanting a lot more acid in it to balance out the earthiness of the lentils; the juice of two limes ended up doing the trick.  I also reduced the amount of water in the recipe, as it took soo much cooking to get enough to evaporate out of the pot.

Spinach Dal (Dal Palak)

(from vegan treats and eats)
 

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs spinach (about 2 lbs before stemming)

1 c red lentils

4 cups water (or a bit less)

oil

4-8 cloves garlic, coarsely minced

4 oz shallots, minced

1 TB fresh ginger, minced

3/4 tsp coriander

2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt (or more to taste)

juice of 2 limes

more water, as desired

Instructions

1. Steam spinach 5-10 min.  Drain and puree.  Set aside.
2. Cook lentils in water until soft (30 min?).
3. Heat oil in a small frying pan.  Cook garlic, shallots, ginger, and spices until brown and fragrant.  Remove from heat.
4. When lentils are nearly done, add spinach puree and saute mixture (aka "tempering oil").  Simmer a bit longer, then stir in lime juice and salt to taste.  Serves about 4.

Spicy Mango Chutney

This chutney comes from Indian Home Cooking.  It is very much like the pear chutney I blogged about a while back, with a few differences (this one adds cornstarch--mangos probably have less pectin than pears--and uses fennel rather than fenugreek).  The flavors are great together, but it's rather syrupy sweet.  I think some lemon juice might be a nice addition.

Spicy Mango Chutney

(from Indian Home Cooking)

Ingredients

4 unripe mangos, peeled and diced

salt

turmeric

water

1 green chile

brown sugar

2 TB cornstarch + 2 TB water

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oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp nigella seeds

3 whole dried chilies

1 tsp cayenne (or to taste)

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lemon juice?

Instructions

1. Bring water to boil.  Add mangoes and chile; reduce heat and simmer until mangos are soft.  Add sugar and cornstarch mixture; simmer.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a small frying pan.  Add spices and cook until fragrant.  Remove from heat.  When mango mixture is just about done, add this tempering oil mixture.  Makes about 3-4 c.

Malai Kofta (sortof)

When one of the buttons on my camera stopped working last week, it was the end of an era.  I've used the same little camera since 2005, and I guess I would have kept on using it indefinitely if something decisive hadn't happened.  

So, from the Fujifilm FinePix E510 to the Fujifilm FinePix JV100.  Nothing special, but it's funny to note that the new camera is 1/3 the size, 2.5x the resolution, and 1/5 the price--though I guess to most people my camera's looked like a dinosaur for quite a while.  This reminds me of stories the ancients used to tell about how digital watches used to cost a gazillion dollars...

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This weekend I cooked dinner for my friend's birthday.  She requested "something Indian-ish," and I thought how some of my favorite things to make--especially baingan bharta and chana masala--feature the vegetables most likely to cause inflammation (eggplant, tomato, potato--for more on this, see the comments to this post).  So I thought I'd try to mix it up and make an Indian-inspired meal that avoided those veggies.  This is what happened.

Malai kofta are one of the richest and most delicious things on the menu at many Indian restaurants.  They're also by definition never vegan.  I looked at a few recipes, but decided I didn't want to use the typical rich gravy.  So, going off this recipe from happy vegan face, I took a lot of the interesting parts of the sauce and added them to the balls themselves.  Then, as I also felt like skipping the potato, I turned to this recipe for green bean falafel, about which I've blogged before.  I picked and chose the best parts of the meatballs, the gravy, and the falafel, and then I changed some of the method as well: when I made the falafel, the raw onions and garlic were way too strong, so this time I sauteed them before mixing them with the green peas and beans and other bulky ingredients.  The meatballs (shown at right before cooking) were then briefly fried until they were crispy on the outside.  In the end these were a good deal like the green bean falafel, but they had a more balanced flavor and a slightly more coherent texture.  (fyi: the word kofta appears in many different languages)

Then here was the particularly odd move: I simmered them not in a spiced gravy, but in Georgian Cilantro Sauce, which I first made last fall.  Along with the garlic in the sauce, cilantro is supposed to have great health benefits, including (perhaps) fighting inflammation, removing heavy metals from the blood, and aiding digestion...though I'm so far from being an expert on this stuff that I take it all with a grain of salt.  In any case, this sauce tasted great, and it fit well with the other flavors in the meal.

The dinner was rounded out by a few standards: dal with ginger and lime, sauteed greens following this Brussels sprouts recipe, and brown basmati rice with turmeric, garlic, and salt.  And for dessert we had maple-coffee ice cream from Scoops.

Green Vegetable Kofta

Ingredients

canola oil

1/2 small yellow onion

1-in piece ginger, peeled and minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 serrano pepper, minced

1/2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp coriander

1/4 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp turmeric

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1 1/2 c frozen green peas and green beans, thawed and pulverized in a food processor

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2 TB cashews, toasted and ground

1 slice of bread, pulverized into bread crumbs

1.5 TB ground flax seed + 4 TB warm water

1/2 c finely ground cornmeal, plus more as needed

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more oil

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a small frying pan.  Add onion, ginger, garlic, and spices, and cook until things are fragrant and translucent (5-10 min over medium-low heat).
2. Thoroughly combine saute mixture with chopped peas and beans, and cashews, bread crumbs, flax seed mixture, and cornmeal.  Roll into small balls, adding more cornmeal or liquid as needed.
3. Heat oil in a high-sided frying pan until quite hot.  Add balls and fry them, turning as needed, until golden brown.  Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.  Set aside.  Makes about 20 balls.  Serve after simmering briefly in gravy or cilantro sauce, or eat as you would falafel.

Spicy Harissa Split Pea Soup

This soup is just the thing if you are not feeling good.  Or... if you just want to eat something delicious.  I think I found this recipe for Spicy Harissa Split Pea Soup when I was looking for more ways to use harissa.  I ended up making a rather stripped-down version of the original recipe.  As a result, mushroom and split peas are the dominant flavors.  It's a delicious, hearty, thick soup... but one that looks not so great, which may have been due to my using yellow mung beans instead of green split peas.  The second time (yes, this soup was so good that I made it twice this week), I decided to just go with the yellow theme, subbing in red lentils for some of the split peas and adding a bit of turmeric for good measure.  Significantly prettier (the photo below, however, is from the first batch).  I pureed the soup before adding green peas, which looks a little silly but produces a really fun texture, reminiscent of the orbitz soft drinks that were so popular back when I was in middle school.

It totally depends on what your harissa is like, but next time I'll use more (though you can adjust this in the garnishing stages); it wasn't very spicy, and harissa tastes soo good!  It's very different than hot sauce; I think it's the caraway, the mint, and the chipotle peppers.  If it wasn't so spicy, I'd just eat the stuff like ice cream.  Luckily, this soup is a great vehicle for it.

Spicy Harissa Split Pea Soup

(from healthy happy life)

Ingredients

olive oil

2 TB chopped garlic

1 1/2 c carrots, diced

1 c mushrooms, sliced (I think I used significantly more than this both times)
2 bay leaves

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2 c dried split peas and/or red lentils, rinsed

4 c veg broth

2 TB spicy harissa (MORE!)
1/4 tsp turmeric (optional)

1 TB black pepper

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salt to taste

1 c frozen green peas, thawed

Instructions

1. In a large pot, heat olive oil.  Add garlic, carrots, mushrooms, and bay leaves and and saute for a few minutes.
2. Add in the remaining ingredients (excepting green peas) and bring soup to a boil.
3. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer at very low heat, until the legumes are tender.
4. Puree soup.  Thin with water or stock, if desired.
5. Serve with green peas on top, as well as harissa and an extra drizzle of olive oil.  Serves 6-8.

Panang Curry

In a space of a few days, I made a smoky enchilada sauce, some harissa, and this panang curry paste.  Then I realized I could never use all of these spicy red slops in a timely matter, and I relegated the enchilada sauce to the freezer.

This recipe is pretty different from your typical Thai-restaurant red or green curry.  It's milder and sweeter.  I thought it was actually a bit too sweet (there's a whole can of pineapple in it), but the flavors are interesting anyway, especially with the cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove in the curry paste.

In following this recipe from strawberry pepper, the biggest change I made was to use tempeh instead of seitan.  I'm a little sheepish about my aversion to seitan.  Mentally, I know that seitan is a nutritious and barely processed source of protein, but the texture is just too much like tough meat for me to be down with it.  And anyway, tempeh actually probably makes more geographical sense in this dish, given the (general) part of the world from which it comes.

I'm a pretty big fan of this recipe.  Coconut milk adds richness, but it's not overwhelming.  The spices are really interesting, and balanced out by the pineapple (though I thought it was a bit too pineappley).  Tempeh, cashews, and bean sprouts all add interesting textures.  In the recipe below, I erred on the side of not-spicy, since you can always add some cayenne or chili-garlic paste later.

 Tempeh and Pineapple Panang Curry

(adapted from strawberry pepper)

Ingredients

1/2 c cashews, unsalted

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1 tsp peanut oil

1/2 lb tempeh, cut into bite sized pieces

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1 c sliced scallions, extra for garnish (I used onion instead)

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2 cs pineapple chunks (or 1 can) (I think this was too much)

1 5 oz. can bamboo shoots

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1/4 c panang curry paste + 1 TB more if extra zing is desired (recipe follows)

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3/4 c coconut milk

3/4 c vegetable broth (or substitute water)

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4 oz. bean sprouts (about 1 c)

Instructions

1. On a skillet over medium-high heat, dry roast the cashews, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
2. Lower to a medium heat, and add tsp of peanut oil (If using a wok, turn the heat to high, and continue with the same directions). Sauté the tempeh for 5-10 minutes, until browned. Add the scallions/onions and sauté an additional 5 minutes.
3. Add the pineapple and bamboo shoots to the skillet or wok and sauté for 5 minutes.
4. Mix in the curry paste, and stir to coat evenly. Allow this to heat up and roast for a minute so that the flavors come out.
5. Add the coconut milk and vegetable broth (or water) and allow to cook for 10 minutes. Most of the liquid should absorb, and the rest should be thick and creamy.
6. Add the sprouts and roasted cashews, leaving some out to garnish with, if desired. Allow to cook for 3-5 minutes, then remove from heat.
7. Serve with rice and garnished with cashews, sprouts, and sliced scallions.  Serves 4.

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This curry paste was easy to make and rather unusual.  Again, as I was making this for the first time, I erred on the side of not-so-spicy.  If I make it again, I'll probably use another chili or two.

Panang Curry Paste

(from strawberry pepper)

Ingredients

2 medium shallots, quartered (I used 1/4 of a white onion, chopped)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 c tomato paste

1 TB brown miso paste

2 TB soy sauce

1/4 c coconut milk

1 TB lime juice

1 heaping TB lemongrass, sliced

6-10 basil leaves (I might use more than 10 next time)

2-6 red chilies (I used 3 dried red chilies)

1 tsp ground ginger

1 TB paprika

2 TB chili powder (I used about 1 tsp of cayenne)

1 TB coriander

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 TB cumin

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

Instructions

1. Put all ingredients into food processor and grind until smooth.
2. Refrigerate until ready for use. Will be better the day after making, when flavors have had a chance to meld.  Should last a couple of weeks in the fridge, or freeze for longer storage time.  Makes about 1 cup.

Potato Kale Enchiladas

This blog is beginning to reveal the hegemony of the ppk.  And I'm okay with that.  They're like the Wordsworths or the T.S. Eliots of vegan cooking.  No anxiety of influence here, just yumminess.

So I recently made Isa's lemon garlic chickpeas and mushrooms and her wheatberry "paella" with chickpeas.  Then, last night, inspired by a recent post by epicurian vegan, I decided to go back to ye olde Veganomicon and make some enchiladas.

Potato and kale seem like a rather odd filling for a traditional Mexican dish, and I think this is why I passed over this recipe back when I read through every word of this cookbook.  But this time around, I instantly thought of the amazing meal I had a few weeks ago at Gracias Madre, a vegan Mexican restaurant in San Francisco so famous that I'd heard about it down here in LA.  Instead of using tofu or tempeh or seitan or soyrizo, and instead of even relying all that heavily on beans and other legumes, this restaurant focuses on placing seasonal vegetables in the spotlight.  When I went there, I had tacos filled with 1) asparagus grilled with cumin, 2) mushrooms sauteed with garlic, and 3) mixed greens with chilies.  They were really exceptional, along with the other stuff we had that evening.  With that in mind, I abandoned my "tacos-etc-must-have-a-meaty-filling" prejudices for one more night, and made these enchiladas.

Westside meets Eastside

The original recipe called for large, fresh green chilies, which I didn't have.  What I did have was a can of chipotle en adobo--smoked chilies in tomato sauce (food of the gods!).  I used some of this instead of the fresh chilies, and since sugar was already added, I skipped that as well.  On a similar note, the only canned tomatoes I had were the TJ's ones that already had green chilies added to them.  So no additional chilies, no additional salt, no additional sugar.  The original recipe also calls for 2-3 tsp of  "chili powder."  I just had straight cayenne, which presumably packs more heat, so I only used 1 tsp, thinking I'd add more later as needed--not needed!  This was just the right amount of spicy as was...which is to say, it was darn spicy.  So, to conclude, using (minimally) processed foods like the canned tomatoes and peppers throws everything off, and I'm sorry for that.  Just do it to taste!  :)

Why did I have to go to Trader Joe's to get corn tortillas without weird additives?  This has puzzled me before.  The TJs products aren't any more expensive, and they last quite a long time themselves.

Anyway, the finished product was really delicious.  The chipotles gave the sauce a tangy, smoky flavor, and the filling was hearty and satisfying.  It also ended up being pretty spicy.

Alas, enchiladas are not the most photogenic food.  I imagine that garnished with cilantro and avocado, they might look a little more appealing.  Some sort of cashew sour cream would also be nice.  But this stripped-down version certainly tasted just fine.

Potato Kale Enchiladas

(adapted from Veganomicon)

Ingredients

Enchilada sauce:

olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 tsp cayenne (or less, to taste)

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp marjoram

1 14-oz can canned tomatoes with chilies added

1/2 a tiny can of chipotle en adobo (feel free to make substitutions here with the chilies and tomatoes--as long as it's not inedibly spicy, you're probably fine)

sugar, salt, and cayenne to taste

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Potato-Kale Filling

1 pound potatoes, peeled and small-diced
 olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

cumin

1/2 pound kale, finely chopped (I used Trader Joe's mixed greens--kale, turnip and mustard greens, and spinach)

1/4 c veg stock

3 TB lime juice

salt to taste (none was needed for me)

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12 corn tortillas (perhaps fewer)

Instructions

1. Boil potatoes until they soft.  Drain and set aside.  Preheat oven to 375*.
2. For sauce: heat oil in a sauce pan, saute onions.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer.  Turn off heat; cool.  Puree.  Adjust seasonings to taste.
3. For filling: heat oil in a large skillet.  Cook garlic and cumin.  Then add potatoes, greens, stock, and lime juice.  Cover and reduce heat; cook until greens are wilted.  Add salt to taste.
4. To assemble enchiladas: oil a large baking dish.  Dredge a tortilla in sauce on both sides (I also spooned some more sauce on the inside side).  Spoon some filling into the tortilla, then roll it up and place it edge-side-down in the baking dish.  Do this for all of them; they should fit rather snugly (the picture only shows a half batch).  Pour another cup of sauce over the top, then cover with foil and bake 25 minutes.  Then, uncover and bake another 10 minutes or until the tortillas are slightly brown and crispy in places.  Top enchiladas with additional sauce, cilantro, avocado, cheesy sauce, cashew sour cream, etc.  Serves 4-6.