Spinach-Zucchini Lasagna

Another classic Italian dish. Sauteed vegetables and strips of lasagna noodles are alternately layered between a cream-based or tomato-based sauce, and topped with lots of cheese. The layers are baked until the top is cheesy and crispy, and the noodles are tender in their sandwich of vegetables and sauce. 

There are many many ways of preparing lasagna, I guess. But the fundamentals remain the same.

Ingredients:

1. 1 tablespoon olive oil
2. 1 teaspoon crushed oregano / omam seeds
3. 1 teaspoon crushed herb de provence
4. 2 medium-sized yellow onions, finely chopped
5. 5 garlic cloves, minced
6. 2 zucchinis, diced
7. 4 cups washed and cut spinach leaves
8. Around 15-16 sheets of lasagna noodles (uncooked)
9. 24 ounces/680 grams of Marinara sauce (1 store bought jar is fine, saves time)
10. 1 cup grated or sliced mozzarella cheese (low-fat if you will)
11. 1.5 cups ricotta cheese (fat-free if you will)
12. 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
13. 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
14. 1 teaspoon salt
15. 1.5 teaspoons pepper
16. 1/4 cup Italian basil, cut
17. 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, cut

 Preparation:

1.  Heat the marinara sauce with the basil and parsley until it begins to gently bubble. Remove from heat. 
2. Heat the olive oil along with the crushed oregano and herb de provence. When the oil is hot, add the chopped onions and garlic and saute on low-medium heat until the onion almost caramelizes.Only yellow or white onions have enough sugar content in them to caramelize and turn golden (without burning). It takes about 15-20 minutes on low heat for the onions to caramelize.
3. Next, add the zucchini and saute with grated nutmeg for 7 minutes or so. The zucchini doesn't have to cook fully. Then, add the spinach and mix well. Remove from heat. The spinach will begin to wilt in the heat. Sprinkle salt and pepper and mix well.
4. Onto the assembly. Ladle some sauce on the bottom of a 9*13 inch baking dish. 
5. Break the lasagna noodles so that the length fits the baking dish. About 3-4 noodles should snugly fit in the dish. Soak the noodles in boiling water for about 6 minutes until they are cooked half-way. Remove the noodles from water and place on a dish.
6. Start assembling the lasagna.
1.  Place 3 strips of noodles on top of the sauce in the baking dish.
2. Spread 1/2 cup worth ricotta cheese on the noodles.
3. Place 3 more strips of noodles on top of the ricotta
4. Ladle about 1/3 of the prepared marinara sauce on top of the noodles
5. Spread 1/3 of the prepared vegetables on top of the sauce
6. Place/sprinkle 1/2 cup worth mozzarella on top of the veggies.
7. Now place 3 more strips of noodles
8. Follow with 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese
9. Spread another 1/3 vegetables on top
10. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of mozzarella
11. Place 3 more noodles
12. Spread another 1/3 of the sauce
13. Spread the remaining ricotta
14. Spread the remaining vegetables
15. Place the remaining noodles
16. Spread the remaining sauce
17. And finally, top with the parmesan cheese
7. I know, I have too many layers! But make sure to start with sauce-noodles and end with noodles-sauce-parmesan. Everything in between is up to you. Bake for 45 minutes in a preheated 375 F oven until the top is browned and crispy.

Cut and serve! You can alter the kinds of cheese and the vegetables you would like to add. And of course, an alfredo sauce would be much richer and fattier than marinara, but tasty nonetheless.  I didn't add much parmesan on top so the lasagna didn't really brown much on top, but if you like the crunchy cheesy top, please do add more.

Minestrone

Minestrone is a classic Italian soup with mild spices, tomatoes, vegetables, beans, pasta, and finally, as always, a spattering of parmesan cheese. I like making such hardy and healthy soups that contain all the vitamins (from the veggies), some carbohydrate (from the pasta),  protein (from the beans), and some fat (from the cheese) all in one single bowl of flavorful soup. Easy to prepare and easy to gulp, not to mention coming home to some healthy and hardy soup.

I prepare a big pot of soup every now and then with some variations in spice and veggies. 

Ingredients (results in a huge pot of soup; about 8 servings)

1. 2 tablespoons olive oil
2. 2 medium sized onions, finely chopped
3. 6 cloves of garlic, minced
4. 1.5 - 2 teaspoons salt
5. 2 celery stalks, diced
6. 2 carrots, peeled and diced
7. 1 zucchini, diced
8. 1 small eggplant, diced
9. 1 bell-pepper/capsicum, diced
10. 6 ounces of tomato paste (1 can of Hunts')
11. 2 tomatoes, diced
12. 6-7 cups of water / vegetable broth)
13. 2 cups cooked chickpeas / garbanzo beans (or white cannellini beans)
14. 1 cup uncooked pasta (any kind of pasta)
15. 2 teaspoons crushed oregano / omam seeds
16. 2 teaspoons cumin powder
17. 3 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
18. 1 tablespoon thyme (remove leaves from the stem)
19. 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
20. 1/4 cup Italian basil, chopped
21. some parmesan cheese, grated (up to 1/2 cup)

Preparation:

1. Heat the olive oil in  big sauce-pan or dutch-oven. Add the onions and saute until translucent. Next, add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds. 
2. Add the celery, carrot and eggplant and saute with salt. Let the vegetables cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. 
3. Then, add freshly ground pepper, cumin powder and crushed oregano and stir well. Cover and cook for 10 minutes on medium heat stirring now and then. 
4. Add the tomato paste and stir it well with the veggies. Then, throw in the bell-pepper, zucchini and stir well. Dilute the veggies with about 6 cups of water. Stir well, add thyme, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes until the veggies are almost cooked. Add more water if needed.
5. Next, add the cooked chickpeas and the pasta. Cover and cook for 12 minutes or so until the pasta is al dente. 
6. Finally stir in the tomatoes, parsley and basil. Reduce to heat and let everything simmer for 5 minutes. Check for seasonings and consistency and adjust accordingly by adding more spices or water. 

Remove from heat, ladle into bowls and serve with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and bread on the side. The warm flavors of cumin and oregano go very well on a cold evening.

Carrot Kosumalli

It's a funny name - Kosumalli :). This is nothing but simple carrot salad, the Indian way.

Ingredients (6-8 servings)

1. 9-10 grated carrots
2. 2-3 green chillies, finely cut (remove the seeds if you are wary of spice)
3. 2 inch strip of ginger, finely cut
4. 1.5 teaspoons black mustard seeds
5. 1.5 teaspoons split urad dhal / thuvaram paruppu
6. 1/2 teaspoon hing / asafoetida
7. 1- 2 tablespoons olive oil
8. 1 teaspoon salt
9. 1 lemon
10. 1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves / cilantro

Preparation

1. Heat the olive oil. When hot, splutter mustard seeds, and then add urad dhal, green chillies, ginger, and hing and stir for a few seconds until the urad dhal begins to brown a little. Remove from heat and pour over the grated carrots. Mix well. 
2. Add salt, the juice of one lemon and the coriander leaves and mix well. 

That's it! Serve on the side of any dish. 

Curried Couscous

For the uninitiated, couscous is a Middle-Eastern variety of semolina (rava). It is popularly known as Semolina pasta. It has a mild, nutty flavor and absorbs the flavors of the spices with which it is cooked or tossed in. This is very reminiscent of upma. It cooks super fast (literally 5 minutes) and hence makes a great weeknight dinner. 

For a while, I have been cooking couscous by adding Indian spices, but among the Indianized versions that I've tried, both Anand and I love this version of curried couscous! The key success of this version is in its technique of marinating or mixing the spices in yogurt before adding it to the cooked couscous. It keeps the couscous incredibly moist and all the flavors get evenly absorbed. I made a few adjustments, though - mostly in measurements.

Preparation

I cook the couscous in the same manner. 1.5 cups of boiling water poured over 1.5 cups of couscous, along with a drizzle of olive oil (instead of butter). Close the lid and let it stay/cook for 5 minutes. Then remove the lid and fluff the cooked couscous with a fork. 

I use 1/2 cup of yogurt (instead of 1/4), add salt, pepper, turmeric powder, a teaspoon of plain vinegar, 2 teaspoons of Kitchen-King masala, and 1/4 cup of olive oil and whisk well. Pour this over the couscous and mix well. 

I then add one diced cucumber (cucumber + yogurt flavor is even better), 1/2 of a finely chopped red-onion, coriander leaves (instead of parsley), 1/4 cup of golden raisins (even better than currants), 1/3 cup of blanched sliced almonds, and 2 chopped scallions. Finally, I pour the juice of a lemon.

Mix everything and serve!

It's almost like a salad. You can choose the vegetables you want to add and tailor the spices to your liking. But don't forget the yogurt!

Malai Kofta

Yum yum Yum. Only Indians can think of such rich gravies. A decadent vision of creamy spicy gravy with little islands (or rather meteors?) of paneer-based vegetable fritters floating and cruising through thick currents of tomato and cream - sounds as irresistible as it actually tastes!

The gravy part is actually pretty simple. Not to trivialize North-Indian gravies, but once you figure out the basic formula that makes the gravy, it's straightforward every single time. You can't go wrong! But, it's the fat little Kofta that intimidates us a smidge. What makes good Koftas? The answer is relatively easy. Mashed, grated vegetables and paneer formed into balls and deep fried into lovely fritters! The Koftas can't taste anything less than good, but what keeps the Koftas stable, allowing them to retain their glorious shape and swim through the gravy? That, used to be a tough question. Something needs to bind the Koftas and keep them together without letting them disintegrate in the gravy, right? Nothing is quite so tragic as watching your perfectly fried golden-brown Koftas crumble in the gravy as you hear your husband clearing his throat and pointing the obvious - "Ahem, I don't think this is Malai Kofta anymore." 

With my mother-in-law's help, I thought the secret binding ingredient was corn-starch or all-purpose flour or maida or even rice flour. But, no, no, and no. Through a friend of mine, I got to know that the elusive secret ingredient was sitting under our noses all this while- besan. Ah! So, I had to try it out!  

Ingredients for the Koftas (makes 30-33 Koftas)

1. A small head of cabbage - grated/shredded
2. 200 grams of paneer / Indian Cottage Cheese - grated
3. 1 teaspoon of salt
4. 1 teaspoon of coriander powder
5. 1.5 teaspoons of Phav Bhaji masala / Indian curry powder (optional)
6. Besan / Bengal Gram dhal flour - as needed (no more than a cup)
7. 4-5 cups vegetable oil for deep frying

I used a rough proportion of 1:4 (paneer : cabbage) to make the Koftas. I was feeling guilty about the cream and milk, so I decided to compromise on the paneer. But really, the proportion doesn't matter. The more you add paneer, the more awesome the koftas would be! 

Preparing the Koftas

1. Mix the grated cabbage and paneer with the spices. Add the besan in small increments until you are able to form a firm ball of kofta that doesn't crumble (your hand is the best tool for this). The amount of besan depends on the texture of the cabbage and the paneer. So, I am unable to give an exact amount of besan.
2. Heat the oil on medium-high heat. Add no more than 4 koftas at a time and fry them on medium-heat until golden brown. Drain on paper-towels. 

 Ingredients for the Gravy (8-10 servings. I usually cook in big batches):

1. 2 medium-sized onions, finely diced
2. 2 tomatoes, diced
3. 9 ounces / 255 grams of tomato paste (1.5 cans of the small 6 ounce Hunts' paste)
4. ginger garlic paste - 5 cloves of garlic crushed and mashed with a 2" block of ginger
5. 3 cups 2% milk (low fat milk)
6. 2 cups fat-free half & half
7. 1/2 cup finely chopped coriander / cilantro leaves
8. 1.5 teaspoons salt or as needed
9. Juice of half a lemon
10. 2 teaspoons cumin seeds / jeera
11. 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
12. 1 teaspoon cumin powder / jeera powder
13. 2 teaspoons coriander powder
14. 2 teaspoons garam masala
15. 1 teaspoon chilli powder (optional. I don't add)
16. 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup 
17. 2-3 tablespoons olive oil / vegetable oil
18. 1/3 cup golden raisins (optional)

Preparing the Gravy:

1. In a big sauce-pan, heat the oil along with the cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds sizzle, add the onions and saute until translucent. 
2. Next, add the ginger garlic paste and fry with the onions for a minute. Dump all the spices - the turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, chilli powder, garam masala, and salt. Fry the spices in the ginger-garlic-onions for another minute. 
3. Add the tomatoes and saute for a couple of minutes until they soften and release their juices. Then, add the tomato paste and stir well to coat all the spices. On medium heat, let the tomato paste stew/cook in the spices until some oil begins to separate from the paste. It takes about 7-10 minutes. At this point, drizzle in some tomato ketchup to bring some vinegar-y zing to the gravy. Mix and stir for a minute.
4. Next, add 3 cups of milk and stir well. Close the sauce-pan, reduce the heat and let the gravy simmer for 20-30 minutes until the spices meld together and the raw taste of the tomatoes is softened by the milk and spices. The gravy should have also thickened a bit.
5. Slowly add the fried Koftas to the gravy. Do not vigorously stir or mix. Gently mix the koftas in the gravy. 
6. Pour 2 cups of half & half (or heavy cream!) and raisins, close the sauce-pan and let the koftas cook in the gravy for 10 minutes. 
7. Remove the gravy from heat. Garnish with lemon juice and coriander leaves. 

Serve with warm rotis or rice! The Malai Kofta tends to thicken a bit when stored in the fridge. So, dilute it with a bit of milk and bring it to a slow boil before serving the left overs.

Malai Kofta is definitely a labor of love, but it's surely worth it!

Chocolate Truffles

When my plans for chocolate truffles went awry a couple of weeks ago, Anand was quick to rub it in every other day. It was a let down for him that I didn't deliver, and I had a point to prove. So, I experimented again this week, and it thankfully turned out well. 

The point I was dying to prove is - good quality ingredients make a difference - the essential difference between good and bad. Last time, I used an un-branded bag of chocolate chips that was residing in the pantry. The resulting ganache never set. The reason - chocolate chips have emulsifiers and additives that interfere with the texture of ganache. And a random bag of chocolate chips is sure to have plenty of extra additives and cheaper chocolate substitutes, rendering the ganache even more substance-less. This time, I followed Ina Garten's recommendation. I used Lindt and Ghiradelli chocolate bars, and the ganache and the truffles came out beautifully. See Anand, my hand doesn't gravitate to the most expensive items on the shelf without good reason ;)

Here is the expert's recipe. 

There's only one basic formula for making good chocolate truffles. The chocolate bars (1 pound total) is melted in 1 cup of hot cream, and is flavored with vanilla, coffee, and other such essences of one's choice. The Ganache is allowed to set for an hour at room temperature. Then, the chocolate is scooped out in oddly shaped truffles and chilled. The chilled truffles are rolled to give a regular shape, and are then coated with cocoa powder, nuts, sugar, and other fun flavorings. 

I rolled my truffles in unsweetened cocoa powder, powdered mint chips, and powdered white-chocolate chips. 

They are extremely simple and fun chocolate ladoos!

Semiya Paayasam

Semiya (vermicelli) paayasam is a sweet and yummy pudding. Milk and sugar is reduced together with cooked vermicelli to make a lovely and festive pudding. 

Ingredients:

1. 3/4 -1 cup uncooked roasted vermicelli (broken in 1 inch pieces; Roast the vermicelli in a little bit of ghee till it turns reddish-brown)
2. 3/4 cup boiling water
3. 3 1/4 cups warm milk
4. 3/4 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you like the pudding; I usually add 2/3 cup)
5. 2 teaspoons ghee / clarified butter
6. 1 tablespoon worth broken cashew nuts (unsalted, of course)
7. 1 teaspoon raisins
8. 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg / edible camphor
9. 1/8 teaspoon saffron 
10. 1 teaspoon cardamom powder

Preparation:

1. In a saucepan, add the vermicelli and hot water and stir on medium heat as the vermicelli softens and cooks. 
2. When the vermicelli is almost cooked and/or when there is hardly any water, add 1 cup of milk. Stir together and let the vermicelli continue to cook and stew in the milk.
3. After about 5 minutes, add 1/3 cup of sugar and stir well. Keep stewing on medium-heat.
4. After another 5 minutes, add 1 more cup of milk and the saffron. Stir well and continue to cook. 
5. When the milk reduces, add the remaining sugar and grated nutmeg, and stir well. 
6. After 2 minutes, add 1 cup of milk and stir well. After 5 minutes, check if the vermicelli is cooked and remove from heat. If not, continue to cook on low heat until it is cooked.
7. Finally, add the 1/4 cup of milk after the pudding is removed from the heat. Garnish with cardamom powder and ghee-roasted cashews and raisins.

I was told that the key to this paayasam is to alternate the sugar and milk in small batches, so that the semiya stews well and the milk reduces well to a yummy consistency. The pudding thickens as it cools. So dilute with a little bit of warm milk (if needed) before serving. The consistency of this paayasam is varied... some are watery/milky, while others are more like a traditional pudding. 

Mango Pachidi

Mango pachidi is yet another dish that is popularly prepared during New Year's celebration. It's pretty simple to make and is often accompanied with Neem flower pachidi (the previous pachidi) to create a more layered set of flavors. 

Ingredients:

1. 1 half-ripe mango - peeled and cut intro thin strips or cubes
2. 3/4 cup water (approximately)
3. 1/2 teaspoon salt
4. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
5. 1/4 cup jaggery / brown sugar (depends on the sweetness of the mango)
6. 1 teaspoon ghee / clarified butter
7. 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
8. 1 dried red chilly or 2 green chillies
9. 2 teaspoons rice flour mixed in 1 tablespoon water (the paste is used to thicken the pachidi if needed)

Preparation:

1. Add water to the cut mango and cook it completely along with salt and turmeric powder (takes 10-15 minutes)
2. Add the powdered jaggery or brown sugar and stir well. Let it boil for 5-10 minutes on low heat. 
3. When the jaggery / sugar is completely mixed in, remove from heat. If the gravy is too watery, thicken it by mixing 2 teaspoons of rice flour in a tablespoon of water and adding the paste to the gravy. Mix it well till there are no lumps, and let it boil for an additional 5 minutes until the flour cooks and thickens the gravy. Remove from heat
4. Heat a spoon of ghee. Splutter mustard seeds and chillies/chilly. Add the garnish to the cooked pachidi. Mix well. Serve!

The tartness of the mangoes makes up for the lack of tamarind. Mix and match to your liking!

Neem Flower Pachidi /Vepampoo Pachidi

Indians also have regional new-years. Our astrological charts vary from state to state and cultural norms differ from one city to another. So we have unique celebrations round the year. April 13th was this year's Tamil New Year. And one of the most traditional dishes prepared is the neem flower (vepampoo) pachidi. A sweet, savory, bitter, tangy, and spicy gravy. The whole point is to mix in all the varied flavors of life - sweet, bitter, sour, spicy, and savory. Acknowledging that the New Year is going to offer us a mixed bag of emotions and experiences, we symbolically prepare this dish. 

Neem is widely known for its excellent anti-bacterial properties. Its flower is quite potent (and equally bitter), and is hence used in cooking for its medicinal properties. When masked with the other spices, the neem flower is not quite as unpalatable. Also, this is the time when neem trees shed their flowers. Since almost every house has (used to have) a neem tree, this is when the flowers are collected and put to good use.

Ingredients:

1. 1 tablespoon neem flowers / vepampoo (dried or fresh)
2. 2 teaspoons ghee (clarified butter)
3. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil/olive oil
4. 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
5. A piece of tamarind, about 4 inches long (soak in 1 cup of hot water for 10 minutes and squeeze out all the tamarind juice; discard the tamarind pulp)
6. 1/4 teaspoon Hing / Asafoetida
7.  A few curry leaves
8. 2-3 dried red chillies
9. 1/2  teaspoon salt (or as needed)
10. 1.5 tablespoons jaggery / brown sugar
11. 2 teaspoons rice flour mixed well in 1 tablespoon of water (the paste helps to thicken the pachidi)

Preparation:

1. Roast the neem flower in the ghee until it turns a dark shade of brown
2. In a saucepan, heat oil. Splutter mustard seeds. Add the hing, the red chillies, and curry leaves.
3. Add the tamarind juice (and an additional 3/4 cup of water) and salt, and let it boil for 10-15 minutes until the raw smell of tamarind dissipates.
4. Add the jaggery / brown sugar and mix well. Let it boil for an additional 5-10 minutes.
5. Reduce the heat, add the rice flour + water paste and whisk well into the gravy till there are no lumps. Heat for an additional 5 minutes until the flour cooks and thickens the pachidi. 
6. Remove from heat and add the fried neem flowers. 

Serve as a side-dish with rice. 

Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes

In the spirit of Easter, I thought I would make a few chocolate truffles for neighbors and friends. All my plans were muddled when my slightly "innovative" Ganache never firmed up to make the truffle balls. Unsure of what to do with a big bowl of gooey chocolate, I searched for baking ideas and landed on this. I had always wanted to make these cupcakes, so I took this random opportunity to bake them. Instead of using chocolate syrup (Hershey's) I used the Ganache on hand (which was basically 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips melted with a cup of hot cream, and spiked with a few tablespoons of Bailey's Irish Cream), to both bake the cupcakes and frost some of them. The recipe itself is straightforward and easy to remember. I will return to these cupcakes for many more occasions.

The cupcakes were fantastic! They were incredibly moist and soft. Due to my substitution, they didn't rise much, so they turned into cute itty-bitty cupcakes! The chocoholic at home was quite happy with the turn of events.

Tofu Jalfrezi

Jalfrezi is another spiced curry made with onions and bell-peppers sauteed with pan-fried paneer. I substituted paneer with tofu this time ; not for health reasons, but purely out of availability and convenience. But the entire process and taste remain the same. Jalfrezi is supposed to be mildly sweet in a way that complements the spices. At least, that is what I understand and remember from my friend's dish.

Ingredients:

1. 3 tablespoons olive oil / vegetable oil
2. 2 teaspoons cumin seeds / jeera
3. 2 medium-sized onions, finely diced
4. 4 cloves of garlic crushed/ground with a 2-inch block of ginger
5. 1.5 teaspoons garam masala
6. 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
7. 1 teaspoon coriander powder
8. 1 teaspoon chilli powder (optional; I don't usually add)
9. 1 teaspoon salt
10.  3 bell-peppers, cubed or cut into strips (I use red, orange, and yellow peppers as they are mildly sweet and caramelize upon sauteing. Their flavors go well with the jalfrazi theme)
11. 2 tomatoes, finely diced
12. 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup (the slightly spicier version is recommended; if using, go easy on the chilli powder)
13. 14 ounces / 397 grams Extra-firm Tofu - cubed
14. 3/4 teaspoon sugar
15. Juice of half a lemon
16. 1/4 cup chopped cilantro / coriander leaves

Preparation:

1. Pan fry the tofu cubes with a tablespoon of oil, until they turn golden-brown. Transfer the fried tofu on a paper towel to drain excess oil
2. In the meanwhile, in another skillet, heat the remaining oil with jeera. When the jeera begins to sizzle, add the chopped onions and saute on medium-heat until they turn translucent.
3. Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute with the onions for a minute or two. 
4. Add the spices - the turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala, chilli powder, and salt. Stir and fry the spices with the onions and ginger-garlic, for a minute or two. Be careful not to burn the spices.
5. Add the cubed bell-peppers and saute with the rest. Let the bell-peppers almost cook - about 7-10 minutes. If the bell-peppers slightly char and fry, they taste even better - especially since the sweeter ones caramelize.
6. Next, add the tomatoes and tomato ketchup and stir well. Wait for the tomatoes to soften and cook. Takes about 5 minutes or so.
7. Finally, add the fried tofu. Reduce the heat to low. Stir the tofu into the curry and let it simmer for a couple of minutes.
8. Remove from heat. Sprinkle some sugar and stir well to incorporate it into the curry. Squeeze some lemon juice to bring out the flavors, and garnish with cilantro. 

It's excellent served with roti / bread. We have recently become a fan of most things sweet and spicy, so we loved this. Paneer with anything can't go wrong much, anyway!

Lemon Yogurt Cake

My family knows how hard I've been trying to find a perfect (or near-perfect) recipe to replicate the wonderfully soft and lemony Starbucks lemon cake. I have had several failed attempts over the years as I made woefully naive baking mistakes - ingredients not at room temperature, over-beating the batter with zealous enthusiasm, not knowing which ingredients to overlook and which ones to not, etc. 

 

Anyway, without further rambling, I am pleased to say that I have finally found the magic recipe. It is none other than Ina Garten's, of course. Her lemon yogurt cake is the winner! It has simple ingredients, the right amount of lemon flavor, and is mildly sweet. And, I followed her recipe to the letter. All ingredients were at room temperature, and if she said whisk, I whisked, if she said stir, I stirred, and if she said fold, I folded. The only minor difference was that my cake took 60 minutes to bake, instead of the predicted 50 minutes. The cake is also not as buttery or rich as expected. It has 1/2 cup vegetable oil instead of butter, less sugar than most other cakes, and other simple ingredients found in the pantry. I might decide to add some more lemon zest in the future, though. Also, in the past I've underestimated the importance of soaking the cake with lemon-sugar syrup. Most of the lemon flavor and zing come from this. So, don't overlook it. The syrup also keeps the cake moist.

I tried several attempts of making an egg-less lemon cake (adding flax seeds or apple sauce or extra buttermilk, yogurt, etc), but I am sorry to say that none worked. The consistency was way off and the cake turned out to be tough with a curious texture. Only eggs seem to do the trick. Or maybe I still need to experiment with the measurements. But for now, Ina's recipe with eggs brings home the lovely lemon cake!

Kadappa

Kadappa is the Tamil Brahmin version of Kurma - a spicy gravy with vegetables. This dish has its origins in Kumbakkonam, a town in Tamil Nadu. The recipe comes from my mother-in-law and from her in-law's kitchen :)

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup - uncooked moong dhal / payatham paruppu
2. 3-4 medium sized peeled and boiled potatoes - cubed
3. 2 tomatoes - diced
4. 1 medium-sized/large onion - finely diced
5. 4 teaspoons pottu kadalai / Split roasted gram dhal
6. 2 teaspoons white poppy seeds / kasa kasa
7. 1.5 teaspoons worth minced/grated ginger
8. 2 green chillies
9. 2 tablespoons grated coconut
10. 5 cloves
11. 6 cardamom pods (with the seeds)
12. 1 cinnamon stick
13. 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
14. 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
15. Juice of half a lemon (optional)
16. 1/4 cup cilantro / coriander leaves - cut

Preparation:

1. Cook the moong dhal with about 2 cups of water till it is mashable
2. Heat a saucepan with oil. Add the cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom and let them sizzle in the oil for a minute.
3. Add the diced onion and saute (on medium heat) until the onion turns translucent
4. Next add the tomatoes and salt and saute till the tomatoes soften.
5. Add the boiled/cooked moong dhal and 1.5 cups of water. Stir everything together and let the dhal seep into all the flavors. Cook for 5-10 minutes.
6. In the meanwhile, prepare a flavorful paste to thicken the gravy. Grind together the pottu-kadalai, poppy seeds, ginger, green chillies, and coconut with about 1/4 cup of water till everything is a smooth paste. 
7. Add this paste to the bubbling dhal and stir well. Allow the mixture to cook for another 5 minutes. The paste will thicken the gravy. If you would like, add more water to dilute the gravy to your liking.
8. Finally, add the boiled, cubed potatoes and stir well. Heat for another 2 minutes. Then remove from heat. 
9. Garnish with coriander leaves and the juice of half a lemon to bring out all the flavors.

That's it. It's an aromatic and mildly spicy variation of Kurma that goes very well as a side-dish. I absolutely love this dish!