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!