Indian Culture & Vegan Snack-Lighter Pakora's

Ate at Bawarchi Dosas in Miramar area with Kristina this month. I just love Southern Indian for offering Chinese dishes on the menu as well as having some bread-like items that are often made from lentil, chickpea or rice flour (I will always miss naan but this makes up for it).

 Kristina kept getting distracted by the odd dance videos playing on the TV screen behind me. The man mainly gave Zoo-lander-esque looks as he pauses from his Ricky Martin type dancing the in rain routine at a club. The woman sadly stares at him from across the room and a glistening tear rolls down her cheek. Her hair whips around in the wind.   He steps down and walks ever so slowly towards her while putting on his sunglasses (in the club). The other thing that we noticed is that the man and woman in each video never actually kissed. Cultural value? I did a little reading on BBC.

 Aside from having bouts of laughter, we were adventurous and tried Masala Papad (note: order yummy yogurt based mango lassi drink to go with this mouth numbing crispy lentil-based appetizer.)  I have seen papads at Fresh and Easy (or am sure the Indian market near this restaurant carries them) that you can just fry up at home, or apparently you can microwave them if you are trying to be healthier.

Speaking of trying to be healthier, I tested out a baked pakora recipe I found on Irreverent Vegan's blog over the weekend. I wish I hadn't run out of parchment paper-trying to butter up foil did not cut it...but at least stuck on there is better than having to soak and scrub the cookie sheets.  I chopped up beet greens to use instead of spinach and also just add grated zuchini as that is what I had on hand. Personally, I was a bit put off by the chutney that went with the recipe. I think I am used to/prefer the more vinegar-based chutneys and it was a bit much on the ginger for my liking (and I do like ginger-pickled with sushi, in candy form, for upset tummy as a tea). I've copied the pakora recipe below with my modifications. I think next time I might try decreasing the salt. I would make this again-very tasty even without a sauce. Just be ready to heat up your home-500 F bake temp! Nice winter recipe, no? Save on your heating bill! We're just starting to have drizzly, light jacket weather here.

Baked Pakora (chickpea battered veggies)

• three handfuls of chopped leafy greens (beet greens today)
• one zucchini grated-this one was probably about 1" diameter and 7" long
• 2 cups chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour-I got Bob's Redmill brand, starting to see this available at even regular chain grocery stores now, but again go for Indian market if you want it cheaper. I liked the taste of the Redmill flour though.
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp red pepper (optional)
• 1 1/2 tsp dried coriander (cilantro)
• 1 1/2 cups water

Tools needed: spatula safe for oven flipping, cookie sheets, parchment paper, 1 large bowl

Pre-heat the oven to 500 F.

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add water a bit at a time, until you make it a bit thicker-than-muffin batter type consistency. Add your rinsed, chopped/grated veggies (you can be creative here use what you have on hand) and mix until covered with batter.

 Spoon batter onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. The lumps should hold their form (not keep spreading) The size lumps I  made yielded about 12 pakora. Make bigger or smaller-just adjust the cooking time (also depends on your oven, I had to take mine out early). 

The original recipe has you bake on one side 8 minutes and then flip the pakora on the other side for 10 to get the crunchy crust. Mine only needed 8 minutes on the second side, luckily I stayed in the kitchen because they brown fast!

 

What recipe have you health-ified and loved? (or hated?)  What's your take on PDA's in public?

Half an index finger-high bread made with a machine: gluten and egg-free

Baking used to be an easy thing for me, always making cakes and cookies to share with friends and co-workers while I was in school. I even hosted a cookie swap with fellow APO brothers-still have the recipes in my notebook. But then came being an adult, and replacing worry-free dining hall meals with home-cooked food which requires planning, shopping, making and clean-up. There is also less time for baking when working with a 45 minute commute each way and nine hour work days.

 Then add in finding out being allergic to wheat. Often times I am asked to have a rainbow of gluten free flours available for some recipes-and sometimes I just can't get out to the right store to get them or decide to be brave and try to use what I have on hand. It's a lot of about experimentation and not being afraid to fail (or being willing to turn your turn-to-dust chocolate shortbread rice-flour cookies into an ice cream topping). I think if I want to have better success rates I need to try try again and keep a notebook like this baker Alice (thanks, Karen for sharing this with me a year ago!) I'm not ready to get that serious about baking. I tried weighing the flours to be equivalent to the white/wheat flour for the recipe book that came with the bread  machine but had big flops.

My friend, Yanny, shared with me some gems from a book by glutenfreegirl : "gluten-free baking usually requires a mix of 3 GF flours. One should be a whole-grain (sorghum, brown rice, garfav). Second a starch to lighten up the mix (potato starch, tapioca starch/flour, cornstarch, arrow root). Last should have a personality you want to add. Amaranth has soft texture, slight malt flavor (cookies, cinnamon rolls). Almond for protein and a bit of fat. Coconut flour, but it sucks up moisture. Millet for crumb. Quinoa is savory (quiches). Teff is the finest texture so it almost melts during baking and helps bind muffins and quick breads." For pancakes and cookies I find using a gluten free blend  (2:1 parts of whole-grain to starch and xantham gum, for this blend 3 cups of flour needs 1 tsp xantham gum) and then to add some nutrition no more than 25%-33% of personality flour. I really wish I could do almond flour-darn allergy! Elena's Pantry blog uses it for many of the baked goods.

So, I'm still in search of a magical bread machine recipe that comes out great every time-and still puzzling over what I can swap in for powdered milk to get in line with trying to reduce soy in my diet. I haven't seen powdered oat milk or anything at the stores yet. Mayhaps I just need to swap in the warmed liquid milk substitute and use less water...but one thing to change up at a time. I made two loaves these past two weeks, experimenting with making it eggless and the amount of yeast.

Loaf #1 I was warned by Gluten-free Goddess that eggless loaves don't rise as high. Visit her site and site some of her bread machine tips-like using a spatula to do extra mixing.

Loaf #1 is from Food.com.
I left out the egg and used 2 tbsp ground flax seed as suggested by people who tried the recipe on food.com. I used powdered soy milk and 1 packet of rapid rise yeast as that is what I had on-hand. It was very dense, not fluffy like people who followed the recipe raved, but they probably used eggs. The loaf had a slightly sweet flavor though enough that I ate it plain. I selected the quick loaf setting (2 hrs) as suggested and decided to add extra water when I saw it wasn't mixing well.

Loaf #2 was the same recipe but I doubled the yeast that I used. Let me say, it was so ugly I don't want to post a picture. The it ended up almost being a crescent moon shape (fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight...uh,what, no, I never used to watch silly Japanese animes!) But it tasted good-such a good breakfast with avocado slices or nut butter and honey.

Perhaps I'll try with the recipe specified amount of yeast next time. And make sure the dough is more like banana bread batter consistency so it fills the pan evenly like Loaf #1 during mixing phase.

What dish are you trying/would like to master at present? And what was your guilty pleasure cartoon after school?

My lovely little bumps: 3 fresh black eyed peas recipes

As a kid, dinner was a much simpler affair. It consisted with helping with dinner by setting the table-I might have done cups and plates, and my sister had to place the napkins and utensils. Occasionally we might be asked to shuck some corn in the summer. We would sit out on the porch and strip those babies clean, making a naked cob pyramid on the cute-sy melamine plates with sis/my artwork on them. Then after dinner it was a matter of helping to load the dishwasher or dry the pots and pans.

Once I had my driver's license, I offered to start cooking a couple times a week for Mom since I could go pick up the groceries myself. I started with Betty Crocker and 30 Minute Desperation Dinners cookbooks (favorite pesto recipe in the latter). When she arrived home on those nights, she gave me a big squeeze with a "thank you, hon" with a look of relief in her eyes. I began to see how much thought, time and love had to go into making a meal--even if using short cuts like pre-made spaghetti sauce or canned beans!  No shame in taking a little help when you need it. So thanks, Mom, Dad and anyone who has cooked a meal with or especially for me.

This week I got fresh black eyed peas in my box, so shelling those bumps out made me think of the summer days of corn shucking. Takes a fair amount of time, but the taste of fresh compared to canned or dried is a suitable reward (I cannot say the same for fava beans though with two layers to peel off, at least not the one time I tried them fresh-can anyone vouch for them?) Apparently if you pick black eyed peas before they are dried, yellowed and spotted (which is said to be the right condition for drying and storing longer term), you can eat them cooked in their pods 6" long, slightly thicker than matchstick wide also...but with CSA, there is no choice and I wanted to try eating them fresh.

1 gallon sized Ziplock bag 3/4 full probably took me 30-40 minutes total (I did half one day and half another) and yielded about 3 cups of raw beans. I cooked all of them in boiling water for 10 minutes before draining and rinsing them. They had a little snap to them-not mushy. I made three dishes with them, with the prep times on all three, I would do planning ahead and make in stages or wait until you have a non-time constraint day.

First, I portioned out 1/2 cup of cooked beans and ate them with a dollop of the roasted lemon chutney tested by 101 Cookbook (stumbled upon the recipe in Sept 2012).

Second, I decided to try out another 101 Cookbook's tested recipe, New Year Noodle Soup using 2 cups of these beans instead of borlotti beans. I used 2/3 cup dried chickpeas instead of canned as I sometimes try to keep sodium lower, which required an overnight soak. I overestimated a tad had a 1/3 cup of cooked beans left over since they expand with cooking. I left out the noodles...if I was a runner and carbing up I would add them in a heartbeat. But I am only doing 2 miles, twice a week if that.

Last, I fried up half cup of onion with olive oil and Emeril's essence to mix with the remaining cup of black-eye peas to make Vegan Lunch Box's Tamales (recipe ingredients modifed slightly below), I found the recipe listed on Chow.com. I have added a note as I steamed them differently, swapped out refried beans and made them vegetarian instead.

Ingredients for Tamales

Yields 8 Tamales

• 4 ounces dried corn husks*
• 2 cups instant masa harina**
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• About 1 1/8 cups warm vegetable broth, plus more as needed
• Bean Filling (recipes below)
• Salsa

 * Try a Mexican food market, Albertson's or, if you live by a Filipino market get the frozen banana leaves.
** This is corn flour, different from cornmeal, it's very fine. Store securely in real snap shut containers, we have a moth problem in San Diego and my last bag got invaded :( 

Tools you need
1 steamer basket  or 2 layer bamboo steamer .
1 medium bowl for mixing
1 small bowl for dry ingredients
1 large pan for soaking husks (or use sink as author suggests, I was too lazy to clean my sink)
Electric mixer

 

Instructions for Tamales

1. Start the dried corn husks soaking in a sink full of warm water about 15 minutes before you begin so they can soften (put a lid or plate over the husks to keep them submerged).
2. In a small bowl, mix together the masa harina, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. Using a handheld beater or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the shortening until it is light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the masa to the shortening, alternating with the broth, until a light, nonsticky dough is formed. Use only as much broth as needed. Continue beating for 1 minute more.
4. Divide dough into 8 balls. To shape the tamales, pat a large corn husk dry and lay it out with the tapered end facing you. Spread each ball into a 4-inch square in the middle of the husk about 3/4 of an inch down from the top of the husk.
5. Spread 1 1/2 tablespoons of  beans down the center of the masa dough. Pick up the sides of the corn husk and fold them in, closing up the beans in masa. Fold up the tapered section of the husk to form the sealed bottom of the tamale (the top remains open). Tie up the tamale loosely using kitchen twine or a strip of corn husk.
6. Set all the tamales upright on their folded bottoms in a large steamer basket with a bit of room between them for the steam to circulate. Steam over boiling water for 40 to 45 minutes, until the tamale dough pulls away easily from the corn husk. (Sara's note: tamales will be set on their sides if you use a bamboo steamer. In either case, be sure to check your water level every 10 minutes or so and add more if needed.)
7. Serve tamales with salsa.
8. Tamales refrigerate and freeze well. Reheat by steaming them for a few minutes or popping them in the microwave.

Essence (Emeril's Creole Seasoning):

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.

Yield: about 2/3 cup

Bean Filling

1 cup cooked black eyed peas
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 regular spoonfuls of Emeril's essence
about 2 tsp Olive oil

Heat olive oil over medium high. Add a bit of onion and when it sizzles, add the rest. Cook 2-3 minutes so the onions begin to soften and become translucent. Add the Emeril's essence. Take off heat and mix in the black eyed peas.
 
When/why did you first start cooking?

Bored of Oatmeal-Cornmeal Pancakes

Oatmeal will always have a place to nestle in my heart, ever since on those early-school day mornings Dad showed me to mix half the flavored-packet with plain quick oats so it wasn't sickly-sweet. You can have it warm or cold (Overnight Oats were what Yanny told me about via this fabulous lady's blog, Fit foodie Finds). You can add in lots of different toppings that may even make it taste like a dessert. But lately I've craved other textures-pancakes and blintzes (the latter to come later as I need to test out dairy-free ricotta cheese recipes)!

Going out for breakfast and brunch isn't as fun anymore being gluten-free since I am limited to eggs or oatmeal (trying to get away from the lovable mush, plus I feel oatmeal has too little clean up and is too easy to order out). Most places don't have gluten free toast, english muffins or batters. I know Original Pancake House has a gluten-free batter for pancakes that is enjoyable but it seems to leave a residue on my teeth. Snooze in Hillcrest also has gluten-free pancake batter but I have not been able to try that restaurant (very long waits). Nashville, TN had an all you can eat/cook it yourself pancake restaurant Pfunky Griddle, but I didn't get to go there either.  But not to be discouraged, I will settle for making my own and having to deal with doing dishes.

I found and made some modifications to a recipe found on  Go Dairy Free’s website called Pillowy-Whole Grain Pancakes-Vegan and Gluten Free. My modifications for a different GF flour blend, adding cornmeal and a substitute for oil, are found below and I've pretty much just copied their directions for preparation and cooking. It takes some time to do all the measurements, which is why I think this is a non-workday recipe. 

 Fluffy Cinnamon-Cornmeal Pancakes

• 1-3/4 Cups Plain Milk Alternative of Choice
• 1/4 Cup Applesauce or blended veggie/fruit pulp + water for apple sauce consistency
• 2 Tablespoons Ground Flaxseed
• 2 Tablespoons Agave Nectar or Honey 
• 2 Teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar or Lemon Juice
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 Cup Land O’ Lakes pumpkin whoopee pie flour mix* (see recipe below)
• ½ cup more nutritious gluten-free flour (I’ve been using sorghum flour)
• ½ cup corn meal
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Measure the milk alternative in a glass measuring cup. Stir In the 1/4 cup of apple sauce or veggie/fruit pulp mixture, flaxseed, agave or honey, vinegar or lemon juice, and vanilla. Set aside for moment. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the milk alternative mixture and mix well. Heat a small amount of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Using roughly 1/4 cup per pancake, pour the batter into the pan. Cook the pancakes until the outside edge begins to look dry, and bubbles break on the surface of the batter, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook the other sides for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until light golden brown. Serve with maple syrup, fresh fruit, or your favorite whipped “cream” topping.

*Land O' Lakes GF flour blend: 1 cup brown rice flour, 1 cup white rice flour, 2/3 cup corn or potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca flour, 1 tsp xantham gum

Hint #1 I found cheaper tapioca flour at the local Chinese market than compared to a health food store and cheaper potato starch (katakuriko) at the Japanese market...kind of like chickpea flour, my sister says its a better deal at Indian markets. It's wonderful how much other cultures use such a variety of flours made from grains other than wheat! 

Hint #2 Fruit and vegetable leftover pulp was from juicing .I had kept it in the freezer in baggies and defrosted small 1/2 cup portions for baked or bread-like recipes calling for oil, butter or apple sauce. I felt bad throwing all of it away since I don't yet have a red-worm or compost system.

Is your favorite breakfast food sweet or savory?