Parsi Ras Chawal (Spicy Tomato Gravy with Rice)

I usually have one meal a week with my family, with me taking a break from making my own meals or ordering takeout. I do ask my mom to either make a vegetarian Parsi dish or to make my portion seperately and then add the meat to their portions later on. This time, its a dish called ras chawal, which would translate to spicy tomato gravy with rice. It's quite unknown compared to other Parsi specialities and I can't find a single recipe of it online.

We usually add mutton to this dish, or serve it with boiled eggs. But this one's all vegan with just potatoes and drumsticks. You're supposed to suck the flesh inside the drum stick, not eat the chewy fiberous outside. The recipe is a rough gist I got from my mom.

Savory Indian Pancakes

Inspired by Andrea's Japanese savory vegetable pancakes, here's my Indianized version using leftover vegetables like corn, cabbage, and french beans. Sort of like an eggless omlette or frittata using maida (all purpose flour) as the base, peppered with tumeric and chilli powder.

5-Minute Veggie Stir Fry

An absolutely yummy and lightning quick stiry fry using hoisin sauce as the base, and an assortment of vegetables. Adding a few slices of pine apple just pushed the dish into one of my all-time favorites I have ever had.

5-Minute Stir Fry with Mushrooms, Peppers, Pineapple, Tomatoes, and Cabbage

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons of hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
• Approx 10-12 button mushrooms
• 1 green pepper
• 1/2 tomato
• 1/2 onion
• 1 cup cabbage
• 1/2 cup pineapple
• 1 teaspoon oil

To make:

• Chop your vegetables into fairly even chunks.
• In a pan, heat the oil and saute the onions for a minute.
• Add the hoisin sauce and ginger garlic paste and let it come to a boil (2 minutes).
• Add the remaining ingredients and coat them in the sauce.
• Turn off the gas after a minute and serve immediately.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Cabbage and Sunflower Seed Parathas

Between Bobby Chin's Punjab-special episode, and a live tandoor station at the back of my own building for some function I wasn't invited to, I just had to make some parathas, or Indian flat bread, for myself. These are generally made of spinach, cauliflower, potato, or paneer stuffed inside or mixed alongside the dough made of wheat. I made mine with wheat and soy flour, added sunflower seeds. I would have liked to have added some saffron too, but didn't have any handy. And finally, I used very little water - instead just used extra virgin olive oil and coconut milk to bind the dough. I'm usually very yucky about getting my hands dirty while kneading the dough, but soldiered on nonetheless.

I had the parathas with a green and red pepper relish I got a couple of weeks back from the farmers market.

I wish I had access to that tandoor oven at the back of my building. I later learnt it was 10 days since some old chap died and they were celebrating with tandoor-cooked breads and such.

Oil, water, and flour measurements are approximations only. I just kept adding them as needed.

Cabbage and Sunflower Seed Paratha

Servings: 4 parathas

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups wheat flour
• 0.5 cups defatted soy flour
• Approx 0.5 cups of olive oil
• 1 cup cabbage
• 1/2 an onion
• 1 green chilli
• 2 handfuls of sunflower seeds
• 2 tablespoons of coconut milk
• Lukewarn water, as needed
• Salt to taste

To make:
Chop your chilli, cabbage, and onion finely.

Mix the veggies with your flour with salt, olive oil and coconut milk.

Add the sunflower seeds and water, as needed, to form the dough. Keep kneading till the dough is not sticky  - when you lift it off the plate, it comes off clean. If its too sticky, add more flour. If its too dry, add more water.

Divide the dough into four pieces and roll them into a ball using your hands.

Dust some flour on your rolling board, and roll the dough ball into a thin round roti. Hopefully, more round than mine. :)

In a flat frying pan, add some olive oil. Remember you're not frying the paratha - the oil is just so the paratha doesn't stick to the pan. When the oil and pan are hot, gently place your paratha and let it cook for 3-5 minutes on each side.

Enjoy immediately with some pickle, or yoghurt.

Veg Biryani and Cabbage, Onion, Tomato Upma

Lately, I've been feeling a bit lazy to cook anything for myself and also feeling a bit stifled with having so few fresh ingredients to work with. I'm waiting for this sunday when I can buy a truckload from the farmer's market. So, last night, I just ordered a Vegetable Dum Biryani. It came with a yoghurt raita, which I chucked away. My brother's always amazed why someone would pay Rs. 120 for a vegetarian biryani, when for only Rs. 10 more you get the chicken version. Ten rupees - that's the worth of a chicken's life?!

And this morning, for breakfast, a cabbage, onion and tomato upma, along with my coffee-coconut milk concoction.

Cabbage, Onion, Tomato Upma

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cup semolina or an upma premix
• 1 cup chopped cabbage
• 1 tomato
• 1 onion
• 1 cup of water
• Teaspoon of olive oil
• Half a lime
• Handful of coriander

To make:

• In a pan, gently dry roast the semolina/upma premix for a minute or two.
• Add water to the roasted semolina and cook for approximately 7-10 minutes.
• Once the semolina is cooked, add the chopped up vegetables and stir for 1-2 minutes.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve immediately with lashings of lime juice.

Thai Eggplant and Lentil Curry

I use the term 'curry' loosely - It's more of a lentil stew, or dal, with curry powder in it.

The suprising thing about lentils is, how little you have to use to make a cheap and healthy meal. I used just half a cup of yellow lentils.

I had a small packet of Thai brinjal (eggplant/aubergines) that was starting to wilt. And since I'd never tastes these tiny brinjals - and the packet did warn me they'd be "surprisingly pungent and bitter", what better way to try out a new ingredient than using it up in a familiar curry dish?!

These brinjals are ridiculously small - more like green peas. But if you cut one open, you see the same innards as a full sized brinjal. (Yes, that is the blade of my knife - they really are that small)

But if you don't find them, you can use your regular brinjal, or even peas! These little babies are suprisingly spicy with a really bitter aftertaste. Good thing I refrained from adding an additional green chilli to my curry, as was previously planned. Would I try them again? Well, let's just say they were different.

Thai Brinjal and Lentil Curry

Ingredients

• 1 cup thai brinjal
• 1/2 cup yellow lentils
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 tomato
• 2-3 stalks of fresh garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of curry powder
• 1 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes
• Teaspoon of sugar
• Handful of coriander
• Half a lime

To make:

Chop your tomatoes, onion, and garlic finely.

Cook the lentils in 3 cups of water and a pinch of salt and the curry powder for about 15-20 minutes. If you have the time, presoak the lentils for a couple of hours before cooking.

Add the brinjal, onion, and garlic to the lentils. Add more water in case it's getting too dry. Stir and cook for another 5 minutes.

Add the chilli flakes and the sugar. Finally, add the tomatoes, and coriander before turning off the gas.

Squeeze the lime juice and serve with plain rice or with chapatis (as I did).

Red Rice with Beetroot Leaves

How many of you have had red rice? For lunch yesterday, I made a bowl of red rice and used up my beetroot leaves as well. The rice takes an awful lot of time to cook. The packet said 45 minutes. I cooked mine for 30 minutes.

Also, if you are wondering where is the all-important salt in my recipes, the answer is I havent forgotten to add that to the ingredient list. I just dont use salt. And I didnt for this recipe as well. But I would definitely recommend using salt for this one. I will next time. The taste was quite bland.

Red rice with beetroot leaves

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of red rice
• About two cups of beetroot leaves (including stalks)
• Teaspoon of sumac powder
• Drizzle of olive oil
• Salt to taste

To make:

Wash your red rice, drain, and soak the rice again in water for approximately 20-30 minutes before cooking. Cook for 30-40 minutes, along with the sumac and salt, with almost thrice the amount of water as the rice. Start off with a little less - keep adding water as you go along.

Chop up the beetroot leaves.  

Once the rice is cooked, let it cool for 10-15 minutes. Then add the chopped leaves and mix well.  Finish off with a dash of olive oil on top.