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.

Cauliflower, Green Beans, Peppers and Quinoa Salad

I haven't had quinoa in a while and seeing my depleting stock of vegetables, I made a big pot of quinoa with green beans, cauliflower and red and green peppers, flavored with sumac, sage, and black pepper. I did pop the beans and the cauliflower in boiling water for a minute or two. I did taste the beans raw and they tasted awful and the vegetable vendor explicitly said they can't be had raw. 

Cauliflower, Green Beans, Peppers and Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups of chopped green beans
• 1 cup cauliflower florets
• 1 green pepper/chilli
• 1 red pepper
• 2 leaves of sage
• 12-15 black pepper corns
• 1 teaspoon of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sumac powder

To make:

• Chop up your vegetables.
• Cook your quinoa in 2-2.5 cups of water for 15 minutes, along with the sage leaves and sumac powder.
• In a pot of boiling water, cook your beans and cauliflower for 2 minutes. Drain into a pot of ice cold water to stop the cooking.
• Add the vegetables to the qninoa and mix well.
• Season with freshly ground black pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

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).

Small Bean, Grape and Potato Salad

It's been a week or so since I bought fresh produce, and so I was rummaging through stuff in the fridge and found some boiled potato and some small beans. Also decided to make a dressing using my newly bought balsamic vinegar.

I did not quite enjoy the salad at lunch as the dressing was all dried up and made the potatoes extra sticky. And am no big fan of raw small beans either. So, won't be making this one again in a hurry.

Small Bean, Grape and Potato Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 potato
• 1-2 cups of small beans
• 1 cup of green grapes
• Handful of almonds
• 2-3 basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

To make:

• Boil, skin, and cube the potato.
• Combine the beans, potato, grapes and basil leaves.
• Dress it with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
• Top off with the almonds.

The Kidney Bean Salad

Kidney beans are a good source of cholestrol-lowering fiber, they're cheap, and are available all year round. You do have to wash them well, and then soak in water for at least 8-12 hours. But then the upside is that you dont need to cook them! They look soft to the touch after an overnight soak, but start to cook them and they will actually harden and take a hell of a time to be completely cooked. Why bother cooking at all?! They're perfectly edible raw.

The Kidney Bean Salad

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of kidney beans, presoaked overnight
• 1 cup carrots
• 2 cups green cabbage
• 2 cups green peppers
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 lime
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 4 leaves of sage
• Handful of mint leaves
• Salt, per taste

To make:

Drain the kidney beans.

Chop your veggies fairly small.

Mix in with the kidney beans.

Add the salt, curry powder, lime juice, sage and mint leaves, along with the oil.

Let it marinate for an hour or so before eating.