Sprouted Mung Bean and Mango Salad

My sister gifts me a sprout maker which I am delighted to use. A glass jar that makes easy sprouts, this device paves the way for a healthier diet. The first option is a salad. Friends join us for dinner. A salad is the perfect panacea in warm weather.

Sprouted mung beans are steam cooked. Garden tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, lettuce shreds, and a perfectly ripe mango make a picture-perfect composition. Sprinkles of sev, black salt and lemon juice is all this bowl needs. A quick toss makes this refreshing salad a tasty delight.

SPROUTED MUNG BEAN AND MANGO SALAD

Serves 4

1 cup sprouted green Mung Beans

4-6 Cherry Tomatoes, quartered

1/2 cup diced English Cucumber

1/2 cup diced Red Onion

1/2 cup shredded Lettuce

3/4 cup ripe Mango cubes

1/4 cup Sev

2 teaspoon Kala Namak or Black Salt

3 tablespoons Lemon Juice

If you are sprouting mung beans at home, start by soaking beans overnight in water. Drain water the next day, then place beans in a bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and leave in a dark place to sprout overnight. 

Wash sprouted beans and steam cook them till soft. 

Use 1 cup of sprouts for this salad. Place them in a bowl.

Arrange the remaining ingredients in bowl. 

Sprinkle salt and sev over veggies. 

Squeeze lemon juice over veggies. 

Toss and serve. 

Ambi's Lauki Raita

For me, a much-reviled vegetable, lauki or bottle gourd, has been distasteful for half my lifetime. Mushy flavors, tasteless subjis made it hard for me to enjoy the gourd. This distaste finally ended with a resounding thump at my friend Ambi's house in Bombay, where she served this delectable raita. At first, I could not recognize the vegetable or the taste. After several wrong guesses, she proudly proclaimed it was lauki. You could've knocked me over with a feather. After years of avoiding bottle gourd, here I am completely hooked. 

Ambi boiled her lauki cubes, then floated them in whisked yogurt. A lively tarka of dried chilies, jeera, kadhipatta and seasonings gave it a jolt of flavor.........it will make a convert out of you. Ambi, thanks for my new favorite raita!

AMBI'S LAUKI RAITA

Serves 4

1 small Lauki or Bottle Gourd

2 cups Yogurt

1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil

1 Dried Red Chile

1/2 teaspoon Jeera seeds

3-4 Curry Leaves, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon Chile powder

1/2 teaspoon Roasted Jeera Powder

!/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

Peel lauki. Cut into small cubes so you have about 2 cups. 

Boil lauki in water till soft, 10-15 minutes. Drain well and cool.

Whisk yogurt in a bowl. 

Season with salt. 

Add boiled lauki to yogurt and mix well.

 

Heat oil in a small pan.

Add dried chile and jeera to oil. Let jeera seeds turn a light brown. 

Add curry leaves, chile powder and roasted jeera powder to oil.

 Take pan off the heat and pour contents over the yogurt. 

Mix well and enjoy. 

Avocado Poori

My sister's friend Nitya treats us some unusual Indian food in Pune. One of these intriguing appetizers is crisp pooris filled with avocado, topped with yogurt, green chutney and sweet chutney. Blanketed in sev, cilantro and pomegranate arils and served atop a bed of sprouts, these bites are a refreshing revelation in taste and flavor...in other words I planned to make these asap! Here they are!

AVOCADO POORI

Serves 4-6

15-20 Paani Pooris

2 ripe Avocados

Yogurt, whisked and seasoned

Green Chutney

Sweet Chutney

Sev

Cilantro

Chaat Masala or Kala Namak

Pomegranate Arils (optional)

Poke holes in pooris and arrange on a plate. 

Cut avocados in chunks and spoon them into the pooris.

Drop a spoonful of yogurt into each poori.

Top with green and sweet chutneys. 

Scatter sev and cilantro over each poori. 

Sprinkle chaat masala or kala namak over pooris.

Decorate the plate with arils if using. Sadly, I didn't have any, but they add a delicious crunch as well. 

Serve immediately and be rewarded with oohs and aaahs!

  

Tandoori Cauliflower

 

The current price of cauliflower scares me. Then I find one that is reasonable. This in turn fuels my desire to roast a whole head of cauliflower rather than the usual florets. This is a first for me. 

I dunk a trimmed cauliflower into a large pot of salted water. The watched pot takes a while to boil,  after which I cover it and let steam and water do their tricks. A knife jab tells me it is time to drain and cool the head. Tandoori paste is an easy mix. Chile powder, paprika, garam masala, yogurt, ginger garlic pastes and salt make a thick paste. Slather this paste onto the cool cauliflower. Place it on a tray and bake the heck out of it at high heat. Finish with a lazy broil and you have this scrumptious bronzed globe that just begs to be eaten immediately. 

 TANDOORI CAULIFLOWER

Serves 4

1 large head of Cauliflower

1 tablespoon Ginger Paste 

1 tablespoon Garlic Paste

1 teaspoon Chile Powder

1 teaspoon Paprika

1/2 teaspoon Garam Masala

1/2 teaspoon Black Salt

1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt 

1/4 cup Yogurt

Olive Oil Spray

Cut off the leaves of the cauliflower. Trim the base so the head sits flat. 

Boil 6-8 cups water in a pot large enough to fit the cauliflower. Salt the water and submerge the head in the water and bring water to a boil. Cover and cook till cauliflower is easly pierced with a knife, about 8-10 minutes. Drain cauliflower and cool. 

Heat oven to 400F/200C.

Make a paste by mixing ginger garlic pastes, chile powder, paprika, black salt, salt and yogurt. 

Place cauliflower on a parchment lined baking tray.

Coat the entire surface of the head with the paste, filling in nooks and crannies. 

Spray the head generously with olive oil and bake for 15 minutes. 

Spray once more and bake for 10 minutes. 

Broil the head for 5-7 minutes until the crust is well charred. 

Serve hot or warm.

Leek and Potato Tart

The joy I get from cooking for family is immeasurable. When they come over, my heart thrums with happiness, the kitchen table is burdened with food, and the world is a better place. Having been away from them for a while, I strive to make a meal they will relish. In other words, favorites! Turkish pide, fried green tomatoes, chicken wings and a new favorite, leek and potato tart. 

Leeks lend sophistication to anything they are a part of. A puff pastry base is an ideal vehicle for the tart. Fingerling potatoes are boiled and then bathed in garlicky olive oil. Leeks are sliced and sauteed in olive oil. The pastry is scored lightly on the edges. The filling is piled on top. Goat cheese is scattered over the veggies and off to the oven it goes. Forty minutes later you have this golden brown edged green rectangle. Cool for a bit. Slice and enjoy.

 LEEK AND POTATO TART

Serves 4

2-3 Leeks

8-10 Fingerling Potatoes

Olive oil

2 Garlic cloves

Kosher Salt

Goat Cheese

1 Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheet, defrosted

1 Egg, beaten well 

Trim and wash leeks well. Slice them into thin rounds.

Boil potatoes. Cool and cut into thick slices.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan. 

Saute leeks till soft. Season with kosher salt. Keep aside. 

In the same pan, add a tablespoon of olive oil. 

Chop garlic fine and add to oil. Cook till fragrant. Do not brown the garlic.

Add potatoes to oil. Season with kosher salt. 

Saute for a few minutes and add leeks to potatoes. Cool mix. 

Heat oven to 375F/190C. 

Scatter a little flour on countertop. Place puff pastry over flour and gently roll out till you have a 10" by 12" rectangle. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Lift the puff pastry onto parchment. 

Use a small knife to make a shallow indent following the edges of the pastry. Do not cut all the way through the pastry. Make the shallow cut about 1" inside the outer edge. 

Prick pastry all over with a fork.

Pile the filling inside the pastry starting from the inner edge of the cut. 

Scatter goat cheese over the filling. Use as much or as little as you want. 

Brush the outer edges with beaten egg.  

Bake for 20 minutes. 

Remove from oven. Cool for 5 minutes. 

Cut into rectangles and enjoy.

Ipoh Bean Sprouts

 A recent trip to a Malaysian restaurant inspires me tonight. A pot of beef rendang bubbles away, low and slow. I slice and dice red peppers and snap peas and toss them with Chinese sauces. The third dish is a classic.... Ipoh bean sprouts. Ipoh being a small town on the Malaysian peninsula, not too far from our favorite town Penang. 

We were first introduced to this simple dish at Penang Restaurant in Flushing, Queens. This authentic repository of all things Malaysian, is long gone but not forgotten. We have tried many others, but none of them have quite lived up to the original. Tucked away in a strip mall, the place was beloved for its brusque service and delicious food. We remember the menu fondly, the many pilgrimages we made with dear family and friends so often that Victor, my husband's brother, nicknamed our experiences there as Penangish!  He loved the place as much as we did, having lived in Kuala Lumpur. Very often, we took him to the restaurant the moment he got off the plane! 

I always marveled at the plate of crisp bean sprouts dowsed in soy sauce and crisp garlic chips. Not too hard to make right? It really isn't. All you need is to have everything ready. So lets start. Make a sauce with soy, sugar, water and pepper. Crisp up sliced garlic and browned onions. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Dunk the bean sprouts in the water for thirty seconds. Drain and rinse under cold water. Place them in a bowl and pour the soy sauce over the sprouts. Scatter the garlic over sprouts. Then sit down and enjoy this simple but flavorful dish.

IPOH BEAN SPROUTS

Serves 2

2 cups Bean Sprouts

2 tablespoons Light Soy Sauce

1 teaspoon Sugar 

2 tablespoons Water

1 teaspoon White Pepper Powder

1 teaspoon Roasted Sesame Oil

1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil

6 Garlic Cloves

1 tablespoon Birista or Browned Onions

Cilantro Sprigs

Place soy sauce, sugar, water, white pepper and sesame oil in a saucepan. Heat till bubbling and the sugar melts.

Heat oil in  small pan and fry garlic and onions for a few minutes till crisp.

 

Heat 2 cups of water in a pan.

When it boils, drop sprouts into water and cook for 30 seconds. Drain the sprouts and run cold water over sprouts. 

Drain well and place sprouts in a bowl.

Pour soy sauce over sprouts. 

Top with crisped garlic and onions. 

Garnish with cilantro and serve.

 

Prosciutto Mozzarella Fig Jam Crostini

My daughter makes us a delicious fig jam and prosciutto sandwich. Which in turn inspires me to make these bite size mini versions. This open face finger food is a multi-layered stack of the same sandwich flavors.  

I bake thin slices of French bread till crisp. Last year's bountiful fig jam is spooned onto the bread. Shreds of fresh mozzarella top the jam. Mounded prosciutto goes on next. Garnish with arugula leaves. The recipe has no exact measurements. Get a measure of the bite and make as many as you want to savor!

PROSCIUTTO MOZZARELLA FIG JAM CROSTINI

French Bread, thinly sliced 

Fig Jam or Preserves

Fresh Mozzarella slices

Prosciutto 

Arugula 

Heat oven to 375F/190C.

Place bread slices on a baking sheet. 

Spray lightly with olive oil.

Bake for 8-10 minutes till a little brown.

Remove from oven and cool.

Assemble crostini by spooning a little fig jam on bread. 

Top jam with some mozzarella shreds.

Mound some prosciutto on cheese. 

Garnish with arugula leaves and serve. 

These can be made up to half hour before serving. 

They taste best the day you make them.

 

 

Strawberry Mini Pies

 I crave some pie on Pi day even though I am no math nerd. There is something so wholesome, so comforting about pie. In my book, making some is as easy as pie. It is that pie in the sky. I can’t wait to get my piece of the pie. I could go on...... And that should be the end of the corny jokes. On to something more meaningful.

Strawberry pie is my springtime favorite. The crust is made with flour, butter, sugar and cream cheese. The filling is a thick, gooey mess of crushed strawberries, lemon juice and gelatin. A pleasure to make and eat as well. It is berry berry good!

STRAWBERRY MINI PIES

Makes 6 mini pies

Crust

3/4 cup AP Flour

1 tablespoon Sugar

Pinch of Kosher Salt

4 tablespoons Butter

1 oz Cream Cheese

1/4 cup Water

Filling

1 cup Strawberries

1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

1 teaspoon Gelatin powder

1 teaspoon Water

1/3 cup Sugar

2 Strawberries

Start with the filling. Mix lemon juice, water and gelatin in a small bowl.

Trim strawberries and cut them into very small pieces. You could use a chopper or masher. Place them in a saucepan and heat over a medium flame. 

When strawberries begin to bubble add half the sugar and cook the berries till thick and jammy, 15-20 minutes.

Add gelatin mix to berries and cook over low flame for 3 minutes. Take it off the flame and cool. The beriies will thicken as they cool.

Heat oven to 350F/180C. 

Start the crust by pulsing butter and cream cheese till smooth in a food processor.

Add flour, sugar and salt to bowl. Pulse a few times. 

Add water and pulse till dough comes together in a ball.

Divide dough into 6 portions. 

Place each portion in a muffin tin. 

Gently press the dough to form a mini pie. 

Use a fork to prick the base of the pies. 

Bake for 35 minutes.

Take pies out of the oven and cool.

Cut strawberries into thick pieces. 

Place a piece in each pie. Dot each berry with a little sugar.

Cover the piece with dollops of filling. 

Allow mini pies to set for an hour. 

Enjoy the pies.