Chile Verde Soup with Chicken and Hominy

Bone chilling cold weather and hot soup have a symbiotic relationship. Therefore I make more soup in winter. A bowl of steaming broth is sheer comfort, a palate pleaser and mostly a creator of body warmth. Today's experiment subscribes to these norms.

I cook chicken in seasoned water, creating the shortcut requisite broth. I broil tomatillos, poblanos, red onions and garlic till slightly charred. The veggies are then blended with cilantro, creating a dense paste. Store bought hominy is rinsed well. This symphony of green is the song of the Southwest, a spoonful at a time.



CHILE VERDE SOUP WITH CHICKEN AND HOMINY
Serves 4-6
DF, GF, WF, EF



1 cup boneless skinless Chicken breast or thighs
5 cups Water
1/2 teaspoon Black Peppercorns
1 Celery rib, cut into large chunks
1+1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Red Onion
5-6 Tomatillos
1 large Poblano Chile
2 Garlic cloves
1/2 cup Cilantro plus more to garnish
1 small Onion
1 can Hominy
3/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 Avocado


Chop chicken into bite size pieces. 

Place chicken, water, peppercorns and celery in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover pan, lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain stock and keep aside. You should have 4-5 cups of stock.

Discard peppercorns and celery. Keep chicken aside.

Preheat broiler on high. 

Cut tomatillos in half.

Chop poblano in half. Remove seeds and cut into large pieces.

Roughly chop red onion. 

Peel garlic. 

Place tomatillos, poblanos, red onion and garlic on a baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Mix well and place under broiler. 

Broil for 15-20 minutes, checking often till veggies are slightly charred. Take them out and leave to cool.

Process or blend the cooled veggies with 1/2 cup cilantro till you have a rough paste.

Chop onion into fine dice.

Heat remaining olive oil in a saucepan. 

Add onion and saute till wilted and soft.

Add stock and boiled chicken to pan. Bring to a low boil.

Scoop the chile sauce into the stock. Cook for 5-7 simmering the soup.

Rinse hominy under running water. 

Add hominy to the soup and cook for another 5 minutes

Cut avocado into small chunks.

Serve the soup hot garnished with avocado and fresh cilantro.

Chile verde is so versatile. I've used it with meat, over enchiladas, in dips. This soup is a revelation. Spicy, brothy and full of fresh flavours fron the cilantro and avocado. A surefire keeper in my kitchen! Please don't be green with envy........

Kale and Dill Griddle Cakes

Everything I blog starts in the kitchen and ends with a fashioned flourish. Food styling is about artistic presentation, a mastery of light and shadow, of easy arrangement and movement. All these techniques are distinct art forms, ones that I haven't quite fully mastered. It takes a singular plate or bowl, with color and design, that gives the finished picture a composite whole. My small collection of serveware comprise of ceramic, bamboo, steel, copper and a special slate plate.

Carolyn Kuttan sends me an exquisite platter from Slateplate.com. They make  exquisitely crafted cheese boards. Their products are easy to embellish with cheeses, appetizers and are even a snap to clean. Directions with the package are very clear. I deviate from the standard cheese display, instead mixing it in with kale, dill, flour and eggs to make lumpy pancakes. This Ottolenghi recipe is delicious. Blanched kale, a fistful of dill and heaps of cheese give these pan fried cakes much needed color and bite.

The batter comes together with self-rising flour, lemon zest, seasoning and an egg yolk stirred vigorously together. Blanch kale in hot water, shock it in cold water, squeeze all the water out and chop it roughly. Pick out soft dill fronds, add to the batter along with kale and melted butter. Fold in lightly whisked egg white. Now you have a loose but thick batter.

Butter makes the world go round. It is the tastiest choice for a light fry. Drop tablespoons of batter into the butter laden pan. Flatten them slightly with the back of the spoon and soon you will have aromatic green cakes, redolent of dill, waiting to be stylistically draped on grey slate.



KALE AND DILL GRIDDLE CAKES 
Makes 10-12


3/4 cup self-rising Flour
1 teaspoon Lemon Zest
1 Egg, separated
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/2 teaspoon ground Black Pepper
2-3 Kale ribs
1/2 cup Dill fronds
1 tablespoon melted Butter plus more for pan frying
1/2 cup grated Cheese( Feta, Cheddar, Asiago, Parmesan)
1/2 cup Yogurt
1 tablespoon Dill fronds
a pinch of Kosher Salt 
Fresh ground Black Pepper


Place flour, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a bowl. Whisk to mix.

Heat water in a saucepan.

Separate ribs from kale leaves. Blanch in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. drain and run under cold water. Squeeze water out of kale and chop roughly.

Give dill fronds a rough chop as well.

Add egg yolk to flour. 

Kale, dill and melted butter go into the batter as well.

Stir in a clockwise direction till you have a stiff batter.

Whisk egg white lightly till frothy. Add to batter. As you stir the batter will loosen up to a dropping consistency.

Dilute yogurt with a couple of spoons of water. Add dill, salt and pepper. Keep aside.

Heat butter in a nonstick pan.

Drop scant tablespoons of batter into the butter. Flatten them slightly with the back of the spoon. You can fry 4-5 cakes at a time in a large pan. 

Cook cakes for 2-3 minutes on one side till are golden brown, then flip and cook for a further few minutes on the other side. 

Plate them alongside the yogurt sauce.

Serve them hot.

The arrangement looks cookbook worthy. Food styling is all eyes and no taste. Griddle cakes perch enticingly on the slate server. It's all about temptation, urging you to fork a piece on to your plate, making you drizzle yogurt sauce on the cakes. Style evolves into a savory satisfaction. Thank you Carolyn. Thank you Slateplate, for letting me showcase my griddle cakes!

Lamb and Green Chile Salan

The last of the chiles from the garden stare at me everytime I open the vegetable bin in the fridge. I hatch plans to pickle them in mustard seeds. Like some well laid plans, the wayside beckons. How about adding them to a Hyderabadi meat salan? The more I think about it, the more appealing it sounds. I scour my books for an authentic version. I find it in a book given to me by Prassy in 1999!

The lack of mutton makes me choose lamb shoulder. Trimmed and cubed it suffices. I tweak the format, adding the meat along with the ground masala and chiles. The recipe calls for meat to be boiled and added to the gravy. I think my way will imbue the meat with much more flavor. Ground masala, spices, yogurt and lime juice round out the subtleness of this curry. Mild heat comes from large chiles. These Hatch-like chiles are not high on the Scoville scale, but generate enough zing to keep my palate interested.


LAMB AND GREEN CHILE SALAN
Serves 3-4


1 pound Lamb shoulder, cubed
1 cup Yogurt, whisked
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
6-8 large green Chiles
1/4 cup dessicated Coconut
1 teaspoon Khus Khus or Poppy seeds
1 teaspoon Sesame seeds
1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
2 large Onions
1 teaspoon Garlic paste
1 teaspoon Ginger paste
1 teaspoon Coriander powder
3/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/2 teaspoon Garam masala
3 tablespoons Canola Oil
1 Lime
Fresh Cilantro


Rinse lamb and put in bowl.

Add whisked yogurt and turmeric to meat. Stir to mix and keep aside.

Rinse chiles and pat dry. Slice them in half lengthwise.

Peel onions and cut in half.

Grind 1 onion, dessicated coconut, khus khus, sesame seeds and cumin seeds to a smooth paste.

Chop remaining onion into small dice.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker.

Add green chiles and saute on high heat for 2-3 minutes. Take chiles out and keep aside.

Drop chopped onion into hot oil and fry till light brown.

Add ground masala to onions. Saute for 3-4 minutes.

The marinated lamb, garlic and ginger pastes, coriander powder, garam masala and salt go into the onions. Saute on high heat for 4-5 minutes. 

Add sliced chiles to meat.

Add enough water to cover the meat.

Pressure cook the lamb for 16 minutes till done. 

If you are cooking the lamb stovetop, add enough water, cover tightly and cook till meat is soft.

Once the meat is cooked, add juice of the lime. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve with rice or roti. 

The salan has a fresh, slight;y sharp flavor. Lamb chunks have a pronounced taste. My garden bounty had softened, turning limp. This last green hurrah makes me yearn for my summer garden. Only six months more! 

Toor Dal with Lime

It has been a long few weeks away from home. I crave my bed, my pillow and my food. Some rice, a vegetable and a bowl of freshly made dal. We are creatures of innate food habits, mine being rice and dal, synonymous with comfort and familiarity. It is that warm blanket that cocoons and fills you with a sense of belonging. My childhood food memories ebb and flow with these simple foods, a mound of piping hot white rice sitting next to a bowl of steaming dal.  

Dal is a generic term. Pulses or legumes come in a plethora of shapes, colors and sizes. Moong dal is dainty and small. Chana dal comes in fat half moons. Pink nuggets of masoor cook up in a jiffy. I could write an elegy but then I wouldn't have the time to talk about my favorite...toor dal. Some thirty odd years ago, newly married, I cooked dal for the first time. I hadn't the faintest idea which one to cook. I bought the pretty pink colored package of lentils. It didn't taste like home. I went out and bought another, grabbing small yellow legumes. Once again, it displeased. Alone in a foreign land, in a time when communication meant a letter or telephone call, I couldn't do a show and tell with Mum. Half a dozen dals later with a shelf laden with multicolored lentils, I stumbled upon my holy grail. Life was good and it still is!

This dal is a runny concoction. It starts with cooked toor dal, a generous amount of ghee, cumin, curry leaves, chilies, cilantro, sugar, water and lime juice all added in quick succession.The dal simmers for a few minutes  All it needs is some hot cooked rice.


TOOR DAL WITH LIME
Serves 4

1 cup cooked Toor Dal (see notes)
1 tablespoon Ghee
1/2 teaspoon Cumin seeds
5-6 Curry leaves
2-3 green Chiles, finely minced 
1/2 cup chopped Cilantro
1 Lime, juiced
1 tablespoon Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt


Heat ghee in a saucepan.

When it is hot, add cumin seeds. Let them turn dark brown.

Drop curry leaves and minced chiles into ghee. Let them sizzle for a few seconds.


Pour the cooked dal into the pan.

Add 1 cup of water to the pan. Stir to mix well.

Add cilantro, lime juice, sugar and salt to dal. 

Let dal come to boil, lower the flame and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.

Serve dal piping hot with rice. 



NOTES

Cook 1/2 cup toor dal with 1/4 teaspoon turmeric and a large pinch of asafoetida and enough water to cover the dal either in a pressure cooker for 10 minutes or on the stovetop till dal is soft and mushy.

I reach for dal and rice with my fingers, an old habit that surfaces in reflective moments. An well remembered feeling of comfort comes over me as I scoop and gather morsels. It states decisively I am where I want to be.