chili

Fertile Crescent bulgar and mung bean pilaf

by Stevie on January 26, 2010

Still on my Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey cooking kick, I made this bulgar and mung bean dish a few nights after Madras rice with yogurt. It’s January so the tomatoes aren’t very good right now. Instead of the fresh ones recommended in the recipe, I used store-bought oven-roasted tomatoes from Whole Foods. I’d intended on adding parsley to garnish the dish at the end but it turns out all I had was spring onion. Najmieh recommends dill. I skipped the butter “garnish” as I’ve lost the taste for it and now that my cholesterol is finally “normal” I don’t want to rock the boat unnecessarily.

Fertile Crescent bulgar and mung bean pilaf

I got my mung beans at the Sunset Super. I’d only ever used them for a Southern vegetable stew with saffron and lots of vegetables in a tomato base. It’s cool to find other exciting recipes for this simple-to-prepare (because it doesn’t require a lot of pre-soaking) and tasty bean.

Even with some improvisation, the dish turned out really well. It had a hearty nutty flavor. The tomatoes were tangy and sweet. We both liked it a lot. My beans weren’t quite done enough though still tasted great. Hegui is already talking about having it again sometime soon, of course, with a bit longer cooking time. Maybe I should have actually measured the water after all?

some key ingredients for Fertile Crescent bulgar and mung beans pilaf

Fertile Crescent Bulgar and Mung Bean Pilaf

1 cup mung beans, picked over and washed
4 cups water
2 ½ tsp Kosher salt
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp cumin seeds
2 large onions, peeled and thinly sliced
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 Serrano chile, stem and seeds removed, chopped
2 cups bulgar
Black pepper
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp turmeric
½ cup oven-roasted tomatoes
Finishing olive oil and green for garnish

Combine mung beans, water and ½ tsp salt in saucepan. Bring to boil then simmer about fifteen minutes or until beans are tender.

Heat vegetable oil in a deep frying pan or wok until hot. Add cumin seeds and fry for about 10 seconds. Add onion and fry about fifteen minutes until onion is golden brown. Add ginger, garlic, chile, and bulgar. Fry about two minutes more to brown the bulgar. Add 2 tsp salt, black pepper, sugar, turmeric, tomatoes and mung beans with remaining water. Stir and bring to boil.

Simmer covered about 20 minutes or until water is absorbed. The recipe calls for dill as a garnish, which I didn’t have. If you do, toss some in now. I added spring onion which I had on hand. Toss together with some finishing olive oil (Najmieh adds butter here). Adjust salt if needed (we added more). Plate and serve.

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Madras mustard seed and yogurt pullao

by Stevie on January 13, 2010

I’ve been inspired by the success of my recent attempt at Georgian pilaf with tart cherries to try some more recipes from Najmieh Batmanglij’s remarkable book, Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey. Most of her rice recipes are unfamiliar to me and use ingredients that I’d not thought of putting in rice before. Last time it was the tart cherries; this time it’s the yogurt. I rarely use yogurt in anything and have generally considered it something to have with fruit as a dessert or as a “healthy” snack. Hegui is a bit skeptical about this key ingredient, too. But you cannot learn without trying new things, so there we are.

Madras mustard seed and yogurt pullao

This dish was very easy to make. Really it’s just cooking rice the “conventional” Brazilian way then putting the spices, yogurt and fresh cilantro on top for a bit. Then toss and serve. I loved the final product. The yogurt gives the rice a rich creamy white color, which looked great with the almost pearlescent whiteness of the rice. And the mustard seed and cilantro offered the dish some interesting splashes of color. I thought it tasted wonderfully, too. It’s creamy and a bit sour, which seemed exciting in a rice dish. Hegui grudgingly admitted that it was “good” but wouldn’t add more.

I didn’t really measure the rice but put it in a 2 to 3 ratio with water as the original directions recommend. Also, I used less oil than Najmieh says. Next time, I think that I’ll add more mustard seed and not remove all of the ribs and seeds from the Serrano chiles. That will heat it up a bit.

some key ingredients for Madras mustard seed and yogurt pullao

Madras Mustard Seed and Yogurt Pullao

2 cups basmati rice, rinsed and picked over
3 cups water
2 cups plain yogurt, beaten
4 to 6 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 Serrano chiles; stems, seeds and ribs removed, minced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 inch piece ginger, crushed
1 bunch fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped (reserve a few leaves as garnish)
2 tsp salt

Add two or three tablespoons oil to medium pot. Once hot, add mustard seeds and fry about 10 seconds. Add garlic, ginger and Serrano chile. Sauté about one minute. Pour spices and oil in a small bowl and set aside.

Pour remaining oil in the same pan. Add rice and salt. Sauté for a minute or two. Add water. Bring to boil then reduce to simmer, covered, until water absorbed (about 15 minutes). Remove from heat.

Pour spices with oil over top of rice in pan. Pour yogurt evenly over rice. Cover with fresh cilantro. Cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes so that the rice can absorb the flavors and some of the liquid from the yogurt. Toss, garnish and serve.

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a vegan spicy Indian red dal soup

by Heguiberto on November 20, 2009

Are you prepared for the task of making this mouthwatering red dal soup? Don’t be discouraged by the extensive list of ingredients. Like I’ve mentioned before, cooking Indian recipes is thrilling because it’s like being back in school doing scientific research in a chemistry lab. Plus unlike regular chemistry, it always smells great and you can eat the final product!

spicy Indian red dal soup

spicy Indian red dal soup

I think that this dal and my rasam are my best Indian soups. I just love the explosion of flavors in my mouth with each one. If you like Indian dals I encourage you to try this recipe at home. It’s a crowd pleaser and though there’re a lot of ingredients, it’s actually very straightforward to make.

For those of you not familiar with the term ‘dal’ it is the word Indians use for legumes such as lentils, peas and beans. Red dal is split red lentil.

rosé is a good choice with spicy red dal soup

rosé is a good choice with spicy red dal soup

a Vegan Spicy Indian Red Dal Soup

2 cups rinsed red dal
¼ tsp turmeric
1 stalk of celery, chopped into small bits
2 medium carrots, in small cubes
1 tbsp brown sugar
7 cups of water
8 peeled ripe fresh tomatoes, cubed
2 tbp canola oil
1 tbsp black mustard seeds
10 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
4 medium onions, chopped
4 jalapeño pepper, minced, seeds and ribs removed
¼ tsp asafetida
¼ tsp chili pepper
2 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp peeled and grated ginger with juices (approx 3 inch piece)
½ bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
Kosher salt to taste

How to:

Add dal, turmeric, celery, sugar and carrot to a pot with 6 cups of water and cook until lentils collapse and dissolve, about 20 minutes. Stir it few times while cooking to prevent sticking. Skim foam that may form at the surface during cooking. (If you are using a pressure cooker like I did for mine, turn heat to high, once the whistle starts blowing cook for three minutes. Remove from heat. Shake the pressure cooker a couple of times while cooking to prevent sticking.) Keep warm.

Place cumin and coriander seeds on a skillet and toast them under high heat until you sense volatile aromas permeating your kitchen. Do not burn it! Transfer seeds to an electric mill and pulverize, or, if you’re athletic, utilize a mortar and pestle for the job. Don’t use store bought powders as the result will not be the same. Toasting your own plays a significant role in the final flavor of the dish. Set aside

In a new pan, heat oil then add mustard seeds and sauté them till they pop, about a minute. Stir in asafetida. Add onion and pepper. Sauté till onion becomes translucent and soft. Be careful not to burn the onion. Add powdered cumin, coriander, grated ginger and give it a good stir. Add tomatoes and a cup of water. Bring temperature to boil and then lower heat to medium and simmer for about 15 minutes. Transfer the mix to cooked dal. Add salt to taste. Simmer for another 8-10 minutes, stir. Lastly add chopped cilantro reserving few leaves for decoration.

savoring the red dal

savoring the red dal

I served this soup with spinach bolani purchased at the Alemany Farmers Market here in San Francisco. Bolani is an Afghan type of bread that consists of two thin flour tortilla/crepe/pita-like disks pressed together with sautéed spinach in between. Delicious! If I had not had the bolani I would’ve served this soup with my carrot cumin basmati rice.

This dish is hearty, healthy and very low in fat but high in protein.

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fries with eyes AKA manjuba

by Heguiberto on November 16, 2009

fries with eyes AKA deep fried smelt

fries with eyes AKA deep fried smelt

This weekend we went on a fish eating binge. On Friday we dined at Sanraku before seeing the new movie, “Precious.” The movie was excellent in a very disturbing way. And as per usual, the meal was divine! We had a beautiful sushi a la carte comprised of taco (octopus), albacore tuna, yellow tail, uni (sea urchin) and nasu (eggplant) nigiri. We also ordered a few rolls: cucumber, fried oyster and wasabi. The wasabi roll was a surprise with its intense heat blasting through your nasal cavities. Some people say this is a pleasing sensation? Every time I overdose on wasabi, after the suffering, I start laughing at my own foolishness. I’ve only myself to blame for the delicious, excruciating pain. I always promise not to do it again, yet the very next time I OD once more. This ordering of the wasabi roll was Steven’s idea but I could have said no. Well my point is that after indulging in fish on Friday I was still not completely satisfied, so for Saturday dinner we had seafood again!

fresh smelt

fresh smelt

That afternoon we went shopping in the Mission at Sun Fat. I got some clams to make them in white wine sauce, essentially the same way as I made the mussels in Chablis. By chance, while browsing around the shop, I saw that they had fresh smelt. I immediately thought about summertime on the beach in Brazil. There this tiny little fish is called ‘manjuba.’ A perfect day at any Brazilian beach, as far as I’m concerned, includes baking in the sun with friends and family, drinking watery beer and caipirinhas, and eating deep fried fish. I’ve been home sick lately. I guess this cold weather makes me want to migrate South with the birds. (I can’t wait for my upcoming trip there in January!) I simply had to get them!

It is a bit naughty eating this because it’s deep fried. We don’t do much deep frying at home, but every once in a while I think it’s okay. The smelt turned out pretty delicious. I served them with tartar sauce.

Oh, I’m borrowing the name of this post from a similar dish from a restaurant I went to a couple of years ago. They thought that the fried smelt looked like French fried potatoes with eyes. It’s a cute name that’s catchy. Though, I think that the fried fish are much more interesting looking than mere fried potato. Anyway, here it is:

Fries with Eyes AKA Manjuba

1lb smelt (manjuba), rinsed and patted dried with a paper towel
1 cup corn flour
salt
black pepper
¼ tsp chili pepper
oil for frying (canola, corn, or grapeseed)

deep frying smelt

deep frying smelt

For the tartar sauce:

2 tbsp mayo
1 tsp yellow mustard
1 tbsp buttermilk
1 tbsp capers, rinsed and coarsely chopped

In a medium pan heat enough oil to fill the pan about ½ inch. Mix corn flour, salt, pepper and chili pepper together. Transfer smelt to corn mix. Shake off excess flour. Add smelt to pan, frying them in batches about 3-4 minutes per side on medium-high heat. Do not over crowd pan. Remove from pan and let fried fish rest on a paper towel to remove some excess oil. When all of the frying is done, arrange on a platter and serve with tartar sauce and lemon or lime wedges.

For the tartar sauce, mix all ingredients together and serve.

We’re not in Brazil here so instead of beer, we had our “fries with eyes” as an appetizer with a beautiful bottle of inexpensive white Bordeaux, Chateau Ducasse 2008. I used the same wine for the clam dish that I served as the main course, accompanied by olive bread for dipping. Mmmm! I do love seafood!

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poached king salmon spicy Thai tom yum soup

by Heguiberto on October 7, 2009

this poached king salmon spicy Thai tom yum soup is so good, we forgot to take a picture!

this poached king salmon spicy Thai tom yum soup is so good, we forgot to take a picture!

For our recent Thai-themed night, I made this fabulous tom yum soup to go with my almost vegetarian pad Thai. This soup has wonderfully fresh, spicy, sour, herbal and earthy flavors; and it’s incredibly easy to make. I learned the recipe in the 1990’s while living in UK. There I worked for a few months in the kitchen of The Blue Elephant, a popular Thai restaurant in Fulham – South West London. There I assisted with pretty much everything except for the actual cooking. When I was not super busy doing stuff, I loved watching Madam Too prepare dishes like fried rice with fresh crab meat, pad Thai, various soups and vegetable dishes like snow peas, broccoli, and Chinese cabbage with oyster sauce among many, many other dishes. It was exciting because most of the ingredients they used were unknown to me at that time. Brazilian cuisine focuses more on salt and less on herbs and spices. To me, this Thai place was at first dreadful, because the flavors seemed so alien, but gradually, as my senses were awakened, it offered me a doorway into a new, thrilling eating world!

I bought all the ingredients for this soup in the Sunset district. There is an Asian supermarket a few blocks west of Irving and 22nd Market that carries most of the products that I needed. That store is a cultural food experience! Besides a lot of canned, jarred and dried ingredients, they have an exciting selection of sushi grade fish and other Japanese delicacies. That’s where I got this appetizing king salmon.

some key ingredients: galangal, lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves

some key ingredients: galangal, lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves

Unfortunately, my guests, Steven and I were so excited by this soup that we gobbled it down completely before taking a picture. Besides being completely delicious, it was quite photogenic, too. Oh well. So admire my artistic rendering of empty bowls while you enjoy your own…

Poached King Salmon Spicy Thai Tom Yum Soup

5 & 1/2 cup water or vegetable broth
1 inch of galangal root, cut into a few pieces
3 kaffir lime leaves
2 stalks lemon grass, cut into approximately 5 inch sticks and flattened with a cleaver

I use Squid Brand Fish Sauce

I use Squid Brand Fish Sauce

2 dried chili, cut roughly and crushed
¼ tsp of garlic chili paste or chili oil
5 tbsp of fish sauce (or more)
½ tsp sugar
¼ lb button mushrooms, thickly sliced
¾ lb king salmon, cut into 4 pieces
Leaves from 2 sprigs of mint
Leaves from 2 sprigs of Thai basil
1/3 cup cilantro leaves

How to:
Bring water or vegetable broth to boiling. Add kaffir lime leaves, galangal root and lemon grass. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add fish sauce, sugar and mushrooms. Stir then taste to adjust flavors. Add salmon and poach it for about 3 minutes. Add fresh herbs. Transfer to individual bowls and serve at once. It really is good!

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