Mahanandi

Mitha Nimboo and Kalkand
(Sweet Lemon and Rock Sugar)

Citrus scent and sweet juice.

Completely non-acidic, no tartness whatsoever.

That is sweet lemon. Also known as Mitha Nimboo in Hindi.

Sweet lemon juice, sweetened with kalkand and chilled in earthen pot is a favorite summer drink of my childhood.

Today, I simmered the juice with rock sugar and cardamom powder. The thick, flavorful and fragrant syrup tasted like a pleasant food blog uncomplicated with acidic notes.

I will be using the syrup to sweeten my tea. May be I will add the syrup to toss the cut fruits like apples and pears.

I think this sweet lemon syrup with non-acidic properties would make an ideal sweetener for people who crave that exquisite lemony scent , but are going through painful acid reflux and heartburn.

Sweet Lemon Syrup ~ for the Spice Cafe’s Lemon Jihva

Note to Metronaturals:
Sweet lemons are available at DK Market (previously Lenny’s Market, behind Wal-mart) at Renton. Rock sugar at Viet-wah. Cardamom at Apna Bazar.:)

~ Indira

My very young and impressionable cousins in India, who read my food blog, are curious to know why I don’t cook with “cool” stuff like cheese. I like cheese, don’t get me wrong, but I rarely bring it home. Cheese is costly, caloric and full of saturated fat. It is a well known fact that foods like cheese with little or no fiber are number one cause for constipation and flatulence, and that kind of diet is also responsible for several ailments from heart attack to IBS to colon cancer. Cheese may look white and pure, but the color cover ups the harmful hormonal menace. The hormonal effects from estrogen, progesterone, bovine growth hormone, this is what cheese conceals, in addition to artery clogging saturated fat. It really takes time to understand how evil the cattle industry, the source of cheese, has become. Thanks to the ad blitz sorcery and the sold-out food writers’ cover-up of agro-globalization gallop, my cousins seem to know only the glitzy side of cheese-centric food. I try to explain to them all these things in a light-hearted manner. In a rush to englut the regurgitations, I am worried that they could become victims of early aortic regurgitation.

One way to prevent that from happening is packaging the traditional, nutritious food in a new way. This steam-sautéed spinach moong dal, a recipe I have learned from a Gujarathi friend, is usually served with rice or chapati. But I stuffed it between two toasted crumpets, squeezed some lime juice, and for saturated fat touch, grated some fresh coconut.

Carbohydrates from wheat, protein from moong dal, organic, hormone-free fat from coconut, green leafy goodness from spinach and natural digestion aid from spices.

This dal-wich actually tasted better than any one-dollar, mystery-cheese burgers out there. And, I am hoping that my cousins would take this homemade, all natural, cheese-free sandwich to the heart and consider it as “cool”.

Yellow Moong Dal, Rehydrated and Fresh Spinach Leaves

Recipe:

Yellow moong Dal - Half cup (soaked in water for one hour, and drained)
Fresh Spinach - One bunch, finely chopped
Onion - one, finely chopped
Green chillies (Indian or Thai variety) - two, finely chopped
Turmeric - ¼ teaspoon
Salt - ¼ teaspoon
Cumin and mustard seeds - ¼ teaspoon each
Peanut oil - 1 teaspoon
Nutmeg and fresh coconut gratings - 1 teaspoon (optional)
Lime juice - one tablespoon, or to taste

Place a wide skillet on stove-top. Add and heat oil.
Add and toast cumin and mustard seeds.
When seeds start to pop, add the onions and chillies. Saute to brown.
Add the yellow moong dal. Sprinkle two tablespoons of water. Mix.
Cover with a lid and cook the dal to tender soft on medium-low heat.
Dal should be intact, but soft to bite. (Takes about 10-15 minutes.)
At that stage, add the turmeric, salt, nutmeg and coconut. Mix.
Add the spinach. Saute on high heat until the leaves collapse.
Sprinkle the lime juice. Serve hot with rice or chapati.

For our meal today, I toasted two english muffins (crumpets) to brown, and stuffed them with steam-sautéed spinach-moong dal. With a glass of chilled ruby orange juice on the side, it was a good meal.

Spinach-Moong Dal Sandwich with a glass of Ruby Orange Juice
~ A Vindu for RCI: Gujarat at Mythili’s

~ Indira

The days are getting longer already. Like the plants for sunshine, the appetite seems to hunger for variety. So I came up with this chestnut lentil soup idea for our meal yesterday. To my delight, it turned out to be the right kind of food at the right time.

Roasted chestnuts from Chinese grocery, and red lentils from Indian grocery are added, and the combination was simmered together with vegetables and spices. The lime juice, like a ray of sunshine, livened up the preparation. I served the chestnut lentil soup to friends and family. Chestnuts are complete strangers to few, but they seem to capture the sense of taste easily in that relaxed company. The verdict was:

“This wholesome food makes a gourmet delight to humble appetite of a dieting attitude.”

Artisan Food ~ Chestnut Lentil Soup

Artisan Food : Aim and Purpose

How it Works: After payment via Paypal, PDF file will be emailed to you to download the recipe. For any questions about the recipe or the download process, please email me at mailmahanandi@gmail.com .

Details:
Artisan Food: Chestnut-Lentil Soup
Ingredients: Roasted Chestnuts, Red Lentils etc.
Skill level: A tad kitchen experience required
Labels: Vegetarian, Diet-friendly
Price: $3.00
Format: PDF

Buy Now

Artisan Food : Aim and Purpose
Previously in Artisan Food : Avocado Annam

Food needs to be in the right company at the right time to feel right.
Thank you for the goodwill, and for readily embracing the Artisan food.

~ Indira

Lemon, Key Lime, Sweet Lemon and Lime (Clockwise from 11 o’ Clock )
Jihva for Citrus ~ for this Week’s Indian Kitchen

~ Indira

Potato puffs also known as curry puffs are one of the most popular items sold at Indian bakeries. Flaky wrap and spicy filling, people love them a lot. They are prepared with puff pastry like dough, and the filling varies. Common is potato, then there is egg and also chicken etc. Baked to golden perfection, hot from the oven, with coffee or tea, the chat and the laughs - I can see going back to college days.

Thanks to ready availability of good quality puff pastry, I can bake them at home easily. My version has all the flavor and eye appeal of bakery-style curry puffs, but they are smaller in size, hence more figure and finger friendly.

For filling, I prepared potato curry with red potatoes. Boiled the potatoes to tender, and then peeled the skins, cut them to tiny pieces. Sautéed them with tadka seasoning, onions and peas. Added salt, chilli and turmeric to taste. The potato filling was ready.

For wrapping, I used the frozen puff pastry from Trader Joe’s. There are four sheets in one pack, and they were stuck to each other. So I cut them to three strips. Rolled each one to a thin rectangle. Divided again into eight equal portions. Placed a tablespoon of potato curry in each portion, did a roll, and baked them at 350°F for about 15 minutes to golden-brown.

Here is the whole process in images.

Puff Pastry Strip and Potato Curry Filling

Puff pastry strip rolled into a thin rectangle and divided into eight equal portions. Then wrapped around the potato curry filling. (I’ve refrigerated the dough after rolling and after wrapping for about two minutes each time, to firm-up the dough and for sticky free results.

Potato puffs on a baking pan. (I placed the attached ends on the bottom side, so that they won’t open up during baking.)

Baked at 350°F for about 15 minutes, Potato puffs ~ Hot out of the Oven

Potato Curry Puffs with Red Pepper Chutney ~ for Potato Fe(a)st at DK’s

Notes:
Puff pastry doesn’t like heat. Refrigerate frequently and work with firm dough for sticky-free results.

~ Indira

Lovely to look at, even lovelier to consume, mango-moong dal has a richness all its own without the need of too many ingredients. The unripe mango’s intense ruchi makes this dal just the side of heaven particularly if you happen to be a fan of khatti (tangy/sour) taste.

Yellow moong dal, Green mango, and regular seasoning - that’s all one need to prepare mango-moong dal. A long-standing family favorite, most commonly served to break the fast, this healthful treat is my contribution to talented Suganya’s Healthy Eats Event.

Yellow Moong Dal and Unripe Mango (Pesara Pappu and Mamidi Kaya)

Recipe:
(for two, for one or two meals)

Half cup yellow moong dal
1 unripe mango - lightly peel the skin, discard the seed and cut the white part to half inch chunks. About a cup.
½ teaspoon chilli powder
4 cups of water

Take them all in a pot or pressure-cooker. Steam-cook until the dal reaches falling-apart stage. Then, with the back of the spoon, gently mash the dal to coarse consistency.

Now, infuse the dal with the ancient natural vitamins, also known as popu or tadka.

1 tablespoon peanut oil
2 sprigs curry leaves
4 garlic cloves, slivered
¼ teaspoon each - cumin and mustard seeds
Pinch - Hing (Asafoetida or Inguva)

Heat oil in a vessel until a curry leaf tossed in it sizzles. Lower the heat to medium. Add curry leaves and garlic. Toast to pale brown. Then add the cumin, mustard seeds and hing. When mustard seeds start to pop, add the cooked mango-moong dal. Stir in salt to taste. Mix. Serve warm. Great on its own and also with rice or roti for anytime of the day.

Mamidi Pesara Pappu with Roti ~ Dedicating Our Meal to the Memory of Sreemathi Parigi Subhadra Krishna Rau. May She Rest in Peace!

I just learned the sad news that Pedatha has passed away. Pedatha was a sweet and kind person with gentle nature of yesteryears. I have never met her, but Pedatha has written a personal note in response to this interview. The affection in her words, I will always cherish that. She will always remain very much alive in the memories of those who loved, respected and treasured her.
My deepest condolences to the family!

~ Indira

They look like peppers and they are named peppers.

They are not what you might expect. Certainly not the fiery peppers that spice up the curries, nor the bloated bell peppers that would collapse on cooking.

No, these peppers are the stuff of dreams. Like the botox-faced on-air talent, they glisten and also need PIN codes to access their emotions. A product of calculated hybrid breeding, they do not shrivel, sweat and the seeds inside rarely reproduce on Design. Other charming features - delicate skin, cooks in minutes and doesn’t become saggy on cooling. A perfect, plastic produce, alive with cloying sweetness. These are the “Vine Sweet Mini Peppers“, the 21st century vegetables.

Not knowing what they were, I brought them home. Dolts they are, taste buds seem to accept them without any hesitation.

Pepper in Figure 8

1 tablespoon peanut oil
Pinch each - cumin and mustard seeds
20 to 25 mini peppers - ends removed and sliced to thin rings

Heat oil in a wide skillet. Add and toast cumin and mustard seeds. When seeds start to pop, add the peppers. Mix. Keep the heat on medium, cover the skillet and cook for about five minutes.

While peppers are cooking, prepare the pappula (dalia) podi.

3 tablespoons pappulu (dalia, bhuna chana)
1 tablespoon grated coconut
1 teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon salt
2 dried red chillies, Indian variety
Take them all in a spice grinder, blend to fine powder.

Remove the lid and sprinkle this powder on peppers. Also add quarter teaspoon each - turmeric and salt. Mix. Cook, uncovered for another five minutes. Serve at once. Tastes good with chapati, roti, rice or pasta.

Mini Pepper Kura with Corn Rotis, Carrot-Okra Sambar and Pear ~ Meal Today

~ Indira