Suji's Vegeterian Gumbo

I add my "Suji's" tag to any dish I create based on a traditional recipe. I have to for veggie and grocery shopping this weekend and when I checked my freezer and pantry, I had few things. After debating for 2 minutes as to what to make for dinner, here is what I came up with. I served this gumbo with brown rice. Also, I think I will add some shrimp next time ;).

Ingredients:

Cut Okra - 1lb ( I used frozen cut okra)
Ready cut diced tomatoes - One 15 OZ can
Chick Peas - One 15 oz can
White onions - 1 cup finely diced
Red bell pepper - 1 finely diced
Celery - 1/2 cup finely diced
Garlic - 3 cloves minced
Salt - to taste
Water - 1 cup
Butter - 2 tsps.
Oil - 3 Tbsp.

Seasonings:
Paprika - 1 Tbsp.
Red Chili Powder - 1.5 tsps.
Oregano - 1tsp
Rosemary - 1/2 tsp.
White pepper - pinch
Nutmeg - pinch
All spice - pinch

Procedure:

- Heat butter and oil in a skillet or wide bottomed pot.
- Add garlic, onions, celery and bell pepper. Season with slat and saute till soft.
- Add everything under seasonings and saute for one minute.
- Add the tomatoes, okra and chickpeas.
- Stir the pot or pan without using the spatula.
- Add the cup of water, adjust seasonings, cover and cook for 15 minutes on medium-low flame.
- Check in between but do not mix too much.
- Remove the lid to see okra is cooked. You will notice that okra is not sticky at all (something about canned tomatoes sourness).
- Now cook on high for a minute or two till you get a thick consistency.

Remove form heat and serve over hot brown rice.

Penne Alla Vodka and Curried eggs

I committed a crime last night. You see, I swore I will never do anything to original Italian recipes. Oh well I lost it last night. I got too creative. Granted it wasn't a perfect match but the dish was good. And no, I don't make my sauces from scratch all the time. Especially anything that involves liquor like Vodka. I have alcoholics in the house who will finish those before I get the bottles to the kitchen ;).

I pressure cooked beaten eggs. If you do not have a pressure cooker you can cook these eggs in frittata style.

Ingredients:

Whole wheat penne pasta - 2 cups dry
Vodka Sauce - 1 heaping cup
Large Eggs - 3
Egg whites - from 3 eggs
Onions - 1/2 cup sliced thin
Olive oil - 1tsp + as needed for pasta
Curry Powder - 1 tsp. ( I bought Mccormicks brand)
Garlic powder - 1/4 tsp.
Red Chili flakes - per taste
Salt - as needed
Freshly ground pepper - per taste
Butter - to coat a pan

Procedure:

- Beat eggs, egg whites with curry powder, garlic powder, slat and pepper, 1 tsp. olive oil till well blended.
- Transfer this into a butter coated vessel and pressure cook for about 15 minutes till cooked.
- Loosen the edges of the vessel and transfer it into a plate. After cooked it should look something like below. Cut it into bite size pieces and keep aside.



- Mean while, cook the pasta according to package instructions with oil and salt. When the pasta is 3/4ths cooked, heat oil in a wide skillet.
- Add red chili flakes, onion slices and suate till onions are golden brown. Season them with salt.
- Add the steam cooked egg pieces to this and saute for 30 seconds, remove form the pan and keep aside.
- Bring the pan back on to the stove and heat the vodka sauce. If the sauce looks too thick add 1/4 cup of pasta cooking water to it.
- Add the pasta to the sauce and mix well for a minute or to.

- Transfer the pasta into a bowl and add the curried egg on top.

Black Bean and Corn Salad

My grocery store carries black beans which are brown in color. Don't ask, they are just dark brown but the can says black beans. Whatever.

I made this salad for my mom as she eats only salads for lunch now a days. Dressing is very very easy too. If you do not have balsamic vinegar, just use regular lemon juice.

Ingredients:

Black Beans - 1 can ( 8 Oz)
Corn Kernels - 1 cup ( If using frozen kernels, microwave them for 1 minute)
Tomatoes - 1/2 cup seeded and diced fine
Red Bell Pepper - 1/2 cup diced fine
Yellow Bell Pepper - 1/2 cup diced fine
Red Onion - 1/2 cup diced fine
Jalapeno - 1 seeded and diced

Balsamic Vinegar - 2Tbsp.
Olive oil - 1 tsp.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper - to taste

Procedure:

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and serve chilled :).

So easy even a caveman can do it;)

Chicken Curry - Part One

There are a gazillion ways to make chicken curry. None of them involve curry powder event hough it's called a curry. You can play with your spices with these curries. Here is my try for today. This is a little gravyish curry. You can have it with roti or hot rice.

The red chili powder I use is very very spicy. You can adjust the quantity depending on your taste palate :).

Ingredients:

Chicken - 2 lbs - Boneless and skinless cut into bite size pieces
Ginger and garlic paste - 1 tsp.
Yogurt - 3 Tbsp.
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp.
Turmeric - 1/2 + 1/2 Tsp.
Red chili Powder - 2 tsp.
Garam Masala - 1 tsp.

- Marinate chicken in above spices. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour. Mean while, get your other ingredients ready.

Grind to paste:
Coconut- 1/2 cup grated (I used frozen grated coconut)
Green chillies - 2
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Coriander Seeds - 1 tsp.
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp.
Cinnamon Stick - size shown in the picture :)
Cloves - 7
Cardamom - 3
Water - 1/3 cup


For the curry:
Red Onions - 2 cups finely diced
Tomato - 1 medium finely diced
Red chili Powder - 2 tsp.
Turmeric - pinch
Oil - as needed
Salt - to taste

Procedure:

Heat oil in a thick bottomed dish. Saute onions till golden brown with little salt.
Add red chili powder and turmeric and saute for 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, chicken, the ground coconut paste and mix well. Add1/3 cup of water. Cover and cook on medium flame till chicken is tender. Remove the lid, season with enough salt and cook till you get a thick gravy. Turn of the stove and serve hot.

I used a pressure cooker because meat comes out much tender when cooked in it. You could cover and let it cook for 1 whistle.

One more of Jaden's dish ( or is it Jeremy's)

Jaden goes to extreme lengths to get certain recipes (you know dating guys from different countries). When she doesn't get a recipe from the guy directly she harasses his wife to get it for her :). This is one such recipe and boy am I glad she took the trouble to get it. Here is her recipe for Dukkah.

I decided to try it simply because it has two of my favorite ingredients: Chili flakes and garlic powder. I didn't have malden salt so I used regular salt. I modified the quantity a bit because I didn't want to make a pound of dukkah as we are leaving for a 5 week trip soon. And I also used this on a different vegetable. I used what in English is called bottle gourd. It's called Louki in hindi, anapakaya or sorakaya in telugu. You can get it in any Asian store.

Ingredients:

Anapakaya - 4 cups - diced
Oil - as needed
Salt - to taste.


For Dukkah:

Almonds - 1 cup toasted in the oven at 375 degrees
Cumin seeds - 1 Tbsp toasted
Chili flakes - 1 Tbsp.
Garlic Powder - 1/2 Tbsp.
Lemon Zest - pinch - dried in the oven

- Grind them all into fine powder and keep it in an air-tight container.




Procedure:

Heat oil in a wide skillet. Add the anapakaya pieces. Season with salt. Cover lid and cook on medium-low heat for 3 to 5 minutes. remove the lid off and cook till the pieces are tender but not too mushy. Sprinkle 2 Table spoons of the dukkah on the vegetables and turn the stove off. Mix well and check taste. If you are like me who just falls in love with the dukkah because it smells so good, add 2 more Tbsp.:).