Lamb's Quarter Saag Curry

Had I thought of making this dish when I still had raw milk, I would have made some paneer to go along with it! But, I used up all of my raw milk to make yogurt, so that will have to come another day. Instead, I made a straight up saag curry, as well as a shrimp curry with tamarind and fresh peas, and a couple of baby zucchni from my garden. I almost attempted a daylily version of Nepalese style okra with jerusalem artichokes, but that got a bit too ambitious for my weekday evening. 

Both curries turned out really delicious, very distinct from one another, though I took some liberties with the latter. It was my first time using tamarind paste, which I bought at the Ethiopian market sometime last year. I love the tang! Even without curry leaves, it was still really good. That recipe inspiration is here (I also used coconut cream instead of fresh coconut, which went fine), and the only thing I'd do differently is be more attentive to the shrimp - mine overcooked because I did not turn the heat all the way off for the curry to thicken. Next time I'd let it simmer a little longer before adding the shrimp, then just serve as soon as the shrimp is cooked.

I made my lamb's quarter saag following a combination of this recipe and this one. I promptly harvested more lamb's quarters on my post dinner walk to freeze for more of this exact preparation. Yum. (Though, this morning as I was steaming them, I noticed a distinct pee smell. Some of my greens came from around my boulevard tree, and I think that was not the most judicious choice. I rinsed them again and added some extra ginger - I'm hoping for the best.) 

Lamb's quarters work especially well here because you blend them up, so you can be extra forgiving with leaves and stems (just remove the tough main stem of larger plants), but you could use any green. Note: you blend up the lamb's quarters with ginger and garlic and some jalapeno, and you add a little extra ginger/garlic later to saute. They are listed separately below, but heads up for your "mis-en-place" if you do that kind of thing. Also, the nuts here serve to thicken the saag. I liked that addition, but it would be fine without, or just add extra cream at the end. I had leftover soaked and dehydrated almonds that are soft and blend well, so I used them. If I hadn't, I would skip that.

Lamb's Quarters Saag Curry

• 4-6 cups lamb's quarters (4 if they are pretty tightly packed; this is flexible)
• 1" knob of ginger, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/8 jalapeno pepper, chopped (or more if you want extra spicy)
• 10 soaked cashews or almonds (opt)
  
• 2 T ghee or butter
• Seeds from 2 cardamom pods
• 1" cinnamon stick piece
• 2 cloves
  
• 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 c red onions, minced (I used part onion part garlic scapes)
• 1/2 tsp ginger, minced
  
• 1/2 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 tomato chopped (or 1/2 c frozen tomatoes)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 3/4 tsp garam masala
• 1-2 T heavy cream to serve 

1. Prepare the lamb;s quarter puree: Steam or blanch your greens. I did this by bringing 1-2" of water to a boil in a pot,  then adding the greens and covering the whole thing. I stirred them a couple of times, so that in 2-3 minutes the greens were all wilted/steamed. You could also do a 1 minute blanch and then rinse in cold water. You don't want to overcook because you will lose the bright green. Once the greens are cool, add them, the ginger, garlic, jalapeno and nuts to a food processor and puree until smooth. 
2. For the Saag sauce: heat ghee or butter in a heavy skillet/pot over med heat. Once hot, add your whole spices: cardamom seeds, cinnnamon, cumin seeds. Saute just for 30 seconds or so, and add your minced onions. Saute until soft, a couple of minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and saute another minute. Add your tomatoes and sea salt, and stir to combine well. The tomatoes will have lots of juice, so let that release. You want a sort of wet paste. Once the tomatoes are soft, add the garam masala. Saute 2-3 minutes. You may need to add a little extra water here to keep the mixture wet.
3. Once the sauce is thickened, lower the heat and add your green puree. Heat just for a couple of minutes, until the curry starts to bubble. Taste for seasoning, add more salt or a little hot water if it is too thick. *If you have paneer, you would also add that in now, also stir in 2-3 T cream if you prefer that to nuts. Serve with some swirled cream on top. 

This would be great with dosa, which is on my list of fermented things to try making, and also of course rice or the Indian spice Kohlrabi or again, the Nepalese style okra and jerusalem artichokes.

Nepalese style Okra and Jerusalem Artichokes

It is Ramadan and I am fasting, and thus eating a large meal at the end of the day. I went grocery shopping last week, being fairly judicious about what I bought because it is easy to have eyes bigger than my belly right now. There is only so much I can eat in one meal. And though frozen okra was not on my list (I had never even had it), frozen peas were. So while getting them, I saw that frozen okra was a thing, and in fact were on sale, 3 packages for $5. Friends, I am so happy to have stumbled across this find, because frozen okra is DELICIOUS. At least how I cooked it tonight. 

There is a particular dish I love from Gorkha Palace that is okra with potatoes. Upon dreaming about what I most wanted for dinner, I thought of that dish. My version uses jerusalem artichokes and green onions, because the latter are majestically upright in the garden bed, and the former are nestled amidst all the softening earth from the winter freeze. This turned out AMAZING. I combined a couple of online recipes because I wasn't sure how frozen okra would cook (they bake and crisp up really well - so for a faster dish, this easy-bake frozen okra dish is a winner). I also added some Panch Phoron spice that I'd mixed together last summer. I think those spices really kicked it up a notch (and were more like Gorkha Palace's dish), but it would still be good without. I will put this dish into regular rotation, it was so tasty. AND I'm trying to grow my own okra this year, so we'll see how that goes?!

This is my adapted recipe, based on this fairly simple online recipe. Serves 2, unless you are fasting and are eating extra, in which case you could eat all of this yourself! *I would like to try just adding the frozen okra to the skillet, but I wasn't sure if that would work. So instead I created an extra step - a bit tedious, but it worked.

• 1 bag frozen okra
• 2 T olive oil
  
• 1-2 jerusalem artichokes, diced (or use a smaller potato)
  
• 4-5 green onions, chopped (or use 1/2 a red onion, diced)
• 3 T coconut oil (or avocado oil)
• 1 tsp Panch Phoron spice 
  
• garlic clove, minced
• small jalapeno, minced
• 1 tsp turmeric, divided
  
• 1 tsp chili flakes (or 1/2 tsp cayenne), divided
  
• cilantro to garnish (opt - I totally forgot about this! I had some!)

1.  Turn oven to 450 degrees. In a cake pan/rimmed cookie sheet, combine 2 T olive oil with 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp chili flakes, and salt. Add the bag of frozen okra and stir to coat each of the pices. (It will not coat them all, that is fine.) Bake for 30 minutes in the oven, stirring and flipping them halfway through. They will brown and get nice and crispy. Yum. (You could just stop here and have only okra. But keep going and things will get even better!)
   
2. While okra bakes, prep your other ingredients. Heat oil in a wok over high heat; add jerusalem artichokes and stir-fry for about 5-8 minutes, until browning on the edges (stir often). Add white part of green onions, and Panch Phoron spices, stirring often.
   
3. Add garlic, jalapeno, and remaining 1/2 tsp of turmeric and chili pepper flakes. Stir fry for a minute or two, then add onion greens and crispy okra from the oven. Toss together and serve.
   

Cucumber Tomato Raita

I can't keep up with the garden cucumbers, but I am trying. And in keeping with the recent post theme of late - I made this kheera ka raita. It would be great with any of my previous posts (for liver curry or Indian spiced Kohlrabi), and is also just damn good on its own. This is the best raita I have ever had, and I don't really know why. It was SO good! 

The recipe is from Saveur, and I didn't change it other than I only had ground cumin (so didn't heat seeds or grind them, saving some steps and still turning out tasty), and I used a jalapeno because that is what i had. I have been out of onions for some days, so am digging up the remaining green onion bulbs in the garden to inch me along til I get to the store! I also used my mom's homemade yogurt, which might be one of the reasons this was so good. Her yogurt is not super thick - a good regular whole milk plain yogurt. Not the super creamy greek yogurt - which ordinarily is my preference. My mom and I ate this with leftover chicken, rice, and some beet greens with peas that I sauteed in ghee and spices that turned out weird but good. *I thought the raita was just a tad salty, which is rare for me because I am usually a salt fiend. Next time I might try a little less than 2 teaspoons.

Raita with rice and leftover chicken and my veggie concoction!

Raita - yields 2 cups

• 1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped small
• ¹⁄₂ small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 ¹⁄₂ cups plain, full fat yogurt
• ¹⁄₂ cup minced mint
• 2 small green Indian chiles, or 1 serrano, stemmed and minced
• 1 large plum tomato, chopped small 

Toss cucumber, onion, and salt in a colander set over bowl; let drain 5–10 minutes, then squeeze dry. Heat an 8" skillet over medium-high; cook cumin until seeds pop, 1–2 minutes; grind in a spice grinder into a powder. Whisk yogurt and reserved cumin in a bowl until smooth. Stir in reserved cucumber mixture, the mint, chiles, and tomato. Chill up to 4 days. 

Indian Liver Curry

My mom is staying with me following surgery where she needs to be on one level for bedroom/bathroom/kitchen access. All went well enough, but she has low hemoglobin. So liver seemed like a good idea. I flagged this recipe awhile back, and I had some lamb liver in the freezer. It turned out nicely, despite my lack of cilantro. The curry was really tasty, and the liver flavor to me seemed so unexpected in this context. I got the recipe from a food blogger doing a liver experiment (to cultivate a love for liver). She reports getting the recipe from the EasyFoodSmith blogger, whose food blog looks worth exploring. Of all my liver recipes, this is probably the fussiest, and the most aromatic. It was really good with rice.

Indian Liver Curry, 4 servings

• 1 lb liver (lamb, mutton or calf)
• 3-4 tbsp oil
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 2 large onions
• 1 tsp generous ginger garlic paste
• 1 large bay leaf
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tomatoes
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• two green chillies, whole
• rice
• fresh cilantro

1. Boil water and add diced (small size- an inch and a half to max two inch) liver. Cook for approx a minute and then drain water and wash with fresh water. Keep aside. *This is theoretically to decrease "liver taste" which I don't mind. Feel free to skip this step and just add liver to cook at the end if you are already a liver lover. :)
   
2. Heat oil and the garam masala, it will become fragrant. Then add onions and fry till they become golden brown. Add half a cup of water, the ginger garlic paste, bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves and cumin seeds. Cook till water evaporates and the masala turns aromatic and somewhat brownish in color. Add tomatoes and salt to taste, coriander powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder, and cook til tomatoes become mushed and release oil at the edges of the masala.
3. Add liver, two green chillies, whole, and water. Cook till liver is done (you want it just a little pink in the middle, which can happen quickly with these small pieces). Sprinkle a little garam masala once the curry is done and serve with rice or roti. Adjust the amount and thickness of curry by adding more water if required.

Indian-spiced Kohlrabi

My aunt told me that my grandmother always cooked kohlrabi - she never ate it raw. I have thus far been the opposite, so tonight I decided to try cooking it. Twice this week I wanted some kind of starchy vegetable to eat with dinner - so many cukes and tomatoes and greens that I wanted to diverge. I ate sunchokes earlier, and tonight I made this. It is based off of a youtube video from a very lovely person who records the cooking process. Here is my understanding of what he did - the water was the most confusing part in that he doesn't specify how much and I was balancing enough water to cook the kohlrabi but not so much that it would not cook off. *I have never had Panch Phoron - Indian 5 spice blend. I did not have all seeds, so made due with some powders. It was good, and I will use again!

I found the cooked kohlrabi tender, and a bit more bland. Germans use it a lot in stew, which would be quite good I think, and would be an excellent substitute for potatoes if you are wanting to be keto or low carb. I like it best raw - so far - but this was a fun experiment that tasted good. It would be best with some other Indian dishes, and maybe some Dosa, which I hope to make in the coming weeks! It also has lots of vitamin C and fiber.

Indian-spiced cooked Kohlrabi

• 1 T olive oil (or coconut oil)
• 1 tsp Panch Phoron spice mix (see below)
• 2 kohlrabi, peeled and cut into 1" pieces 
  
• 1+ tsp salt
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp red chili pepper
• 1 chili pepper, sliced (opt)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
  
• 1" piece ginger, minced 

Heat oil in a saucepan on med heat. When it is hot, add Panch Phoron until the mustard seed pops - just a few seconds. Add kohlrabi pieces and 1/3 c water (or so). Bring water to boil, cover, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice to make sure all pieces cook evenly.

While kohlrabi is cooking, mix garlic and ginger into a paste with a mortar and pestle (or if you are me and without that tool, in a stoneware small bowl with the end of a rolling pin).  

Once kohlrabi are tender, remove lid. Add spices, salt, ginger-garlic paste, and chili pepper if using. Cook until water is gone - another 5 minutes or so. Serve!

Panch Phoron spice: mix the following:

• 1 T cumin seeds
• 1 T fennel seeds
• 1 T fenugreek seeds
• 1 T nigella, or black cumin seeds
• 1 T black or brown mustard seeds
  

Onion Dandelion Pakora

I was out walking in the late afternoon sun yesterday when I spied some bright yellow dandelion heads. Remembering a recipe for dandelion fritters, I picked as many flowers as I could cradle in my cupped hand for the walk home. And, I resolved to carry some kind of vessel for future walks now that spring is here and edible things are popping up everywhere. The flowers fared well enough, though they lost a bit of their buoyancy from the cramped quarters.

The fritter recipe I'd saved included flour and beer, and when I was sorting through my GF flours to figure out what I might substitute, I came upon garbanzo flour. At which point I realized I wanted to make pakora with the dandelions, which are GF to begin with. That, food makers, was a very good call. I have never made pakora, but these were easy and delicious. The recipe I used was for onion pakora (with cilantro and jalapeno), and I opted to add the dandelion flowers rather than use them alone because I wasn't sure how the latter would go. Now that I've made them, I would do it - but the combo was great in this iteration.

The pakora recipe also included a "ketchup chutney" that was really good, despite seeming kind of weird. While not a tamarind sauce from Gorkha Palace, it was definitely tamarind-chutney-like, and in what turned out to be a fun "what-can-I-substitute" experiment, I made it with things I had. I did not have chaat masala spice mix, so made my own with heavy substitutions. I'll list them below in case you, like me, want to try this. I was rather impressed with my ingenuity to substitute sumac for mango powder, the most key ingredient in the mix. A substitution search told me to use tamarind powder (didn't have), or lemon or lime juice, because mango powder is tangy. At first I was going to use kefir lime leaves, but the ones I had were 10 years old (I am now rid of said lime leaves) and had no taste. But then I thought of sumac, which is tangy, and brings a middle eastern-Nepalese mash-up to this chaat masala.

I made half of this recipe, and it made 7 pakora clumps. If you are going to make the ketchup chutney, make that first so you can eat these as soon as they are done frying. Chaat Masala spice mix recipe and substitutions are at the bottom.

Ketchup Chutney
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 Tablespoon water
1 teaspoon chaat masala
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
squeeze of lemon or lime 

Pakora Batter (serves 2-4)
1 cup Chickpea/Garbanzo Bean Flour
1/2 Tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 green chili pepper, sliced
1/4 cup Cilantro leaves, chopped (I only had parsley)
1/2 yellow onion, sliced into 1/8-inch half moons
1/3 cup dandelion flowers
1/2+ cup luke-warm water
 Coconut oil for deep frying

Make the Chutney (Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.) 
Make the Pakoras.
1. Fill an 8-inch cast-iron skillet half-way up with oil. Heat the oil to 360-375ºF.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, red chili flakes, salt, baking powder, sliced chili pepper, cilantro, sliced onion and dandelion flowers.
3. Slowly add in the water, while mixing with a wooden spoon or your hands. Vigorously mix for a couple of seconds. The batter should be thick, almost like heavy (double) cream and there should be air bubbles throughout.
4. Once the oil is heated, carefully place in heaping tablespoonfuls of batter into the hot oil. Try not to overcrowd the oil because it will result in greasy pakoras. Fry until the pakoras are a pecan-brown.
5. Drain on a cooling rack placed over a cookie sheet.
6. Repeat with the remainder of the batter. Serve the warm pakoras right away with the Ketchup Chutney, and enjoy.

Chaat Masala spice mix, with substitutions:

3 tablespoons cumin seeds* sub powder
1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds
4 tablespoons raw mango/amchur powder* sub sumac
3 tablespoons powdered black salt* sub sea salt & decrease by half
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper (freshly ground)
1/4 teaspoon asafetida powder* sub garlic or onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger powder
1 teaspoon dried, powdered mint* sub insides of a mint tea bag!
1 1/2 teaspoons ajwain/carom seeds* sub thyme

1. Heat cumin, coriander, and fennel seeds on a hot skillet. Dry roast until the seeds begin to turn a little darker and start to give off their aromas. Stir often while roasting, to prevent the seeds from burning.

2. When the seeds have roasted, remove them from the pan and spread on a plate to cool.

3. When cool, mix the seeds with all the other ingredients in a clean, dry, coffee grinder until you get a fine, smooth powder. 

Cardamom Stew

This is one of my favorite meat recipes - it's from a cookbook not belonging to me. The cookbook was photocopied to begin with, and I have a photo of the recipe, so I cannot cite the cook or source. I'm not even quite sure which country this originated - India I think. I remember the author saying that this is a common recipe made for new mothers (sans cayenne). It is delicious with rice, or roasted cauliflower, or sauteed cabbage or greens. The original recipe calls for lamb, which I have used before and like. More often I use beef chuck roast, which is what I used this time. (I didn't get to take a photo. Will do another time and post later!!)

Cardamom Stew
2 1/4 pounds lamb or beef (I prefer off the bone, but you could do either)
1/2 c plain yogurt (I always use coconut milk)
1 T ground cardamom
1/2 c oil (I use less than that of butter, between 1/4 and 1/3 cups)
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cayenne
2 tsp coriander
3 small tomatoes, finely chopped
salt

1) Mix the cardamom powder with a little water to make a paste.
2) Heat butter in cooking pot; add cardamom paste and pepper. Fry over a low heat 2-3 minutes
3) Add the meat, turmeric, cayenne and coriander and saute for 10 minutes, all the while stirring so that the spices do not burn. *This is important. The recipe author says that this 10 minutes makes the stew, so don't skimp! (I've never tested this, so strong was her admonishment!) It is essential that the heat not be too high and you use enough oil/butter to ensure no burning.
4) Add tomatoes and yogurt/coconut milk and salt. Once it is simmering, lower the heat a bit, cover the pot, and leave to simmer until the meat is tender. I usually go for an hour or two. *The original recipe said to add several cups of water prior to simmering. I have never needed to do this as there is plenty enough liquid from the meat and butter and tomatoes. It would be like soup with all that water, and I always wonder if it was a mistake, or if this is just something I am culturally not understanding about the dish?!

Samosa filling (Keema) and Tikel Gomen

This is the 2nd time I've made Nom Nom Paleo's beef samosa filling, Indian Spiced Keema, along with Ethiopian cabbage and carrots, or Tikel Gomen. They are delicious together.

If you want to get especially fancy, you could also make Besan Chilla, a north Indian flatbread made out of chickpea flour, that when eaten with the Keema is very samosa like. I did not make them this time around, but the combo of the three was a total trifecta. Yum.

Follow everything with a cup of turmeric-ginger tea with coconut milk, and really, it's a pretty perfect meal. (A meal in which I apparently care much more about eating than photographing. These photos are pretty atrocious!)

*My dinner companion was not eating dairy, so I used coconut oil in the keema. It was still good, just a bit less depth (in my opinion). I also didn't have cilantro. The cilantro kicks things up a notch, but perhaps like me, your cilantro is buried under some snow in the front garden!

Keema
2 tablespoons butter, ghee or coconut oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons minced ginger
2 jalapeno peppers, finely diced
2 pounds ground beef (or lamb/goat/combo)
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
2 ½ teaspoons salt
½ cup full-fat canned coconut milk
1 tablespoon garam masala
Juice from half a lemon
¼ cup minced cilantro

1) Melt butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute onions for about 10 minutes, until translucent and beginning to brown.
2) Add garlic, ginger, and jalapeno and saute until softened. Then add ground beef. Cook until cooked through, breaking up meat with your spoon.
3) Add turmeric, salt, and coconut milk. Bring to a simmer, and cover the pan and reduce to medium low heat. Simmer covered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4) After 20 minutes, remove lid and check that the liquid is gone. If not, continue cooking uncovered another few minutes until it evaporates. Add garam masala, lemon juice, and cilantro. Serve!

Tikel Goman

1/4 cup olive oil (or coconut oil)
4 carrots, sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 head cabbage, sliced

3 red potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces (opt)

1) Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium high heat.
2) Toss in the carrots and onion and saute them in the oil for about 5 minutes.
3) Stir in the seasonings (salt, pepper, cumin, turmeric, ginger) and toast for a minute.
4) Add in the cabbage and potatoes. Stir to combine. Cover the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until the potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes.
*Mine got a little dry in cooking, so I added in a splash of coconut milk.