Fish-Fragrant Eggplants

Fish-fragrant flavor is one of Sichuan´s famous 23 flavors and an overall Chinese classic. As my favorite Chinese food guru Fuchsia Dunlop further elaborates in her Land Of Plenty:

... based on the seasonings used in traditional fish cookery, this flavor combines salty, sweet, sour and spicy notes, with the heady fragrance of garlic, ginger and scallions. The core seasoning is pickled red chilies, either on their own or mixed with fava beans in Sichuanese chili bean paste, which give fish-fragrant dishes their distinctive orange-red hue...

There are many dishes I remember ordering that were "fishy" yet vegetarian, such as fish-fragrant pork slivers (did I say vegetarian? :-) , fish-fragrant Tofu or my absolute favorite all-time winner:

FISH FRAGRANT EGGPLANT:
(鱼香茄子 - yu xiang qie zi)

• 450 g purple eggplants *
  
• 100 g minced meat (or reconstituted soy mince)
  
• salt
• oil (+ a splash of sesame oil for final touch)
  
• 2 tbsp Sichuanese chili bean paste (豆瓣酱 -dou ban jiang)
• 2 tsp fresh grated ginger
  
• 3 tsp pressed garlic
• 1/2 cup veggie broth
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp cornstarch
  
• 2 tsp rice wine
• 3 scallions, green parts only

* NOTE: This dish consists of a sauce and fried cubed veggies, so feel free to experiment. Try cauliflower, zucchini or squash, cubed tofu or even hard-boiled eggs.

Cut the eggplants length-ways into 4 quarters and each part further into 4 even chunks. Sprinkle with salt and leave 30 minutes in a colander to loose some of the juices. Wash well and pat-dry with towel.
In the wok, heat the oil until it begins to smoke. Add the eggplants and fry until golden. Set aside.

Heat another tablespoon in the wok, add the mince, chili bean paste and stir-fry for couple of seconds; then add the garlic, ginger and fry until fragrant.

Add the stock together with the sugar, soy sauce and let simmer for a few minutes.
Add the eggplants and the scallions.

Dissolve the cornstarch mixture in a tablespoon of water and add this mixture to the wok. Add the vinegar and cook until thickened. Remove from fire, add the sesame oil and serve over rice.


This one goes to Chinese Take-Out Party hosted by Mochachocolate Rita. I cannot wait to see the round-up and the lucky-drawn :-)

Chinese Food Rocks! Here are some more recipes from the Land of Chopsticks - the real stuff, as taught and experienced while living in Beijing.

Semolina Dosai

After my success with Green Gram Dosai, my confidence and enthusiasm grew bigger and stronger. So strong, that not only have re-created the recipe several times, but I threw myself into the world of dosai experimentations. On my dosai exploration quest, I am still, however, faithful to my sweet little Dakshin cookbook - gosh! I am never tired of this one:



It features around 15 completely different dosai recipes (and other snacks). Most of dosai recipes need to stay fermented overnight, which is why I never made them. I always forget to make the batter.
This one though is not the same. Two hours of quick set-aside will do it. Here it is, soft and chewy:

SEMOLINA DOSAI:
(Rava Dosai)

Makes: 15 dosais
prep time: 2 hours and 40 minutes

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 cup semolina
• 1 cup rice flour
• salt
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 3 green chilies
• 1 cup (soy) yoghurt
• a few curry leaves
• fresh coriander leaves
• oil for frying

Mix the flour, semolina and rice flour. Add the salt and cumin, chopped chillies, yoghurt and the chopped coriander leaves. Add enough water to form a stiff dough. Let sit for at least two hours. Add enough water to make thin batter.
Heat the tawa griddle or cast iron wok. When smoking hot, start pouring the batter, from outside inwards, in circular motions to create pancake. Even its surface with the back of the ladle to remove lumps. Pour a teaspoon of oil around the edges. Cook from both sides until soft and crispy.

This is for you Srivalli and your beautiful event Celebrate Dosai. I am looking forward to the round-up and more inspiration.

Panch Phoron

Panch Phoron (Bengali 5-spice) is a very simple spice mix of an equal amount of dry whole spices and has nothing to do with the traditional Chinese Five-Spice. These ingredients are neither roasted, nor ground. Panch Phoron has gained its popularity by its diverse color (from yellow, through green to black) and shapes (from small round balls to irregular squares).

Generally, (similarly to tadka, baghar or popu) there are two ways to use Panch Phoron, :

1. Roast in hot oil, until a strong aroma of each spice is released, and use the fragrant oil as a base to cook dal, meats or vegetables.
2. Roast in butter or ghee and add as seasoning to different dals or thick curries.

To make your own batch, simply mix together:

BENGALI FIVE SPICE:
(Panch Phoron)

prep time: 5 minutes

• 1 quantity whole cumin seeds
• 1 quantity whole fennel seeds
• 1 quantity whole yellow mustard seeds
• 1 quantity whole fenugreek seeds
• 1 quantity whole nigella (kalonji) seeds

Mix all the seeds together, enjoy the lovely color and store in air-tight container away from direct sunlight.

Now, there are tons of recipes that feature Panch Phoron. I have made several of them, yet the one that really caught my attention (and Tompa´s appetite) was the one of Susan from Fat Free Vegan. She made Cauliflower Dal Panch Phoran, which was utterly amazing. I didn't have cauliflower on hand. so used a mixture of root veggies. Here is her recipe, which I have adjusted only slightly to this, just for my reference:

VEGGIE DAL WITH PANCH PHORON:

• 1 1/2 cups red lentils
• 1 tsp turmeric
• salt
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp panch phoran
• 1 large onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 cup chopped root vegetables (potatoes, parsnip, root beet...)
  

Pick over and rinse the lentils and add them to a pot with 4 cups water and turmeric. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer until the dal is tender, about 20 to 35 minutes. When done, add salt and set aside.

While the dal is cooking, prepare the vegetables. Heat a large, deep skillet, preferably non-stick. When hot, add the oil and shake it to spread it around. Add the panch phoran and stir. When the first seed pops, immediately add the diced onion, minced garlic, pepper flakes, and ginger. Stir and cook until the onion softens, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, chopped veggies and 1/2 cup water, and stir. Cover and cook until the veggies are just tender, about 10 minutes.

Add the dal to the veggie mixture. Stir well, and check seasoning, adding more salt if needed. Simmer gently for about 10 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

Right before serving, heat some oil in a pan and add dried chillies, sliced garlic, cumin seeds, a pinch of asafoetida and a few curry leaves to make the tadka seasoning.

Pour over the dal and enjoy with plain rice or (like me - below) with pohe.

This is my contribution to RCI: Bengal hosted by Sandeepa of Bong Mom´s Cookbook. This is the only Bengali recipe I know, so I am very excited to see the round-up.

Smooth(ie) Seduction

Learning to fall in love with smoothies as deserts have been fairly easy for several reasons: one, they are sweet, refreshing and energy pumping, two they are easy to make and take no time at all, three they can be so diverse that you just never get tired of them.

After New Year, me and Tompa decided to go back on track and loose some extra Christmas kilos. It was him who introduced me to smoothies. It was me, though who ended up pressing the blender button and coordinating the ingredients. "Let´s try this. Throw in some of that! Here, let me just do it" I took over :-)
Now making Sunday Smoothies is entirely my thing. I call it "Blending Stuff".

There is no general recipe on how to make a smoothie. Basically, anything that blends can be blended. Generally, for the sweet ones, consider: fruit (fresh or dried), nuts, seeds, milk, yoghurt, ice cream, oats, chocolate chips, sugar, honey, cream, coffee, herbs (honey mint, mint), spices (cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, star anise...), cooked rice or other grains, marmalade or peanut butter.

As for the savory ones, try: Vegetables, herbs and spices, yoghurt, milk, seeds, nuts, seaweed, yeast pate (really!), cooked rice, other grains or peanut butter.

Here are two of our favorite:

BANANA SHAKE:

• banana
• almonds
• soy milk
  

Peel the banana, break in three, place together with almonds and soy milk and press the button!

STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE:

• banana
• frozen strawberries
• honey
• soy milk
• lemon juice

Peel the banana, break in three, place together with the rest and press the button!

Aaahhh, this is so much fun! The Strawberry one is on its way to seduce Mike for hosting Strawberry Seduction event.

Now that I think about it, crab, I should have these more often instead of all the chocolate and cookies I stuff into my greedy .... pockets. My weight is slowly increasing........ again :-S

Ants Climbing Up A Tree

Yesterday, after almost a year of living in Malmö, for the very first time I cooked meat. I am not a big meat fan, but occasionally, I have a few bites of lamb or beef to satisfy my doctor´s worries about my intake of iron.
Couple of weeks ago, I signed up for Taste & Create, a real fun event run by Myamii via For The Love Of Food. You get randomly paired to another blogger and you cook from each other. It is a great way to get to know new bloggers, or to re-discover the old ones.

For me, it meant to meet a completely new blogger KC - a wonderful Chinese lady behind Kitschow curtain. Her recipes are very traditional, homey and...... full of ......meat.
I browsed through all her recipes ever since she tarted posting in January 2008. KC focuses on tradition, her recipes feature simple everyday ingredients, her instructions are very detailed and easy to follow, turning you into a Chinese Cooking 师傅 Shi Fu (master).

Most of the recipes I remember eating on a daily basis, when living in China, dishes I used to adore. I almost forgot about them, so running through KC´s blog was like going back in time. And once I saw her 蚂蚁上树 Ma Yi Shang Shu, I was determined - went to the store and for the very first time in my Swedish life, I bought 200g ground beef.

蚂蚁上树 Ma Yi Shang Shu used to be on top of my Top 10 Every day Dishes to eat during my student life in Beijing. I never knew why the dish was called like that and I never investigated. It was KC and her lovely story that made me laugh and re-fall in love with the dish again:

...This is a dish of mung bean vermicelli stir fried with ground pork. The bits of meat stuck to the vermicelli represent ants climbing up a tree. The ground meat should be thoroughly broken up when cooked but I like to taste the meat so mine are clumps rather than bits. My version resembles ant colonies on the tree...

Cute! So here is the recipe, I only adjusted a few things - I used beef, since pork is not really my thing and I quadrupled the quantity of the chili bean sauce (after all, this is still "burnt mouth" you´re reading :-)

ANTS CLIMBING UP A TREE
(蚂蚁上树 - Ma Yi Shang Shu)

• 200 g dried vermicelli mung bean noodles
• 200 g ground beef *
  
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp cooking rice wine
• 1 1/2 tbsp 豆瓣酱 dou ban jiang - spicy fermented soy bean paste
• 1 teaspoon tapioca starch or corn starch (optional) *
• 2 stalks spring onions, chopped
• small piece ginger, finely chopped
  
• 1 cup veggie broth
• oil
• cilantro for garnish (optional)
  

*Note: I have skipped the starch, for I was looking for "single bodied ants" climbing up a tree. If you use the starch, you´ll re-create KC´s favorite - ant colonies climbing up the tree.

*Note: Some of you keep asking for the vegetarian version. Of course you can use ground TVP (textured vegetable protein, a.k.a soy mince). When marinating though, do use the starch, so they stick nicely to the mung beans.

Add soy sauce, rice wine, tapioca starch (if using) to a bowl. Mix in pork and marinate for 10 minutes. Soak the noodles in a bowl of cold water for about 10 minutes, then drain. Cut them into shorter pieces so that they will be easier to stir fry.

Heat the wok first. When smoking hot, pour some oil into the hot pan and swirl it around. Add the ginger and scallions and fry a bit, then add the pork and stir fry together. Add the hot bean sauce and mix everything well together.
Add the vermicelli to the pork sauce and stir fry. The noodles will become limp. Add some soup stock and let the noodles absorb the liquid. The noodles should be translucent but they shouldn't be mushy. Add more liquid if necessary. Keep tossing everything in the wok. Sprinkle some sesame oil over the noodles. Note: the whole cooking process should take less than 10 minutes.

Result? Me and Tompa were fighting for the last bite. KC thank you so much for your recipes, you have a true two fans over here :-)

Spicy Hungarian Kettle Goulash

Goulash is a typical "outdoor soup". Each time hiking, rock-climbing or simply camping, a huge kettle of Goulash - a spicy meat and potato soup would be cooked. In Slovakia, we recognize two types of goulash soup: Hungarian Goulash and Kettle Goulash.
Hungarian is traditionally chopped beef sautéed in its own juices with paprika powder and bay leaf, cooked to perfection.
Kettle Goulash is a typical garden-style soup that is usually cooked among friends while outdoors. This type of goulash usually takes up potatoes in addition to the meats. Here is my "indoor" version of it. I have also thought of Lisa, a vegetarian spice lover, who is hosting No Croutons Required, (co-hosted with Holler of Tinned Tomatoes), a monthly festival of vegetarian soups. I simply could not have not participated this month´s Spicy Soup theme. Lisa, here it is, a soy nugget:

SPICY HUNGARIAN KETTLE GOULASH:
(Štipľavý maďarský kotlíkový guláš)

• 1 onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 big red chilies
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
  
• salt
• soy nuggets
• vegetable broth
  
• potatoes
• mushrooms
• bay leaf
• mild paprika powder (I used Hungarian Smoked variety)
• 1 slice a day or two old bread (optional)
• dried marjoram
  

Boil the soy nuggets in vegetable broth until soft. Drain, reserve the water for the soup.
While the nuggets are cooking, blend the chilies with salt into a thick paste.

In a big casserole, heat up the oil and sauté thinly sliced onion and chopped garlic cloves. Once browned, add the chili mixture. After a minute, add the sliced mushroom, cubed potatoes and stir well. Let the mushroom release some liquid, so the potatoes soften a bit. Add the broth reserved from the soy nuggets, throw in the bay leaf and bring to boil. Add the soy nuggets and add enough water to cover the "meat".
Bring to boil, lower the heat and let cook until the potatoes are all soft. Towards the end, stir in the old bread and let dissolve (this will thicken the sauce a lot, giving the soup a nice hearty taste). Adjust the salt to taste and stir in the paprika powder and marjoram.

Serve still hot with a slice of warm bread.

Monday Christmas Cookie (12) - Home-Made Marzipan... Mushroom

Sounds pretty gross, eh? Yet these cute little shroomies are very friendly and tasty (supposing you love marzipan as much as I do).
Here I am tempted to share one funny love-and hate marzipan relationship, an annual gift from my mother to her "demanding" husband:

In Slovakia, we have been making these every Christmas for decades, which ended up in a general aversion towards these cute little shroomies as such. My mum revolted several times claiming that they suck and she s not going to make them again. How unfortunate, my dad (and myself) are in love with them, so mother (regardless of her personal feelings and verbal threats of her determination of NOT making them AGAIN) - she is ready to fulfil her husband´s (who cares about the daughter?) every wish. Each December towards its end, she still throws herself into a huge pile of home-made marzipan and starts folding and molding and thus surprises my dad with a nice happy family of:

HOME-MADE MARZIPAN... MUSHROOMS:
(Marcipánové hríbiky)

• 200 g ground almonds
• 150 g powdered sugar
• 1 - 2 egg whites
• 30 g chocolate or cocoa powder (I use carob powder)
  

Set aside a tablespoon or two egg whites.
Combine almonds, sugar and egg whites and mix well to for a firm dough. Set aside about two thirds of the dough and to the rest, add finely grated chocolate or cocoa powder. Mix well, so the brown color spreads evenly.

From the brown part, form the mushroom caps. From the white parts, roll out the stems. With a help of the remaining egg white, "glue" the mushroom caps to the stems. Once standing, sprinkle them with cocoa powder.

Super easy, no baking, drying, anything. Holds for weeks (gradually getting hard and tooth-breaking friendly).

These cuties march to Danielle´s Habeas Brulee, who is a hostess of this months´s Sugar High Friday (oh, yes... forgot to mention, mushrooms are sooooooo high in sugar :-S, too bad, but too good). The theme is Sweet Gifts.

During my time of hosting A Spoonful of Christmas event, I have received tons of gift-friendly food items. Here is the round-up for further inspiration.

Sichuan Aubergine

Ever since Tompa returned from his latest San Francisco trip and brought me all those wonderful kitchen gifts (I must have been a pretty good girl for getting a brand-new iron casted wok, superb-quality rice wine, Chinese Wok cookbook and other stuff), I went Chinese food nuts. All the time, I am thinking, 麻婆豆腐 — ma po dou fu, 鱼香茄子 — yu xiang qie zi, some crazy hot-ass hot pot and other spicy treats. This Chinese craze has, once again, re-discovered a hidden supply of Sechuan Pepper (麻花 ma hua - numbing flower) - my favorite Chinese spice:

These roundish, bumpy shells have of a very distinctive aroma are best when heated in oil and added to chillies and veggies, making a simple spicy wok stir-fry. Once bitten into, they release their powerful almost liquorish aroma and make your lips go numb for a second, while your mouth starts producing saliva. Fun, eh?

Here is one of my favorite, earthy:

SECHUAN EGGPLANT:
(麻辣茄子 ma la qie zi)

• 500 g aubergine (eggplant)
  
• bunch of coriander (roots and stems included)
• 3 tbsp oil
• 5 cm fresh ginger
• 3 shallots
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4 tbsp soy sauce (or mix dark and light variety)
• 5 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 5 tbsp rice wine (Shaoxing type is the best)
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp chilli oil *
• 1 tsp Szechuan peppercorns, dry-fried and pounded
  

* Note: To make your own chilli oil, finely chop 4 large fresh chillies, sprinkle with salt and pour over 200 ml hot oil. Let cool down, strain and use.

Prepare the aubergines. Cut them in half lengthways and then into smaller cubes. Place in colander, sprinkle with salt and set aside for 20 minutes.
Meantime, separate the stems and leaves from fresh coriander, chop the stems roughly and pound them, together with the roots, in a mortar.
Pat the aubergines with a clean paper towel.
In a wok, heat the oil until smoking hot and shallow fry the aubergine cubes. Set aside on a kitchen paper.
Return oil to the wok, fry the onions, garlic and ginger for a minute. Add the pounded coriander roots and stems and fry for another minute or two.
Add the liquid and sugar, allow to bubble for a minute. Lower the heat, and cook for another minute. Add the aubergines and toss them, so they are well coated in the sauce. Add the chili oil, Szechuan pepper, mix well and turn off the heat.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve while still hot.

This one goes to Vegetable Of The Week Event over at Creative Pooja. This month´s theme being Brinjal, Eggplant, Aubergine, 茄子 - Qie Zi, Baklažán, however you want to call it :-)

Traditional Chinese Spring Onion Pancakes

Everyone who knows that I spent two years in China would know that due to my time there I turned into a complete spice-addict. And all that out of a pure fact. Zlamushka could not cook. I dotn mean cooking non-spicy or Western dishes, I mean nothing... zero, nadah. I even called my mum one desperate day to ask her how to boil pasta. I know,... I was 19 years old.

So in order not to starve to death, I ate out every day (or more accurately - 3 times per day). No worries, Chinese street food is more than just affordable, let alone student canteens or street stalls.

My first account with spicy food was an unbearable experience. I never even seen anything apart from A black peppercorn in our FAMILY Sunday soup. Now I was standing there, with a mouthful of different spices, coughing and sweating.

Gradually things went better, I even learned how to make dumplings and fried noodles, even spicy eggplant.

And then, after I returned back home, schnitzel and mashed potatoes simply lost its taste. I found myself dumping chillies and peppercorns onto my plate, which my parents found quite disturbing...

So I got myself a proper Chinese Cookbook and returned "back home"... One of my first attempts (the one that my parents actually fell in love with) was:

TRADITIONAL CHINESE LEEK PANCAKES:

( 葱油饼)

• 3 cups plain flour
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1 cup cold water
• 1 tsp oil
• salt
• 1 cup finely chopped spring onions (I used leek)

In a bowl, mix the flour with the hot water until crumbled. Gradually add the cold water, oil and a pinch of salt. Form a big ball, wrap into foil and let sit for about 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough into a thin square, cover with a layer of chopped spring onions and sprinkle with salt. Start rolling. Once rolled up, cut into 8 pieces. Take each piece and flatten. Take the outer part of the dough and cover the cut sides, so the onions would not fall out. Carefully, roll out to a circular shape (I somehow ended up with squares, never mind) and dry-fry* over high heat (just like flat breads).

* Note: A proper Chinese would shallow fry them, which makes them crispier and tastier, but we do mind our health and shapes, eh?

Serve still hot with a dipping sauce made of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and chili oil.

I made mine for Tompa and for beautiful Bindiya´s These Are a Few of My Favortie Things - with Chinese Food as this month´s theme. You have no idea how excited I am about round-up. It will be fun to remember all the foods I used to eat so often.

Shrimp Salad with Tomato Raita Dressing

I have always enjoyed a small bowl of raita with my fiery hot curries. I loved the way the yoghurt cooled the heat in my throat and kept me ready for another bite.
Yet in summer, I felt like indulging myself in such mind-blowing ritual every night was definitely not good for my shapes. So I figured out another way of enjoying the sensational yoghurt mix - as a dressing to a vegetable salad.

There are several ways of making raita. For a basic one, whisk some yoghurt with salt, pepper and cumin powder. Should you find it too sour, add a bit sugar. Then add chopped cilantro and sprinkle with paprika powder or chilli. Raitas can be further combined with chopped veggies, such as boiled potato, tomato, onion, grilled eggplant, blanched spinach with raisins or dates. Ramki of One Page Cookbooks compiled 1001 Raita - a wonderful one-page matrix of different raita ingredeitns and flavors. My favorite one is:

TOMATO RAITA

• 1 tomato, chopped
• salt, pepper
• 1/4 tsp cumin powder
• 1/4 onion
• 1 tsp fresh coriander leaves
• walnuts, chopped
  
• sweet paprika powder (try the smoked kind)
• chilli powder

Whisk the yoghurt with spices, add a little water, if desired. Combine with the rest of ingredients and sprinkle with paprika powder. Garnish with cilantro.

Raita makes a wonderful accompaniment to hot curries as well as cooled salads.

How to make raita different every time:

- Try chopped baked potatoes or chopped fresh cucumber instead of tomato and walnuts.
- This raita can also be topped with a tablespoon of date chutney.
- Right before serving, enrich the raita with some tadka.

Here is one with a simple vegetable salad (tomato, lettuce leaves, cucumber and olives) topped with shrimps (roasted with garlic, salt and black pepper).

My healthy contribution to you, Andrew. Nice to see you hosting Waiter, there is something in my Salad. I am looking forward to the round-up.

Chestnut Flatbread

Flatbreads are my favorite side dish to any curries. Back home, we make lokša [lok-sha] - potato-flour flatbread greased with lard. Soft and chewy - absolutely fantastic. Then once I started cooking I discovered chapatti, naan, roti, dosai, tortillas, crepes, wonton and other wonderful flatbreads. I was particularly interested in those with flour AND something else. Something to soften them up, to make them fluffier.

I started experimenting and today, I have my new favorite:

CHESTNUT FLATBREAD:

• chestnut
• flour
• pinch of salt

First prepare the chestnut puree by boiling whole chestnuts in hot water for about 20 minutes or until soft. Drain them and peel the skin off. Mash them just like you would potatoes. Add the salt and flour, enough to make a smooth dough. Divide that into small balls and roll each out into a thin round flatbread.
Heat the iron-cast pan or tawa griddle until hot and fry them one by one from both sides for about a minute.

My little contribution to this month´s Bread Baking Day #7 hosted by Chilli Und Ciabatta. The theme is Flatbreads - my favorite type of bread. Light and delicious.

Monday Christmas Cookie (9) - Oatmeal Cookies

My absolute favorite cookie on the Christmas table and probably the only one I touched this year. The reason is simple - too much fat, eggs, dairy and sugar in all the other sweet treats. I got this recipe from my mum, who always thinks of me when running into a healthy vegan yum.
This year, similarly, her concern was to make her daughter´s face happy and stomach full (overstuffed, mum...), so honestly speaking, I got to appreciate the taste of these little beauties much later after Christmas, when my eating habits got back on track and I actually experienced that previously famous feeling of hunger. Sometimes, on Sunday mornings, when I am not busy with making "pain cakes", I get up a bit earlier to bake some:

OATMEAL COOKIES:
(vločkové sušienky)

• 400 g oatmeals
• 200 g sugar
• 20 g vanilla sugar
• 1 mashed banana
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp warm soy milk
• 100 g raisins
• 100 g almonds
  
• marmalade (to garnish)

Mix the oatmeals with the warm milk and let sit for about 20 minutes or until the milk has soaked into the oats completely. Add the banana, honey, sugars and mix well. Mix in the raisins and chopped almonds. Scoop tablespoons of the mixture onto a baking sheet, press to flatten them and with a help of the top of the spoon, make a round well in the middle. Fill the hole in with the marmalade.
Bake in preheated oven at 180°C for about 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy with a cup of morning coffee. Makes a great breakfast on the go!

This is my contribution to this month´s Weekend Breakfast Blogging hosted by Suganya over at Tasty Palettes. The theme is Healthy Eats. No problemo....

Red Beet Borsch Soup

Borsch is a typical Russian winter comfort food - well flavored red beat, pork and cabbage earthy stew. I remember growing up with a Russian family as neighbour's, whose mother would make gallons of borsch on a monthly basis. She would always invite us for a bowl, which we never refused. I remember it being a nightmare for us kids, since we weren't a big fan of cabbage of red beet. Then one year, the family moved out and we never had borsch again (which left only my dad upset).
Ever since I became veggie-friendly I have re-discovered red beet in my cooking. And last Saturday, for the very first time, I managed to re-create that wonderful earthy taste of:

RUSSIAN BORSCH:
(борщ)

• 600 g chopped red beets
• 1 tbsp oil
  
• 1 red onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 400 g chopped root vegetables (traditionally celery root, parsnip, cabbage, carrot)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt, black pepper to taste
• vegetable broth
• chopped fresh parsley leaves
• sour cream (to garnish)
• horseradish (to garnish)
  

Peel the red beets and chop into bite-sized pieces. Heat the oil in a pan and brown sliced onions and garlic. (if you re thinking about the meat version, add the sliced pork/beef cubes at this stage and brown properly). Add the cumin seeds and the chopped vegetables. Coat well and fry over low heat until the veggies are soft, but crispy. Add the broth to cover the vegetables. Bring to boil, cover and let cook until soft. Add the black pepper and salt to taste and squeeze in the lemon juice.
Pure half of the soup (unless there is meat in it) and bring back to the boil. Mix in the parsley leaves and serve.

Shred the horseradish very finely and mix in with the sour cream. Serve the soup with a slice of rye bread and a good dollop of the spicy sour cream dip.

* Note: This soup freezes well, so do not be afraid to make a gallon just like my Russian neighbour.

** Note: This also makes a nice dip for crackers or spread on bread.

This is a contribution to the No Croutons Required challenge event hosted by Lisa of Food And Spice... Her debut theme is Vegetarian Soup. Have a spoonful, Lisa ;-)

Green Gram Dosai

I have to admit that I have never tried making dosai before. Not because I would not know how to, but mainly because their preparation requires pre-soaking and grinding and I either did not have time (I tend to think about cooking lunch early in the morning, which is generally too late for dosais) or the utensils (imagine me grinding all those moong dals in my pea-sized mortar and pestle :-S
But anyway, in summer we finally purchased my awesome little dark red kitchen helper - 1 button blender. Oh, how much I love it. Simple as it is, place all the stuff inside, cover and press "da ba´en", voilla! Dinner on the table.
However lately we have been using it mainly for smoothies or Mexican Salsa and so failed to experiment. But watching my lovely blender loosing its abilities to be creative, I sometimes feel guilty for not stuffing it with something else rather than fruit or avocados.
So being a girl of immediate action, I started browsing through all cookbooks thinking out a cunning plan. Here I went (with the help of my favorite Dakshin cookbook), my very first attempt to make:

GREEN GRAM DOSAI:
(Passbirattu)

• 2 cups green gram dal (yellow split moong dal)
• 1/2 cup uncooked Basmati rice
• 5 green chilies
• salt
  
• 1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
• 1 onion
• 2 tbsp shredded coconut (I used dried flakes)
• 1 potato
• 1 bunch coriander
• oil to fry

Wash the dal and soak with rice in 2 cups water for an hour. Drain well and place in the blender. Add the chilies, chopped onions, boiled and mashed potato and a little water and blend to a smooth paste.
Add the rest of ingredients and process to a batter of thick and dropping consistency.

Heat the tawa griddle or an iron frying pan until smoking hot.
Drizzle some oil, coat the pan and add a laddle of the batter. Take a flat wooden spatula and with circular motions, spread the batter around the pan. Fry for a minute or until mostly dry, flip over and continue frying from the other side.
You should end up with crunchy beany pancakes, perfect with any chutney or curry dishes.

( We ate ours with Bean Poriyal, Saffron Rice and Small Onion Sambar)

Here is my contribution to Susan´s Legume Love Affair, and event that truly reflects my passion for cooking dal.

Monday Christmas Cookie (6) - Kumquat Roulade Or Cake

Christmas back home can be quite extreme. On one hand, traditions are strictly followed and unquestioned. On the other hand, certain procedures have been somehow interpreted slightly differently over the years. You might remember my last year´s Christmas experience - lovely Christmas tree, presents, traditional dishes such as fried carp and potato salad, poppy seed buns with milk ("pupaky"), fish soup... etc. That is how it is supposed to be. Quiet, peaceful and full of spirits. Not that we ever fail to re-create such calm atmosphere every year, we just seem to reach it by different means.

Music is a key element, since that is the only sound heard during compulsory silent dining experience. During these couple of hours, you re supposed to re-think your previous year and assess yourself (quite of a job, I tell ya ;-) And just like the rest of the country, we grew up listenng to "silent night" and other Christmas Church songs... Then one year our tape recorder consumed the "Christmas Tape" during the dinner and I remember mum freaking out and started interpreting this incident as a warning to a major disaster to be followed that year. Dad failed to "foresee" the same and insisted that the symbolism in broken tape lies in the fact that the music is no longer appropriate. Ever since we sit around the table listening to the Country Christmas CD, while loud benjo and yoddling roam the room, we ponder "in silence"...

The other tradition "over-developed" over the years is our annual fruit bowl. Now everyone knows fruit are good for ya (vitamins, fiber and stuff) and that they symbolise fertility and prosperity. Every household has a small bowl where they display various fruit goodies.
Our family places an enormous tray in the middle of the table, goes to every store in town, buys every single variety of fruit available, piles them up on the tray to create Mt. Everest in our living room, adds dried fruit, garnishes with nuts and start throwing money around. We definitely have the most "prosperous" fruit bowl in the country.

This year, dad happily returned with a bag of kumquat, that he "somehow found somewhere" (It was probably Tesco, guessing from the plastic bag ;-) yet we did not want to ruin his excitement). But he was given credit for that since I never remember seeing or eating kumquat before.
To cut the story short, massive fruit bowl starts naturally go bad after a few days at room temperature. Those are the days that everyone goes on a compulsory fruit diet. Mum went creative and included a bag of kumquat to our Christmas Cake (traditionally made with mandarin oranges):

KUMQUAT ROULADE CAKE:
(kumkvatový koláč)

• for the roulade (makes 16 slices):
• 4 eggs
• 80 g sugar
• 10 g vanilla sugar
• 70 g semi-refined flour
• 50 g ground almonds
• 50 g candied orange peel
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 150 g raspberry jam
• 1 soft cake base
• 9 gelatine strips
• 4 oranges
• 1 lemon
• 100 g kumquats
  
• 1 tbsp grated orange peel
• 50 g sugar
• 300 g yoghurt
• 500 ml whipping cream
• to garnish (chocolate flowers, honey mint leaves, kumquat slices, pistachio nuts...)

Pre-heat the oven for 200°C. Separate egg yolks and whites. Add 3 tbsp water to the egg whites and gradually, add the sugar. Whisk into a firm foam. Mix in the egg yolks, orange peel, flour, almonds and finely chopped candied orange peel. Bake until brown, spread the jam on top and roll out. Cut the roulade into 1 cm thick pieces like this:

If you are tired by now, skip the rest and enjoy the roulade as such.

For the brave ones...

...the next step is filling. Put the gelatine stripes into some water and let bubble up. Press the juice out of lemon and oranges. Add the sugar, orange zest and yoghurt and whisk well.

Slowly melt the gelatine over the low heat. Add to the yoghurt mixture and let cool down for 20 minutes. Once cold whip the whipping cream and mix in (leave a few tablespoons for garnishing).

Wash and halve the kumquats and place onto the cake base. Set the cake form with sides and start placing the roulade around the cake form sides to form a "basket". Once ready, pour in the gelatine, garnish with sliced kumquat and transfer to the fridge for about an hour.

(Our kumquat cake, cooling itself out on the balcony).

After the cake is ready, take off the metal form and garnish with whipped cream and chocolate florets or as desired. Ours came out really pretty :-)

I know this is quite a bit of work, but it is worth it! Bindiya, please enjoy a piece for your These Are A Few of My Favorite Things.... event. Cakes and muffins are this month´s theme. Hugs :-)

Margot of Coffee & Vanilla is also getting a piece for her AFAM - Kumquat event. I know this is quite an unusual fruit, therefore I am happy to contribute another way of using up these tiny "oranges" :-)

Soy Milk Pancakes

Making vegan pancakes has always been a challenge for me. I do not remember ever succeeding. Making them has been a breakfast nightmare for me, and for that reason I named them "paincakes" and decided that I didn't like them anyway.
Having a long commune and not much time to run around the kitchen with my apron on, I have been trying to experiment on Sunday mornings intending to bring a bit of royal flavor to the breakfast table, rather than the one of cereals with soy yoghurt or soy milk.
You probably know what I am hinting on here, yes, I did fight my paincake nightmare again this morning. Found the most simple recipe and was amazed by the results. Tompa jumped out of bed immediately and attacked his plate.

SOY MILK PANCAKES:

prep time: 25 minutes
makes: 6 big pancakes

• 125g whole grain flour (I used spelt)
• pinch of salt
• 200 ml soy milk (I used vanilla flavored)
• 1 tbsp soy yoghurt (optional, to fluff them up)
• oil for greasing
  

Mix all the ingredients to a smooth liquidy batter. Take care to break all the lumps.
Heat the non sticking frying pan until really hot, add a drizzle of oil and smear it around the pan. Pour in a laddle of batter and with a flat spatula, spread the batter evenly in round motions. Fry for about a minute, flip over and finish.

I added raisins to my batter, but originally I was hoping for blueberries.

Update Feb 17th - I just made these with savory filling and they were fantastic. I even added some curry powder to the batter for some extra flavor.

Update April 17th - Cannot get enough of pancakes, apparently. Today I have thickened the dough by adding some oatmeals. They came out perfect, just like the traditional American Pancakes.

We had ours with fresh cubed mango and whisked yoghurt with honey and carob powder. For even a more royal taste, try my No Fat, No Sugar, Nutty Chocolate Spread. Yum, yum, yum... Sundays are from now on Pancakes Days.
To show off, I am sending this to this month´s Weekend Breakfast Blogging to Rajitha over at Hunger Pangs. The theme is Soy and its by products. Enjoy a piece of health!

Squash With Sesame Seeds

If asked about my most favorite cuisine on earth I would reply Indian for its variety and Korean for its terrific taste. Since there are many Indian places to eat around, when given a choice, I would go for a good spicy Korean.
Since my Korean cooking abilities are quite unrefined, when Tompa went to Korea this autumn, I asked him for a nice traditional cookbook. But he did not bring me one, he brought me two. The first weekend afterwards, we welcomed with a crazy three meal course Korean.
Following is a very simple stir-fry done in no time. Originally, dried squash is soaked, sliced and used, but since I got hold of the fresh kind, there was no need for re-hydration:

SQUASH WITH SESAME SEEDS:
(Hobak - bokkeum)

• 1 cup zucchini, cut into long thin stripes
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 spring onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tbsp sesame s