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.

Baked Hokkaido Pumpkin With Herbs

Back in Slovakia, orange pumpkin is considered exotic. Only recently, it started appearing in stores some time around autumn. However, most people do not buy it, for one simple reason. They have no idea what to do with it. Hokkaido pumpkin (how we call it) is very sweet compared to our traditional white-greenish pumpkin (in English spaghetti squash or white "pattypan" squash).
Therefore the vendors started attaching little recipe books to the pumpkin when selling. My mum all excited brought one home for me. It was my very first time cooking pumpkin, so I was quite excited myself. I prepared one of the simple baked dishes featured in the little attached recipe book. Here it is:

BAKED HOKKAIDO PUMPKIN WITH HERBS:

prep time: 45 minutes
serves: 4 people

• 1 medium sized pumpkin
  
• 1 kg potatoes
  
• marjoram
• oregano
• basil
• Herb de Provence
  
• salt
• caraway seeds
  
• oil
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth (optional)
  

Wash the pumpkin properly, cut in half, scoop out the seeds and without peeling the skin, cut the Hokkaido pumpkin into bite-size cubes. Wash the potatoes under running water and cut into cubes as well (leaving the skin on). Mix both with salt, herbs and crushed caraway seeds. Add the oil, 1/2 cup veggie broth or water and bake for about 30 minutes at 200 degrees. the potatoes should be soft and pumpkin a bit mushy. Serve with buttermilk or sour milk.

I garnished mine with chopped fresh parsley and a handful of chopped walnuts.

Since this makes a wonderful winter one-pot dish, I would like to submit it to Clumsy Cook´s Blog or Bust event. This month´s theme is Fall Dish.

Dhansak Masala

I have always been fond of vegetable seasonings and spice mixtures. You might say, well,.. any kind of masalas can be added to vegetables instead of meat. True, BUT! There are certain types of spices that just go better with meat dishes... Such as star anise (badyan), cloves and cinnamon combo. Somebody says that out loud and first thing I can think of is pork.... and stuff alike. It s not that I stick to the ´rules´, its just that sweet fragrant combo doesn't do well with me. That is why I am quite helpless when it comes down to using my Five Spice somewhere else rather than in baking spicy cakes. So, if you guys know any other usages (fish or veggies), please let me know...

So, learning about dhansak was very interesting to me for two simple reasons:

1. Dhansak in Parsee (where it comes from) is a type of dish that combines DHAN (means ´lots´in Gujarati, or ´rice´in Parsee Gujarati) and SAK (=vegetable). So, my humble translation would be LOTS OF VEGGIES on RICE.

2. It is a sweetish fragrant masala that includes my ´feared´fragrant combo BUT doesn't need to involve meat. I say doesn't need to, because there are tons of recipes for lamb or chicken dhansak.

Now that I read that after myself, I cannot keep but wonder DOES THIS EVEN MAKE SENSE?
Anyway, just to make it clear:

I have read about dhansak once, thought it was unusual for my liking, tried and liked it... Forget all that elaborate crap above ;-)


DHANSAK MASALA:

prep time: 20 minutes

• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 3 whole red chilies
• 1 tsp poppy seeds
• 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 6 black peppercorns
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 10 cloves
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Dry fry the first 5 ingredients in heated wok, shaking the pan constantly. Set aside, transfer to a mortar and grind well. Add the powders, mix well and store in airtight container.

Now, this mix can be used in pretty much anything, where you would add, let´s say curry powder.

• I used it to stir-fry rice to bake it in yellow squash
• Nandita used it in her delish pumpkin dhansak

Just so you can trust me, I ll show a real quick veggie recipe here:


BULGUR DHANSAK:

prep time: 25 minutes
serves: 2

• 1 tbsp oil
  
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tomato
  
• 1 tbsp dhansak masala
  
• 1 cup veggies ( I used frozen corn and French beans)
  
• 1/2 cup bulgur
• salt to taste
  

Easy as it is, heat the oil in a wok, sauté chopped onions and garlic. Add chopped tomato, add the masala and let cook for 5 minutes. Add the veggies, cook partially, then add bulgur, at least one cup water and let simmer until the water is completely absorbed (10 minutes or so). Adjust for salt, garnish with chopped parsley or coriander leaves and voilla! Le diner est sur la table...

* Note: Instead of bulgur, you can use cooked rice (then skip the water part and just coat it well), quickly roasted corn meal or semolina - then reduce water to 1/2 cup... I even added roasted okara (the soy leftover when making soy milk).

So here is a funny story at the end. I was going to submit this recipe to this month´s THINK SPICE Event, because I thought it was Coriander Seeds, but then I found out it was Mustard Seeds instead. So, this post will be as it is, no event entries, just for our pleasure....

Monday Spice Collection (Part 4) - Five Spice

After all the savory spices I ve made in my Monday Spice collection, it is a time to spice up our sweet tooth for a change - a traditional Chinese Five Spice powder.

Most of you might assume that a five spice powder consists of five ingredients. Not necessarily true. Five spice, in traditional Chinese "yin and yang" (food) philosophy is lot more than a random choice fo five different spices. It is, foremost, a unique well-balanced combination of five basic cooking flavors: sweet, salty, savory (pungent), bitter and sour.

This highly fragrant spice mix is achieved by combining an equal amount of some traditional Chinese spices, such as Sichuan Black Peppercorns (typical for their "numbing" aftereffect), Star Anise (also known as Badyan), Cassia Bark (Chinese cinnamon), Fennel Seeds and Cloves.

Often, there are other "sweet" spices added to the spice mixture (ginger, nutmeg...), known as "Seven Spice" mix or other. You should experiment with all of them, depending on the ingredient that will be spiced up. Different spices are used to make Bengali type of Five Spice, which is a lot different, therefore known more as Panch Phoron.

Chinese Five-Spice is mainly used in flavoring eggs or poultry, but also fatty pork dishes. Nowadays, lots of pie baking recipes call for a pinch of Five Spice, too. I often make gingerbread or pumpernikel pies with it.

My sister loves sweet and she enjoys baking a lot, so I accomodated the recipe to suit her taste (less "spicy" - black peppercorns, more "mild" - cardamom). She´s loving it.

TRADITIONAL CHINESE FIVE SPICE:
(wu xiang fen)

spice ladder: **

Prep time: 10 mins
makes: as much as you want

• Star Anise (Badyan)
• Fennel Seeds
• Cloves
• Chinese Cassia Bark *
• Sichuan Black Peppercorns *

Take equal quantity of all mentioned spices (1 star anise makes about 1 teaspoon powder) and grind to a fine powder. Store in airtight container to prevent escape of the aroma.

I used 1 tablespoon of each, but for the reason mentioned above, I used only 1/2 tablespoon of Sichuan peppercorns and added 1/2 tablespoon of cardamom.

*If you dont have Sichuan black peppercorns, too bad use white pepper. Chinese cassia bark can also be substituted for regular cinnamon.

This was my very last entry :-( for Monday Spice Collection event. Here are all four of them. Next week comes promised Wedding Apron "Recipe".

Monday Spice Collection (Part 3) - Cajun Spice Mix

After all that wonderful response I got from you guys on my previous herb and spice mixture entries, I am just more and more motivated to keep on writing this series (too bad I didnt give my sister a couple of more mixes as her wedding present)...
So here we go, after Herb De Provence and a simple but roasted Curry Powder, it is my pleasure to bring in something with a bit of a spice-kick. Even though my sister is not really keen on heat on her plate (I know, dont ask me why, but yes, we are sisters :), I decided to add a little bit of what I like to her spice collection. After all, she can only use a little bit at the time...

Cajun cuisine originates from the French-speaking Acadian or "Cajun" immigrants "deported" by the English from Acadia in Canada to the USA. It is what could be called a rustic cuisine — locally available ingredients predominate, and preparation is simple.

The aromatic vegetables bell pepper, onion, and celery are called by some chefs the holy trinity of Cajun cuisine. Finely diced and combined in cooking, the method is similar to the use of the mire poix in traditional French cuisine — which blends finely diced onion, celery, and carrot. Characteristic seasoning include parsley, bay leaf, "onion tops" or scallions, and dried cayenne pepper.

(info from Wikipedia)

The following recipe is what I mostly use in cooking stews (thickened by flour) or as a marinade (diluted in wine):


CAJUN SPICE MIX:

spice ladder: ***

prep time: 10 minutes
makes: 1/2 cup

• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp mustard seeds (yellow)
  
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp oregano
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
  
• 1 tsp paprika powder (strong or mild, I used smoked)

Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl. Keep in airtight container.

Here is what I do when cooking with Cajun:

1. as a marinade - mix a tablespoon of Cajun spice with chopped garlic and onions, process to a smooth paste. Add a splash of red wine and rub onto sliced meats, fish or veggies to marinade.


2. in stews - brown onions and garlic in oil, add the spices and some flour. Slowly add water and cook, until all the lumps dissolve. Add the veggies, bay leaf (very important in Cajun stews) or meats and cook until done.

And just for your (and my) illustration, here are some Cajun dining expressions.

Monday Spice Collection (Part 2) - Roasted Curry Powder

The word "Khari" from which "curry" is derived, comes from Southern India and refers to a sauce of any kind. "Curry powder" was developed by the British, who wished to take the taste of Indian food home, without having to utilize fresh spices. As a result "curry powder" in the Western world has a fairly standardized taste, but there are literally millions of curry flavors in India....

(cited from Wikipedia) ...
It wasn't actually until for about two years ago when I was in Dubai and bought my currently most favorite cookbook '50 Great Curries Of India' written by Camelia Punjabi. I am sure you all are super familiar with her a-m-a-z-i-n-g curries. It was her that taught me how to cook Indian food and recognize different spices and flavors . And it was also her that made me realize, for the very first time, that curry powder actually means 'gravy powder'. How silly... :)

Anyway, Gravy Powder is and always will be a part of our busy lives, regardless of how many zillion types of it are there out there. I have tried several different mixtures and they all have some spices in common: fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds, turmeric, cumin seeds and mustard seeds.
Here is my own version:

SIMPLE BUT ROASTED CURRY POWDER

prep time: 15 mins
makes : a small jar

(clockwise from left corner)

• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp fenugreek seeds
• 6 dried red chilies

Heat up a non-sticking skillet and roast all the ingredients except for the turmeric. Roasting process releases aroma of particular spices and make them easier to grind. Transfer the roasted spices into a mortar and crush them into a fine powder.

Use any time desired to flavor sauces, rice dishes or a cup of zucchini cream soup.

For a simple CURRY FRIED RICE:

... Just brown some chopped onions and garlic, add a cup of vegetables and saute until soft, mix in a tablespoon of curry powder, add some salt and pepper and finally, mix in a cup of rice. Fry until well coated and slightly crispy. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley or coriander leaves and serve...

Monday Spice Collection is a series of recipes for basic herb and spice mixtures that I gave to my sister as her wedding present.

Don't forget to come back next Monday, I ll be making Cajun Powder... And just in case you weren't here last week, I made Herb de Provence - a traditional French herb blend.

Monday Spice Collection (Part 1) - Herb De Provence

As promised in my previous posts, I am now revealing the very first recipe of Wedding Spice Collection, I created for my sister as her wedding present.

Herb de Provence is what I jokingly call an 'artificial' mix. The reason why I say so is because it is not a traditional French herb blend, as one might think, but a commercial ready-made seasoning package. The ingredients are, of course, genuine and represent the traditional way of cooking in southern France, however, the ancient grandmas never heard of it. Back then, they carefully picked and used each of the local herb separately and only combined them prior to cooking, accordingly.
BUT!!! In the world of modern grandmas, who would abandon a nice dried commercial herb mix that, after all, has the same effect on the dish? Busy as we are, too many spice blends are never enough :) The most common ingredients are thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, marjoram, fennel and lavender flowers, but there are several other ones added, depending on the manufacturer or personal taste. Here is a bit of my taste:

HERB DE PROVENCE :

• 1 tbsp marjoram
• 2 tbsp thyme
• 1 tbsp savory
• 1 bay leaf, crushed
• 1 tbsp basil
• 1 tbsp rosemary
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp sage
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tbsp lavender flowers
  

Mix all the ingredients together and store in an airtight container.

This is a very simple herb mixture, that is perfect as garnish or flavoring to any kind of dishes, particularly to the of French or Italian cuisine. It is mostly used at the beginning of cooking, since they all need certain amount of heat to release aroma to the dish. I used it:

1. as a seasoning for pasta or pizza
2. into the soups or stews
3. mixed with wine as a marinade
   
4. mixed with butter as herb butter
5. baked together with potato wedges

There are so many ways of utilizing herbs, I am sure you have your own... Wanna share?

Next Monday is a curry powder day... do not go away then :=)

Okra Stir Fry

After my yesterday´s contribution to Coffee´s MBP, I was challenged again. Nupur of One Hot Stove is almost at the end of her successful A-Z Indian Vegetables Online Food Event.

The letter of July is 'X'. We are supposed to cook something from a vegetable that we have never cooked before or never tried before.

.... Honestly speaking, I am not of Indian origin, just an obsessed Indian cuisine fan. I come from Slovakia, lived and travelled the world and now I live in a little town in southern Sweden. Even though the life here gets more and more vivid and open-minded everyday, it was only recently that locals have opened special Asian stores with 'weird' food items from all over the world. It has turned out to be my favorite place to go on a weekly basis to shop and try something new.
So it looks like mysterious 'X' is my way of everyday cooking :)

I visited my favorite local Asian store to find today´s 'X' vegetable. And there it was.... OKRA.... Ok, I know that I just probably discovered America with this, but please, don't laugh and take into consideration my background and places I come from... So yes, I have to admit, not only I have never cooked with okra, I have NEVER eaten okra before.

Simpler as that, I decided to make the simplest Indian Stir-fry... Not because I couldn't find the right curry recipe to make, but only because I didn't want to 'kill' the flavor of okra. So I went for a simpleton:

OKRA STIR-FRY:

Spice ladder: ***

prep time: 15 mins
serves: 2

200g okra
1 tsp salt (+ a pinch)
1 tbsp oil
2 onions
2 green chilies
1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Wash the okra and soak with a pinch of salt for 5 minutes. Strain and rinse. Cut off the ends and chop into 1/2 inch pieces. Meantime, chop the first onion finely and slice the other one very thinly.
Heat the oil in a large pan and brown the onions. Add chilies and continue frying. Crush the cumin seeds in a mortar. Add to the mixture and fry for another 30 seconds. Add the okra and salt, stir well. Cook uncovered, over the low heat. Cook until done, stirring occasionally.

I had a lot of fun making it. I enjoyed the sliminess of raw okra gooying around my fingers and knife :) Note of explanation: I tend to find a morbid excitement in weird unusual food tastes or textures... Other than that, the dish came out just fine. Served together with elaborate dal curry topped with tadka, it made a scrumptious looking colorful dish. See for yourself:














We had this one for dinner together with a dal curry and tadka.

UPDATE (July 28th) :
Today, I enriched the recipe with 1 tsp mustard seeds, curry leaves and 1/2 tsp urad dal and added to the cumin seeds (see the recipe above).

Tadka (Baghar or Popu)

Last Monday, Tom´s great friend Olof stopped in town for a visit. That evening we had him over for dinner. One of the dishes I made was my favorite moong dal curry. Olof seemed to be very happy with my cooking for he kept asking me lots of questions about the way I cook. Towards the end he confessed that lentils are not his favorites, since ...'they can be very bland, even when spiced up, but these are fabulous'. I wasn't sure what to say, so the next day, I started asking around: Whats up with people not liking legumes?

(feedback on legumes) ...mushy, soft, gooey, bland, flavorless, baby food, prison food, school canteen lunch,...

... all referring to the same questions: Where's the kick? Where´s the crunch? This was when I decided to show the world that regardless what kind (chickpeas, lentils, peas, split peas, even couscous...), ALL of them can be much more fun, if you cook them right.
That wasn't very convincing, let me re-phrase this: ... All of them can be much more fun, if you garnish them with TADKA.

Tadka (Popu or Baghar) is an essential crispy kick to all Indian dal curries. There are different tadka recipes out there, more or less elaborate, yet all of them can be briefly summarized as 'fried stuff'. Here is the basic one:

INDIAN TEMPERING:
(tadka)

(on the pic: dried chili, dried curry leaves, garlic, cumin seeds, mustard seeds and asafoetida)

spice ladder: **

prep time: 2 minutes
yields: 1 person

• 1tbsp oil
• 2 tsp mustard seeds
• 15 curry leaves
• 1/2 tsp asafoetida

(Optional ingredients include: sliced garlic, dried chili, cumin seeds, small red dal...)

Fry all the ingredients over the high flame for about 20 seconds, shaking the pan constantly. Pour over a lentil curry dish and serve immediately.


















I made mine today with curry leaves, asafoetida, mustard seeds and garlic)

Recipe for a fantastic dal (on the pic, under tadka) comming soon... Meantime, enjoy tadka with my Yellow Squash Zucchini.

Update (August 11th):
HURRAYY!!!! My wonderful tadka picture (above) just won the 3rd place in Does My Blog Look Good In This event :) I am sooo happy, it is my nameday and this is a great present. Thank you, judges, I knew there was still some justice left in this world...