Food Post #207: And it's a Wrap

This year is almost over!! Just to wrap things up, here are my food highlights from this year:

1. January: Aam ki Sabzi or Raw Mango Relish

2. March: Salmon over Couscous, and Sautéed Veggies etc  Sunset Dinner Cruise

3. August: 

3.1. Outstanding Food (as ever!) in India!! India Trip 

3.2. Bitter Gourd "gojju"- delicious hot, sweet, and tangy preparation made with bitter gourd and spices. Bitter Gourd Gojju

4. November: 

4.1. Muhammara- delicious Mediterranean style dip made with roasted red bell peppers, walnuts, and pomegranate. Recipe for Muhammara

4.2. NOT Shrimp Vindaloo- shrimp in a delicious sauce made with poppy seeds, ginger, coconut, and other spices. Recipe

5. December: My very awesome "vegetarian" Lamb Curry. I think this is definitely My Dish of the Year. Lamb Curry without onions and garlic

So there, that's my food highlights for the year 2017. Let's see what I cook, and eat in the New Year! :)

Wait, I do want to end this post with a brilliant quote. This was uttered by my darling friend from school, Nanda. As with many such casual utterances, these words just came out. And man, was I amused!! Quick backdrop: we were both trying to encourage one another, and trying to lift up our spirits. You know, we too have had our share of heart breaks and heart aches..... and in trying to uplift one another, these brilliant words came out from her mouth: "We are ahead of time and human intelligence. That's why nobody understands us!" We both burst out laughing. Now that's some serious stuff.



  

Food Post #206: Vegetarian Lamb Curry

Here's a lovely recipe for not-your-typical-lamb curry. Bengalis call it "vegetarian lamb," and I believe Kashmiri Pandits also make this dish. It is "vegetarian" because they don't use onions and garlic. Funny! How do you make lamb curry without onions and garlic?? Well you see, you can.

Yield: 4 adults 

Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes (in a pot) 

Ingredients: 

1. Lamb (cut for stew)- 2.5 lbs

2. Fennel Seeds- 4 tbs

3. Cumin- 4 tbs

4. Cinnamon powder- 1/2 tsp

5. Cardamom- 4 pods

6. Cloves- 4-6 

7. Bay Leaves- 2

8. Asafetida (hing)- 1/2 tsp

9. Ginger- 1.5 inch

10. Green Chilies- 8-10  

11. Buttermilk- 1 bowl (or yogurt- whipped)

12. Cooking oil- 8 tsp

13. Ghee (clarified butter)- 2-3 tsp

14. Water- 1 cup (adjustable) 

15. Saffron- a good pinch or two

*Soak saffron in buttermilk (or whipped yogurt) at the beginning of the cooking process

Method: 

1. Powder ingredients 2 to 8 in a small coffee grinder, and set aside. 

2. Make a coarse paste of ginger and green chilies, and set aside.  

3. With some cooking oil plus ghee in a thick bottomed pot, get the heat going, place lamb pieces one by one, allowing one side to brown up. Then turn over to brown up the other side. This shouldn't take too long- say about 5-7 minutes on high flame. 

4. Now add the dry spice mix we made in step 1 to this, and fry for a couple minutes, followed by the ginger green chili paste. Stir everything together. At this point, enticing aromas will begin to emanate from the lamb and spices. 

  

5. Now add a cup of water, or enough to barely cover the lamb pieces. Add salt to taste. Bring to boil, cover, reduce flame, and simmer for 30 minutes. 

6. At the end of 30 minutes, uncover. At this point, I like to break the lamb into smaller bite sized pieces with the help of the ladle itself. The lamb will still be a bit tough. Cover again, and simmer for another 30 minutes. Now the lamb will be nice and tender, just the way I like. Add some more water, as the liquid would have reduced at the end of 1 hour.  

7. Now slowly add the buttermilk with saffron, while stirring the curry as you pour the buttermilk. Bring to boil, reduce flame, cover, simmer for about 8-10  minutes.  

Buttermilk with Saffron 

Delicious Lamb Curry

8. For a final touch, add some freshly ground pepper, and a couple chilies slit lengthwise. Serve with steamed rice. A side of quickly sautéed greens such as swiss chard and spinach goes very well with this lovely lamb curry and rice. 

Lamb curry over a bed of rice, with some swiss chard on the side

See? You can in fact make curry, that too lamb curry (!!) without using onions and garlic, and red chili powder, and tomatoes. It's turns out as delicious as ever. 

Food Post #205: Who Made These Rules Anyway

There's rules everywhere. All. The. Time. I have learned to make peace with most (unspoken) rules.... can't do much, that's how it is. But of late, I am having trouble understanding social rules. I have to be politically correct all the time, else someone might get offended. I have to watch what kind of jokes I cut around people, else someone might get offended. Even if something is bothering me, I have to fake it, and just shut up, because my saying anything, might result in someone getting offended. Even if someone offends me (I too have an ego, you see!), I have to just suck it up, else I might offend the offender. The only person I can really be me is with myself.

They have cooking rules too. And there's pasta rules as well. Yes, "pasta rules." Cook it al dente. Cook it in salt water. Do not use oil in that salt water when you cook that pasta. If it's pasta with fish, do not use cheese. Every pasta is to be cooked differently according to its shape. One time a friend commented- you put peas in your pasta?? He seemed to be appalled. I mean, what's wrong with putting peas in pasta? Heck, what's wrong with putting cheese on fish? I'll put peas, fish, and cheese in my pasta, for all I care! Cooking the pasta al dente seems like a reasonable tip; I say tip, not rule. But other than that, it's up to the cook, in this case- me, to use whatever ingredients I want in my pasta. I'll follow pasta rules if and only if a *true Italian cook* tells me that these are indeed the rules to cooking perfect pasta. Then again, maybe I won't! The only person that rules in my kitchen, is me!  

My No Rule Pasta with Mushrooms, Artichokes, Pimento Stuffed Olives, Corn, Capers, Crushed Hot Chili Garlic Sauce, and Torn Basil, topped off with Grated Parmesan 

Pasta a la Appi