corn salad or makke ki bhel

i was reading something somewhere the other day about corn. sorry i can't seem to remember where i read this, but it said that fresh corn has hardly any starch. the starch is created once the corn is cooked. this was music to my ears my friends. all this time, i thought i was in love with the enemy. a practically nutrient deprived vegetable. but oooh, i love me some corn. and i especially love summer corn. i love grilled corn, i love roasted corn, i loved boiled corn. shoot, i even love corn nuts. oh yeah, and i love any items made with corn.

did you know in baroda (in the state of gujarat in india) there is an entire restaurant dedicated to this golden haired sunshine of a vegetable? they make everything out of corn. corn bread, corn roti (tortilla), corn rotlo (flatbread), corn fritters. you get the picture. i didn't get a chance to go this time, but there were some idiots around me who kept talking about it the whole time. people suck. big time.

it's not quite season yet, but my mom couldn't help picking up these 2 lovelies at SunHarvest. here, she's made a popular street food in mumbai called corn bhel. it is basically a salad with some crunchy savories added - sort of like the crunchy noodles you get at a salad bar. but the indian ones come in different shapes, sizes and thicknesses. they are called sev and they are made out of chickpea flour which is sometimes labeled 'gram flour' on the packaging. don't bother making these at home, they have to be deep fried and require a special tool. besides, for the small quantity you need for this recipe, it's just better to buy them ready made at any indian grocers.

Corn Salad or Makke ki Bhel

serves 2

prep time: 10-15 min

into each bowl add:

• shuck an ear of corn and season with salt
• add a tablespoon of chopped red onions (we used Texas 1015's)
• add 1/2 diced jalapeno or to your tolerable heat level
• add 1/2 tomato
• add 2 tablespoons of sev
• add cilantro
• squeeze some lime over the top and serve immediately

Notes: not using sev won't comprimise the taste of this dish, however the crunchy texture that it provides will be missing. another alternative would be to cut up a corn tortilla into strips and fry until crispy or bake in an oven and crush over the top.

Listening to: the handsome, the suave, late Gregory Hines track - 'Creole Boy' from the cast recording of Jelly's Last Jam (1994).

sweet potato fries

with so many people watching their carb intake, these gems are perfect. they're a sunset on a plate. try these and don't feel guilty munching...

Sweet potato fries

serves 2

prep time:5 min

bake time: 40 min

• wash and chop 2 large sweet potatoes into thick slices or wedges
• add a glug of good olive oil
• sprinkle with salt, crushed szechuan peppercorns, rosemary, thyme and oregano
• bake at 400 deg for 30 -40 min

Notes: optional seasonings could include crushed garlic, cayenne pepper and Old Bay seasoning (love this stuff!). or - go with a sweeter route and sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon and brown sugar and dip in pumpkin dip- yummmm!

Listening to: the Sabri Brothers album, Ya Mustafa (1996), track 'Tajdar-E-Haram'. i confess to a deep deep love of qawaali music. and it doesn't hurt that the Sabri Brother's family has been making music since the moghul times.

apricot cherry tea bread

maybe you have deduced from the lack of chocolate recipes on this blog, that i much rather prefer fruits and nuts in my desserts than chocolate. i'm sure in some circles that would make me an outcast of sorts. well, i'm not ready to retire my passion for fruit, and to celebrate the arrival of spring, i made this lovely tea bread.

first off, lets get one thing straight - this is a tea bread as opposed to a muffin or a cake. this is dense as it is an actual dough, and it holds up well to toasting if you are so inclined. and since this is a real dough, do not beat it and mix it to death. just stir gently. if you mix it too much, it is going to be tough and hard. not to mention it will have a very unappetizing texture. nice way of saying, 'NASTY'.

oh, by the way, i don't measure things when i bake either. i just sort things out as i go along and just wing it. of course, i'm not making Lauderee financiers or anything. in which case, i would most assuredly break out my severely underused measuring cups and spoons.

you can find the original recipe here.

Apricot cherry tea bread

makes 1 loaf

prep time: 15 min

bake time: 45 min

vip's:

• 3 oz dried apricots, chopped
• 1/4 cup dried cherries
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg, slightly beaten (i used Ener-G egg replacer)
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated orange peel
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/ 4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

the play:

• preheat oven to 350º F
• grease 9x5-inch loaf pan
• cook apricots & cherries in water in a covered medium-size saucepan for 10-15 minutes or until tender but not mushy. Drain; reserve 1/4-1/2 cup liquid. Set aside to cool
• cream together butter and sugar (i used a fork). By hand, gently mix in egg replacer and orange peel and vanilla extract
• sift together flour, dry milk, baking powder, soda, and salt. (i used a wisk instead of sifting)add to creamed mixture alternately with reserved apricot liquid and orange juice
• stir apricot & cherry pieces and pecans gently into the batter
• place batter in loaf pan
• bake for 40-45 minutes or until bread springs back when lightly touched in center
• cool 5 minutes in pan. remove from pan and completely cool on wire rack before slicing

Listening to: 'Ain't no way', by the original diva number one, Aretha Franklin, off her album, Lady Soul (1968). Love it, love it, love it!

vegetable pot pies and apple tartlettes

recently, i made vegetable pot pies and some apple tartlettes, because frankly i didn't have much in the way of veggies. i was alone this weekend and i had a lonely little carrot, a zucchini and a red onion - oh, and some frozen peas. so i guessed you've figured the vegetable pot pies aren't really potpies, haven't you? no, they're tarts, so sue me, i just totally misled you. well, if i bothered to cover them with pastry dough, they would've been pot pies right? i knew you'd see my point of view. and as far as the apple tartlettes go, they just sound better than apple tarts. reminds me of this crazy lady who works here who keeps saying, "she's such a tart" in all that southern twang glory.

anywho, they look a lot more fussy than they are. they're very fast and i would highly recommend this for a dinner alone. who wants to be in the kitchen for an hour when they're by themselves? not me. i really only feel inspired when i know they're are mouths to feed. so, it took me all of 5 min of prep, 5 min to cook and then 25 min to bake.

vegetable pot pies

serves 2

prep time: 10 min

bake time: 25 min

vip's:

• 1 package of individual sized frozen tarts - mine had 8 in there - only use 4
• 1 zucchini, washed and diced small
• 1 carrot, washed and diced small
• 1 red onion, washed and diced
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1-2 tbspn oil
• pinch of cumin, coriander, red chili powders
• pinch of garam masala
• juice of 1/2 lemon

the play:

• preheat oven to whatever the frozen tart package says - mine said 375
• defrosted the tarts while you prepare the vegetables
• saute all veggies together in a bit of oil, add a pinch of coriander and cumin powder, red chili powder and garam masala. add salt and cook until cooked thru but still firm - about 5 min
• turn off heat, add lemon juice
• prick the tarts all over with a fork
• divide the filling among 4 tarts
• bake according to package instructions - mine were at 375 for 25 min.

apple tartlettes

serves 2

prep time: 5 min

bake time: 25 min

vip's:

• 1 small granny smith apple, peeled and diced
• 2 tbspn butter
• 1 tbspn brown sugar
• 1 tbspn toasted pecans or walnuts - you can microwave these for 30-45 sec
• 1 tbspn chocolate chips or butterscotch chips (optional)
• 1 tbspn pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice or a mixture of ground cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice, ginger
• tiny pinch of salt
• a tiny squeeze of lemon juice

the play:

• preheat oven to whatever the frozen tart package says - mine said 375
• defrost the frozen tarts while you chop the apple and get the other ingredients together
• prick the tarts with fork
• add the chips to the bottom if you are using them
• mix the apples with brown sugar, nuts, spices, salt and lemon juice
• fill the 2 tarts with this mixture
• top with 1 tbspn butter cut up over each tart
• bake according to package instructions - mine were at 375 for 25 min.

Notes: for the veggie pot pies, use whatever firm veggies you have on hand like bell peppers, cauliflower, etc. (i think that line is in every post so far, lol). for the apple tartlettes, you can pretty much use any stone fruit, i'm sure peaches and nectarines would be divine.

Listening to: 'Nickel bag of funk', by the awesome awesome awesome Digable Planets, from their debut album, Rebirth of Slick (1992)... how can you not love their lyrics?

"Tell my pops i'm out earthbound with the crew

He said butterfly may the boogie be with you..."

appey and cardamom tea

for breakfast i made these appey, is that what they're called? i got the wonderful pan on my trip to india. it's a nonstick but extremely heavy, at first i thought it was cast iron, but it turned out to be nonstick.

it's really easy if you have dosa batter ready, if not you can use one of those instant dosa packets. i'm not going to give a recipe because it's just chop and drop. get the batter ready and add chopped red onion, green chillies, a bit of ginger and a sprig of curry leaves.

heat the pan, add a drop of oil into each hole and add about a tablespoon or two of the batter, cover. flip when the bottoms are brown. this should take about a 3-4 minutes on each side.

serve with a cup of delicious cardamom chai and you'll be set for the day.

Listening to: 'Song of Love/Narayana' by Kula Shaker from album, Strange Folk (2008)

healthy cereal chevdo

I have this little problem you see, everyday right around 10am and 3pm i just get ravenous. i get so hungry like i haven't been fed in days. like a tiger fed up waiting for mama deer to go away. the weird thing is that this occurs only during the work week. on the weekends, i'm fine. what's up with that? does this happen to anyone else? i hardly ever snack and rarely have chips and cookies around, but man, this worktime hunger is killin' me.

so instead of loading up on stuff i don't need like candy bars and pop tarts, this weekend i bought three different types of cereals to make chevdo, a gujarati version of a snack mix. i've heard it being compared to chex mix. that must be its step brother.

now i know before some of you start getting testy, let me go on and say that cereal is probably not one of the healthiest foods out there. all that disgusting corn syrup and hyrdogenated fats they put into the stuff could clog the arteries of a 5 year old. however, if you try to avoid some of the more sickly sweet, over-the-top stuff, this can be relatively healthy. and nowadays there are some good options out there.

so here's the recipe, it makes one big batch, don't ask me how many servings because i don't know. lets just say this should last you for 2-3 weeks if you eat it M-F like me. this is made in proper gujarati form by my fabulous mom. i got the delectable cranberry idea from Bee and Jai over at the lovely blog, Jugalbandi. thanks guys :)

Healthy cereal chevdo

serves - your guess is good as mine

prep-cook time: 15 min

VIP's:

• 3 cups kashi 7 grain flakes
• 2 cups kix
• 2 cups wheat chex
• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts and or dalia and or cashews
• 1/2 cup cranberries or cherries or raisins
• 6 chopped chillies
• 6 sprigs curry leaves
• 6 tbpn oil
• 1/2 tspn each of red chili powder, nimbu ka phool (ascorbic acid) and sugar

the play:

• heat the oil and add chillies and curry leaves and stir for 2-3 minutes
• add the nuts and dried fruit and stir for another couple of minutes
• add the chili powder, nimbu ka phool, sugar and stir until mixed well
• add the cereals and mix lightly for 3 more minutes
• cool completely and store in an airtight container

Notes: if you've never worked with nimbu ka phool or ascorbic acid, it's a wonderful ingredient in that it provides a sour tangy taste just like lime or lemon juice but in a dry format. i also use it when making vegetable cutlets and alu or gobi parantha when i don't want any added wetness or moisture.

Listening to: one of my favorite songs that take me to the streets of paris - "Lilly" by Pink Martini from their 2nd album, Hang on Little Tomato (2004). now if only i could get Pierre Herme to deliver that dang ispahan to me... drool.

take your baby to the disco and 10 minute donuts

On my way to work this morning i was listening to the radio and they were talking about this new club in houston. now would be the time to sit down folks. it's a baby disco. yes, i am not shittin you. it is what you think it is. this new generation club got started in the U.K. and is now ready to take on America. parents can now take their little ones clubbin' - in the afternoon. there is a bar for the parents where they serve drinks. there is an area where they serve snacks and non-alcoholic drinks for the kiddies. let's just hope. they play old school disco. groovy. so, for all you parents that want your children to be skanks and playaz-in-training, there is now a place for you in houston.

no, i don't have parasites of my own in case you're wondering.

on to the 10 minute donut. maybe for the post club munchies. so my parents used to own several donut shops a long time ago. on my first day working there, i tried every donut, cookie, eclair, crueller and artificial drink. needless to say i made myself gag. i couldn't stand the taste of them or the smell of them. i wanted nothing to do with donuts for a long time. years went by. and then slowly, once in awhile i started craving them. i got this recipe/method from a lady i used to work with and am passing it on to me of the wonderful blog, words are all i have.

the 10 minute donut
serves: let's just say 6
prep time: 5 min
cook time: 5 min

• heat some oil for deep frying (350 deg)
• take a can of biscuits (ya, so shoot me), not the flaky grand kind and separate out the biscuits
• then take a mini cookie cutter or something the size of a nickel and cut out pieces from all the biscuits.
• mix up some cinnamon and sugar and put in a paper bag
• put some powdered sugar into another paper bag
• deep fry the donut holes until golden brown
• put some into each paper bag and shake until covered with cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar thoroughly
• place in serving bowl and enjoy warm with a cup of cafe au lait

Note: i don't know if canned biscuits are available in india yet. in the U.S. they are found in the refrigerated section near the butter and cheese. if you cannot find canned biscuits where you are, please email me at alpa_v at yahoo dot com and i will email you another recipe.

browse http://www.babylovesdisco.com/ while you're satiating your tummy. pics to come...