This Spaghetti Ain’t Squashed
Winter’s been quite severe so far, what with our area’s first blizzard of the 21st century and foot-upon-foot of snow and ice.
Brr. It was fun when the snow first came down but after that, not so much.
Weather like that makes one yearn for steamy food, doesn’t it? So this holiday season, I cooked what is fast becoming a Burke family “heirloom-in-waiting”; a marinara sauce my brother-in-law learned of from a friend, and that I’ve been experimenting with as well. It’s delish.
Unfortunately you’re not getting that recipe from me today.
Not because I’m being selfish, but mostly because I don’t have any photographs of it, and it deserves to be seen as well as eaten.
What I do think you should try to make, though, is this extremely easy and tasty recipe from Martha Rose Shulman for spaghetti squash. It’s incredible. I’ve started cooking it in place of pasta to go with the marinara. In fact, I don’t know if I’ll ever eat pasta again, when spaghetti squash is such a delicious and healthful alternative.
So try this out, and then you’ll be ready for the Burke marinara to really kick your taste buds into high gear.
Tip: since the bulk of your cooking time will be spent in baking the spaghetti squash prior to sauteing, I highly recommend pre-cooking (i.e. the baking part) a couple of squashes at the same time. Then divide it into portions (i.e. what you’ll need for one meal) and freeze it in several containers.
You can zap it in minutes in the microwave when you feel like eating it again, and you won’t have to spend all that time on prep, nor defrost and then refreeze it because you defrosted too much to begin with.
Manga!
Carry On Kofta
I “borrowed” the title for this recipe post from Shashi Bellamkonda’s Carry On Curry, because I knew he wouldn’t mind (you don’t, right, Shashi?). If you haven’t read CoC, you should check it out, it’s great fun and extremely valuable for foodies in the DC metro area.
Koftas are basically the Indian version of meatballs. Just like the feringhis, we rarely eat them without some kind of gravy (or curry, which means many more things to us than a spice or herb). But we’ll often pair them with a vegetable, dal and rice and/or rotis (tortillas are an ok substitute) to make a really hearty meal.
Here’s my recipe for kofta curry, a classic Indian comfort food.
Ingredients
Koftas: 1 lb. ground lean turkey (or meat of your choice); ½ cup chopped cilantro; 1 tsp cumin seeds; ¼ tsp turmeric powder; ¼ tsp salt; pinch chilli pepper; ½ tsp ginger paste; ½ tsp coriander powder. Enough oil to deep fry the koftas.
Curry (gravy): 1 tbsp cooking oil; 2 red onions, chopped; 1 cup plain non-fat yogurt, beaten with a spoon until it’s smooth; ½ tsp turmeric powder; 1 tsp garam masala; 1 can plain diced tomatoes (or 1-2 fresh tomatoes, diced);¼ tsp chilli powder; ½ tsp salt (or to taste).
Recipe
Mix all the ingredients for the koftas well and make them into fairly small balls. Heat enough oil to fry them in a large pan. When oil is smoking, drop them in and fry them until well-cooked (this will happen fairly quickly if you use turkey or chicken). Set aside, using paper towels to drain excess oil.
In a pan (or you can use the same one, just clean it up) heat cooking oil. Add chopped onions and brown over medium-high heat, stirring often (otherwise they’ll burn). Once onions are browned, add powdered spices and stir for a couple of minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and add yogurt, mixing until well blended. Finally, add tomatoes and cover, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are cooked and you have a nice thick gravy.
Once the gravy is at the consistency you like, add meatballs and stir for a few minutes. Voilà - you’ve just made kofta curry!
Notes: If you’re concerned about the amount of oil involved in deep-frying the meatballs, you could try brushing the meatballs lightly with oil and then baking at about 400° in the oven (but I haven’t tried this yet, so I can’t tell you how it would turn out). I like to serve this with aloo gobhi or something similar.
If you try this, do let me know how it turns out. Are there meatball dishes in other cuisines you’d like to share? I’d love to know.
Spinach and Mushroom Enchiladas
Before moving to the U.S. nine years ago, I’d eaten Mexican food only once or twice; it just wasn’t that big in India at the time (I have no idea if it’s different now). Chinese, Thai, Continental, yes, but not Mexican. Perhaps that’s not surprising in in a country that has such a rich culinary heritage of its own.
Nine years down the road, I love Mexican food. There are several spices that are similar to those used frequently in Indian cooking, albeit in different combinations. It’s up there with dosas for me. So here’s my recipe for spinach and mushroom enchiladas. This is not a low-fat recipe by any means, but it’s delicious.
Ingredients (makes 8 enchiladas; reduce ingredients if you want to make fewer)
½ bag frozen spinach, thawed & drained; 1 can black beans, drained; 1 white onion, chopped; 1 fresh tomato, chopped; 2 bunches green onions, sliced; 2 cups mushrooms, chopped; 8 tortillas; 2 cans enchilada sauce (I use one red and one green); 3 cups grated cheese (I like to use Pepper Jack); ½ bottle taco sauce; 2 tsp cooking oil.
Recipe
Preheat oven to 375°. Over medium-high heat, heat cooking oil, when hot, reduce heat to medium. Cook onion until translucent, then add half the green onions and mix for a couple of minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until they are browned and slightly reduced.
Add spinach and beans, mix well. After a couple of minutes, add tomato and stir well, then add taco sauce. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are cooked. Remove cover to boil off any extraneous liquid. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of cheese.
Heat tortillas according to package directions (I do this in the microwave). Add filling to tortillas one at a time and place them side-by-side, seam side down, in a lightly-greased baking dish (if you make 8 enchiladas, you’ll probably need 2 dishes). Pour enchilada sauce over the tortillas, and sprinkle with remaining green onions and cheese.
Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Serve hot.
Notes: You can use any cheese you like; I just like the flavor pepper jack adds, but it’s not low-fat, unfortunately (which means I don’t make these very often). You can also try reducing the cheese you add to the filling and adding in some non-fat sour cream – that tastes very good as well. I like to use a lot of sauce to cover the tortillas so that I don’t have crispy edges, but you can reduce that if you like.
In-a-Flash Aloo Gobhi
I don’t know about you, but to me, the best way to enjoy vegetables is not to steam or boil them until they’re mush, but to temper and cook them with just the right amount and mix of seasonings – sometimes not very many – so that you can really experience the inherent goodness of the vegetable.
In that spirit, here is my recipe for Aloo Gobhi, or potato and cauliflower curry, one of the best ways (IMNSHO) to eat cauliflower. It’s a staple in Indian homes, and fast becoming a favorite in restaurants here in the US as well.
This recipe is especially for my friend Pat Elliott, who needs to eat all the good food she can right now and is particularly looking for foods with turmeric.
Pat – may the force be with you.
In-a-Flash Aloo Gobhi (serves 2)
Ingredients
Three red potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces; florets from half a fresh, large cauliflower; 4 tomatoes, chopped; 1 tbsp cumin seeds; ¾ tsp turmeric powder; 1 ½ tbsp cooking oil; 2 tbsp chopped cilantro; salt to taste.
(Told you it was easy.)
Recipe
Heat oil to smoking then turn heat down to medium. Add cumin seeds (they should sizzle immediately) and after a few seconds, add potato and cauliflower. Stir fry a few minutes, then add turmeric powder and salt. Mix well (so that you don’t have blobs of turmeric sticking to random bits of potato or cauliflower).
Once it’s well mixed, add the tomatoes. Mix a couple of times, then reduce heat on medium-low until potatoes are cooked and tomatoes have reduced to a gravy. Add cilantro, stir for a couple of minutes, and voilà… your aloo gobhi is ready.
Notes: If you’d like to omit the potato, just use a whole cauliflower instead. If you don’t have fresh tomatoes on hand, you can substitute canned, diced tomatoes; I’d use one can in place of two fresh. You don’t have to use cilantro, but I love the flavor and color it adds.
If you tried this, will you let me know how it turned out?
And This Week’s Recipe Is…
Lean Cuisine’s Santa Fe Style Rice and Beans.
Because I couldn’t get it together. If you have a recipe for it, by the way, I’d love to know.
Have a great weekend!
Totally Fake Bengali Fish Curry
I had some cod that was getting a little too comfortable in the freezer, so decided to see what I could do with it. When you’re a “Bong” (that’s how Bengalis are referred to in India), fish isn’t just what you grow up eating, it’s an intrinsic part of your life.
We Bongs also like to think that a fishy diet makes us smarter than a lot of other people, but will probably never say so ourselves. Hey, we’re “bhadralok.”
Now that I’ve removed my tongue from my cheek, here’s the totally fake (because I faked some of the typical preparation) Bengali Fish Curry I made earlier this week. @HiroBoga, this one’s for you.
Shonali’s Totally Fake Bengali Fish Curry (serves 2)
Ingredients
Any “white” fish (I used cod), de-boned; 1 tbsp cooking oil (Bongs would use mustard oil); 1 large red onion, sliced (if I’d done this right, I’d have ground and made it into a paste); 1 tbsp black (not yellow) mustard seeds; 1 ½ tsp ginger paste; 1 tsp coriander powder; ½ tsp turmeric powder; ½ cup plain nonfat yogurt; salt to taste.
Recipe
Heat oil until it’s smoking in a large nonstick pan, then reduce heat to medium. Add mustard seeds (they should start crackling instantly). After a couple of seconds, add onions (or paste), and stir frequently until brown (but not burnt). Add ginger paste, cook for a few seconds, then add coriander, turmeric and salt. Mix well and after a couple of minutes, add the fish, turning gently and coating well with the gravy.
In a small bowl, beat the yogurt with a spoon until there are no lumps. Reducing heat to medium-low, stir yogurt into fish and mix well, taking care not to break the fish. Cover with a lid so that the fish gets cooked, turning once; it should only take a few minutes.
And that’s it. Quick and easy, huh? Goes great with steamed rice and your vegetable of choice.
Notes: It’s really important to get the oil smoking hot so that when you put in the mustard seeds, they cook instantly. Once you add the yogurt, make sure the heat is turned down to medium-low so that it doesn’t curdle. Yogurt’s a great way to add a mellow gravy to almost any Indian dish, by the way, so try it with your other favorite recipes.
The Accidental Oriental Shrimp Curry
No matter what one’s communication style is, food is the one thing we all connect over (except maybe puppies and kittens, but then you start getting into exotic pet territory and before you know it you need a Bloody Mary).
At any rate, I’ve certainly found my love for cooking has broadened my network considerably, not to mention give me the courage to experiment in the kitchen much as I would in the PR arena.
So I’m adding a new category to my blog in celebration of all things food, the barriers it breaks down and the people who cheer me on (I’m extremely lucky that my husband doesn’t mind being my guinea pig). This accidental recipe is especially for Natalie Tindall, Chuck Hemann and Robin Eads (all of whom asked) as well as Judy Gombita and Betsy Karasik (who, along with Chuck, taught me the difference between red onions and shallots).
From my kitchen to yours: salud.
Shonali’s Accidental Oriental Shrimp Curry (serves 4, or 2 if you’re greedy)
Ingredients
2 tsp oil; 4 shallots, finely sliced; 1 cup finely sliced green onions (scallions); 1 tsp ginger paste; 1 tsp garlic paste; 1 tsp. Thai red curry paste; 2 cups sliced mushrooms; 1 julienned red pepper; 1 cup cut green beans; ½ zucchini, chopped; 1 cup mung bean sprouts; 2 cups shrimp (can use frozen, pre-cooked, just take the tails off when you defrost them); 1 can reduced-fat coconut milk; 2 tbsp. chopped cilantro; 1 ½ tsp lemongrass; 1 tsp salt (or to taste); ¼ tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste).
Recipe
Heat oil in a nonstick pan. Reduce flame to medium, add shallots, fry a couple of minutes until just brown, then add green onions. Add ginger, garlic and Thai red curry pastes. Mix well.
Add mushrooms and cook a few minutes until they start reducing slightly, then add the rest of the veggies. Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally; do not overcook.
Add shrimp and mix well. After a couple of minutes, add salt, cayenne pepper and lemongrass, and finally the coconut milk. Stir well until the gravy is the consistency you desire. Finally add chopped cilantro and give it a couple of stirs until it’s well mixed.
Serve over your grain of choice: white or brown rice, or noodles. Equally delicious as a hearty soup.
Notes: Don’t have fresh veggies? Use frozen (they’re almost as nutritious, as I learned when I worked with the American Institute of Cancer Research). Don’t have the specific veggies listed above? Bung in what you have. As to ginger and garlic pastes, if you like Asian cuisine, you can find them at an Indian grocery store (or just grate/crush the fresh stuff at home). Finally, when you’re frying the onions/pastes, if they start sticking to the pan, just throw in a couple spoons water to unstick ‘em and it won’t hurt anyone.
If you try this, will you let me know how it turned out? Especially if you cooked a variation, I’d love to know.
