Galangal

It's NOT ginger. Let's start with that.

For one, it's absurdly tough to cut even with the CC's fancy French chef's knife. Two, it has a vaguely citrusy aroma, and sweet perfumy taste, and just the hint of a bite. Nobody has ever referred to ginger as "sweet".

Substitution is largely useless. In soups, the dried stuff does quite fine actually but in the more complex dishes, you need the real deal. If you do grab hold of it, use it to make some of the stored complex pastes (recipes to follow) which actually freeze really well.

Ful Medames

Breakfast of peasants. And of champions.

Ingredients

1 cup dried fava beans (soaked overnight)
1 onion (diced into semi-rounds)
2 cloves garlic (smashed)
1 green bell pepper (slivered)
3 tomatoes (diced)

1 tbsp powdered cumin
1 lemon
1/2 cup diced parsley
salt and pepper

Recipe

The notes to this recipe are much more valuable than the recipe (which is "obvious.")

Firstly, you need the small fava beans not the bigger ones.

The soaking of the fava beans also matters. The CC is guessing it has something to do with the age of the dried fava beans.

The CC has made this before, and the recipe was always good. Then, accidentally, the CC was forced to delay making the thing so he rinsed the beans after 24 hours, and resoaked them for another 24, and the recipe totally blew his mind.

Here we go:

First cook the beans in water, and while they cook keep skimming the scum that rises to the top. There will be plenty of "nasty stuff". Depending on the soaking, takes between 40 mins to an hour till they are adequately soft.

The skin of the fava beans will never soften. It's an "added feature" or an "acquired taste" of this particular recipe. Deal.

After that's done, in a separate vessel, fry the onions and the garlic at medium low heat. Then fry the bell peppers. Then add the cumin, salt, pepper and tomatoes. Finally the fava beans lightly crushed. Heat for about 10 mins or so.

Right before serving, mix in the lemon juice and the parsley.

Another trick is to split the bell peppers into two piles, and add some at the end thus getting two textures from the same ingredient.

(And just for the record, the pita below was home-made.)

Ful medames

Coconut Balls : The Aftermath

This recipe seems to have generated an absurd number of private emails.

Unbelievable.

Who woulda thunk that a recipe and a picture that the CC wasn't even planning on posting, in a genre that the CC doesn't even care about (dessert), would generate this kinda response?

After the synonyms on "easy" and "yummy", the most common phrase was "guilty pleasure" while referring to condensed milk.

To which the CC can only say: "Stand proud, stand tall, and may the naysayers be reduced to eating frozen yogurt and boxed cheese."

Ahem.

Anyway, there will be more recipes featuring our friend including one on how to make your own condensed milk. It's a bit fiddly and time-consuming but totally worth it.

Unbelievable.

A Note on Relabelings

Periodically, the CC needs to glance at old posts, and in order to have consistent and accurate labels, he goes back and relabels old posts (typically only additions rarely deletions.)

Relabeling is completely necessary when entirely new categories are introduced. It's the only way to keep labels accurate, and to be perfectly honest, it's rather painful laborious work.

No posts are changed though.

Life Changers

Every once in a while you come across a kitchen tool that snakes its way from a mere twinkle of an idea in your consciousness ("someday must buy that") to being completely and utterly indispensable ("how did I live without that?")

There is a life before and after the instrument, and never the twain shall meet.

Rare, naturally.

Not every instrument can qualify for such exalted status.

Meet the box grater.

Just for the record, the wimpy little nebbishy bottom thing was tossed away into some dank corner of the recesses of the CC's cupboard. Who grates in such tiny quantities anyway?

Anyway, this teeny-tiny little thing, much beloved of Italian mammas, and Spanish mamacitas, and Turkish anne-s, and oh, just about all the mammas everywhere is truly a wondrous creature. (and a tiny salute to modernity too for the little rubber edges which prevent slippage when grating over a glass bowl.)

Hurrah for the box grater!

Kaffir Lime Leaves (Bai Magroot)

Completely indispensible in Thai cooking for their unique citrusy aroma. There is nothing like it so substitution is moot.

The leaves themselves are usually not eaten just added to broths, etc. You will also see instructions for them to be cut into into thin strips and added to Thai curries.

The juice of the limes is used in other contexts but it has a unique overpowering perfume so it must be used sparingly. Squeeze one in a mixer before you make martinis, and watch your guests be delighted all evening long from the subtle elusive aroma.

Traditional Thai curry sauces also call for the zest of the kaffir limes. Sometimes fresh and sometimes dried so you really need both at hand.

Unlike many ingredients, both the leaves and the limes freeze beautifully so the CC always has some in his freezer.

What the CC ate

Stir-fried vegetables and bay scallops in homemade chili paste

The description does not do justice to the dish's subtle complexity.

Steamed Vegetable Dumplings

The CC's dad forwarded him a recipe from the local newspapers. The CC liked the look of it, and it consisted of old ideas in a spanking new bottle so the CC decided to try it out (that, and the fact that the ingredients were coincidentally precisely what the CC needed to use up.)

The verdict? Gobbliciously good.

High on fiber too leading to a quadruple-flusher the next day (not that you needed to know that but what can the CC do? The blog mandate permits it.)

The CC changed one thing though. He will never understand his forefathers' love of the cabbage. Flabby, vile, nasty with a historical side-helping of being "good for you". Read Pliny, if you don't believe the CC.

So what's the old, and what's the new?

New would be combo of ol' Gujarati technique with North Indian spices and ingredients, and a free helping of New World stuff like corn thrown in to seal the deal.

Old would be the method of steaming the dumplings (which the Indians received via Chinese traders circa the 10th century incidentally), and the lentil batter (quite ancient.)

Just for the record, the final texture is astonishingly similar to the steamed pork dumplings (shu mai) served at dim sum, a thought that possibly scandalizes the CC's vegetarian forefathers.

Oh well! The CC was never long on formality.

Ingredients

carrots (shredded)
spinach (blanched, and chopped fine)
corn
1/4 cup whole masoor soaked (or just use any lentils)

3 cloves garlic
1" ginger
3-4 green chillies

rava (substitute with bulgur wheat)

cilantro leaves (finely chopped)
lime juice
salt

Recipe

The quantities are approximate because it's hard to screw this up, and you will have control in the last step anyway. If you have a food processor, you're golden. Won't even take you 20 minutes. (And since the CC is a full disclosionist, yes, he used frozen spinach, and frozen corn. Gasp, the horror!!!)

As you might have guessed, you can really use any vegetables but you do need some shredded stuff to help the dough all hold together.

Soak the lentils for at least 6 hours. This is the only real prep step.

Grind the garlic, ginger, green-chillies into a paste. Grind the lentils into a paste too (can be combined.)

Mix all the ingredients except the rava. Add the rava in small quantities till you get a very loose dough but one that you can form balls in. (This is the reason everything is approximate since you can control the texture here.)

The little balls ready to steam on the CC's steamer thingy. They were steamed for about 8-9 minutes.

Steamed Vegetable Dumplings

Pesto Rosso

This really is an extraordinarily simple recipe, and an absolute marvel to boot. However, it's quite overwhelming in flavor so use sparingly.

How to use it?

Toss fresh penne with some olive oil and pesto rosso and toasted pine nuts which, along with some fresh basil, also makes a terrific "cold" pasta dish.

("Cold" pasta dishes are meant to be served at room temperature, incidentally.)

Spread some on a baguette, and eat with a thin slice of parmigiano reggiano (similar to a tapenade.)

It's extraordinarily versatile. Give it a whirl, literally and figuratively.

Ingredients

sun-dried tomatoes
walnuts
2 cloves garlic (no more!)

extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt (no exceptions!)

Recipe

Soak the sun-dried tomatoes in hot water for about 20 minutes.

In a food processor blend the ingredients adding tablespoons of the above water + olive oil at periodic intervals to get a smoothish paste.

A few general notes on tricks. If you actually have cured olives, add those instead of the olive oil. Don't skimp of the salt. You need it to store it. You can always adjust the recipes later.

Traditionally, this was stored under more olive oil but it's gonna store perfectly in your fridge (for intermediate-term consumption) or freezer (long-term.)

Pesto rosso

Pita Problems

Well, the CC decided to make fresh pita and ful medames (pictures and recipes later) for breakfast.

The first pita was an unmitigated disaster. Not even a mother could love this one.

What to do, what to do?

Dough on the counter. Continue or abandon, and go buy commercial ones?

Bravely, the CC forged ahead.

The rest of the dough made picture-perfect pitas. Go figure!

The CC wonders if there's a moral but he can't think of any.

Poha

Poha is flattened puffed rice, and this dish is particularly popular in the Western regions of India.

The flattened rice is also symbol of "humility" in Indian circles thanks to certain mythological stories.

Those expecting dewy-eyed and misty stories about humility and devotion are likely to be disappointed since the CC adopts the thoroughly Churchillian perspective that "the humble indeed have a lot to be humble about."

Not this dish though.

Ingredients

4 cups poha
1 large potato
1 small red onion
2-3 green chillies
1 tbsp mustard seeds
8-10 curry leaves
1 tsp turmeric

1/2 cup grated coconut
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 lime

Recipe

Just quickly rinse the poha, and let it drain. Every few minutes, "fluff" it to ensure it's loose and dry.

This is really an easy step, and hence easily "delegated" but to do it right, you need to keep kinda "fluffing" the stuff every 10 mins-ish to make it dry out. Those of you who possess a "Jamie" (or three) might want to take advantage of this meta-recipe step that the CC provides gratis for your delectation and pleasure.

Fry some oil, add the mustard seeds until they splutter, then the curry leaves, then the onions and green chillies. Y'all are all old hats at this (or turning into old hats which is the same thing.)

Then fry the potatoes. This is our old friend Maestro Maillard again.

Hells bells and puppydog tails, he shows up a lot, dun' he?

Add the turmeric, salt to taste, and some water, and let the potatoes boil in it.

This step always takes longer than you think it will take. Of such impatience is cooking made.

Does this reinforce "humility"? Possibly. Ask the Indians. The Cowboys just wanna eat.

Towards the end, add the poha (not shown.) It will only take about a minute to cook. Y'all won't go wrong in this step, trust the CC. There are plenty of recipes for y'all (and the CC) to screw up; this is not one of them.

Garnish with coconut and cilantro leaves, and squeeze a lime all over it.

Poha

Coconut Balls

Goodness, gracious, great balls of ... coconut.

Ingredients

dried coconut shavings (dried is crucial!)
condensed milk

Recipe

The CC using canned stuff? Try it first. You will have time to talk back later.

The recipe is simple but unfolds in two steps.

First add, the dried coconut shavings to the condensed milk and mix to form a stiff dough. The quantities depend on the kind of condensed milk and the size of the shavings. Basically, form a firm dough which should NOT be too wet. Then let it sit for 30 minutes or so.

What you then need to do is shape small balls out of it, and roll them around in more dried coconut shavings to coat the outside and give it texture.

Lay them all out on a tray. They taste better if they are slightly cool so you can refrigerate them till your guests arrive.

Coconut Balls

Thai Dinner

A dear friend was leaving New York so the CC made a Thai dinner.

Sup nor mai
Bamboo Salad
Tom Yum
Spicy Thai Soup with Shrimp
Pad ped hoi shel gkap bplah meuk
Stir-fried bay scallops and squid with homemade chilli paste

War of the Worlds

Summer's coming up, and soon there will all the movies about how the "machines are taking over", and the "machines will rule men", etc.

BORING.

The CC will just settle for a toaster that can make toast correctly gauging the thickness of the sliced bread, and the moisture content.

This technology was firmly within engineering grasp thirty years ago so where is it?

We'll save the world later, okay? OKAY.

Thai Olive Fried Rice (Khao Pad Nahm Liap)

There are as many fried rices as rice-eating cultures, and as many variations as cooks. However, the generic idea remains the same.

Use up old leftover rice so as not to waste it. Fried rice is just one option. The Sicilian arancini is a completely different take on the same idea.

Given a dish based in poverty, and lack of wastage, there is quite a bit of leeway in our choices. It's whatever is in the house really. Eggs if you have them; likewise for sliced onions, ground pork, vegetables, dried shrimp, etc.

So what makes this "Thai" then?

The characteristic Thai ingredients and technique; the detailed thought given to balancing the flavors: sweet, salty, sour, spicy; then the Thai-ification, to invent a word, of ingredients that are clearly not Thai -- salted Chinese olives, dark soy sauce, cilantro. (The Thai are doffing their caps to the Chinese here. Traditional flavoring would've been various forms of basil.)

Of such contradictions are all cuisines made. Shall we proceed?

Ingredients

2 tbsp minced garlic
3-4 Thai green chillies (cut into fine rounds)
4-5 kaffir lime leaves (cut into thin strips)

1 tbsp palm sugar
2 tbsp dark soy sauce (read below!)
2 tbsp nahm pla (fish sauce)

chopped vegetables
salted olives (chopped)

leftover rice
peanut oil

wedge of lime
3-4 cilantro sprigs (finely chopped, stem and all)

Recipe

First off, a few general instructions. The rice which was leftover is probably all dried out. You need to crumble it with your hands. (This is a "Jamie" step.)

Secondly, turn the heat UP. All the freakin' way. You want hot, hot, hot. Hotter if you can. It's all about BTU's, baby!

Hot, hot, hot!!! Eat your heart out, Cure fans.

The palm sugar. Substitute with jaggery or brown sugar but it's just not the same. There's no way to explain this. You will have to experience this for yourselves.

Add the black soy sauce, and the fish sauce and stir it for a bit until the palm sugar dissolves. (Also, a "Jamie" step.)

The "black soy sauce" is not your usual ho-hum. It's actually this sweetish salty concoction (siew dam) that is rather thick and glutinous. If you're missing this, add a 50-50 mixture of palm sugar and regular soy sauce but you're drifting further and further away from the Platonic ideal.

Note the Thai qualities above. You're getting the sweet from the palm sugar and the siew dam, and the salty from the siew dam and the nahm pla. Also the umami from the nahm pla because it's basically heavily salted fermented anchovies (not terribly unlike the ancient Roman garum.)

The green chillies (below) is going to add the spice, and the lime the sour taste.

Thai households don't use salt. They just have little bottles of fish sauce if more salt is needed. Likewise for the heat and sourness -- thin rounds of green chillies in vinegar are a standard condiment.

The mise-en-place. From the top, clockwise: chopped vegetables (carrots, snow peas), the above mixture, minced garlic, green chillies, chopped olives.

It may not be obvious from the picture but the carrots have been sliced diagonally really thin so that they can fry, and not boil.

Heat the peanut oil at a high heat, and fry the garlic. Be very careful not to let the garlic burn.

Incidentally, this first step of frying minced garlic is also very characteristically Thai.

Add the green chillies, and the vegetables (not shown), and fry for quite a while until the vegetables are fried.

The CC forgot to take a picture because he was in a bit of a fluster.

Y'all will cope.

Add the crumbled rice, and the olives (not shown.)

After the rice has fried for a bit, add the sauce very slowly so that it keeps frying. You will need to keep frying the rice for a bit longer after you add this.

This is one of the best examples where both Maillard and caramelization are both taking place.

Serve this with the wedge of lime, and the cilantro mixed in.

For the true purists, you are no more going to get true wok hai with puny BTU-burners than you are going to get an Uruk-hai. However, if you are reasonably talented, you will not just exceedingly satisfactory but even borderline excellent results.

Khao Pad Nahm Liap

Baked Spinach-Stuffed Shells : The Product

So we get to the assembly.

The whole thing is kinda obvious but the CC felt it best to adopt the best techniques of tee-vee writers, and leave a cliffhanger. Keeps the folks coming back for more, and saves the CC's job, okay? OKAY.

Ingredients

pasta shells
more grated mozzarella

Recipe

First up, you need to cook the shells in salted water until they are just under al dente. Remember we are gonna finish this off by baking so don't overcook them.

The CC can't really help with times because each make is just different enough. The CC finds out by fishing out at various intervals, and tasting, and remembering the various numbers. You must too.

Sounds ridiculous though, doesn't it?

The cooked shells stuffed with the stuffing.

Pour the sauce all over it so that everything is drenched in the liquid. Cover with the rest of the shredded mozzarella.

Bake in a 350F oven UNCOVERED until the mozzarella starts to brown. The CC initially thought it was going to be roughly 20 minutes but it was closer to 40 so clearly the CC hasn't the faintest freakin' clue. Neither will you. Just keep peeking, okay? OKAY.

The browned cheese is Master Maillard in action but y'all knew that, right?

Baked spinach-stuffed shells

On Olive Oil

God is the light of the heavens and the earth
The likeness of his light is a niche
wherein is a lamp
(the lamp in a glass, the glass as it were a glittering star)
kindled from a blessed tree,
an olive that is neither of the east nor of the west
whose oil well-nigh would shine, even if no fire touched it;
Light upon Light!

(Koran, xxiv: 35)

Please note that God's light was not compared to corn or safflower, or heaven forbid, canola!