Meera Sodha's Cauliflower Korma

For a person of South Asian heritage who is not that bad in the kitchen, I still have quite a few South Asian Indian cookbooks on my shelf as cuisine from the Indian sub continent is wide, vast and diverse, just like its people.  

Most of the Indian cookbooks I have come from Madhur Jaffrey, Reza Mahammad, but I also have some by Dala Tarla and lesser known cooks in this part of the UK Viji Varadarajan.  I also have all the cookbooks by the beautiful Vicki Bhogul who has just made a comeback with the republication of Cooking Like Mummiji.  A couple of years back I was super excited by the publication of Prashad cookbook. However I only have a handful of Gujrati Indian Vegetarian Cookbooks.  The one I flick through quite often is Hansa's Indian Vegetarian Cookbook (2001) by Hansa Daghi who combines her Gujarit home cooking with touches of her East African upbringing.  

However, its my newest cookbook that I want to put in the spotlight.  My husband got me Fresh India: Quick, easy and Delicious Vegetarian Recipes For Every Day by Meera Sodha for Christmas.   This Cauliflower Korma with Blackened Raisins (Gobhi Korma) was the first recipe that I bookmarked from the cookbook.  

I have to say Meera Sodha's Cauliflower Korma as you may know it, its very different. There is no coconut or coconut milk in the recipe , but there are nuts not what we often see cashew nuts but ground almonds that act as both thickener and give it that rich creaminess.   It made for a change and I like change.

Baked Tandoori Butterflied Eggplant Aubergines

So it was the weekend and it was BBQ time, except no BBQ in our garden.  The thunder was rolling in the skies and the rain drip drip dripping.

I was inspired to make these Tandoori Butterflied Aubergines by Sarah Beattie from her cookbook Meat-Free Any Day.  But I didn't follow the recipe completely, for a start Sarah grills her Tandoori Butterflied Aubergines over white-hot embers.   Mine conjured up no smoke, no flames and no associated BBQ smells.  Mine were simply baked in the oven, on a baking sheet covered with foil.  It worked remarkably well.   

To be honest, this is how my family have come to make Tandoori chicken.  My father wishes for a traditional Tandoor - clay oven, but settles for his Tandoori chicken baked/roasted in the oven. If he did ever get his wish granted, I would be over for Tandoor Naan breads, cooking them straight on a hot tandoor oven imparts a flavour that is hard to capture on a skillet or even from an oven.   Sarah Beattie rightly points out that in the U.K we have come to accept  food marinated in red (paprika) or yellow (turmeric) spiced coloured yogurt as 'Tandoori'.  

I have to point out in addition to baking these Tandoori Butterflied Aubergines, I have cheated a little further mostly for ease and laziness after all this was meant to be a chilled out BBQ afternoon. I confess and put my hands up and admit that I did not make my own tandoori spice blend.  Instead I asked my sister in law to fill me a small jar of tandoori paste and that made for easy cooking, well I don't do it that often so cut me some slack.  

The finished dish was served with some Puy Lentil Pilav style rice. 

Afghani Burani Bonjon - Aubergine Braised in Spicy Tomato Sauce

I cooked up this awesome Afghani Burani Bonjon at the weekend.  It was utterly gorgeous.  

My first encounter ever with Afghani Burani Bonjon  or shall I describe it with more familiar words: Aubergine braised in spicy tomato sauce and then smothered  with Seer Moss - GarlicYogurt sauce was in my early days of blogging through a now sadly defunct blog called The Culinary Adventures of a Confessed Shakamboo, I was curious about it at the time as I was not that familiar with Afghanistan cuisine, but at the same time somewhat dismissed it as I was not overly keen on aubergines aka eggplant a key ingredient for the recipe.  A few years fast forward I was once again reacquainted with Burani Bonjon whilst flicking through the Canadian Living: The Vegetarian Collection and most recently in Veggiestan.  

Well this time I just had to make this dish, especially as I have begun appreciating aubergines a lot more.  For those of you on a diet, I must forewarn you that this is not a low in fat meal at all, it is very rich and quite sublime.  You all know what aubergines are like sponges and suck up oil effortlessly.  Its also not the prettiest dish hence I sprinkled it with edible flowers, chive flowers and coriander.  I brought it to the table served my Fair TradeTierra Negra Round Saute dish, but a serving platter would do fine too. 

D really loved it.  The cooling aspect of the yogurt next to the warm and rich aubergine slices is just divine.  I have to say, the Aubergine braised in spicy tomato sauce would also be most excellent stirred through pasta. 

D has already asked me to make it again, I think I will but I will try it with marrow or maybe the with the courgettes that are beginning to from come from my garden.  *This main component of this recipe is vegan.  The Garlic Yogurt can obviously be substituted with a vegan alternative. 

Rhubarb Rosewater Compote and Vanilla Lassi

I know many people are indulging in iced teas and iced lattes, frappacinos and the like, but I have been indulging in sweet Lassi's lately.  Remember my Strawberry and Black Pepper Lassi.

Well with plenty of rhubarb still growing in my garden, it was inevitable that a rhubarb flavoured one would appear on my blog.  My husband is not a fan of milky drinks, but he was swayed into trying a sip when he cottoned on to the fact that this lassi was going to be made with home-grown rhubarb.  Well this sip soon turned into a large glass.  He liked it very much, especially the sharp twang from the rhubarb and the yogurt.

Strawberry and Black Pepper Lassi

Lassi is appearing all over now as a alternative cooling drink to milkshakes on many trend setting café menu's.  Well in the last few days I have made two variations of my own.  Today I will share my Strawberry and Black Pepper Lassi and later in the week my Rhubarb, Rose and Vanilla one. 

Lassi - for the un-initiated is a south Asian sweet, sour and salty yogurt based drink, I guess I would sort of describe it as alternative to milkshake.  It is traditionally made up of a blend of home-made natural yogurt, water or milk and seasoning and used to be made by hand with a wooden whisk/stirrer/frother, all I can say now is thank goodness for the food blender/processor as it just takes moments to make.

I grew up drinking both the savoury version flavoured with salt or cumin; or the sweet one enhanced with sugar and almonds.  Sometimes my mother would vary it with fruit, namely with mangoes from Pakistan.    It was always, always made with home-made yogurt, but I have to say I am not as organised as my mother and my natural yogurt comes from a tub - not the same for sure, but it will do as a substitute for my Strawberry and Black Pepper Lassi.

My strawberry and black pepper lassi was with strawberries that I had just picked from my own garden.  Initially it was just going to be a simple strawberry lassi, but felt it was lacking something - so a twist of black pepper was added.  It certainly perked me up.

As I was taking a photograph of my Strawberry and Black Pepper Lassi, Moggy - the cat who has adopted us came up out of curiosity, so of course I had to snap a photograph of her too. 

Strawberry and Black Pepper Lassi
Serves 2
Ingredients
Handful of fresh, hulled strawberries
160g homemade yogurt or natural live yogurt such as Henna.  (Its not a heavy yogurt like Greek Yogurt and is good to use in smoothies or to use for marinades)
180ml milk
Sugar, honey or maple syrup to taste

Twist of fresh black pepper (do not use the powder form here)
Optional: ice cubes
Method
Blend all the ingredients (except for the black pepper and ice cubes) in a food blender until smooth.  Taste, tweak and adjust to suit your taste buds, blitz again if necessary.  Pour over optional ice-cubes for a cooler drink and add a twist of black pepper, stir well before drinking.

Greek yogurt and rhubarb

This is the forced rhubarb growing in my garden plot. Naughty, naughty me couldn't resist a peek, and in peeking I knocked off a rhubarb stalk (see it there laying on it's back). Oh well an unexpected dessert for me to enjoy later this evening.
I gently placed the plastic bin back over it, hopefully I have not disturbed it too much.

I chopped the rhubarb stalk into small pieces with a scattering of caster sugar and then baked it in the oven for 20 minutes, until it was cooked through. I allowed it to cool and served it with some generous dollops of Greek yogurt.

Forced rhubarb is so delicate, so brilliantly pink and tastes so different from the naturally grown rhubarb. For those of you who do not like rhubarb, I would recommend you try forced rhubarb. I think you may just like it. It does not have that sharp twang that makes your eyes squint as soon as you put it into your mouth. It is sublime.