3rd August, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
On Sunday I tried out this new recipe from Food and Wine - “Okra and Green-Pea Curry”. I had some okra I wanted to use up, and I’ve only ever had okra fried or plain, and wanted to learn to make something different with it. I thought this turned out pretty well and was very easy to make. I’m not crazy about okra, but I thought the okra went well in this dish because (and this sounds gross) the mucus-ey insides of the okra gave the dish extra thickness. I served it with buttery vegetable curry from this entry, which is by far one of my favorite vegetarian recipes, and this okra dish didn’t really compare, but it’s probably a lot healthier.
Here are the ingredients and directions from Food and Wine:
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil
- 2 onions, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 cup canned diced tomatoes with their juice (from one 15-ounce can)
- 2 10-ounce packages frozen cut okra, defrosted
- 1 10-ounce package frozen peas
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 3/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Directions
- In a Dutch oven, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the fennel seeds, coriander, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne and cook, stirring, for 1 minute longer. Increase the heat to moderate. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring frequently, until no liquid remains in the pan, about 5 minutes.
- Add the okra, peas, water, and salt and simmer just until the vegetables are tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and cilantro.
23rd July, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
Last week I visited Bombay Bistro with a friend, and we both had great meals. It’s located in the Great Hills area at 10710 Research Blvd, Ste 126 (right by the HEB), and it is rated pretty well by customers on yelp and urban spoon (4 out of 5 stars for both places). The restaurant’s website isn’t working well for me, and without being able to look at the menu again I can’t tell you what I had, which makes this a pretty inadequate restaurant review, but what I can tell you is that this was probably my 4th visit to this restaurant in the past 2 years, and I’ve never had a bad meal and the service is always good. Each time I’ve always gotten a vegetarian dish, of which they have a good variety, and I’ve always overeaten. It’s American-ized Indian food, so it’s probably not very authentic, but it’s a nice spot to go during the week if we don’t have time to make dinner. The lighting is sort of dim and it’s decorated very nicely (big comfy booths, bronze decorations, sort of an exotic feel) – you wouldn’t expect such a nice looking restaurant to be located in an HEB strip mall - it’s a very relaxing, comfortable atmosphere. The prices are reasonable ($10-15) at Bombay Bistro, and if you are trying to eat vegetarian meals more often when you are eating out, Indian restaurants in general are a great place to start because there’s always such a great variety of interesting vegetarian dishes!
30th April, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments
Last weekend I went to lunch at the vegetarian Indian cafe, Bombay Express. It’s an old favorite of mine and I hadn’t been there in awhile. There have been times before when I ate dinner at Bombay Express, took home the leftovers, and then immediately started to eat the leftovers, continuing to eat to the point of making myself feel sick – and yet still continuing to eat. It is that delicious. And the reviews on Yelp are very good, and I’ve spoken to friends of mine who are Indian who say it is the best Indian food in Austin.
The green part: it’s all vegetarian. And delicious. If you’re looking to branch out and try new vegetarian foods, and foods that are very different from what you’ll get at most Austin Indian restaurants, it’s a great choice.
The not green part: everything is served on disposable plates. Some things are even served on styrofoam. It’s a little out of control and I’ve backed off of eating there because of it. When I went last weekend, I probably hadn’t been there in about 1 year, and things had gotten a little better, with the use of paper plates for more dishes than had previously been the case. But I still felt wasteful eating there.
Here’s what I had:
Thaali: an assortment of different dishes. Served on a plastic tray, so not to good for the environment. The food was good but because of how it’s served, I don’t think I would get it again. The next two dishes are much tastier and a little greener in their presentation.
Masala Dosa: A generously-sized, extra fine crepe made with rice batter, filled with seasoned potatoes. Served on a paper plate, it’s one of my favorites and is a meal in itself.
kachori: fried dumplings with a spicy green pea filling. I get these every time. These yummy little guys are served in a little paper tray.
So there you have it – the green and not so green of Bombay Express. I hope to someday have the courage to strike up a conversation with the owner about the styrofoam.
13th April, 2010 - Posted by katherine - 1 Comment
Yesterday I wrote about the cooking class I took last week at Whole Foods. As promised, here is the recipe for Pav Bhaji:
- 1lb russet potatoes, peeled and cute into 1 inch cubes
- 2 carrots, cut crosswise into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 large yellow onion, minced
- 10 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 14 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger root
- 2 tablespoons pav bhaji masala (a blend of spices you can get at an Indian food store – I skipped this part when I tried the recipe at home because I didn’t have it – I just used about 1 1/2 tablespoon of curry and 1/2 extra tablespoon of paprika)
- 1/4 teaspoon tumeric
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Boil potatoes, carrots and peas. Drain and mash. Set aside.
Heat butter in large pan on medium-high till foamy. Add oil.
Add onions, garlic, and ginger, and sauté for 10 minutes. Add spices and salt. Mix well and cook for 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook for 5-10 more minutes on high heat. Add veggies and 1 cup of water, and after mixing well, cook on low heat till you have a thick consistency.
Our instructor, Shefaly Ravula, served the meal with butter bread. It was delicious!
you can see the Pav Bhaji here in the back
12th April, 2010 - Posted by katherine - 1 Comment
Last week I went to a hands-on cooking class at Whole Foods. I had a gift card to take a class, and figured I might as well try and pick a class with a vegetarian menu since most vegetarian dishes I end up making are usually pasta-related. I picked a class called “Mumbai Street Food” with Shefaly Ravula (here’s a twitter page I found for her). The menu included Pav Bhaji (buttery vegetable curry), Bhel Puri (crispy snack mix with garlic-chili sauce, cilantro-mint chutney, and tamarind-date chutney), Pakoras (vegetable fritters) and Masala Chai.
Of the sauces/chutneys, I only got to try making the cilantro-mint one with my partner, but it was pretty easy to make. The Pav Bhaji and Bhel Puri were really delicious and I was excited to learn how to make Masala Chai since I love tea. We didn’t actually get to make the pakoras, which were just battered and fried veggies, but we got to see how they were made and since I’m afraid of catching my house on fire while frying, I had no interest in learning how to make those anyway so I was fine with just watching the instructor make them. The class was a really great experience and the Pav Bhaji is something I can see myself making on a somewhat regular basis, it was so easy and tasty – in fact, I made it last night for dinner. (Check back tomorrow for Recipe Tuesday for the details on how to make it!) So if, like me, you are wanting to find some interesting veggie menus, taking a cooking class is one way to get ideas – it’s a little pricey but could make a nice date night or night out with friends, since you get to eat what you’ve made once it’s over (and take home any leftovers).
the classroom
blurry pic of Pav Bhaji cooking
Pav Bhaji and Bhel Puri
