Indian Street Food

It has probably been more than a year since I first came across mention of something called Pav Bhaji. The first word is pronounced "pao." It is a mushed up mixture of vegetables that is served on or with buns- and a huge pat of butter on top!
 

Pav Bhaji

When I think of India and breads, I envision lots of flat breads, or Naan, which can be made as a flat bread or made with yeast. Never, though, had I come across a recipe for something that looked like a common bun, as we know them in the U.S. When I saw this recipe, it intrigued me, and for a while I meant to try it out, and then, as with many things, it got buried, and I never got back to it. 

Recently I met a young girl who hails from Mumbai. Anyone from India is of great interest to me, because while I am fascinated with India, Indians, Indian food, culture, etc., I have never been to India, nor eaten anything Indian outside of a few restaurants, nor have I ever had the pleasure of eating at an Indian household. So while my Indian restaurant visits have given me a baseline idea of the flavors involved, I am far removed from actual firsthand experience. Yet I do cook things Indian all the time, because the flavors are exceedingly high on my list of "most amazing flavors." 

So after meeting this young Indian girl, I asked her out to lunch, so I could pick her brain and get ideas - more firsthand. We talked of many, many different foods, and she asked if I had ever tried an Indian street food called Pav Bhaji. Well!

Pav Bhaji just cooked

When I got home, I was busy that day and the next, but finally got around to unearthing all my notes on that dish. Yesterday I put them into action. The dish consists of various parts. The vegetable dish, the main event, is made of mainly potatoes, with other vegetables such as green peppers and tomatoes. Other vegetables that can be added are things like cauliflower and /or peas. And while I have read that carrots are never found in the actual street-vendors' dish, they can be added if making it at home. I always look for more, so I used all these vegetables in my dish. As for the vegetable part of this dish, it can be made into a puree or it can be simply mashed with bits left in it. This is up to your own taste. I chose to mash, not puree my vegetables.

The next part is making or buying a Pav Bhaji Masala. The ingredients in this mixture are similar, but have variances, in the many recipes I looked at online. The spices that seem most common in this mixture are black cardamom, coriander and cumin seed, cloves, cinnamon, tej patta (Indian bay leaf), black peppercorns, aamchur powder (dried unripe mango powder), dried red chilies. Other things added in some recipes are fennel seed, turmeric, powdered ginger, star anise, asafetida and even curry leaves. Of course, the amounts will vary in all recipes, but if you choose to make your own Pav Bhaji Masala, here is my recipe:

Pav Bhaji Masala

Makes about ¼ cup

4 black cardamom pods, seeds removed, pods discarded
3 tablespoons coriander seeds
1½ teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 dried red chili peppers (remove seeds for less heat), crumbled
3-inches cinnamon stick
6 whole cloves
2 tej patta leaves (do not substitute Bay Laurel leaf), crumbled
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1 tablespoon aamchur powder
1½ teaspoon ground turmeric powder
½ teaspoon black salt (or regular salt)

Place the first 8 ingredients into a hot, dry skillet over medium heat and stirring quickly, toast until fragrant. Pour out in a plate to cool, then grind to fine powder, adding in the remaining three ingredients, mixing well. Store in a clean jar with tight fitting lid in a cool, dark place for up to 3 months.

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The third part of the whole Pav Bhaji experience is the bread. The bread is supposed to be bun-like, made without eggs. The buns are halved and dredged through melted butter with some of the Pav Bhaji Masala on a hot griddle, then served either alongside or filled with the vegetable mixture. 

I have not made the buns, yet. I was making two kinds of breads yesterday, and did not have the time to make a third type of bread, but I will get to those at a later date. In the meantime, I (gasp!) bought some whole wheat dinner rolls to accompany the veggie mixture. 

The Pav Bhaji is then served with a pat of butter melting on top, chopped red onion and a wedge of lemon or lime on the side, as well as a green chutney. I had no green chutney made, so I went ahead without. For the first time, it was fine, as I wanted to really taste what this dish is like, without other distractions. All I can say is AMAZING! I loved this dish. I have no problem eating a vegetarian meal, and this was excellent.

Pav Bhaji

 

Pav Bhaji

Serves about 4

2 cups potatoes in small cubes (½-inch)
1½ cups green pepper, chopped small
1½ cups cauliflower, chopped into small bits
½ cup carrots in tiny cubes (about ¼-inch)
½ cup peas (I used frozen)
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½ - 1  (15 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes with juices
2 tablespoons Pav Bhaji Masala
2 teaspoons Kasoori Methi (dried fenugreek herb)
1 teaspoon Indian red chili powder (powdered chili peppers)
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup cilantro, chopped
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1 - 2 tablespoons oil or butter
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch fresh ginger, minced
2 green chilies, minced (omit seeds for less heat)
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4 buns, halved
butter, for buns
butter, to serve
red onion, chopped, for garnish
lemon or lime wedges  
Green Chutney

Place the first 5 vegetables into a saucepan and just cover with water. Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer and cook until the vegetables are soft and can be smashed without resistance.  If there is still a lot of water in the pan, drain off some of it, but some water should remain. Use a potato masher or a glass and smash the vegetables into a chunky mash.

Add to the pot of smashed veggies the tomatoes (amount is up to you), the Pav Bhaji Masala, the Kasoori Methi herb, Indian chili powder and salt and stir in. Stir in the cilantro.

In a skillet over medium low heat, saute the shallot, garlic, ginger and chilies in the oil until the mixture just turns golden, then pour this into the pot with the vegetables. Stir well.

To serve: Halve Pav Bhaji buns or dinner rolls. Melt some butter into the skillet and sprinkle in some of the Pav Bhaji Masala powder. Dredge the cut side of the buns in this butter mixture. Chop some red onion to serve alongside and set out lime or lemon wedges to squeeze over top. If you have some green chutney, serve this also. 

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Green Chutney (Dhania Poodina)

Green Chutney or Dhania Poodina

Makes about 1 cup

1 cup (packed) fresh mint leaves
1 cup (packed) fresh cilantro
1 to 5 fresh Serrano peppers (remove seeds for less heat)
½ cup unsweetened coconut, optional
½ small onion or 1 large shallot
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup lime juice, more, if needed

Place all the ingredients in a powerful blender and puree completely. Store in refrigerator, tightly sealed and use the chutney within three days.  



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Indian Lentils Make a Fantastic and Healthy Meal

If you have no interest in Indian cooking, and Indian flavors, then this blog will not be for you. Personally, Indian flavors just fascinate and intrigue, so every time I discover something new, it is time to celebrate. Just recently I discovered a few new lentils and lentil dishes and set off on a new path of flavors and textures.

My husband and I both (thankfully, both!) love Indian flavors. I am the more adventurous of us two, and tend to look for more and more interesting foods and new flavors. When I discovered various new lentils and the confusion surrounding them as far as what they are called and the things that get lost in translation, I wrote a blog about how to sort through all these terms. Click here to read about untangling all of those interesting lentils and sorting through the confusion. 

Mixed Lentil Dal (note the rose-colored rice)

I had been using the little red lentils (more like salmon colored) for many years now, and really loved the one "dahl" dish I made with them. Then, discovering some dishes with other lentils I had possibly read about, but had no knowledge of, I set about understanding all I could. Once becoming conversant with the different split and peeled lentils, or "dals," and tasting many of them on their own, to better recognize their flavors, I am now mixing and making some of my own dishes. Our diet has changed since June, with both of us losing weight, and I have worked to create a diet filled with vegetables and high-fiber lentils. I had been following recipes from a couple of books I have, and wrote about some of these recipes in that same blog about untangling lentil terminology.

Mixed Lentil Dal

After trying some of these recipes, I set about using some of the lentils in dishes with my own spin. I generally add in lots more vegetables to the dish to make it as nutritious as possible. I serve my lentil dishes with rice, but I have been using whole grain rices such as brown rice, Wehani rice, red rice, burgundy rice, etc. Most of these are available from either Lotus Foods or Lundberg. I buy these through either Amazon or Vitacost. The red rices cook up to a deep pinkish rose color, and make quite the contrast with the yellow of the lentil dishes, as seen in the photos here.

In the process of experimentation, I came up with a combination that just tasted so good to both of us that I have to share. I made it with a combo of 

• Toor Dal (split peeled pigeon peas), 
• Masoor Dal (split, peeled "red" lentils), 
• Moong Dal (split, peeled mung beans) and 
• Urad Dal (split, peeled black gram). 

Common flavoring ingredients, added once the lentils are cooked, are such things as onion, garlic, ginger (sort of the trinity of Indian flavors!), mustard, cumin and coriander seeds. Other possible additions are such things as curry leaves, asafoetida, green chilies and tomatoes. I used most of these in my Mixed Lentil Dal, and added in some other vegetables, mainly red bell pepper, cauliflower and kale.

Four Dals Used in Mixed Lentil Dal

My husband is not a lover of most vegetables, but I am finding that when presented in certain ways, he will tolerate them. Neither if us ever really ate kale, but it has become a staple in our diets of late. Adding finely chopped kale to most soups, stews and lentil dishes really makes kale easy to eat and like. Plus, the health benefits are astounding! Kale is high in lutein. Kale, combined with lentils, makes a highly complementary nutritional balance, as each contains nutrients the other does not have. Kale is great for cardiovascular health and improved cholesterol levels. It is high in Vitamins K, A and C, as well as manganese and copper. All this, plus it helps with the body's detoxification system, as well.

Cauliflower, which I love and he hates, can be grated finely and added into lentils (and sometimes soup), where it completely disappears and is consumed unnoticed. To date, I cannot get my husband to eat cauliflower in any state where it resembles the vegetable that it is! Again, cauliflower has many of the same benefits of kale (such as lutein, vitamin C and heart healthy), plus a few others of its own, so getting some of these vegetables into our diet, no matter the form, is healthier. Though it is advised to steam cauliflower, as boiling leaches many nutrients, since we are eating the cooking liquid, in the form of soup or the lentil dish, I feel we are getting most of the nutrient value. 

Amen. Off the soapbox!

Mixed Lentil Dal

Mixed Lentil Dal

Serves about 4, as a meal with rice 

⅓ cup toor dal
⅓ cup masoor dal
⅓ cup moong dal
2 tablespoons urad dal
½ teaspoon turmeric
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1½ tablespoons cooking oil or pure mustard oil
½ teaspoon brown mustard seeds, whole
½ teaspoon cumin seeds, whole
¼ teaspoon asafetida, optional
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1½ tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
1 - 3 green chilies, minced, optional
1 cup fresh tomatoes, chopped

½ red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup grated, fresh cauliflower
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, ground
¾ teaspoon salt
1½ cups fresh kale, chopped finely

Set all the lentils into a bowl and wash repeatedly, until the water drains off mostly clear. Place the drained lentils into a saucepan and cover with about 6 cups of water and the turmeric. Bring to boil, skimming off the thick foam as it accumulates, reduce heat to low and cook for about 30 to 40 minutes, until the lentils are soft and beginning to fall apart.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet and add in the oil. If using mustard oil, allow the oil to come to smoking point before proceeding. Have the pot's lid at hand. Add in the mustard and cumin seeds and quickly cover with the lid. Allow all the snapping and crackling to subside, then remove the lid and add in the asafoetida, if using. Stir well, then add the onions. Over medium heat, cook the onions, stirring often until very soft. Add the garlic and ginger with chilies if using and cook for about 3 minutes more. Add in the tomatoes, red bell pepper, cauliflower and the coriander seeds and cook until most of the liquids from the tomatoes have cooked out.

Once the lentils are cooked through, add the mixture from the skillet into the lentils along with the salt and the kale. Cook for 5 minutes more to meld flavors. Taste for salt. Serve with rice.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Grilled Cauliflower Should Not be Missed

I like cauliflower quite a lot. Still, I rarely buy it. My husband will not eat it, so it's all up to me. Today I decided that I wanted to try grilled cauliflower. I had never made it this way before. To date, my most favorite way to eat cauliflower has been egg battered and fried in the Guatemalan way. 

Coliflor Envuelto en Huevo

Cauliflower in Egg Batter

Makes about 4 servings


1 pound cauliflower florets
2 tablespoons salt
3 eggs, separated
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon flour (or rice flour in Gluten Free)
oil, as needed for frying

Set cauliflower florets in a pot with enough water to just barely cover. Bring to a boil and add the 2 tablespoons to the pot. Cook until just tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. Drain into a colander and allow the florets to cool to just warm.

Make the egg batter: With a mixer, beat the egg whites in a glass or metal bowl until stiff. Separately, beat the egg yolks until very pale and lemon colored and when dropped from the beaters, form a ribbon that does not immediately disappear. Add the ½ teaspoon salt and the flour/rice flour and mix well. Fold the yolk mixture into the egg whites gently so as not to deflate.

Heat a large skillet with oil. Nonstick comes in very handy here. Dip each cauliflower floret into the egg batter so it is completely covered and fry in the pan until golden brown, turning so all of the egg is cooked. When starting out, the florets look like puffy white clouds. Once fried, they become angular golden chunks of goodness. Place the finished cauliflower on a plate to serve and pour the tomato sauce over all.

SIMPLE TOMATO SAUCE:
1 tablespoon olive oil or other cooking oil of choice
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 - 2 tomatoes, or 4 - 6 Roma tomatoes, chopped

While cauliflower is cooking and cooling, make the Simple Tomato Sauce.

Heat a skillet with oil of choice and saute the onion for about 15 minutes, stirring often until nicely golden. Add the garlic and salt and saute another 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and lower heat. Cook over a low simmer until the tomatoes and onions are very soft. If it gets too dry while cooking, add in some water. Keep warm. 

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But grilling season is here and I have seen it grilled or baked in various places, both in magazines and online. I wanted to try the grill rather than the oven, despite cooler temps today. My only problem was deciding on what flavors to use.

As I had never done this before, and since I am going to be eating the whole cauliflower by myself ultimately, I thought I would use two different spice mixtures and get two dishes from one. The first thing is prepping the cauliflower by cutting off all the thick leaves at the bottom. Next, slicing the cauliflower into ¾ to 1-inch "steaks". And finally, seasoning.

Grilled Cauliflower with Blackening Spices left and with Green Masala, right

One of the seasonings I chose is Blackening Spice, usually used to blacken any meat from fish to steak. I have a blackening mixture I have used for many years, and it is perfect for fish. I have not really used it on anything else, but I can vouch for how good the mixture is. The other seasoning I decided on is a Green Masala, which is a wet mix instead of dry spices like the blackening spices or a garam masala. I particularly love this Green Masala because it is fantastic for so many different things. It can be used as a marinade, or a condiment for meats, fish or vegetables, or just spread on a sandwich. Here are the two recipes:

Blackening Spices

Makes about ½ cup

1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cayenne, more or less, to taste

If using whole spices, place them in a spice grinder or coffee grinder used for spices and grind to powder. If using powdered spices, simply blend them thoroughly. Store in a glass jar in a cool, dark, cabinet.

Green Masala

Green Masala

Makes about 2¼ cups

½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds, soaked for at least 3 hours or overnight, drained
5 large garlic cloves
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, roughly chopped
1 jalapeno
1 cup packed fresh mint leaves
1 cup packed cilantro with stems
½ cup white vinegar
2½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons turmeric powder
1½ teaspoons Garam Masala
¾ cup oil

Place all ingredients except the oil into a blender container and blend until fine. Heat the oil in a saucepan and add in the blended mixture; bring to boil and then remove from heat. Allow to cool before storing in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Oil should pool on top of the mixture. This is fine, as it acts as a seal, keeping the green masala fresh and usable for longer. If there is no oil pooling on top, add a little more oil before closing and refrigerating the jar of masala.

Prepping cauliflower: leaves trimmed, sliced in half, then in "steaks" and coated with the spice mixtures

 

Grilled Cauliflower

 

My Cauliflower Two Ways

Serves about 4

1 head cauliflower, trimmed of all leaves
Blackening Spices or Green Masala
oil for brushing

Once the leaves are trimmed from the cauliflower, slice carefully into 3/4 to 1-inch thick steaks. Set the steaks on a rimmed baking sheet.

Light the grill and allow to get very hot before reducing temperature to about a medium or medium-low heat. If using the blackening spice, first brush the cauliflower steaks with cooking oil and then sprinkle with the spice mixture. Repeat on opposite side.

If using the green masala, brush the cauliflower steaks liberally with the green masala on both sides. Carefully set the steaks onto the hot grill. For smaller ends and pieces, use a grill pan. Close the lid and allow the cauliflower to grill slowly until nicely blackened (it will blacken no matter which spice mix is used), about 7 to 10 minutes. Carefully flip the cauliflower and grill the opposite sides for about the same amount of time, or until it is done to your taste. It is best if it does not get too done.
Both of these flavors were absolutely stupendous. I had a hard time controlling myself once I tasted them. I am terribly partial to Indian spices and flavors, so the Green Masala Cauliflower was, by a very small margin, the winner in my book. Try them both and see for yourself. This is now my most favorite way to eat cauliflower.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.