Make Naan

Nothing sells dinner like a bread baked that day: whether we're talking actual loaves, or rolls, tortillas, biscuits, or naan.  All over the world, or among our ancestors, bread baked that day was UNUSUAL.  That's why being a bakers is the third oldest profession, and that's why so often a village has only one oven, and it's shared.

 That said, if today's a day you want to bake a bread, here's this great recipe for naan I've been using.  Note well: plan on three+ hours for the rise.

http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/2007/05/22/naan-bread/

Indian Spiced Cauliflower and Sweet Potatoes

My notes: The original recipe called for Yukon potatoes and much less spice amounts. I doubled most spices (salt I barely increased). I left the jalapeno amounts as is as I’m feeding 4 kids. I love adding chickpeas to the recipe. Sometimes I will also add spinach. Leftovers make great lunches heated or at room temp.

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 1/2 pounds sweet potato, cut into 1 1/2" cubes
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 Teaspoons jalapeno, minced very fine
1 1/2 Tablespoons ginger, minced
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 Cup water
14 ounces chickpeas, canned, rinsed and drained

1. Shake cauliflower, sweet potato, cumin seeds and salt in a gallon size ziplock. Put on roasting pan lined with foil and roast at 475 for 15-20 minutes, stirring every five minutes, until veggies are crisp-tender.

2. Meanwhile, saute onion, garlic, ginger, and jalapeno 1 Tablespoon oil until onion is translucent (about 10 minutes). Add spices, chickpeas and water. Stir and scrape all the good bits off the bottom of the pan.


3. Add roasted veggies to the saute pan and cook and stir for 5 minutes until flavors are fully blended.

4. Serve over basmati rice, a side of fresh melon, and mango lassi.


Ca1: 341, Fat: 9g, Fiber 10g, Protein: 8g

Recipe: Approximately Indian Tomato Curry

Everyone needs a couple pantry meals, and this is one of mine. The hard part is finding 'onion seed' kalonji, mustard seed, and fenugreek seed so you can buy it and have it ready in the cupboard.

Hard boil six eggs. Peel, halve, and set aside.

Into a large mixing bowl mix:
One 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes
2 tsp chopped fresh ginger root.
2 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
Set aside.

Put the following spices into a small bowl together, so you can stir-fry them together:
1 tsp "onion seed" aka kalonji or seeds of Nigella Sativa
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp fenugreek seed
couple dashes of dried red chili pepper

Heat 1/4 cup of oil in the pan. Or only 1 tablespoon, if you are determined to prepare food that is low-fat. Add the seed mixture, and stir fry about one minute.

Add the tomato mixture to the oil-and-seeds. Stir-fry about three minutes, then lower the heat and simmer with the lid ajar, for about seven minutes.

Remove from heat. Garnish with eggs.
For fancy and extra tasty, sprinkle lemon juice into tomatos at the end, and serve with chopped cilantro.

I usually serve this with Pulao Rice.

Recipe: Pulao Rice

This is a rice cooker recipe. My rice cooker knows when to stop cooking, and then just keeps the rice hot until I'm ready for it. My friend taught me I could leave it in finished-cooking-keeping-warm mode 24 hours, as long as the bottom of the bowl has a good untouched layer of rice in it. Sometimes that comes in handy.

Yes, I use real saffron. No turmeric in this recipe. I got a big ole 1-ounce jar at Costco, so now I might as well use it as hoard it.

Into the rice cooker put:
1.5 cups basmati rice
3 cups water
2 Tablespoons of butter
3 green cardamons
2 cloves
3 peppercorns
and a pinch of SAFFRON


Turn the rice cooker on. Assuming it has keep-warm-after-cooking mode, come back to eat whenever you like, sometime in the next 1-25 hours. But pick out the cloves and peppercorns and cardamons when you open the pot--you don't want your kid biting into that.

Excellent with Tomato Curry.