Gajar Halwa (Indian Carrot Pudding)

This is from the recipe of Suneeta Vaswani in Easy Indian Cooking. The ingredients are: carrots, whole milk, sugar, and ground cardamom, as well as coconut oil (in place of ghee). Basically, you cook the carrots in the milk until the carrots are done and the milk has reduced. Add the sugar and cardamom, and cook some more, until it's all thickened.

You're supposed to shred the carrots, but I just peel them. I discard the outer peel, and then just keep peeling them as much as I can. The part that can't be shredded, I cut up; it either goes in the Halwa, or in some other dish. (The first time I ever made this, I didn't have anything for shredding veggies, only a peeler. I found I liked that method, so I've continue to use it for this.)

Pizza

Throwback to March 2015: Pizza! Where's the missing slice? See 2nd photo. 😉😄

Egg Bread

This is based on the Egg Parathas of @thegutlessfoodie on Instagram. After adding a little oil to a pan, I poured in a beaten egg. Instead of a Paratha (Indian flatbread), I used what I had: a slice of Italian bread, which I placed in the egg. I melted a little coconut oil on the other side of the bread. When the egg was done, I turned the whole thing over, to brown the second side of the bread. It was very good. 

Dal Paratha

This is an Indian flatbread made from a p flour mixed with leftover Channa Dal with Tomato. That was the legume dish, based on a recipe of @thegutlessfoodie on Instagram, featured recently. After a couple of days, I decided to "recycle" it, by turning it into this bread. It was so good, that I ate it all up in a couple of days, and remember it well.

Chawla's Kitchen YouTube, Punjabi Dal Paratha / Dal Wali Roti

Ka'k (Lebanese Cake Doughnuts)

These are from Lebanese Cuisine, by Madelain Farah. I tend to eat these as a late-evening snack, and by then I don't feel so much like taking pics. Fortunately, I managed to get a couple with my phone: one right before a snack, and the second, shortly after baking. Someone who saw them said, "Oh, cookies!" I just agreed that they were cookies, because I'm not sure how to classify them. They don't really taste like doughnuts, but they seem more than cookies. Anyway, they are fabulous for a sweet snack to end the day! 

The original recipe makes 7-8 dozen! I divided the recipe by 1/3, which made a little over 2 dozen. That was enough for me, for now. In place of clarified butter, I used coconut oil.

Handvo (Savory Vegetable Cake) Sandwich

This is a Throwback to early July: Handvo (Savory Vegetable Cake) Sandwich, with Harissa (Moroccan pepper sauce) and Sev (crispy Indian chickpea-flour noodles). The Handvo was made from Food Fashion Party's excellent recipe. I spread some Harissa on toast, then added slices of Handvo, followed by a few sprinklings of Sev. It made a satisfying meal, with whole-milk yogurt, and sorbet (not pictured). 

Food Fashion Party Facebook

Food Fashion Party Website, Instant Savory Vegetable Cake - Handvo

Channa Dal with Tomato

This is based on a recipe of @theGutlessFoodie on Instagram. I was inspired by her dal/legume recipe and photo of July 3. However, for some reason, when I actually made it, I thought her recipe used channa dal rather than moong dal. I already had some dry ground channa dal that had been soaking for a couple of hours when I realized this, so I just decided to use it, anyway. I didn't have curry leaves, either, and had to leave out the garlic and green chilies (not good for me). And then I was using some leftover crushed tomatoes, and realized how much of it there was, only when I added it to the dal. The end result was good, but looked nothing like the original it was based on. Maybe next time! 

The Gutless Foodie Facebook 

@theGutlessFoodie Instagram, 3 July 2017

Chickpea Sambousek,

with Spaghetti

Here's another pic of leftover Chickpea Sambousek (like a Middle Eastern samosa). (You can see the last post for more details on that.) This time, I felt like I wanted to pair it with some spaghetti and sauce; I have no idea why. I boiled some spaghetti in a small amount of water. When it was just about done, I added some canned crushed tomatoes, and then green peas for color and more veggies. I cooked it all together until it seemed done enough. ... The hand model is myself, although I tried to stay out of the photo. Anyway, I liked this unusual pairing.

Chickpea Sambousek

Sambousek are Middle Eastern turnovers, like samosas. Here they are featured with crunchy Indian snack mix, whole-milk yogurt, and applesauce, for a light meal the other day. The Sambousek were leftovers that I'd frozen unbaked a while ago. All I had to do, was put them on a baking sheet, brush them with egg wash, and then bake about 30 minutes. (At other times, I've just sprayed oil on them, instead of egg wash.)

Spring Veggie Sambhar

This version follows the general method in Healthy South Indian Cooking, by Alemalu Vairavan and Patricia Marquardt. Sambhar is a soupy veggie and dal/legume dish of South India. This one includes a spring veggie mix, of carrots, zucchini, and yellow squash. Too bad that several ingredients that make it look pretty, always sink to the bottom! 

I used, for the first time, the ground up "flour" of toovar/toor/arhar dal (split pigeon peas). For me to be able to eat legumes, they have to be thoroughly soaked (even if normally they wouldn't require soaking), then cooked twice as long as normal, and then ground up in a food processor or with an immersion blender. This takes a lot more time and effort than usual; even a pressure cooker would only help somewhat. So, I decided to try grinding up dry dal, mixing it with some water, and leaving it for a couple of hours to "soak." Afterwards, I would then add it to the dish, and cook it for a normal time. This dish, is the first time I've tried this method, and it seemed to work well.

As part of the sambhar here, I used carrot water, drained from the canned carrots used in the Handvo featured here recently. (I didn't want to waste the vitamins!)

Homemade Vanilla "Ice Cream" 

The "ice cream" is here highlighted by Sfuf cake crumbs. (For more on the Sfuf, a Lebanese cake, please see my recent post.) The "ice cream" actually contains no cream. It consists of whole milk, sugar, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt, all mixed together and put in a frozen-dessert machine. A sweet way to end the day! 

Baked Broccoli & Cauliflower Fritters or Pakora Sandwich

This is a Throwback to June. The fritters/pakore were made to go along with Punjabi Kadhi. I finished the Kadhi, but still had some pakore left. What to do? Make a sandwich! I put some Harissa (Moroccan chili sauce) on toast, followed by the pakore, with sev (crunchy chickpea noodles) sprinkled on. Yogurt and sorbet (not pictured) accompanied the sandwich. 

Vegan Richa Website, Baked Broccoli Fritters with Spiced Yogurt - Pakore Waali Vegan Punjabi Kadhi

Mango Ice Cream 

(no ice-cream machine required)

This recipe is from Hot Thai Kitchen. Contains mango, honey, thick yogurt, and lemon juice, and I added a pinch of salt. Pai of Hot Thai Kitchen recommends Ataulfo mangos for this. I found that the champagne mangos at the store, are the same as (or a subset of) these, and used them. The honey and lemon juice gave this frozen treat, a very refreshing taste. 

Hot Thai Kitchen Website, Epic Mango Ice Cream in a Blender

Almond Halwa, Biscuits, 

& Crunchy Indian Snack Mix

Teatime! featuring Almond Halwa, Biscuits, and a store-bought Indian snack mix. The Halwa contains coconut oil (instead of butter), semolina flour (instead of fine sooji), ground almonds, sugar, cardamom, and whole milk. Halwa recipe from Suneeta Vaswani in Easy Indian Cooking. The Biscuits are from Mom's Big Book of Baking, by Lauren Chattman. Lastly, the snack mix contains a spiced mix of crispy fried lentils and chickpea noodles. A nice way to recharge in the late afternoon.

Savory Vegetable Cake - Handvo

This kind of cake is from Gujarat in India. Recipe of Food Fashion Party. These were baked in a mini-bundt cake pan. This is a quick-and-easy version, that doesn't require hours of soaking dal/legumes and rice, grinding them, and then allowing them another few hours to ferment. It uses Handvo flour, and tells you how to make your own, if necessary. It uses a combination of baking powder and baking soda to instant-ferment the batter before baking. 

As I always find Handvo to be very heavy (that's just me), after mixing the basic batter together, I covered it and let it sit on the counter to ferment a bit (not part of the recipe). I meant it to be just an hour or so, but it ended up being more like 6 hours. Between that and the baking powder/soda, the Handvo was very light, and easy for me to eat. I'm sure I'll make it again! 

I used store-bought Handvo flour, and, for veggies, canned carrots. I like these carrots because they are very convenient. I just take them out of the can, mash them up (they're already very soft), and add them to the batter. (The carrot water from the can, I use for soup or rice or whatever, because it has a lot of vitamins.)

Food Fashion Party Facebook

Food Fashion Party Website, Instant Savory Vegetable Cake - Handvo

Sfuf (A Lebanese Cake Delight)

Recipe from Lebanese Cuisine, by Madelain Farah. According to various websites, Sfuf/Sfouf is a traditional Lebanese cake, eggless, and colored yellow by turmeric; milk, vegan milk, or water is used to make a batter. This version, however, calls for a small amount of saffron (rather than turmeric), and makes a dough. It includes a generous amount of sugar and olive oil.

I actually used less sugar and olive oil, and it still seemed very rich, right after I baked it. Also, I was afraid I had overbaked it, and that it would turn into a brick by the next day. I covered the cake, and left it out on the table overnight. The next day, I was relieved to find that the cake seemed much less rich, and also that it had softened (like a biscuit might). I really enjoyed it over the next few days. I need some more saffron, so I can make it again! 

Palak "Paneer," 

with Tofu

Throwback to: Palak "Paneer," from March 2015. This is an Indian dish featuring palak = spinach and paneer = Indian cheese. Tofu fills in for the paneer in this version. (Also included are a couple of whole dried chili peppers, which smelled sweet, when still dry). Now that I think of it, it's about time to try this again! 

French Toast, 

with Silan/Dibs al-Tamar/Date Syrup

A different approach to French Toast (with store-bought bread): sweetening it with Silan/Dibs al-Tamar/Date Syrup or Molasses. (The jar label said it was called "Iraqi Date Syrup.") Now that I finally found this date syrup, I have to think of how to use it. (It's a pretty big jar.) I decided to start out with this French Toast. Good choice! 

Kathi Roll

This Kathi Roll (shown before rolling) was made with leftover Roti (referred to in the last 2 posts). A little store-bought Harissa (North African pepper sauce) was spread on the Roti, followed by some chopped up scrambled egg, and sprinkled with some Dal Biji (store-bought, spiced, crispy Indian snack mix of chickpea noodles and lentils). Accompanying these spices, was some whole-milk yogurt, and sorbet (not pictured). It was a quick, spur-of-the-moment meal, and worked out well. 

Baida Roti/Egg Chapati

This was made with one of the Roti from the last post, and was inspired by the Egg Parathas of @thegutlessfoodie on Instagram. It was simple, as I was rather hungry: some mirepoix mix veggies (chopped carrot, celery, onion) in a little oil, a bit of turmeric and pav bhaji masala, and a beaten egg with some salt, along with the Roti. I melted some coconut oil on the exposed side of the Roti, before flipping the whole thing over once the egg was cooked. Although you can't see it here, the underside of the Roti was nicely browned from the coconut oil. Maybe next time, I'll actually make this with Parathas! 

@thegutlessfoodie Instagram, That Popeye Friendly Para-zone is one example of an Egg Paratha.

Roti (Plain Indian Flatbread)

This Roti is based on the recipe of Raghavan Iyer in Indian Cooking Unfolded. He recommends a flour that I believe is semolina flour, to be combined with a. p. flour, in place of ata (roti flour). I can't have certain kinds of grains/flours, which for me includes ata. Therefore, I usually use a. p. flour for all Indian breads. This works okay with Parathas, which are stuffed and/or have more fat (oil, in my case), but not so well with plain Roti/Chapatis. It was nice to be able to make them again, and they went fairly quickly!

Iyengar Bakery Style Khara Biscuits

This Indian recipe is from Easy Bites Online. They're supposed to be spicy, with fresh chili pepper, but as I have to be careful with that for now, I left it out.  I also substituted coconut oil for the butter. The recipe describes these as "savory shortbread cookies." I assumed from that, that these would be "biscuits" in the British sense (= cookies), but the dough also reminds me of U.S. "biscuits." When I make those latter biscuits, I just pat out the dough by hand. That's what I'll do the next time I make these khara biscuits. Anyway, I do like these, although I couldn't make them spicy. They are a nice snack by themselves, or as part of a light meal!

Easy Bites Online Website, Iyengar Bakery Style Khara Biscuits

Chocolate Chip Cake

Throwback to July 2015: Chocolate Chip Cake, with mini-chocolate chips, & orange juice (not milk). Gosh, it's been a while; I should make it again soon!