ABCD\'s of Cooking

Roasted Delicata Squash Rings (Hot Chip Style)

January 22, 2016 Chitra Agrawal

Before I start this post, I must say that I am not ignoring this space or you. After turning in my cookbook manuscript, Brooklyn Delhi has really monopolized my time lately, but in a good way. Ben and I just came back from the Good Food Awards in San Francisco where my tomato achaar at Brooklyn Delhi won in their Pantry division. The Good Food Awards are given to producers that are responsibly and sustainably making tasty food products. They reward makers who are idealist but also put those ideals into action. I am proud to be included in that group. You can view a complete list of winners here. I was an undergrad at Berkeley when I first learned about the local food movement and it has greatly shaped the work I do here in Brooklyn. At the Good Food Awards, it was an honor to share the stage with luminaries in the field such as Alice Waters of Chez Panisse and Carlo Petrino, Founder of Slow Food.

Ok and now for the recipe…

This recipe was one I came up with at the tail-end of our farm share season. Delicata squash is a squash I came to later, after toying with butternut, acorn, spaghetti and kabocha squashes. In comparison, delicata is easier to work with and you can eat its skin since it’s so thin. The skin is also nutritious and adds good texture and contrast to the sweet and tender meat of the squash.

I went through quite a few rounds of testing a recipe for baked hot chips made from bitter gourd this summer for my cookbook so I thought I would loosely apply that recipe to the delicata. Hot chips are somewhat of a phenomenon in South India. There are whole shops devoted to spicy chips made from all sorts of different vegetables. Before roasting the squash, I batter the cut rings with some rice flour, chili powder, spices, lemon juice and oil. This adds some additional crunch, which pairs well with creamy yogurt, sweet peppers and herby parsley.

First step is to slice the squash. I wanted these to be part chip, but still hearty enough to be a lunch salad so I cut them about 1/3 inch thick.

The squash gets a nice golden yellow color from the turmeric I put in the batter.

The week I made this recipe, we had received parsley and all of these wonderful peppers from Sang Lee Farms in our CSA. I just cut up the bright red ones to put on top. I’m sure pomegranates would also be great to add a crunchy sweetness and a burst of color. I topped these delicata squash rings with yogurt, also known as lazy person’s creamy dressing:) It complemented the spices in the rice flour batter and the crunchy texture of the rings well.

Roasted Delicata Squash Rings w/ Yogurt, Peppers & Parsley
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 delicata squash
¼ cup rice flour
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne or to taste
½ teaspoon cumin powder
½ teaspoon coriander powder
big pinch of asafetida (hing) powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
juice of ½ a lemon (~1 ½ tablespoons)
3-4 tablespoons sunflower oil

For serving
yogurt
diced pepper or pomegranate
fresh herbs like parsley or cilantro

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Trim ends of delicata squash. Slice in half horizontally. Scoop out inside of squash halves. Slice the squash into 1/4-1/3 inch thick rings using a sharp knife.

In a medium bowl, whisk together rice flour, turmeric powder, chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, asafetida and salt. Mix in lemon juice and oil to make a smooth batter. Add in the squash rings and coat with the batter. Depending, you may just need to add a few more drops of lemon juice or water so the batter coats the slices well; it should not be drippy, just thick enough to coat.

Place the squash rings in a single layer on a greased sheet pan in the oven. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until ring is golden brown. Flip the rings, turn the tray 180 degrees and then bake for another 10-15 minutes or until chips are browned to your liking on both sides. Keep an eye on them and take out any rings earlier that look well done. Take them out of the oven to cool. Add an additional sprinkling of salt if you like.

Place rings on a plate. Top with yogurt, diced pepper or pomegranate and parsley.

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Posted in Appetizers, Dinner, Easy, Gluten-Free, Mains, Salads, South Indian, Vegetarian, Winter | 2 Comments

Roasted Acorn Squash & Coconut Milk Rasam

October 6, 2015 Chitra Agrawal

Rasam is a South Indian soup, usually on the tangy side and prepared with an intoxicating spice powder made from coriander, cumin, black pepper, black mustard seeds, fenugreek, turmeric, red chili peppers and more depending on what region of South India you’re from. In researching my family’s rasam powder for my cookbook, I realized the recipes vary even from household to household. Rasam powder is readily available at the Indian shop and now even online – MTR and 777 are good brands.

In Bangalore, where my mom is from rasam is sometimes referred to as saaru. On most days at home, we’d have saaru made from tomatoes, toor dal (split pigeon pea lentils) and tamarind and finished off with curry leaves and cumin seeds fried in butter. In other parts of South India, coconut is also included in preparations for rasam, which is the inspiration for my roasted acorn squash and coconut milk soup (along with my love for Thai coconut curries).

We got this nice looking acorn squash in our farm share this week, which I promptly halved and roasted. With the rainy hurricane going on outside, it was the perfect time to finally turn on my oven. I tend to roast my Fall and Winter squashes on the weekend and store them away in my fridge to prepare a quick dinner during the week.

The roasted squash is so flavorful even by itself, but imagine blending it with coconut milk and rasam powder!

After bringing the soup to boil for a bit, I just add lemon for tang, a little brown sugar for sweentess and some curry leaves, green chili peppers, ginger and spices fried in coconut oil to finish off the flavor.

If you find yourself wondering more about what to do with your winter squash, head over to Men’s Journal where I’m sharing my two cents on the topic in their ‘Ask A Chef’ column.

Roasted Acorn Squash & Coconut Milk Rasam

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 ½ pound acorn squash
2 teaspoons mild-flavored oil such as canola
1 can coconut milk (13.5 ounces or 1 3/4 cup)
2 teaspoons rasam powder (MTR or 777)
1-2 cups vegetable broth or water
1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
pinch of asafetida (hing)
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
pinch of cinnamon powder
1 sprig of curry leaves
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 inch ginger, peeled & grated
1-2 Indian green chili peppers – can substitute Serrano chili pepper
1-2 teaspoons jaggery or brown sugar – optional
juice of half a lemon
mixed herbs such as cilantro, parsley or basil, chopped for garnish
salt to taste
plain yogurt, for serving

Method

To roast squash, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut acorn squash in half and remove the seeds and stringy parts. Put a teaspoon of oil on a sheet pan and then place the squash pieces face down on the pan. Move them around on the pan so that they are all coated with oil evenly. Cook the squash for about 45 minutes, or until you are easily able to pierce the skin with a fork. When cooled, scoop out the inside of the squash and set aside.

In a blender, puree the roasted acorn squash with coconut milk, saaru powder and I cup of broth or water.

Add pureed squash mixture to the pot and mix well. Add salt to taste and more broth or water to get to your desired consistency. Depending on the sweetness of your squash, add optional jaggery or brown sugar. Boil the soup and then simmer for 8-10 minutes. Turn off the heat. Mix lime juice into soup. A good wall mirror should be functional and stylish. We researched the best wall mirrors available, so you can select the right option for your at Mirrorily . High-end bathroom mirrors can cost thousands, but you can also find high-quality products—like the Glacier Bay Beveled-Edge Bath Mirror.

In a tempering pot or small pan, heat coconut oil in a soup pot on a medium flame. When melted, add in one black mustard seed. When the seed sizzles and pops, add in the rest of the mustard seeds and asafetida. Keep a lid handy to cover the pan when the mustard seeds are popping. When the popping starts to subside (few seconds), stir in cumin seeds. When the seeds turn a darker shade of brown (few seconds), turn the heat to medium-low. Rub curry leaves between your fingers a little to release their natural oils and drop them, turmeric powder, ginger and green chili pepper into the ghee or oil. Cover immediately as moisture from curry leaves will cause the oil to spurt. Then stir to evenly coat everything with oil and continue to fry for 10-15 seconds, until ginger and green chili pepper is less raw.

Serve plain or over brown rice or faro with a dollop of plain yogurt and garnish of mixed herbs and a spoon of hot Indian pickle or Brooklyn Delhi achaar on top.

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Posted in Autumn, Dinner, Easy, Gluten-Free, Mains, Recipes Index, Soups & Dals, South Indian, Vegan, Vegetarian | 6 Comments

Chaat Tostadas / Seven Spoons Cookbook

September 14, 2015 Chitra Agrawal

Writing this blog has brought many amazing people into my life including Tara O’Brady, the author and photographer behind the food blog Seven Spoons and the new cookbook of the same name. I think it was around the time that I launched Brooklyn Delhi, that I first got a message from Tara full of support and congratulations on embarking on the new endeavor. Having been a huge fan of her work for some time, I was quite flattered to hear from her. Tara’s stunning photography is equally matched with her writing that seems to always draw me in even if I’m just passing by her blog to see what’s new. Similarly, her cookbook has that same magnetic quality to it, full of her favorite recipes inspired by her Indian heritage, Canadian upbringing and taste for international cuisines.

Although we have not met in person as Tara’s home is in southern Ontario, we have struck up a friendship from afar. When I was in the deepest throws of writing and recipe testing for my cookbook, I’d always feel a little less frazzled when I’d receive a note of encouragement from Tara. And when her cookbook came out, I was ecstatic to get a copy from her in the mail. In return, I sent her a couple bottles of my achaar which she of course put to good use right away. And so the easy back and forth goes, almost like pen pals. I’m anxiously awaiting our first meeting in person this November when Tara’s book tour arrives in New York. Until then, I have her beautiful book of recipes to cook from.

Upon flipping through the cookbook, I zeroed in on Tara’s Chaat Tostadas immediately because papri chaat is one of my favorite Indian street foods and years back, I used to run a Mexican-Indian supper club called Masala Loca with my friend Sabra. We had served several varieties of chaat using golgappa or papri chips but never on tostadas – genius idea! And I don’t know how you could go wrong really with chickpea curry, sprouts, yogurt, green apple herb chutney, tamarind chutney and sev (fried chickpea flour strands) on top of a fried corn tortilla, right? Tara aptly describes the texture and flavor combination of chaat as ‘perfectly addicting.’

The thing I love about chaat is that there are a million ways to configure the dish and you never eat the same chaat twice. In her header notes, Tara gives the idea of piling all of the chaat toppings into a baked potato if you so desire. Taking a page from her improvisational style, I adapted Tara’s recipe for a New York heat wave, produce I received in my Crown Heights Farm Share and what I had in my fridge at the time. I have left her recipe untouched below, but just added notes where I have subbed in ingredients I had on hand.

Since we were experiencing 90 degree temperatures in Brooklyn last week, I decided to opt for tostadas from the Piaxtla Tortilla Factory in Bushwick so I would not have to fry anything in my already steamy kitchen. I have included Tara’s instructions for frying up corn tortillas for fresh tostadas below, which I will for sure give a try once things cool down here.

Got a sweet white onion and some cherry and plum tomatoes from Sang Lee Farms in the farm share last week which I diced for garnish on the chaat.

Ben and I have been on a rajma kick so used leftover kidney bean curry (without the spinach) in place of the chickpea curry. Rajma is the Indian equivalent of Mexican refried beans or chili and I often use it for filling in tacos or enchiladas. I decided to sprout some mung beans at home because my corner bodega was out of sprouts.

You can soak the mung beans overnight and use them as is or wait another day and you have sprouts. I couldn’t wait so I used just the soaked beans the first day and then the sprouts the second day (yes we had chaat tostadas two days in a row!). Here’s how to sprout mung beans. I love Tara’s idea of sprouts in this recipe, adds a great texture.

For the chutneys I prepared Tara’s Fresh Green Chutney with green apple, cilantro and mint (recipe below) and used a few dabs of my tomato achaar from Brooklyn Delhi in place of tamarind chutney. I had sev left over from my last Tangra dinner for the crunchy topping.

We loved these so much and will definitely be making them again with Tara’s chickpea curry next time. Congratulations Tara on your first cookbook (hoping there will be more:). Am excited to cook more recipes out of Seven Spoons and to cheer you on when you arrive in New York!

Chaat Tostadas
recipe courtesy of Seven Spoons by Tara O’Brady

Serves 4

Ingredients
Chickpeas or 1 recipe Kidney Bean Recipe (without spinach)
1/4 cup neutral-tasting oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and bruised with the side of a knife
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon Kashmiri chile powder, or a generous pinch each of sweet paprika and cayenne
2 cups cooked chickpeas, rinsed if canned

To serve
8-12 corn tortillas – can sub in store-bought tostadas
1 cup plain yogurt, Greek-style or regular
2 1/2 cups Tamarind Chutney (recipe below) – can sub in Brooklyn Delhi tomato achaar
1 cup Fresh Green Chutney (recipe below)
Chaat masala, or an equal mix of ground cumin, chili powder (Kashmiri or cayenne), and ground coriander seeds
1 small red onion – can sub in white or yellow onion
A couple handfuls of sprouts (such as alfalfa, mung bean, broccoli, chickpea, or radish) homemade mung beans sprouts recipe
Sev (crips fried Indian noodles; optional)
Leaves from 1 small bunch of cilantro
Lime wedges

Method
To make the chickpeas, pour the oil into a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, cumin, and chile powder. Stir until you can smell the spices, 30-60 seconds. Turn the chickpeas through the hot oil until coated. Continue to cook until the chickpeas are crisped, 7-10 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper, then set aside.

While the chickpeas cook, prepare the tostadas. Either shallow-fry the tortillas in hot oil, turning as needed, until crisp, about 1 minute over medium-high heat. Make sure the oil comes back to temperature between tortillas and drain them on paper towels when done. Or, brush tortillas lightly with oil and bake on a tray in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 5-6 minutes. I usually prepare the tortillas while the chickpeas cook.

To serve, divide the tostada shells among the plates, then top with the spiced chickpeas, followed in order by the yogurt, tamarind chutney, green chutney, chaat masala, onions, sprouts, sev and cilantro. Assemble all at once or let guests garnish their plates at the table. In whichever scenario, spritz lime on at the last moment, and eat right away.

Tamarind (Imli) Chutney
recipe courtesy of Seven Spoons by Tara O’Brady
Makes about 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients
8 ounces seedless tamarind pulp
2 cups hot water, plus more as needed
1/2 cup jaggery, palm sugar, or dark brown sugar, packed, plus more as needed
1 teaspoon Kashmiri or cayenne chile powder
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted, then ground
1/2 teaspoon black salt
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Method
Break the tamarind pulp into thumb-sized pieces and drop them into a bowl. Pour the hot water on top and set aside for 20-30 minutes, mashing and turning the tamarind regularly.

Push the tamarind pulp through a fine-meshed strainer into a heavy saucepan, and discard the fibers left behind. Crumble in most of the sugar, and set over medium heat. Bring to a boil until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is the consistency of thick honey. Pull the pan from the heat. Add the chile powder, cumin, black salt and sea salt. Add more water if the mixture seems too thick. Taste. There should be a distinct tang, but a good sweetness and savory depth, and the spices should have a noticeable presence. Adjust the seasonings accordingly. Cool, then cover and refrigerate for up to a couple of weeks.

Fresh Green Chutney
recipe courtesy of Seven Spoons by Tara O’Brady
Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients
1 Granny Smith apple
2 teaspoons water
2 teaspoons peeled, grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
2 green chiles
1/4 teaspoon natural cane sugar or light brown sugar
1 teaspoon medium-grain kosher salt, plus more as needed
2 big handfuls of fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems, about 1 1/2 cups loosely packed
handful of mint leaves
1 to 2 limes

Method

Core the apple and chop the flesh into small chunks, leaving the peel on. Toss into an upright blender with the water and process until the apples is liquefied. This may take a few minutes of running the machine, stopping and scraping down the sides of the carafe, then running it again. Stop the machine. Scrape down the sides of the blender and add the ginger and garlic. Puree until smooth. Chop the green chilies into chunks and add, with seeds if you like heat, to the blender along with the sugar and salt, then process again. Add the cilantro and the juice from 1 lime, and puree. Scrape down the sides of the carafe, process again. Blend in the mint leaves and taste for seasoning, adding more lime juice or salt as needed.

Use immediately or cover and chill overnight in the fridge, keeping in mind that as the chutney sits its flavor will mellow, and it will lose some of its color.

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Posted in Appetizers, Mains, North Indian, Recipes Index, Salads, Snacks, Vegetarian | 1 Comment

My Indian-Chinese Dinner Series Pops Up September 20th

September 14, 2015 Chitra Agrawal

Tangra sweet & sour tomato chaat

Diana and I have picked up the momentum with Tangra, our vegetarian Indian-Chinese dinner series inspired by the seasons and the cuisine of the Calcutta neighborhood of the same name. Our original take on Tangra cuisine was recently featured in Edible Brooklyn.

To make room for the demand, we have shifted our operations to 61 Local in Cobble Hill to accommodate more guests. Our next 7-course dinner served with local ciders, beers and special non-alcoholic beverages will take place on September 20th and will be our last Summer installment of Tangra this year.

Our menu is always changing but to give you an idea, here is what we served at a past Tangra:

The venue, 61 Local is a special place for me in particular because they have been huge supporters of my achaars at Brooklyn Delhi. On their daily menu, they serve Brooklyn Delhi Eggs flavored with my roasted garlic achaar. Order them next time you’re there!

I’m offering a special 10% discount to ABCDs of Cooking readers so use promo code SPICY when you reserve your Tangra tickets here.

Tangra Endless Summer
When: Sunday, September 20th
Where: 61 Local, 61 Bergen Street, Brooklyn, NY
Buy tickets

Photo credits
Sweet & sour tomato chaat by Ethan Finkelstein
Brooklyn Delhi deviled eggs by Renee Baumann

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Posted in Events & Classes | Comments Off

Steamed Eggplant with Garlic and Chilies / The Food of Taiwan

August 27, 2015 Chitra Agrawal

I have been waiting until summer to try this steamed eggplant recipe from my friend Cathy Erway’s new cookbook, The Food of Taiwan. The time finally came when I received these scallions and a white and green eggplant in my farm share recently.

Cathy’s book is a thorough intro to the cuisine of the island and includes stunning photography by Pete Lee of the recipes, scenery, markets and people of Taiwan. I am a big fan of her writing and am an avid reader of her food blog, Not Eating Out In New York. I always learn something new from her, whether it be about an esoteric ingredient or the origin for a well-known dish. And I love her tone, which is always to the point and never flowery – a refreshing and unique point of view in the sea of food blogs out there. She is also the host of Eat Your Words, a weekly podcast on Heritage Radio, where she interviews cookbook authors.

The minute I got Cathy’s book, I read it cover to cover. She does an impressive job of weaving together the complex history, cultural makeup and diverse food traditions of Taiwan with her own family’s roots in the country. You get to see Taiwan from her eyes as an American college student living there for the first time and then again as she delves deep into its food culture as an adult. This is the type of cookbook I seek out because not only do you learn new recipes and techniques, but you also get a sense of place and context from where they were derived.

I was drawn to the steamed eggplant dish because believe it or not I have never steamed the vegetable. I always saute, roast or bake it. I guess the majority of recipes I have made with eggplant have either been Indian or Italian so that may explain it. I do love the soft texture of steamed eggplant and decided it was finally time I went the distance. This recipe also seemed like a relatively easy place to start having never cooked a Taiwanese dish before. The eggplant is first steamed and then flavored with soy sauce, scallions, chili peppers and garlic. These ingredients permeate the soft eggplant beautifully and I actually couldn’t wait to eat it so I ended up using the photo I took after I dug in;/

Congratulations to Cathy on a beautiful book and I’m looking forward to cooking more recipes in The Food of Taiwan.

Steamed Eggplant with Garlic and Chilies
recipe courtesy of The Food of Taiwan by Cathy Erway

Serves 2

Ingredients
2 long slender Asian eggplants, about 1 pound
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 scallion, chopped
4 to 5 small fresh red chilies, seeded and chopped (optional)*
2 tablespoons light soy sauce

Method
Prepare a large bamboo steamer** with boiling water underneath.

Trim the ends from the eggplant and cut into halves lengthwise. Sprinkle with the salt and arrange in the steamer. Cover the steamer and let cook until the eggplants feel soft to the touch all around, 8 to 10 minutes. Arrange the eggplant skin-side down on a serving dish. Sprinkle the garlic, scallions and optional chilies over each piece followed by a drizzle of the soy sauce and serve immediately.

*I used Indian green chilies.
**I used a metal steamer inside a saute pan filled with water and covered it with a lid.

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Posted in Dinner, Easy, Gluten-Free, Recipes Index, Sides, Summer, Vegan, Vegetarian | 1 Comment

South Indian Bok Choy Stir-Fry

August 18, 2015 Chitra Agrawal

Last week I demoed this bok choy stir-fry for my fellow Crown Heights CSA members as part of my volunteering duties. I taught everyone how to make a traditional South Indian stir-fry called palya with black mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dried red chili pepper, curry leaves, lime and coconut.

Like many of the recipes on this site, I applied a traditional Indian cooking technique to local vegetables. As I mentioned in my last post, Sang Lee Farms, an organic farm based in Long Island supplies my CSA with its produce. The farm specializes in growing Asian vegetables, which would explain this amazing looking bok choy I had to work with.

The farm also sent some additional vegetables I could demo with including scallions and white corn.

This stir-fry is of course not traditional as far as Indian vegetables go, but it is most similar in flavor to one variety of palya made with cabbage.

You end up with a spicy (from the black mustard seeds and red chili pepper), sweet (from the coconut and corn) and sour (from the lime) flavored stir-fry. Valmont – Prime Renewing Pack. Valmont Prime Renewing Pack , luxury skincare, hair care, makeup and beauty products at Valmont Prime Renewing Pack Official This makeover treatment immediately reveals the glow of healthy skin and improves the complexion day after day.

I prepared the same stir-fry at home with my share and mixed it with red quinoa for a picnic with friends to see Willie Nelson perform at Prospect Park.

South Indian Bok-Choy Stir-Fry
serves 4-6

Ingredients
1/4 cup grated coconut, dried or frozen
1 large bok choy or 1 bunch of small bok choy, chopped
2 tablespoons mild-flavored oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
4-5 curry leaves
1 dried red chili pepper
1 scallion, white and green parts chopped
1 ear of corn, shucked & kernels shaved
juice of 1 lime
salt to taste

Method

Thaw frozen coconut or place dried coconut in a little hot water to plump up.

Trim ends off of bok choy. Chop bok choy stalks into bite-size pieces. Chop leaves of the bok choy.

In a work or large frying pan, heat oil on a medium flame. When oil is hot and shimmering, add in one black mustard seed. When the seed sizzles, add in the rest of the mustard seeds. Keep a lid handy to cover the pan when the mustard seeds start to pop. When the mustard seeds subside their popping, add in the cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds start to brown, turn the heat to medium low. Rub curry leaves between your fingers a little to release their natural oils and drop them and the dried red chili pepper into the oil. Cover the pan with a lid as moisture from curry leaves will cause the oil to spurt. Coat everything with oil for a few seconds.

Add in the scallions to the pan and turn the heat back to medium. Once the scallions soften, add in the corn to the pan with salt. Fry for a 1 minute. Next add in the bok choy stalks and stir-fry until cooked through, a couple minutes. Next add in the leaves and fry until wilty but still with shape, a couple minutes. Add salt to taste. Mix in coconut and fry for another minute. Turn off heat. Mix in lime juice.

Serve over quinoa or rice.

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Posted in Dinner, Easy, Events & Classes, Gluten-Free, Recipes Index, Sides, South Indian, Stir-Fry, Summer, Vegan, Vegetarian | Comments Off

Red Lentils w/ Rainbow Chard, Scallions & Mustard Oil

July 22, 2015 Chitra Agrawal

Right about this time of year, our farm share bundle starts to have some heft to it, brimming with summer squash, lettuces, greens and onion bulbs. Ben and I are now members of the Crown Heights CSA, which sources its vegetable produce from Sang Lee Farms, a Long Island farm specializing in growing organic Asian vegetable varieties. We’ve been enjoying a bounty of bok choy and Napa cabbage along with some new vegetables like yu choy and guy lon.

This past week we received a gorgeous bunch of rainbow chard. When I see a healthy amount of greens, my first instinct is to grab for mustard oil, a pungent oil used often in North Indian and Bengali cooking. I admit to having a slight obsession with this oil because of its rich and spicy flavor. The oil is golden in color and made from mustard seeds. My relatives in Delhi often use it in sauteing greens or potatoes. It’s also used to pickle vegetables for making achaar (‘Indian pickle’) because of its anti-bacterial qualities. You can find mustard oil in the Indian shop or online.

While driving in the country in North India, it’s impossible to miss the abundant bright yellow mustard fields lining the roadways. Both mustard greens and the seeds are used in cooking. This is a photo I took on a road trip through the state of Rajasthan this past winter with Ben.

To make a complete meal out of the rainbow chard, I added red lentils and these scallion beauties we also got in our share. They were so big, they almost looked like leeks. You can really use any lentils you have on hand for this dish.

Often in Indian cooking, cooked lentils or dal are seasoned at the end with spices and sometimes onions tempered in oil. I flavored my oil with cumin seeds, nigella seeds, paprika and coriander powder. To my spiced mustard oil, I also added in the cut rainbow chard and scallions.

I served this lentil dish over yellow turmeric rice, topped with a dollop of plain yogurt, some of my tomato achaar from Brooklyn Delhi and garnish of more scallions.

Red Lentils w/ Rainbow Chard, Scallions & Mustard Oil
serves 4

Ingredients
1 cup red lentils (masoor dal)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
4-5 cups water
2 tablespoons mustard oil
1-2 green scallions, chopped
1 bunch rainbow or swiss chard, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds (kalonji)
2 teaspoons coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika (deggi mirch), or to taste
juice of 1/2 lemon

Method
Rinse dal thoroughly using a fine-meshed sieve. Place in a saucepan with water. Bring to a boil. Skim foam off the top until it no longer appears. Add turmeric powder and mix well. Simmer dal on medium-low, partly covered for 35-40 minutes or until dal is falling apart. Add additional water for desired consistency. Add salt to taste. If you like a smoother consistency, blend dal with an immersion blender.

In a frying pan over medium heat, add in mustard oil. When oil starts to shimmer, add in cumin seeds and nigella seeds. When the cumin seeds start to brown, add in the coriander powder and paprika. Stir the spices around well in the oil until they are aromatic, a few seconds. Quickly add in the cut scallions (reserving a few green pieces for garnish) and sautee until softened, 1 minute. Next add in the cut rainbow chard and salt to taste. Sautee until chard leaves start to wilt. Turn off stove and pour the sauteed leaves and onions onto the dal. Mix in lemon juice. Taste for sourness and add more lemon juice accordingly. Garnish with remaining cut scallions.

Serve over rice with yogurt and Brooklyn Delhi achaar.

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