Massaman Curry

I bought a pressure cooker. It's a second generation six-piece Kuhn Rikon Duromatic. It came in two different sizes, with a lid that can be shared between the two, another glass lid for cooking, and a trivet for steaming. Simply put, pressure cookers save time. Second generation pressure cookers are designed to be safer because they are supposed to be constructed with at least two or three safety releases, and they are designed to indicate clearly when the cooker has come to low or high pressure. There is no loud hissing. In older, or first generation, pressure cookers they usually have a jiggle top which releases pressure in loud hisses after reaching pressure.

Laura, of the Hip Pressure Cooking blog, has written extensive reviews on different types of pressure cookers, and I found her detailed, and highly knowledgeable reviews, are what sold me on the Kuhn Rikon. Her recipes are modern, adaptable, and reproducible. She has basic pressure cooking tutorials that are easy to follow, and her site has created a community of modern day pressure cooker enthusiasts.

Over the past few weeks, a personal barrier I had to using my new pressure cooker was relearning how to adapt recipes. I found that after a few weeks of trial and error, the learning curve for seasoned cooks is fast. The learning curve for beginner and novice cooks (the hubs is categorized in this category) is also fast. Our pressure cooker came with a cookbook which is a great reference guide. The hubs started out with potatoes, moved to cooking beans a few times, and made a rice pilaf, and a Mediterranean couscous. To vegetarians, the cooking time for beans and lentils will be slashed in half. This, and this reason alone, is one of the very essential reasons to own one, and it explains why pressure cookers are a sustaining life force in Indian households.

Channa Dhal Mushroom Massaman Curry
Adapted from Food and Wine
Yield: 4 servings

This curry is delicious. I think the ingredients list is a bit daunting, but the outcome is marvelous. With a pressure cooker you really save time because you can utilize the 12 minutes that the cooker is cooking to prepare other things and clean up. The sweet potatoes melt into the dish, the channa dhal bulks up the curry, and replaces chicken in the original recipe. I have added mushrooms, channa dhal, and coriander, and replaced water for the broth.

Ingredients for curry paste:
1" of ginger
2 cloves garlic
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
1 tsp cumin, ground
1 tsp coriander, ground
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
1 can coconut milk

Ingredients for curry:
2 tbsp peanut oil, divided
1/4 cup channa dhal or split yellow lentils, soaked in 1 cup of water*
1 onion
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed into 1" chunks
3/4 cup water
1 package of mushrooms, stems removed and quartered
1-2 tsp rice wine vinegar, optional
1 medium tomato
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup peanuts, chopped
4 cups cooked white long-grain rice

Directions:

1. Soak the channa dhal in 1 cup of water. Set aside. 
2. The next step will be making a curry paste. You have three options 1) use a mortar and pestle, 2) use a food processor, 3) finely chop with a knife. I used the mortar and pestle because you end up with about 2-3 tbsp of curry paste a small amount for the food processor. In a mortar and pestle, pound together the garlic with the salt until it is a coarse paste. Remove this to a small mixing bowl that can hold 2 cups worth. Add the ginger and pound together. Scrape this into the bowl. Add the remaining spices and the coconut milk to the bowl and stir to combine. Set aside. 
3. In a 4 quart pressure cooker (my small pressure fry pan is < 3 quarts) heat up 1 tbsp oil over medium high heat. Once hot, sauté the onions for 3 minutes. 
4. Add the sweet potatoes, stir together, and then add in the channa dhal along with the water. Add 3/4 cup of water. Do not add salt. Bring the mixture to a simmer and then close the lid. Bring the pressure cooker to the first red ring and then cook over low pressure for 12 minutes. Use the natural release method. 
5. Heat up the remaining 1 tbsp of peanut oil over medium-high heat in a cast iron or non-stick skillet.  Once hot, add in the mushrooms and sauté about 7-10 minutes. Sprinkle the rice wine vinegar on top, cook 3 more minutes and cut the heat and remove the pan from the heat. 
6. Open up the pressure cooker and put it back on the heat. Stir in the coconut milk curry mixture, add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. This should only take a few minutes. 
7. Garnish with peanuts and cilantro and serve immediately, preferably over cooked white rice. 

*Note: soaking the channa dhal is not necessary, but I find that it cooks faster.

Musk melon peach coconut smoothie

Bear with me. I hate that I missed my one promise that I made to myself as a New Year's resolution: to post a monthly meal on the first of each month.

I'll get there. About two weeks ago, the hubs and I drove up the east coast from Florida to New York. Then we drove back down. It is difficult to eat healthfully on the road, and I want this MoMe to reflect a bit of on-the-road eats. So if you have any travel savvy tips, share below.

The best parts of our trip so far were getting to visit friends and family in Chapel Hill, Baltimore, Atlantic City, New York City, and northern parts of the Garden State. Drivers become much less efficient the further south one travels. I do not understand drivers that hang out in the left lane. When I learned how to drive, the left lane was for passing. Drivers in these states failed basic understanding of efficient travel flow on interstate driving: NC, VA, GA, AL, and FL. NC drivers were the most annoying for hanging out in the left lane. On road trips you think you'll get to a city and feel like spending a few hours exploring before you hit the road and head on. We almost ran out of gas twice in NC (thank you S&K for the top-up), then again in Washington DC. These "events" drain patience when asking dear travel partner if they have checked the gas meter for the 6th time in two days. In DC, the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival was pretty neat, and we got to eat at Founding Farmers, although we dined at their more suburban location. Philadelphia was on our list. I've heard it has a neat beer scene, and is full of American history so I thought it would make it as a half-day on our list. We saw Philly fly by from a bridge that we crossed twice due to an smart phone navigation user error (another patience draining "event"). With as many miles as we logged, we were often too exhausted from the driving to head back, or deal with parking. It was fun to travel in our own car, see our country for what it is, and appreciate the heat of near triple digits. Since we stayed pretty close to I-95 on the way up, we ventured through West Virginia on the way back down, and skirted the Blue Ridge Mountains.

One of the main goals of the trip was attending a family wedding in Atlantic City (NJ). It lasted 4 days. The events came fully catered (the first night dosa, idli, vada, and sambar were served), and I still have some orange tints of mendhi/henna leftover. It was a lot of fun. I haven't done garba and raas for a few years, and it's a strategic calorie burning event among the days of rich eating.

We are on the move again (both in terms of travel and relocation) doing some housing search in the deep south. I have yet to share the mystery of the relocation back to the states, but it does have to do with a new, and exciting job for me.

I have gleaned some important on-the-run eats from dear friends, and have had lovely meals packed. Travel tip: do not travel with ripening cantaloupe in the car. It makes for random accusations of asking who passed..ahem..gas.

Now, when your cantaloupe finally ripens…


Musk melon, peach, coconut smoothie
Yield: approx 4 cups


Ingredients:
2 cups ripe musk melon (or cantaloupe)
1 ripe peach
1 cup coconut milk
1 tsp honey
ice
1/4-1/3 cup rum, optional

Directions:
Blend all together and serve immediately. Rum is an optional ingredient. Garnish with skewered melon pieces and raspberries, or other fruit.

Picture and MoMe to be uploaded

Pumpkin Thai Soup

above: pumpkin-Thai soup with portobello mushrooms

above: pumpkin

above: Duds checking out the pumpkin

Khavanu Kitchen

This pumpkin Thai-style soup can be served alone or served along with rice. To complete the meal, I topped the soup bowls with slices of grilled portobello mushrooms.  We have a Thai grocery store which sells ready-made curry pastes, but any of the grocery store varietals will work.  Panang flavors are usually served with dry stir-fries as opposed to being stirred into coconut milk. The flavors blend very well with the sweet pumpkin, and is not spicy, instead lending the soup just a little bit of heat.  

You could use butternut squash, or another kind of winter squash, even cubed carrots could work. The pumpkin that is grown and available in Belgium is the culinary variety; if using pumpkin, buy one that is meant for cooking, it will hold it’s shape better, and tastes delicious.

Before getting started, wipe down the mushrooms (if using) and get the rice cooking first.  Make the dressing for the portobellos while the soup is cooking.  It looks like a long list with many directions, but read it through before beginning - it comes together very fast.

Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 cup long-grain rice, cooked according to package directions
4 small portobellos (2-3 inches in diameter), wiped clean and stem removed if too bulky
1 small-medium pumpkin, or about 2 cups cubed pumpkin (1-inch chunks)
2 cups water, used to pre-cook pumpkin cubes
1 tsp peanut oil
1 tbsp fresh ginger, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced into 1-inch chunks
1 small red onion, sliced
1 vegetarian bouillon cube, dissolved in 1 cup of hot water
½ tsp salt
2 tsp Panang curry paste (you can adjust this amount, it may need more or less)
1 can coconut milk
2 cups water, divided.

2 tbsp chopped chives or cilantro

Dressing for portobello’s:
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
small pinch red chili flakes

Directions:

1. Prepare rice according to package directions. The water to rice ratio for long-grain rice is usually 2 cups water : 1 cup rice - although my way of cooking rice is measuring the water with my ring finger (obviously not package directions). The water plus rice should come up half-way on your ring finger. It’s my mom’s method, and it works everytime.
2. Wipe down mushrooms, and trim off stems.
3. In a large soup stockpot, heat up water until a low simmer, and then add pumpkin chunks. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove all of it to a large bowl.
4. In the same soup stockpot, heat 1 tsp peanut oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add in ginger and garlic, saute a few minutes until fragrant. Add in bell pepper chunks, onions, and cooked pumpkin along with reserved water.  Stir to combine.
5. Add in vegetarian bouillon along with with water/broth it was dissolved in. Add 1 cup water to the pot. Leave 1 cup on the side for now. You can see if it your soup needs it once the coconut milk is added.
6. Mix the coconut milk and panang curry together. Add this to the soup pot. Stir well to combine.
7. Bring to a simmer, adjust taste for salt, and add in the extra 1 cup water if the soup is too dense. Do not boil, leave it at a rolling simmer while you prepare the mushrooms.
8. Heat up a wide skillet over medium-high heat. Spray with cooking spray, and add mushrooms. Cook on each side about 2 minutes. Mushrooms are done in about 8 minutes. Prepare the dressing while they cook, by combining the rice vinegar, soy sauce, and red chili flakes in a small bowl.
9. Take mushrooms off heat, slice mushrooms and toss them with the dressing. 
10. To serve, fill bowls with ½ cup cooked rice, top with 1 and ½ cups soup, and top with 1 portobello mushroom. Garnish with chives or chopped cilantro.

We served this with a strong Belgian dark ale, Westvleteren 12, a beer with notes of cinnamon and spicy sweetness clears the palette with this soup. A St. Bernardus Abt would pair the same way. Living in Belgium does have it's perks =)

Mango Amaretto Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

1 cup sushi rice (or other short grain rice), soaked in water for at least 30 minutes

1 and 1/2 cups water

1/3 cup sugar (you can add more if you want it sweeter)

pinch salt

1 cup coconut milk (plus extra water if needed)

2 T amaretto

1 ripe mango, cut up in 1" cubes
Brown sugar (garnish)

Directions:

1. Place soaked rice along with 1 and 1/2 cups water in a medium pot and cook over high heat.  Stir the rice frequently (every 2-3 minutes for the first 10 minutes).  Cook another 5 minutes, then turn heat to low. 
2. Stir in the sugar, salt and coconut milk. If the mixture is too dry add in a little extra coconut milk or water. Stir to combine and let cook another 10 minutes. Taste to adjust sweetness. 
3. Serve the rice pudding in bowls with mango chunks on top. Use a cup measure or a custard cup for a nice mold.

Quick Eats

I love home-cooked food.
Much more so than heading out to grab a quick bite. If you grocery shop often enough and keep pantry staples it's easy enough to throw quick meals together. This kind of thinking gets lost mid-semester, but cooking is relaxing and creative, and can be really nourishing. My grocery list is usually made up of perishables from most of the 5-6 food groups (fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, calcium-rich foods, and fats). Pantry staples are life-savers:

• grains: whole-wheat pastas, rices (basmati, brown, quick-cooking, arborio, jasmine), couscous, barley, quinoa, oats
• fruits and veg: dried, frozen, and canned goods are always on hand to throw in. Things like dried mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes are also good to have on hand. I always have cans of canned and diced tomatoes (low-sodium varieties) available.
  
• beans and proteins: canned, dried, and frozen, soy foods, and frozen soy foods (veg links, and patties), nuts, nut butters.
  
• calcium-rich foods: fortified soymilks, regular milk, parmesan cheese, or other specialty cheeses, silken tofu, miso paste.
• Spices and herbs: cumin, turmeric, saffron, black pepper, red pepper flakes, chili powder, any variety of dried herbs, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, caraway seeds, celery seed, garam masala, and any others you love or cook with.
  
• Others: oils such as olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil, and toasted sesame oil, vinegars like red wine, balsamic, white wine, and cider vinegars, chutneys, dips, green and black olives, bottled marinara sauces, frozen semi-healthy prepared foods (like frozen spring rolls or gyoza, veggie patties), vegetable broth, beer and wine, coconut milk, thai curry paste, fruit jams, and lemon custard.

This recipe was thrown together with mostly pantry goods and a few items I bought on my bi-weekly grocery store trek. It took me about 35 minutes. I get the rice going first so as it cooks, and you start on the main thing, the rice is ready when you are.

Thai Veg Curry
Serves: 4

4 cups Jasmine rice, cooked
4 shittake mushrooms, rehydrated from dried
2 T ready-made Thai Green Curry paste (from Harris Teeter)
1.5 cans (14 oz or 16 oz) coconut milk. (you pick the fat content - fat carries flavor)
1 t peanut oil
1 t coriander
1 cup, carrots, cut into matchsticks
1/2 medium sized butternut squash, 1" dice
1.5 cups extra-firm tofu, thawed from freezer, 1" cubes
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
1 small can bamboo shoots, rinsed and drained (like the size of a small tuna can)
2 T brown sugar
salt to taste
2 T lime juice or fish sauce
1 T tamarind paste
6-7 peanuts, crushed

Note: to rehydrate dried mushrooms, rinse, and then place in boiling water, you can use the water as a stock if you like.

In this recipe several of the ingredients come right out of the pantry. The fresh vegetables that are added to it could be any stir-fry vegetables that you have on hand or like. I would avoid cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbages, brussel sprouts) because they give off a funny odor when cooked into a curry like this one. I usually just buy whatever is in season, or whatever appeals to me that day.

1. Cook rice according to package directions.
2. If using dried mushrooms, rehydrate (they usually take about 30 minutes to soften).
3. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat
4. Combine coconut milk with curry paste, mix well and add to pot. Continue cooking over medium heat.
5. Next add in butternut squash, and cook about 7 minutes, add in carrots, tofu, and continue cooking about 5-7 more minutes more.
6. Stir in brown sugar through tamarind paste.
7. Stir in bamboo shoots, shittake mushrooms, and cilantro

Serve over jasmine rice, and garnish with some chopped peanuts. I served these with some vegetarian gyoza with soy-sesame oil, and dried chives