Culinary Fun With Tofu

Tofu, Yuck! That’s sounds disgusting, I’d rather eat dirt.

That’s the reaction most people have to tofu. I used to be one of those people since I had never eaten properly prepared tofu. You may not know it, but you are probably already eating foods containing soybeans, the main ingredient in tofu. Well I had my turn at it a year ago, I went over my aunt’s house and she prepared tofu (her specialty).  I was stuck between a hard place and a rock since I was hungry and couldn’t say no to her (actually no one can say no to her). To my surprise, I liked it!

Some Health Talk for all the health junkies: A serving contains 13% of your daily protein quota, with only 3% of your daily fat. It has no cholesterol, and 55 calories. So it's not good if you want to gain extra weight. In Asia, where soy-based diets have traditionally been the norm, rates of cancer and cardiovascular diseases are lower than in the Western world.

Plain tofu has no taste at all so you can think of tofu as your canvas, and the spices as your palette. You design your tofu to fit your taste buds. My days of experimenting with tofu has come a long way. See the recipe for yourself; try it first, judge later!  

6 cakes of tofu (diced into cubes)

1 red pepper (thinly sliced)

4 long green chili peppers (diced finely)

3 stocks of green onion (diced finely)

2 tbsp. ginger root (diced finely)

½ cup olive oil

¼ cup golden mountain seasoning sauce

6 whole black pepper corn

1 tbsp. red pepper powder

1 tbsp. cumin

2 tsp. black pepper powder

1 tbsp.  turmeric powder (haldi)

Salt according to taste

½ cup salted cashews

Iceberg  lettuce (chopped finely)

1. Drain the water from the tofu (you always do that, unless you want watery tofu--it's up to you.) Slice tofu into cube. Heat a wok or skillet, add oil, then all the tofu…cook until most of the water has evaporated.
2. Add the red peppers and green chili into the skillet. Cook until the tofu starts to turn brown, make sure stir the tofu gently, otherwise you will burn it and it won’t brown on all sides.
3. Reduce the heat to medium! Add the seasoning sauce and cover the skillet. Cook until the red peppers begin to soften, after that add the green onions and ginger to the skillet and stir the tofu.
4. While the red peppers are cooking, heat a small skillet over high heat, add 1 tbsp. of oil, cashews, black pepper corn and cumin to the skillet. Heat the mixture for a few minutes, until you can smell the cumin. Turn the heat off once the cashews reach a light brown color.
5. Add the mixture from the small skillet into the tofu. Add salt, black pepper, turmeric powder, and red pepper according to your taste and stir and cover the tofu for 5 minutes.
6. Your Done, its time to eat. To plate the dish, add ½ cup chopped lettuce into a plate, top it with the tofu and enjoy a healthy yet tasty dinner…

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Quick and Simple Bhindi (Okra)

One of the first recipe’s I learned from my mother. Okra is an eclectic vegetable with a lot of different ways of preparation. It can be chopped into pieces stir fried with spices, pickled , salted or added to gravy-based preparations.. Its rich in vitamins A, B6, C, folic acid and fiber for all my health conscious folks.

Yesterday was a hectic day at work because I got to work early and left late. To top it off yesterday was Lohri (Indian harvest festival) and I wanted some lohri eats so I trucked to the Indian grocery store to get some Gajak (dessert item traditionally eaten during Lohri). However, to my luck it was out of stock so I bought some grocery items for the house (green chilis, naan and squash) and drove myself home in traffic. Did I say it was hectic day? When I got home my amazing dad had already went grocery shopping. He told me about all the things he bought for me; all my favorite vegetables and fruits (green peppers, eggplant, okra, plums, oranges, strawberries). Amazing dad right? Bhindi happens to be my second favorite vegetable, after eggplant. Right then and there as I took out the groceries I bought, I decided to cook okra. Its fast, simple, and tastes awesome. And because it made me happy!

Ingredients:

1 lbs. okra

½ cup olive oil
1 red onion (medium)
2-3 green chili hot
1/2 tbsp. salt
1/2 tbsp. red pepper (extra hot)

1/2 tbsp. aamchur (mango powder)
1 tbsp. turmeric powder
Salt, red pepper and aamchur should be added according to your taste

Directions:

1.      Using a strainer, wash the okra under cold water. Let the water drain out completely else the okra becomes sticky and stringy.

2.      Cut the okra round about 1/2 inch wide. Trim the ends

3.      Take a large pan and put it over medium heat

4.      Add the olive oil and heat the oil for 1-2 minutes, pay close attention: do not burn the oil

5.      Add the cut okra to the pan and shake the pan to layer the okra evenly, you are stir frying the okra

Tip from my mother: When cooking okra the less you touch it with a utensil the better! Okra has a habit of becoming sticky and stringy.

6.      Cover the pan and cook for 8-10 minutes

7.      Every 2-3 minutes shake the pan to toss the okra

8.      Meanwhile, slice the red onion and using your hands, take out the layers of the onion.

9.      Now, cut the green chili peppers round 1/2 inch wide

10.  After 8-10 minutes, open the pan cover and layer the onion and pepper over the okra

11.  Add salt, red pepper, turmeric powder

12.  Taking a spoon or spatula lightly toss the okra with the rest the of the ingredients. Be very gentle with the okra

13.  Place the cover back on the pan and cook for another 5-10 minutes until the onions become tender

14.  Add aamchur powder and take the pan off the heat

Tip from my mother: add the aamchur last. aamchur naturally tends to make the okra sticky and stringy. by adding the aamchur last you avoid this.

Bhindi goes well with roti and side of sweet dahi (yogurt)
Just the way I like it!

Amritsari Chole (Chickpea)

One of my mother's best, awesome, super-duper tasty recipes. The recipes perception is from my hometown, birth place Amritsar, India. There are many ways to make chole but none are more famous than the amritsari chole.  It was handed down to me a few years back by my mother. It’s easy to follow with easy to find ingredients at your local Indian store. Don't be deterred by the long list of ingredients. The ingredients are a key in making this delicious recipe legendary. Post comments with your review of the recipe.

 

 

Appliance used:

• Fry pan
• Pressure cooker
• Magic Bullet
• Fancy dish/bowl

Ingredients:

1 cup chole (chickpeas)

1 teabag  

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tbsp. salt

1/4 cup ghee

2 bay leaves

1 large yellow onion- finely chopped

1 tbsp. garlic- finely chopped

2-3 green chilies - finely chopped

3-4 tomatoes - finely chopped

1 tbsp. ginger - finely chopped

1/4 cup green coriander - finely chopped

 1/2 tsp. aamchur (mango powder)

 1/2 tbsp. garam masala

 1/2 tbsp. Red Chilies

 1 tbsp. dry Coriander Powder

1 small red onion-chopped

  

Ingredients: dry spice mix 

2 bay leaves

1/2 tbsp. jeera

1/2 tbsp. coriander seeds

4-6 pieces clove

3-4 black pepper pods

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 tbsp. anardana (pomegranate seeds)

1/2 tbsp. garam masala

  

Do this the day before:

• Soak chole (chickpeas) in water to soak overnight.
• Make the dry masala (secret ingredient of the recipe)

Preparing dry masala:

1. Take a medium fry pan and put it over medium heat
2. Once the pan is hot, add bay leaves and jeera to the fry pan and toss it until you start to smell the jeera (its a distinct smell)
3. Next add coriander seeds, cloves, black pepper pods, cinnamon stick and anardaana to the fry pan, toss the mixture for 2 minutes
4. Next add the garam masala and toss for another minute. The mixture to start to look blackish/brown
5. Once the desired color is reached, turn off the heat and let the mixture cool for 5 minutes
6. Now take your mixture and grind it using your choice of appliance. I prefer using a grinder like Turbo Bullet (its quick and easy to use)

Making the Dish:

1. Take a pressure cooker and place it over high heat
2. Now add chole, tea bag, baking powder, salt, 4 cups of water and cover the pressure cooker
3. Next boil chole for 10-15 minutes in the pressure cooker. When you hear the 1st whistle of the pressure cooker, take the pressure cooker off the heat
4. When the steam has settled, open the pressure cooker and check the chole. If you can easily crush the chole, discard the tea bag otherwise cook the chole for another 5-10 minutes.
5. In a separate pan heat oil and add bay leaves and then fry the onions till golden brown
6. Add garlic and fry for another 2 minutes
7. Now add the green peppers (leave 1 tbsp. for garnish) and ginger and fry for another 2 minutes
8. Next add the tomatoes (leave 1/2 cup for garnish) and fry until the tomatoes are no longer stiff.
9. Now add the dry Masala, prepared the day before
10. Add aamchur, garam masala, coriander powder and fry until the oil gets separated from the mixture
11. Now turn on the heat under the pressure cook and turn off the heat from the fry pan
12. Add the fry pan mixture (tarka) to the pressure cooker
13. Bring the mixture to a boil and then let it simmer under low heat for 10 minutes 

Tips:

• If the curry looks too thick then add some water. 
• Mash some of the chole by pressing it with a spatula to give it a thick consistency like thick cream.

Now take out your mouth watering chole from the pressure cooker in a fancy dish/bowl and garnish it with chopped coriander, green chilies, and red onion. 

Serve it with bhature, Puri , Naan, Rice or Roti

 

 

My Favorite Combo: Chole Bhature