Indian Style Nachos with Kidney Beans (Naan-Chos)

Blogging Marathon# 59: Week 1/ Day 2

Theme: Bring on the Nachos

Dish: Indian Style Nachos with Kidney Beans

I was raking my mind on what nachos to make for today. I googled quite a bit to find something I liked and then found these vegetable chili nachos on Foodgawker. But instead of topping the nachos with traditional chili, I thought of giving the dish an Indian touch by topping it with Rajma masala (Kidney bean curry).

So I went ahead and Indianized (is that even a word???) all of the components and made it the same way as the regular nachos. This dish turned out so delicious and I was very impressed with my own creation.

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Rajma Chawal (Red Kidney Bean Curry with Rice)

Blogging Marathon# 47: Week 3/ Day 1
Theme: Combo Dishes
Dishes: Rajma Chawal

We are starting our 3rd week of Blogging Marathon today and my theme for this week 'Combo Dishes'. Valli gave us a list of combo dishes and we have to select 3 and post under this theme. So the first combo I chose is Rajma Chawal.

Rajma or red kidney beans cooked with tomatoes and spices is a very filling and hearty dish that is perfect for this time of the year. Served with chawal or rice, there is nothing more comforting than that. I didn't use a whole lot of spices in the curry since I was cooking for the kids, but you can definitely amp up the spice volume, if that is how you like it :-)

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Dominican Republic -- Rice & Beans (Moro de Habichuelas)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: D for Dominican Republic
Dish: Rice & Beans

We are back to South America today, to Dominican Republic. It is a nation on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean region. Chrsitopher Columbus landed in Hispaniola in 1492, during the first of his 4 voyages to America. Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean. 

The first time I heard of this country was 9 years ago from a colleague who was from Dominican Republic. He was a very jovial person and had lots of stories to tell about his country. What I found interesting was he cooked his own lunch and brought it to work. I never got a chance to taste his food since it was mostly meat based but it always smelt soo good.
Dominican cuisine is typical to what can be found in other Latin American countries, but many of the names of the dishes are different. Meals tend to have meats and starches. Many dishes are made with Sofrito (a mix of local herbs) and is used as a wet rub for meats and sauteed to bring out all of a dish's flavors.

I picked a dish very commonly made all over South America. Every county in Latin & South America has their own version of rice and beans. While looking for dishes to make from Dominican Republic, I found this amazing blog called 'Aunt Clara's Kitchen' written by Clara, a Dominican herself. She has so many traditional recipes on her blog and here pictures are absolutely mouth watering and perfectly go with her beautiful write-ups.

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Nagaland -- Betang Meh (Kidney Beans with mustard greens & ginger)

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 20
State: Nagaland
Dish: Betang Meh (Kidney Beans with mustard greens & ginger)

Fourth North eastern sate in a row, today we are going to Nagaland. Nagaland is one of the smallest states in India. Nagaland is largely mountainous state. There are 16 main tribes in Nagaland and each tribe has its own unique language, customs and cooking styles.
Naga cuisine features meats and fish, which are often smoked, dried or fermented. A typical Naga table consists of a meat dish, a boiled vegetable dish or two, rice and a chutney. Some common dishes are 'fermented bamboo shoot' with fish and pork. Naga food tends to be spicy beacuse of the use of different varieties of chilies.

Today's Dish: Like the other North Eastern states, finding vegetarian dishes was extremely difficult even for Nagaland. Lot of emails were exchanged within our BM group and a link to a Naga facebook page was found by one lucky member. It was like jackpot and I picked one dish from there.

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Vegetarian Pupusa

Blogging Marathon# 37: Week 1/ Day2
Theme: National Dishes from around the World 
Dish: El Salvador -- Pupusa

Years ago when I first started watching Food network, Rachael Ray used to make dishes from different countries/ cuisines and called them 'Passport meals' to those countries. Which means you don't need a passport to visit those countries physically, all you need is a well stocked pantry and you can easily transport to that country by enjoying the local dishes right at home. That is how my interest in trying different cuisines started.

So today I made a Passport meal to El Salvador by making their national dish, Pupusa. This is another dish that has been on my to-make list for a while now. I used the recipe from Viva Vegan by Terry Hope Romero.

Pupusas are stuffed, grilled tortillas from El Salvador. The fun of pupusas is in the combination of hot grilled masa harina, tasty fillings, tangy tomato sauce, and cool Salvadorian style coleslaw known as curdito. So this dish has quite a few components and can be time consuming to make. But luckily the curdito and the tomato sauce can be made up to 2 days in advance.

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Corn & Rajma (Kidney beans) Pulao (Pilaf)

Blogging Marathon# 35: Week 1/ Day 3
Theme: Cooking with Corn
Dish: Corn & Kidney beans Pulao

After using sweet corn in this uggani and baby corn in this masala curry, I'm combining both of these corns in a rice dish today. Recipe idea is from a Telugu cooking show. Original recipe used baby corn and rajma (red kidney beans), but I put some sweet corn that I had in the fridge.

If you have cooked rice and beans on hand, this dish takes literally minutes to complete. I made this for my lunch today. I had very little time to cook before I had to go pick my daughter from her play school. As I said this is a super quick dish to make if you have everything ready. I was able to cook, click and then go pick my daughter right on time.

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Vegetarian Chimichanga with Kidney Beans

Blogging Marathon# 31: Week 1/ Day 2
Theme: Mexican Cuisine
Dish: Vegetarian Low-fat Chimichanga

For Day 2 of BM# 31 under 'Mexican Cuisine' theme, I made this low(er) fat vegetarian Chimichanga. 'Chimichanga' is essentially deep fried burrito that is stuffed with either meat and/or beans. Since deep frying is not something I do regularly I decided to pan fry them. I already have a recipe for baked chimichangas that I posted way back in the olden days :-)

Filling for the chimichangas, like any other Mexican dish, is very versatile and can range from meats to beans to veggies. I have made these with different beans (black or red kidney or pinto) and sometimes even mix some TVP (soy granules). But the best I've found is using Trader Joe's Soyrizo and beans cooked with some onions, red pepper and some cheese -- yummy!!

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Rajma Mutter (Kidney Beans & Green Peas with Yogurt & Cream)

Blogging Marathon# 30: Week 1/ Day 3
Theme: Cooking with Curd
Dish: Rajma Mutter (Kidney Beans & Green Peas with Yogurt & Cream)

As I was looking through 660 Curries for dishes to make with yogurt/ curd, I found a recipe that used Lotus root and I wanted to make because I've never cooked lotus root before. I remember seeing it in my local Korean store and went there this morning, but I was totally disappointed seeing dried out and almost rotten lotus roots.

Came home and went back to 660 Curries. I love beans and I found Rajma and Mutter curry with yogurt and cream. I was skeptical on how the combination of yogurt and cream would take like, but I trusted Raghavan Iyer enough to give the dish a try. I'm glad I did, it turned out to be a spicy and creamy dish that is unlike I've ever tasted. The textural difference between the nutty bite of kidney beans and the soft squishy green peas was very appealing especially with the creamy-tart yogurt base.

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Grilled Naans with Tamatar Malai Rajma (Curried Kidney Beans)

Next up on my series of grilling dishes is Naans. Believe it or not grilled naans turned out to be quicker to make and extremely soft & delicious. When I tried making them on the stove or even in the oven, it takes the dough longer to cook through because of lower temperatures and the end result is usually a tougher naan. But as grill can get to a slightly higher temperatures than the regular oven and since the heat source is much more direct, naans cook faster and stay softer longer. I added 1 cup white whole wheat flour to make them slightly healthier.

Ingredients:
All Purpose Flour – 2cups
Whole wheat flour – 1 cup
Yeast – 1tbsp
Yogurt – ½ cup
Baking Powder – 1tbsp
Sugar – 1tbsp
Salt – 2tsp
Oil – 2tbsp
Method:

• Whisk flours, salt, baking powder, yeast and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
  
• Add 1 cup luke warm water (around 110ºF—a few degrees up or down is completely OK), oil and yogurt. Mix until the ingredients come together into a ball (add more water or flour as needed).
  
• Remove on to a floured surface and knead lightly until the dough is soft and smooth, about 5 minutes.
  
• Lightly oil the bowl and slide the dough back; cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1-2 hours or until the dough doubles in volume.
  
• Punch down and divide the dough into small balls depending on how big you want your naans. Place them on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 45 mins to 1 hour or until doubled in volume.
  
• Next roll them out into a circle and slightly stretch or pull on the ends to form an oval shaped naan. Brush them lightly with oil and stack them until ready to grill.
  
• Now to the easy part; grilling. Have the grill preheated and ready to roll: Place the oiled side down on the grill and let cook for about 1 minute. To get those beautiful grill marks, turn the naan at 45 degrees and grill again for 45 seconds. Oil the top side, turn it over, cover and grill for another 1-2 minutes. Remove and enjoy hot with your favorite curry.
  

We had our naans with Rajma/ Kidney Beans curry that I made from Raghavan Iyer’s 660 Curries. It’s a very simple recipe with few ingredients but the way in which the tomatoes are cooked or “bhunao”(ed) makes the dish taste very complex-flavored and absolutely delicious. I realized I’m a rather restless cook and for some of the Indian dishes you really need to take time to get the flavors out of the ingredients.. Lesson learnt!! Coming to the recipe:

Recipe from 660 Curries.
Ingredients:
Red Kidney Beans - 3 cups, cooked
Garlic - 2 cloves, finely chopped
Ginger - 2" long, finely chopped
Cardamom pods - 2
Cinnamon sticks - 2 (3" long)
Bay leaves - 2
Tomato Paste - 3tbsp
Red chili powder - 1tsp (or more to taste)
Sweet paprika - 1tbsp
Ground coriander seeds - 2tsp
Ground cumin seeds - 1tsp
Turmeric - 1/4tsp
Fried Onion Paste - 1/4 cup**
Heavy (Whipping) Cream - 1/2cup
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Cilantro - for garnish
Method:

• Heat 2tbsp ghee or oil in a medium sauce pan on medium-high heat. Add the cardamom pods (elaichi), cinnamon and bay leaves and cook until they sizzle and are aromatic, 5 to 10 seconds.
  
• Add ginger and garlic and fry to a golden-brown color, about 1 minute.
• Add 1/2 cup water and the tomato paste, red chili powder, paprika, salt, coriander, cumin and turmeric. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pan and simmer until the water evaporated and a thin film of oil starts to form on the surface of the sauce, about 5 minutes.
• Add another 1/2 cup water and continue to simmer the sauce, covered, stirring occasionally, until the water evaporates and the oil film reappears on the surface, about 5 minutes.
  
• Repeat the addition and evaporation of water twice more to create a rich tasting, lush-red sauce.
  
• Stir in the onion paste and simmer, covered for another 5 minutes.
• Add kidney beans and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Uncover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce starts to thicken, 13-15 minutes.
• Pour in the cream and add the garam masala. Cook until the cream is warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Garnish with cilantro and serve.

** Fried Onion Paste (makes 3 cups):

Heat 2-3 tbsp oil in a large saute pan. Add 2 pounds of thinly sliced red onions and cook them, stirring occasionally until they are caramel-brown with a deep purple hue, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool. Grind into a smooth paste once cool enough to handle. Stored in a tightly sealed container, this paste will keep for 1 week in the refrigerator or can be frozen into smaller batches for 2 months.

Day 14 – Cholent (Vegan Jewish Stew)

First some Wiki Gyan time: Cholent (in Yiddish) or hamin (in Hebrewן‎) is a traditional Jewish stew simmered overnight, for 12 hours or more, and eaten for lunch on the Sabbath. Cholent was developed over the centuries to conform with Jewish religious laws that prohibit cooking on the Sabbath. The pot is brought to boil on Friday before the Sabbath begins, and kept on a hotplate, or placed in a slow oven or electric slow cooker until the following day.

Well I just followed the recipe from veganomicon and Isa’s version of vegan cholent was done in exactly 45minutes. This tasted awesome, very hearty & filling. Isa suggests serving it over rice or with bread, but I went with polenta. I made a few changes to the recipe to accommodate what I have in the pantry.

Recipe adapted from Veganomicon.
Ingredients:
Onion – 1 large, chopped
Potatoes – 2 large, chopped into cubes
Carrot – 1 medium, chopped
Kidney beans – 1 15oz. can or 1½ cups cooked
TVP chunks (Soy chunks like Nutrella)– 1 cup
Peas – 1 cup, fresh/ thawed if frozen
Tomato paste – 2tbsp
Tomato puree – 1 cup
Garlic – 2 cloves
Bay leaves – 2
Caraway seeds (Shah jeera) – ½tsp
Salt & Pepper – to taste

Method:

• Heat 2tbsp oil in a large soup pot; add onions and sauté till they turn translucent, about 5-6 minutes.
• Add garlic, caraway seeds, salt and pepper and cook for another minute.
• Add potatoes, carrots, TVP chunks, bay leaves, tomato puree & tomato paste along with 3 cups of water. Cover and cook for about 25-30 minutes or until the veggies are tender.
• Add kidney beans & peas, cook till they are heated through. Serve hot with rice, polenta or bread. It tasted awesome reheated for lunch too.

Creamy Rajma Curry

Last night I made multi-grain rotis inspired from A2Z Vegetarian cuisine. I only had about ¾th cup of atta (whole-wheat flour) and had to make enough rotis for 2 people, so I added 2tbsp each of soy flour, sprouted ragi flour, buckwheat flour and besan. It made 3 rotis each, just enough to feed us both. No pictures, cos we were in a hurry to eat.

To go along with the rotis, I made this Rajma (red kidney bean curry) inspired by a recipe of Manjula Jain that I watched on You Tube. She used a few tablespoons of besan (chickpea flour) that makes the gravy nice and thick.

Ingredients:
Red Kidney beans – 1½ cups cooked
Onion – 1 medium, chopped fine
Tomato puree – 1 cup
Besan (Chickpea flour) – 2tbsp
Garlic – 2 cloves, finely minced
Cumin seeds – 1tsp
Red chili powder – 1tsp
Ground cumin – 1tsp
Amchoor powder (dry mango powder) – ½ tsp
Garam masala – ½ tsp

Method:

• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large skillet; add cumin seeds and once they splutter add onions and garlic and sauté till softened.
• Add besan and cook until it doesn’t smell raw anymore, about 2 minutes.
• Next add tomato puree; cover and cook till the gravy starts to simmer about 3-4 minutes.
• Now add the spice powders and kidney beans. Add 1 cup (or more) water and simmer on medium-low flame until the mixture is thickens about 10-12 minutes.
• Season with salt and garam masala and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with roti or rice.

This is my entry JFI-Rajma being hosted by Divya @ Dil Se. Indira @ Mahanandi is the brain behind JFI.

Dal Makhani

This post is all about “My Legume Love Affair”. Yes I’m posting all my entries for MLLA-7 in one single post. MLLA is a brain child of Susan @ Well Seasoned cook, and is being hosted by lovely Srivalli @ Cooking4allseasons.

First up is my Dal Makhani. I make dal makhani with whole moong dal (green gram dal) instead of whole urad. Here’s my recipe:

Ingredients:
Red Kidney beans – 1 cup, cooked
Whole Moong beans (Pesalu) – ¾ cup
Onions – 1 cup, chopped (from 1 large onion)
Ginger + garlic paste (g+g)– 1 tsp
Tomato puree – 1 cup (I used canned crushed tomatoes)
Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – ½ tsp
Red chili powder – 1 ½ tsp (or to taste)
Amchoor powder – ½ tsp (or to taste)
Half & Half – ¼ cup
Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
Salt – to taste

Method:

• Soak the beans separately for at least 8 hours. Pressure cook them for 4-5 whistles (depending on the cooker) until tender.**
• Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large sauté pan; add cumin seeds and after they splutter, add onions and sauté until they are slightly brown.
• Add g+g paste and cook for a minute. Add tomato puree; cover and cook for about 8 minutes.
• Then add all the spice powders; cook for another 2 minutes.
• Add the beans, salt and 1 cup of water; cover and cook for at least 20 minutes, but ideally up to 40-45 minutes; stirring occasionally.
• Add half & half; simmer for another 2 minutes. Can be served hot with almost anything; pulao or roti.

** I usually make a big batch of beans every two weeks. I soak and cook about 2-3 different types of beans (separately of course). After thoroughly cooling them; I store about a week’s worth in the refrigerator in plastic containers; all the rest get stashed in the freezer in freezer-safe bags for later use. It’s extremely convenient to have cooked beans on a weekday; also I figured it’s much cheaper to cook them at home than buy canned. I do have few canned for extremely urgent situations.

I’m always looking for new baby recipes to make for my son. I borrowed Super Baby food by Ruth Yaron from the library. The book has rather small section on recipes, but the entire book is covered with good tips on how-to make, store & freeze homemade baby food.
There is a great recipe for “Super Porridge”; it is 2 parts whole-grains to 1 part legumes. According to the author when approximately 2 parts grains are mixed with one part beans or legumes protein is formed that is as high a quality as that from eggs or meats. To make the mix take 1/3 cup each of any whole grains and 1/8 cup of any beans/peas/legumes.

I made three different mixes for my little one:
1. Brown Rice + Rolled Oats + Adzuki beans

2. Brown Rice + Quinoa + Red Kidney beans

3. Millet + Pearl Barley + Moong beans

To cook, boil 1 cup of water in a saucepan, sprinkle in 3tbsp of the mix; cook covered on low heat, stirring occasionally until cooked, and takes about 15 minutes. Serve with cooked vegetables, yogurt or fruit. I usually serve the porridge with any curry that I make for us and my son seems to like it. Give it a try for your little ones.

Beanball Sub

Today’s lunch is toasted sub with leftover bean balls and marinara sauce (from Day 2) on hoagie rolls. Again recipe is from Veganomicon.

I made a batch of Seitan last night so I don’t have to scramble to make dishes for Vegan mofo. I followed the recipe from Veganomicon to the letter; I have 2/3rds of it in the fridge to be used sometime this week and 1/3^rd of it frozen for a later use. So in my blog’s horoscope this week I see a post with seitan in it :0)

Pasta with Beanballs

This recipe from Veganomicon is very tasty and easy to put together. I had some cooked kidney beans that I froze sometime back and it took minutes to make these (Opening a can of beans would have taken the same time).

Ingredients:

Cooked Red kidney beans – 3 cups

Vital wheat Gluten – ¼ cup
Plain Breadcrumbs – ½ cup

Soy Sauce – 2tbsp
Tomato Paste – 2 tbsp (I used 1 tbsp crushed tomato instead)

Olive Oil – 2 tbsp plus more for frying
Garlic – 1 tbsp, minced

Lemon jest – 1 tsp
Dried thyme – ¼ tsp

Dried Oregano – ¼ tsp
Marinara Sauce - 4 cups (either home made or store-bought)
Pasta - 8 oz.

Method:

• Mash the beans until there are no whole beans anymore. The texture should not be too smooth.
• Add all the other ingredients and mix with a fork to combine. Then using hands, knead the mixture for 1 minute until everything is completely mixed and firm. Roll into walnut size balls.
• Preheat a large sauté pan on medium. Add ¼“of olive oil and slowly drop in the beanballs. Cook for about 15 minutes, tossing often, until browned on all sides. Remove and drain on a paper towel.
• Remove all but 2 tbsp oil in the pan. Slide the beanballs back into the pan and slowly add 1/3 cup marinara sauce; toss to coat. Cook for about 15 minutes.
• In the meantime cook pasta (I used small shell pasta) according to package directions. Drain and transfer back to the pot. Pour the remaining marinara sauce over pasta and mix.

To serve, place some pasta in a bowl, and top with 4-5 beanballs and their sauce. Slurp.. yummy..