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Entries in curry (2)

Monday
14Sep2009

Daring Cook Indian Dosas

Indian dosas

As I'm a bit light on the pocket money situation I thought this nice recipe wouldn't break the bank too much. I like Indian food and do make it from scratch reasonably often, one of my favourite books is Anjum Anand's book "Anjum's new indian". It's also quite healthy, which is what I need after a week on holiday indulging myself. I haven't made dosas before but I'll try anything once, with regards to food that is ;-).

The recipe was a little labour intensive, especially the coconut wrestling, and the pancakes took quite a few goes to get them right but they turned out very tasty in the end. Give them a go!

This is Debyi from http://www.healthyvegankitchen.com I am so excited to be your host for the September 2009 Daring Cooks challenge. It took almost a month to decide which recipe that I wanted to do. I wanted to choose something that could be easily adapted for our GF'ers and other Alternative Cooks, as well as still being tasty for everyone else. So, I finally decided on Indian Dosas from the refresh cookbook by Ruth Tal.

Indian Dosas
This recipe comes in 3 parts, the dosas, the filling and the sauce. It does take awhile to make, but the filling and sauce can be made ahead and frozen if need be. You can serve them as a main course with rice and veggies, or as an appetizer. This does take a little planning ahead, so make sure you read the recipe through before starting.

Serves 4



Equipment needed:
large bowl
whisk
griddle or skillet
ladle (or large spoon)
spatula
vegetable peeler &/or knife
large saucepan
food processor or bean masher

Dosa Pancakes
1 cup (120gm/8oz) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour)
½ tsp (2½ gm) salt
½ tsp (2½ gm) baking powder
½ tsp (2½ gm) curry powder
½ cup (125ml/4oz) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)
¾ cup (175ml/6oz) water
cooking spray, if needed

Dosa Filling
1 batch Curried Garbanzo Filling (see below), heated

Dosa Toppings
1 batch Coconut Curry Sauce (see below), heated
¼ cup (125gm) grated coconut
¼ cucumber, sliced

Dosa Pancakes
1.Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.
2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.
3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes.

Curried Garbanzo Filling
This filling works great as a rice bowl topping or as a wrap too, so don't be afraid to make a full batch.

5 cloves garlic
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)
2 medium hot banana chilies, minced
2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground
1 TBSP (8gm) oregano
1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)
1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric
4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans)
½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste

1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.
2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.

Coconut Curry Sauce
This makes a great sauce to just pour over rice as well. This does freeze well, but the texture will be a little different. The flavor is still the same though. My picture of this sauce is one that I had made, had to freeze, then thaw to use. It tastes great, but the texture is a little runnier, not quite as thick as it was before freezing.

1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
½ (2½ gm) tsp cumin, ground
¾ (3¾ gm) tsp sea salt (coarse)
3 TBSP (30gm) curry powder
3 TBSP (30gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)
3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth
2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk
3 large tomatoes, diced

1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.
2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.
3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.
4.Let it simmer for half an hour.
Happy eating!

Thursday
20Nov2008

Forgive me my public for I have sinned

Innocent pot

Yes I know I've been absolutely rubbish at updating my blog recently. Lets just say that stuff got in the way of things and then my general laziness got mixed up in there too.

To begin in some way to make amends I would like to review one of the new line of Innocent's healthy lunch pots. I am a big fan of Innocent and have been for a number of years now. They began selling fruit drinks about eight years ago and haven't looked back since. Their drinks are as their company name suggests as they are free from additives, preservatives and not from concentrate. Their ethically minded approach ensures that when you hand over your hard-earned cash, you feel that you're not only doing something good for your body but for humankind (I never exaggerate). 

I had high hopes for this new product and when I spotted their Thai coconut curry with soya beans, pak choi and wild rice, I snatched it off the supermarket shelf and stuffed it into my shopping basket. I marched home and got out the paraphernalia needed to cook it. Microwaving is the easiest option but I don't have a microwave so on the hob it went. The colours and the smell were divine, I dished it onto a plate and heaped the first fork full into my mouth expecting fireworks. Hummm, soapy! Why should it taste soapy? Now I thought there was small possibility that in my haste I had failed to completely dry the pan that I had slopped it into but I sadly I don't think this is the case. I do think though that I probably didn't cook it for long enough because the beans were a little more than al dente.

Innocent's new food

 

Sorry Innocent, I can't say that you have wowed me on this occasion but fear not because there are other pots in the range and I am very willing to give them a go. Don't let this poor review put you off though as you may feel differently about it. After all, there is a distinct possibility that I have no idea what I'm talking about.