Vegetable Korma

As I emerge from my hockey watching-induced coma I find myself wondering where this month went?  It was definitely a bit hectic but that's no excuse...so I'm going to sneak a post in before the month is officially over.

Hubby has been craving either Persian or Indian food so I searched online for a recipe for one my favorite Indian dishes - vegetable korma.  But I knew I didn't want to use a recipe that calls for heavy cream or half and half like so many of them do.  I came upon this recipe at Manjula's Kitchen.  I was happy to see her recipe called for just plain mik - I figured it would more likely survive my use of soy milk. I've copied her recipe here with the adjustments I made in italics.  It was really delicious, filling and exactly what I was looking for.  I served it on long grain brown rice with plain yogurt and a very spicy mango relish on the side.  Leftovers for lunch today were just as good.  A definite keeper!


Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups chopped vegetables (cauliflower (1/2 medium head), green peas (1/2 cup frozen), carrot (2 medium), green beans (~1/2 lb), red bell pepper (one medium)
• 1/2 cup chopped fried paneer (I didn't use paneer or tofu - just vegetables)
• 3 tablespoons oil (I used only 2 teaspoons with no problems)
• Pinch of asafetida (hing)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1 seeded finely chopped green chili (I used a rather large jalepeno)
• 1 tablespoon shredded ginger
• 1 tablespoon coriander powder (dhania)
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric Haldi)
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon mango powder (amchoor powder) (I didn't have this so substituted the juice of half a lemon)
• 1 cup milk (I used 1 1/2 cups fat free soy milk)
• 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

Garnish:

• 1/2 cup seeded and chopped tomatoes (I added a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained, to the dish while it cooked rather than garnishing with fresh tomatoes)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro - didn't use

Method:

1. Mix the shredded ginger, green chili, coriander powder, turmeric, and cayenne pepper with 2 tablespoons of water and set aside.
2. Mix cornstarch with milk and set aside.
3. Heat the oil in a saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if it cracks right away oil is ready.
4. Add the asafetida and cumin seeds. After cumin seeds crack, add the bay leaves and the spice mixture. Fry for a few seconds until the spices start separating from the oil.
5. Add the cauliflower, green peas, carrot and green beans. Mix well and cover the pan. Let the vegetables cook on medium heat for about 7 to 8 minutes. The vegetables should be cooked just about half way.
6. Add the bell pepper and paneer. Mix well. Add the milk/cornstarch mixture and cook until the vegetables are tender. Add more milk if needed for more gravy.
7. Turn off the heat. Mix in the garam masala, amchoor powder and cilantro. (At this point I put it in my Le Creuset dutch oven and let it cook in the oven at a low heat until we were ready for dinner - an hour or so).
8. Place the vegetable korma in a serving dish and garnish with chopped tomatoes. Enjoy! 

Mushroom sliders with chipotle mayo

I tried posting this the other night and when I published it the formatting was all wacko.  So back for another attempt.  I made this based on a recipe from epicurious.com for Mushroom Kasha Burgers with Chipotle Mayonnaise.  I didn't have the exact ingredients - but close.  When reading the comments it sounded like the full size "burger" could be a bit crumbly and hard to manage.  So I made 20 small ones and served them as sliders.  Below is the recipe as I made it.

Mushroom sliders with chipotle mayo

• 2/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup coarse kasha (whole roasted buckwheat groats)
• 3 large portabella mushrooms, stems discarded
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 1 large red bell pepper, cut into large pieces
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons dried  parsley
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 1/2 cups fine dry bread crumbs, divided
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 20 large oval slices rye bread, cut into 3  inch rounds if desired, lightly toasted

Bring water to a boil in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan, then stir in kasha. Cover and reduce heat to low, then cook until kasha is tender and water is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cool.

Break one third of mushrooms into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped, then transfer to a bowl. Repeat with remaining 2 batches of mushrooms, transferring to bowl.

Put onion, bell pepper and garlic in food processor and pulse until finely chopped.  Cook onion, bell pepper and garlic  in butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add chopped mushrooms, parsley, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until any liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and mushrooms begin to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer mixture to a large bowl, then stir in kasha, parsley, soy sauce, and 1/2 cup bread crumbs until combined well. Cool 10 minutes, then stir in egg until combined well.

Line a platter with foil. Spread remaining cup bread crumbs in a shallow baking dish.

Form a scoop of mushroom mixture into a  patty about (3 inches in diameter), then dredge in bread crumbs, knocking off excess, and transfer to platter. Form and dredge more patties, transferring to platter. Chill patties, loosely covered with plastic wrap, 1 hour.

Heat oil in cleaned 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then fry patties, turning over once, until deep golden, about 4 minutes total. Transfer patties to paper towels to drain (patties will be somewhat soft).

Meanwhile, whisk together mayonnaise and chipotles adding in a little adobo sauce - blend until the chipotle peppers fall apart.

Spread bread with chipotle mayonnaise and sandwich each mushroom patty between 2 slices.

I used an empty can to cut out the toast pieces.  Just make the patties to fit whatever size you are going to cut the bread.  This made 20 sliders.  

I'd like to make these again and experiment with baking them in the oven (and toasting the bread in the oven) to make it a practical appetizer.    These were really good !  We had leftovers the next day on a full size sandwich.  They were just as good but the sliders were more fun :-)