Samosas

Samosas are the quintessential Indian snack food. I have eaten them at hawker stalls in Singapore, the Oberoi Hotel in New Delhi, and the Dupont Circle Farmer's Market in Washington, D.C.

Traditionally, samosas are triangular-shaped pastries with a vegetable filling served with mint or coriander chutney. Preparing samosas is quite time consuming - rolling out and shaping the dough and filling it with the vegetable mixture takes a while. Since I was pressed for time I decided to forgo the triangular in favor of the half-moon shape.

Samosa recipes from Julie Sahni's Classical Indian Cooking and Nina Simonds Spices of Life have inspired my version below. To balance the spiciness of the filling I serve samosas with mint chutney and cucumber raita.

Filling:
2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 finely chopped yellow onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 green chili, seeds removed, finely chopped
2 tsp garam masala
3/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
salt
1 pound small potatoes, cooked, peeled, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 large carrots, grated
3/4 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves

• Heat canola oil in saucepan and fry onion for a couple of minutes. Add garlic, ginger and chopped green chili and fry until onion is lightly browned. 
• Add spices and salt and incorporate well into mixture.
• Add vegetables and fry for a couple of minutes stirring constantly.
• Add lemon juice and coriander leaves. Fill mixture into bowl and let come to room temperature.

Dough:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp vegetable shortening
7 tbsp cold water

• Mix flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Gradually add vegetable shortening until incorporated. Add cold water one tablespoon at a time. Form dough into a ball, coat lightly with canola oil and let rest for 30 minutes covered with plastic wrap. 
• Divide dough in half and roll each half into a rope. Cut each rope into 6 - 7 pieces and form into balls.

Filling and frying the pastries:
Canola oil for deep frying
small bowl with cold water

• Prepare one pastry at a time.
• On a lightly floured surface roll out a ball into a 5-inch circle.
• Place 2-3 tbsp of filling into the bottom half of the circle leaving about 1/2 inch at the edges. Press filling down.
• Moisten edge of bottom half of circle with water.
• Fold over top half of circle and press down firmly to securely seal the samosa.
• Repeat with remaining dough balls.

Heat oil in a large pan. When hot, carefully place 3-4 samosas into oil and fry until pasty crust is golden brown. Remove from oil and place on paper towels. Fry remaining samosas.

Serve samosas warm or at room temperature with mint chutney and cucumber raita.

Serves 3 as a light meal.

Fried Tofu Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

Until 12 years ago our family was not particularly fond of tofu. Nobody liked the texture, there was no taste to it and dishes I made just seemed boring. All of this changed when we were invited to a friend's home in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and sampled her Asian fried tofu appetizer. We were hooked. Since then I have experimented with various spices and condiments to make tofu dishes more appealing. Below is my version of a spicy tofu salad adapted from a recipe in "The Cooking of Singapore" by Chris Yeo and Joyce Jue.

Ingredients:

Dressing:
1/2 tsp mashed garlic
2 tsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tsp tamarind paste dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup ground roasted peanuts
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used smooth peanut butter, but you could also use the crunchy kind)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp sriracha sauce
1 tsp lemon or lime juice

Salad:
1 cup shredded green cabbage
1 pound tofu, drained, patted dry and cut into 1/2 inch slices
1-2 tbsp sesame oil
3 finely grated carrots
1/2 English hothouse cucumber, thinly sliced. Take about 6 cucumber slices and sliver them. Keep separate.

• Bring dressing ingredients to room temperature.
• Measure 1/2 cup of peanut butter into a small bowl.
• Combine minced garlic, soy sauce, tamarind water, ground roasted peanuts, sugar, sriracha sauce and lemon or lime juice and mix well. Add to peanut butter and blend until smooth. Set aside.
• Heat sesame oil in non-stick frying pan and fry tofu slices until lightly browned, about 2 - 3 minutes per side. Remove from pan and cut into 1/2 inch cubes when cool enough to handle.
• To assemble salad, put several cucumber slices on a plate, add desired amount of tofu cubes, spoon some spicy peanut dressing over tofu and top with shredded cabbage, grated carrots and slivered cucumbers.

Serves 4 as an appetizer.

Grilled Tofu Curry

Everyone in our family loves curries - living and traveling in Asia for several years gave us many opportunities to try various versions in different countries. I am particularly fond of Thai curries - I love the combination of spices, herbs and coconut milk, and the crunchiness of the vegetables added shortly before serving. I am always looking for interesting recipes to add to my collection. While planning a multi-course Thai meal, I came across quite a few interesting recipes in Easy Thai Cooking by Robert Danhi and Corinne Trang. The following recipe was adapted from this cookbook.

Ingredients:
1 lb firm tofu, drained, dried and cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 14 oz can light coconut milk
3 tbsp red curry paste
1/4 - 1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 cup snow peas, ends snipped off and cut diagonally in half
1 large red, orange or yellow bell pepper, cleaned and sliced into strips
2 baby bok choy, washed and sliced into strips
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 cup Thai basil leaves
5 fresh kaffir lime leaves, veins removed and cut into very thin slivers (if you can't find kaffir lime leaves use 1 tsp of finely grated lime zest)
2 tbsp minced coriander stems
fresh coriander leaves as garnish
jasmine rice as an accompaniment

• Mix turmeric powder with canola oil. Sprinkle tofu slices with salt and brush both sides with turmeric and oil mixture. Heat frying pan and fry tofu slices on medium until lightly browned on both sides (1-2 minutes per side). Be careful not to break slices when turning. Arrange tofu slices in a bowl deep enough to hold sauce. Keep warm.
• Heat 1/4 cup coconut milk in a saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until liquid has reduced to about half. Mix in the red curry paste and stir to combine. Cook for another minute before adding the remaining coconut milk, vegetable stock, sugar, fish and soy sauces. Bring mixture and to a boil and simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add salt or sugar as needed.
• Add snow peas, pepper and bok choy to curry and simmer for 30 seconds. Add the lime juice, Thai basil leaves and coriander stems. Stir to combine and spoon curry over tofu slices. 
• Before serving, sprinkle kaffir lime leaf slivers and coriander leaves over curry.

Serves 4-6

Winter Vegetables and Tofu Curry

Nothing is better than a spicy curry on a cold winter evening. Adjust the spices to your tolerance level and be mindful - curry powders can be quite hot (if you're not quite sure, add a little at first and then add to taste). I like to serve this curry over basmati rice.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp canola oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
14 oz butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into cubes
3/4 lb broccoli florets
1 red pepper, seeded, and cut into strips
1/2 lb white button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2 tsp grated ginger root
3/4 tsp minced garlic
1 14-oz can light unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp curry powder (or to taste)
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
4 kaffir lime leaves (fresh or dried)
1 stalk of lemongrass, outer layer removed, cut into 2-inch pieces, and bruised with the handle of a knife
3/4 lb firm tofu, diced into cubes
1 cup chard, cut into shreds
cayenne pepper to taste
juice of two limes
1/2 cup cilantro leaves

• Heat oil in wok over medium heat, add the onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add butternut squash, cover, and cook for 8 minutes. Add broccoli and cook for 4 minutes. Add bell pepper and mushrooms and cook for another 2 minutes. Add minced garlic and grated ginger root and cook for one more minute. (Check to ensure that butternut squash is soft, if not, cook for another minute or two.)

• Add the coconut milk, water, soy sauce, salt, turmeric, curry, cumin, coriander, kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass pieces and stir carefully to mix spices with vegetables. Keep at a simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the tofu and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Add the sliced chard for the last two minutes. Adjust seasoning and add cayenne pepper and lime juice to taste. Sprinkle cilantro leaves on top.

Serves 4-6.

This recipe was adapted from Susan Belsinger's recipe in "Living Wisely & Living Well - Natural Home".

Pumpkin Curry

A somewhat different curry with red kuri pumpkin which is based on a recipe I found in the Christmas edition of Germany's largest food magazine "Essen und Trinken".

Ingredients:
1 small can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 red kuri pumpkin, cut in half, seeded, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (you should have about
1 - 1.5 lbs of pumpkin chunks)
5 tbsp yellow onion, diced
6 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp green curry paste
1 14-oz can light coconut milk
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
8 kaffir lime leaves
3 stalks lemongrass, outer leaves removed and cut into 3-in pieces (to add more flavor to the curry, bruise lemongrass pieces slightly with a wooden mallet before adding to curry)
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
juice of two limes
4 oz sugar snap peas, ends snipped off and cut into halves diagonally
2 - 3 cups kale, washed and torn into bit-size pieces
4 spring onions, cut into 1-inch pieces
one handful of Thai basil leaves, torn into smaller pieces
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves

• Heat 3 tbsp of oil in wok. When hot, add water chestnut slices, onions and pumpkin chunks. Stir fry for about 4 -5 minutes, remove from wok and set aside.
• Heat remaining oil, add curry paste and stir for a few seconds. Add coconut milk, red pepper flakes, limes leaves, lemongrass and stir. Add fish sauce, brown sugar and lime juice. Stir until evenly mixed.
• Add pumpkin mixture to wok and cook, stirring regularly, for approximately 8 - 10 minutes. 
• Add sugar snap peas, kale and spring onions. Stir.
• Season the curry with salt and pepper and, if desired, additional fish sauce and lime juice. Add Thai basil leaves and coriander leaves before serving.

Serve with jasmine rice.

Serves 4

Thanksgiving 2011

In the past, Thanksgiving overseas was always an adventure. Would we be able to get a turkey, sweet potatoes and cranberries? While living in Croatia, I drove every November to the airbase in Aviano, Italy, which a huge shopping list of turkeys and trimmings for our community back in Zagreb. I enjoyed the drive to Italy, admiring the beautiful mountains right behind Aviano. It was a long day, but definitely worth it. Everyone was happy to pick up their turkeys, sweet potatoes, green beans and fresh cranberries the next day from my office (which resembled a mini grocery store).

Belgrade was less adventurous, since we did have a small commissary in the embassy which organized a special order right in time for the holidays.

So this being our first year back in the U.S. and one of our daughters (the one who likes meat) in college on the West Coast, we decided to have a vegetarian Thanksgiving. I looked through my collection of recipes and old magazines and came up with this delicious menu for five (my father-in-law and sister-in-law joined us from Charlottesville, VA):

Shaved Vegetable Salad

Food and Wine, November 2011
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/shaved-vegetable-salad)

Pumpkin Stuffed with Vegetables

Gourmet, November 2007
 http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2007/11/pumpkin-stuffed-vegetable-stew

Apple Cranberry Pie

Martha Stewart Living, November 2011
http://www.marthastewart.com/857649/sky-high-apple-cranberry-pie?search_key=Apple%20Cranberry%20pie%20recipe

Polly's Pumpkin Pie

(a delicious pumpkin pie my sister-in-law prepared)