Indian Sliced Onion Pickle

My new addiction. These onion pickles have an almost perfumed quality that I wasn't sure I liked at first, but they have become a daily habit--on sandwiches, on poké bowls, on salads, as a side with curries. They come from a recently released Dutch cookbook written by an Indian expat. 

The book (De Bible van de Indiase Keuken by Paulami Joshi) covers many familiar recipes, certainly for someone like me who has got a fair collection of Indian cookbooks. The recipes are grouped by region and they include some unfamiliar dishes. The book has good illustrated how-to sections on making breads and some other things. It's one weakness is the index, which is almost useless unless you know the exact recipe name. Look under a recipe's major ingredient, like cauliflower or, in this case, onions, and you won't find the recipe listing.

But the recipes are great and this one is a real gem. 

Ingredients

240 ml (1 cup) vinegar
120 ml (1/2 cup) water
3 cloves
1 black cardamom pod, bruised
3 green cardamom pods, bruised
1 cinnamon stick
200-250 g (7-8 oz) red onions or shallots, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt

Directions

Have ready a sterilized 400 ml jar with a screw-on lid.

1. In a small saucepan, bring the vinegar, water, and spices to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes.
2. While that simmers, thinly slice the onions and put them in the sterilized jar.
3. Pour the spiced liquid and spices over the onions, screw on the lid and let cool. once it has cooled, keep it in the fridge for up to 2 months. (My first batch only lasted for 3 weeks.)

Source: De Bible van de Indiase Keuken By Paulami Joshi

 

Hyderabadi Tomato Curry with Eggs

I'm always on the lookout for good vegetarian and Indian cookbooks that may offer something new. On a recent trip to Canada, I struck gold with Vegetarian India: A Journey Through the Best of Indian Home Cooking by the goddess of Indian cooking in the West, Madhur Jaffrey. It was published in a slightly different form in Great Britain as Curry Easy Vegetarian. Although  I prefer the metric measures and weights provided in British and European cookbooks, this edition has a more extensive introduction about how and where she collected these recipes. I won't be replacing it!

I have been cooking from it since I got back, and I haven't hit a dud yet, although I always end up making adjustments, sometimes inadvertently.

Sauce without water

For example, Jaffrey never includes water in her list of ingredients, so you have to be very attentive when reading her instructions,because it may be included there. The first time I made this tomato curry, I missed seeing the added 2 1/2 cups of water, so the curry turned out to be quite thick (but delicious!).

I thought at the time that I would add some water the next time I made it. When I did, I noticed my error but decided not to add as much water as she recommends. And I made some other tweaks in the spices (more chili and turmeric) and tamarind paste.

Hyderabadi Tomato Curry with Eggs

Serves 4

This simple tomato curry could be served for any meal along with some rice. The sauce is delicious, gently spiced with a sour note from the tamarind. It may be even be better the next day, so I make up a full batch (instead of my usual half recipes) and stock the freezer for a quick meal. It goes well with eggs, but I think it would also be great with fried paneer or little meatballs.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons chickpea flour
6 tablespoons water
1 1/2 cups pureed tomatoes, passata, or crushed tomatoes (equivalent to 1 can of 400 grams)

1 1/2 to 2 1/2 cups water, depending on your tomatoes and preferences
1 teaspoon tamarind paste
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons oil
6-7 curry leaves *
2 teaspoons ginger, grated
4 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon cumin, ground
1/2 teaspoon kashmiri (red) chili powder, or hot paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

4-6 hard boiled eggs

Tarka:
2 tablespoons oil
1/4 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
3-6 hot dry chilis
2 cloves garlic, sliced into long slivers
6-7 curry leaves *

Cilantro for garnish

* Fresh curry leaves may be hard to find. You can use frozen or dried curry leaves, and otherwise just omit. 

Directions

1. Hard boil the eggs. I prick a hole in the bottom of the eggs, then submerge them in boiling water and simmer for 9 minutes for medium to large eggs. 
2. Heat a small frying pan over medium-high heat, then add the chickpea flour and toast it for a few minutes, stirring, until it turns a shade darker. Transfer to a medium bowl to cool. When it is cool, mix in 6 tablespoons of water until there are no lumps.
3. Add the tomatoes, tamarind paste, salt, and 1 1/2 cups of water. Mix well and set aside.
4. Heat the oil in a saute pan (preferably non-stick) over medium high heat. 
5. When the oil is hot, add the curry leaves, followed by the ginger and garlic, and stir a few times.
6. Turn the heat down to low, then add the cumin, chili powder, and turmeric, and stir a few times.
7. Add the tomato puree mixture, and bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly.
8. Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring now and then. If you find the sauce too thick, add some more water. If you want it thicker, cook it for a bit longer.
9. For the final seasoning (the tarka), heat the oil in a small frying pan.
10. When it is very hot, add the mustard seeds, and when they begin to pop, add the chilis and cumin seeds.
11. When the chilis darken, add the slivered garlic and brown slightly.
12. Adding the curry leaves, and quickly pour the lot over the tomato sauce. Stir well.

To serve, pour the tomato sauce in a shallow serving dish. Slice the eggs in half  lay them on top of the sauce.  Dribble a bit of sauce over the eggs and garnish with shopped cilantro. Serve with rice.

Parsnip Soup with Pine Nut, Currant, and Celery Leaf Relish

It is now spring, so theoretically I should start cooking with fresh peas, artichokes, and asparagus. But before moving on to those, let me share a recipe that I have made a lot this past winter.

Parsnips are a fixture of British Christmas dinners, but in Holland they were almost unknown and referred to as a forgotten vegetable until a couple of years ago.  Prior to the introduction of the potato, they were a staple of the diet here. In fact, they were likely to be the vegetable used instead of the potato in the original hutspot, which legend says was left behind by Spanish soldiers when the dikes were broken and land flooded during the Siege of Leiden in 1574. Hutspot made with potatoes and carrots is still eaten in Leiden on 3 October to celebrate that Dutch victory.

And indeed parsnips seem to have been thoroughly forgotten. I never had it as a child, probably because my Dutch parents were unfamiliar with it, although perhaps it was also forgotten in Canada and not available then.

But it is once again to be found in Dutch supermarkets and not just at the Turkish greengrocers! So there is no excuse for not making this wonderful, unusual, and easy soup.

Parsnip Soup with Pine Nut, Currant, and Celery Leaf Relish

Adapted from: Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables, by Joshua McFadden
Serves 2 for meal or 4 for a first course

The zingy fresh relish really makes this dish. Don't omit it!

Soup:

1-2 teaspoons olive oil

500-600 grams parsnips, peeled and sliced into 1 cm coins

1 large stalk celery, sliced into 1 cm pieces (reserve the celery leaves, if possible)

1 small onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons butter

400 ml water (or enough to cover the vegetables) + some more later

salt and pepper to taste

Relish:

1/4 cup currents

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

1/4 cup celery leaves, chopped

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon chili flakes

salt and pepper to taste

1-2 teaspoons olive oil 

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. Add the parsnips, celery, onion, and butter, and lightly season with salt and pepper.
3. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and cook slowly without browning for 10-15 minutes.
4. Add water to cover, increase the heat, and simmer until completely tender, about 5-10 minutes.
5. Puree the soup, adding more hot water until you have loosened it to a consistency that you like (perhaps thinner for a first course soup or thicker for a meal).
6. Taste and adjust the seasoning. 

While the soup is cooking, make the relish.

1. Soak the currents in the vinegar for 15 minutes or more.
2. Lightly toast the pine nuts in a skillet until they start to turn golden.
3. Combine all the relish ingredients except olive oil, in a bowl.
4. Taste and adjust the flavours until bright and zingy before adding some olive oil.

Serve each portion of soup with a big spoonful of relish. If you have extra relish, serve it on the side for those who want more.

Julia Child's Salade Niçoise

I've always thought of salad niçoise as just a random mixture of vegetables and fish, more specifically potatoes, lettuce, green beans, tomatoes, olives, capers, hard-boiled eggs and tuna. But I recently came across an episode of The French Chef with Julia Child in which she presents it as a composed salad, based around French potato salad. It is much more attractive, and the flavour of the potatoes is much better.

Apparently the potatoes are not cannonical--she had eaten versions without them. I think they are essential, turning the salad into a complete meal. I prefer to keep the skins on the potatoes.

For the fish, I sometimes use steamed or smoked makeral, but usually it is made with tuna.  The tuna should be packed in oil, not water. Tuna in water has a metallic taste that does not work in this salad at all.

And I always use kalamata olives rather than the small niçoise olives because I really like the flavour. Besides, niçoise olives are harder to find.

For the salad greens, I like romaine lettuce, but spinach leaves are also good.

Salade Niçoise

Adapted from Julia Child
(The Art of French Cooking, Volume 1)

Makes 2 generous servings as a meal, or 4 as a side salad.

You can prepare the vinaigrette, potato salad, and green beans ahead of time, then just arrange the salad before serving.

Vinaigrette:

1 garlic clove, crushed
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons red or white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh herbs, or 1 teaspoon dried herbs

Potato salad:

300 -350 grams waxy potatoes, such as rosevale
1 small shallot, minced, or 2 spring onions, sliced
1 tablespoon white wine
1 tablespoon bouillon, or water
2 tablespoons vinaigrette
salt and pepper to taste

Rest of the salad:
150 grams green beans
1 little gem romaine lettuce, washed and dried
1 medium tomato, cut into 12 pieces, or 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 anchovies
1 tin tuna in oil
2 eggs, hard-boiled
1/4 cup kalamata or niçoise olives
1 tablespoon capers
1 tablespoon minced fresh herbs (such as dill and/or parsley)

1. Make the vinaigrette by adding all the ingredients to a jar and then shaking vigorously.
2. Boil or steam the potatoes and green beans until tender. When done, put the potatoes in a bowl, and plunge the beans into cold water before setting aside to drain. 
3. While still warm, cut the potatoes into bite-size pieces, then add the white wine or vermouth and bouillon or water, and season with salt and pepper.
4. After 5 minutes or so, add a few tablespoons of vinaigrette, and toss the potatoes with the minced shallot or spring onions.

To serve, arrange the salad on a plate in a pleasing pattern. For example, start by placing the salad leaves in a circle on the plate, put the potato salad in the middle, then arrange the green beans, tomatoes, anchovies, tuna, and quartered eggs around it. Sprinkle with olives, capers, and fresh herbs. Spoon the vinaigrette over the salad and season with salt and pepper.

Watermelon Recipes for Hot Summer Days

The summer of 2018 has been a scorcher almost all over the world it seems. The heat has finally broken here in Amsterdam, but I am still enjoying the heat relief recipes of the last two months—easy, no-cook and thirst-quenching recipes for gazpacho and lemonade that both feature watermelon as a key ingredient.

Watermelon is a bit of a problem for a single person. I can buy a half or a quarter from the local greengrocers, but that's still a lot of watermelon, and in the heat, it has to be kept in the fridge. Making a batch of soup and/or lemonade is a great way to use it up quickly, and with a bit of room in the freezer, I can freeze it too. (Although the lemonade never made it that far!)

These days, you can often find (almost) seedless watermelon, but if you can't make sure you remove the seeds before blitzing chunks of water melon for both the soup and the lemonade.

Watermelon Gazpacho

Gazpacho, the cold soup of Spain, is always popular in hot summers. Truth to tell, I am not that fond of tomato gazpacho, but you can wake me up for this one. The secret is in the sweetness provided by the watermelon, which is balanced out by the acidity of the tomatoes and sherry vinegar, and the mild punch of the chili pepper. I served it to a friend who had already had a glass of the watermelon lemonade yet could not bring home the slight sweetness in the soup that I served as a first course.

There is no need to be precise about measurements with this recipe. Just make sure you taste it to get a balance you like. If it is too sweet, add a bit more vinegar and/or vegetables; add more chili pepper salt and pepper to taste. You will need a food processor or blender.

Adapted from Gazpacho (met Watermeloen)
Serves 2-3 as a meal, or more if served as appetizers or amuses
Keeps well for 2 days in the fridge.

Soup:

300 g watermelon, rind removed  (about 2 thick slices of a quarter watermelon)
300 g ripe tomatoes (about 1 1/4 large beefsteak tomato)
130 g cucumber (about 1/3)
1 clove garlic
1/2 chili pepper, or 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes (I used Aleppo chili flakes)
1 slice stale bread, crust removed
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
2 tablespoons good olive oil
salt and pepper

Garnish:
1 spring onion, finely sliced
20-40 gr cucumber, finely diced
sliced mint leaves

1. Roughly chop the watermelon, tomatoes, and cucumber and put in the bowl of the food processor.
2. Remove the crusts from the bread and cut into cubes, and add to the vegetables.
3. Add the garlic, vinegar, and olive oil, salt and pepper, then blitz until everything is finely ground.
4. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
5. Chill for 1-2 hours until it is really cold. If time is short, serve it over a couple of ice blocks.
6. Pour into bowls and garnish with the chopped sprint onions, diced cucumber, and mint leaves.

Watermelon Lemonade

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

This recipe uses simple syrup instead of plain sugar because it is pre-dissolved and mixes more easily. To make simple syrup, heat equal weights of sugar and water in a small sauce pan until the sugar is completely dissolved. I use 150 g sugar and 150 ml water. This yields enough for several batches of lemonade, and in a hot summer with lots of watermelon to use up, I make a batch every couple of days!

60-70 ml lemon juice (juice of approx. 2 lemons)
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon rind
200 ml watermelon, rind removed  (about 2 thick slices of a quarter watermelon)
2 tablespoons simple syrup
200 ml cold water, flat or sparkling

1. Clean the lemons and grate the lemon rind. (Save the extra lemon rind in a small jar in the freezer for other recipes.)
2. Roll the lemons around to release the juice (or heat a 15-3 seconds in the microwave) and then juice the lemons. Pour though a strainer to remove the seeds, but use as much pulp as you can.
3. Roughly chop and de-seed the watermelon, then blitz all the ingredients except the water using a blender, wand blender, or food processor. 
4. Taste, and adjust the flavour by adding more simple syrup if you like it sweeter, or lemon rind and/or juice if you like it less sweet. At this point, it is a concentrate that you can store in the fridge. 
5. To serve, pour a glass half full and add an equal amount of cold water and some ice cubes. Aaaah!

Marinated Sweet and Sour Fish

I love fish but don't eat it often enough, which is odd considering how quick it can be to cooked for a weeknight supper. This recipe does not fit into the weeknight supper category unless you make it the day before, but it is lovely if you do! It features fried fish fillets and sweet peppers in a curry-flavoured sweet and sour marinade.

I usually make it with pollack or cod fillets, but you you could use any firm-fleshed sustainably-sourced fish, including halibut, hake, or haddock fillets, or small fish, such as red mullet, sardines, or small mackerel.

It is meant to be served at room temperature as a starter or light supper, but I have also served it warmed up as part of an Indian meal. In fact, in winter I always prefer it warm.

The recipe is adapted from Ottlogenghi's Jerusalem cookbook, but it reminds me a bit of a South African recipe for pickled fish that I encountered in the Time-Life Foods of the World: Africa cookbook. Ottolenghi gives Danielle Postma the credit for this recipe, and Postma is a Dutch (Frisian) name which I assume would also be common in South Africa, so who knows where its origins really lie.

Marinated sweet and sour fish

I adapted the original recipe by finishing the dish on the stove top, rather than transferring it to the oven to cook for 10-12 minutes. Fish is delicate and overcooking it is a cardinal sin, so if it is almost cooked during the frying stage, it is easier to keep an eye on it on the stove.

You can start the marinade first and fry the fish in a separate frying pan as the marinade cooks, or start by frying the fish and then use the same pan to make the marinade. If you are using a single pan, use a saute pan or casserole that is large enough to accommodate the vegetables and fish. Either way, the fish is added to the marinade at the end.

Fish:

500-600 grams sustainably-sourced fish fillets or small fish, scaled and gutted
2-4 tablespoons of flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
1 large egg, beaten
1 tablespoon oil

Marinade:

2 medium onions, sliced 1 cm thick.
2 bell peppers, 1 red and 1 yellow, sliced in 1 cm strips
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 garlic gloves, crushed
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
3 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons apple or cider vinegar
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper
aprox. 250 ml water
1-2 tablespoons coriander leaf for garnish

1. Prepare the vegetables, slicing the onions and peppers 1 cm thick, and chopping the tomatoes.
2. Sprinkle the fish with salt, roll in the seasoned flour, then dip in the egg. (This helps to keep the fish together in the marinade, so don't omit this step.)
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan or saute pan. 
4. Fry the fish for 3 minutes on each side, then transfer to paper towels and set aside. 
5. Wipe out the pan, and heat 2 tablespoons of oil.
6. Add the onions and coriander seeds, and saute on medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring often.
7. Add the peppers and cook for another 10 minutes.
8. Add the garlic, bay leaves, curry powder and tomoatoes, and cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
9. Add the sugar, vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons, several grinds of pepper and continue to cook for 5 minutes.
10. Add the fish to the pan, pushing the vegetables aside so the fish is nestled on the bottom of the pan.
11. Add about 250 ml water to the pan, just enough to ensure the fish is submerged, then bring up to a gentle simmer.
12. Poach the fish for 1-3 minutes until it is just cooked, and flakes when you gently insert a knife. The time required depends on the type of fish and the thickness of the fillets. (Personally, I think it is better if it is slightly underdone and finishes cooking in the marinade as it cools.)
13. Remove the pan from the heat and let it come to room temperature. 
14. You can serve it now or let it sit in the fridge for a couple of days. 
15. To serve, let it come to room temperature or heat it up gently on stove. Taste, adjust the seasoning and sprinkle with chopped coriander leaf for garnish.

Apricot Nut Loaf

Let's ring in the new year with a heirloom recipe from my family. Apricot nut bread is a simple, robust cake, low in fat, and easy to make. The apricots and lemon zest give it a bit of zing, the nuts provide contrast, and it can be served at breakfast, brunch, or with coffee and tea. It tastes even better when spread with some butter, but there goes the low-fat advantage!

My mother has been making it for decades and often gifts it to friends. I think she collected the original recipe from a newspaper back in the 1960s. I have tweaked it a bit by lowering the amount of baking powder, substituting pecans for walnuts, and using oil instead of melted butter. To make it a little more healthy, I often substitute half of the flour with whole wheat flour (which I did for the pictured loaf). This seems to work well with pecans, but it might be too hearty for almonds.

Wrapped in plastic or foil, apricot nut bread keeps well for 4-5 days, and it also freezes well.

2 cups (280 grams) flour
1 cup (200 grams) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (60 grams) chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts for preference, but unblanched almonds or hazelnuts would also work)
3/4 cup (100 grams) dried apricots, chopped
2 tablespoons oil or melted butter
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon peel, grated

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
2. Grease a loaf tin well. Optionally, also line the bottom with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides. (This cake as a tendency to stick a bit, perhaps because of the low fat content, so this prevents the problem and makes it easy to lift out of the tin.)
3. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and, salt.
4. Chop the apricots and nuts, then stir them into the flour mixture.
   
5. In a large measuring cup or small bowl, beat the oil and egg together, then add the milk and stir in the lemon peel.
6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir just long enough to ensure that dry ingredients are incorporated into the batter. Do not over mix or beat, as this will prevent the cake from rising properly.
   
7. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the crust is golden and a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
   
8. Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before loosening the sides with a knife and turning out onto a rack to finish cooling.