Weave a Thousand Flavors

Palak Pakoras ~ Indian Style Spiced Spinach & Chickpea Fritters

 
The fact that I am fixing Palak Pakoras must mean one and only one thing ~ it's raining cats and dogs & pails!

In fact it gets much much worse. Tonight's forecast reads verbatum from the National Weather Service is as follows....

.........WINTRY MIX OF RAIN AND SLEET CHANGING OVER TO SNOW.

* ACCUMULATIONS... 2 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW AND SLEET.

So you see, pakoras it is! Pakoras and rain (or sleet) go together like Jack and Jill, cucumber and dill, Lewis and Clarke....you get the drift.

Growing up in India, I urge you to find me one family that didn't wake up on a cold rainy morning to the words "Pakora aur chai ho jaaye" which loosely translates into " Pakoras and tea it is!". Call it cultural, I call it utterly delicious.

What's not to love of besan, a chickpea batter flavored with whole spices like coriander and carom seeds, red chillies and turmeric into which is nestled fresh spinach leaves, fresh ginger and onions, globs of which are dropped into hot oil just so they rise to the surface all light and airy?

Now imagine eating these hot off the stove with piping hot chai ~ see what I mean? Some traditions are just meant to be.

So why not I give you one of mine and you give me one of yours?

 

Nothing like Homemade Ghee

 
We had some acquaintances over to dinner the other night. They are some friends of friends and we had only met them a couple of times at community gathering events. They had heard of my cooking skills (not shy am I?) and they wanted some authentic home cooked Indian grub. So we invited them.

One of the ladies saw that I was using ghee and she started talking to the other women about how she picked up a bottle of fragrant ghee at this high end organic foods store (for something like 8 or 9 bucks). Now no offense,  but I have experienced some of these ready made ghee's available in  the high end markets and all I can say is - close but no cigar!

I realized as I was stirring the dal that as long as one can get their hands on sweet cream butter (I bought 2 lbs on sale at 1.59/lb just to make ghee)  and stir a pot, you can get the most awesome, liquid, golden ghee in 45 minutes flat, for one-thirds the cost and double the quantity!

Now for those of you unfamiliar with ghee, it is also known as clarified butter and it is fantastic in  rice dishes, Indian cooking and makes a mean steak au poivre to tow -- you think I'm kidding - try it and see for yourself.

I cook my steak with nothing but - and here's why. It has a much higher burning point, than  butter and I think of it as the 'clean fuel of cooking fat'. Good term, eh?

It has no strong discernible flavor so you can use it in just about anything - roasted veggies, roasted potatoes (to die for) and almost all Indian cooking - for which olive oil has too strong a flavor and scent. Do you what my favorite food in ghee is? Fried eggs! Yummy!

A Tale of Two Graters & Delicious Dessert with Calabash Gourd ~ Doodhi Halwa from India

Growing up I always heard my Mum say "You are sooooo hard on your shoes"!

That's 'coz she didn't know what I'd grow up & do to my box grater!

 Seriously you have to see to believe what is left is left of my couple of years old box grater. You'd think I have been placing my posterior on it for hours on end - everyday! No - this is the result of normal wear and tear.