Plethora of Panini: Delhi or Deli?

Although I find middle eastern and Indian food pretty delicious, I
do have to admit one qualm I have with it. Most of what I have tried
is-- overcooked-- for lack of a better word. I'm sure this is because I
haven't gotten to experience traveling in that region and haven't had
the advantage of befriending an outstanding traditional Indian chef.
Even with books, recipes, and restaurants most of what I've tried/seen
has been really heavily cooked dishes of (mainly) grains and legumes.
Not bad, but I always like to have something very raw and fresh with
my meals.

I know there are a lot of salads or cucumber dishes, but too often they
are submerged in dairy.

Another thing that I've found when using Indian recipes is needing to
really know the spices. That is usually the main draw of this region's
dishes-- the spices! So exotic and exciting, but if over done it gets
a heavy dusty taste. That is really the only way I can describe it.

If you don't agree with any of this, please feel free to call me on it.
I'm just describing my own experiences. When making an Indian
spiced Panini, I wanted the flavors you know and love with an added
freshness. This is into way traditional, just a delicious experiment.

When making Paninis I always try to consider what the sauce is going
to be. Sometimes it is a spread, a cheese (vegan please), or dressing.
It should be something that is still tasty when hot or melted, as you
will be grilling it. All that the sauce does is keeps the entire
sandwich from being super dry and crunchy. You want a hot, flavorful,
moist interior, with a crisp, crunchy crust.

You can do more than one. I used veganaise and mustard with the
balsamic vinegar panini for example. Sometimes the vegetables add
enough moisture on their own, but not always.

For this panini I did two. I had a hummus spread on one side and
vegan yogurt on the other. I added a little salt to the yogurt as
the Whole Soy brand, my brand of choice, is a little sweet sometimes.

For the vegetables I separated them and seasoned them differently, to
add variation and to avoid the over spiced taste that I spoke of earlier.

To the onions, garlic, peppers, and chilis I added some red chili
powder, cayenne, and black and white pepper. I sauteed them until the
onion was soft and tender. I just used water instead of oil whenever
they started to look dry. I added no more than 1/4-1 tsp of each spice.

It depends on how much you are making and how strong you want it.
I made enough for two sandwiches: 1/2 onion, 1/2 pepper, 3 cloves
garlic, 1 hot pepper with 1 tsp chili powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne, and
1/2 tsp of everything else.

Remove your veggies from the pan and get ready to cook the eggplant.
In a tablespoon of oil, quickly roast a tsp or so of cumin seeds. Add 1
tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp coriander, and 1/4 tsp ginger (opt). Cook briefly
and add about half an eggplant cut into 1/4 inch slices. These were
salted and rinsed beforehand to extract the bitterness. Cook each side
in the spices until the edges of the eggplant appear dark and soft.

Assemble the bread with all the ingredients so far... add some fresh
sliced tomatoes and some cilantro and grill! It may seem spicey, but
the coolness of the soygurt and fresh tomatoes balance it all out for
a perfect panini!

Fit Falafel

Honestly, when is falafel not a good idea?
Probably when you don't wanna share. Good thing, I was
taught to share a lot or Monkey-man would be screwed, man-
Screwed!

Got my fine fillings from TJs and also picked up their
tahini dip. Apparently they don't sell just straight tahini.
But it was damn good anyway- thicker than I'm used to, but no
complaints. Nice and zingy and garlicy!





We tried out the pitas from Fresh and Easy and they were
surprisingly awesome. I hate it when the inside melds
together and they are more like a big soft cracker or
super thick wheat tortilla. But we had just got them
because they were on super cheap and they turned out
to be great.

This is about the extent of my pre-made food purchases
so don't judge me!



I call these 'fit falafel' because they are baked- not fried.
One of my Mom's favorites it became a staple in our house
when I was old enough to seriously cook. But it wasn't until
I started sneaking garlic and onions into the house that I
realized how fudging amazing real homemade falafel was!
So pass up that premade boxed stuff folks get your butts
in gear!

Ingredients

16 ounces chickpeas
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1-2 tbsp flour or potato starch (binding purposes)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
A squeeze of lemon
and salt and pepper
some wheat germ for rolling

Its so much easier if you actually have a food processor,
but I've always just mashed them by hand. So grab the
nearest fork or machine or potato masher and get to work.
You don't want hummus, so take it easy. Leave some lumpies
in there.

Throw in all your spices and stuff. If it needs some more
liquid to bind, add a little bit of water. Shape into small
patty/balls and roll in some wheat germ. Place on a 'lightly'
grease baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes at 375F or
until they start to brown.



After that- You know what to do. Stuff the buggers and
chow down!



A jaw dropping addition to the fabulous food that is falafel
is cucumber raita. And if you have never had raita before,
you have not lived. I posted this while ago.
Make it, eat it, love it. Now.

Curry in a Hurry

It never ceases to amaze me that although I really don't have

tremendous amounts of stuff going on in my life-- at least

compared to what I was doing during my undergrad--

Everyday I still feel like everything is done in a hurry.

I cannot say if it is our culture, our society or just me, but

I always feel like I have so much to do, never get anything done

and am always HUNGRY!! Hee hee. Well, maybe not always,

but when I get home I want food right then in my face!

And the joy of being on one's own? I get to make whatever I want.

... Sort of. Although I dream of eating gooey brownie ala mode

every night and pie every morning for breakfast, I don't because

I don't wanna look as round as a pie. So instead I look to my other

favorite foods for respite.

All time, absolute favorite, king of them all?? Curry... *wipes drool*

You can get curry powder pre-mixed ready to go or you can throw

in the spices separately. Amusingly enough curry is not a traditional

indian dish, as many of us believe. Its actually a westernized take

on an indian blend of spices in a sauce used on whatever. Funky, eh?

Although each curry powder you buy is gonna be different most do

have a blend of coriander, turmeric, cumin and fenugreek. Red or orange

curry powders have different kinds of chillies and peppers.

Here I just used an average blend of yellow curry powder and

added some extra surprises.

Yellow Curry in a Hurry

1 tablespoon of olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, chopped

1 tsp grated ginger

1 large bell pepper, chopped

2 carrots, cut into rounds

3 potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 package of tofu, cubed (can be fried beforehand)

2 tablespoons of curry powder

2 tablespoons of hot chili sauce

1 cinnamon stick

1 can of coconut milk

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.

Add the onion and cook until translucent and tender.

Add the garlic and ginger and keep stirring until fragrant,

about a minute or so. Next add the spices and chili.

Next drop in the slower cooking vegetables-- mainly the

potatoes. Add a little water, while these are all cooking to

prevent sticking. You can use vegetable broth if you like too,

I like adding a bouillon cube to add a little extra flavour.

Throw in the cinnamon stick and continue to cook on low-med

heat until all the vegetables start to cook. Stir in the coconut

milk and tofu and cook until heated through. Season with

salt to taste.

Serve over basmati or jasmine rice topped with fresh cilantro!

Vegan Cucumber Raita

Raita is a cooling salty yogurt dish or condiment served with spicy

Indian food. Traditionally it would only contain a few spices, mainly

coriander/cilantro. I cannot tell specifically if the cucumber raita is

traditional or not, but often fresh minced vegetable dapple this

creamy dish.

As far as yogurt goes, many dairy yogurts contain gelatin.

I actually created an entire podcast on gelatin, but never got around

to publishing it. Briefly, if you didn't know gelatin is the boiled tendons

and collagen of animal bones (or boiled skins) and is used a thickener.

I know that stonyfield, nancys, and wallaby(?) do not use gelatin,

but they are dairy products. So go the whole way I say. I used to use

stonyfield or the wallaby one when I still consumed dairy products.

Yet they always seemed runy or too wet. I now use (and rave about)

Wholesoy & Co., a diary-free soygurt. It contains live active cultures

and soymilk and tastes better than dairy yogurt if you ask me.

AND! Quite often it is cheaper than diary yogurt. I believe the organic

dairy yogurts range from 3.99-4.99 at my local health food store

and the soy-based yogurt is usually 3.39 when it is not on sale.

So! On to the freakin food already. The other night I made a big feast

of falafel, curried couscous, and raita. Man, falafel is one of my favorites

and right up there with curry. I will post a whole entry on my tricks

to making a better, healthier falafel. But right now... Raita.

I use a combination of two recipes from Madhur Jaffrey's World of the

East: Vegetarian Cooking. This is really a bang up book and I highly

suggest trying to find it. I think the original publication is from '81 or

something though.

If there are no kids partaking I throw in a little cayenne to add a

little kick.

Cucumber Raita

2 cups of soygurt

1 cucumber, diced (you can peel it if you wish, but I do not)

1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, minced

3/4 tsp sea salt

1 tsp cumin powder

1/4 cup raisins (preferably golden)

3 tablespoons of chopped walnuts

a little black pepper

Place soygurt in a bowl and beat until creamy.

Add all the remaining ingredients and serve!

I serve it in pita pockets with falafel, but I love eating it alone.

I swear this is one of the things that got me through my last

year of undergrad. But it is better to not let it sit to long

before eating. The earliest I could make it was late late the

night before I'd go to school. The raisins tend to get mushy

from the moisture and the cucumbers release water that

may cause separation.

Cranky Papa Palooza

As I've been busy packing and more packing my Dad has been

doing a lot of the dinner cooking. If theres something Cranky

Papa makes best its stews, curries, and chili! Take a look...

Coney Island Chili with Soy Parmesean

Potato and Cauliflower Stew

Oh yeah, I did make some Bombdiggity Baked Beans