Seasonal Bounty

My daughter loves cucumber and yogurt - the natural tangy variety. In summer, she feasts on yogurt.

In summer, she is in heaven. She actually has cucumbers in her sandwich instead of lettuce. So cucumber raita is naturally a logical choice. If you are going be seeing lots of garlic scapes, in the farmers markets these days. If you like garlic the way we do, you can use them for anything. Here is what I did with the raita,
Cucumber, Garlic and Orange Raita
Makes 1 cup
Ingredients
3/4 cup natural yogurt (with whey)
1/2 teaspoon black salt
1/2 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons orange juice ( 1 shall actually use small pieces of fresh sectioned oranges next time)
1 teaspoon very finely chopped ginger (optional)
1 teaspoon minced mint
1/4 cup finely chopped garlic scapes
1/2 cup peeled grated cucumber (1 small cucumber)
Method of Preparation
1. Beat the yogurt well, and mix in the black salt, honey, orange juice, ginger and mint till the ingredients are well mixed.
2. Stir in the garlic scapes and cucumber. Chill and use the raita as dip or side. We ate this with alu tikkis today.

Dressing up the Taro

There are some bloggers who present with such beauty and specificity that you want jump right out of the blog and into their kitchens. One such blog is the saffron trail, where recently Nandita featured Arbi ke Tikkey, a lovely way to dress up the humble Taro.

I followed her recipe pretty closely, with tiny tweaks, could not leave out my beloved chat masala now, could I?

Arbi Ke Tikkey - Spicy Taro Cakes

Makes 8

Ingredients

8 medium sized taro

2 limes

1 tsp cumin-coriander powder

1/2 tsp crushed carom seeds

1 tsp red chili powder

1 tsp chat masala

1 tsp black salt

1 tsp salt

Oil for frying

To garnish

Onion rings

Cilantro

Additional Chat masala

Freshly ground black pepper

Method of Preparation

1. Cook the taro for 10 minutes, till parcooked. Cool and remove the skin.

2. Squeeze the juice of 1.5 limes on the taro, and add the remaining spices to the taro. Let this sit for 1 hour stirring occasionally.

3. In a shallow skillet, add the taro in a single layer and cook on medium-low heat for about 6 minutes on each side. This should allow a thick golden crust to form on each side.

4. Remove from the oil and let this cool slightly.

5. Squeeze with the remaining lime, add the chat masala and pepper.

6. Garnish with onions and cilantro and serve with a chutney if desired.

This dish would make a great side dish for any other fish or chicken dish.

Springy Salad

Spring has crept up on me as it always does. Especially given the weird weather (at least in NY), it is even harder to discern. One day, I have this balmy weather, the next day snow, then 80F heat. Anyhow, I think we are really into the warmer weather . The flowers are out in my garden, nothing gives me greater joy than the cherry blossom, in full bloom as we speak. It is ironic, let me tell you why, I love flowers. Nothing unusual about that, the first couple of month when I was getting to know my husband he did get me flowers (cut ones), later this slowed down. He informed me being the nature lover that he was, he felt that it was shameful to remove so many flowers of the trees, we should learn to love them in their own environment, etc, etc... Well, when we got married, he did tell me I would not miss flowers but would really not get too many bunches from the shop. True, to his word, I have my favorite seasonal flowers in our garden, through most of the year, and yes, our cherry blossom is a testimony to that. Spring to me has arrived when the cherry blossom blooms. What does this translate to in my kitchen - somewhat lighter foods .

This salad above has a wonderful zesty dressing with some of the sparkle and crunch of spring.

Spicy Spinach Strawberry Salad

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

For the dressing

1/3 cup fresh balsamic vinegar

1/2 inch fresh ginger

2 green chillies

1/3 cup loose basil leaves

1 tsp black salt

2 tomatoes

For the salad

2 cups baby spinach leaves

8 strawberries thinly sliced

1/2 soft cheese (goat or gorgonzola)

1/3 cup walnuts

Method of preparation

1. Place all the ingredients for the salad in a blender and blend to a puree.

2. Toss all the salad ingredients.

3. Drench with the dressing and serve.

I am sending my springy dish to Meeta for her monthly me ingle event where she is featuring the theme of "Spring is in the air.". Look out, smell, find the cherry blossoms, I am sure you will agree.

Mixed Raita

I had this great raita on this recent trip to India, I think my seasonings are a little stronger than the version I tried but the sweet, cool and tart flavors work well together and would compliment any rice or bread.

Ingredients

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup yogurt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp black salt

1/2 tsp chilly powder

1/2 cup chopped pineapple

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tomato diced

1 cucumber peeled and diced

2 tsp mint chopped

1 tsp oil

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp asafateotida

Method of Preparation

1. Wisk together the sour cream, yogur, sugar, salt and chilly powder.

2. Mix in the chopped vegetables, fruit and mint.

3. Heat the oil, add the mustard seeds, when these crackle add in the cumin and hing.

4. Mix with the raita, cover and let the spices infuse for 5 minutes before serving.

Lal Saag Chorchori - Red Spinach with vegetables

Laal Saag
It is amazing how much you miss little things when they are not readily available. This is a leafy vegetable very close to spinach but red. The bengali name translates to red spinach. I have worked with red swiss chard to replicate some of the recipes, but I was besides myself with excitement when I saw this brilliant bunch at the local Bhavik store. This looks beautiful but unfortunately, these leaves are rather tough and should have been picked earlier. Anyhow here is my recipe with this.
Laal Saag Chorchori
2 tbsp mustard oil
1 tsp panch phoron
1 large bunch laal saag
1 eggpant cut into pieces
2 green chillies slit
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup bori
Method of Preparation
1. Heat the mustard oil and add the panch phoron.
2. When this crackles, add in the saag and eggplant. Stir briskly till the saag wilts, add in the chillies, salt and cover for 15 min on low heat. The eggplant should be soft and the mixture should be a mush.
3. Heat the oil and fry the bori and drain. Mix into the chorchori and serve with rice and dal.