Kacha Kela Sak
Back in the early 90’s, I came across this Gujju recipe* from Yamuna Devi’s Lord Krishna’s Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking. (I don’t actually own this book, instead I have the “best of” abridged version that was published a few years later, but that big, out-of-print classic is still on my want list). I recall that I didn’t have any besan the first time I made this, so I used corn-meal as a substitute as the recipe suggested (it was still very good!), but if you have access to besan, do use it as the aroma of it roasting is pure heaven. Actually, this dish is pure heaven: greens and plantain (cooking banana) are steamed separately first, then combined with a lightly-sweetened, besan-infused masala to form a dry dish which is topped with roasted almonds and served with lime wedges to squeeze over at will. Using utensils for this dish is out of the question; only by eating out of hand is true justice served!
Kacha Kela Sak
(Unripe plantain vegetable dish)
2 lbs. fresh or frozen greens (the original recipe asks that one of these pounds be spinach, but truly any green of choice or mix of greens can be used successfully)
1 large unripe or semi-ripe plantain (2 firm, green bananas would probably work as well)
5 T ghee or oil (I was able to reduce this to about 3 T)
3 T besan
1 t black mustard seeds, coarsely-crushed
1 t cumin seeds, coarsely-crushed
1 t salt
1 t gur, jaggery
1/2 t turmeric
1/4 t (or more to taste) ground red chiles
3 T almonds, toasted and slivered or sliced
1 lime cut into wedges
1)Steam the greens just until tender- about 10-15 minutes; remove and allow to cool, then place in a piece of cloth (I used cheesecloth) and wring out as much liquid as you can. Save this liquid (it is rich in vitamins) to use as stock for another dish; chop the greens finely.
2)Peel the plantain, then shred coarsely or chop into 1/4″ dice. Steam these as well until soft- about 10 minutes.
3)Heat the oil in a kerai or wok over medium-low heat; add the besan, mustard-seeds and cumin; stir and fry until the mixture turns a few shades darker and is very fragrant.
4)Add the plantain and fry 2 more minutes.
5)Add the salt, sugar, turmeric and chiles; stir once, raise heat a bit and add the greens. Stir gently until fully heated.
6)Remove from heat and place the mixture into katoris or onto a serving platter. Sprinkle over this the almonds, and serve with lime-wedges on the side for each diner to sour as they please.
*Thanks for being my dictionary Mispa!
Feed a Hungry Child- Subscribe to Smiles
“One child dies of hunger every four seconds…”
That one sentence really makes those of us who live in excess stop and think. And let’s face it: if we have the means and time to browse through pages on a computer, we are living beyond meeting our daily needs for hunger and shelter.
A few months ago, I came across this video on Youtube:
While not all of the images in this video are relevant, those that are very graphically display lives quite different from our own, lives that could be changed by people coming together to extend a helping hand.
Such a hand is the non-profit organization Feed A Hungry Child, started by V.K. Narayanan of My Dhaba.
For every $25 you wish to donate, you will become eligible for a raffle ticket to win some very nice prizes, so do take a moment to visit Mahanandi for more information.
Thank you!
A Birthday of Besan
I had a pretty nice birthday weekend: a quiet night in on Friday with the B/F and a rented movie. I made mirchi ka bajis (stuffed with cream cheese, a dab of garlic paste and Shilpa’s shenga chatni pitto- sort of like a Desi-Tex fusion- do try this, extremely good!), cabbage ka pakoras 
, and alu ka bajis, and after all that deep-frying, popped a frozen pizza into the oven for the main course. Healthy meal, yeah… and, oh… ranch-style salad dressing and ketchup! (The B/F is not as fond of my usual hari chatni as I am, so I let my little green ice-cubes rest for the night)
The pizza was a great one- for frozen that is. For those of you here in the states, I recommend you seek out this brand: Home Run Inn. Out of Chicago. Been in business a long time, and for good reason! Good crust, great sauce, quality cheese… and for vegans, their “plum tomato pizza”- a sort of “reverse” pizza with the cheese as the first layer- is worth every penny. Total yum.
On Saturday night, my good friend Leon and I visited a local haunt for a few celebratory drinks and playful parley with mutual friends. It’s been hot in Green Bay these last few days- 87 F- and that tends to pull folks out of their homes and into the bars (“out of the wood-work”, as we say here)…I may have had 1 or 2 drinks too many, but I’m staying silent, and hey, they were birthday presents! [rubs his slightly-dull-feeling head] I think I’m still recovering…
And today I sat and looked at all the leftover alu ka bajis from Friday night. I made way too many. Kind of intentionally, as they turned out pretty well. I had cut them into lengthwise wedges (instead of rounds) before dipping them in the besan batter. Sort of to convince the B/F that they were very much like the local fare. I also had a plan in mind…
You see, the first frost arrives in Wisconsin at about this time. And there is a dish that I’ve been wanting to make with these:
Yep! Around here, growing these myself from taro-corms purchased from a Thai grocer is the only way to get them. The nearest Indian grocer doesn’t stock the frozen leaves. So, today I ventured outside with sunglasses and a scissors, snipped off 9 beautiful leaves, and proceeded to follow Roopa’s interesting patrode recipe… complete with the casually-fried onions in the the tadke/tempering. Delicious, people! and then I really needed a yoghurt dish to have along with it. Yes, a raitha is probably more traditional, but remember those leftover potato bajis that needed to be used up? And let me tell you: I’ve been having ferocious cravings for a particular little recipe of Anita’s ever since the first time I prepared it. The battered-and-deep-fried potato part was already done… no, not exactly like the usual kind with the finely-diced potato pakoras, but I can’t be the only one who uses up left-over pakoras and bajis in kadhi!
Some freshly-steamed rice, this and my pretty little rolls made for a nice, quiet treat. Just what I needed. And then my equally-quiet friend, James, stopped over for some coffee, likely with hopes of having a piece of now-nonexistant birthday cake. He is recently quite taken with a songstress popular a century ago: Sophie Tucker… We sat and sipped and explored her posted works on Youtube.com… and then I felt a sudden urge to dig out my collection of old 78-speed records. Bing, Mr. Jolson, Big Maybelle, Dinah and Rosemary. We were all together; good food, good friends, what more could I wish for?
Beet or Carrot Cake
Shilpa of Aayi’s Recipes is continually making me envious by her beautiful parade of cakes, and no wonder: she has a keen interest in cakes and cake-decorating, and has greatly expanded her talents by studying the subject hands-on with local masters. Despite her self-criticism of the final outcomes, she manages to astound me- and the rest of her readers- with her exquisite attention to detail and gorgeous design. Each time I view the latest one, I find myself wide-eyed in disbelief that she has just begun this hobby!
Let me be honest with all of you: I have never attempted to develop any skills with complicated frosting/icing work; instead, I seem to prefer finding myself in awe at weddings, birthdays, and other occasions when one of these beauties stands before me- silent and breath-taking to behold- and for now, that’s fine with me! I’m far more interested in churning out edible ladoos and burfis to tell you the truth… So, you’ll have to excuse this little attempt with its rather messy frosting, and slightly-off-center arrangement of nuts…
This is a beet cake. Apparantly, any recipe for carrot cake can be made with beets instead (is it just me or are there other people contemplating gajar halvah at the moment?), and I do find myself wondering if turnips, rutabagas and radishes would work as well… but of that, I have no clue. What I do know is that for several years I have been searching for the perfect carrot cake recipe: one that would recall the good old days before the low-fat revolution of the 1980’s took place, one that is like the many slices that I’ve purchased and didn’t regret spending $3-4 dollars on, one that is sinfully-rich, moist, and flavourful, one that screams out: “chilly nights are upon us in Wisconsin”, “mulled cider or wine is in order”, and “tonight would be a great night to sit near the burning hearth”… But really, despite these very subjective images that I tend to connect to a fork-ful, this cake is enjoyable at at any time of the year, and in any weather. And thus far, this particular recipe is the best I’ve found, and yes…I would pay $3.50 for a slice!
I have changed a few things with the original recipe. Mostly the spicing. (I also reserve the nuts for the filling and exterior and I greatly-disliked the icing recipe that accompanied the original cake recipe and thus found a much better one elsewhere to use). There are some of you that dislike cinnamon-flavoured sweets, but I assure you: if I am able to acquire a taste for cinnamon-infused savories, then it stands to reason that… well….what can I say? I played with the original author/creator’s spicing, so you can too! (But Pel is still thinking that his formula beats all others!)
Beet or Carrot Cake
3 1/2-4 C shreds of peeled beets or carrots
1 C brown sugar, firmly-packed
1 C ghee (hee-hee… ghee makes this cake most decadent, but butter or oil is the more usual choice. Don’t reduce it: this is divided by at least 20 slices of cake- so splurge a little!)
3 eggs
1 t vanilla extract
3 1/2 t ground cinnamon (I use a mix of true/Ceylon and cassia/Chinese cinnamon)
2 T chopped crystallized/candied”stem” ginger
1/4 t ground cardamom
1/8 t ground cloves
1/16 t ground nutmeg or mace
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 C raisins, soaked in hot water for awhile and then chopped*
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour/maida (I suppose half-ata would be just fine)
1 1/2 C raw walnuts, pecans or hickory-nuts halves (I used pecans this time, but walnuts are most traditional)
ghee/oil for roasting nuts and greasing pan(s)
Icing-frosting (recipe below)
0)Pre-heat oven to 350 F/175 C. Grease and line the bottoms of 2 8″-9″ round cake-pans, or one 9″ spring-form pan with parchment-paper (use the bottom of the pan as a guide and cut to fit). Grease the top of the paper as well. I’ve tried it without the use of the paper: the cake tends to stick!
1)Roast the nuts in ghee/oil over med-low flame, stirring constantly until nicely-roasted and fragrant. Remove and drain. Reserve intact halves for decorating. Coarsely-chop the remainder for filling.
2)Mix the beet or carrot shreds with the sugar in a large mixing bowl and set aside for 30 minutes.
3)Add the ghee and mix well.
4)Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.
5)Add the vanilla, spices, baking soda and powder and mix thoroughly. Add the raisins.
6)Add the flour in four parts, mixing just well-enough between each to blend. I try not to exceed 100 strokes of the spoon total.
7)Pour the batter into the pan or pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. (about 30 minutes for two 9″ pans, or 40-45 minutes for one 9″). Place on a rack and allow to cool completely.
8)Meanwhile, prepare the cream-cheese frosting/icing:
1/2 C butter, at room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 pound of confectioner’s/powdered sugar (plus more if needed)
A)Cream (beat well until fluffy and pale) the butter and cream cheese. Add the vanilla; add sugar little-by-little until stiff enough to hold a peak. (If you add too much, a sprinkle of milk will cure it)
9)Remove the cake(s) from the pan(s) and paper. If you baked a single, thick cake: carefully remove it from the pan and paper; slice it horozontally in half to form two layers/rounds.
10)Place one layer on a cake plate. Spread about 1/3 of the icing over the top. Sprinkle the chopped nuts over this and gently press them into the icing.
11)Place the second layer over the first. Press this layer gently, but firmly atop the other. Spread the remaining icing over the top and sides of the cake. Decorate the surface with the remaining nut-halves.
12)Chill for a few hours if you wish (I prefer it chilled), slice and serve with hot tea or coffee.
*I’ve also seen and eaten cakes that contain fresh/canned pineapple and coconut- very good. Other dried fruits might be nice too, like apricots.)
**P.S. Today is my birthday. I’m really quite old now… I would like to extend warm gratitude to my dear friend, June, for not only allowing me to photograph parts of her kitchen, but for the wonderful time I had at a dinner recently had there.)
