An Exotic Dessert Filed under ( Desserts, Indian Food )

Several years ago I was in the college town of Ithaca, New York with some friends and we ate a fantastic dinner at the legendary Moosewood Restaurant. Moosewood was one of the first nationally known vegetarian restaurants and they have chugged along since 1973, churning out many wonderful cookbooks. I have several, but my very favorite is "Sundays at the Moosewood Restaurant" (NY: Fireside Books, 1990) which presents diverse ethnic recipes. We are still exploring the cuisines of India, so we tried a dessert recipe on a leisurely cooking Sunday of our own. Dan made "Cheese and Nut Dessert Balls", using a soft Indian cheese he cooked up from milk. It was very good, sort of like an Indian cannoli.

First you make the Chenna:

2 quarts whole milk
3-4 Tbsp. fresh, strained lemon juice

In a large, heavy saucepan, bring the milk to a rolling boil, stirring often to prevent sticking. Remove from the heat and stir in 3 Tbsp. lemon juice. Return the pan to low heat and stir gently until white curds separate from the yellowish whey. If this doesn't happen within 15-20 seconds, add an additional tablespoon of lemon juice. (Dan used the microwave for this process, to avoid scorching).

Pour the curds into a strainer or colander lined with a piece of thin, damp cloth or several thicknesses of cheesecloth. Let it drain until cool enough to handle, then gather up the cloth and squeeze out any remaining liquid. Now you have chenna.

Makes 1-1/2 cups.

We saved the leftover whey to use in making rice.




Cheese and Nut Dessert Balls

1-1/2 cups chenna
1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 tsp. grated orange rind
1-4 tsp. orange juice
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds or pistachios

Place chenna in a bowl and add remaining ingredients, except the nuts. Mash until smooth with a spoon or your fingers. Form the mixture into a dozen or so walnut-sized balls and roll each ball in the chopped nuts to coat. Chill until ready to serve.

If you've used freshly made chenna, these dessert balls will keep for 3 or 4 days if tightly wrapped and refrigerated.

Makes 12 dessert balls.

We found these dessert delights a little big and would make them smaller and more bite-sized next time, as they crumble easily. It would be easier to pop a smaller dainty into one's mouth.

An Indian Meal in Three Acts Filed under ( Indian Food, Vegetables )

Dan felt like having an all-day cooking jam yesterday, so we cooked three recipes from one of our favorite cookbooks, (the late film producer and gourmet cook) Ismail Merchant's "Passionate Meals" (NY: Hyperion, 1994).

Act One:

First, we experimented with making Paneer, a soft cheese. It was very easy to make in our microwave:

Paneer

4 cups milk (we used whole milk)
3 Tbsp. yoghurt or 1Tbsp. vinegar or juice of one lemon (we used lemon)

Heat milk in a saucepan, stirring, until it boils. Add yoghurt, vinegar, or lemon jusic, and stir over medium heat until the mixture curdles. This takes about 2 or 3 minutes. If it doesn't curdle, add a little more yoghurt, vinegar, or lemon juice.

(Microwave variant: We boiled the milk in our microwave, keeping constant guard to avoid scorching, for 8-10 minutes. Since microwave wattage varies widely, experiment with what works with your model).

Remove pan from heat and drain the mixture through a sieve. Press down gently with a spoon to make a flat, solid mass of cheese. The sieve should preferably have a flat bottom. Leave the cheese to cool for 2 hours. It should be fairly solid, but you should be able to cut it.

(I would imagine you could also skip making your own paneer and use pressed tofu for the next recipe.)

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Act Two:

Then, inspired by dreamy versions of various Indian spinach dishes we've enjoyed when dining, we concocted Merchant's recipe for:

Palak Paneer (Spinach with Cheese)

1-1/2 lbs. fresh spinach (we substituted one brick of frozen spinach)
Paneer made from 4 cups of milk
Vegetable oil for deep frying
6 Tbsp. butter
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds (we substituted 1/2 tsp. powdered cumin)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1-inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. salt
Pinch of turmeric

Wash spinach well. Cook it in a saucepan with 1/2 cup water for 2-3 minutes. When tender, drain and chop. (we cooked up frozen spinach and squeezed the water out and chopped)

Cut paneer into 1-inch cubes. Heat 2 inches of oil to 375 degrees in a deep heavy pan. Fry the cubes of paneer in batches, turning over once or twice, until they are light brown. Remove the paneer with a slotted spoon. Drain on paper towels.

In a large skillet, melt the butter with 1 Tbsp. of oil over medium heat and cook the onion until just beginning to turn brown. Add the cumin seeds and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the ginger, spinach, red and black pepper, salt and turmeric, and stir well. Add the paneer and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Serves 6.

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Act Three:

Turnips with Ginger (Shalgam)

(Now, our two daughters have been really game about eating gluten-free and healthier all-around, and they have begun to enjoy spicier, more exotic fare as they age, but they are still hesitant about eating most vegetables. We got them to fork down a few mouthfuls of this delicious turnip dish by falsely calling them potatoes, although they were quite suspicious about the texture of these spuds. No clean plate rangers this night, I'm afraid.)

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 small onion, peeled and chopped fine
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds (we substituted 1/2 tsp. ground cumin)
1 medium tomato, chopped fine
1-inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1-1/2 lbs. white turnips, peeled and sliced (we substituted one frozen bag diced yellow turnips)

Heat the oil in a saucepan and cook the onion until lightly browned. Add the cumin and fry for 1 minute. Add the tomato, ginger, salt, and red and black pepper. Stir and cook for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the turnips and 1/2 cup water and stir well. Cover the saucepan and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. The turnips should be mushy. If they're not, mash them with a wooden spoon.

Serves 4-6.

We popped up some puppodums (see previous post) , threw some basmati rice in the rice cooker, and dined like rajahs.

Gluten-Free Food Find of the Week Filed under ( Indian Food, Product Reviews )

After our wonderful Indian meal in New York City last month, we've been inspired to try some new Indian dishes. I was in the grocery store and spotted Sharwood's Indian Puppodums in the international foods aisle. They are labelded as gluten-free right on the front of the package and are made of black gram bean flour, rice flour, salt, lime, sunflower oil and assorted spices. Dan really misses going out to an Indian restaurant and ordering naan and poori breads to sop up all the spicy, saucy goodness. While these poppodums are more crispy and cracker-like, they add that missing bread thang.

They are truly magical to watch cooking. The box notes that you can deep fry them, but it's much, much easier than gluten-free pie to simply flop them in the microwave for 20 seconds and see them transmogrify from thin flaps to flutey UFOs. Culinary alchemy. And our kids are loving them as snacks they can make themselves.

These puppodums come 16 in a package and cost a little under $3.00 at my local supermarket. If your market doesn't carry them, you can order them from Amazon.com (you can click on the puppodum picture at the lower right of this web page). They come in plain and Madras spicy. They are 20 calories each, but have 720 mg of sodium, so they are best eaten in moderation. A Glowing Product Endorsement from the Jagareski household. Four thumbs up!

Next post: A luscious Indian meal to go with the puppodums!