Book of Yum

There are few things I love more than vegetarian Indian food. I love the spices, the complexity of the flavors, the amazing variety of ingredients, and the special techniques like adding spiced oil to temper a dish at the end that completes the flavor. While living in Japan I learned something that had not occurred to me before; that when foods from other places enters a country or region, local residents often adapt it to suit their own tastes and end up creating something entirely new. The Japanese take on an “Italian” pizza that is festooned with mayonnaise or corn is an excellent example of this. I had not thought much about how the same would be true in India until I accompanied a friend to her favorite allergen-sensitive Indian restaurant (yes they exist- in this case, the owners actually know what is in each and every dish and will tell their customers). She ordered a dish called Gobi Manchurian, or Manchurian Cauliflower that she said was amazing, with Chinese “red sauce” flavor on top of fried cauliflower that approximated a vegetarian “chicken”. Dear readers, do beware. It is extremely rare that this dish would be gluten-free, as the cauliflower is coated in a flour batter. It would also generally be fried in oil with non-gluten-free items and could easily be contaminated this way. However, in this special case, the Manchurian Cauliflower is safe and she urged me to try some. This is such a decadent way to enjoy cauliflower, and the flavor is amazing. After I got home I started researching recipes online so that I could create it at home.

According to Archana’s Kitchen, Gobi Manchurian “is said to have been developed by the tiny Chinese community that lived in Kolkata for over a century. Immensely popular with Indians, it is widespread in major Indian metropolitan cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi and most importantly Kolkata (formerly Calcutta).” After comparing various recipes online, I was most intrigued by Soma of ECurry’s recipe for Gobi Manchurian. Soma has an absolutely fantastic blog, and it turns out that she is from the city of Kolkata/Calcutta and so grew up enjoying Indo-Chinese fusion food. That explains a lot! However, if I tried her recipe as written, the extreme spiciness of it would make my intestines explode and all that would be left of me is a little charred bit of ash on the sidewalk. Yes, I’m a wimpy little gluten-free girl. My husband and baby are also not so into the chili peppers, so in the interest of family tummy harmony, I adapted it to be gluten-free and less spicy. The resulting dish was a hit with everyone, although Baby Yum stuck to the plain fried cauliflower. I hope you enjoy! One of my favorite things about the internet is how we can learn from bloggers from all over the world. Archana, Soma, and Manjula are three of my absolute favorite Indian bloggers, and I have learned so much from all of their recipes and stories. What are your favorite “fusion” recipes and international bloggers? Tell me in the comments! I’d love to hear what your favorite recipes are by Archana, Soma, and Manjula as well.

Entered in Gluten-free Wednesdays

Gluten-free Vegan Gobi Manchurian Cauliflower Recipe Main Course  Vegetables  Asian  Chinese  Indian

Ingredients 1 medium cauliflower cut into florets (small or medium) 1 cup your favorite gluten-free flour* 1/2 cup corn starch 1 tablespoon gluten-free tamari OR coconut aminos 1 1/2 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated with a microplane 1 tablespoon white scallion paste (white part of scallion ground up in food processor or blender) 1 teaspoon white pepper (or black pepper) 3/4 cup water to make a thick batter oil to deep fry the cauliflower florets Sauce: 3 tablespoons Sesame Oil or other nicely flavored oil 1 whole garlic clove 1 tbsp grated ginger 1 diced scallion 1 medium onion, finely chopped 1 bunch spring onion, separated into green and white parts 1 cup water 1/2 cup ketchup 1 tsp. vinegar (I used white wine, rice vinegar would work too) 1 tsp. srirachi sauce 2 tbsp. gluten-free tamari or coconut aminos 1 teaspoon brown sugar salt to taste 1 teaspoon corn starch 2 tbsp water Directions Mix together your flours, corn starch, tamari, ginger, scallion paste (ground up in a mini food processor), white pepper and water. You want a thick batter, like pakora batter or a slightly thick pancake batter. Immerse your cauliflower in boiling water, rinsing with cold water when they are crisp tender and then spinning dry in a salad spinner (or pat dry in a kitchen towel). Cover a cookie sheet with a sheet of wax paper and then put a cooling rack on top of the cookie sheet for cooling your fried cauliflower. Heat several inches of canola or other high smoke point oil to medium high in your favorite deep frying pan. I use a soup pot, but you could use a wok if you prefer. Dip dry cauliflower florets in your batter and pull out by the stem, trying to keep covered with batter. Drop carefully (watch out for splattering!) into your hot frying oil. Just put a couple in at a time, so that they don’t get crowded and stick together. Turn if needed to get both sides equally browned. When both sides are golden brown, carefully remove with a slotted spoon or mesh ladle and place on your cooling rack. Sprinkle with salt and continue until you have fried all of your cauliflower. This fried cauliflower makes a delicious snack. Baby Yum loved stealing it from the rack and kept saying “more, more”. That girl loves her cauliflower! If you want to really amp it up, prepare a sauce for the full Gobi Manchurian experience. Whisk together liquid ingredients (water, ketchup, srirachi sauce, tamari) along with sugar and salt in a bowl. Heat your 3 sesame oil in a wok. Add your garlic clove and let it brown, flavoring the oil. Turn once. When both sides are brown, remove the garlic from the oil. Add your grated ginger, and saute for a few seconds. Then add the chopped onions, and the white parts of the scallions. When the onion becomes translucent, add your liquid ingredients in the bowl to the wok. At medium heat simmer for about 3 minutes. Whisk the corn starch with the water to make a cornstarch slurry and add to the pan, stirring in and letting the sauce begin to thicken. Toss in your fried cauliflower and fold into the sauce until each floret is coated in yummy sauce. To serve, sprinkle with the green onions and enjoy with rice or quinoa! Notes *I used a homemade Sorghum +potato or cornstarch +tapioca blend Two cups sorghum flour Two thirds cup potato starch, arrowroot or corn starch flour One third cup tapioca rice flour This makes 3 cups of gluten-free blend which you can use in regular gluten recipes to replace flour.

Rating:  8 Original Source:  Based on recipe from ECurry gluten-containing VERY spicy recipe. Please do not replicate without my permission. Recipe ID:  1545 Added:  March 4, 2011 Last Modified:  March 24, 2011

One thing that never would have occurred to me before I had a child is that a nice, thick dal makes the perfect baby or toddler food. If it is the right texture, Baby Yum enjoys spooning it into her own mouth and even popping little hand-made balls of dal into her mouth. While some of the baby-safe foods I’ve made have been a tad boring (organic carrot puree, anyone), dals have been a fun dish that both I and Baby Yum can enjoy eating. This morning I was determined to make us a tasty dal for breakfast that Baby Yum could enjoy with some jowar roti or sorghum flatbread. Unfortunately, I was all out of my favorite dals- toor dal and red lentil. The only lentil I had in any quantity in my cupboard was organic split green peas from Whole Foods. I was all set to make some split pea soup (which Baby Yum also enjoys), when I noticed a recipe for dal on the side of the bag. It sounded a tad bland, but I was inspired. So, I googled up some split green pea dal recipes, thought about it for a bit, and came up with this tasty dal. I hope you enjoy eating it as much as we did in our household, where it met with the approval of all the ladies in the household- me, Baby Yum and my dairy-sensitive Mother, too!

*Dal also make great food for those who have had dental work done or have to be on a liquid diet for any reason! You can add water and puree in blender as needed. Beats a smoothie any day, in my book.

This recipe was entered in Diane’s Real Food Weekly Event.

Vegan Split Green Pea Dal Recipe Main Course  Indian

Ingredients 1 Cup organic green split peas 4 cups water 1 bay leaf 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 Tbsp. oil (I used olive, but grapeseed,canola, mustard, or coconut would work too) 1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 1 1/2 cup diced onion 1/2 tsp turmeric 1 tsp. ground cumin 1 tsp. ground coriander 1 tomato, finely chopped 1 tsp. salt Directions Rinse and drain split peas, and put in a soup pot with the water, bay leaf and 1/2 cup onion. Bring to a boil, and then simmer on medium-low for an hour or until tender. Add water as needed if split pea mixture gets too dry or starts to brown on the bottom and stick to the pan. Stir occasionally as needed. Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet on medium and add your cumin seeds. When they turn brown, add your onion and saute for a few minutes. Add the ground spices and mix together. Turn heat to medium low and let onion turn translucent and start to caramelize. Add your tomato and saute until tomato softens, 4 or 5 minutes. Ladle spice and onion mixture on top of your softened split peas and gently fold together. If desired, you can add some water to your skillet, swirl it around the pan to collect all the yummy spices that are left on the bottom of the pan, and pour that into the split pea mixture as well. Turn heat to low and let flavors mingle for 5 minutes or so. Turn off heat and serve!

Rating:  7 Original Source:  Inspired by various sources but my original creation. Please do not replicate without permission Recipe ID:  1531 Added:  January 10, 2011 Last Modified:  January 10, 2011