The Saffron TouchbuttermilkWorld cuisine with an Indian touch...

As you learn more and more about Indian cuisine, you will notice that not only every region has its own cuisine and delicacies but also different food is made at different occasions.t is believed that different food bring in different qualities to your body and mind.For e.g. whenever there is a religious occasion, typically food is cooked without onion and garlic.

Yesterday was one such special day, it is believed that Lord Vishnu the creator goes to sleep on this day. A lot of Indians keep a fast on this day.

Today I decided to make a meal which had no onion or garlic. My kids love Indian food, so decided to make their favorites.

This particular curry is very typical of a brahmin household. In brahmin cuisine, you will see heavy usage of milk products along with ginger and Cumin. This recipe can be made with any of the greens except Fenugreek, I feel that it tastes way too bitter.

Ingredients

2 cups of cleaned washed and chopped Spinach leaves

1/4 cup raw peanuts

2 tbsp Chana daal

1 cup Buttermilk ( If you don’t have buttermilk you can use Yogurt blended with some water)

2 tsp Besan ( Chick pea flour)

1 green chili, split in two pieces

1 clove of Garlic ( optional)

1 pinch of Asafoetida

1/2 tsp Jeera ( Cumin Seeds)

1 pinch of Sugar

Salt to taste

Oil or Ghee for tempering

Method

Soak the peanuts and Chana daal in water for 30-40 mins. Add some salt and set aside.

In a pressure cooker add some water. In a steel pot add the chopped spinach with 2 tbsp of water and the bowl with soaked peanuts and daal.

Pressure cook for 2 whistles.

When the cooker is cooled down, take out the spinach and mash with a ladle or your hand.

Mix in the cooked Peanuts and Chana Daal.

In a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk with the chickpea flour, sugar and salt. Make sure there are no lumps of chickpea flour. Add water if needed to make a mixture that is like a thin smoothie.

Add this mixture to the spinach mixture.
Now you can make it two ways. You can make Tadka ( tempering) in a pot and add the spinach mixture and cook. Or, cook the spinach mixture and then temper it later. Both work great.

First method:

Heat oil or ghee in a sauce pan. When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and saute for 10 sec. Add green chilies, and chopped garlic( if using). If you add garlic, leave out the Asafoetida.

Saute till the Garlic is a little browned.

Add the Spinach mixture and cook on a really low flame, stirring frequently. Cooking on a low flame ensure that the buttermilk does not curdle and allows the Chickpea flour to cook completely.

Here is the second method:

Cook the spinach mixture in a pot.

Make the tempering in a ladle. I use the iron one. I love it since it has a long handle and does not get hot, and it helps me get some extra iron in my diet.

Add the tempering ( oil mixture) to the cooked Spinach mixture

Add chopped cilantro and serve.

If you want to serve it with rice, you can make it a bit thinner. If you want to serve it with Roti/bread, you can make it a bit thicker.

I love eating it even on its own. It tastes great hot or cold.

Tonight I served it with whole wheat roti( Indian bread), sautéd Tondli and home made cultured butter.

When I came to this country one of the many thing that I found interesting is the choices for breakfast. All the option available are on the sweet side. Pancakes, cereal, donut, pastry, oatmeal, cereal bars and the list goes on. When we started making healthier food choices, the goal was to incorporate whole grains and clean foods in the diet. One such ingredient is ‘Oats’, however all the options in the market are sweet in taste. So I decide to put an Indian twist to a traditional oats waffle recipe where oats are a main ingredient.

Savory Oats Waffles

Ingredients

Dry ingredients
2.5 cups of rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
salt to taste

Wet ingredients at room temp:
2 cups thick buttermilk
2 eggs
2 tbsp melted butter or oil

Adders
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 tsp chopped cilantro
1 green chili chopped
1/2 tsp cumin seeds crushed

1 tbsp grated coconut ( optional)
turmeric

Procedure:
Dry roast the oats and grind them once cooled.

Mix the toasted oat flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl.

Whisk the eggs and melted butter together in another bowl, then add the buttermilk.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined.

Add all the adders like onion, chili etc. You can add any vegetable of your choice.

Rest the batter for 5 minutes, this is important so the buttermilk and baking powder can talk to each other.

Pour the waffle batter into the hot iron. Close the iron top and cook until the waffle is golden on both sides.

Note:

I mix the dry ingredients and keep them on hand, which makes it very easy to make it in the morning

I also have made a large batch and the waffles freeze very well.