Navratan Korma – The nine gems

21 Monday Jan 2013

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Navratan Korma – I even like the name of this dish! Navratan means nine gems and stands for the nine vegetables, fruits and nuts originally used in this dish. However, it’s up to you how many ingredients you want to add, as always, just add the veggies you like and that are available to you. Navratan Korma is more about the delicious, creamy sauce anyway.

Navratan Korma

Too me, it’s THE Indian dish. It took a while for me to notice that each time I was at an Indian Restaurant (and I’ve been to many Indian restaurants!), I’d usually take Navratan Korma. Well, who needs variety when you can always just eat the most delicious dish on the menu?

Okay, I guess you noticed that Navratan Korma is delicious to me… So could just stop talking and giving you the recipe!

Oh, and don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients! It’s really not that much once you have all the spices!

Navratan Korma 2

Navratan Korma 

inspired by The Lotus and the Artichoke

  • 1 cup / 8og cauliflower, chopped
  • 1/2 cup / 50g bush beans
  • 1/2 cup / 50g peas
  • 1 large potato, chopped (I didn’t peal, it’s up to you)
  • 3/4 cup / 180 ml water
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1/4 tsp granulated garlic OR 1 clove fresh, finely chopped garlic
  • 1 inch / 2 cm fresh ginger, finely chopped
  • 2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
  • 1/2 cup cashews plus some for decoration
  • 2 tsp cumin, ground
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp tumeric
  • cayenne pepper (optional, it’s hot!)
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • a little less than 1 tsp salt
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/3 cup raisins
  • optional: fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

Heat the oil in a big pot on medium heat. Add onion and ginger (and fresh garlic, of using). Stir constantly and fry for about 2-3 minutes.
Add cumin, coriander, garam masala and tumeric and fry again for 2-3 minutes, until the spices omit a nice smell. Mix in the chopped tomato and cook for another 3 minutes. Turn of the heat now and puree the spice-tomato mix together with the cashews and water. Put the sauce back in the pot, turn on medium heat and add the bay leave, salt and raisins.
Now it’s time to add the veggies! You could also precook them, like the original recipe does, but I found it sufficient to cook them in the creamy sauce for about 15 minutes. Make it hot: Add cayenne pepper to taste!
Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Indian Navratan Korma

Cheers!

Indian Naan Bread

12 Saturday Jan 2013

Posted by in Playful food and photos

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No Indian meal without Naan! I could go without the basmati rice. I often do eat my Indian curries without basmati rice. Don’t get me wrong, I really like basmati rice, it’s my favorite kind of rice. But Naan bread is just SO much better! So when I do have the choice – rice or naan, it’s gonna be Naan! A lot of Naan!

Naan Elephant

If you want to be really authentic: Try to eat your indian meal using the naan bread the grap the veggies and suck up the sauce. No knife, fork or spoon needed! Okay, that’s for pros. Might be easier than chop sticks, though.

My twist on Naan bread was to use whole wheat  flour. It fills you up and makes you feel much better. I also prefer the hearty flavor! However, feel free to use either whole wheat flour or just normal white flour – it both works in this recipe. Just keep in mind that whole wheat flour need a little bit more liquid than white flour.

Naan

Naan Bread 

inspired by “The Lotus and the Artichoke” (have a look – it’s a great website and a unique approach)

  • 1/2 package dry yeast (or 20g fresh yeast)
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1 Tbs warm water
  • 1 3/4 cups / 220 g wholewheat pastry flour (Germany: Weizenmehl 1050)
  •  1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 Tbs soy yogurt
  • 2 Tbs water or soy milk
  • 2 Tbs oil

Whisk yeast, sugar, warm water in a small bowl. Let it rest and rise for 10 min. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Mix soy yogurt, soy milk, oil in another small bowl and add this to the yeast-water mixture. Add combined wet ingredients to dry mix in large bowl. Fold, mix well. Knead for 5-7 minutes until dough is soft and rubbery. You can add slightly more water or flour if needed. The dough should form well and not be sticky. Cover dough and let it rise in a warm place for 2-4 hours.
Heat a large pan on high heat. Separate the dough into 4 different pieces and form long, oval naans. Cook dough in the pan. Each side should cook 4-5 min on high heat. Once there are brown spots and bubbles on each side, this delicious bread is done!

I am getting hungry by looking at it. And so does my little zoo right here…

Naan Panda

So, it’s your turn. What’s your favorite part about indian food?

Coming up: Navratan Korma and Mango Lassi!

Authentic Indian Feast – Dahl Soup

02 Wednesday Jan 2013

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I love Indian food.

So when we were thinking about what to make for New Year’s Eve (the traditional stuff here would have been Raclette or Fondue, which I am not really fond of), it didn’t take me long to come up with the idea. We’ll make a big, yummy, tasty, authentic, Indian feast!

Indien feast

As a starter, we had Dahl soup.
Our entree was Navratan Korma with Naan bread
Accompanied by Mango-Chai Lassi
And finally, sweet rice pudding with rose water as a dessert!

I’ve had all those dishes cooked by an Indian family before… and I tried to get as close to the flavor I remembered. What should I say… I think it worked out just fine!

Here are all the recipes from our feast:

Dahl Soup (recipe in this post)
Navratan Korma
Naan bread (Indian flatbread)
Indian Lassi
Sweet rice pudding

Let’s start with our starter!

Dahl Soup

Dahl Soup

  • 1/3 cup red lentils 
  • 2 fresh, chopped tomatoes
  • about 1/2 cup canned coconut milk
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 teaspoon garam Masala
  • a pinch of asafoetida
  • optional: cayenne pepper
  • salt and black pepper to taste
  • water as need for desired consistence
  • 1 tsp oil

Heat the oil in a pot (medium heat). Add cumin, garam masala and asafoetida and roast until the spiced omit the typical, delicious smell (just take care that you don’t burn them. However, you’d smell that, too ; ) ). Add chopped tomatoes and cook for about 3 min. Now, add coconut milk and lentils. Don’t add salt until the lentils are cooked and really soft! Depending on your desired consistence, add water. Cook until the lentils are soft. When the soup is done, you can use a potato masher to make it even more creamy. Season the soup with salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper.

Little friend Dahl Soup

Keep in mind: Hot food makes you happy! I guess this little guy added a lot of cayenne pepper… This Dahl is really rich and creamy, if you want to lighten it up, use less coconut milk. It will still taste great.

Dahl soup and cheers

Cheers! I hope you all had a great start of the year. My little friends and I are looking forward to many more yummy, vegan and playful blog posts in 2013!

Frosty the Snowman – Lunch before Christmas

16 Sunday Dec 2012

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Time for some easy food art!

Frosty the Snowman

 

Here’s Frosty the Snowman for lunch!
Food can be so much fun, why shouldn’t you play with it ;) .

You don’t need much to make your snowman lunch, but it looks great. It’s a nice idea for kids – or for yourself.

Frosty

This is more an idea than a recipe, but here’s what you need!

Frosty the Snowman

  • 2 slices whole wheat bread
  • chocolate spread
  • cream cheese (I used my homemade cream cheese, you could use tofuti, too)
  • 1 hazelnut, cut in two halves (eyes)
  • 2 small carrot (nose)
  • small raisins (mouth)
  • lettuce or baby spinach (scarf)

Lego and Frosty

 

Time for a snowball fight – I prefer the Lego version, as it’s less cold…

Oh, the chocolate spread I used for the head is homemade, too! I will post the recipe some time soon!

Have a great Christmas time!

Gingerbread Pancakes – Breakfast before christmas

13 Thursday Dec 2012

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Time to get festive!

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One thing I love about christmas time are all the spices! Cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, all spice… I love them all. They warm me from the inside when it’s freezing outside…

There are all these foods they only sell around Christmas. One of them is “Lebkuchen”, which is the German equivalent to gingerbread. But it’s more like a soft gingerbread and the spice mix is slightly different. The most famous one is the Nuremberg gingerbread. Try it if you get a chance! (I might be posting a recipe for “Lebkuchen” / soft gingerbread before Christmas, too, stay tuned!)

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To cut a long story short: “Lebkuchen” tastes great and so do pancakes (I guess I don’t have to tell you!) – so let’s combine both things! That’s what we did for breakfast today. It warms you form the inside and fills you up for a while because it’s whole wheat. And it’s a really delicious and easy way to make pancakes just a little bit different than usual!

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Gingerbread Pancakes / Lebkuchen-Pancakes
serves two

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/4 cups water
  • 2 tbsp soy flour
  • about ten chopped walnuts (1/8 cup)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tbsp stevia
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp “Lebkuchen” spice mix OR ginger bread spice mix OR one dash of each: Cinnamon, cardamom, muscat, all spice, coriander, ginger, cloves, mace)
  • dash of salt

Mix all the ingredients, adding just as much water as you need to create a pancake batter (the texture should be like a thick cake batter). Put about one tablespoon of dough in a non-sticking pan and cook at medium heat until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip and cook until browned.

Serve with maple syrup. Or vanilla sauce, chocolate syrup, agave syrup, apple sauce… whatever you want! And remember – those are wholewheat pancakes. They will really fill you up! This a breakfast for two hungry people.

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But if you’ve been building snowmen and pancake skiing all morning, like this little friend of mine, you probably are hungry. However, don’t worry, the delicious smell that comes from the spices should be enough to make everyone crave these pancakes.

One more, just because I like it.

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Apricot Bars – Snack time!

01 Saturday Dec 2012

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I was a little unsure about the naming – are they energy bars? But why do all things to be functional? And no, they are way to delicious to be no more than energy bars…

Are they pop tarts? They are similar – but there is way more stuffing! (Which is the very best part…)

So… Apricot Bars it is. Because… that’s what they are, after all. And delicious, they are really delicious, of course. But delicious is not really descriptive…

Apricot Bars

 

Oh, don’t let those Bars deceive you. They are definitelly not the most pretty thing… But one of the most tasty ones I’ve made lately. And, remember, if things are not that visually appealing, you might not have to share that much…

IMG_4762

 

Apricot Bars 

For the dough:

  • 225g  / 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour 
  • 50g / 1/4 cup ground hazelnuts
  • 100g / 1/2 cup margarine or vegan butter
  • 2-4 Tbsp water
  • soy cream or soy milk

For the filling:

  • 225g / 2 cups dried apricots 
  • 250ml / 1 cup apple juice
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 50g / 1/3 cup raisins

Coat a baking pan with baking paper or slightly grease it with margarine. Mix the whole wheat flour and ground nix. Add the margarine and as much water as needed. Knead either with your hands or the food processor until combined. Put the dough in the refrigerator for about 30 min.

For the filling, put the dried apricots, apple juice and cinnamon in a pot and boil the mixture for a few minutes until the apricots are really soft. Let it cool down and blend in your blender (or food processor) until really creamy. Stir in the raisins. That’s your filling!

Roll out one half of the dough and cover the ground of your baking pan with dough. Put the filling on top of it, roll out the second half of dough and cover the bars. Brush some soy cream or milk on top (it adds a nice glaze) and bake for 20-25 min at 200 C or 350 F.

IMG_4760

 

Remember this guy? Yes, he also loves apricot bars. Maybe it’s the golden orange color that appeals to him? And don’t worry, he didn’t need his axe to cut them… they are rather soft.

IMG_4724

 

All those secret beauties! I am getting hungry looking at this picture, honestly! This is actually a really old recipe, an accidentally vegan one, which I already made before I was vegan! And I don’t know why I haven’t made those bars in such a long time…

 

The one and only female knight. I think she looks angry. She needs something to eat. People always get grumpy when they are hungry!

Bon appetit!

Djinn’s magic Chickpea Fingers

17 Saturday Nov 2012

Posted by in Playful food and photos

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Arabian Nights.

Wonder lamps.

Djinn.

And the perfect food for reading the Arabian Nights? Falafel? That’s an old hat! Here’s chickpea fingers! They are similar to Falafel, but a perfect finger food. So you have one hand for turning the pages and the other one for eating chickpea fingers. (Btw, I really recommend reading that book… now during the cold season, with a candle… wonderful)

Chickpeas, aromatic spices and parsley… it makes a wonderful flavor and it’s easy to make!

And what about a yogurt dip on the side, or maybe even mango chutney…?

Djinn’s magic Chickpea Fingers

  • 2 cups chickpeas, cooked and drained (or use canned)
  • 2 tbsp soy flour
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp cilantro
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 bunch of  parsley, chopped
  • 1 finely chopped onion
  • garlic to taste
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • coconut oil

Mix all the ingredients except the parsley in your food processor or blender (I used the vita-mix with a tamper) until combined. Fill into a bowl and fold in the parsley.
Now take some dough and form the chickpea fingers. They should be about finger-size (surprise, surprise!). Heat the oil in a pan (medium heat) and fry the chickpea fingers until they have a nice brown crust. Enjoy with some salad and a dip on the side!

Note: The recipe seems to work better with cooked (not canned) chickpeas. However, if you want to use canned, add an additional 2-3 tbsp of flour and take care that you chop the onion really fine!

Djinn – approved.

They are perfect for a party, as chickpea fingers are a nice finger food! And they are healthier than deep fried falafel…

What else could you wish for? ;)

Magic Instant Pizza Crust – RAW

08 Thursday Nov 2012

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RAWmazing.

(yeah, I know – that’s an old one…)

I always thought I’d never make a raw pizza. For the same reason I’d never make raw bread or even a raw quiche. I recently stumbled upon a recipe for a raw quiche: It took more then 24h to make it, when you count the time for dehydration. That’s just not for me… I am a little… impatient, let’s just leave it like that.

But then… there was the idea to try an instant crust. I didn’t think it would really work… And I was surprised when I liked it even better than a dehydrated pizza crust! It’s a little more moist and not like a cracker!

I am in love with the simplicity of this recipe.

It’s magic. You see? My little friend has been working on that recipe… uncooking everything. And in the end, there was my first homemade raw pizza!

 

Magic Instant Pizza Crust

  • 1 cup sunflower seeds (or 1 1/4 cups almonds)
  • 1 cup flax seeds
  • 1 tsp dried oregano and basil
  • 1/4 tsp see salt
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 3-5 tbsp water, as needed

Grind the sunflower seeds and flaxseeds until powdered. It does not necessary have to be very fine powder, feel free to leave it a little more coarse. I like the texture. Mix in herbs, salt oil and water and needed to create a dough you can knead without sticking to your hands.
Form a circle, add tomato sauce and all veggies you love. I love to use avocado as my “cheese”, of course, you can use any vegan cheese you want, like raw nut cheese or any other vegan cheese.
Voila, that’s homemade RAW Pizza crust without a dehydrator! It’s that easy!

In case you don’t have the possibility to grind nuts and seeds, just use store bought almond meal and flax meal (Flax- or Leinmehl, in German Reformhäusern or Bioläden). You’ll still get a delicious raw pizza crust!

Of course it doesn’t taste one-to-one like a cooked pizza crust! The mouthfeel is completely different – but it’s the idea and the spices that count. It’s fun to make and delicious – give it a try! Even if you make the raw crust, you could still add cooked tomato sauce. Just saying. (There are great recipes for raw tomato sauce, too, if you want to try it!)

Mini Pumpkin Pies – no bake

28 Sunday Oct 2012

Posted by in Playful food and photos

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Make it small. I like small sized food. Small cookies = more cookies. Small cupcakes = more cupcakes.

Small pies = more pies!!!

And you have a whole pie to yourself… I think that’s great. Plus it’s no bake, so these pies are not only really cute, but also fast and easy to make. Could you ask for anything more?
Oh, and by the way… I think pumpkins are the only reason why fall has a right to exist at all. (You have to know that I don’t really like any season but summer. And yes, I know, I live in a very bad spot concerning my weather preference…).

Come on, they are cute!

The filling is rather a pumpkin pudding, or a pumpkin cream. But it’s one of the most delicious thing I had lately. If you add some corn starch, you could even use this cream as a filling for baked pumpkin pie.

For the crust: It’s raw crust, made from dried fruit, nuts and oats. You could actually use any kind of nut and dried fruits like dates, figs, apricots… I just used what I happened to have in the house. Feel free to use whatever you have on hand!

Mini Pumpkin Pies

  • 100g (1/2 cup) raisins
  • 80g (1/2 cup) almonds
  • 50g (1/2 cup) rolled oats
  • cinnamon
  • 200g (one can) pumpkin puree
  • 3-4 Tbsp Maple Syrup
  • 175g (6 oz or half a package) silken firm tofu
  • additional sweetener to taste
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ginger and cardamon
  • dash of salt, nutmeg and cloves

For the crust, combine the raisins, almonds rolled outs and a dash of cinnamon in your food processor (or vita-mix like blender). Press the dough into silicon muffin pans are into tartlet  pans. It should look like this:

For the filling, mix pumpkin puree, tofu, maple syrup and spices in your food processor or blender (I used homemade pumpkin puree, but it won’t make a big difference). Taste test and add more sweetener, if you like.
Fill the pumpkin cream into the crust and you’re ready to enjoy miniature pumpkin pies!

Spider, pink flower, bat. Nothing wrong here!

Trick or treat…

Great, “This is Halloween” is stuck in my head right now! I guess I will have to watch the movie some time soon… eating mini pumpkin pies and thinking of other Halloween food.

Happy Halloween!

Do you go to a Halloween Party and will you dress up?

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