Muthias are one of my favorite Gujarati snacks. They are steamed cakes made with a combination of healthy flours such as semolina, whole wheat, chickpea flour and so on combined with grated bottle gourd or zucchini. I make these all the time – it’s an acid friendly food – you just have to omit the chili from this recipe.
I learned this recipe from our family friend Neha Mazumdar who makes some of the best Muthias. This dish goes really well with a nice mint or coriander chutney.
Besan ka puda – a spiced savory chickpea crepe – was one of my favorite breakfast dishes growing up. Traditionally it is made really thin (using lots of oil) so it is crispy and so delicious. It is usually eaten with chutney or spicy pickle. I made a healthier – acid friendly version of the recipe sans the chili, where I added lots of minced broccoli and cilantro to the batter. The results were a slightly thicker puda but still really yummy. Click here to print recipe.
Here is the first of my acid watcher friendly recipes.
Sundal is a super nutritious snack made with boiled chickpeas which we grew up on in my hometown of Chennai. I remember when I was young, we would go to Marina beach and there would be vendors selling “Thenga Manga Pattani Sundal” (coconut, mango , chickpeas) that they would carry in these large stainless steel tins. There was nothing quite like enjoying sundal sitting beachside, smelling the salty air with family and good friends in the good old days of Madras.
You can use any kind of dried beans to make sundal. I used chickpeas and corn in this recipe because it was what I had on hand but just use what you have. You can add things like shredded coconut, mango and so on. All the ingredients listed below are available at any Indian grocery store. I buy a bunch of packets of curry leaves and put them in the freezer. Click here to print recipe
Here is a great kitchen sink, healthy veggie cutlet. I know in the United States – a cutlet implies a thin piece of breaded, fried meat but in India it is a mish mash of all kind of veggies and /or ground meat made into patties.
You can substitute the veggies with what you have on hand and add ground meat if you wish. I love the addition of quinoa which makes these a complete meal. I usually serve them hot with mint chutney. Click here for recipe.
I have to say – I make kickass scones!
I always have them handy in my freezer for the slew of scone lovers in my life. You can make these plain or with berries which adds a wonderful fruity bite to them. You can use fresh or frozen berries. Just bake them a minute or two longer if using frozen.
I love eating my scones with clotted cream (if possible) and jam. My nephews bury their scones in whipped cream. Do what you will with these scones – they are truly a favourite in our household.
Click here to print recipe.
I love quick desserts made with berries and this one is a real winner. The crispy streusel topping gives way to a really moist cake reminiscent of a coffee cake but just so much better. Try this one with a cup of chai (which I’ll be posting next).
This recipe is from ABC Kitchen, at one of New York City’s most beautiful stores ABC Carpet & Home.
The menu offers many seasonal dishes of which one I just could not get enough of. It was their “roasted kabocha squash toast w/ fresh ricotta and apple cider vinegar”. The flavors and textures of this creation were simply divine. Thoughtfully layered with crunchy bread, salty cheese, sweet and earthy squash, topped with chili and mint – it was divinity in each bite.
I recreated this dish in my kitchen using Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s recipe and though I could not get it to taste exactly the same but it was still par excellence.
You must use good quality bread and you can use any cheese from ricotta, goat cheese – I even tried it with a herbed cream cheese and it tasted so good. I would try it with butternut squash the next time around.
This makes for a wonderful snack, appetizer or even a lunch dish!
It’s ramp season and I went a little crazy at Union Square Market last week buying bunches of them. I’ve been experimenting a lot with them, adding them to this and that. I made a really nice pesto with ramps and pistachios and have been making gorgeous layered breakfast tartines with it.
I found a really good recipe by Kim Severson for a ramp pesto which can be used in several dishes.
It’s really easy to make a layered tartine – at the very least you could just do pesto, avocado and some greens on top. There are so many variations you could do – mine really depends on what I have in my fridge. I keep things like hummus, babganoush, labne, ricotta on hand and when in doubt just top any tartine with a fried egg. Use your imagination, tomatoes, cucumbers, mint – just about anything can make this even more really delicious. Also, the better the quality of bread – the better your tartine will be.
This one is with fresh ricotta, avocado, a beet puree, ramp pesto and some microgreens.
For the beet puree, I just roast or boil the beets till cooked, add some salt, pepper and olive oil to it and puree in a food processor until the desired texture is reached.
Just look at the beauty!
I looked in my fridge and found I had eggs, kale, mushrooms and potatoes and was in the mood to make something really yummy on a weekend morning. Viola – my very first Spanish Tortilla!
When we were in Spain a few years ago, this dish was a tapas favorite and I loved the comfort of it! The great thing about this dish is that it can be eaten hot or at room temperature – so you can make it ahead of time. I didn’t have fresh thyme so just used the dried version. I’m sure you can substitute it with any other herb. I found a really easy recipe by Florence Fabricant in the NYT, one that I will be using over and over again. The tricky part of this dish is flipping it over and making sure nothing sticks to the pan – using a nonstick pan will help with that!
Asparagus is abundant in spring time and here is a yummy way to use it.
I love working with puff pastry because it is so forgiving that you can pretty much put anything on it and it tastes so good. I try and stock up on my puff pastry whenever Trader Joes has it (usually around thanksgiving time). Their puff pastry is affordable and doesn’t have all the extra fillers that some of the more popular brands have. I do love Dufour though – they are really pricey but are the best.
My tart has onions, mushrooms and asparagus. I had some ricotta lying in the fridge and used it as a thin layer on the base but this is really not necessary as the caramelized onions makes for a nice creamy bottom. You can however add any kind of cheese to this tart – goat cheese, Boursin , ricotta etc. if you wish. I will say that it was a bit of a struggle cutting the tart once cooked with the long spears of asparagus – so the next time around I might just chop it down into 1” pieces and sprinkle on top – it just won’t look as pretty!
The Restaurant Fairy's Kitchen™ 