Freekeh, a delicious Middle Eastern staple is young green durum wheat thats is roasted and cracked. I first tried it at my freind Rula’s house and fell in love.
Try this super easy recipe – if you cannot get 7 spice – you can make your own by combining cumin, paprika, coriander, cloves, nutmeg, black pepper, cinnamon, and cardamom.
Here is a beautiful looking and tasting rice dish that uses the plethora of beets that I get in my winter CSA organic box. This dish can be eaten by itself or served alongside pretty much anything. I love the vibrancy of colors and flavors. Click here to print recipe.
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.
I always have cauliflower all cut up and ready to use in my fridge. I mostly end up roasting it as it works as a great side dish with anything from broiled fish to chicken curry. I found some kohlrabi too and sliced it up, added spices and threw it into the mix. The results were a yummy, acid friendly veggie side dish that disappeared in minutes. Click here to print the 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.
Roasting veggies is always my go to way of making everyday vegetables. I especially love roasting sweet potatoes and decided to add a little spicy kick to my usual recipe by adding some spices. It turned out really delicious. You can eat these as a side dish, top green salads with them or just eat hot and crispy off the pan as we do. Click here to print recipe.
I love bulgur – one of my favorite dishes is Mujadara ( a Middle Eastern lentil, onion, bulgur dish) which my dearest friend Rula Baki makes to perfection. It’s what made me fall in love with bulgur so much and now I use it all the time in my kitchen.
Here is one of my go to dishes which combines lentils and a bunch of roasted veggies with bulgur. Its really easy and you can substitute th vegetables with anything you have in your fridge ( sweet potatoes, asparagus etc). I prefer to use a coarse grain of bulgur – my favorite one is Duru which has vermicelli in it too but you can use any kind. This dish so so versatile that it can be served alongside pretty much anything or be a meal in itself. Click here to print recipe.
Manni Sel is one of my very favorite Sindhi dishes. Sindh is a province that used to be in India before partition, but is now in Pakistan. Manni Sel is usually made with rotis or bread ( Indian bread) that is at least a day old. These rotis are soaked in a delicious cilantro and mint based gravy.
I don’t make rotis so I just use Trader Joe’s tortillas as a substitute. They work great. You could use any of your favorite tortillas or rotis in this recipe. Make sure that when you cook this dish – you don’t put too much of the rotis in it – as it will become too dry. Keep the dish nice and gravied as the rotis tend to continue soaking the gravy long after the cooking process is done. This dish freezes really well too.
Nobody makes Manni Sel better than my best friends mother, Veena Thani does. I just love all her recipes because they are simple, really healthy and so so yummy!
The Restaurant Fairy's Kitchen™ 