A Feast for a King or Queen!

On Friday I was having lunch with a wonderful Indian lady that I work with, I mentioned to her that I have been craving GULAB JAMUN (Neil calls them Indian Timbits) my favorite Indian dessert. As the conversation went on she mentioned that she buys her desserts at Indian Sweet Shops. I was stunned I have never heard of such a thing. After a little more conversation I became aware that there is a whole Indian Mall in N.E Calgary with Indian groceries stores, sweet shops, jewelry stores and fabric stores. That night I told my sister and she said 'let go' so on Sunday afternoon along with the snow and cold we sought out little India. The first stop was the Delhi Sweet Shop, I ordered my Gulab Jumun however after this I was feeling a little lost so I ordered an assortment of desserts as well as 4 pieces of naan bread. We explored a few Indian grocery stores buying a some spices, exotic fruit, roti, paratha, fresh paneer and few other items. Our last stop was the Village Sweet Shop and Restaurant where we bought samosas. The car smelled of Indian cuisine and we had not even started cooking. We decided that we would make butter chicken with ghee and Silk coffee creamer so it was dairy free and cauliflower chickpea curry. To go with our curry we had partha, roti, naan, samosas, rice and sweets. If you would like to the recipe for "Dairy Free Butter Chicken" please email me otherw as I am just providing my recipe for the Cauliflower Chickpea Curry:

2 Tbsp of Oil

Mix 1 tsp of ground cardamon, 1 Tbsp of coriander, 1 tsp of black pepper, 1 Tbsp of cumin, 1 tsp of tumeric, 1 tsp of Garam Marsala, 1 Tbsp of mango powder together in a small bowl.

Heat oil until very hot (have fan on) once oil is hot add spice mixture and keep stirring until the mixure turns slightly brown, add 4 cloves of garlic, 1 large onion continue stirring until onion is slightly soft. Add 1 large tomato (chopped) cook down until you have red sauce, add 1 small head of cauliflower and 1 cup of chick peas, salt to taste. Cook for another 20 minutes until cauliflower is soft, you may need to add water to keep this from burning. You also may need to add more of the spice mixture if the taste is too weak. Serve over basmati rice.

The meal was very good we ate so much we could barely walk, the GULAB JAMUN was better than I expected, the other Indian Sweets no so great. Overall we had a great day exploring little India, trying new food and cooking a feast fit for a King and Queen.

At Last

At last I am feeling better and I was able to make Turkey Black Bean Chili for dinner, although Neil's dad was coming over for dinner I had to tone it down a little. Lately I have been having a few challenges in the kitchen, my sister recently moved to Calgary we have been spending a lot of time together to get to the point she is allergic to milk therefore, I have to think a little harder when and what I cook. Along with the chili I also made vegan cornbread, for me it is easier to search for vegan recipes to accommodate her than it is to try to modify recipes. The chili turned out divine just what I have been craving, so easy to make:
1 lb of ground Turkey
1 lg onion
cook until onion is soft and turkey is cooked
add one jar of your favorite salsa
1 cup of water (depending how watery this mixture is)
5-6 fresh tomatoes
1 cup of black beans drained
1 cup of corn drained
a whole lot of chili powder
1 T of lime juice
Tabasco Sauce or hot sauce
Salt and pepper to taste.
Bring to a boil and simmer for 25-60 minutes

The vegan cornbread turned out excellent I will share my recipe because I do believe it tasted just as good a regular cornbread and it goes so well with chili.
1¼ C. all purp flour 1¼ C Corn meal
2 teaspoons Baking powder
2 TBSP of maple syrup 1½ C. soy milk
2 TBSP Olive oil
Directions:Preheat oven to 400 F.
Grease muffin cups or a square pan. Put dry ingredients in one bowl, and mix them. Put oil and milk together, and add to dry... stir just until moist. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Here's to the start of a long winter!

Sick

Sorry I have not been posting, I have been laying in bed fighting off this nasty flu therefore no cooking. I have been thinking a little bit about some meals that I am planning on cooking over the next few days as I feel better. Tonight we will be having Broccoli and Tofu as I desperately need to use my broccoli that has been festering in the fridge as well as the Tofu.

I have been craving Turkey Corn Chili this is on my menu for the weekend. Also I have had two bags of sun-chokes as known as Jerusalem Artichokes in my fridge for a month although these little tubers keep well they do cause extreme gas and bloating if not used within an appropriate amount of time. I am well beyond this point but this rare vegetable is one of my favorites. I was a little reluctant to write about these rare vegetables mostly because I have never seen them in the store. Living in Calgary I have the luxury of getting organic vegetables delivered to my door on a weekly basis for the same cost as buying them in the grocery store but I have a huge selection, I don't know what I would do with out SPUD. Back to sun-chokes these vegetable look like pototos gone bad, they require a lot of patience to peel but the flavor is amazing kind of like a nutty potato. They are high in Inulin which is a soluble fiber thus causing gas and bloating. I am laughing as I write this thinking you all must think I am crazy for wanting to cause myself this pain but a few times a year I can put up with pain (smell) as the taste is really worth it! Here's to feeling better and a whole week of cooking great meals!