Fiery Mint, Green Chili, and Onion Relish (Podina Piaz) [Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking]

The author of Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking warns that this relish is going to be spicy, and I'm pretty pleased to have found a cookbook where they actually mean it. It's basically ground chilies with a bit of extra ingredients for flavour and body and it packs a wallop.

Cookbook Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups thinly sliced onion (preferably red)
• 2 medium tomatoes, blanched, peeled, and quartered
• 12 (yes, twelve!) hot green chilies (I went for my old favourite - serrano peppers)
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
• 3/4 tsp coarse salt to taste

Following the cookbook recipe exactly:

1. Put the sliced onions in a bowl, then put half the tomatoes in the blender and add "all the other ingredients" except the salt. The cookbook seems to imply that you don't blend the onions, but isn't completely clear on the point. Blend until pureed.

When just opening the lid makes your eyes water, you're in for a good time.

2. Add the rest tomatoes and chop for a few seconds, just to chop the tomatoes roughly.

3. The recipe ends here, but presumably you then mix the puree with the onion and add the salt.

The Outcome:

Welcome to Fire Town, population: me.

I put this on top of some plain rice and peas, just to make sure I got the full flavour. This is wonderfully, gloriously, brutally spicy. Once again, the recipe's steps weren't completely clear, but the result was really good. I'm a big spice head and this had me sweating. The mint and cilantro add a bit of extra flavour, but mainly the combination of raw onion and hot chilies takes you by the throat. This relish also seems really versatile, you could top pretty much anything - rice, fish, chicken, pakoras, samosas, etc - with it and it would work. The book's explanatory notes explain that "hot green chilies" can cover pretty much anything from serrano and jalapeno peppers to milder anaheims, so there's wiggle room here for non-spice heads.

Cauliflower, Eggplant, and Potato in Herb Sauce (Sabzi Korma) [Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking]

First up from the Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking is sabzi korma, a northern Indian dish with the cumbersome English name "Cauliflower, Eggplant, and Potato in Herb Sauce". I like the big spread of spices involved - that's a good sign in my books. The use of almonds is new to me, but I like where this idea is going.

Cookbook Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 6 tbsp light vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups minced onion (pretty much one medium-large onion exactly)
• 2 tsp minced garlic (about 1 or 2 cloves)
• 2 tbsp grated or crushed fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup ground blanched almonds
• 1 tbsp ground coriander seed
• 1/2 tsp ground fennel (I could only find whole fennel, so I ground my own)
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 cup canned tomato paste
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 cauliflower, about 2 lbs, cut into 1.5 inch florets
• 1 small eggplant, about 1/2 lb, cut into 1.5 inch cubes
• 2 medium potatoes, about 1/2 lb, cut into 1.5 inch cubes
• 1 1/2 tsp ground roasted cumin seeds or garam masala
• 2 tsp coarse salt or to taste (oddly, the salt doesn't come up in the recipe)
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (toast sesame seeds in a dry pan until brown)

Following the cookbook exactly:

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the onion and fry, stirring, until browned (about 10 minutes). Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 2 minutes. Add the cilantro and almonds, and cook for 2 more minutes.

2. Add the coriander seed, fennel, cayenne, and turmeric and "let sizzle for a few seconds." Add the tomato and paprika, drop the heat to low, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

3. Add the water, cauliflower, eggplant, and potatoes and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.

4. Turn off the heat, stir in the garam masala / cumin (and apparently the salt, since the salt isn't mentioned in this recipe?)  Let stand, covered, for 30 minutes to let the flavours blend. Top with the sesame seeds.

The Outcome:

This is pretty good! It's different from a lot of korma I've had before - it's not as heavily spiced as I was expecting, but the flavours blend really nicely - especially the fennel with the toastiness of the browned onion/sesame seeds/almonds. I'm not sure if the spices have been toned down a bit for the Western market or if it's meant be more delicately flavoured, though it's not bland. There were only two points that weren't entirely clear - what to do with the salt, and what temperature to eat it at - since after 30 minutes of sitting on the stove it's lukewarm at best.

Cod Curry [Cooking For One]

I figured I'd try another reasonably normal recipe from the Cooking For One cookbook before I burn my house down with the weird microwaved stuff. This looks like a pretty straightforward fish curry recipe, though the option of yogurt vs. canned tomatoes seems like it would produce two very different dishes.

Cookbook Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 inch piece of cinnamon stick
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp ginger paste
• 1/4 tsp garlic paste
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander seed
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 3 tbsp plain yogurt or 2 oz canned tomatoes, chopped (this seems very weird as an alternative, it would change the dish's composition and flavour profile dramatically - not in a bad way, just that it would be a pretty different curry)
• 1 small fresh green chili, finely chopped (they didn't specify what kind of green chili so I went for a serrano)
• 1 sprig fresh cilantro, chopped
• 4 oz cod filled, cut into 2 inch pieces (that's only like 113g, so I got the smallest piece of cod in the grocery store for this)
• salt to taste

Following the cookbook recipe exactly:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and saute the onion until "golden brown". Add the cinnamon, bay leaf, ginger and garlic pastes, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the ground spices and stir for another minute. (At this point it's going to be very dry, so keep stirring so nothing burns.)

2. Add in the chili, cilantro, and either the tomatoes or the yogurt - and if you're using yogurt, also add 3 tbsp water.

3. Add the cod and season with salt. Cover and simmer for 15-18 minutes. It does seem dry in the pan, but a sauce does start to form after a bit, but this recipe does seem a bit touch-and-go, I stood ready with a bit of water in case it started burning.

The Outcome:

It's not a bad curry, but it's not amazing. The cod flakes apart at this point and is completely overwhelmed by the spices, so you mainly feel like you're eating an onion curry. The addition of cinnamon is interesting, it adds a bit of complexity, and using a serrano pepper gave it a nice bit of kick (they also didn't make me de-seed the pepper to strip its potency away, thankfully). However, while it's not terrible, it didn't make me go "wow". I wonder if works better with the tomatoes instead of the yogurt?

Tomato and Cucumber Salad [Cooking For One]

I figured I'd start with one of the more basic recipes in the Cooking For One cookbook before venturing into potentially blowing up my microwave. At first glance this recipe looks pretty basic. On second glance, it is pretty basic.

Cookbook Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz cucumber (I assumed this was 1.5 oz of cucumbers instead of one comically tiny 0.5 oz cucumber. This only works out to like 43g, a very small amount of cucumber indeed)
• 1 tomato
• 2 spring onions, coarsely chopped (In Canada spring onions generally mean green onions, but there is also a slightly different variety more common in Europe that is hard to find here that is also called "spring onion".)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp olive oil
• salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• 1 tsp chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/2 oz roasted, salted peanuts, crushed (this is only 14g - I used my digital scale to get it exact. Again, a very tiny portion)

Following the cookbook recipe exactly:

This is what 43g of cucumber looks like.

1. Peel and chop the cucumber "finely". Chop the tomato finely as well. (Seems like somewhere between a chop and a dice.) Mix the onions, tomato, and cucumber in a bowl and set aside.

Even my smallest whisk seems like overkill.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and cilantro.

3. Mix the dressing and peanuts into the veggies and serve. (I mean, you're only serving yourself, so dig in.)

The Outcome:

I mean, this is a perfectly good little salad - but I do mean little. The flavours do go together well, but this is a pretty rudimentary recipe - apart from the addition of peanuts, this is something you'd probably just throw together anyways if the ingredients were at hand. Still, it's a perfectly tasty little snack. I'd leave the cucumber skin on and omit the extra bowl - it seems kinda unnecessary to try and whisk so little liquid.

Sriracha-Mango Guacamole [The Veggie-Lover's Sriracha Cookbook]

The major downside of produce-heavy recipes like the ones in the Veggie-Lover's Sriracha cookbook is the simple fact that getting fresh produce sucks in Canada. It's going to be out of stock, half-ripe, cost more than an entire meal at Tim Horton's, or look like it was kicked all the way from California to Canada. However, I love mangoes, and even if they're a bit out of season in Canada, when I saw this recipe I really needed to try it. It's guac, it's spicy, and it has mango in it - though there is the weakness that there's just no way to find big soft juicy mangoes in this part of the world right now.

Cookbook Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 large, ripe, Hass avocados (the varietal with the darker skin - the good news is that's the only kind we get here)
• juice of 2 limes
• 1 large mango, diced (I feel a bit let down by this mango - I went to three grocery stores before I even found any mangoes, and this was the "ripest" - it's dry as a bone but it is technically a mango)
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro plus more as garnish
• 1/4 cup Sriracha
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• salt and fresh ground pepper

Following the cookbook recipe exactly:

1. Halve and pit the avocados, scooping the flesh into a bowl. Top with lime juice and mash the avocados with a fork until "relatively smooth". The lime juice should also keep it from browning, however, as we see later, this concern is rendered moot.

Dry as a bone.

2. Add most of the mango, leaving a few pieces for garnish, plus the onion, cilantro, Sriracha, garlic, and cumin. Mix it well and season. You'll now see why browning isn't a big concern, as the red Sriracha turns the green avocados into a colour I can only describe as "cat barf".

3. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap onto the surface of the guacamole, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Garnish with reserved mango and cilantro.

Outcome:

I'm sorry I put the image of cat barf into your minds. It's actually very tasty. The guac, not cat barf.

I really wish I had waited to try this recipe when mangoes were in season. Colour aside, it's really tasty - it's a good solid guac with a nice spicy kick. The mango taste is very subtle and gets a bit overwhelmed by the spice, but I think this is more due to my shitty dry mango than the recipe. But once you get over the colour, it's really tasty and pretty easy to make.

Vietnamese Chicken Salad [Quick From Scratch Chicken, Turkey & Cornish Hens]

What caught my eye with Quick From Scratch's Vietnamese Chicken Salad was the combination of fresh cilantro and mint, plus the inclusion of some reasonably authentic flavours. This is still a westernized recipe (I mean, it's from the 90s), but I think it turned out pretty well.

Cookbook Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 4 - I got a value pack and stashed the extras in the freezer)
• 1 cup canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
• 4 scallions, including green tops, chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 lbs green cabbage, shredded (I got lucky at the grocery store, there was only one half-head of cabbage and it weighed that amount exactly)
• 3 carrots, grated
• 6 tbsp chopped fresh mint and/or cilantro (the cookbook says you can use one or the other if necessary, but they work great together)
• 1/4 cup lime juice (2 limes worth)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce or fish sauce (I went with soy sauce since it was on hand)
• 4 tsp sugar (that's a lot of sugar)
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (that's not a lot of pepper flakes)
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts

Following the cookbook recipe exactly:

1. Cut each breast into five diagonal pieces. In a saucepan, bring the broth, 1/4 of the scallions, and 1/4 tsp salt. Bring to a simmer, add chicken, stir and cover. The recipe says to cook over a low heat for 5 minutes, but I found a medium heat was needed to make sure the chicken cooked. Turn the heat off and let the chicken steam for 5 minutes. I think this step is also to let it cool down for shredding, but it's still scalding hot when it comes out of the pan. Remove the chicken and shred it.

2. In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, carrots, rest of the scallions, chicken, and 4 tbsp of the mint and cilantro.

3. In a small bowl, whisk the lime juice, soy sauce, sugar, pepper flakes, and 1/4 tsp salt. Toss dressing in with salad. Top with the remaining herbs and the peanuts.

The Outcome:

This is pretty good! The flavours come together pretty well, though I think the lime juice comes through a bit sharp, though I have a feeling it will probably gel better after sitting in the fridge for a bit. While it's not a truly authentic Vietnamese recipe, it does have a lot of Vietnamese flavours, especially with the lime, soy sauce, cilantro, and peanuts. The mint adds some interesting depth, and it's generally a pretty healthy salad too. I could see myself making this again, especially for a potluck.

Of course, as always, it could use more chili.

1/4 tsp for the entire salad. Really.

Spicy Chicken Chili [Quick from Scratch Chicken, Turkey & Cornish Hens]

I had originally wanted to make this cookbook's Groundnut Stew recipe but for the life of me couldn't find any okra, fresh or frozen, so I flipped the page and came to their Spicy Chicken Chili recipe. I love spicy food, usually peel-your-face off, but my gut instinct is that a recipe from the 90s isn't going to have any punch to it.

Cookbook Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound skinless chicken thighs, cut into strips (I got them boneless as well)
• 4 tsp chili powder (this is a pathetic amount of chili powder for a whole pot of chili. If I remake this recipe, it's going to be 4 tbsp)
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 jalapeno pepper, seeds and ribs removed, chopped (another thing I hate - deseeding peppers. It just makes them less spicy. Again, if cooked again, I'd leave the seeds.)
• 1 1/2 cups canned crush tomatoes with their juice
• 2 1/2 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
• 1 2/3 cups drained and rinsed pinto beans (I had to substitute romano, but they're extremely similar)
• 1 2/3 cups drained and rinsed black beans (both these beans are about the amounts in 443ml/15 oz can, but I could only find the larger cans, so I saved the extras)
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro 

Following the cookbook recipe exactly:

1. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Sautee the onion and garlic until they start to soften, about 3 minutes.

2. Increase heat to medium, add chicken, cook until no longer pink, about 2 minutes.

3. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, oregano, and salt, then the jalapenos, tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Stir in beans and pepper, simmer uncovered for another 15 minutes. Top with cilantro.

The Outcome:

Unsurprisingly, this is not spicy. Like, not even a detectable tingle. The other spices are a bit light too, so the tomato flavour is much more dominant than in most chilies. It also has a much soupier consistency. If I was to remake this, I would cut it down to 2 cups of broth, at least an extra tsp or two of cumin, and just go hog wild with the chili powder. It's not bad, it's warm and hearty and easy to make, but it doesn't have zing. I'm going to reheat some of the leftovers later and add some ghost pepper sauce that I have in my fridge - that'll pick it right up!