DARING COOKS CHALLENGE (SEPTEMBER 2009) PART I- INDIAN DOSAS

This months challenge was hosted by DEBYI
This challenge is nothing new to me in the sense that Indian Cuisine is one of our favorite. We have probably dined at almost all the Indian restaurant/buffet near our area. Dosa is a staple, a must order food, but i have never made them at home. I always thought that they are too complicated to make and just thought of leaving the dosas to the experts.

That being said, if not because of this challenge i wouldn't have known that homemade dosas are well worth the process. I was too enthused with this challenge, i made them twice w/ different batter. So, thanks Debyi! Although i must admit, i was kind of iffy when you mentioned about the "restrictions"no meat products, strictly vegan. I had to compromise since i know my family will look for meat. I followed your vegan recipe and made a meat dish as a side dish. Take note...the meat was my side dish.

I will blog my two versions separately, just because it'll be too long to blog them all at ones. Plus i want to "showcase" each process. I used Debyis' filling and Chutney for both versions. The thing i did differently was the batter and my side dishes.


On my Dosa Challenge Part I, i made Mutton Rogan Josh as my side dish and finished it with Vermicelli Kheer. Pls. check the blogs for both.


Dosa Pancakes
1 cup (120gm/8oz) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour)-I USED AP FLOUR
½ tsp (2½ gm) salt
½ tsp (2½ gm) baking powder
½ tsp (2½ gm) curry powder
½ cup (125ml/4oz) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)
¾ cup (175ml/6oz) water
cooking spray, if needed

Dosa Filling
1 batch Curried Garbanzo Filling (see below), heated

Dosa Toppings
1 batch Coconut Curry Sauce (see below), heated
¼ cup (125gm) grated coconut (I GRATED MY OWN, I WANTED TO USE FRESH COCONUT)
¼ cucumber, sliced

Dosa Pancakes
1.Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.
2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.
3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes.

Curried Garbanzo Filling
This filling works great as a rice bowl topping or as a wrap too, so don't be afraid to make a full batch. (I ADDED A LITTLE BROTH COZ IT WAS DRY)
5 cloves garlic
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)
2 medium hot banana chilies, minced
2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground
1 TBSP (8gm) oregano
1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)
1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric
4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans) (ONE CAN WOULD SUFFICE)
½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste

1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.
2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.

Coconut Curry Sauce
This makes a great sauce to just pour over rice as well. This does freeze well, but the texture will be a little different. The flavor is still the same though. My picture of this sauce is one that I had made, had to freeze, then thaw to use. It tastes great, but the texture is a little runnier, not quite as thick as it was before freezing.
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
½ (2½ gm) tsp cumin, ground
¾ (3¾ gm) tsp sea salt (coarse)
3 TBSP (30gm) curry powder (I USED 2 T SINCE I I HAD HOT CURRY POWDER- BUT IT WASN'T THAT HOT SO I WILL HAVE TO ADJUST NEXT TIME)
3 TBSP (30gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)
3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth
2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk
3 large tomatoes, diced

1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.
2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.
3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.
4.Let it simmer for half an hour.
Happy eating!

Some of the ingredients. I love, love the Tomato tube paste...brilliant idea!

Cooking Basmati Rice is different than cooking a normal rice e.g. Jasmine rice.

Dosa Crepe/Pancake

I did a good job..didn't waste anything. First crepe was perfect.

Coconut Curry Sauce

This was not that hot/spicy, it's obvious based on the color. I had Hot Curry Powder, thought it will be too hot so tappered the measurement..boy was i wrong..it wasn't hot/spicy at all.

Curried Garbanzo Filling

This filling would be great for samosas as well.



Dosas with Basmati Rice

ENJOY!!!

BROWN TOMATO, GREEN MANGO AND CUKE SALAD

Ingredients:

Tomatoes (i used the Kumato brown tomatoes)
Green Mango*
English Cukes
Thai Basil (julienned)
White Vinegar
Sugar
S&P

Cut tomatoes, mangoes and cukes into cubes.
Mix white vinegar, sugar, s&P (test to suit your taste)
Incorporate everything, toss and chill.

*Unripe mango would work well for this salad because of the crunch and the sourness.


GREEN MANGOES *THE SHRIMP PASTE IS NOT INCLUDED IN THIS SALAD*

KUMATO (BROWN TOMATOES) TASTE LIKE ROMA TOMATOES

ENJOY!!!!!

PAM'S OATMEAL CHOCO CHIP COOKIES

Based on the title it's a given that this recipe is not mine, but Pam gave me the blessings to blog it!

The recipe is perfect to begin with, chewy and moist.. out of curiousity, she played w/ it and in the process, she has made "scones" because she added extra flour. One time, it became "lace cookies" because she added extra milk. Then she decided to stop w/ the experimentation and leave the wonderful cookie alone . She's definitely the baker!


Y: 20 cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 C butter (room temperature)
1 egg (large- room temperature)
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 C white sugar
2 t milk
1 t vanilla
1/2 C 2T flour
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 C oatmeal (quick cooking)
1/2 C semi sweet chocolate chips



1.Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

2.In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in egg then stir in milk and vanilla.

3.Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats and chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.

4.Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

HOW TO SLICE CHERRY OR GRAPE TOMATOES

Wish i could take credit to this brilliant idea but i can't . I saw Rachel Ray demo this but it wasn't here idea either...it was from a friend of hers.

What you need:

2 Lid tops
Very sharp knife

STEP 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

LUMPIA SARIWA (FILIPINO FRESH SPRING ROLLS)

Every Asian country has their version of Egg Rolls. If you have a Filipino friend or has been to a Filipino gathering chances are you have already tried one of these Lumpia(Lumpia Sariwa, Lumpia Shanghai, Lumpia Prito) or all. I will be blogging them one at a time.

The authentic Lumpia Sariwa (Fresh Lumpia) recipe calls for hearts of palms which is not easy to find and is not available in some States, if ever it is available it's probably in a can. And if you can get a fresh heart of palms, by all means go ahead add it to the ingredients.

Since i can't find fresh heart of palms, i use the same fillings for both the Fresh Lumpia and Fried Lumpia.

Lumpia Sariwa consists of julienned vegetables, bean sprout, ground pork or chicken, crushed peanuts and lettuce leaf wrapped in a yellowish egg crepe. This is served w/ a garlic sauce. You can omit meat if you want this vegan.

Ingredients: Y: 16

3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 piece chicken breast -- chopped
2 cloves garlic -- minced
1/2 cup onion -- chopped
2 cups green beans -- sliced very thin
2 cups carrot -- thinly julienne
2 cups bean sprouts -- cleaned
2 cups Jicama -- thinly julienne (optional)
3 cups cabbage -- sliced thin
1 can garbanzo beans -- drained and chopped
1 bunch lettuce leaves -- washed and dried
Salt and Pepper to taste

FRESH LUMPIA WRAPPER (Crepe)
4 medium eggs -- beaten
2 cups cornstarch
2 1/2 cups water
3 tablspoons oil

SAUCE
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cornstarch -- dilute 1/4C H20
6 cloves garlic -- minced
pounded peanuts (optional)

PROCEDURE:

FILLING:
1. Sauté garlic, onions until brown.
2. Add the chopped chicken stir season with salt and pepper. Cook until chicken turns white.
3. Add in the vegetables, start with the veggies that requires longer time to cook. Cook until tender but still crunchy.
4. Adjust salt and pepper. Add a little of soy sauce if necessary. Adjust flavor.
5. Drain, get a spoonful of mixture put on the wrapper with lettuce leaves.

WRAPPER:
1. Beat eggs until frothy.
2. Add the cornstarch, oil and water.
3. Mix well until cornstarch dissolves.
4. Preheat a nonstick frying pan. Ladle about 2 tablespoon of the mixture into the hot pan while swirling until it spreads out thinly like a crepe'.
5. Pick up crepe gently and cover until ready to use.

SAUCE:
1. Mix all ingredients except cornstarch and garlic.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Add cornstarch mix, stir constantly until thicken.
4. Take pot away from heat then add minced garlic.

HOW TO PREPARE:
1. Lay the lettuce on lower left side of the wrapper. Half of the leaf should be sticking out of the wrapper.
2. Put a tablespoon of filling on top of the lettuce then roll like a crepe or burrito. Fold the opposite side of the lettuce to secure filling.
3. Arrange on a small plate. Pour garlic sauce on top. Serve room temperature.

**** Wrap individual lumpia w/ cut wax paper to avoid from sticking and easy to pick up.