Khobz, A Moroccan Bread

SrilathaMoroccan Leave a Comment

Khobz is a bread that is a staple in Morocco. We first got introduced to Moroccan cuisine in Indianapolis at a restaurant called El Morocco, and we became addicted to the bread, and the various vegetarian accompaniments – served in multiple courses, starting with the golden warm bread. Alas, the restaurant closed within a few months, much to our disappointment. But it led me on a hunt for Moroccan recipes online, and I believe I may have found the bread. It’s a simple bread, and I have pretty much followed the standard basic recipe, without too much alternations. I made a warm, moderately spicy vegetable soup. The bread is wonderfully porous to mop up the soup. I make the soup fairly liquidy, to dip the bread in.
This is a very basic white bread, and I didn’t experiment with alternate flours, or toppings even though the original recipe in most websites call for sesame seed topping.

Kadai Paneer

SrilathaIndian, Sides Leave a Comment

Kadai paneer is a rustic dish, with big chunks of vegetables and paneer, cooked al dente, coated in a freshly blended spice mix incorporated into a semi dry gravy. Most restaurants serve it floating in a ton of sauce, everything cooked to death, with all the flavors overpowered by the ubiquitous tomato onion gravy. My husband and I have been looking for a semi dry dish, with the vegetables retaining a lot of the texture and fresh flavor, and the paneer just soft enough to chew. I finally found this recipe online, tried it once,and its a winner.
Recipe Source: (with very minor modificaitons)
http://www.chefandherkitchen.com/2012/12/kadai-paneer-recipe-paneer-recipes.html

Kara Kuzhambu (Spicy Thick Tamarind Gravy)

SrilathaSides, South Indian Leave a Comment

Kuzhambu is a generic thick, sour gravy in Tamil cuisine, meant to be eaten with rice or as a side for idli/dosai/pongal/etc. It is generally made with a tamarind base, although it can also have buttermilk/yogurt as base. It is not the same as sambar, although the base stock is tamarind for both. Kuzhambu may or may not have dal (paruppu/lentils) whereas sambar will always have dal along with the tamarind stock. Both may have vegetables. Sambar is generally slightly thinner than kuzhambu. This recipe is one of those which is by definition hot and spicy – “kaaram” means hot (red chili hot). Kuzhambu means a thick slurry/gravy. The stars of this recipe are shallots, garlic, and lots and lots of curry leaves (kariveppilai). The flavor is enhanced by using virgin, cold pressed nallennai (unfiltered sesame oil).

Kachoris With Green Peas Stuffing

SrilathaIndian, Snacks And Light meals, Starters Leave a Comment

These are seriously some of the best snacks! I always thought they were hard to make, having had some of the best made by a North Indian friend, and put off trying to make them. I recently wanted to eat them and bit the bullet and made them myself and couldn’t believe how easy there were!