Category Archives: Gluten Free

Red Curry Bolognese

Gluten Free, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , ,

This time we’ll take a short break from Indian cooking and visit some other Asian cuisines – the Thai cuisine. One of the best things in Thai cuisine are the hot and fragrant curry paste with which you can super quickly make a hearty and satisfying meal. It’s possible and actually pretty easy to make those pastes at home but the store bought ones are really great so no need to make the effort. Today you can easily find in the “Asian” section of any market store the yellow, green and red curry pastes.

But wait a minute.. isn’t curry an Indian thing?! Apparently no, there is an Indian curry and Thai curry on those or two completely different things. The Thai curry is a paste based on fresh chili, lemon grass, ginger (or galnagal), garlic, shallots and sometimes also shrimp paste. To all of this goodness you add some cumin seeds, coriander and turmeric. The traditional preparation is done in a mortar and pestle. The Indian curry is the name of a mix of dry spices which are roasted in a pan and grounded to a dry powder. There are infinite versions for Indian curry mixtures while most of them are based on some ratio of cumin seeds, coriander seeds, turmeric, fenugreek seeds and dried red chili.

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Hariyali aloo – Cilantro & mint potato curry

Can be made vegan, Gluten Free, Indian, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cilantro. Either you love it or you hate it. I’m from the loving side and I tend to add some fresh cilantro leaves to just any type of food. Sadly, in the Israeli kitchen cilantro is kind of left out and parsley gets all the fame. The Thai cooking trend saved the situation a bit but still it is one of the most underrated greens.

In Indian cooking its quite the opposite, both cilantro leaves and coriander seeds are central to lots of dishes and spice mixes. This curry is called in Hindi “Hariyali Aloo” which practically means green potato. This curry is based on lots of cilantro and mint which are blended together with spices and cooked with potato cubes. The potato cubes in this recipe can be replaced with paneer cubes or chicken breast pieces.

The end result is slightly sour and has a special taste. It is served with rice or some Indian bread and is a great side-dish in a Thali.

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Paneer Makhani – Paneer Butter Masala

Can be made vegan, Gluten Free, Indian, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

One of the dishes that drawn me to Indian food is the curry. Rich and creamy curry, full of spices and little sweet that is cooked with paneer cheese or chicken – this dish is definitely high on my most loved foods list. However, for years I tried over and over to recreate those restaurant style curry dishes and failed miserably. Something in the texture and spice balance just didn’t work.

Lately something clicked and I suddenly got it right! The curry magic started happening in my very own kitchen 🙂 Apparently the amount of cashews plays a big role, the quality of the blander is also critical and surprisingly the curry is better with bought tomato puree instead of fresh tomatoes.

This recipe is for a curry dish called “Panir Makhani” or “Paneer Butter Masala” and it is practically a reach, buttery, spicy and sweet sauce to which you add paneer cubes or chicken pieces (or even tofu – details below). It is served with white rice or Indian bread like Nan or Roti. In the original version you’ll find much more butter but after some trial and error I arrived at the conclusion that it is completely unnecessary and it is tastier when you just add more cashew nuts (or almonds).

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Bella’s Chrein

Gluten Free, Grandma Recipes, Vegan, , ,

My family isn’t really close to the Jewish traditions. We don’t celebrate most of the holidays and the various Jewish customs aren’t really present in our lives. However there were always two holidays that are celebrated in a large and festive meals – Rosh HaShana and Passover Seder. For every such event my grandma prepares a very specific menu that includes chicken soup with Kneidlach (Matzah balls), Gefilte fish and Chrein, all hand made from scratch. In Passover the menu include also Charoset and rice with surprises.

If there is a dish in the world that I would never eat it is Gefilte fish… but Chrein is a different story. Every Seder I find myself drawn to this super hot and totally addictive spread and eat lots of it on top of a Matzah. You can’t compare store bough Chrein with the home made one, the taste is different but the main differentiation is the extreme and magical pungency of the home made version. The type of pungency that goes up to the forehead and down to the nose opening all your Chakras 🙂

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Onion Pakora

Gluten Free, Indian, Vegan, , , , , , ,

Fried, hot and crunchy is probably enough to make anyone happy, even someone who is vegan + non-gluten. Just be careful not to prepare that when you’re alone at home since you might end up eating too much and being completely full for the coming two days…

Onion Pakora (also known as Onion Bhaji) is an onion patty with chickpea flour and spices that is deep fried and served with various chutneys as an appetizer. In general, Pakoras are made of one or two main ingredients like onion, capsicum, eggplant, potato, spinach, paneer, cauliflower, chili etc. which is dipped in a chickpea flour and spices mixture and then deep fried.

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Lemon rice

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Despite my apparent liking of spicy and hot food I usually don’t like to change anything in rice – white rice is just perfect as it is and there is really nothing better to accompany and tone down my adventurous kitchen experiments. However, rice is one of the main players in Indian cuisine and a lot of times it appears not just as a side dish but as the main course.

Rice as main course has endless amount of versions – rice with varying spices, Biryani and many more. The most common rice dish in south India is lemon rice full of crunchy surprises.

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Paneer Cheese

Gluten Free, Indian, , , ,

Am I really suggesting to make cheese at home?! Apparently it is much more simple than it sounds. Paneer, the most common cheese in Indian cuisine is prepared from only two ingredients. Paneer comes in two versions – firm Paneer and soft Paneer. The soft Paneer is less known outside of India but it is very common in Indian cooking both in spicy dishes, patties and even in deserts. This soft version is actually identical to Ricotta cheese… yep, making Ricotta cheese at home is easy peasy!

In many places you can find fresh Paneer cheese (usually the firm version) in any supermarket. In Israel that is not the case and the only option I found is to buy frozen and somewhat depressing Paneer cubes in the few Indian grocery shops here. But no worries! making Paneer at home is such a simple process that doesn’t require and special skills or dishes and is so satisfying 🙂 You can also make a large amount and freeze for a two-three months.

The Paneer cubes can be added to any dish with/without gravy, to a stir fry or even grilled on skewers. It has a neutral milky taste and a fun bite-able texture.

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Aloo Tikki – Indian potato patties

Gluten Free, Indian, Vegan, , , , , , ,

Everyone have their own weird internet hobbies. Mine is viewing funny videos in YouTube of Indian grandmas making all kinds of weird and intriguing dishes. Those videos are usually in Hindi or some other Indian language and it took me quite some time to be able to understand the recipe without understanding the language.

Lately I’ve encountered somethings called “Ragda Patties”, which is a Chaat dish based on potato patties covered with a full-of-spices chickpeas curry, topped with yogurt, fresh tomatoes, onion, more spices and chutneys. A magnificent feast indeed. This dish will definitely be unraveled one day but in the meantime I decide to start with something less ambitious – the potato patties (= Aloo Tikki).

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Red Kidney Bean Curry

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I really like beans in general and especially red kidney bean, which has a deep and rich flavor that improves with longer cooking time. Red kidney beans pair really well with meat but can also be served as the focus of the main course. The following dish is called “Rajma Masala” or simply “Red Kidney Bean Curry”. “Rajma” means red kidney bean in Hindi and “Masala” is the general name for a spice mixture which is either dry or wet. In this case the Masala is wet and based on onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and lots of spices. Once the Masala is ready the cooked red kidney bean is added and they are cooked together.

This curry can be served simply with white rice or as an exotic side dish. There are lots of versions for Rajma Masala out there, this version celebrates ginger, cinnamon and the hotness of red chili.

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Baked chickpeas snack

Gluten Free, Indian, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

Who doesn’t like beer? Dark and cold beer is definitely one of my favorites, especially when served with some crunchy and spicy snack. Baked chickpeas are the ultimate party snack, they require minimal prep time using simple ingredients you always have in your pantry and they tend to get lots of praise from surprise guests.

I make those chickpeas in two different versions, both based on cooked chickpeas mixed with olive oil and spices. The first version is pretty simple and consist of everyday spices that you can find in almost every kitchen. The second versions is the Indian version which is a bit more sophisticated. They are both great and pretty similar to one another, the Indian version is hotter and has a hint of Garam Masala.

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