Fennel Slaw and Indian Slaw

America's Test Chicken consists of two separate chickens, each with her own take on this cooking thing. Check out Chicken One's related blog, A Travel for Taste where she shares travel stories and recipes collected whenever she ventures abroad. And give Chicken Two's new, also-related blog, Poop from the Coop a read. There you can find stories about her personal adventure re-experiencing the kitchen after many years away. Please join our Facebook group to share your own recipes, kitchen practices and know-how. We are also on Pinterest and Instagram.
The complete recipes appear at the end of this post.

From Chicken One: Fennel Slaw I chose a delicate slaw this time from one of my fave Indian cookbooks by Vikas Khanna, Indian Harvest. If you'd like to witness someone who is spiritually connected to food, search on this guy's name on YouTube. He's wonderfully inspiring to listen to as he talks about food. This dish is a light, summery fennel slaw with a tangy dressing and sweet, sweet honeydew melon balls. Just looking at these photos makes my mouth water!  With the hot weather bearing down on us, we thought we'd give you some light yet spicy options for a flavorful repast. A great advantage to cooking light is that the recipes are quick and easy, too. No cooking is required, of course, and only one fennel bulb, thinly shredded. You get all this from one bulb, about four servings: The dressing is very vinegary, and next time I will reduce the vinegar to half of what the recipe calls for. The taste is so tangy that it's hard to eat without the melon sweetness in the same bite to offset the edge. So I added more melon this time! The dressing is made with lightly toasted cumin seeds ground fine.  The wonderful aroma permeates the kitchen as it's toasted and ground, and you can't believe the difference in flavor. You could use ground cumin from a jar as well, but the flavor is much less intense. Enjoy the summer with this light, sweet salad. It makes a perfect lunch or a side to accompany a main course.

From Chicken Two: Bund Gobhi Nu Shaak (Indian Slaw) I was looking for a salad that I felt would balance out a wonderfully spicy Indian meal that included a vindaloo and a creamy corn curry. I wanted something with great flavor that would stand up to the other strong tastes but not overpower. This salad works! Because my time was short, I bought a coleslaw mix to use, which worked out great. The combination of hot (serranos) and sweet (coconut) along with the roasted peanuts was a tantalizing mixture for the taste buds! You will find the recipe below but here's a couple of hints: I recommend dry roasted peanuts and definitely unsalted. Grind into a bread crumb consistency and mix with all the other ingredients except the mustard seed. Don't fall asleep with your hand on the grind button or you will wind up with a paste! When roasting the mustard seed, be sure to put a lid on it before you hear the first pop or two. Otherwise you could get hot oil or a seed in the face. Ouch! The process should only take about 30 seconds. I left it in the fridge overnight and the flavors only got better! Enjoy!!

Fennel Slaw and Melon Balls

Ingredients

• 1/2 small honeydew melon, seeded
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon lightly roasted cumin seeds, ground
• salt to taste
• fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 1 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill leaves

Cooking Directions

1. Scoop out the honeydew with a melon baller, set aside.
2. Whisk together oil, vinegar, mustard, honey, cumin, salt and pepper to make the dressing.
3. Toss the fennel and honeydew in the dressing to coat.
4. Garnish with dill.
5. Serve chilled.

Indian Slaw (Bund Gobhi Nu Shaak)

Ingredients

• 1 pound cabbage (half a small head) or 14 ounces (1 bag) coleslaw mix
• 1-2 fresh green Serrano chiles, stems discarded
• 1/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts
• 1/4 cup dry, unsweetened, shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt
• juice from 1 medium-sized lime
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon black or yellow mustard seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

Cooking Directions

1. Remove the core from cabbage and shred very thin (or open coleslaw mix). Place in large bowl.
2. Slice the chiles lengthwise and then cut them into thin slices, crosswise, ending up with half-moons of chiles that still have the rib and seeds within. Do not discard the seeds. Add this to the cabbage.
3. Chop peanuts in a spice grinder, food processor or mini chopper to a consistency of coarse bread crumbs. Letting the machine run continuously may yield peanut butter.
4. Add peanuts, coconut, cilantro, salt, and lime juice to bowl cabbage.
5. Heat oil in small skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add mustard seeds, cover the pan, and cook until the seeds have stopped popping, about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle in the turmeric.
6. Pour over cabbage. Wipe skillet clean with some cabbage shreds.
7. Thoroughly mix the contents of the large bowl to ensure every shred is evenly coated.
8. Serve either at room temperature or chilled.

 

Indian Sweet Chickpea Spread and Mango Marmalade (Chutney)

America's Test Chicken consists of two separate chickens, each with her own take on this cooking thing. Check out Chicken One's related blog, A Travel for Taste where she shares travel stories and recipes collected whenever she ventures abroad. And give Chicken Two's new, also-related blog, Poop from the Coop a read. There you can find stories about her personal adventure re-experiencing the kitchen after many years away. Please join our Facebook group to share your own recipes, kitchen practices and know-how. We are also on Pinterest and Instagram.

The complete recipes appear at the end of this post.

From Chicken One: Indian Sweet Chickpea Spread/Flatbread Filling I'm excited to bring you this recipe. Besides this being a dish completely new to me, it's a recipe from my new Indian cookbook, Indian Harvest by Vikas Khanna. Even if you never cook a single thing from this book, it would make a beautiful coffee table book because of the stunning photography inside. It's a joy to use! Another reason for my excitement: two new ingredients. The first goes by several names, including Bengal gram and chana dal. Here they are with the dried version on the left and ones I soaked overnight for this recipe on the right: It actually consists of immature chickpeas, dried, polished and split. It looks a lot like lentils, and many people refer to them as such. Dal is the Indian word for beans and lentils and such, so that explains the chana dal moniker. The second new ingredient is jaggery, a name that does not describe how sweet it is! Basically, it's unrefined sugar in block form. Jaggery can be made from sugarcane juice or other plant-based juice such as that of the date palm. Mine was from sugarcane. The worst part of working with jaggery is that I had to grate it. See knuckle-protection advice over there in Chicken Two's column! Next time I'll buy the grated type. Although this recipe can be used as a gluten-free, vegetarian spread for toast or anything else you like, it's actually intended to be a filling for a festival flatbread. We were going to present the flatbreads first in this post, but there were some major SCAFUs (Situations Chicken All Fowled Up) in the kitchen regarding those. Therefore, we are going to try making the flatbreads again with better success before we give you those recipes. Look for them (we hope) in the next post! Meanwhile, enjoy the sweet stuff this week on toast or crackers until we get you the authentic (again, we hope!) delivery vehicle.

From Chicken Two: Mango Marmalade (Chutney) I have to tell you that since we started cooking Indian cuisine, my exposure to different spices has definitely changed what I like in flavors! Now, when I taste a dish, if it doesn't leave just the right amount of pucker, I say it's missing something. There's nothing missing from mango marmalade, let me tell you! It's simple ingredients taste wonderful and will reach out and smack you in the kisser when you're not looking. Oooeeee! Hot stuff, and I love it. To quote the author of this recipe, "crisp - tender unripe mango, puckered with natural sourness that was balanced with a smothering of sweet sugar, blood-pumping cayenne and sensuous cardamon". I mean, who can resist anything described with such passion? The recipe comes from what has become our go-to Indian cookbook, Indian Cooking Unfolded by Raghavan Iyer. We've mentioned him in previous posts. He waxes poetic in his very detailed instructions! The recipe is below, but a word or two of caution: You will need to grate a peeled mango. It gets pretty slippery so watch your knuckles! I had a couple of close calls. You can also use a mandoline, but I felt it was just another opportunity to slice and dice my hand! Better to be safe!

Recipes:
I. Sweet Chickpea Spread and Flatbread Filling

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried Bengal gram (dried, split chickpeas; chana dal)
• enough to soak chickpeas + 3 cups water
• 3/4 cup grated jaggery
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom

Cooking Directions

1. Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover with water plus one inch. Soak them overnight.
2. Drain and rinse chickpeas. Place in saucepan with 3 cups fresh water and cook til very soft, about an hour.
3. Drain and place in food processor with jaggery and cardamom. Process til very smooth.
4. Serve as a spread or use as filling for puran poli, an Indian festival flatbread.

II. Indian Mango Marmalade (Chutney)

Ingredients

• 1 pound unripe mango
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons ground red cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

Cooking Directions

1. Peel the mango and, using a box grater, shred on all sides as close as you can get to the pit. You should end up with about 4 cups of shreds.
2. Place mango in a medium-sized saucepan and stir in sugar, vinegar, cayenne, and cardamom. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Once the liquid starts to evaporate, after 8 to 10 minutes, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue simmering, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the sugar starts to caramelize and look bubbly(about 10 to 15 minutes).
3. Remove from heat and let it cool. It can be stored in a glass container for a month in the refrigerator. Best served warm, so you can microwave it for a minute or two before using.
4. Makes about 2 cups

 

Indian Curry Two Ways

America's Test Chicken consists of two separate chickens, each with her own take on this cooking thing. Check out Chicken One's related blog, A Travel for Taste where she shares travel stories and recipes collected whenever she ventures abroad. And give Chicken Two's new, also-related blog, Poop from the Coop a read. There you can find stories about her personal adventure re-experiencing the kitchen after many years away. Please join our Facebook group to share your own recipes, kitchen practices and know-how. We are also on Pinterest and Instagram.

The complete recipes appear at the end of this post.

From Chicken One: This time around the Chickens wanted to make a basic Indian curry dish. In Indian Cooking Unfolded, one of our new favorite cookbooks, author Raghavan Iyer lays out a simple recipe with delicious results. True to course, we each chose a variation. I did the straightforward chicken curry described in the book. Iyer gives several substitutions, though, including pork, tofu and even potatoes. It's nothing more than sauteeing some onions, garlic and ginger in oil... ...adding spices, diced tomatoes and cream, then processing until smooth... ...then adding cubed meat or other protein and cooking til tender. We served ours over basmati rice with naan flatbread on the side. It's that easy! It makes great leftovers, too. I like to double this recipe so I actually have leftovers! Then we had to make a trip to Patel Brothers just in case there was something there we needed to see! Try the recipe below and let us know what you think!

From Chicken Two: This was a fun dish to make! It's a very easy recipe that makes a basic dish you can use in a variety of ways. I made it with Pork and, though I know you've heard this before, it tasted just like chicken! Ha ha! No, really....the key is in the spices used...and that's pretty much the basis of the flavor. If using the Pork, I recommend cooking it a little longer than the recipe states to get it more tender.You can also use Tofu, lamb, potatoes or any other ingredient and still have a delicious dish. Both Chicken #1 and I highly recommend doubling the spices in the recipe. We're not sure, but we think perhaps the author thinks we Americans can't handle a little fire! Speaking of spices, the recipe called for a spice blend called Raghavan's blend. (Concocted by the author of the book and used in the place of Madras Curry blend.) I made it myself prior to our cooking fest and when I smelled the finished product, I think it cleared my sinuses! You can find the recipe for the blend on Poop from the Coop where I detail the process.

Indian Chicken or Pork Curry

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
• 4 medium cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 4 pieces fresh ginger (each about quarter-coin size), unpeeled and coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoons spice blend/Madras curry powder or to taste
• 1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes with juice
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken or pork cut in 2-inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro

Cooking Directions

1. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high til it shimmers. Add onion, garlic and ginger. Saute til onion starts to turn brown, 4-5 minutes.
2. Sprinkle spices into skillet. Stir and let roast about 10 seconds. Add tomatoes and stir.
3. Lower heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 5-7 minutes.
4. Add half-and-half and scrape bottom of skillet to deglaze.
5. Transfer sauce to blender or food processor. Puree until it looks slightly curdled but smooth.
6. Return to skillet, stir in meat and salt.
7. Simmer over medium-low, covered, stirring occasionally, until meat is tender and cooked through, about 12-15 minutes for chicken, a little less for pork.
8. Serve warm over rice and garnish with cilantro.

 

Indian Spiced Potatoes, Cauliflower and Peas (Aloo Gobi), Two Ways

America's Test Chicken consists of two separate chickens, each with her own take on this cooking thing. Check out Chicken One's related blog, A Travel for Taste where she shares travel stories and recipes collected whenever she ventures abroad. And give Chicken Two's new, also-related blog, Poop from the Coop a read. There you can find stories about her personal adventure re-experiencing the kitchen after many years away. Please join our Facebook group to share your own recipes, kitchen practices and know-how. We are also on Pinterest and Instagram.

 The complete recipe appears at the end of this post.

From Chicken One: The recipe we used for this post mentions it's Punjabi, a state in India bordering Pakistan. In my research for this post, I discovered that it's called Aloo Gobi, with Aloo meaning "potatoes" and Gobi meaning "cauliflower". I also discovered that it's a staple of Indian restaurant menus all over the world. It's also considered a Pakistani dish. I caution you to use boiling potatoes - red, yellow or gold - not baking potatoes like russets. Boiling potatoes will stand up to, well, boiling, and not go to mush in this dish. You can see the beautiful, giant red potato I used below: That said, if you cook any potato too long it will become squishy, as will cauliflower. So don't overcook them. As with any common, traditional recipe, each home cook has his or her own spin. With Indian food, it's the spice combination that gets the creative twist. Therefore, many different spice combos are possible here, including using coconut shavings, curry leaves, black mustard seeds, etc. All of the mixes seem to use turmeric, however, which gives a characteristic yellow color. Since we're just beginning our foray into the spices, we stuck to the recipe in the book. But I already have some ideas in the back of my mind for the next time I make this. For one thing, I'd kick up the heat a little. It's pretty straightforward: Partially cook the potatoes and set aside. Then process the aromatics together... and set aside. Whisk tomato paste, water, lemon juice and a little sugar. Set aside. I'd also recommend combining the spices in a bowl together and set them aside as well. Once you have all these things set aside, it's an easy cook up: saute the aromatics, add the spices, add the cauliflower, potatoes and peas. Cook a few minutes and serve.

From Chicken Two: I'm really excited to be cooking recipes from this region of the world. Besides experimenting with some great tasting dishes, we're learning about the region, customs, spices and history. It's a great way to travel if you can't actually get there any time soon! When we decided to cook Indian food, we went out and bought a few cookbooks that we hoped would be authentic. Wouldn't you know, this recipe came from a book we already had in our collection - Williams Sonoma, Asian Cooking. When we asked an employee of our favorite Indian market about cookbooks, she referred us to the internet! Ha ha! Isn't that the way it is these days! Plenty of recipes there! The recipe below was wonderful, with all the spices and texture. I substituted parsnips for potatoes.  I guess it wouldn't be called Aloo Gobi but when I tried to translate parsnips into Punjabi, it still read parsnips. So….I made Parsnips Gobi, I guess! The parsnips kept their shape and didn't turn mushy. Frankly, there wasn't much difference in the taste between this and the potato version. Spices rule! This dish can be used as a starter, a side,or, as we did, a main dish served over rice. You can store in the fridge for 3-4 days but don't freeze because it can get pretty mushy. Hint: Chicken One used a  pot with high sides, like a stock pot and I used a wider style like a large frying pan. When partially covered, my liquid evaporated faster and the spices became more concentrated. (This doesn't give you a lot of liquid to put over the rice, if that's important to you.)

Indian Spiced Potatoes, Cauliflower and Peas (Aloo Gobi)

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided into 1 tablespoon and 1 1/2 teaspoons

• 1 large (about 1/2 lb/250g) boiling potato

• 1 small head (about 1 1/4 lb/625g) cauliflower

• 1 small yellow onion, chopped

• 1 2-inch (5cm) piece fresh ginger, peeled & chopped

• 3 cloves garlic

• 1 serrano chile, seeded and chopped

• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

• 1 cup water

• 1/4 cup (2oz/60g) ghee or canola oil

• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon ground coriander

• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1 cup (5oz/155g) English peas or thawed frozen peas

• 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro

 
Bring a large saucepan ¾ full of water to a boil and stir in 1 tablespoon salt. While it heats, peel potato and cut into 1-inch (2.54 cm) cubes. Trim and core cauliflower and separate into 1-inch (2.54 cm) florets. Add potato cubes to boiling water. Cook until partly tender but not done, 6-7 minutes. Drain into colander; rinse with cold water to stop cooking. Set aside. In food processor or mortar, combine onion, ginger, garlic and chile. Grind to a smooth paste. Set aside. Whisk together tomato paste, lemon juice, sugar and 1 cup (8oz/250ml) water. Set aside. In Dutch oven or large frying pan over medium-high heat, warm the ghee/oil. Add onion paste; sauté til it just begins to turn brown, 4-5 minutes. Add cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, cayenne and 1 ½ teaspoons salt. Stir to mix. Add cauliflower and sauté til coated, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in tomato paste mixture, potato cubes and peas. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Stir gently so veggies don’t fall apart. Transfer to a warm bowl, garnish with cilantro and serve at once.