Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Tuesday, January 31, 2012,
In :
Recipes
When a vegan friend asked me to prepare a meal for our group, I jumped to the challenge. My version of Almond Pudding (with pistachios and milk) was already published in Menus and Memories, so had fun revising it with vegan ingredients. It got raves!
Vegan Almond Pudding Badam Fearnee
Yield:10 ½ cup servings
3 cups (25 oz.) coconut milk 3 cups plain or vanilla soy milk, divided 1 cup rice flour 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon almond flavor 1 tablespoon coconut oil or vegan spread 1/3 cup sliced almonds Sugar an... Continue reading ...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Tuesday, August 30, 2011,
In :
Recipes
Do complete this yummy recipe at least once with tofu, and you will come back to it again and again.Although frying and then stirring is an unconventional method for Punjabi dishes, it tastes quite traditional. Dare you not to eat these morsels straight from the karhai! "Fried-Stirred”
Eggplant and Tofu or Paneer*
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Tuesday, July 19, 2011,
In :
Recipes
Is there any sweeter way to remember summer than the taste of a fragrant, luscious white peach? We've had several weeks of them and, frankly, they have been amazing! How to extend the season? My friend, Marta, solved that problem when she brought a bag of dried white peaches (from Trader Joe's) to our spiritual book club meeting. It must have been the combined grace of friends that gave inspiration to the dish on our table that night. From the pantry came some dried, smoked, brick-red New... Continue reading ...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Saturday, May 7, 2011,
In :
Recipes
"Mother" "Mutter", "Ma" all mean love and nurturing in several languages. How many nurturers are taking good care of themselves? Are you buying organic baby food, but not eating organic yourself? How about starting a program to bring good food to the table that helps you, your family and helps the planet. Here is a recipe for Mutter/Methi//Tofu Peas with Fenugreek and Tofu that balances sweet/ bitter and salty tastes while adding some protein and fighting insulin resistance. Think of it as a ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Saturday, March 19, 2011,
In :
Recipes
The grandgirls and I have been busy cooking up my mango chutney (p. 45 of M+M). And since I had a hankering for Grandma Susie's red cabbage, I decided to blend the two. Wow! Piquant, spicy and gorgeous--and so easy if you use any Major Grey-type chutney from the jar. But as you know by now, home-made is better by far! Did you also know that the jarred mango "chutney" is not technically a chutney but a marubba, a spicy fruit preserve? This colorful side dresses up the humblest main dish and m... Continue reading ...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Sunday, January 30, 2011,
In :
Recipes
The snow is falling but I have a little taste of sunshine in a jar, my homemade lemon pickle. It is SO easy to make. Just lemons and salt (with a secret method you'll find on page 55 of M and M). It's great with my ultimate comfort food, subzi parauntha, a delectable vegetable-filled flat-bread. That recipe is on this blog. Get cozy and get some sunshine!
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Sunday, January 16, 2011,
In :
Recipes
Is it because the holidays are over and the doldrums have set in that I have the urge to develop more recipes for you ? I love summer for the roasted veggies on the grill. But why not use the oven to roast them in winter? So I roasted a mixture of veggies that I've stewed before during other winter months. The roasting not only deepened the flavors, but kept the okra from becoming (there is no nice way to say this) slimy. You may use hot or mild peppers, seeding them is optional. Great with... Continue reading ...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Tuesday, November 16, 2010,
In :
Recipes
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! A grateful heart is a happy heart, and my wish for each of you is a grateful heart. Thanks so much for your past support of Menus and Memories from Punjab. Village kids are counting on your continued support. All profits from the book go to them. Be generous, please share this site with all your friends and family. You never know how many potential Indian food lovers there are! Remember that Menus and Memories makes a great gift that keeps on giving in so many way... Continue reading ...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Saturday, October 23, 2010,
In :
Recipes
Open your mouth wide and gup, gup! Crunch down with one bite on these round balls: hence the name in Punjabi, Gole Guppay. My husband and his college buddies would buy these refreshing and unusual snacks from the street vendor in Ludhiana who would break them open with his thumb, fill them with a savory stuffing and then carefully and quickly pour cold Zeera Masala Pani into the crispy puffs at the last minute. Our guests at the cooking class found them to be great fun as well as delicious.
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Friday, September 24, 2010,
In :
Recipes
With just a few tweaks, you can sometimes make a very different recipe! Take the fabulous Gajjerella--Carrot Halva recipe from my book, for example. There is so much "wow" factor in serving this beautiful, healthy dish to your guests. I had plenty of fresh, sweet carrots from our CSA, but my daughter, Raji, insisted that I make "finger-food" desserts for her party. So decided to make Gajjer Burfee--Carrot Fudge. "Why reinvent the wheel?" says I. "Let's tweak the halva recipe!" You can see the... Continue reading ...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Wednesday, July 21, 2010,
In :
Recipes
Are you ready for something sweet? This pudding has lots of mango flavor, more than the traditional kheer. Made it for our spiritual book study group last night, fourteen strong! We had just finished reading Eckhardt Tolle’s A New Earth, the best book I have ever read (besides the Guru Granth Sahib). Wanted to make something different for them, something refreshing on a hot evening, Do me a favor, would you? Don’t cover it as you cook it. It does not thicken if you do. The milk has to eva... Continue reading ...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Wednesday, July 7, 2010,
In :
Recipes
Having returned from Italy last month, I wanted to concoct a fusion of Punjabi and Italian cuisine. In Punjab, farina is used mainly in a sweet pudding called soojee prashad (the recipe is in my book) But I decided to make something savory using the spinach which we have in abundance from our organic CSA. Most polenta is made with coarse corn meal, but can also be made with farina, which is an Italian word by the way. You could add sliced, cooked sausages to the sauce. I like Morningstar Farm... Continue reading ...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Tuesday, June 22, 2010,
In :
Recipes
Calling all Greens! Our kids, Jonathan and Sheila, got us interested in Community Supported Agriculture. We both joined a group and love the fresh, organic veggies we get. This week loads of spinach and some kale, last week they got loads of spinach and some collards. I decided to make saag paneer for our mutual guests last week from their batch, and I froze the latest batch for use later.
This recipe is most like the one you will find in Indian restaurants. It is different from two of the gre... Continue reading ...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Sunday, May 9, 2010,
In :
Recipes
Happy Mother's Day to all of you dedicated mothers and grandmothers! Last weekend a crew of wonderful women who came to the Punjabi cooking class helped me to finalize a recipe that I'd been working on for awhile. It's a fantasy dish literally "dreamed up." Who knows, maybe I had it at the court of Akbar, the great Moghul emperor. (I believe he was a vegetarian.)
Lindy pours saffron sauce over the Koomban Koftay:
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Wednesday, February 10, 2010,
In :
Recipes
Writing a recipe for the complete novice is a daunting task. But I'm so pleased that after many trials to get the right measurements and complete instructions, my new parauntha recipe was finally perfected at the cooking class on Jan 31st and today, at lunchtime. Thanks to Baldev Kaur Dhaliwal my dear friend from California, who taught me this method. And thanks to the wonderful gals who came to the Indian cooking class! How much fun we had! How delicious the results! Thanks so much for your ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Tuesday, January 12, 2010,
In :
Recipes
Had a great time teaching three legume recipes on Sunday in Central Jersey. The hostess is a Taoist and vegan who invited 25 friends who wanted to learn more about cooking vegetarian meals. I made the Sweet and Sour Chickpeas, and Red Lentils with Fenugreek and Squash/Pumpkin from my book, along with a brand new recipe for white lentils which I'll share here. The group was amazed at the difference in taste among the recipes and how good they were! But anyone familiar with the range of dishes ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Monday, November 16, 2009,
In :
Recipes
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I would like to share two recipes that are heavenly together hearkening to the theme of Pilgrims and Indians. The "Indians" in this context are from Asia, not North America but wasn't that the whole conflated mistake that Columbus made? Enjoy!
My creative friend, Tonia Kalouria suggested sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes for this dish. A few months later I was dining at Tabla in NYC with another friend, Carolynn Bridge when we tasted their coco... Continue reading ...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Tuesday, August 18, 2009,
In :
Recipes
"Veronica's ground turkey and peas dish is based off her husband's version of keema mutter. A very popular dish in India, keema mutter is a main dish that packs a lot of spice. But just because it's spicy, doesn't mean that it's too hot for you to handle! It's jam-packed full of flavor to get your taste buds working overtime. Veronica's recipe uses ground turkey instead of beef or lamb. Extra lean ground turkey, made from white meat, is lower in calories, fat and cholesterol compared to the o...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Monday, July 20, 2009,
In :
Recipes
Punjabi Garam Masala provides the "two" of the one-two punch that makes the food from this region of India so special. The "one" is the tempering of onions, garlic and ginger in ghee or oil called tardka. The second provides the aroma and flavor of a blend of "warm" spices-- black and green cardamom, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon, black peppercorns, cloves and bay or cassia leaf all of which have known health benefits which will be discussed at the launch of my book at the Rubin Muse... Continue reading ...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Thursday, July 16, 2009,
In :
Recipes
The village Punjabi cook doesn’t waste a thing, nor does she use many spices. When I saw a beautiful bunch of beets with bright green leaves and almost neon red stems, I planned to make three dishes—a roasted beet sald with walnuts and goat cheese with the beets, a mixed stir-fry with the leaves and, because I had a container of cooked black lentil thawing on the counter, a mahan dee daal with beet stems. Well, it was fabulous!
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Tuesday, July 7, 2009,
In :
Recipes
We celebrated our daughter Raji’s birthday with a brunch at our home on 7/5. Her favorite meal is breakfast, so I decided to make Eggs Benedict and a Saag Soufflé. Both are very rich—special treats, but were big, big hits with the whole family!
Saag Souffle Yield: 6 servings For the tardka (optional): 2 tablespoons oil 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger For the soufflé: 10-12 oz fresh spinach, trimmed, washed and drained or any mi... Continue reading ...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Sunday, June 21, 2009,
In :
Recipes
Now, mind you, this is not fast food! But when I saw this large bag of beautiful limes in Costco I just had to make my Hot Lime-Ginger Pickle. (Do read through this, or any other recipe, before you begin making it.)
After I soaked 12 limes in hot, soapy water; rinsed and dried them, I cut off the stem end and cut them in eighths (or quarters).
In a very clean, dry 2 qt. jar, I sprinkled some kosher salt and started layering salt and limes (about 1 1/3 cups total salt). Put a layer of p... Continue reading ...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Monday, May 18, 2009,
In :
Recipes
The mint is in!! Ahhhhh spring, what a glorious season in New Jersey. Nancy and the girls are coming for lunch today, so I thought of making something special, something that tastes fresh and light like spring.
Mint/Pineapple/Black Bean Salad
Yield: 7 cups
½ large, ripe pineapple (about 4 cups), diced ½ cup finely diced red onion 1 large clove garlic, finely minced 1 red bell pepper, diced (3/4 cup) 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and thoroughly rinsed 1 cup fresh mint leaves, stacked, rolled a... Continue reading ...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Sunday, May 17, 2009,
In :
Recipes
Ok, ok. I'll give you the recipe for Cashew/Coconut Chutney even though it is not Punjabi and not even my original recipe. I had my qualms, but when I used the leftovers from the class to dress some spaghetti (tossed with a few teaspoons of olive oil and sea salt), it was so yummy, I feel guilty not sharing it.
Cashew Coconut Chutney (vegan) Kajoo Khopa Chutney Adapted from a recipe by Devika Teja Yield: 2 cups
For the chutney: 2 cups grated fresh* or frozen coconut 2-inch piece ginger 2 cloves garli... Continue reading ...
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Sunday, May 17, 2009,
In :
Recipes
This is the one of (God willing) many opportunities to share my recipes with you. I wish to start off the year with two healthy recipes from my book Menus and Memories from Punjab: Meals to Nourish Body and Soul because they are really hearty -- stick to the ribs, yet low in fat and delicious! Lentils and bread are the base of the Punjabi diet. Punjabis don’t feel they have eaten a meal unless it has bread. This one is so simple, just flour and water -- but wait ‘til you taste them!
Posted by Veronica Sidhu on Sunday, May 17, 2009,
In :
Recipes
Here is a video taken several years ago as an entry (3 minute limit) to the first Food Network Star contest. Our daughter, Sheila cajoled me into trying out even though I had been home only a week after back surgery. She knew her mom needed a project -- and she was right! It entertained me. Hope it entertains you!
Try making the Easy Punjabi Potato and Chickpea recipe and let me know how it comes out by leaving your comments.
