Around The World On Your Plate

Ingredients Vegetables: 1 burdock root, prepared 1 carrot, thinly sliced 1 potato, thinly sliced Others: 1/4 cup prepared dashi 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon cooking sake 1 tablespoon mirin 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon sesame seeds 1-2 tablespoon of oil Instructions Cut vegetables into thin matchsticks. Heat oil in a pan on medium heat.  Cook the vegetables until slightly tender, add rest of the ingredients and mix and cook on low until all the liquid is gone. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve. Notes: Preparing burdock root for this recipe takes a bit of work. The best way to do it is by peeling off the burdock root with a knife and shredding it to thin matchsticks.

Serves: 2 Time: 10 minutes Ingredients: 5-6 slices of bread cubed (I used a baguette) 1 onion chopped 1-2 tomatoes chopped 1 green chilli chopped fine 1 teaspoon sambar powder or chilli powder salt to taste 1 tablespoon oil 1 teaspoon mustard seeds 1 sprig curry leaves Cilantro to garnish Water as needed Method: Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and let them pop, next add curry leaves and green chilli and saute. Add in the onions and saute until translucent.  Next, add the tomatoes and sambar powder or chilli powder and cook until tomatoes are tender. Add the cubed bread and sprinkle some water to moisten it.  Adjust salt to taste and mix everything well. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.

Ingredients : 1 cup chopped lettuce 1 cucumber shopped 1 carrot grated 1/4 cup red onion chopped 1 tomato chopped 1 sprig cilantro chopped Salt as needed 2 teaspoon tamarind and dates chutney 1 teaspoon spicy coriander chutney 1/4 cup puffed rice Nilon sev to garnish Haldirams Moong dal to taste Nuts or fried green peas to garnish Method : Toss all the ingredients except the sev and nuts. Mix well and garnish with sev and nuts. Serve immediately.

Ingredients: 2 medium potatoes, cubed 1 medium onion, diced 2 medium green bell pepper, diced 1 teaspoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon olive oil/butter Salt and pepper to taste Fresh chopped parsley to garnish Method: Precook potatoes until just done and not too mushy. Heat oil/butter in a pan and stir fry onions, bell pepper and minced garlic.  Next add in the potatoes and stir fry until nice golden brown in color. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with parsley and serve hot.

Ingredients: 3 eggplants quartered lengthwise with the stem attached 1 teaspoon garlic minced 1/3 cup cilantro and parsley chopped 1 teaspoon red chilli powder 1 teaspoon cumin powder 1 tablespoon olive oil Salt as needed Canola or vegetable oil as needed frying Method: Slit eggplant lengthwise either half or to quarter depending on the thickness. Heat canola oil and shallow/deep fry the eggplant until completely cooked. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to absorb excess oil. For the sauce: You can either add raw garlic and spices or saute it. If you wish to saute, just add garlic along with spices to a tablespoon of oil heating on a medium flame and saute until it's cooked. Combine cilantro, parsley, salt, lemon juice, olive oil and sauted garlic and spices and mix. Coat the eggplants with the mix and serve with some bread or couscous. Notes: I used Japanese eggplants for this recipe, but any eggplant with less amo...

Ingredients: For the dough: 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup water For the filling: 3 medium-sized potatoes mashed/riced 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion 1 teaspoon red chilli powder 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder Salt and pepper to taste Oil as needed Method: Mix salt and all purpose flour and form a well and add water in the center and knead into a soft dough.  Set aside covered and well greased. Boil and peel potatoes and either mash it or use a ricer.  Add green onions and all the spices along with salt and mix well. Divide the dough in 8 equal portions and roll it out into a round approximately 6 inch disc.  Place the filling on one side and fold it into half and seal the edges.  You can use water to seal the edges.  Leave it plain or make design using a fork or crimp it like a pie crust. Dust of excess flour if used and deep fry. Serve hot with yogurt or any dip of y...

Ingredients: 1/4 cup Soya granules soaked in water and drained 1 medium red onion, chopped 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste 1-2 chillies thinly sliced 1 sprig cilantro, chopped 1/2 cup chickpea flour 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder 2 tablespoons rice flour (optional) Water as needed Oil for frying as needed Method: Soak Soya granules in water for a minute, drain and squeeze out excess.  Mix all the ingredients except oil and add water as needed to make a thick paste like batter. Heat oil in a pan and add spoonful and fry them until crispy and golden brown in color. Serve hot.

Ingredients: 2-4 Urad dal papad 1 small red onion chopped 1 small tomato chopped 1 sprig of cilantro  1/4 cup of grated carrot 1/4 cup of grated coconut Salt to taste Lemon juice to taste Red chilli powder to  taste Oil as needed Method: Dry roast or deep fry the papad.  Mix all the other ingredients except coconut. Before serving, spread the above mix on the papad and sprinkle grated coconut and serve immediately.