Recipe: Vegetarian Urad Dal Patties (Vada) with Black Pepper

Urad Dal Patties (Vada) with Black Pepper

Vada (also spelled Bada) are a species of Indian fritter or cake made with various types of lentils (dals). This particular dish is made with urad dal, which is readily available at any Indian market. While you are there, stock up on chana dal, toor dal, moong dal and all the other delicious pulses that aren't used enough in Western cuisine. If you can't find them locally, you can also order them from Amazon.

The basic technique for making vada is to soak the dal for a few hours, blend it into a coarse paste with spices, and then shallow fry. They can be made in various shapes, but here I just made simple patties.

The recipe I followed comes from the wonderful (and freshly reprinted) Lord Krishna's Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Yamuna Devi, which is a wonderfully written, 800 page tome of the food favored by the Hare Krishna (ISKCON) community. Devi (born Joan Campanella) spent 8 years as the personal cook for Srila Prabhupada. The book includes traditional foods from all over India, but they are generally on the mild side. The version below has the spices amped up to suit my pathetically overstimulated palate.

I served these vada with red quinoa which you can barely see peeking out from under the roasted cauliflower and caramelized onions, a bit of creme fraiche (but yogurt would be good too), and a quick grilled half of a Meyer lemon. On balance, yeah, this plate has a lot of brown to golden-brown hues! But it was just a quickie dinner, whaddaya want, Picasso?

Urad Dal Patties (Vada) with Black Pepper
Makes about 12 patties; 2 or 3 make a nice serving
Vegetarian, vegan (if you don't garnish with dairy), and gluten-free

• 3/4 c. urad dal (without skins), available at any Indian grocery
• 2 tsp. coarse freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. asafetida powder or 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• oil for frying (or ghee)
• garnish: Maldon or other finishing salt, creme fraiche or yogurt (optional)

1. Pick over the dal to remove any foreign material, and rinse thorougly. Cover with plenty of water and leave to soak for 4-6 hours.
2. Drain the dal. In a blender, grind half of the dal with 6 tbsp. of water until thoroughly smooth and fluffy, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. Remove from blender.
3. Put the other half of the dal in the blender with 5 tbsp. of water and grind briefly, until it is a coarse paste but retains some texture. Add to the first batch of dal in a bowl.
4. Mix in the pepper, asafetida, cayenne and kosher salt. Taste and adjust seasoning.
5. Heat a frying pan with enough oil or ghee to fill about 1/2" deep to a temperature of about 340 F.
6. Carefully drop in portions of the dal mixture and lightly press with a spatula to form patties. About 1/4 c. will do fine.  Put as many as you can in your pan without crowding them to close. Fry until golden brown on one side (maybe 4 minutes), then flip and brown the other side. Remove from the pan, drain on a paper towel, and hit it with some finishing salt. Hold hot while you fry the rest and serve them forth. Like anything fried, they are at their best minutes after leaving the oil and deteriorate rapidly, so be ready to chow!

Recipe: Risotto Cakes With Sherry Gastrique - Vegetarian

Risotto Cakes With Sherry Gastrique

Any time I cook risotto, I try to make enough extra that I can fry up a few risotto cakes the next day. I'm kind of a sucker for any sort of savory pancake, and these have that creamy risotto goodness that is easy to love.

You don't need a precise recipe; all I do is add a beaten egg or two until they seem bound enough to hold together, along with any additional flavors I might want. Then I pan fry them and maybe make a quick sauce, or just serve with a bit of good yogurt or creme fraiche.

This time I made a sherry gastrique. A gastrique is just a reduction of a vinegar or wine with some type of sugar, and often a fruit. I omitted the fruit this time, I and just used a good sherry vinegar and white sugar. You cook it over a moderate flame so that the sugar caramelizes. The result should have an intensity of sweetness and acid so that it only takes a small amount to add an intense counterpoint to a dish.

Here's a basic recipe for the whole dish to get you started, but be sure and improvise!

Risotto Cakes With Sherry Gastrique
Makes 4 cakes (a light lunch for two, or the basis of a larger meal)
Vegetarian, not vegan

• 1 c. sherry vinegar
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1.5 c. creamy leftover risotto, cool
• 1 or 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 t. kosher salt
• 1/2 t. cayenne pepper (or more to taste - make it fairly spicy to offset the sweetness of the gastrique)
• small amount of oil for frying cakes
• 4 small sage leaves
• Maldon salt or other finishing salt
• black pepper

1. Combine the vinegar, sugar, and a pinch of salt in your smallest pot and bring to a simmer over a low heat. Reduce until it will coat a spoon and turn off heat.
2. Meanwhile combine the leftover risotto, eggs, teaspoon of salt, and cayenne.
3. Heat up a griddle or skillet like you would pancakes, and lightly grease.
4. Put about 1/3 c. of batter on the griddle and quickly shape into a patty about 1/2" thick. Repeat with the remaining batter. If you want, you could press some panko or sesame seeds into the uper side before flipping.
5. Fry until quite brown on the first side, cautiously flip, and cook until finished. They taste better the darker you can get them without burning.
6. Throw the sage leaves in a bit of the oil off at the edge of the pan and crisp them up.
7. Serve 2 cakes with a couple sage leaves, finishing salt, fresh ground pepper, and a tablespoon or so of the gastrique.

Recipe: Beet Greens with Pumpkin Seed Oil and Cherry Vinegar

Recipe: Beet Recipe: Greens with Pumpkin Seed Oil and Cherry Vinegar

Devra Gartenstein over at the Quirky Gourmet got me thinking about how many good odds and ends of produce I waste with this article about how she uses chard stems. I was boiling beets for a salad tonight, and resolved for once not to toss the greens. Now I adore beet greens (and every other kind of leafy green), but usually I just have a handful and they don't seem to fit into what I'm making, so they end up in the trash or compost.

But today I was feeling a little snacky anyhow, so while I was boiling the beets, I quickly stripped the greens, rinsed 'em, and tossed them in the boiling water too. Five minutes later I pulled them out, gave 'em a quick chop, and dressed them with:

(this recipe is vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free)

• pumpkinseed oil
• cherry vinegar
• Maldon salt
• quick-toasted fennel seeds
• a few strips of lemon zest

Man that was good! It would make a perfect side dish anywhere you might conventionally think to serve spinach or kale. This is one of those dishes that mainly comes together by using those nice ingredients, more than any real skill of the chef. Speaking of which, over at ChefShop.com they have a listing of my "Herbivoracious pantry". The Maldon salt is in there, and the oil and vinegar will be there soon. (This isn't an affiliate deal for me, I just like what they have to offer.)