Fondue with Steamed Veggies

I am back after a month long vacation in India and a week of absolute inertia - a combination of jet lag and complete exhaustion from travel, unpacking, washing, putting away stuff - you know how it goes and contrived though it is, I would love a no strings attached vacation right now - in an beautiful island - in a tranquil and exquisitely decorated suite overlooking aquamarine waters - where i sleep as I wish, have massages aplenty and lots and lots of wonderfully nourishing vegetarian food brought to me for the asking or on a pre-planned schedule - a yoga and dance workout when I feel like it or I may most likely prefer a dip in that azure water - Someone to towel my hair dry and paint my nails as I read some books I've been meaning to for a long time... sigh - see - the holiday stupor has not left me one bit!  And this is a very concerted effort to get back to my blog in the hope that I will feel motivated with your comments - so PLEASE leave your comments for me and get me back to reality! Hugs in advance :)

Fondue with Steamed Veggie Platter

Fondue is a very high fat meal. Under normal circumstances makes me cringe at the number of fat calories we consume while eating this highly delicious, yet horrifically caloric meal. Hmm, what to do? How can I have my Fondue and eat it too?

This is when I start becoming an inventor – well I don’t dare claim that this has not been done before. Hardly that! But I think smart ideas cannot be copyrighted, censored or censured since many people have them at different times and when it comes to the gastric pleasures, people do experiment a lot. A typical fondue preparation required Gruyere or Emmentaler cheese (a couple fine Swiss cheese) white wine for the dip.  What we can do is find things to dip in the fondue that are low calories, and help offset the fat of the cheese like, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, peppers, green, red, yellow and orange and avoid meats, bread and other heavy stuff that compound the calorie intake.

If you are craving a chocolate fondue, try a semi sweet, dark chocolate melted with a little sherry or port wine or liqueur like Kahlua. But rather than dip pound cakes, rice crispy treats, or Blondies, restrict yourself to the pleasure of dipping strawberries, crisp apples or pears, nuts like walnuts or almonds.

The moral being, there are certain foods that are meant to be fatty or sugary. While we cannot put up much resistance to them, unless we decide to go vegan and use potato starch to make a stringy dip, the best we can do is control what we dip in these and make it a less guilt-ridden dish.

We love fondues and have always used lightly steamed veggies to dip, but bread has been a part of it which I now wish to avoid.  I have bought the awesomest steamer from India which I used for the veggies. turned out perfect!  

For the Fondue Preparation

1) 1 cup each (or more) of grated Gruyere & Emmentaler cheeses. I did not get Emmentaler yesterday but substituted with Fontina - basically you need cheese that will melt smoothly and easily so I am sure there are other choices.

2) 3 cloves of garlic

3) 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper (optional)

4) 1/4 cup of white wine  (I used a moscato -sweet wine which tasted brilliant in this since it was far too sweet to drink) Again many other kinds of wines will suit - google mama will only be too happy to help ya with your selection :) (this again is optional and can be substituted with 1/4 cup of milk, just to get the melting process started.

5) A pinch of nutmeg

Preparation

On low heat, start the melting process on a regular stove.

If you have a fondue pot, then transfer this into it and have a candle flame underneath to keep the cheeses from thickening - If this happens keep the pot on the stove ready and re melt. 

Go with non-startchy veggies like cauliflower, broccoli, peppers, mushrooms etc... Attack with gusto - it makes for a fun meal when some of us ate standing to get a better swipe of the cheese. The fun also lies in losing your veggies in the cheese. Enjoy and I hope to be back with more.

Happy New Year all and May all your dreams and wishes come true and may you have good health and good food always :)

Navarathri = Sundal time!

Happy Navarathri to all - this is a good time to sundalize our lives. Today I made channa dal sundal (kadalai parruppu sundal) I've heard this can be challenge, because the dal has to be cooked just so - so that it does not go mushy on you or on the flip side, be undercooked.
Sundals are easy and nutritious, high in fiber - Sundal can easily substitute rice or wheat and can be enjoyed with rasam or plain curd (yogurt)

Very simple and traditional preparation

Ingredients

1-2 cups of channa dal  pressured cooked  - once the the rocker starts moving, turn off in exactly 3 minutes. For whistling cookers, I'll suggest you go one or two less than you normally allow for cooking your  dal. Dal:Water proportion is 1:3/4 cup
1/2 cup of freshly grates/ grated frozen coconut
1/4 spoon of ginger powder
3-4 chillies
1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds
1 pinch of asafoetida
1 teaspoon of olive oil
curry leaves
salt

Preparation

Pressure cook dal and let cool. Remove and drain any water remnants - In a pan heat oil and pop mustard seeds; add the asafoetida, cut chillies, curry leaves and ginger powder. Add the dal and salt it and turn it a few times. Dry roast the coconut in a separate pan and add to the sundal - so that it does not go bad. Serve hot.

Happy first day of Navarathri

Simple Cabbage Curry

It's Sunday evening and it's been a hectic day - in the nicest way, I mean. Garba last night was a great workout and it was lovely to see Samyuktha, my older daughter dancing with a few new friends from the community, with her hair flowing softly down her back (and legs).
Okay! So Cabbage is NOT a hot fav in our house - It is call Gose in Tamil and kids often jokingly refer to it as gas curry - Funny and true, but, not cool. Let's face it! Most anything that is healthy for you stinks! For more enlightenment on the goodness of cabbage, I recommend http://be-healthy.blogspot.com/2005/12/goodness-of-cabbage.html
Our friend and protector, cabbage is indeed the leader of the stinky pack ;-) But I will reveal to you how not to stink up your kitchen as you cook this blighter!
There are a few ways to prepare Cabbage and i will share them with you along the way - This one requires the services of a food processor. This dish takes about 12-20 minutes.

For the calorie conscious: You can make a meal out of this -with buttermilk on the side, south Indian style

For the Rice lovers: Mix preparation with hot rice and have with favorite pickle or pappad

For the moderate: Have as side with chappatis

Browning grated coconut

                                                                                 

Final Presentation                                    

                                                              Finished product
                                                      
Ingredients:
1 medium green leaf cabbage - finely grated in food processor
2 green chillies - finely chopped
1/2 inch finger sized ginger - finely grated
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds
1 pinch of asafoetida
1/2 teaspoon of urid dal
1/2 cup grated coconut, thawed(frozen pack available at Indian grocery store). If you are using dry coconut powder - sprinkle some water on it and let it soften.
Salt

Preparation
Heat your pan, pop the mustard seeds in the oil; then add the rest of the ingredients, before adding the cabbage. Hold off on the salting until the very end. The idea is to not let the cabbage get soggy. At high heat stir continuously - do not cover with a lid at any point. The cabbage should be slightly under cooked.  Just before removing from the pan, add the salt.

As this is happening, in a smaller pan, dry fry the coconut until it turns slightly golden - add on to the cabbe and stir in gently.

Secret tip - Garnish with roasted cashews and curry leaves to give it a festive look. Completely healthy and entirely edible :-)