Leek, Chickpea, and Turmeric Soup

1 tablespoon canola oil
9 ounces leeks, finely sliced (the white and light green parts of about 3 or 4 leeks)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 cups canned chickpeas, drained
Juice of one-half lemon
2 to 3 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
About 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the leeks.  Stir gently so they all get coated with the oil, then cover and leave to cook for 4-5 minutes; don't let them brown.

Add the turmeric, chickpeas, and 2 1/2 cups water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and leave to simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, or until the leeks and the chickpeas are tender.

Stir in the lemon juice, chopped parsley, and halved tomatoes.  Season to taste with salt.

Serves 2 to 4.


From New Vegetarian Cooking by Rose Elliot, with some changes

Sesame Napa Cabbage Slaw

2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon honey
2 cups finely shredded Napa cabbage
1/2 cup finely shredded carrot
2 scallions, finely chopped

In a bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, vinegar, oil, and honey, and add cabbage, carrot, and scallions.  Toss vegetables well to coat and season with salt and pepper.

Serves 4.


From Epicurious/ Gourmet

Pooris

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup fine semolina
Oil for deep frying

Mix the flour and semolina with 1/2 cup water into a dough and knead well until firm.  If necessary, add more flour to make it a very firm dough.  Cover and leave for 1 hour.

Knead the dough again and divide into 12 balls.  Roll each dough ball out to 1/12-inch thick, making a circle of about 4 inches in diameter.

Fill a kadhai or heavy-based saucepan to one-third full with oil and heat to 350° F.  Test the temperature by putting a small piece of the dough into the oil.  If the dough rises to the surface in a couple of seconds, the oil is ready.  Put a poori into the hot oil, then about 5 seconds after it rises to the surface, gently push it down with the back of a spoon, keeping it submerged in the hot oil until it puffs up; this will take about 5 seconds.  Turn over and cook until the other side is lightly browned.  Remove from the oil and drain on a wire rack.  This frying process should take 15 to 20 seconds for each poori.  Continue until all pooris are cooked.

Makes 12 large pooris.


From A Little Taste of India by Priya Wickramasinghe and Carol Selva Rajah

Vietnamese Savory Crepes (Ban Xeo)

1/4 cup yellow split mung beans, soaked in water for 30 minutes and drained
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup rice flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
Vegetable oil for cooking

Place the mung beans and coconut milk in a blender and process to a puree.  Add the water and rice flour and process until smooth, then add the sugar, salt, and turmeric and process briefly.  Place a fine sieve over a bowl and pour the batter through to strain out any lumps.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.

Stir the batter for several minutes.  It will have thickened in the refrigerator but, after stirring, it should be quite liquid, not thick and heavy.  If necessary, add a little water to thin it.  Place a cast iron frying pan on medium heat.  Heat about a tablespoon of oil in the pan. Pour about 1/3 cup of batter into the pan, and swirl it around thinly to a circle about 8 inches in diameter.  Cover the pan and let the crepe cook for about 3 minutes, until the edges are brown and the underside is crispy; the top, having steam-cooked, will be soft and pale yellow.  Use a spatula to ease the edges of the crepe off the pan; slide onto a plate and serve immediately.

(Fill with herbs, greens, and bean sprouts, or stir-fried vegetables.)


From Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, with minor changes in the instructions

Self-Rising Flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix ingredients together.


From King Arthur Flour

Gulab Jamun

2 cups sugar
3 3/4 cups water
4-5 drops orange blossom water

1 cup dry/powdered milk (plus a bit more)
2 tablespoons self-rising flour
2 teaspoons fine semolina
2 tablespoons ghee
4 tablespoons milk
Canola oil

To make the syrup, put the sugar and water in a large saucepan.  Stir over low heat to dissolve the sugar.  Increase the heat and boil for 5 minutes or so, to make a syrup.  Stir in the orange blossom water and remove from heat.

To make the gulab jamun, mix the dry ingredients - powdered milk, flour, and semolina - in a bowl.  Add the ghee and smoosh between fingers until the mixture is well-combined.  Stir in the milk, then add more dry milk as necessary to make the dough cohesive and not too sticky to shape (a bit like slightly sticky Play-Dough).  Roll small amounts of dough into balls a little less than an inch across.

Fill a pan with about an inch and a half of oil.  Heat the oil for a few minutes, only until warm but not hot.  Put the balls into the oil.  They will sit on the bottom of the pan for awhile - stir them gently to keep them from sticking and burning on one side.  Eventually, they will float to the top - turn them until they are nicely browned all over.  Remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and transfer them to the syrup.  When all the balls are in the syrup, bring the syrup to a boil and them remove from heat.


From A Little Taste of India by Priya Wickramasinghe and Carol Selva Rajah, with some changes

Multiple-Mistake Microwave Maple Halwa

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 scant cup sugar
6 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons maple syrup

Put the butter, sugar, milk, flour, baking powder, salt, and maple syrup in a bowl.  Beat with a whisk until well-combined.

Lightly grease a glass bowl or pie plate (of 6 cup or large capacity).  Spoon the mixture into the bowl.

Microwave, uncovered, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. This takes about 8 to 10 minutes.  You can check it without spoiling it.

Serves 4 to 6.


From recipe for Microwave-Steamed Maple Syrup Pudding from Vegetarian Supercook by Rose Elliot, with multiple mistakes changes!  (fortunate result of cooking too late at night, while sleepy and confused...)