Katen Joshi - Burmese Lentil Soup

This is a simple red lentil soup from Burma.On googling for Burmese soup I came across mostly non veg versions though meatless works fine here and have adapted my recipe from here and here. A simple filling soup to which you can also add meat substitutes or nothing other than lentils.

Ingredients:

Red Lentil: 1/2 cup

Vegetable oil:1-2 tbsp

Ginger: 1 small piece minced/crushed

Garlic: 1 big clove minced/crushed

Turmeric: 1/4 -1/2 tsp

Water: as needed to cook the lentils

Salt,Pepper: as per taste

Garnish:

Crisp Fried Shallots/chopped onion and ground sesame seeds

Hot green chillies in vinegar

Preparation:

Wash,pick and clean the lentils. Heat oil in a deep pan and add crushed ginger and garlic and turmeric and saute till the raw smell goes for a minute or two.Add the cleaned lentils and water needed to cook it and bring to a boil.Reduce to a simmer and let it cook till a soupy consistency is reached.Add salt and pepper to taste.Serve topped with your choice of garnish.

I prefer chillies in vinegar.For this you chop/slice the green chillies and soak it in white vinegar for atleast 1 hour.The soup or dal as we call here is simple and similar to the daily dal here.The garnish makes all the difference.So unlike other dishes, the garnish is important here and a must.I tried both the garnishes and I prefer chillies in vinegar.Do refere the second recipe source here for more garnish options.

This simple soup again goes to AWED:Burma at Swathi's,an event by DK.The soup made of lentils also graces MLLA:24 at Diana's Spanish Kitchen in Iowa,an event by the wellseasoned cook Susan.

Letho Salad

Le thoke sohn is supposed to be a salad made with anything like veggies or meat whatever readily available along with rice or noodles and as per wiki ogonori sea moss. I found a simple vegan version at this site here thanks to the links given in the AWED announcement .It was very simple and easy to make and was called Letho salad.I presume this is the Americanized version of the original salad as it surely does not have sea moss or any such extravagant ingredient and as the name suggests makes use of readily available items. Letho or Le- Thoke is supposed to mean everything /anything - I have just read it somewhere on the web and am no authority to confirm it and sohn means salad.Anyway the salad turned out much better than expected.

Ingredients:
Green /Raw Papaya: 1 cup
Shredded Green cabbage: 1 cup
Shredded Carrot: 1/2 cup
Spring onion Whites: 1/2 cup chopped
Cooked White Rice : 2 cup ( I used basmati)
Cilantro: chopped for garnish

Dressing:
Sesame Oil: 2 tbsp
Lemon Juice: 2 tbsp
Fresh Grated Ginger: 1 tsp +

Preparation:

Mix together all the salad ingredients in a bowl. Pour the dressing and mix well. Serve as a lightmeal with your choice of accompaniments like chilli oil,shrimp powdered,fried garlic chips etc.

I also served it stuffed in Vietnamese spring roll wraps.

The salad is simple and delicious and the gingery dressing is very fresh and the flavours burst in the mouth.This is the first time I am trying Burmese and am bowled over by this.There are few veg dishes thanks to the Buddhist culture in Burma. Anyway,this is my first entry to AWED:Burma hosted at Swathis,an event by DK.

Tibetan Tsampa with Nepalese Style Stir Fried Greens

Tsampa is a Tibetan staple food made from roasted barley or wheat flour and served with butter tea.It can be heralded as the national food of Tibetan and can be made easily. I actually came across a simple recipe for Tsampa or campa as it is also known in Zu's spicy Kitchen.I had whole wheat berries sitting in my pantry for a long time and thought I could try this recipe.I also tried the Nepalese stir fried greens which Zu had made and served this along with.

Tsampa :
Roasted Whole Wheat Flour
Ghee/Oil/Butter
Salt

Black Tea made by boiling water and adding black tea .

Roasted Flour:
Whole Wheat Berries.

Preparation:
Whole Wheat Flour:

In a deep pan,dry roast the wheat berries till they darken slightly shaking/stirring occasionally.A wonderful aroma permeats during this time.Remove from heat and cool.Grind to a powder of your desired consistency.This can be eaten raw and also sprinkled on top of salads and veggies for that extra crunch or used just as regular Wheat flour.I went for courser flour.

Campa/Tsampa:
In a bowl,mix together roasted flour,ghee and salt.Add black tea little by little and form/bind to form a firm dough.Pinch pieces of the dough and roll into balls.

Serve as such or with choice of savoury as well as sweet sides.I served it with Nepali Stir Fried Greens.

Nepali Stir Fried Greens:
Ingredients:
Greens Chopped: 1 cup (I used spinach,okra and methi leaves)
Mustard oil
Ginger:1 inch chopped fresh
Chilli Flakes
Lovage/Ajwain/Omam:
Jeera/Cumin
Turmeric
Salt

Preparation:

Clean and chop the veggies roughly.Heat oil in a pan and add the lovage,chilli flakes,cumin and ginger.Add the greens and salt and turmeric.Let them cook till done. Serve as a side to rice or with tsampa.

The greens were just fine and easily made and had the spices I was familiar with.But I deliberated making the tsampa as I had never used tea to make dough.But then I decided to make it as the recipe was very easy.The tsampa turned good and next time I am planning to make this with cardamom tea and add sweetner to get a sweeter version.

The combo went very well together and can be treated as a snack or even as a light meal.Since the wheat berries were lazing in my pantry for a long time I think the tsampa should go to BB4:Whats Lurking in the Kitchen by Nupur.

Zucchini Carpaccio Salad

Carpaccio is a dish made of raw meat (or veggie as in my case) whichly is thinly sliced and topped with dressing or sauce and is served as an appetizer.I have been wanting to make a vegetarian carpaccio for a long time and did so when I found an excellent and flexible recipe with Kalyn's zucchini carpaccio salad made with a simple dressing of lemon juice and olive oil.The recipe is originally of Tyler Florence and is from FoodNetwork and you can also find the same at SideWalkShoes.The only adaptation I have made is the addition of toasted pinenuts.

Ingredients:

Zucchini: 1 medium

Olive Oil: 2 tbsp+

Lemon Juice: 2-3 tbsp

Lemon Zest

Dill Leaves: 2 tbsp+

Spring onion/Scallions: 1 white part only

Salt /Sea Salt

Pepper

Paneer/Cottage Cheese/Ricotta/Parmesan (optional)

Preparation:

Clean zucchini and using a mandoline slicer thinly slice it into transparent rounds.

Arrange the zucchini in salad plates in a layered fashion and sprinkle salt and pepper.

In a bowl mix together lemon zest,lemon juice and olive oil and pour it over the zucchini.Let it sit for 15-20 minutes for the flavours to blend.

At the time of serving,top the zucchini with chopped spring onions/chives and chopped dill.Garnish with crumbled paneer and toasted pinenuts.

A simple yet elegant salad.The salad is lemony and the first feel on consuming is the freshness,then the tanginess of the lemon and the crunchiness of pinenuts bursts into your mouth.Enjoy the elegant salad.You can adjust the ingredients as per taste and availability.

The simple carpaccio salad which I made thanks to the excellent adaptation by Kalyn goes to NCR:Zucchini/courgettes hosted at TinnedTomatoes.

Mango Coconut Pops

OK,I am back.I was really busy shifting to a new apartment and the work is still on,cartons to be unpacked,kitchen to be set up etc.I thought I could manage an effortless shifting and had planned for this in advance,but things got a bit out of hand at the last minute.I had thought of scheduling some posts but could never get close to the laptop.It was that much hectic work.On top of it,I thought that I may have to bid an emotional farewell to my rented apartment where I had lived for almost 7 years or in cliched words "sharing joys and sorrows",but forget being senti,the topmost thing in my mind (even now) is unpacking. Anyways,I deliberately missed my second blogversary on May 31st due to this.Well,I had prepared a simple sweet treat for this -Mango coconut pops.Easy to prepare and perfect for summer as well.

I had already prepared mango milkshake and here I simply replaced the milk with coconut milk and freezed the shake.You can turn this into sorbets or granita or whatever cool treat you like.The quantities given can be varied as per taste.

Ingredients:
Mango: 1 big or almost 1 cup of pieces
Coconut milk: 1/4 cup +/- few tbsp
Honey/low fat sweetner: 2 tbsp or as per taste
Cardamom: a pinch(optional)

Preparation:
Blend together all the ingredients smoothily.Fill the popsicle molds till 3/4 th full and freeze for atleast 45 minutes or more depending on the fridge's coolest settings.

I used coconut milk made by using coconut milk powder prepared as per instructions on the pack.You can increase the quantity of this or use much more thicker milk or even avoid it just to make pops with mango puree.I increased the mango as I wanted the mango and the cardamom taste more.Also make sure you add sweetener a little bit more than necessary as on freezing the sweetness will decrease and I just did not want to depend on the natural sweetness of mango.You can also add powdered ginger and walnuts/cashews while pureeing or even ice to obtain a mango coconut slush.

This simple summer treat goes to Yasmeen's Healthnut Challenge 6.

On a different note: I am yet to settle down and hope to do so by this month end.I may try to schedule my posts as and when I am able to despite being late sometimes and though I may be visiting all the yummy blogs sooner or later,I may not be able to leave my comments there as regularly as I wish.Hope you will bear with me as I am knee deep in packing tapes and cardboard rolls than measuring cups and baking flours.