Rice Paper Rolls with Peanut and Mustard Dipping Sauces

I've always been intrigued by Rice Paper Rolls. They are dry, thin sheets of rice that become translucent when you immerse them in warm water. I love the idea of blurred colours of the vegetables stuffed in them popping through the sheets, waiting to be dipped into spicy sauces.

I found Rice Paper rolls in a store inside Crawford Market here in Mumbai. They are a bit expensive because they are imported but they are worth every rupee. They are perfect to make rolls or wraps and I'm sure would taste great with sweet stuffing.

What I love about them is that you can do so much with them. You can stuff them with thin noodles or lots of lovely raw vegetables. It doesn't have to be the same every time.

To make them you need:

Rice Paper
A continuous supply of hot water
A large deep plate big enough to fit one rice paper sheet in it

Cooked Rice Vermicelli Noodles (optional)

Any of the following:
Cabbage
Purple Cabbage
Peppers- Red, Yellow and Green
Carrots
Leeks
Sauteed Mushrooms
Sauteed Spinach, Chard, Kale
Coriander to Garnish

Chop all the raw vegetables into long, thin slices.

Dipping Sauces:

Peanut Sauce
2 tbsp Peanut Butter
1 Clove of Garlic
1/2 tsp lime juice
Red Chilli Powder(Optional)
Salt
Water

Mustard Sauce
3 tsps Whole Yellow/Black Mustard
1 Red Chilli
1/2 inch piece of Ginger
1/4 tsp vinegar
Salt
Water

Sriracha (because it makes everything better)

To make the sauces, grind the ingredients of each sauce until smooth.

To assemble the dish, pour a little of the hot water into a plate. Now carefully immerse the rice paper roll in it while keeping it pressed so that it doesn't roll up. Be careful not to burn yourself. Once the rice paper has gone from white and hard to translucent and lose, it is ready. Carefully pick it up without folding it and put it on a dry plate. Add you choice of stuffing in the center in a line leaving at least 2 inches space along the top and bottom edges. You can also add a bit of the sauces inside the roll. Working quickly, roll the top and bottom of the rice paper towards the stuffing and then do the same with the sides. Either top it with your sauces or serve them separately. Garnish with coriander.

Continue to do the same with every sheet of paper while replacing the water in the plate as it gets cooler.

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UFO attacked my pasta- How I saved the world one bite at a time

As I was walking down the supermarket aisle I noticed an odd looking pasta shape. I picked it up thinking we could use it for dinner that night and then kept it back because we decided to make our own pasta. But then when I looked at it again I actually noticed what it was. It was UFO shaped pasta! I remember seeing all kinds of unmentionable shapes and colours in Italy. But UFOs?! As weird as it may sound, the pack was filled with the cutest little durum wheat alien vehicles. How could I not pick it up?!

Uncooked UFOs

Cooked UFOs

We ended up making Lasagna for dinner that night, but the next morning our pasta quota wasn't over just as yet. It was almost brunch time till I decided I was going to attempt the American junk classic Macaroni and Cheese. I searched the internet for inspiration and then finally came up with my own version using whatever I had and thought was healthy enough to be added into the sauce.

Here's how it went.

You need:

1 cup whole cashews
1/3rd cup Nutritional Yeast
3 cloves of Garlic
1 small Onion
1 tbsp Corn Starch
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
Salt
Pepper
Water

2 cups Cooked Pasta

Blend the cashews till they are a fine powder. Don't let it get to the butter stage. Add in the nutritional yeast, garlic, onion and blend. It might all clump up together. Add a little water to make it a fine paste.

In a saucepan, mix the corn starch, soy sauce and mustard powder. Add a little water and bring to a boil. Add in the cashew paste and add water little bit at a time till it gets to a nice thick consistency. Add salt, pepper and take it off the stove.

At this stage I added some chopped capsicum but you could leave it out if you want or add any vegetables of your choice.

Mix it with the cooked pasta in a bake proof dish and bake for 10 minutes at 175C till the top browns a bit.

Serve hot.

We're safe now. I ate the last UFO.

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Pickle me up! - DIY Daikon n' Mustard Pickle

Who doesn't love pickles?! They could be sweet, salty, sour, oily and spicy too. All those lovely flavours in a jar. I've never really tried to pickle anything even though I love them and associate some lovely food memories with pickles. Of all the pickles a few of my favourites are a vegetable pickle my paternal grandma makes, the spicy mango my maternal grandma makes, a very north indian Carrot-Turnip-Cauliflower pickle which was sent to my room mate in Auroville and a very mustard-y Bengali Mango pickle made by Naturellement.

For two weeks in a row I saw giant White Radishes / Daikons (Moolis) in the market. And by giant I mean really big, like over a foot long. I couldn't resist picking it up. Having never pickled anything, I decided to use my memory of the taste of the Bengali Mango pickle and use the radish. I ended up with a huge jar of lovely yellowy radish pickle.

I must warn you though, open the jar of pickle in another room before serving it. The inital smell every time you open the bottle can put people off, but luckily that lasts only for a few minutes.

You need:

One White Raddish

1tsp Mustard Seeds (Rai)

1tsp Cumin Seeds (Jeera)

1tsp Fenugreek Seeds (Methi)

1tsp Aniseed (Sauf)

1/2 tsp Asafoetida powder (hing)

1/2 tsp Dry Mango Powder (amchur)

1/2 tsp Turmeric (haldi)

1tsp Red Chilli Powder

Salt

1/2 cup Oil

Wash and dry the radish. Cut it up into juliennes (long thin strips).

In a wok, dry roast the mustard, cumin, fenugreek and aniseed will they are fragrant. Powder them till they are fine. Once it is cool, mix in the asafoetida, dry mango powder, tumeric, red chilli powder and salt.

Add in the oil and mix it with the radish strips. A lot of pickle recipes I've read ask you to keep the jar in the sun for a day. I don't get too much sunlight at home, so I just left it out on the windowsill for the day and kept it in the fridge at night. By the next day, the radish had started fermenting and had taken on the wonderful flavour of the spice mix.

My sister, not a big radish fan, used the pickle gravy on another green chilli pickle I had made. This spice mix could go well with almost anything you want to pickle. You could try carrots, cauliflowers, peas, capsicums.

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Sesame-Mustard Stir Fry Vegetables

This looks as good as it tastes!

You need:

2 tsp Sesame Oil (til oil)

1 Onion chopped in fine-long pieces

1 Green or Red Chilli

1/4 inch ginger juliennes (sliced long and thin)

1 Carrot Shredded or grated in a large holed grater

1/2 of a small Cabbage shredded or chopped fine and long

1/4 of a small Raw Papaya juliennes

1/2 Green/Red/Yellow Pepper (Capsicum) (optional)

A handful of Mushrooms chopped (optional)

100gms Tofu diced (optional)

2 tsp Soy Sauce

2 tsp Raw or Roasted Sesame Seeds (Til)

1 tsp freshly ground Mustard seeds (Rai)

Salt

Cooked Noodles or Rice (optional)

In a saucepan/wok heat 1 tsp sesame oil and add the tofu. Stir it around till the tofu is light brown, remove and keep it aside. If you are not going to use tofu, omit this step completely.

In the same saucepan/wok add 1 tsp sesame oil and add the onions, green or red chilli and ginger. Stir it around once in a while. When the onions turn translucent, add the other vegetables whatever your using. I always add the cabbage towards the end since it cooks real fast. Add the soy sauce, salt, sesame and ground mustard seeds. After about 4 minutes when everything starts sizzling, add the tofu and give it a quick stir. Take the pan off the stove and cover it and let it sit for about 3 minutes.

Serve it hot over noodles or rice or have it as is.

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