It has took me some getting used to this concept the first year of working with garden produce, since you can never really plan what you are getting. Take for example, this year with all the rain, we have had a very wet spring.

Chances are people have not been getting a lot of the typical spring produce later in the season. The wet weather has been really great for the lettuce and herbs, so lots of greens and fresh herb salads. So, this year, particularly the past few weeks, these herbs and lettuce have been taking center stage on my table.

I think that this was the first really interesting weekend at the farmers market, just in time for father’s day! The markets were busy and full of life. I tend to frequent the Pleasantville Farmer’s Market, and love the fact that the market has evolved into a fun and festive place to be.

Sure it is still the go to place for your local produce, but now there really is a lot more, starting with local bread sellers, vendors that offer you a quick bite on the go, and my interesting find of the day (especially relevant for fellow spice lovers) was a spice seller. She had a collection of different chili powders and rubs amongst other things. Just perfect, for grilling season!

In today’s healthy universe, making a connection between spices and flavorful healthy food is not a stretch. I had a whole bunch of additional errands to run, so I did not have much time to spend at the spice lady’s stall, but will definitely be doing that one of these weekends and then offer you the complete lowdown of what she carries.

Out and about, I breeze through stocking up on my weekly provisions, hearing the sellers lament about some rain damage to their farms. I can certainly tell you that while the rain has been great for the herbs, it has certainly delayed the growing season. I have been cautiously eyeing our tomato plants, wondering whether they will do well this year.

Meandering through. I was able to happily stock up on a selection of spring veggies, loved their vibrant hues and am looking forward to having them grace my table as the week evolves. I found, chard, carrots, radishes and some lovely spring onions. And, spring onions will be taking center stage as I use them to dress up a potato salad for tomorrow.

There is a beauty to a classic potato salad, in fact, it tends to be a lot like a classic black dress, which is almost perfect by itself, but, can certainly lend itself to being dressed up. Now, with this dressed up, potato salad... do the accessories of peanuts, herbs and spring onions work? Try it and let me know! The father in our house liked it and maybe it will work in time for your fourth of July cook-out.

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The seasonal vegetable that shows up this time of the year, rain or shine is the turnip. This year, due to the temperamental spring the sping vegetables have been fewer than I would like, but there are there here and there. We have had the raab, some kale and of course these petite and snow white japanese turnips complete with their lovely head of greens. This year, we have been conservative with growing the greens because, a lot of the spring vegetables such as the turnips and radishes come with their built in heads of greens.

To see what else, we have been growing and cooking, do not forget to stop by my facebook page. Turnips often get a bad rep, but hopefully before the season is up, if you are a turnip lover, I might have a recipe or two that would be an interesting addition to your table, such as this one on my blog and of course this recipe that I will share, that is a turnip and chickpea pasta dish. If you do not like turnips, you might want to give one of these recipes are try, they just might change your mind.

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It is for those days, where for any reason you choose, you wish to spend less time in the kitchen and still cull together a meal that is interesting and flavorful. Today’s shrimp dish, is tossed together with some staples mostly from the Thai inspired segment of my kitchen, served over white jasmine rice it offers you a meal that is simple and satisfying all at once.

The post Spices and Seasons – Thai Basil, Lemongrass and Ginger Shrimp appeared first on Small Bites.

Herbal flowers are not necesarily edible or even used in cooking (at least not in my kitchen), but they do serve a useful purpose, they carry the seeds that are needed to sprout the herbs for next year.

The delicate chive has a faint onion like taste and works in conjunction with other herbs and can be used to complement stronger herbs. I would not use it with stronger onions, like the red or yellow onion because I think it looses its delicate taste, however, in lieu of onions in simple dishes such as scrambled eggs like this recipe here, in fact, I often make somthing similar, except that I tend to use freshly grated parmasan instead of ricotta.

This weekend, I worked in a whole bunch of chives in a flavorful and quickfix recipe for tripple herb fishcakes, that used the chives, cilantro and some thyme. A simple and satisfying meal that would actually work very well with any kind of side salad. In fact, I did toss a quick radish salad that I will try and share with you next week, but, in the meantime if you want to go through in a fourth herb into the mixture try these cakes with my green chutney.

Here is to a green and colorful week, leading up to next Monday, which is of course memorial day. I look forward to hearing what you have planned for your table to welcome the first holiday of summer.

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The panko crumbs here are as integral to the recipe as are the herbs, the herbs here offer the flavor and the crumbs the light tasting finish. This recipe does require a little planning since chilling the cakes in the refridgerator before frying goes a long way in helping the cakes to bind. If you do not believe me, look at this chef’s tip and it is my mother’s tip, too!.

It is important to note, that panko crumbs cook up very quickly so, it is important to be vigilant to ensure an even brown coating without burning the cakes. It has taken me some time to get used to working.

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In keeping with its tune, I have a whole spice that I frequently use in my kitchen for stir-frying and with all the greens and spring produce almost on its way most of us should be getting ready for stir-frying.

We are talking about Nigella seeds today, a shiny black spicy with a distictive smoky taste that adds character without over powering things. The closest flavor it seems to mimic for me is a combination of onions and oregano, and not surprisingly these seeds tend to be mistakenly reffered to as onion seeds.

I love to add it to quick stir fried for vegetables such as radishes, asparagus and almost anything that you can think off. The Hindi name for the Nigella is Kalonji, and I mention this only because I have had students who tell me that they have asked the Indian store keeper for Nigella and not had much luck. So, if your store man tells you he does not have Nigella try asking for Kalonji and you might have better luck.

Another seasonal favorite, that you find this time of the year is the fiddlehead ferns, I love to pick them up whenever they are in season, which at least for all the sources that I know is a relatively short season. The curled little ferns here are indeed the curled head of a fern, and Fiddleheads have antioxidant activity, are a source of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, and are high in iron and fibre.

They can iritate your stomach if not cooked properly and therefore as a rule of thumb, I suggest we cook them for about 7 to 8 minutes before adding them to dishes and seasonings. Some of the common ways of eating them is cooking them with lemon and butter, eating them with pasta as in this recipe, but believe it or not fiddleheads are found in Northeastern India, and here I offer you a recipe from my cookbook, the Bengali Five Spice Chronicles that pairs the fiddleheads with nigella seeds.

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As we know, fiddleheads are one of the early harbingers of spring in New York. I had learnt to love them for their seasonal quality and enjoy them in pasta. Imagine my surprise when my friend Swapna informed me that fiddlehead ferns are also traditional in Eastern India and savored when available and the season permits.

Her recipe, which I have modified and made mine and actually shared in my cookbook, tosses the fern with potatoes, turmeric and nigella seeds. It adds enough spunk to tantalize your tastbuds but is mild enough not to overpower this delicate vegetable. This recipe will work well with tender asparagus and green beans too, so there you have it, once you try it, you have something to take you through summer.

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In keeping with days that want some bounce and perk, let us talk about the Jalapeno pepper. This is another pepper from the Mexican family of hot peppers (we have chatted about the Poblano, earlier in this column) named after the Jalapa region of Mexico. The pepper is usually eaten green and ranges from mild to sharp in its sharpness. It’s broader base and center make it perfect for hollowing out and stuffing – think Jalapeno poppers. Most varieties, that I have enjoyed do tend to have just the right amount of spark, although one infamous evening, I had cooked a one dish slow cooker meal and this was packed with fiery punch from what appeared to a very potent variety of jalapenos.

I personally like to use jalapenos, when I want to work with a pepper with some kick, but not too much and something that offers me more working area. The thicker texture makes it easier for me to work with chopping the pepper and the darker green bits make for more visually effective garnish.

I resurrected and re-worked a recipe yesterday, did not have a chance to take step by step pictures, but was with a nod to Cinco De Mayo.  One of the ways, I like to introduce new ideas and cultures to our family table is by working them around different festivals allowing the kids to explore and experiment while learning.

In this recipe the Jalapeno is paired with the tomatillo which Latin Twist blogger Arelen has been chatting about earlier. Actually, now that I look at her post, I realize that my salsa verde recipe is pretty similar, but I have used it as a base with just a little difference hopefully allowing you to experiment a little further.

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I love the gentle tang of tomatillos, it reminds me of the green mango that is often used in Indian cuisine. In fact, in this recipe I used the salsa and pair it with coconut milk and bake the fish in banana leaves, almost the way my grandmother would except that her recipe would be steamed and use the green mango. The tomatillo is fruiter than the green mango and in some ways easier to work with and depending on your viewpoint has a prettier color. Hey, who says you cannot improvise on perfection! (sorry grandma!)

It is easier to find the tomatillo, since it is available in most grocery stores (including actually larger Indian markets), in my recipe the tomatillos are roasted with garlic, jalapenos and red onions and then pureed with loads of cilantro to make the basic sauce, which can be happily enjoyed by itself with chips or alternately used for other types of food as I do here.

The banana leaves used for baking the fish add an additional layer of depth and flavor. These are sold frozen in most Asian stores, I find them locally at H Mart, packaged by Goya.

The same sauce, actually worked well in the slow cooker for slow cooking some chicken which is what I did for the next day, so l guess, there are plenty of possibilities.

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Friday evenings, almost always assure you of a quiet grocery store, well since most others are doing their TGIF stuff, some of us (I know, you are thinking, I do not have a life, what can I say?) enjoy a Friday evening of food shopping therapy. Comming to think of it, if I could get a margarita to go, it would make my evening wind down really complete.

Actually, the point of all of this, is that this week, I came back to put together a quick and surprisingly good dinner, tossing together some fresh pasta, dandelion greens, garlic and asparagus, with some andouille sausage to seal the mix. It was really good, high octane and spicy with only the sausage and pasta being store bought. A bunch of the stuff can be varied to suit what you have around, but the fresh pasta and the bitter greens are essential.  Interestingly enough, pasta is very in, in India (no pun intended) these days and not surprisingly, the combination of olive oil, garlic and chili pepper flakes is a much loved winner.

The post Spicy Pasta with Garlic, Dandelion Greens and Sausage appeared first on Small Bites.

Well, my new discovery for this year has been Dandelion greens, that I have been using and playing around with. One of the ways, to learn how to work with something new is to play around with things. With something like dandelion greens, you do not really feel too bad if things do not work out, since they grow in wild abandon and there is not much other use for them. Often ignored as a pesky weed, these greens are a weed all right but that and so much more. Dandelion greens, like most other bitter greens have a lot of nutrition going for them, they are rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. They are also good for diabetics, again something that a lot of bitter foods like the bitter melon tend to be. It has been fairly easy to find them and since our yard is not treated with pesticides, I do not usually have a problem working with things from the yard, as in they are relatively safe. So if you see, my picture below, the jagged greens around the yellow dandelion flower is what we are talking about. I actually call them grass flowers, not sure why.

Now, we get to taming the bitterness, so to speak. After some trial and error, I seem to feel that this green is very happy in the company of strong flavors, most notably garlic and crushed red pepper flakes. I shall tell you more about red chili pepper in a broader context later in this column, once I introduce you to all its possibilities. Essentially red pepper is dried spicy red cayenne, however there are nuances to the heat depending on how the pepper is ground or crushed.

I personally have found that most crushed pepper varieties tend to be a touch milder that the powdered red cayenne pepper. Possibly because the seeds are not powdered. It tends to be my pepper of choice, for spicy pasta dishes.

 Also, making its appearance now is the asparagus, the classic harbinger of spring. The asparagus plant never fails to surprise me, I find it difficult to believe that the feathery plant can actually tighten to form these lovely delicate spears. The asparagus is an interesting creature, because once planted it returns on its own every year, increasing in quantity.

Last night’s dinner included these too, so essentially I also worked in a handful of green garlic and tossed up a simple and spicy pasta dish that Anshul and I gobbled up between chilled glasses of Resiling, a soft and sweet variety that paired well with the spicy offering.  Yes, all of this tossed up with some sausage and fresh pasta was our dinner for the evening.

I did also do something interesting with the greens taking them all the way to India, to find this recipe, keep following the facebook page and I promise to get the recipe over before the end of the week. So, have you been getting inspired in the kitchen with Spring offerings. What have you been throwing into your springtime pot?

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Both of the green garlic and dandelion greens are interesting and wholesome and keep me well entertained in the kitchen with trying to fit them into our culinary world. Actually, the green garlic is a natural and does not need much to find its way into an Indian kitchen. In fact, it is used quite extensively in lentils and rice dishes. The variety I tent to find in our backyard is smaller and skinnier that what I have found in stores and the stalks tend to resemble chives, in fact, my friend from Hong Kong told me that she actually calls these garlic chives and makes a certain dumpling recipe with them.

In fact, this has been my first week of picking it, and like almost everything else this time of the year, the first bunch of things is very exciting. I cannot get enough of it. Seriously, if you followed me on facebook, chances are you would have seen about four pictures of the same first daffodil. Well, they were from different angles and in different types of light.

Anyhow, the same with the garlic, I have made over a few traditional recipes to good success this weekend. Two have been worth sharing so you shall see them over the course of life (fuguratively speaking!) on this column.

Today’s recipe is a simple one dish recipe that will fit into your table almost anytime of the day.

This rain-fringed rapini plant is a newcomer in our garden and I am eagerly waiting to try out. We did too much kale last year, so I am sharing our space with another bitter green.

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Now, the Indian streets are different matter altogether. They have huge large versions of these flat skillets that are used for stir frying foods that can be served as quick pick-me-ups. Common tawa style dishes are chicken, chicken peas and almost anything that you can think of. These saucy wonderful morsels of heaven usually are sold with hot buttered rolls, yes, sort of like an Indian version of a grilled dish.

In fact, some Indian buffets actually have these large flat skillets where they serve a plethora of appetizers. Spring time is for light and quick flavors, this this is pretty high octane in the flavor department. Loads of ginger, cumin, lime, mustard seeds and curry leaves complete the flavor profile of this wonderful dish. This dish is great over steamed rice, wonderful with soft dinner rolls or with a side of tacos.

The post Stir Fried Spicy Shrimp with Curry Leaves – Tawa Shrimp Masala appeared first on Small Bites.

Because, there really is no such thing and curry in the Indian spice lexicon, sure there are all purpose spice blends called curry powders and they often vary based on the chef’s preference and is also used on select dishes as needed.

The curry leaf, or course is a completely different creature. It is the leaf of the curry leaf plant that is a native to Southern India and Sri Lanka. These leaves are used in curry powder blends and do add a characteristic sharp and citrus like scent to the spice mixture. However, they also work well by themselves.

Curry Leaves are available in most Indian grocery stores, usually found in small sealed packets containing a few sprigs of the leaves just like I have shown you in the picture. These leaves keep well for two or three weeks in the refrigerator and freeze well for a longer period of time. They do tend to blacken in the freezer. These leaves are perfectly edible and it really depends on your taste and preference whether you want to actually eat it or discard it once it is cooked. In stews, they tend to add fragrance much like bay leaves.

People who tend to try the curry leaf are usually hooked on to the fragrance, whether you are a pro or a novice using the curry leaf, I hope that you will like my quick fix recipe for Spicy Stir Fried Shrimp – Tawa Masala Shrimp.

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The garlic does add a touch of sharpness that mellows and melts into the rich and creamy yogurt cheese, but if you are not a fan of garlic, you might want to reduce the amount used or even maybe replacing it with some black pepper for a different variation of sharp flavor. All up to you.

The post Tzatziki Inspired Lebneh and Cucumber Dip appeared first on Small Bites.

This week earlier at a demo, I was adding cumin to some oil and a participant asked me whether they would pop. I explained to her that cumin gently sizzled, while it was mustard that did the popping. I explained to her that spices communicate to us in different tones; this is something that I do believe is true.

I also like to think that spices like anything else, react differently to environments and ingredients and to this end, we as cooks consciously shape and mold the environment of the spices sometimes instinctively and sometimes with careful and conscious planning till we find a result that we are comfortable with.

It is not unlike any other form of art where we work and vary a medium until we have the portrait and painting we desire.

To that end, let me talk about Lebneh or Lebni, a Middle Eastern kefir cheese that I love to use in dips and marinades in lieu of yogurt and cream. With a texture almost like cream fraiche and the deep tartness of lemon infused yogurt, this product offers me the rich binding consistency without much fuss and has all the benefits of natural yogurt.

In our neck of the woods, my preferred source for middle-eastern supplies is Shiraz grocery store. I will preface this preference by saying this store happens to be on my out and about errand route, but I have certainly found them to be fresh and full of things that transport me to what I think a Persian market is all about. I often head in to pick up saffron, lebneh, tea and other knick knacks that work.

So, yesterday our meal consisted of a simple assemble of a rich tasting dip, made with cucumbers, herbs and lebneh that I dished out with fresh and hot parathas. The dip might just be a little early, but will serve you well for the warmer days that I hope are soon on the horizon.

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Hard-boiled eggs, in case you are wondering are very versatile. There is always the classic egg salad, devilled eggs and if you did not realize also an assortment of egg curries that work perfectly with steamed rice, quinoa or hearty toasted bread.

And today, hoping that some of you might have some eggs lying around waiting to be used, I share with you this recipe that is inspired by the cuisine of Goa, a small island in the western region of India. Goa, is a beautiful beach region, full of seafood and coconuts (can you think of a better combination!) and Portuguese influenced cuisine. Yes, this region of India was a Portuguese colony for a long time and so the cuisine includes some spices and flavors such as vinegar that would otherwise not be found on the Indian table. The most common dish in this style of cooking is the fiery vindaloo, a restaurant staple that has many renditions good and bad.

So, this recipe is a lighter and somewhat less spicy variation of an egg vindallo, that does include the vinegar and chilies, just the latter in moderation.

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The first time I bought fresh lemongrass, I was a little taken about by its relatively tough exterior and for the longest time I stuck to using the tubed lemongrass paste. I have to confess, it has its convieniences but then again, you cannot keep a fresh freak away from the real deal for too long and last week I succumbed to getting myself a few stalks.

Since then I have been using lemongrass like it us going out of fashion, it is a good thing my husband likes thai food, in fact, to share with you all of my discoveries, I shall be featuring lemongrass as a two part post (maybe not back to back, but close). The best part of lemongrass is that it actually scents the fridge, hey, works much better than baking soda if you ask me.

So, what exactly is lemongrass? It is a stalky evergreen plant, that is a native to Southeast Asia, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Australia. I associate it mostly with Thai food, however it is used in the cuisines of all the countries mentioned. Like a lot of other spices, lemongrass has medicinal qualitites most notably considered healing for colds and also supposed to have preventive qualities to heal cancer.

Usually sold in the supermarkets in 2 to 3 long (2 to 3 feet) stalks, it is important to look for lemongrass with plump bulbs because, this is really what is used mostly for cooking. Drier tougher stems result in most of the lemon grass being wasted.  So, we essentially remove the tough outer leaves and then remove the top and slice the bulb discarding about 6 inches of the tough stalk. Since, the lemon grass is really usually minced up, it is all about flavor rather than beauty.

This week is a busy week coming up, we have the Indian spring festival of Holi on Wednesday, I did not do a feature here, but if you stop by CIW around Wednesday, I promise to reward you with dessert recipe. After spring break and Easter, I hope some of you might be in the mood for some inspired cooking, please do stop by the Mount Kisco library on Thursday at 6:30 pm, to learn how to use some spices and of course, I will be signing books.

So, onto todays recipe. Unlike the dafodils that seem ready to sprout out of the garden, inspite of the of the cold, I have not been very happy with the cold weather and have been still sticking to comforting stews like this one. Actually, the carrots were dug out of the back yard, amazing how long they last. So, this stew makes for a hearty meal either by itself or with some steamed jasmine rice.

The post Spices and Seasons – Lemongrass and Thai Inspired Chicken Stew appeared first on Small Bites.

In keeping with the unpredictable pre spring weather, I have an interesting ingredient for you – Sesame Oil. An ingredient that is pretty common to Asian cuisine across the continent. Sesame oil is used either raw (mostly in Indian cuisine) and toasted in chinese and other asian cuisines. Toasting the sesame oil, does offer it a stronger taste and also prolongs its shelf life. Like most natural oils, sesame oil is high in anti-oxiadants and generally very beneficial for you.

This is time of the year, I start looking for lighter recipes, for some reason though I do not really like salads so, stir fries are really what calls my name this time of the year.

The recipe on hand is a very quick and colorful shrimp stir-fry that works well with steamed white rice and made for comfortingly flavorful Sunday afternoon meal.

I did not have jasmine rice on hand which I suspect would have worked better with this dish, but my pantry staple Basmati rice did not disappoint either.

What I will probably do when the summer produce picks up is to add in some tender zucchini into this dish the next time I make it. The essential overtones being mild and sweet most mild vegetables

Rinku Bhattacharya is a daytime financial professional, who spends the rest of her time immersed in food. Rinku is the author of the blog, Cooking in Westchester, where she shares her life experiences and original recipes that combine Indian spices with produce from her backyard and local farmers markets. Rinku is blessed with a gardener husband, who always surprises her with a prolific and fresh supply of produce to keep her creative instincts flowing. Rinku has been teaching recreational cooking classes for the past six years, and her cookbook the Bengali Five Spice Chronicles, highlights and offers many simple recipes from Eastern India. Rinku can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest

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The first of the season, always tend to be kale, which like a bunch of other spring greens we tend to start indoors waiting for the last of the frost to go away before they can safely be transfered outdoors. I had posted a picture on my facebook page yesterday of one of sapplings and if you do want to follow the garden, please do stop by once in a while.  What people are getting into gradually are lighter spring salads, I think it might be just a little too early for that, however this time of the year is perfect for lightly tossed kale.

I have taken one of the recipes that I make pretty often, it is pretty typical of everyday fare in my mother’s kitchen with the vegetables being varied to eat whatever was in the season. The concept of this lightly spiced medley was to offer a quick fix method to enjoy what was available and eat a balance side of colorful veggies. The highlight of yesterday was probably the fact that my daughter decided that my cooking smelt nice.

I do think that half the fun of cooking with spices is indeed, smelling and inhaling the fragrance while you cook and what can I say, my little critics opinions count, in fact much more than I would like to admit.

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While I tend to be partial to chickpeas in the world of legumes, I am not the only one chickpeas were one of the oldest cultivated crops as were legumes in general. Not surprising – easy to grow, tastes good and of course as we now know very nutritious.

Coriander leaves or cilantro is a very versatile herb that is versatile in both its uses and names. It is know as Chinese parsley, also. Used extensively in Mexican and other Mediterranean cuisines and is actually a  native to the Turkey regions, to the point,  we have actually adapted the Spanish word cilantro for its most popular name. It is the most popular herb of choice in the Indian kitchen, second to mint.

The cilantro is a perennial plant that grows for 1 to 2 feet and features dark green, hairless soft leaves that are variable in shape. The  leaves and steam have a light citrus flavor. However, there are a whole host of  people to whom the cilantro tastes like soap. So, what do they do in my kitchen, very simple just tell me and I will leave the offending garnish out.

My joke is that we use cilantro as a green vegetable in our house.  For this post, I was persuaded to actually look up the nutrition for this herb. It turns out the herb is rich in anti-oxidants which help reduce “bad cholesterol” levels. The leaves and seeds contain many essential
volatile oils. Anti-oxidants and is a good source of minerals like potassium, calcium, manganese. It is also rich in many vital vitamins including folicacid, riboflavin and niacin and vitamin K. All of this bonus nutrition in a herb that I enjoy anyway, made me happy.

So, now down to the chickpea recipe, one of the things that I do feel makes a difference in taste with beans and lentils is really cooking your own and believe me if you are willing to give the pressure cooker a try you can do these from the scratch without soaking in about 25 minutes and then this recipe takes about 15 to 20 minutes. It is entirely up to you.

The key difference in taste in canned beans is attributed to the fact that soaking the beans in salted preservative solutions tends to errode some of the natural flavors. This being said, canned beans work fine in this recipe and are a viable substitute.

Rinku Bhattacharya is a daytime financial professional, who spends the rest of her time immersed in food. Rinku is the author of the blog, Cooking in Westchester, where she shares her life experiences and original recipes that combine Indian spices with produce from her backyard and local farmers markets. Rinku is blessed with a gardener husband, who always surprises her with a prolific and fresh supply of produce to keep her creative instincts flowing. Rinku has been teaching recreational cooking classes for the past six years, and her cookbook the Bengali Five Spice Chronicles, highlights and offers many simple recipes from Eastern India. Rinku can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest

The post Spices and Seasons-Lemony Chickpeas with Mushrooms and Cilantro appeared first on Small Bites.

Lentils are quite the cornerstone of food in my household, we love them in all colors, shapes and complexity. I shall stick to yellow split lentils today, and a recipe adapted from my cookbook, The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles. The spicy context to this seasonal lentil creation is the process of tempering. This is something that is essential to spicing of Indian lentils and is as diverse as the Indian spice box itself. I have a few different varieties of seasonings for different spices and uses. Yes, just like not all lentils are made the same, not all finishes are the same, however the process is pretty similar.

That which we call the tarka or tempering essentially consists of heating the oil until it is almost smoking, then adding in the spices until the spices, sizzle, crackle and pop depending on the character of the spice blend.

This infuses the oil with the flavor of the spices which then is poured into the lentils and gently mixed in. This process gently seasons the lentils and you are in my son’s words, “all done.”

My lentils here get cooked to soft, comforting softness with a nice balance from the spinach and tomatoes added to it. The tempering here uses the Bengali Five Spice Blend or Panchphoron that I have discussed here. In an absolute pinch you can substitute this with mustard seeds.

This is actually the first time I have tried this recipe using canned chopped tomatoes and I am glad to see that it works out quite well, making it a wonderful posibility for other days in winter. I often use a pressure cooker for these lentils, which if you have one will get you an absolutely wonderful dinner in less than 15 minutes. So, now that I have convinced you that this dish should feature on your next week night menu, let me get moving to the recipe.

Rinku Bhattacharya is a daytime financial professional, who spends the rest of her time immersed in food. Rinku is the author of the blog, Cooking in Westchester, where she shares her life experiences and original recipes that combine Indian spices with produce from her backyard and local farmers markets. Rinku is blessed with a gardener husband, who always surprises her with a prolific and fresh supply of produce to keep her creative instincts flowing. Rinku has been teaching recreational cooking classes for the past six years, and her cookbook the Bengali Five Spice Chronicles, highlights and offers many simple recipes from Eastern India. Rinku can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest

The post Spices and Seasons – Tempered Yellow Lentils with Spinach appeared first on Small Bites.

Now, as I always say, there are no general rules with Indian cuisine. This of course applies to garam masala as well. The blend of spices varies from region to region but almost always consists of the core fragrant spices of cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Actually, in eastern India, this is it. Northern India gets more complex, I settle for something in between with smaller amounts of the black peppercorns, since my kids do not like it too spicy.

So, call it the Hudson Valley Garam Masala blend.

Either way, this is a spice blend that is delicate and of course, well worth the effort (which really is not a lot!) in preparing from the scratch.

Well, if I give you a classic spice recipe, I should offer you a classic recipe to go with it, well or to be more precise, a recipe that uses the spice blend. Something, that I usually never make without garam masala is Keema Matar or Ground Lamb with Green Peas.

In my universe of quick fixes, I have managed to successfully work through a lot of recipes without garam masala, but not this ground lamb recipe.  This is a very versatile recipe, since it can be used as filling for samosas and an entire host of things. It is also one of those recipes that freeze well.

When, I say this, I mean freezes well, because I am very finicky about using frozen stuff.

For some reason, I just do not think that it works as well as it should in a lot of cases.

This recipe is also heavier, just by virtue of the fact that it uses lamb, making it a great recipe for these still chilly evenings. You are welcome to try a lighter version with ground chicken just reduce the cooking time to make it work. Actually, healther and quicker, but then again there are days for indulgence and yesterday was one of those. This tastes great with any kind of bread but of course, best with homemade Indian flatbreads.

Rinku Bhattacharya is a daytime financial professional, who spends the rest of her time immersed in food. Rinku is the author of the blog, Cooking in Westchester, where she shares her life experiences and original recipes that combine Indian spices with produce from her backyard and local farmers markets. Rinku is blessed with a gardener husband, who always surprises her with a prolific and fresh supply of produce to keep her creative instincts flowing. Rinku has been teaching recreational cooking classes for the past six years, and her newly released cookbook the Bengali Five Spice Chronicles, highlights and offers many simple recipes from Eastern India. Rinku can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest

The post Spices and Seasons – Garam Masala and Ground Lamb with Green Peas appeared first on Small Bites.

It is difficult to not think of something sweet in time for one of biggest sweet days of the year – Valentine’s Day.  In keeping with the times and the season, today I shall be sharing one of the classic winter desserts from North India. The Gajar Halwa or the carrot fudge pudding is all amount slow cooked goodness, indulgence and cooking with patience and love.

If you have the patience to spend a few hours (yes, at least 2 hours) around your kitchen nursing this beautiful creation and you are feeling adventurous this Valentine ’s Day,  then this is the dessert for you. By the way, this dessert is fairly rich as is, since it is made with milk cooked with carrots to a thick fudge like state with fragrant cardamom, finished with clarified butter, raisins and pistachios. If you want to indulge the way they do at Indian weddings you can top this with vanilla ice-cream. The melting coolness of the ice-cream gives way to warm soft creamy seductiveness of the smooth carroty goodness of the dessert.

If you want some of the concept without all the effort, you can try my beetroot version, here.

To be fair, the ingredients are few it is mostly about patience to actually cook down the milk to the thick creamy milk solids that we call khoya. This technique of slow cooking milk is used in a lot of Indian dessert so a good thing to understand.

Before you tell me, I cannot improvise here is a vegan version of the dessert that I made about a year back. So, with all the bases covered here is the recipe.

Rinku Bhattacharya is a daytime financial professional, who spends the rest of her time immersed in food. Rinku is the author of the blog,  Cooking in Westchester, where she shares her life experiences and original recipes that combine Indian spices with produce from her backyard and local farmers markets. Rinku is blessed with a gardener husband, who always surprises her with a prolific and fresh supply of produce to keep her creative instincts flowing. Rinku has been teaching recreational cooking classes for the past six years, and her newly released cookbook the Bengali Five Spice Chronicles,  highlights and offers many simple recipes from Eastern India. Rinku can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest

The post Spices and Seasons – Indian Carrot Fudge Pudding with Raisins and Pistachios (Gajar Halwa) appeared first on Small Bites.

The Latin name of the plant is Illicium vernum, the spice is a native of China and Vietnam. China still remains the largest manufacturer of the spice. It is however, cultivated in India, Laos, the Philippines, Indonesia and Jamacia. It was first introduced to Europe in the 17th Century where it was mainly used in baked goods and in the making of fruit compotes and jams as well as in the manufacture of anise-flavoured liqueurs such as anisette and Pernod, usually in the form of the oil which is produced by a process of steam extraction.

The spice closely resembers the anise in flavor and is the fruit of the plant that are harvested just before ripening. Now, if you have romance on your mind, you will not be totally out of luck with the star anise. It has a lot of medicinal qualities and works as an aphrodisiac as well.

The recipe in itself is incredibly simple pairing hoisin sauce with fresh citrus and ginger and of course the star anise. Since the star anise is fairly strong, this kind of light cooking works very well, since it infuses fish with flavor without drowning out the other gentle flavors. This simple baking marinade is one of the staples in my household and it works well on both chicken and on tofu. So depending on your mood, feel feel to play around or vary the recipe.

Here I have paired this with simple turmeric and thyme potatoes, another simple and lovely recipe that can be found here and depending on your planning they can actually be cooked together.

Rinku Bhattacharya is a daytime financial professional, who spends the rest of her time immersed in food. Rinku is the author of the blog,  Cooking in Westchester, where she shares her life experiences and original recipes that combine Indian spices with produce from her backyard and local farmers markets. Rinku is blessed with a gardener husband, who always surprises her with a prolific and fresh supply of produce to keep her creative instincts flowing. Rinku has been teaching recreational cooking classes for the past six years, and her newly released cookbook the Bengali Five Spice Chronicles,  highlights and offers many simple recipes from Eastern India. Rinku can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest

The post Spices and Seasons – Chinese Inspired Salmon with Star Anise appeared first on Small Bites.

Now, back to my initial question, what are must haves?

I will tell you my starter kit, but I will tell you really how you can find what works for you. The starter kit is really like your your favorite basic color, for some it is black, for others it is white and then there is anything in between. It is the go to color that you reach out for when you are confused or not in a mood for making decisions. It is personal and often takes some trial and error time to really nail it down. I call these a starter kit, because I use plenty of other spices but it these five that tend to form the cornerstone of my cooking.

I start with cumin (which not surprisingly was the first spice that I feature here on this column), then I move onto coriander. These can be used in separation or in combination with each other. So, here I have offered you my favorite spice blend, the cumin and coriander powder. This is usually what takes the place of what some people refer to as curry powder. I usually shy away from a more complex blend, since I like to add flavors to the individual dishes that I make with a degree of uniqueness. I think a few simple balanced flavors tend to be more nuanced than a whole assortment of complex flavors. It could possibly be my Bengali (eastern Indian) roots. We tend to use spices with more simplicity and nuance as I have described in my book. Take this simple apricot glazed chicken, there are a just a few basic spices mostly about coriander and ginger and then I rely on citrus and fruit.

This is what I meant when I mentioned earlier that I often turn to fresh flavors. Here to I turn to what I find readily available. Yes, I have used fresh oranges but your everyday carton of orange juice would work. As for the glaze, we can just as easily work with peaches or nectarines or even strawberries, depending on what you have in your pantry.

So, now we move onto basic aromatics, for me this is about ginger and garlic. Not surprisingly, they followed in my series of posts. I had really not planned them in this order but these have become instictive for me. Here I cannot usually decide which one I like better. I tend to find ginger more versatile because I use it with both sweet, savory and sweet and sour flavors. This being said, I use garlic with a whole range of cuisines and also tend to use garlic in isolation, something that I would not do with ginger. These spices to are very compatible and I use them together in a ginger-garlic paste.

In a very simple, homey essential dish that is actually very seasonal for winter, I use most of the spices I have just told you about. In this recipe for spinach with potatoes, I also use two more essential spices that I will tell you about as the days progress.

The two remaining spices or maybe spice and herb are red cayenne pepper and cilantro. I use the red cayenne both in its powdered form and in the form of flakes depending on the recipe and the stage of the game that I add it in and then there is cilantro. I just cannot do without it.  It is an absolutely essential herb and fixture in my refridgerator.

So, I think as a starter kit, you will agree that they are fairly easy to procure and readily recognizable spices. Go ahead and play with them, I look forward to hearing how this works.

Rinku Bhattacharya is a daytime financial professional, who spends the rest of her time immersed in food. Rinku is the author of the blog,  Cooking in Westchester, where she shares her life experiences, original recipes that combine Indian spices with produce from her backyard and local farmers markets. Rinku is blessed with a gardener husband, who always surprises her with a prolific and fresh supply of produce to keep her creative instincts flowing. Rinku has been teaching recreational cooking classes for the past six years, and her newly released cookbook the Bengali Five Spice Chronicles,  highlights and offers many simple recipes from Eastern India. Rinku can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

The post Spices and Seasons – The Essential Spice Kit appeared first on Small Bites.

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Asafetida, is the powdered resin of the Asafetida tree. An unusual and powerful spice, we cooks are often mystified about this spice. In his book, On Food and Cooking author Harold McGee, has described asafetida as, one of the strongest and strangest of spices. The spice when powdered has this pale beige color with some darker specs.

So, what exactly does this spice do. It is a spice with garlicky overtones and some Hindus actually avoid garlic since it is supposed to have negative effects on the personality according to Hindu philosophy. A quick and easy solution to this is to use asafetida! Although, it would be unfair to describe the spice as just a substitute for garlic since it does have its own characteristic taste. It also has a lot of digestive qualities and therefore omnipresent in traditional lentil dishes as it is supposed to remove any effects of flatulence that might be caused by the lentils.

My mother-in-law who does in fact not cook with garlic tends to use asafetida in her cooking quite liberally. However, a characteristic feature of asafetida is that even if you like it, the spice is meant to be used in moderation, less is indeed more. This is why my jar of asafetida seems to last forever.

This winter when I was in India, I was captivated by the deep red carrots that were everywhere, if I need a refresher course in eating with the seasons one just needs to detour to an Indian home kitchen, it is so naturally seasonal. This simple dish is inspired by one of many carrot dishes that I enjoyed there. I have made this stir fry with carrots and winter squash, both of these tide us through the winter months. Carrots that still rest below the soil to be dug up as I need them and the squash that is resting indoors to be used as we need them.

This very basic stir fry can be made with almost any vegetable combination that you can think off, I had made some sticky black rice which offered a nice earthy taste, texture and visual contrast to our table.

Rinku Bhattacharya is the author of the blog, Cooking in Westchester, where she shares her life experiences, original recipes that combine Indian spices with produce from her backyard and local farmers markets. Rinku is blessed with a gardener husband, who always surprises her with a prolific and fresh supply of produce to keep her creative instincts flowing. Rinku has been teaching recreational cooking classes for the past six years, and has found her classes a great way to teach and learn.

Her cookbook Bengali Five Spice Chronicles with over 180 simple India recipe offers an insight into the cuisine of eastern India. Rinku can be found on facebook, twitter and pinterest.

The post Spices and Seasons – Asafetida appeared first on Small Bites.

Rinku, the Spices and Seasons blogger for @small_bites on @lohud and author of “The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles” will guide you through a joyous discovery of new spices—and teach you how to organize, store and use familiar ones.

RSVP here and be entered to win her cookbook. Don’t forget to post the hashtag #lohudspices after each Tweet, or follow me @small_bites.

Very important: In order to be entered to win Rinku’s cookbook, you must RSVP at our Twtvite here: twtvite.com/lohudspices Be sure to RSVP!

Ask Rinku which spices pair best with what dishes, what spices to use when, how to introduce kids to spices, and more! You can follow along in the widget below:

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Our sponsor for the chat is Pranzi, the Italian trattoria in White Plains. Follow @pranziny

The post Learn to Use Spices! Twitter Chat at Noon Friday with Rinku Bhattacharya of Spices & Seasons #lohudspices appeared first on Small Bites.

Finding foods this time of the year is interesting, we have just come through days of feasting and heavy and hearty foods and so somewhere we yearn for something just a little lighter, however the to colder weather beckons to us to continue with comfort foods, foods that satisfy the soul and make us feel warm and comforted.

If you love your cup of tea like I do, you will also want to through in a small hint of spice and then probably want something that pairs well with this warm and spicy drink.

Yes, what tends to call my name on a cold morning or evening is a well brewed cup of ginger tea with these delicate, lightly sweetened cardamom infused cookies that are called nankhaties as in NAAN-kha-ties. I am fussy about my brand and breed of tea, however with the ginger tea, I can make some exceptions any decent back leaf tea works.  It does have to be brewed and you do need to use freshly grated ginger.

The shortbread cookies are very delicate and tend to have a light sandy consistency, which is sometimes created with the use of semolina, in this recipe I have actually added in some coarsely powdered pecans to get the same effect.

The melt in your mount consistency of the cookies actually are created by the fact that they tend to cook very lightly and they do need to be watched quite a bit while this is happening since they tend to burn easily.

When they are removed from the oven, then are soft and tend to turn crisp in a few minutes. The best temperature to serve these is warm, however the cardamom flavor does intensify the next day. They store well in an air-tight container and keep well for a few weeks, if not longer.

Yes, so this post showcases some other uses of two spices we have talked about – ginger and cardamom.  Any ideas for what spices we should be talking about in the next few weeks,

Rinku Bhattacharya is the author of the blog, Cooking in Westchester, where she shares her life experiences, original recipes that combine Indian spices with produce from her backyard and local farmers markets. Rinku is blessed with a gardener husband, who always surprises her with a prolific and fresh supply of produce to keep her creative instincts flowing. Rinku has been teaching recreational cooking classes for the past six years, and has found her classes a great way to teach and learn.

Her cookbook Bengali Five Spice Chronicles with over 180 simple India recipe offers an insight into the cuisine of eastern India. Rinku can be found on facebook, twitter and pinterest.

The post Spices and Seasons – Ginger Tea and Pistachio Cardamom Cookies appeared first on Small Bites.