Vegan Thai Green Curry with Jasmine Rice and Toppings

The secret to making a good Thai curry is making a fresh curry paste at home, preferably with a mortar and pestle instead of a blender.  This is an elaborate and time-consuming process, so if you're making it, make enough so you can freeze and reuse later.

Paste ingredients (will make enough paste for 2 large pots of curry)

• 1 large shallot 
• 1 square inch of ginger
• 1 square inch of galangal (it's in the ginger family, great if you can find it - has citrus-y notes - it's fine if you don't)
• 1 big bunch of cilantro (stalks and all.  Traditional Thai curry uses cilantro roots, but that's hard to find)
• 5 cloves of garlic (optional)
• 5 Thai green chilies (as many as you would like depending on how hot you want it - remember that the coconut milk will significantly mollify the heat so go for more than you think you can handle.  You also don't want to overwhelm all the subtle flavors with heat.) 
• Kafir lime leaves a bunch
• Zest of one lime

Veggies for the curry

You can use whatever and as much as you like.  My recommendation is to go with some classics/traditional:

• Thai eggplant - they're a little firmer than regular ones so they won't become very soggy in the curry
• Baby corn - hard to find everywhere though
• Carrots
• Mushrooms - whatever kind you have available
• Tofu for the protein (if you want - I didn't use it)
• Potatoes (if you want)
• Brat-paprika
• Green beans
• Coconut milk
• Coconut oil
• Fish sauce (or if you want true vegetarian, a mix of soy sauce and rice wine will do as well)
• Some nice granular salt - will help draw out the moisture

Topping

Completely optional but adds a whole new layer of flavor.  Julienne ginger and red chili pepper, and mix with chopped Thai basil and the rest of the lime zest/lime juice that might be leftover from making the curry paste.

Cooking process

Finely chop all the ingredients for the green curry paste and put into a large mortar and pestle.  You could, of course, blitz this in a grinder, but what happens from smashing in a mortar and pestle is the essential oils from the ingredients begin to seep out, which doesn't really happen in a grinder.  Still, it's not a deal breaker - it'll still be better than anything store bought.  If you're using the mortar route, then it's going to take a while.  You probably have to pound for a good 15-20 minutes to make sure you get everything into a paste like consistency.  It's perfectly okay if it doesn't feel like a spread - it never will, so don't stress about it.  You'll probably need about two tablespoons of the paste for this dish, so you could freeze the rest to use another time.

Okay, wash and next cut up the vegetables how you would like.  I would recommend braising the eggplant (if you're using this) before adding it to the curry - it's going to make the texture a lot nicer.

Now, in a large pot, add a healthy amount of coconut oil and once it's hot, add the green curry paste and fry.  Once the raw smell is gone, slowly start adding the coconut milk - like you would do with stock when making risotto.  A ladle at a time and let the oil separate from the milk slowly.  After about 10-15 minutes or so you should see a layer of oil separated from the coconut milk.  Now we are ready to add the vegetables.

Add them in order of how long you want them to cook; hard veggies and mushrooms go in first, so start with the carrots, potatoes (if you choose to use them), and mushrooms.  The green beans, brat-paprika, and baby corn go at the end, about 5 minutes.

Now let the curry cook covered for 15 minutes.  Then add fish sauce, the rest of the kafir lime leaves and Thai basil torn up and the rest of the veggies.  Let it cook for 5 more minutes and you are ready to serve.  Make sure you taste the veggies for seasoning and cook through.

Serve with some nice Jasmine rice and add a dollop of the topping as garnish :)

Fluffy Omelette w/ Mushy Peas

Mushy Peas. Start with these as it will take the longest to cook.  Defrost green peas in a pot of boiling water and cook with any kind of aromatics you want.  I went with mint.  For a stronger flavor you can saute sliced garlic and chili with oil before cooking the peas.  So, in a nice pan, put some olive oil and/or butter, throw in some finely chopped shallots, minced garlic (optional), minced chili (optional) and season with salt and pepper.  As the shallots soften up, toss in the cooked peas with the mint.  Add some chopped parsley if you want.  Cook them for a while till the water dries.  Move it to a bowl and start mashing it.  Add red wine vinegar or lemon juice to compliment the spice.  Add some sour cream or cream cheese for texture. Top if off with some fresh, finely chopped mints and parsley.  

The filling.  Make the filling before you cook the eggs.  I went with spinach and mushrooms.  You could add bacon bits or julienne red peppers or carrots if you want some crunch.  In a warm heavy pan, add some olive oil and/or butter.  Toss in sliced mushrooms with a pinch of salt and pepper and saute on medium heat.  Once the mushrooms have browned a bit, add in the spinach and toss/mix well.  Spinach ha a lot of water, so you'll have to wait for the water to evaporate before turning the heat off.  Feel free to add any other seasoning here if you want such as chopped chives, etc. 

Fluffy eggs - the key is separating the egg whites and the yolk.  Whip the egg whites till it's nice and frothy.  Beat the yolks with 1 tbsp: 1 egg ratio of milk.  Salt and pepper if you want but not needed.  Mix the yolks and whites together and make a smooth, frothy mix.  Heat a pan with a little bit of olive oil and/or butter and pour in the mixture and cook uncovered on medium heat for 2-3 minutes. It's not a French omelette so don't mix!  Wait for the froth to settle a bit - flatten the froth and then drop in some cheese (optional) and the cooked filling.  Carefully scrape the sides and fold the omelette and dislodge it from the pan by gently knocking on the handle and flipping it onto a plate.   

Garnish with spring onions/chives or more cheese (optional).

   

Fettuccine with corn creme and charred green onions

I was pretty apprehensive about making my own fettuccine at home, especially without any equipment,  but we got there in the end - not perfect, some lessons learnt, but it came together :)

Bringoli with Pomodoro/Arabiata sauce

So this was my first attempt at making pasta and sauce from scratch, but I think it turned out pretty okay.

I decided on the Bringoli "Pomodoro", which is from the Tuscan region.  Pomodoro in quotes because it's more of an inspiration from pomodoro than being true to form, much like how Bollywood movies steal from Hollywood, and more recently from Korean movies, but that's a tale for another day.

Ingredients - for 2 people

- 200 gms of "00" or "550" unbleached flour

- 100 gms of water

- 5 gms of extra virgin olive oil (this is about a table spoon)

- a pinch of kosher salt

- semolina flour/regular flour for dusting

- some olive oil for coating with a brush

(for cooking - 1 liter of water per 100 gms of pasta and 1 tbsp of kosher salt per liter)

- generous helping of olive oil, a couple of glugs should suffice

- 1 medium onion (diced)

- 500 gms of fresh ripe vine tomatoes (quartered)

- 10 cherry tomatoes (halved)

- 2 cloves of garlic (sliced)

- 1 or 2 red chili (diced) - you can either keep or remove the seeds depending on the heat you want

- a sprig of rosemary

- a couple of bay leaves (fresh or dry)

- a fist full of basil leaves

- 1 tsp salt 

- 1 tsp sugar

- Parmesan cheese or Gran Padano cheese 

- Fresh basil

- Fresh mint

- Fresh crushed black pepper

The dough

So here is the most important thing I learnt about making pasta dough.  There is A LOT to learn about pasta dough.  Here are some beginner's pointers from my research:

1. Some pasta dough requires eggs, some don't - depending on the type of pasta.

2. Most people will recommend "00" flour - it's the most granular.  In Germany, that would be 550.  You can get away with unbleached all-purpose; or 405 in Germany.  Having some semolina flour on hand for dusting would be ideal; semolina is much courser and harder to work with, so not ideal for beginners.

3. Getting measurements right is critical.  Because of the nature of flour, i.e. that it can be compressed, it is not a good idea to use cup measurements, so everything is in grams here (yes, SI units, get used to it).

4. Be patient, and DON'T PANIC!

5. Kneading is everything. 

Making it

I used 405 flour for this and it worked fine.  About a 100 grams per person is ideal.  I used a bowl to start with because I didn't want the wet ingredients to go all over the place.  Weigh all your ingredients.  Put the flour in a heap in a bowl and then make a deep crater - this is going to your well to hold the wet ingredients.  Pour in the oil and water and salt in there and slowly start mixing in the flout from the top of the mound, don't try to get all the flour in all together.  Once you've managed to get all the liquid soaked up, start using your hands to start kneading.  Look up some videos on good kneading techniques - the standard rule I learnt was, use one hard, and be consistent.  Only use the heel of your palm.  Push down the dough with your heel, fold, rotate, repeat.  That's it.  Push down, fold, rotate, repeat.  Just keep at it for 15 minutes.  You know when you're done when you end up with a springy ball of dough - pressing it down causes the dough to bounce back up.  Wrap in cling wrap and keep in the fridge for 30 minutes or in room temperature for an hour or so.  Just let it rest and the gluten get more elastic.

In the mean time start working on the sauce.   In a pot, pour in the oil and get the oil warmed up.  Throw in the onions, garlic, and chili.  You don't want to fry them, you want to make them sweat.  So you don't want to oil to be too hot.  Once the onions become translucent add the quartered tomatoes salt and sugar.  Add the bay leaves and rosemary, bring the heat down to simmer, cover, and just let the tomatoes stew for about 30-40 minutes or so - splash in a bit of hot water if needed (depends on how ripe your tomatoes are).  Check-in after 30 minutes.  If the tomatoes should have mostly dissolved, if not, turn up the heat a bit and cook for another 10 minutes.  Fish out the rosemary and bay leaves.  If you have a hand held grinder, you can run the paste through that, if not, no worries.  Put in the rest of the tomatoes, basil, and mix well.  Cover and keep on simmer.

The pasta dough has probably chilled out by now.  Unwrap the dough.  You want to flatten it out into a disc about 3-4 cm thick on an un-floured wooden board.  It's okay for the dough to stick a bit to the surface.  Now, take a bit of olive oil and brush the exposed side of the dough disc to prevent it from drying out.  

In a baking pan or on foil, spread some of the semolina flour - we'll need this for coating once we roll out the dough noodles.  

Cut out 2-3 cm thick strips of dough from the disc using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter. 

Now take the strips and roll them with your hand into noodles.  The key is to slowly pull your hands apart as you roll.  Don't worry about getting the thickness even, this is handmade art :)  You want to keep the bringoli as long and thin as possible - about 1 cm in diameter - they're going to expand in the water.  Please them in the tray with the semolina and dust it so it stays dry.

Get the water to a roiling boil with plenty of salt.  Place the pasta in the pot.  Remember this is fresh pasta so it's going to cook rather quickly - you only need them in for about 4 minutes.   Best way to check if the pasta is done to your liking, is to get it out and take a bite.  Get them out just as they get to the point of being done to your liking and transfer them out of the water to the pasta sauce.  Let it sit in the sauce for a bit to finish cooking and soaking in the sauce.  

Serve it up in a plate with grated Parmesan and the basil leaves and a rice glass of Chianti or a northern Italian red.

Parmesan crusted haddock with sides :)

So this was the first time I made fish at home, so I was quite nervous of messing it up, but I think it turned out quite alright.  I watched dozens of different recipes to come up with this final version.

There are multiple components to this meal, so I've broken these down by parts.  Because each component cooks quite quickly (except for the potatoes), it's critical to get the timing right.  I've listed out the ingredients by item and in the cook cycle I've done it by process to get all the pieces done, not by meal.

The quantities listed is ideal for two people.

Here you have it, Parmesan crusted halibut with green asparagus, mushroom wild rice pilaf, potato medallions, served with a beurre blanc sauce, which is just a fancy French way of saying lemon butter sauce :)

The fish
- I went with halibut.  You could swap with cod, or an equally flaky white fish, make sure it's fresh.  A 200 gram filet per person is about ideal since we have a lot of accompaniments.  If you're planning on just making the fish, then you can go with a larger portion for the filet.
- a bed of panko/bread crumbs mixed with grated Parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
- cayenne pepper (optional)

Wild rice and mushroom pilaf
- Long grain wild rice
- about 100 grams of wild mushrooms (or any other kind is fine)
- 1 tea spoon of olive oil or butter
- 1 table spoon of fresh cilantro
- 1 table spoon of crushed pistachio or cashew nuts (optional)
- 1/4 cup of sliced onions (optional)

Rosemary potato medallions 
- 2 large potatoes (you can get any type, it should work fine)
- 1 table spoon of fresh chopped rosemary
- 1 tea spoon of olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tea spoons of balsamic vinaigrette or creme (optional)

Asparagus
- 500 grams of fresh green asparagus; you don't need to peel, just cut off about 5 cms from the bottom of the stalk - those parts are really hard and don't cook well.
- 1 tea spoon of chopped garlic
- 1 table spoon of broth; any kind will do, I went with veggie
- 1 table spoon of acid of some kind, you could go with white/red wine vinegar, rice wine, lemon juice; I went with mirin - which is a slightly sweeter Japanese alternative.
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tea spoon olive oil

beurre blanc sauce
- 1 cup of white wine
- the juice of one large lemon
- about 4 table spoons (in cubed form) of cold butter (it's important that this be cold)
- 1 table spoon of shallots
- herbs of choice - I went with a table spoon of crushed thyme
- a table spoon of finely chopped parsley to finish 

Preparation - start to finish takes about 90 minutes for everything
So, the potatoes will take the longest to cook so let's start with those.  Keep the skin on, cut into circles about 3 cm thick and put the potatoes in a bowl of cold water to wash off excess starch.  Pre-heat the oven to 200C or 450F.

In a bowl, put in the rest of the ingredients for the potatoes. After rinsing off potatoes in cold water, put them in the bowl and mix nicely.  Put the potato slices in foil and cover.  They're going to go into the oven for about 40 minutes.  If the oven is ready, in they go, otherwise, put them aside and wait.

We'll start on the pilaf.  If you have a rice cooker, put the washed wild rice and set it to start.  Else, put it in a pot wand set to boil as per instructions.  In the mean time, slice up the mushrooms.  In a hot pan toss in the mushrooms.  You should hear the sizzle of the water escaping the mushrooms - if you don't, the pan isn't hot enough.  Once the mushrooms brown a bit, put in the butter and the crushed nuts and onions if you're using those. Saute till the mushrooms basically lose half their volume.  Over with foil and set aside.  We'll need this once the rice is done.

Let's get started on the asparagus.  Cut the bottom of the asparagus and wash them and dry them.  Sprinkle salt and pepper on the asparagus and toss it together.  Get a pan (ideally cast iron), piping hot.  Once the pan is smoking.  Reduce the heat to medium and pour the olive oil in and toss in the asparagus.  The asparagus should blister and sizzle in the heat of the pan. The cook time will depend on how thick the stalks are.  Once the stalks begin to soften put in a small knob of butter if you like if the pan is getting dry and add the acid of choice here. Continue cooking till the stem begins to wilt.  You're almost done.  Pour in the broth.  Turn the heat off, cover with foil and set aside - let it cook in the steam of the broth.

Before we start on the fish, you have to get the butter sauce going simultaneously.  In a sauce pan, pour in all the ingredients together except for the butter and set on high-medium heat.  Let all the liquid reduce to about 75% of the original amount. 

Now, let's get started on the fish.  In a plate or pan, spread the panko and Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper.  Lay the filet on the the crumbs and pat down nicely.  You can flip and coat the other side as well, but I preferred not to.  I just sprinkled and rubbed the other side with salt, pepper, and a bit of cayenne pepper.

In a medium hot pan, put the olive oil in and lay down the halibut crumb side down.  Make sure the pan is not too hot otherwise you will burn the crumbs.  Lift the edges a bit and swirl the oil around the pan.  Watch the edges, once those turn golden brown it's done.  Carefully flip the filet, it might break if you're not careful.  Toast the other side as needed.  Turn off the heat.

While the fish is cooking, you have to keep an eye on the butter sauce and make sure it is not burning.  Once the liquid has reduced, turn the heat down to simmer and start adding the cubes of cold butter and start slowly whisking it in.  As you keep adding the butter and you keep reducing the liquid, and whisking, the sauce will thicken.  Once it has the consistency of a gravy, take off the heat and strain it through to a warm bowl.  This sauce does not stay nice if not kept warm.  Add in the chopped parsley.  You're done.  

One last thing.  Get the potatoes out of the stove and make sure they are cooked through.  Get those mushrooms and onions cooked from before and mix in the cooked wild rice. Pilaf is done as well.

Alright you're all done.  Now to serve.

Plating
In a nice large plate, set a thin bed of the pilaf.  Layer on the asparagus on top of the rice.  Now the fish comes on top of the asparagus.  Put the potato medallions on the side and drizzle a bit of the vinaigrette. Pour the beurre blanc sauce on top and serve :)

Lentil Curry Soup w/ Coconut Shavings

Heart warming, healthy, vegan meal for the quarantine.

Ingredients to serve 4
- 1 large carrot (diced)
- 1 large potato (diced)
- 1/2 cup of red lentils (soak the lentils overnight or at least for as many hours as you can)
- 1/2 cup of yellow lentils
- 1 large tomato (diced)
- 1 large onion (diced)
- 1 inch of ginger (finely chopped)
- 3 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 cup coconut milk or coconut yogurt
- 1 tbsp coconut shavings
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter or ghee
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds (or cumin powder)
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds (or coriander powder)
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp garam masala (if you are not tempering the oil)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 bunch of fresh coriander leaves for garnishing (finely chopped) - you can use parsley too if you prefer that taste
- 2 cups of water

For tempering the oil (optional)
(if you do this you can skip the garam masala)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 black cardamom
- 4 green cardamoms
- 4 cloves
- 5 black peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves 
- 1 tsp cumin seeds (or you can use Bengali paanch phoron)
- 1 tsp mustard seeds (or you can use Bengali paanch phoron)

Preparation (1 hour start to finish)
In a hot wok/pan/pot, add the oil and the tempering ingredients and wait till the seeds start spluttering.  Add the diced onions and stir for 2 minutes on medium high heat.  Add the chopped ginger and garlic.  Fry for another 2 minutes.  Add the diced tomatoes and fry on high heat for another 4 minutes.  You want a thick paste. In order to aid this process, add the 1/2 the salt and 1/2 the dry spices.  Once the "oil separates" - I've never actually understood what this means, but what you should look for is the mixture becoming a pulpy paste.  Now, add the carrots and potatoes and the rest of the salt and dry spices and fry for another 2-3 minutes.  Now add the lentils and fry for another minute.  Reduce the heat to medium.  Add the water and 1/2 the coconut milk (or yogurt) and give it all a good stir.  Bring to a boil and cover and let cook for 20 minutes.  Add the rest of the coconut milk and coconut shavings and half the chopped cilantro and cook for another 10 minutes.  Add more water/coconut milk if needed.  Before serving add the rest of the cilantro and the butter/ghee (and the garam masala powder if you didn't temper) and stir.  It's ready to eat!

Serve with rice or pao or naan.

Veg. bhaji burger

These veggie burgers are amazing!  I love a good meat burger like anyone, but these were out of the world.

Ingredients to make 4 patties
- 3 medium potatoes (boiled, peeled, and mashed)
- 1 medium red onion (sliced)
- 1 large carrot (long grated)
- 1 bunch of cilantro (roughly chopped)
- a small fist full of spring onion greens (finely chopped)
- 1 tsp of olive oil
- 3 table spoons of gram/chickpea flour (besan)
- 2 table spoons of water
- 1 tea spoon of cumin powder
- 1 tea spoon of coriander powder
- 1 tea spoon of red chili powder
- 1 tea spoon of turmeric powder
- 1 tea spoon of salt
- 1 tea spoon of black pepper
- 1 tea spoon of chaat masala (optional)

For the rest of the burger
- 4 Hawaiian buns or soft toastable burger buns (toasted)
- 4 small poppadoms (crushed)
- Mango salsa - I have a great recipe here
- Mint-cilantro yogurt paste or mint chutney if you have it
- A nice piece of iceberg lettuce or some other crunchy green of your preference

Prep and cooking
Put all the ingredients for the patties together and kneed them well.  You could also leave the besan out and then coat the patties with it before frying if you want.  Make into 4 patties about an inch thick.  

Put a bit of olive oil on a hot pan and set the burgers to fry - about 5 minutes on each side on medium high heat.  In the mean time, toast the burger buns and microwave the poppadoms and crush them.

Take some cilantro, mint, green chili, garlic, ginger, salt, and pepper and a couple of heaped spoons of yogurt and blend it together to make the yogurt chutney.

Putting it all together
1. Take a spoon of the yogurt chutney and put it on the burger base bun.  
2. Crunchy green leaf of choice
3. Sprinkle some crushed poppadoms
4. Place the burger patty on top
5. A dollop of the mango salsa or mango chutney
6. Put another spoon of yogurt on the top bun

Eat! 

Mango salsa

Making mango salsa at home is pretty easy and delicious.  It goes well on almost everything as a condiment.

Ingredients to serve about 4, but of you have more just store it in a jar in the fridge:

- 1 large mango, ripe - look for creasing around the stem and give to the touch (diced)

- 1 medium to large red onion (diced) - you can also add some spring onion greens if you want that flavor

- 1 small to medium red bell pepper (diced)

- 1 bunch of cilantro (finely chopped)

- 1 bunch of mint (finely chopped)

- 5 cherry tomatoes (seeds removed and diced)

- the juice of 1 lemon or lime or 1/2 of each

- 1 tsp of olive oil

- Finely chopped green chili or jalapeno (optional)

- A pinch of kosher salt, or rock salt - fruit and salt is a great combo

- A pinch of fresh ground pepper

- A pinch of cayenne pepper - even if you skip the jalapeno peppers, you don't want to skip this, the mix of salt, sweet, sour, and spicy work really well together.

Mix it all up together and let it sit at least an hour in the fridge before serving so all the flavors can blend together.

Homemade Vegan Pho

Nothing like a hot bowl of spicy pho on a cold winter day.  This week I tried making a vegetarian pho at home, and while purists will say that's blasphemy (as pho broth must be made with meat), I think it turned out rather well and was quite quick - took about an hour form start to finish.

Ingredients (serves 3-4, depending on how hungry you are)
Broth
- 1 large yellow onion, peeled and cut in half
- 2 small shallots, peeled and cut in half
- 2 star anise
- 6 cloves
- 1 stick of cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon of peppercorns
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and cut in half
- 2 inches of ginger, peeled and cut in half
- 1 teaspoon of non-aromatic oil like avocado or white oil
- 1/2 cup mixture of light soy sauce and rice vinegar (50-50)

Toppings/veggies
- 1/2 head of broccoli, washed and cut into bite sizes
- 2 carrots, washed and cut into slices
- A handful of mushrooms of choice, sliced
- 1 tea spoon of oil of choice
- Salt and pepper to taste
(I also added a sliced white sausage, lightly sauteed, for myself)

Dressings (this is the game changer, mix and match and see what works best for you)
- Hoisin sauce
- Shiracha
- Sliced fresh jalapenos
- Fresh Thai basil
- Fresh chopped cilantro
- Bean sprouts (I really don't like bean sprouts so I don't put any in mine)
- Sliced radish, red or white
- Wedges of lime

Noodles
- I used rice vermicelli (cook as per instructions on packet), you could use glass noodles too, works well

Process
Cut the onions, shallots, garlic, and ginger in half and toast the onions on a dry hot pan and set aside. Add the salt.  Add water and cook for as long as possible.  Add the spices 30 minutes before you want to finish meal prep in a tea bag or something like a muslin cloth and cook for 15 minutes in the broth. 

Stir-fry the mushrooms with a little bit of oil.  Blanch the carrots and broccoli and then stir fry them with the soy sauce and vinegar. 

Soak the noodles as per package instructions. Put some in a bowl. Pour the broth in through a strainer.  Add as many veggies as you would like.  Add as many toppings you prefer. Chow down :)

Curry noodles with pork sausages

A very simple recipe to make some quick noodles at home.

Ingredients:
- 1 pack of egg noodles
- 2 sprigs of spring/green onions (finely chopped)
- 1 egg
- 5 cherry tomatoes (halved)
- a couple of cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice white vinegar
- 1 green chili (optional)
- 1 pork sausage (chopped)
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 tbsp of sesame oil

Process:
Soak the noodles as needed based on the packaging.  While the noodles are soaking, in a hot wok or pan heat the olive oil.  Before the oil starts smoking, throw in the white parts of the spring onions, the garlic, the green chili, and the pork sausages.  Toss it up for a few minutes while the pork sausage glazes over like the eyes of a lost puppy.

Once the noodles have soaked through, strain the water and throw in the sesame oil and toss it around so it doesn't clump.  Throw the noodles in to the wok with the sausages.  Give it a nice stir.  Add the soy sauce, the rice vinegar, curry powder, and the cherry tomatoes. Toss it around till everything mixes.  Transfer to a bowl.

In the same pan/wok fry up an egg till the bottom is nice and crispy.

Put the egg on top of the noodles and top it off with the rest of the chopped spring onions and some freshly ground pepper.

Eat wile hot!

Maity does Linguine Aglio Et Olio

My take on the classic pasta with olive oil and garlic.

Ingredients:

- Linguine (1 packet, 800 gms)

- Extra virgin olive oil 

- Shrimp/chicken - 100 gms (1/8 ratio)

- Garlic (1 clove, extra finely sliced) - you can use more if you like the garlic flavor

- Shallots (2, extra thinly sliced)

- Salt and pepper

- Chili flakes

- Paprika

- Parsley (4 tablespoons, extra finely chopped)

- Carrots (2, julienne)

- Parmesan or Grand Padano (a couple of tablespoons) 

- Juice from 2 lemons

Preparation:

While the pasta is cooking in a pot of water (you want it al dente or less at this point), put a lot of olive oil in a pan and heat it on low heat and drop in the shallots and garlic and slow cook till they are translucent with some whole pepper or pepper flakes and salt (I prefer a sea salt or rock salt) - make sure the garlic does not burn.  In the meantime, in another pot, cook the shrimp or chicken in the rest of the olive oil, season with salt and pepper - cook on low heat and don't overcook.  

Once the pasta is done, drain 3/4 of the water and drop the rest into the shallot/garlic oil along with half the parsley and the lemon juice, and the shrimp, and mix nicely.  In the pasta pot, drop in some olive oil and drop in the carrots and the rest of the parsley and toss it around.  The carrots provide a little bit of sweetness to work with the sourness of the lime juice.

Serve:

Serve up the pasta with with the carrots as the topping along with the cheese flakes and some fresh pepper.  Bon ap!

Potatoes in Coconut Curry

A recent experiment with what was left in the fridge yielded an interesting and delicious curry :)

Ingredients
- Potatoes (500 gms)
- Mustard seeds (1 tsp)
- Bay leaves (2)
- Peppercorn (6)
- Cumin ground (1 tbs)
- Coriander ground (1 tbs)
- Chilli powder/paprika ground (1 tbs)
- Turmeric ground (1 tsp)
- Ginger (1 inch cube) - julienne 
- Onions  (1 medium or 2 shallots) - thinly sliced or chopped
- Coconut milk (250 ml) or cooking coconut milk (100 ml)
- Coconut (1/4 cup; grated)
- Dried red chilly (2 whole) - optional
- Oil - whatever kind you prefer (2 tbs)
- Clinantro - chopped (2 tbs)

Directions
Wash and cut the raw potatoes into 2/3 cm cubes or whatever shape and size you prefer in a spoonful.  

In a wok/frying pan or whatever cooking equipment you have, heat the oil.  Then drop in the mustard seeds, bay leaves, and pepper corn, and the dried red chilly.  Fry on medium/high heat for 2 minutes or till the bay leaves brown up.  

Now, throw in the the onions and ginger indulge in the aroma - your mouth should start watering at the magic that is to come :)  Fry for 2 minutes on high or till the onions brown and the oil separates (I have no idea what this means but I've seen this description in almost every Indian recipe).  

Next, toss in the potatoes - keep the heat on high or medium.  Drop in the spices (turmeric, cumin, coriander, chilly powder) and cook it.  Toss the wok around, pretend like you know what you're doing.  Fry till the edges of the potatoes turn a little brown.  Takes about 5 minutes.

Finally, turn the heat down and pour in the coconut milk and sprinkle the grated coconut on top.  Cover and leave on simmer till the potatoes cook through.  Takes about 10 minutes or so, depending on the kind of potato and how you've cut it.

Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro and serve with rice or roti :)

Hope you like it!

Favorite Science Fiction Series

Companion post to the "Favorite Fantasy Series", and again in no particular order of preference.   Leaving out well known classics such as "1984", "War of the Worlds", "Brave New World", etc.

"Foundation" - Isaac Asimov* 

"The Handmaid's Tale" - Margaret Atwood

"Salughterhouse 5" - Kurt Vonnegut

"Dune" - Frank Herbert

"Remembrance of Earth's Past" - Cixin Liu

"Exhalation" - Ted Chiang

"Science in the Capitol Trilogy" - Kim Stanley Robinson

"Snowcrash" - Neal Stephenson

"Rendezvous with Rama" - Arthur C. Clarke

"Ender's Game" - Orson Scott Card

"The Red Rising Trilogy" - Pierce Brown**

"Ancillary Justice" - Ann Lecke

"Collected Short Stories" - Philip K. Dick***

"Starship Troopers" - Robert H. Heinlein

"H2G2" - Douglas Adams

"Left Hand of Darkness" - Ursula K. LeGuin
"The Lathe of Heaven" - Ursula K. LeGuin

*a bit sexist and racist as I read it as an adult, but seminal

** a little pop, but great ideas
*** everything :)

My Favorite Fantasy Series/Books

In no particular order of preference, but leaving out well known classics such as "Lord of the Rings", "Chronicles of Narnia", "Once and Future King", etc. I have only included books/series I have read.

"The Powder Mage Trilogy" - Brian McClellan
"The Magicians" - Lev Grossman
"The Stormlight Archives" - Brandon Sanderson*
"Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne" - Brian Staveley
"The Shadow Campaigns" - Django Wexler*
"The First Law" - Joe Abercrombie
"Farseer Trilogy" - Robin Hobb
"Lightbringer" - Brent Weeks
"Mistborn" - Brandon Sanderson
"The Raven's Shadow" - Anthony Ryan**
"His Dark Materials" - Philip Pullman
"Kingkiller Chronicles" - Partick Rothfuss*
"A Song of Ice and Fire" - George R. R. Martin*
"Wheel of Time" - Robert Jordan (and Brandon Sanderson)
"Lord Darcy" - Randall Garrett
"Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" - Sussana Clarke
"Broken Earth Trilogy" - N.K. Jemesin

* on-going
** the first book only

A Short Treatise on French Electronic

Playlist time!  A colleague at work asked for recommendations on French electronic, a genre I was quite into in the early 2000s.  So here are my top pics and recommendations if you want to get into the French electronic scene :)
YouTube

1. Air's seminal 1998 album "Moon Safari" is a classic.  The whole album is a great example of the downtempo and lounge genres.  The rest of their discography is pretty great too.
"La Femme d'Argent" from "Moon Safari"
"Sexy Boy" from "Moon Safari"

2. You, of course, know Daft Punk, but DP's manager Busy P is an electronic legend.
"Genie" a 2017 single
"Rainbow Man" from the 2014 album "Reworking is Not a Crime"

3. Justice, takes DP's "Aerodynamic" style and mixes it with rock, Kraftpop, and French house.  Also managed by Busy P.  Their 2007 debut album "Cross" was a revelation.
"Genesis" - from "Cross"

4. Étienne de Crécy has been a longtime electronic producer, and "Super Discount" was fantastic for 1998; I mean Daft Punk's "Homework" and Air's "Moon Safari" had just released!
"Super Disco" from "Super Discount"

5. M83 I'm sure you've heard of or heard somewhere.  "Midnight City" was a staple for while on ads and such.  Their 2011 album "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming" and the follow-up 2016 album "Junk" were pretty solid.
"Midnight City" from "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming"
"Reunion" from "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming"

6. I will admit I haven't heard a lot of Kavinsky, but loved "Nightcall" after watching the film "Drive".  "Nightcall" also features vocals from Lovefoxxx of the Brazlian band CSS (check out their song "Alala" for a taste)
"Nightcall" from the 2013 album "Outrun"

7. Finally, Danger.  Not exactly my scene, but curious to hear what others think; it's a little too dubstep-y for me.  He's very weird, his songs are titled with the time he finished recording them.
Playlist for his 2017 album "Taiko" (he does use taiko drums)

On a different vein, but if you like Sigur Ros, Ulan Bator is a solid listen in the French post-rock scene.
"Let Go Ego" from the 2003 album "Ok: Ko"
"Hemisphere" from the 2000 album "Ego: Echo"

"Hopelandic" or How I Spent More Money on Music than Groceries in 2017

The 2016-17 season has been a great year for music for me personally, so I thought I should recap some of the highlights and finds. Incidentally, I calculated that I've spent more money on concert and music since I graduated Fletcher last year than on groceries.

Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto
St. Petersburg Philharmonic
Yuri Temirkanov, and accompanied by an impressive soloist pianist, Nikolai Lugansky.

Chopin 1st Piano Concerto
Philadelphia Orchestra
Dynamic music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin returns with the orchestra and celebrated pianist Louis Lortie

Tchaikovsky's 1st Piano Concerto
Alice Sara Ott with the NSO

Beethoven's 9th Symphony
NSO

Mahler's 5th Symphony
Royal Dutch Orchestra

Quilt
Sinclair, Boston

Dvorak
Hillary Hahn with the NSO

Zakir Hussain and Rahul Sharma
with the NSO
Kennedy Center, DC

Stonefield
9.30 Club, DC

Sigur Ros
Boston Calling and NYC

Tool
Boston Calling

Mitski
Boston Calling

Kevin Morby
Boston Calling

Cage the Elephant
Boston Calling

Run the Jewels
Boston Calling

The XX
Boston Calling

Wolf Parade
Boston Calling

My Boston Calling public playlist on Spotify also includes Weezer, Frightened Rabit, Mondo Cozmo, Tegan and Sara, Moses Sumney, mac DeMarco, Xylouris White, and Car Seat Headrest.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
9.30 Club, DC

Slowdive
9.30 Club, DC

Japanese Breakfast
9.30 Club, DC

Rodrigo y Gabriela
9.30 Club, DC

Blondie + Garbage
The Wolftrap, Virginia

Depeche Mode
Verizon Center, DC

Giorgio Moroder

9.30 Club, DC

One Night On Hoth

Story reads from top to bottom. 

Updates as often I can, but usually on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

One day at the Rebel Base, two new chefs came in, ‘cause a Rebel’s gotta eat. But not all is as it seems. Nefarious things are afoot... Find out next time on “Those Rebel Days”.

For they were no ordinary chefs - these were Empire assassins *dun* *dun* *dun*

The assassin chefs corner rebel pilot Cosmo Politan - but it seems like Poe Dumdum is going to get the jump on them. Will the brave Rebels survive? Tune in next time on “The Real Rebels of Hoth”!

But before Dumdum could get the jump on the assassin chefs, help came from an unexpected place! Who is this mysterious savior? Find out in the next installment of “Rebel Run: The Ballad of Cosmo Politan”.

“Hey, who you be brah?” Cosmo asked in his off kilter South Jersey accent. What he meant to say was “thank you for saving my life beautiful stranger.” But who is this mysterious savior in green? Find out next time on “Hoth’s Next Top Rebel”.

He is not the hero the Rebellion wanted, but he’s the hero they needed... illegal alien and savior - Dash Cunningham Jr.  But will the Rebels accept him? Find out in the next installment of “Days of our Alliance”.

Meanwhile, back at the Window Empire, the evil Kylo Ramen was sending his most trusted henchmen - Tweedledee and Tweedledum (no relation) to end the Rebel threat... what new dangers will this bring to our heroes?  Find out next time on "The Rebel Files".

Meanwhile, back at the Hoth base:
Poe: "Cunnigham Jr, was it?  Thanks for saving Cosmo's life here - he's our resident stylist, without him, the Rebel alliance would all be dressed in drab Soviet grey..."
CJ: "Call me CJ.  You know, everyone makes fun of art students, but everyone LOVES designer clothes, graphics, comic books, and animation... see the irony?"
Cosmo: "Brah - did not see this scene headed in that direction, but hey, you're the savior of the day."
... but how will this trio deal with the new threat from the Empire - Tweedledee and Tweedledum?  Find out in the next installment of "Rebel Without a Cause".

And then suddenly...
Tweedledee: "Reach for the sky you Rebel scum"
Tweedledum: "Yeah, and put your hands up too"
Tweedledee: "That's what I just said!"
Tweedledum: "Oh?  I was wondering why you asked them to get sky in a cave - it was weirdly inspirational... sorry..."
How will our heroes escape from this new predicament?  Find out next time on "Rebelholics".

“But, OMG, I totally love your uniforms, is that Hugo Boss?” exclaimed Cosmo Politan, much to the surprise of TnT. Is this a ploy, or does Captain Cosmo really go gaga for fashion? Find out in the next exciting installment of “The Rebel World”

“You know what this means? Fashion show! Work it people!” exclaimed Cosmo Politan. There was something magnetic about his voice and suddenly TnT, Poe, and Cunningham Jr. found themselves walking the runway... What will the evil empire do now that TnT have been ensnared? Find out next time on “Project Rebelway”

Bonus: And afterwards, the gang did a conga line to celebrate!

"We need to form a band" decided Cosmo, "give the Cantina band a run for their money!" In the middle of “YMCA” band practice that night, Cosmo exclaimed, “Damn it, where’s an Indian chief when you need one!”  Will Cosmo make his dreams of making it big in the Tatooine music scene come true, or does the Empire have other plans? Find out next time on, “Dancing with the Rebels”

Every boy band needs a classy album cover.  Album cover shoot for boy band sensation “The Rebel Boys” 😎

Tweedledee, however, was upset to be left out of the album cover and resorted to his baser instincts.  Sometimes, when you can’t work out your differences through dance, it results in a Mexican standoff. To be continued... *dun* *dun* *dun*!

Meanwhile, back at White Table, the Imperial Base, evil Lord Shiny Top (aka Kylo Ramen) was back for a progress report on dealing with the Rebels... heads were going to roll (and rock)... what will Shiny Top do next? Find out next week on “Empire”!

Kylo Ramen: “Ah, my assassin chefs, did you take care of the Rebels?” 
Chefs: “Yes, sir, they’re quite well fed and healthy!” 
Kylo Ramen: *face palm*

“Mr. Takagki won’t be joining us for the rest of his life” said KR, decapitating one of the assassins in a fit of rage. 
“Woah, goncho, we really lost our head chef now, get it, get it?” exclaimed the remaining assassin. 
“Careful, assassin, you don’t want to be pun-ished too...” said Kylo Ramen menacingly.  What evil plans do the Empire have for our heroes? Find out next time on “Hoth’s Next Top Rebel”

Bonus: In the evenings, Kylo liked to play Hamlet at the local Shakespeare in the Park production... “To be or not to be, that is the question...” - good thing he had a fresh skull to work with!

Kylo Ramen: "I'm leaving you with my two subordinates, Ping and Pong... don't fail me again, Chef"
Chef: "A Hot Topic sale going on somewhere eh?  Or is there an emo music festival on Korriban?"
Kylo Ramen: "At least I don't wear an albino mushroom on my head - why do chef's wear that?  Storage?"

Kylo Ramen: “Daft Pink brothers, I think it’s best I leave the only female character in this story to help you with your job... she’s pretty evil and excellent at paperwork, her name is Anne Chovy.”

Meanwhile on Hoth:
“You want to make it in the boy band industry, you gotta work for it ladies, work it, work it!” - Cosmo was running a hard boot camp at HQ to get the team ready for their big debut on “Hoth’s Got Talent”, unaware of the danger looming...

Meanwhile back on Tabletop, Kylo Ramen was taking a well earned break from evil, enjoying a MaiTai and some shade... 
Chef Assassin: “Curses, I should have read the fine print on the internship contract...”

Due to his popularity Kylo often has to do interviews and TV spots, here is KR filming an episode of “Pimp My Shuttle”.

Sometimes Cosmo dreamed of being in a galactic production of "West Side Story"... of course, he would be a Jets...

But while the Rebels and the Empire were busy in their own plots, on the third day, one chef arose from the dead - and he was pissed. What shenanigans will ensue next, find out next time on “The Passion of Chef”.

And as the gang was preparing for their big debut, unbeknownst to them... evil was lurking close behind. How will our young heroes escape this predicament? Find out next time on “Say yes to the Rebel dress”!

“Not so fast, you wannabe Guy Fieri” - exclaimed CJ drawing his blaster. Oh, damn, shit was gonna go down! Who’s going to bite the stardust? Find out next time on “30 Rebel”!

“Hey man, you don’t have to do this - you’re in a safe place now - you don’t need to pretend to be a chef, an assassin - there are no Rebels, no Empire - we’re all just people trying to get by - why don’t you just come and dance with us?” Reasoned Cosmo... 
“I would, but you have a dirty illegal alien” said Chef pointing at CJ. 
“Wow, a racist chef assassin - that’s original.” sighed Cosmo...
What will happen next? Find it next time on “Rebelville”...

“Yes, yes, you’re right, all my life I’ve killed and killed, just to make my daddy proud, but all I really wanted to do was cook and dance and get rid of the illegal aliens plaguing our galaxy - preferably at the same time...” mused Chef as Cosmo put a comforting arm on his racist shoulder.  
Will Chef exact revenge or will he join the Rebels? Find out next time on “The Barefoot Rebel”.

And to drive home all the possibilities the future held, FlyFlyDrink the droid, did his trademark space sombrero act. Will this be enough to convince Chef to give up his evil ways? Find out next time on “The Rebel Idol”

And lo! That did the trick; Chef gets into the act and becomes the center piece of the Rebel Pole. But will this be enough to sate his thirst for revenge? Find out next time on “The Inglorious Rebels”.