Curried Couscous

A very close friend of mine, had made curried couscous for my baby shower. I have had it before at her place, and I had liked it then too! Its really simple to make and so tasty! It can be stored and eaten the next day as well!

Here is the recipe!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups couscous
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup small-diced carrots
1/2 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup dried currants or raisins
1/4 cup blanched, sliced almonds
2 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
1/4 cup small-diced red onion


Method:

Place the couscous in a medium bowl. Melt the butter in the boiling water and pour over the couscous. Cover tightly and allow the couscous to soak for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, vinegar, curry, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Pour over the fluffed couscous, and mix well with a fork. Add the carrots, parsley, currants, almonds, scallions, and red onions, mix well, and season to taste. Serve at room temperature.

Tzatziki dip

This dip is excellent with a bunch of different foods. Goes great with falafel sandwiches, OR pita chips OR fresh veggies like carrots, celery, brocolli OR even with any kinda chips!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups non fat greek yogurt ( available at Trader Joe's)
1 peeled and grated cucumber
1/2 small lemon
salt to taste
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 big clove or 2 small cloves finelly chopped garlic
1/2 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

Method:

Strain the grated cucumber between the hands, to remove all the water possible! In a bowl add the greek yogurt and whisk it until it is of smooth consistency. Add the chopped garlic, parsley, cucumber, lemon juice from the 1/2 lemon, salt and pepper and mix it all well until blended. Simple and easy! :)

Harissa sauce

I made this sauce for the first time a couple days ago, and it turned out to be delicious in the falafel sandwich. A little bit goes a long way.;) Raj loved it too. He kept making fun of me that we could just add any kinda italian dressing with some fresh herbs until he tasted this one!

Ingredients:
15 - 20 dried red chillies
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon caraway seeds(suva)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon of salt
About 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Soak the dried red chillies in warm water for about half an hour. Then remove the seeds from all the chillies.

In a grinder, finely grind the caraway seeds, cumin and coriander seeds. Add the red chillies and salt and grind this mixer. Finally add the fresh herbs, that is mint and cilantro to this mixture and grind it once more. Remove it in a storage container. Add enough extra virgin olive oil to coat the entire mixer and cover up to 1/2 cm above the mixture in the container.

Falafel sandwiches

Yumm! Raj and I both love falafel sandwiches and I make them quite often. I usually make falafels, with tzatziki dip, hummus and harissa sauce, as well as some salad in a whole wheat pita. Its delicious and I make extra so that I can take it for lunch the next day as well!

Ingredients:
1 cup dried chickpeas
1/2 large onion, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper
4 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon baking powder
4-6 tablespoons flour
vegetable oil for frying

Whole wheat pitas
Harissa sauce (recipe to follow)
Tzatziki dip (recipe to follow)
Hummus (recipe to follow or you can buy hummus from Trader Joe's)
romaine lettuce cut lengthwise into thin strips
1 tomato diced into small cubes
1/2 peeled cucumber diced into small cubes(remove the seeds before chopping)
1/4 onion finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
a pinch of chilli powder


Method:

Put the chickpeas in a large bowl and add enough cold water to cover them by at least 2 inches. Let soak overnight, then drain. Or use canned chickpeas, drained.

Place the drained, uncooked chickpeas and the onions in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the parsley, cilantro, salt, hot pepper, garlic, and cumin. Process until blended but not pureed.

Sprinkle in the baking powder and 4 tablespoons of the flour, and pulse. You want to add enough bulgur or flour so that the dough forms a small ball and no longer sticks to your hands. Turn into a bowl and refrigerate, covered, for several hours.

Form the chickpea mixture into balls about the size of walnuts. Heat 3 inches of oil to 375 degrees in a deep pot or wok and fry 1 ball to test. If it falls apart, add a little flour. Then fry about 6 balls at once for a few minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

To make the salad, in a bowl, combine the diced tomatoes, cucumber, and onions. Mix it with little salt and pepper to taste, as well as a pinch of chilli powder and mix it.

To assemble the falafel sandwiches, cut the pita into 3/4ths lengthwise and open it up. Layer it with hummus and harissa sauce. Add the chopped romaine lettuce, salad, and the falafel balls, and the tzatziki dip. Add more lettuce and salad for that extra crunch! and its ready to eat ! :)

Mediterranean Rolls

My husband Raj and I like going to California Pizza Kitchen many a times, and we ate these appetizer rolls once and really liked it. It had simple ingredients and looked pretty easy to replicate! I have made a few varitions to this appetizer and it comes out really tasty every single time! Its well received by whoever has tried them! So go ahead and try it out:)

Ingredients:

1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper thinly sliced
1 japanese eggplant thinly sliced
1 1/2 small white onions thinly sliced
7-8 crimini mushrooms cut into cubes
6 garlic cloves roughly chopped
4-5 sun dried tomatoes
2 tbsp fresh parsley finely chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded mozarella + Fontina cheese
5 large flour tortillas
olive oil to brush
salt and pepper to taste

Method:


Put the cut bell peppers, onions, eggplant, mushrooms, garlic and parsley in a large bowl and mix it along with 1/4 cup olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Grill these veggies on a hot grill pan, until the veggies look done, well charred.

Once cooled, mix the veggies with chopped sun dried tomatoes. Take a flour tortilla, and spread 1/5 of the mixture in the middle of the tortilla. Put parmesan cheese, fontina and mozarella cheese in the middle on top of the veggie mixture. Roll the tortilla from one side, onto the veggie cheese mixture and slowly start rolling it over until it forms a thin wrap. Cut it diagonally into 3 pieces. Do the same for the remaining 4 tortillas.

Take a baking sheet, covered with aluminum foil. Put these cut rolls on a sheet, brush both sides with olive oil and bake it in an oven at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Turn each roll and brush it again with olive oil and bake it until golden brown for 12 more minutes.

They are ready to eat! DELICIOUS!! :)