Mezze..

Mezze..what a delightful concept and that is what the Daring Cooks challenged this month..I made it couple of weeks back and being a bit busy..I give you straight..

The 2010 February Daring COOKs challenge was hosted by Micheleof Veggie Num Nums. Michele chose to challenge everyone to make mezze based on various recipes from Claudia Roden, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Dugid.

Clockwise you have - homemade pita, feta cheese dip, spinach-chickpea curry and delectable hummus..what a feast !

Makke ki roti and sarson-no-palak ka saag

I have been seeing this combination floating around the blog-world lately and very tempted as it would be perfect garma-garam food in these cold days..

The problem was finding mustard greens, I have never used them so do not even know what they look like - I did try in farmers market and the frozen section of the grocery store but to no luck..

Then I thought, why not try it with some other greens..maybe that bunch of fresh baby spinach I just got from farmers market ??

and lo and behold, a very satisfying meal:

Makke ki roti:

2 cups cornmeal flour

2 tbsp whole wheat flour

1 tbsp oil ( I used olive oil)

warm water to knead.

Salt to taste

Knead the dough and keep aside for 10-15 minutes. Form small balls and roll within 2 plastic sheets i.e a ziploc cut open on three ends . (This tip really worked for me , as it is a bit difficult to roll a roti as the dough is not very flexible). Cook it on a girdle as any paratha.

Palak ki saag:

1 bunch of spinach with some ends cut and heated in microwave with some water - about 7-8 minutes

1 med onion chopped fine

1 med tomato chopped fine

1 tsp ginger grated/chopped fine

2 green chillis chopped fine

1/2 tsp garam masala

1 tbsp cornmeal used in roti

salt to taste

oil to taste

Heat some oil in a pan and saute the onions followed by ginger,chillies and tomatoes. Saute till its cooked and leaving side then add blanched spinach with the cornmeal. Add masala and salt and let it simmer for abt 10 mins on low. I threw in a handful of frozen corn to add some color and cos I love spinach and corn combination and it wasnt a bad idea either...

Daring cooks go satay...

The January 2010 DC challenge was hosted by Cuppy of Cuppyliciousand she chose a delicious Thai-inspired recipe for Pork Satay from the book 1000 Recipes by Martha Day. Being vegetarian I adapted it for a paneer-satay which I served as appetiser and some tofu-satay which got brown bagged into a sammich! Yumm ..

Satay (or sate) is very often served as “street fare” all over the world, and you dip your cool little meat/veggie skewer into any variety of dipping sauces

The required part of this challenge is to marinate to add awesome flavor to the paneer/tofu . I made the marinade from scratch as follows:

Satay Marinade

1/2 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 T ginger root, chopped (optional) (2 cm cubed)
2 T lemon juice (1 oz or 30 mls)
1 T soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp ground coriander (5 mls)
1 tsp ground cumin (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric (2-2.5 mls)
2 T vegetable oil (or peanut or olive oil) (30 mls)

Chop the onions, garlic and ginger really fine then mix it all together in a medium to large bowl.

Make about 1 inch strips of the paneer and tofu and marinate for 2-4 hours turning it around occasionally . I grilled them in my panini press and they turned out to be quite scrumptious ! I cannot believe I forgot the sauces/dips but in my defense the satay were amazing by themselves . Nevertheless, for posterity's sake Im pasting the sauce recipe here ..

Peanut Sauce

3/4 cup coconut milk (6 oz or 180 mls)
4 Tbsp peanut butter (2 oz or 60 mls)
1 Tbsp lemon juice (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 Tbsp soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp brown sugar (5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground cumin (2.5 mls)
1/2 tsp ground coriander (2.5 mls)
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)

1. Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add soy sauce and lemon, mix well.
2. Over low heat, combine coconut milk, peanut butter and your soy-lemon-seasoning mix. Mix well, stir often.
3. All you’re doing is melting the peanut butter, so make your peanut sauce after you’ve made everything else in your meal, or make ahead of time and reheat.

Pepper Dip (optional)

4 Tbsp soy sauce (2 oz or 60 mls)
1 Tbsp lemon juice (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 tsp brown sugar (5 mls)
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)
1 finely chopped green onion (scallion)

Mix well. Serve chilled or room temperature.

Tamarind Dip (optional)

4 Tbsp tamarind paste (helpful link below) (2 oz or 60 mls)
1 Tbsp soy sauce (0.5 oz or 15 mls)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 finely chopped green onion (scallion)
1 tsp brown or white sugar, or to taste (about 5 mls)

Mix well. Serve chilled or room temperature.

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