Vegetable Pakora with Tamarind Dipping Sauce

It has been quite some time since we've posted an addition to our collection of Indian takeaway recipes. The main reason for this is that we live thousands of miles and an ocean away from the nearest Indian takeaway. While I can't say for certain that the specific kind of Indian food we enjoyed while we lived in Edinburgh does not exist here in the US, we definitely haven't found it.

Recently, however, we were craving Pakora - the fried gram (chick pea) flour snacks that always used to come with our takeaway curry meals. Searching the internet for recipes, mostly what I turned up were recipes for vegetables coated in a gram flour batter and then fried (kind of like an Indian take on tempura). While that sounds good, it is definitely not what we remember - the Pakora were more uniform in texture, without any large chunks of vegetables.

Finally, I came across suggestions to use grated vegetables. The light bulb in my brain went off, and we set about making Pakora.

Start with zucchini (courgette, for our readers from the UK), carrot and potato - coarsely shredded using a grater:



The vegetables get quickly blanched in lightly salted water and then drained. They are then mixed with some sliced onion, Serrano chile, an egg and a mixture of spices (see the recipe at the bottom of the post for details).



I want to take a second to highlight one element of the seasoning - fenugreek leaves (or "Kasuri Methi", as labeled at our local Indian market):



We discovered fenugreek leaves recently because they were called for in a recipe we were making. We've been using fenugreek seeds for a long time (they are a key ingredient in our Saag recipe), but the leaves are a relatively new ingredient for us. We really like them - they have an absolutely fantastic aroma and we need to find ways to use them more often.

But back to the recipe - the next step is to add the gram flour - enough to add body without completely losing the moistness of the mixture.



Then you drop spoonfuls of the batter into hot oil where they form irregular ball-shapes (bigger than a golf ball, but not by too much) and deep-fry them at 375°F until they are a dark, golden brown.



They come out looking like this:



Now onto the dipping sauce. The Pakora we got from our local takeaway always came with a tangy, dark red sauce. We didn't know what it was at the time, but have since found out that it is tamarind based.

Tamarind pulp comes looking like this:



After soaking it in hot water for about 10 minutes, it softens so that it can be put it through a fine mesh strainer or sieve to get a nice, smooth paste.



After mixing in some ketchup, roasted garlic, sugar and a bit of salt and cayenne, the sauce is ready to go - flavor-wise, at least. But it still doesn't have the characteristic reddish tinge. The solution? Red food coloring - the same kind that we use in our Chicken Pathia recipe.



You can certainly omit the coloring, but we like to add it to make the sauce look "right".



Then, all that's left is to dip and eat!



While it has been over ten years since our last genuine takeaway Pakora, the memory of them is still strong and I think that these are a very good step in the right direction. Any suggestions on ways to make them even better are most definitely welcome.

Vegetable Pakora

Makes 12 Pakora.

Ingredients:

2 small carrots, peeled and grated
1 small zucchini, grated
1 small potato, peeled and grated
1/4 onion, thinly sliced and cut in 3/4-inch lengths
1/2 serrano chile, minced
1 egg
1 teaspoon oil
1 1/4 cups gram flour, plus more if needed
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek leaves, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 garlic clove, pan roasted and mashed
vegetable oil for frying (peanut or canola)

Blanch the carrots, zucchini and potato in lightly salted boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and let cool in the strainer for 15-20 minutes.

Stir together the vegetables, onion, chile, garlic, egg, oil and spices until thoroughly mixed. Add the gram flour and blend. The batter should be fairly loose, but not runny.

Put about 2 inches of oil into a heavy, high sided pan and heat to 375 degrees. Using two large spoons, scoop some batter with one and carefully push it into the hot oil with the other. The pakora should immediately rise to the surface forming irregular ball shapes -- if it sinks, the oil is not hot enough. Work in batches to avoid over-cooling the oil and cook each pakora to a deep, golden brown color, about 5 minutes.

Serve hot or at room tempurature.

Tamarind Dipping Sauce

Makes about half a cup.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup tamarind paste
1/2 cup hot water, divided
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon ketchup
2-3 pan roasted garlic
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Red food coloring

Place the tamarind paste in a small bowl and add 1/4 cup of hot water. Break up the paste with a spoon, then let sit for 5 minutes. Smash the paste in the water, then force through a fine mesh strainer, pushing as much of the dissolved portion through as you can. Return the leftover seeds and skin to the bowl, add another 2-3 tablespoons hot water and let sit for another 5 minutes. Stir and strain again. You should end up with 3-4 tablespoons of smooth tamarind sauce.

Peel the garlic, sprinkle with the salt and use the side of a large knife to smash the garlic into a paste. Chop through the paste to make sure no large chunks remain, then add it to the tamarind sauce. Stir in the sugar, ketchup and enough food coloring to obtain a noticeable red color. Thin to your desired consistency with up to 3 tablespoons of cool water.

Mariscos German Truck in Ocean Beach

I'd heard that a new Mariscos German truck recently starting operating in Ocean Beach, so we went to check it out today for lunch. It is parked in the lot of the Apple Tree market off Cable Street between Newport and Santa Monica.

The menu will be familiar to anyone who has patronized one of the other Mariscos German trucks:

And the prices are (at least to my recollection) the same as well:

They have a nice little seating area behind the truck. Emphasis on "little", though - it is just a single table with a few chairs so you need to be lucky to get a seat. We weren't lucky, so we enjoyed our lunch curbside.



As is the case with the other trucks, when you order they give you a cup of fish soup with a shrimp in it. Unlike the soup I've had at the University & 35th truck, this shrimp came sans head. Maybe trying not to freak out the beach folk?

The University truck (which I've heard has been sold, although it currently maintains the same name) currently charges $.75 for the soup, but I saw no mention of a price at the OB truck. Regardless of price, it makes for a perfect snack while you are waiting for the rest of your food.



We ordered a tostada mixta, which is a huge mound of octopus, shrimp and fish ceviche topped with large slices of avocado:



I found it a wee bit salty (and I'm a salt fiend), but the texture was fantastic - particularly the octopus. It was definitely the best thing we had.

We also got a couple of tacos, which were pretty much exact replicas of the ones we've had from the University truck. The gobernador is a daunting mound of shrimp, onions, peppers and cheese:



The smoked marlin taco also has peppers, onions and cheese but adds cooked tomato. And, of course, the smoked marlin, which is pretty tasty stuff:



It ended up being a bit more food than we could eat. The tostada was huge, and their tacos are also very big. Personally, I would prefer it if they made them a bit smaller. They would be easier to eat, and I could have more variety without stuffing myself to the gills. As complaints go, however, that's a pretty minor one.

All in all, the Ocean Beach truck is the same Mariscos German experience in a more convenient (for us, at least) location. It's going to be a great place to get a bite to eat before or after a few beers at either Newport Pizza or the new Ocean Beach Pizza Port.

Chile de Arbol Paste

Meet my latest obsession - chile paste.

I've been making this stuff for the past several months, and we've been using it in everything. Made simply from chile de arbol and water, it is perfect for adding a deep, intense and yet neutral heat to all sorts of food. The neutrality of it is great because it is not cuisine-specific - we've used in dishes ranging from Huevos Rancheros to Mapo Tofu.

It is also super easy to make and dirt cheap to boot. A big bag of chile de arbol costs about 75 cents (we get the chiles from Northgate Market, our local Mexican mega-grocery).



I destem the chiles and cut them in half to get out any seeds I easily can (no need to try to get every last seed). Then I toast them in a frying pan until they darken, but do not burn.



Here they are just out of the pan:



After toasting, I soak them for about half an hour in just enough hot water to cover them. I put a small plate on top to keep them submerged.



After soaking, they get blended with enough of the soaking water to make the blender "catch". I find that starting on low power and then increasing it makes it less likely to spew all over the inside of the blender. Also, be careful not to open the top of the blender until it has completely stopped. I learned that lesson the hard way - chile de arbol in your eyes is not a good thing...



Blend until the consistency is very smooth, and voila - you've got chile paste!



In addition to being a great ingredient on its own, it also provides a perfect base for making taco shop hot sauce.

Chile Paste

Makes about 1 cup.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces chile de arbol
Water

Destem the chiles and cut them in half, removing any seeds that shake out easily.

In a frying pan over medium high heat, toast the chiles while constantly stirring them around until they darken but do not burn (about 5 minutes). If your stove has an exhaust fan, you may want to use it.

Place the toasted chiles in a large bowl, discarding any seeds that fell out during the cooking process. Add enough hot water to just cover the chiles, and put a small plate on top of them to keep them submerged. Soak them for about a half hour.

Remove the chiles from the soaking liquid, and place them in a blender with enough of the soaking liquid to allow blending (about 1/2 to 2/3 cup).

Blend first on low power, and then on high until you have a smooth paste.

Pizza Port in Ocean Beach

Update: Pizza Port Ocean Beach is now open!

Why am I posting a picture of a partially constructed building? Because Port Brewing, one of our favorite local brewers, is opening a location in Ocean Beach - just down the coast from us.

I first heard rumors about the new location (on Bacon Street - where an old Boll Weevil used to be) about a year ago. Construction was stalled for quite some time (issues with their liquor license, I think), but they now appear to be moving full speed ahead. We took a bike ride down to OB yesterday to have lunch at Newport Pizza, and snapped the above photo.

To say that we're looking forward to the opening would be an understatement.

Update (3/15/2010): We went by today and they are looking pretty much done with the exterior. More importantly, you can see that they've got their brewing equipment installed!

La Playa Taco Shop - Mexican Breakfast in Pacific Beach

We absolutely love a good Mexican breakfast. Where we live in San Diego, there are a plenty of taco shops where you can grab a bite to eat in the morning, but it generally means getting a breakfast burrito. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm a big fan of a good breakfast burrito. But I also like a more traditional, sit-down plate of food, and that can be harder to find.

Fortunately, we have La Playa Taco Shop serving up great renditions of the standards. On real plates. With silverware. Pictured above is their Huevos Rancheros - always a good way to go. I'm more likely to order Huevos Divorciados, though:



Why have one sauce when you can have two? We really like both their red and green salsas. The green is the spicier of the two. Huevos Divorciados isn't on their menu, but they've been happy to oblige when I've asked for it.

Also not on the menu is Sherry's current favorite - a combo of a chile relleno and one egg ranchero style:



Chile rellenos are one of those food items that are great when done well, and terrible when done poorly. In my experience, they are much more often done poorly. La Playa, however, does them perfectly - an intensely flavorful poblano chile (lots of places use Anaheim chiles, which work nowhere near as well), a thin, nicely-seasoned batter, and a molten cheese center.



If scrambled eggs are more your thing, you can get Huevos al Albañil (brick-layer's eggs). Their version has bacon in it:



Or Huevos con Chorizo:



And, of course, they also do a breakfast burrito. With all of the other great options, however, we've yet to try it.

La Playa's non-breakfast offerings are very good as well. I'm particularly partial to their al pastor and carnitas tacos (check out this post on What We're Eating for pictures of the carnitas), but we've enjoyed everything we've tried.

La Playa Taco Shop
3973 Mission Blvd.
San Diego, CA
(858) 488-7405

Imperial Stout - A Partial Mash Recipe

If you've followed our past beer posts, you might quite reasonably assume that all we ever drink are light-colored hop bombs and Belgians (and sometimes combinations of the two). And, for the most part, that is indeed what we like to drink. We do, however, also have a fondness for the opposite end of the beer color and body spectrum - the Imperial Stout.

Imperial (or "double") stouts are the big boys of the dark beer family. I like mine jet black, with a motor-oil-like viscosity and punch-you-in-the-face flavor. The rich toastiness and generous alcohol level make it a great winter beer style.

And the best part is that they are also comparatively easy to brew. We've spent years getting our IPAs where we want them, but this Imperial Stout came out pretty much bang-on the first time we made it. All of the effort we go through with an IPA in order to keep the color light and the malt out of the way so the hops can shine through - no need to do that here. We want it dark and malty, and that's easy to achieve.

Below is the recipe we came up with. The dark color comes from the addition of Black Patent and Chocolate Malt. It surprised us how little you need to use to get the color jet-black - only around 10% of the total malt bill. Our target alcohol level was 9%, but we ended up closer to 8% (too cold a temperature during fermentation, I think). I would have been happier with the extra 1% abv, but a little bit of residual sugar works well with this style.

Imperial Stout

Total batch size = 5 gallons; Partial Mash in 3 gallon beverage cooler; ~3 gallon 60 minute stove-top boil; late malt extract addition; target abv of 9%
(target OG: 1.090; target FG: 1.021)

Ingredients:

2 3/4 lb Pale Malt (2 row)
1 lb Roasted Barley
3/4 lb Black (Patent) Malt
3/4 lb Chocolate Malt
3/4 lb Wheat Malt
6 1/4 lb Briess Golden Light Dry Malt Extract (DME)
1 lb Briess Pilsen Dry Extract (DME)
1 1/2 oz Centennial (9.7% AA)
1 oz Simcoe (13.2% AA)
1 oz Amarillo Hops (7.5%)
1 tablet Whirlfloc
White Labs WLP007 Dry English Ale Yeast
3 oz light or pilsen DME (optional - for starter culture)
4 oz corn sugar (optional - for bottle priming)

Hop Schedule:

1 oz Centennial - 60 minute boil
1/2 oz Simcoe - 25 minute boil
1 oz Amarillo Hops - 20 minute boil
1/2 oz Centennial - 2 minute boil
1/2 oz Simcoe - 2 minute boil
(whirlfloc - 10 minute boil)

[Optional: Prepare a starter culture the day before brewing. Heat 3 cups water then add 3 oz DME. Boil 10 minutes, then cool quickly to room temperature. Put into a sanitized 1 quart jar or bottle, add yeast, seal and shake gently for 30 seconds. Loosen the lid or use an air-lock to allow gases to escape and let sit until time to pitch the following day.]

Heat 8 quarts water to 166 degrees for a target mash temperature of 154 degrees. Place the 6 pounds of crushed grain (Pale, Barley, Black, Chocolate and Wheat) into a large mesh bag. Pour the hot water into the beverage cooler, then slowly lower the grain bag into the water, pushing and prodding with a large spoon to ensure all the grain is wet (this can take several minutes). Put the lid on the cooler and allow to rest 60 minutes. (If the room is cool, preheat the cooler with hot water before starting the mash.)

While the grains are mashing, heat another 4-5 quarts of water to 190-195 degrees for sparging (rinsing the grains). Near the end of the 60 minutes, heat 2 quarts of water to a boil in your brew pot.

After the first mash is complete, remove the cooler lid and open the spigot to draw off about 1 quart of wort into a large pitcher. The first draw will likely be cloudy with grain particles; pour it gently back into the cooler over the grain bag to help filter it. Slowly draw off the wort by the pitcher-full and carefully pour that wort into the boiling water in your brew pot. As you pull off the wort through the spigot, add the hot (190 degree) water to the top of the cooler, keeping the grains submerged at about 168 degrees. Once 4 quarts have been added to the top, cover the cooler and let it sit another 10 minutes. Use the spigot and a pitcher to draw off all of the second wort and add it to your brew pot. You should have about 3.25 gallons of wort.

Bring the wort to a boil. When ready, add hops according to the schedule. With about 30 minutes remaining in the boil, begin adding the DME one cup at a time, stirring to dissolve. With 10 minutes left, stir in 1 tablet Whirlfloc. At time zero, continue adding DME off the heat until all has been added (if needed, return to low heat for a few minutes to help dissolve the extract). Cover and let sit 10-15 minutes.

Move brew pot to an ice bath and cool quickly to less than 80 degrees. Transfer wort to a primary fermenter. Add water to reach the 5 gallon mark. Swirl vigorously 2 minutes then pitch the yeast.

Ferment in primary for 1 week, then transfer to secondary. Keg or bottle after fermentation is complete (2 to 3 weeks in secondary).

Feast of the Seven Fishes 2009

This Christmas Eve, we continued our yearly tradition based loosely on the Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes. We don't worry about the exact number of fishes, and we don't limit ourselves to Italian dishes. We just use the holiday as an inspiration to create a multi-course meal centered around fish and shellfish.

We had no real unifying theme this year. Our initial thoughts revolved around a "Mediterranean (both sides)" idea, but we ended up throwing in a bit of the new world as well.

Here's how it played out:

Oysters with Chile de Arbol and Cilantro


Our Christmas Eve feasts have always started out with oysters, and we weren't about to change that this year. This guy is a local Olympia oyster, grown by Carlsbad Aqua Farm and purchased from Bay Park Fish Company. The sauce was made from chile de arbol - whole dried chiles, soaked and then blended with garlic, cilantro and a bit of red wine vinegar.

This is what the oysters looked like pre-shucking (the one pictured above is on the left below, sporting his big barnacle):



The flavor of the oyster was clean and briny, and went well with the hot punch from the chile de arbol. In addition to the Olympia oysters, we also had some Conway Cup and St. Simon oysters for good measure.

Niçoise Tuna Skewers


Kind of a play on a Niçoise Salad. The tuna (Ahi) was salted and then poached confit-style in olive oil that was flavored with garlic, bay leaf and peppercorns. We skewered it with potato and green bean, served it over a bed of lettuce and chopped egg and sauced everything with a vinaigrette. The tuna had fantastic flavor all by itself, and was made even better by the other ingredients.

As you can see, we had fun playing with various platings:



The vinaigrette consisted of oil, white wine vinegar, lemon, Dijon mustard, anchovy and minced shallot and garlic. We don't often make emulsified dressings, but we really enjoyed this one and found ourselves scraping every last morsel of salad from the plate.

Seared Scallops with Spicy Lentils


I was really pleased at how the half-moon presentation of the dish turned out. To be honest, though, I have to credit it more to affordance than inspiration. The simple fact was that the scallops we picked up (also from Bay Park Fish Company) were absolutely massive:



Cutting them up seemed the only sensible way to serve them (although we did sear them whole).

In addition, we did a sliced version that also worked really well. There was a great textural contrast between the harder-cooked and caramelized outer slices and the pristine inner slices:



The bright-yellow base underneath the scallop is a hugely aromatic and tasty mixture of red lentils and yellow split peas we often use with fish (you can find the recipe here). The flavoring is turmeric, cumin, ginger, lemon and cilantro.

Seafood Paella


This year's way of getting maximum fishes out of a reasonable number of dishes. The fish were shrimp, squid, asari clams, rock cod and lingcod. Some green beans and piquillo peppers rounded out the mix.

We initially under-measured the amount water in the rice which resulted in a longer than ideal cooking time for the seafood. Despite the mishap, it came out looking beautiful and tasting great. It was the first time we've made a seafood paella, but it certainly won't be the last.



So ends another fun, if a bit exhausting, "seven" fish feast. The final tally for this this year was 4 dishes and 8 fishes (10, if you count the varieties of oysters separately).

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If you enjoyed reading this, you may want to check out the posts on our previous Feast of the Seven Fishes meals:

2008 Feast of the Seven Fishes - Oysters with Vietnamese Ginger-Chili Mignonette. Cured Salmon Four Ways. Thai Steamed Mussels. Vietnamese Salad with Smoked Trout and Bitter Greens. Ginger Fish. Squid in Caramel Sauce. Napa Cabbage Soup with Shrimp Dumplings.

2007 Feast of the Seven Fishes -  Oysters with a Thai mignonette. Crispy Fish and Lentil Balls. Sardines on Toast. Yucatecan Squid Salad. Fish and Shellfish Stew.