Thai Orange Curry

Technically, this is a red curry, but the tumeric in the curry paste gives the final dish a wonderful orange colour. The key here is to make your own curry paste--it's not too hard and the taste is fabulous. No one sells dried chiles around here, so I bought about 10 bags of them the last time I was in Columbus (there is a Mexican grocery store on Cleveland Avenue I used to frequent when I lived there). The paste is not too hot (best for the kids), but you can make it hotter by adding a few more Japanese chiles in place of one Guajillo chile. You can also add as many serranos as you like to the final dish. The recipes are veganized and slightly adapted from True Thai.

INGREDIENTS
Curry Paste
- 4 large dried Guajillo chiles
- 2 dried Japanese chiles
- 2 stalk lemon grass, lower section, trimmed and sliced
- 3 tbsp minced ginger
- 1 1/2 tsbp chopped garlic
- 1/2 cup chopped shallots
- 2 tbsp tumeric

METHOD
1. Stem and de-seed chiles and soak for 30 mins in hot water. While the chiles are soaking, pulse the lemon grass in a food processor until broken down into small pieces.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the processor and process into a paste, as smooth as you can get it. Add the water you used to soak the chiles as needed (about 1/2 cup) to make a smooth paste.

Thai Orange Curry
INGREDIENTS
- 1 can light coconut milk
- 1/2 cup, or so, curry paste from above
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 8 lime leaves (I used dried), or zest of 1 lime
- serrano chiles to taste, sliced in half, lengthwise
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp vegan oyster sauce
- salt to taste
- 1/4 cup basil leaves (Thai or Italian)

METHOD
1. Heat coconut milk and curry paste in a saucepan over medium heat. When bubbling, add chickpeas, lime leaves (or zest), chiles, sugar, and sauces. Bring to bubbling again, then lower heat, cover and let gently simmer for at least 20 mins.
2. If using dried lime leaves, remove. Add salt as needed. Adjust curry paste and sauces as needed. Right before serving, add basil leaves and mix in until wilted. Serve with rice.

Eggless Chocolate Chunk Cookies Recipe

I love chocolate chip cookies. But you know what's better than chocolate chip cookies? Chocolate Chunk Cookies. The chunks melt while baking and stay gooey while you bite into the cookies - yum!

If you are a chocolate addict and love cookies, nothing should stop you from having what you like. That's why these eggless chocolate chunk cookies work really well, they can be eaten by anyone, especially those who don't eat eggs even in the "hidden" form.

Eggless Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies
Adapted from: A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp flax seed powdered (to replace 2 eggs)
2 cups + 4 tbsp all purpose flour or maida
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 to 1.5 cups chocolate chunks (I used Nestle chocolate chunks and love them! You can also use choc chips, but chunks are infinitely better)

How I Made It:

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line baking trays with parchment paper and baking sheets.

2. In a bowl, either by hand or mixer, cream butter and both sugars well together until very smooth (about 3-5 mins). Add vanilla and flax seed powder and mix until well blended. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to this mixture. Fold well until all ingredients are combined well (you don't need to mix or sift dry ingredients before adding to the wet mixture but you can if you want to).

3. Fold in the chocolate chunks finally. Scoop out using a tablespoon (adding 2 to 3 tbsp per cookie) or small ice cream scoop and place the cookies atleast 2 inches apart on the baking tray.

4. Bake for 12-15 mins until the cookies have flattened out and the edges brown nicely.

The warm cookies are heavenly. Chocolate chunks, unlike chips, melt in the cookies and remain gooey and yummy for as long as the cookies last.

Store in an air-tight container for up to 4 days. 

Crispy Fried Karela / Bitter Gourd / Pavakka Recipe

I can't believe I am posting a bitter gourd recipe. TH and I avoid the vegetable like a plague and although those small, very green, very bitter variety is available here in Singapore, I hardly ever give it a second glance. In Kerala, bitter gourd, or pavakka, is fatter, a very light green, and significantly less bitter than the darker green ones we see everywhere else.

But I've never seen bitter gourd like this before. It was white and very chubby. These are from Taiwan and they were so cute that I had to pick them up, even if its pavakka and TH was gasping at the idea!

I used the same strategy on this bitter gourd that I do on another vegetable that we don't like much - okra. I fried it. It was delicious and for once I didn't mind the bitterness, although TH still didn't have more than one spoon.

Crispy Fried Bitter Gourd
Serves 2
Adapted from the Colocasia Fry Recipe

Ingredients:
1 medium-sized bitter gourd, cut into thin 2" pieces
1/2 tsp salt
3-4 tbsp rice flour
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
A generous pinch of hing/asafoetida/perungayam
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp pepper powder
Oil for deep frying

How I Made It:

1. Rub salt into the cut bitter gourd pieces and set aside for an hour. Once the hour is up, squeeze all moisture from the bitter gourd pieces and transfer to another bowl.

2. Add rest of the ingredients to the pieces and stir well to dredge. There should be enough rice flour to coat all the pieces well (not too thickly) so if you feel you need more, adjust the quantity. The initial salt you added should be enough but add more to taste if you feel you require it.

3. Let the dredged bitter gourd pieces rest for 15 mins or so while you heat up the oil to deep fry. Fry in batches until dark brown and cooked through. Drain on kitchen towels. Its important that you make sure the pieces are thin, otherwise the inside won't be cooked.

Serve hot with rice, rasam, and vadaam.