Patta Gobi sabzi

Materials:

- 1 medium size cabbage (patta gobi) - chopped fine (julienned or diced)
- 2 tablespoons oil (peanut, canola, corn, olive)
- 1 large pinch asafoetida (heeng)
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
- red chili powder (cayenne or hot paprika) to taste

Preparation:

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add asafoetida and once you can smell it, add the cumin. When cumin seeds start sputtering, add the cabbage and stir fry on medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes or until excess water is gone and the vegetable is colored with the turmeric. Add chili powder and salt to taste and stir well. Add water, bring to a boil and cover. Cook covered until the cabbage is soft (35 minutes to an hour). You may need to add more water to get there.

Uncover and stir on medium high heat until excess water evaporates. Continue stir frying until you see the oil separate out at the edges.

Serving:

Serve hot with lentils, rice, rotis (or heated wheat tortillas; recipe for roti's can be easily found online - I will add one to the blog soon).

NOTE: Use less oil - even a 1/2 teaspoon - if you need to for dietary reasons.

Leek, jalapeno and mushroom stir fry

This was one of the instantaneous recipes put together with ingredients that had to be used up. I had surplus leeks from a leek, potato and kielbasa soup that I made last week (will post that recipe soon) and a pack of mushrooms needed inspiration. So I went and bought some jalapenos and made this. The amount here will serve two.

Materials:

- Leek: 1, chop into rounds or julienne, whichever you like
- Jalapeno: 1, cut in half and remove seeds, soak in water
- Mushrooms (I used the regular whites): 1 8oz pack, wash and remove stems, then halve
- Oil
- Onion: 1 finely chopped
- Butter: 1 tablespoon
- Salt, to taste

Preparation:

Heat oil in a heavy saucepan. Add onions. Saute until transparent/very lightly browned. Add butter and stir fry for about 1 minute after it melts. Now add mushrooms and salt and stir fry until the water (from mushrooms) evaporates. Add jalapeno (use half if you're worried about the heat) and stir - NOTE - you do NOT want to inhale at this point as the jalapenos will produce some rather stinging fumes. When mushrooms are lightly browned, add leeks and stir fry for 3-4 minutes on medium-high heat.

Sprinkle a little water and continue to stir fry for 2-3 minutes more and then turn off heat; leave for about 10 minutes to let flavours develop.

Serving:

Enjoy as a side dish with bratwurst/kielbasa and/or a baked potato; also great on buttered bread for a quick snack. If you do not want to use jalapenos, try some freshly ground black pepper instead.