Raghavan Iyer's Sliced Okra Soup (bathed in Buttermilk) from 660 Curries

I'm finally back in the kitchen, inspired by local ingredients and fellow friends helping me get back into the groove of things.  I'm definitely working my way back up the hill, but things are looking up.  This weekend was fantastic cooking-wise, I managed to get a number of recipes under my belt that I'm happy to be writing about.  I think I spent both Saturday and Sunday in the kitchen for a minimum of four hours each, but I am slowly beginning to feel normal in the kitchen again.

This recipe was one I decided on last minute on Saturday to accompany some roasted lamp chops I threw together (roasted in our brand new oven, more to come on that!) for dinner.  While I'm not sure it was the greatest pairing in the world, this was a delicious soup and fabulously simple to prepare and cook that I am inclined to make this a standard go-to 'open friends eyes to Indian food' recipe!

Note, I didn't plan well enough in advance to have buttermilk on hand.  Upon researching via the internet, I did find that a common replacement is one tablespoon of lemon juice for every cup of milk. Based on my research, the amount of time you should let the mixture sit is non-standard, I read anywhere between 2 and 10 minutes.  I ended up going with about 5 minutes, for good measure. Admittedly I have no idea what this recipe tastes like when buttermilk is used, but if you're looking for an healthy alternative, milk with lemon juice is a good one!

Ingredients:
1 pound okra (I used a frozen bag since good, fresh okra is available here.  These will little mini-okra which were cute, tasted the same as long okra)
4 cups buttermilk (or as per above, I used 1 tablespoon of lemon juice for every cup of milk, let the mixture stand for about 5 minutes before using)
2 tablespoons of chickpea flour (also called Besan in Hindi, can be found in any Indian grocery store or perhaps try a Whole Foods type of store)
2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
2 teaspoons of salt
2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon of ground tumeric
2 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves and stems (remove bulky stems)
12 medium-sized to large fresh curry leaves (as Raghavan advises in his book, there is no replacement for these leaves, if you don't have them just omit them.  Usually found in any Indian grocery store.  I only had dried leaves available when I made this soup)
2 tablespoons Ghee or melted butter
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds (I just realized this recipe calls for fenugreek seeds and I used fennel, I will have to try this again!)

1. Trim the caps off the okra, and then cut the pods into 1 inch lengths.  Cut the pieces length wise.
2. Whisk the buttermilk/milk, chickpea flour, sugar, salt, cayenne, and turmeric together in a bowl, making sure the flour is completely incorporated with no lumps.  Then stir in the cilantro and curry leaves.                                        
3. Heat the ghee or melted butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Sprinkle the cumin and fennel seeds into the pan and cook until they sizzle, turn brown-ish, and are fragrant, about 10 seconds.  
4. Immediately add the okra and stir-fry until the slices blister in spots and acquire a light brown coloration on their skin, between 8 and 10 minutes.  
5. Pour in the spiced buttermilk/milk mixture and stir once or twice to deglaze the pan, releasing any browned bits of spices and okra.  Lower the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the okra is fork tender and the curry has thickened slightly, 10 to 12 minutes.  The color of the liquid will change from a pale, cream color to a bright yellow as the soup thickens.  

I hope you try this recipe and if you do, let me know what you think about it!

Eet Smakelijk (equivalent of Buon Appetito in Italian)!

Pork Meatballs in Broth

I tried another recipe on Friday night, adding more diversity to our weekly menu.  I used a recipe from this blog which also links back to a blog she was inspired from.  This recipe is a version of Nigel Slater's (apparently a well known chef in the UK) Chicken Broth with Pork and Kale from his book Tender. Um yeah, I need to do some more research on Nigel Slater.

Variations I made in comparison to the two blogs linked above are: I used vegetable broth from Eatly (still have some leftover!) instead of a homemade broth.  My chilies were green instead of red (not sure it matters, you want something spicy, but not overwhelming), I did not add kale or zucchini, just plain old meatballs and broth. I fried my meatballs as directed by the original recipe, but deviates from the original blog I found this from.  It would be worth trying simply steeping the meatballs as this cuts down the amount of cooking time and fat in the dish.  As I'm not very savvy in picking meat here in the Netherlands, I suspect I used full fat pork meat... would be worth seeing if I can get a leaner meat as well.  

Pork Meatballs in Broth

1. Add pork into a large mixing bowl

2. Finely chop chilies and add to mixing bowl

3. Slice scallions (discarding the roots and very darkest tips of the leaves) and add to mixing bowl. 

4. Mince the garlic and add to mixing bowl. 

5. Chop mint and parsley (I included the stems of the parsley, but used only mint leaves) and add to the mixing bowl (note, I chopped coarsely per blog's instructions, I will be modifying this the next time and chopping finer). 

 

6. Using your hands, mix thoroughly and form meatballs (recipe recommends 1.25 inches in diameter, basically make them bite size or whatever size is comfortable for you. I plan to modify the next time and make them much smaller). 

7. Bring the vegetable stock to a boil (season additionally if needed).  

8. Heat a thin slick of oil in a pan (I used a stainless steel pan, you can also do this in a cast iron pan) and cook the pork balls until each side has been cooked (and browned slightly).  Not more than 5 minutes. Cook in batches as needed. The meatballs do not need to be fully cooked as they will cook further in the broth.

9. Lower the cooked pork balls into the broth and cook on a low-medium heat for 5-10 minutes until the pork balls are cooked through (I checked by pulling one out and cutting through to check for pink meat).  Serve immediately. 

You can see some of the herbs fell loose from the meatballs, one reason to chop finer to more easily incorporate the ingredients.  On the other hand, we actually liked the herbs floating around as it gave a nice flavor to the broth combined with the richness of the meat.  You can make the meatballs ahead of time (I had them prepared a couple of hours before I fried them up)... I would imagine they could be frozen, but I haven't tried that yet myself. 

The flavors of the spicy chilies combined with the mint and parsley came through beautifully in this recipe.  After letting the broth sit for a while, the spicy chilies became more pronounced in the broth which was a lovely touch.  I especially loved getting bits of mint and I think this recipe would do well with a touch of cilantro too! If you are looking for something new, this is a great recipe.  Compare with the other blogs I've linked to to see how you would like to make your soup!