Apple palov, soup and salad

The last night of Uzbek attempts was another palov, this time with apples, another soup, and another salad.

Both the soup and the palov recipes came from this blog (http://uzbekcooking.blogspot.com.au/) although I tweaked them a little to be vegan friendly. The salad I just threw together, using ingredients that seem to repeat a lot in Uzbek recipes.

The soup was half fried cabbage soup. The name got my attention, because I love cabbage, I love fried things, and I had a glut of cabbages in my garden. To make it vegan I left out the chicken, and used vegan chicken stock powder to add the flavour.

Half-fried cabbage soup (please excuse my watch and panadol in the background)

The soup was glorious, and one I will be making again. I especially liked the effect of blending some of the potato with the water, to make the soup thicker without making the whole thing gluggy.

The apple palov was also pretty tasty, although I did have to use chunks of apple rather than whole ones, as I don’t have a corer. I also left the meat out, of course.

This was a tasty rice dish, and I enjoyed the apples. Mine got a little too cooked though, because I was reveling in the fabulous anti-stick qualities of my expensive new hard-anodised pan, and it turned out a bit like a cake.

Palov cake

The salad was your basic cabbage and carrot affair, with a little parsley, salt, pepper, oil and vinegar thrown in for good measure.

Cabbage and Carrot Salad

So, that’s it for my foray into the cuisine of Uzbekistan. It was tasty, and I always like the comfort-food element of cooked rice dishes. I was surprised to find a cuisine so dominated by carrots and radishes, but I think it worked out, and I’m sure our eyesight is better already!

The last Turkish supper

Sadlly the supermarket has run out of lentils AND chickpeas, and I am doomed to two weeks of kidney beans. This also means that I can’t make the last dish on my Turkey list, cabbage and lentil salad. Sigh.

I did, however, come up with the ingredients for the other final Turkish dish: raw kofte.

Cig Kofte, or raw kofte, used to be what it sounds like: raw meat balls. Apparently the health authorities in Istanbul outlawed it due to the health risks of eating raw meat, and vendors adapted, coming up with a vegan, low risk version using bulgur instead of minced cow. Works for me.

At home, and potentially in restaurants outside of Turkey, this dish is still made with meat – so beware – but there are plenty of recipes approximating the Istanbul street-vendor version.

The recipe calls for fine bulgur, which of course I don’t have, so I tried to pound some ordinary bulgur with a rolling pin. No luck there, unfortunately. I also added some pounded walnuts, added tomato sauce for colour, added some chopped capsicum… and basically changed the recipe so much that it only resembles the original.

It tasted pretty darn good, and I quite like the idea of it as a wrap-filling for work lunches (when I finally get home and get a job again). It was a nice alternative to the deep fried felafel, also.

If you want an authentic version, check out the link above, but here’s what I ended up with. You might want to cook the bulgur and potato the day before, or fudge it like I did by sticking it the freezer (actually I put it on the balcony, but its -3 here, so its almost as cold as the freezer).

Cig Kofte, salad and some beetroot relish

Vegan Raw Kofte

Makes about 15 balls

• 1 medium potato, peeled and diced
• 1 cup bulgur, and water to cook it with
• small handful of walnuts, crushed
• 3 tbs minced parsley
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 spring onions, minced
• 1/2 a red capsicum, chopped finely until it looks smooshed (important technical term, that)
• 2 tsp chilli paste – I used ajika
• 3 tbs tomato sauce (tomato paste would be better, or you can use all chilli paste – I can’t because I get gastritis)

1. Boil the potato until tender. Allow to cool completely.
2. Cook the bulgur following the packet instuctions (if you have some). I just boiled it in a little water, adding water as needed, until it was mushy-looking, and it took me about 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
3. Make sure all the other ingredients are very finely chopped, then mix all them together to make a grainy paste.
4. Add the cold potato and bulgur and mush with your hands until all big lumps are removed and the ingredients are well combined.
5. Taste check here. As per usual, add salt if you want, or lemon juice (I didn’t have any, but I think it would have made a nice addition).
6. Roll large spoonfuls of the mixture into balls, and smoosh a little with your hands, to leave finger marks.
7. Serve with salad and some flat bread.

 

I served mine up with some salad, some potato chips made with the skin of the potato in the kofte recipe, and some beetroot relish. I invented the relish today, because I hate beetroot and have been looking for ways to use up the 2 kilos Mr bought (practicing his Russian) that don’t suck. It turns out I like it cooked this way, so I figured I share.

Bonus, non-Turkish recipe, Beetroot and Cabbage Relish

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 medium onions, large dice
• 2 medium beetroots, peeled and chopped into sticks (juliene, half length)
• 1 cup shredded cabbage
• 3 tbs brown sugar
• 2 tbs white wine vinegar
• dash salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp dried thyme

1. Fry the onion in a non-stick pan until the onion is well and truly translucent. This will take at least 10 minutes – don’t skimp.
2. Add the cabbage and beetroot and fry, over a medium heat, until the cabbage is tender.
3. Add about 1/3 cup water, the brown sugar, salt, pepper and thyme. Cook witht he lid on until the water has evaporated.
4. Check the beetroot – if it is tender continue to the next step. If not, add more water and repeat. I did this three times, using about 1 cup of water all up.
5. Once the beetroot is cooked through, remove the id and continue to fry, stirring occasionally, for another 10 minutes. Any remaining water should evaporate off, and you should have what looks like a mixture of sauted veg with some jam.
6. Serve hot or cold with anything you like. I think it would go well with a faux meat dish and some mustard.

 

More Pilaf, Cabbage and a Salad

Pilaf with home made stock

I have now real and followed so many pilaf recipes, that I’m actually getting pretty good at making my own. Success seems to lie in the stock. In Australia, I usually just use easy-peasy Massel stock powder, but I can’t get anything approximating vegan stock here in Tbilisi, so I make my own, and it works out well.

In my stock I use a handful of chopped mushroom stalks, the outer cabbage leaves and any left over cabbage stalk, parsley stalks, carrots, a tomato, brown and red onion skins and ends, and all the little tiny garlic cloves I can find (I use the ones from the middle because I have chopping them later, and using them in stock means I don’t have to feel guilty for being lazy). I add a tiny bit of salt, and sometimes a little sugar. I generally make about 1.5 litre at a time.

Pretty Pilaf

Keira’s Pilaf Recipe

serves 3

• 2 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 1 cup white rice (long grain)
• 1 medium brown onion, diced
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• any vegetables you want, small dice
• 2 cups strong stock
• water as needed
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper, to taste
• sultanas or raisins, if desired.
• dash of chosen spices – I use cinnamon, clove, coriander seed and some curry, depending on what I feel like.

1. In a large, non-stick frying pan, heat the oil, and add the rice. Fry on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the onion and fry until translucent, stirring frequently.
3. Add the garlic and any vegetables or fruits you will be using, such as capsicum or zucchini, and fry for a furhter 5 minutes.
4. Add one or two squeezes of lemon juice now, to help break up the rice.
5. Add the stock. Leave until all of the liquid has been absorbed. This took me about 15 minutes.
6. Test – you may need more water, depending on what type of rice you used.
7. Remove from heat when the rice is cooked. Taste, add rest of lemon juice, salt, pepper, and spices. Fluff with a fork and serve with other dishes.

Note: If we’re having pilaf at lunch I like to add a little nooch at the end. Don’t do this at dinner tough, because the B6 in the nooch tends to stop people from sleeping.

 

Cabbage with Tomatoes

I Have no photo of the cabbage and tomatoes dish, because it wasn’t actually until after I made it that I found out it was Turkish.One of the only green vegetables we can get here is cabbage, so I had planned to fry some up with onion and garlic as per usual. I added a chopped tomato, a little stock, a little tomato paste and some cayenne pepper, on a whim.

Turns out what I made closely approximates this dish, so there you go – I’m a food psychic, or something, because I didn’t see this site until long after we ate the meal.

 

Chickpea Salad

The salad wasn’t so much Turkish as Turkish-inspired. I just threw together some onion, garlic, parsley, coriander, chickpeas and red capsicum, to add some protein and crunch to the meal.

Chickpea Salad

 

One disaster, a few thngs that didn’t quite work, and salad

When we first arrived in Tbilisi we were cold, tired and hungry as a result of a long flight and very little sleep the night before. We stayed with a couple we met through couch surfing, and Natalia, our host, made us a really tasty dish, which she said would probably be called something like “Potatoes on the family way”. She said it usually gets made with meat, but as a vegetarian she makes it with mushrooms.

Mr and I both loved it, so as soon as we were settled into our own place, its the first thing I tried to cook.

Unfortunately, my version didn’t match the golden, crispy texture her’s had, so I wont be posting the recipe yet. For now, you get a photo of what my version-that-didn’t-quite-work looked like. I added chickpeas for protein, too.

I didn’t get a photo of Natalia’s version, because I had just met her, and felt like a dork.

Potatoes that didn't quite work

The next dish I tried, again without success, was Eggplant with Walnut Sauce. I’ve seen photos on the net, and a number of recipes, and it looked fabulous. Unfortunately, I don’t actually have any blending/crushing/grinding implements in this kitchen, so my walnut sauce was more like walnut gravel, and I added too much vinegar, and my walnuts didn’t taste good, so the result was gritty, bitter and sour nastiness. I served it up with a pilaf that turned gluggy and a salad that tasted of slightly bitter cabbage and too much vinegar.

Even the photo sucks

All in all, not my greatest kitchen success.

I don’t think I’ll try to make this again, as I don’t have the right gadgets, and the version of the sauce I can buy is fantastic and affordable. If you want to have a go at it, check out these recipes: Nami Nami’s recipe, Ashbury’s Aubergines, Sisauri’s version, and Tsai.

Happily, not everything has been a disaster. We have been enjoying a lot of really nice salads and soups made with my home made stock. At the moment, the vegetables we can get are limited to cucumber, cabbage, potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, eggplant, cauliflower, the occasional capsicum, and some not-too-good tomatoes. We can always find a lot of fresh herbs, including parsley, coriander, mint, dill, spring onions, and tarragon.

Purple and green salad

My favourite salad at the moment is cabbage and cucumber, or Purple and Green Salad.

Purple and Green Salad

• 1/3 head of red cabbage, shredded finely
• 1 cucumber, sliced thinly
• 1 handful chopped mint
• 2 tablespoons chopped coriander
• 1 small red onion, sliced very fine
• 1 tsp sugar
• pepper
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tsp olive oil

In a large bowl, mix the cabbage, cucumber, onion, half the mint, and all of the coriander.

In a small bowl beat together the remaining mint, sugar, vinegar, pepper and oil

Combine. Easy peasy.

If you don’t like the onion flavour you can leave it out or try this trick- before peeling or chopping, boil the whole onion for about 5 minutes. Cool, then slice as usual. It takes away some of the bite. I’m always boiling something, so I just pop it in with the pasta, potatoes or what have you.

Carrot and Cabbage

My second favourite salad at the moment is Carrot and Cabbage.

Carrot and Cabbage Salad

• 1/3 head of green cabbage, thinly shredded
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 red capsicum, thinly sliced
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• 3 tablespoons sultanas
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a salad bowl.

Cabbage soup

The soup has been mostly a Russian cabbage soup or a Turkish red lentil soup both of which I’ll post about when I get to the Russian and Turkish weeks.

Babka

I have seen many recipes for a chocolate babka, which is Polish (I think), and looks like a bread. This isn’t that.

Belarussian babka is a potato and meat pie/bake/thing. It consists of a layer of meat (pork and lard) sandwiched between two layers of a potato and flour mixture, and coated in sour cream. I decided to make this instead of its parent recipe, a meat-stuffed potato pancake, because I wanted to go for something a little less oily.

As with the draniki, the recipe called for eggs in the potato layers. I substituted with some egg replacer and soy milk, as well as increasing the amount of flour and liquid in the recipe.

For the “meat” mixture, I crumbled tempeh,  with cooked onion, cabbage and carrots to add some flavour and, you know, vitamins and stuff. I also added sage, nutritional yeast, some vegie salt, and a tiny bit of marmite. It was very tasty in the end.

I layered it, pasted it lightly with vegan sour cream, and baked it. It didn’t rise (I don’t know if its meant to) or colour up as I’d hoped. That Tofutti stuff is tasty, but a little creepy – it stayed white as snow even on the top shelf of the oven. That’s just not right.

Mmm, doesn't that look good?

I served it up with a big green garden salad, and I have to say it was with trepidation that I took the first bite. I needn’t have worried. It was really, really good. Warm, filling, and had a flavour that reminded me a little of my Nan’s vegetable soup.

I’ll introduce Belarus a little later…

…today, I’m just going to tell you about what I’ve been cooking from Belarus instead!

Draniki and Machanka

Draniki are little potato pancakes, eaten with sour cream and a meat and lard sauce, Machanka. So, you know, a variation on the general theme of meat, potatoes and lard that seems to be found throughout Belarussian cuisine.

The original draniki recipe calls for grated potato held together with egg, but I used a little more flour than called for, and some home made soy milk. They held their shape fine. I also added a little salt and pepper, because I’m wild like that (and I wasn’t sure my mock-up of “meat and lard sauce” was gonna be palatable).

I used a tiny bit of olive oil, some very well cooked onion, some tvp mince and some Massel beef style stock to create the sauce. For good measure I threw in some facon at the last minute. It turned out something between a sauce and a soup, with chunks of mince and facon floating in it. It was tasty, but it had a texture I wasn’t that into.

Draniki on the left, Machanka in the cup, and steamed veg on the right

I served our machanka and draniki with a little dollop of Tofutti sour cream and a nice big side of steamed greens and carrots in an attempt to balance out all that mock and oil.

The draniki were delicious, if a little oily – I don’t use kitchen paper towel, but haven’t yet found a good solution, as my tea towels always leave everything fluffy. I might try them again one day, but cook them in the oven with a LOT less oil.

and one in pink

A little shout out here to my Mum for giving me those beautiful cups for my birthday, and to their creater, who did a truly awesome job. I wanted to credit her, but I lost her business card. (mum, can you comment?)

I love them. I use them for tea, for sauces and whatever else I can. They’re dishwahser and microwave safe (which would be fab if I had either one) and feel really nice and solid in your hands.

Things I’m loving on VeganMoFo:

K’s posts on arranging spices and making honeycomb. Yum.

Tahn of Vegan Family vs Omni World, and the lentil biccies. I’ll have to try them.

Everyone’s ice -cream making. I think I know what I’m getting with my (still unspent!) birthday monies now.

“Edible” Playdough: at least it wasn’t blue

Next up in our culinary trip to Tanzania, we tried Kuku Paka (tofu in coconut milk), Kachumbali salad, and Ugali, the national grain dish. I let you know now, it was a dreary night, with a rush to eat, bad photos, and not my best cooking effort. Sorry.

For the tofu in coconut milk, I reformed this omni recipe, substituting tofu for the chicken. It tasted great – a lovely mild curry, with lots of yummy coconut milk – but turned out a little thin. I figured that would be ok though, as it would be served with the Ugali.

Ugali is usually made with maize, and is basically a grain-mush, so far as I can tell. It is eaten with curries, by scooping some into your hand, putting a thumb-sized well in it, and using it to scoop up sauces and stews. We are big fans of eating sans-utensils, so I thought this would be fun.

I looked up various recipes, and eventually settled on this one. It is supposedly very popular, and served with most meals, and I was hopeful that it would turn out better than it sounded. Alas, water and corn-grit mixed together and heated until it is the consistency of playdough tastes and feels quite a lot like it sounds… gritty and beyond-bland.

After a few determined mouthfuls, I caved, and made some very quick cous cous instead, to help us finish the meal. This is one of those times when I just have to admit defeat, and sigh over the immense Western-ness of my palate. *sigh*

We also had Kachumbali salad, which is apparently the most ubiquitous salad in Tanzanian cooking. It consists of cabbage, tomato, chilli, onion, corriander, oil and salt. I used this recipe from Taste of Tanzania. I’m not usually a fan of cabbage, however this salad was divine.

A little salty, sour and slightly warm, it was the perfect accompaniment to the curry, but I think it would also work well with vegan BBQ or a spicy tomato-based dish. The dish I wasn’t sure about ended up saving the night!

It was, as I said, a bit of a rushed night, but I’m not sure that even that can excuse this photo:

Top left: Ugali. Everything else: Tofu in coconut milk

Kimchi and Links

I just realised that I almost finished off Korean week without describing my home-made Kimchi!

The Food of Korea, says, “A man can live without his wife, but cannot live without Kimchi”, and according to David Lebovitz Koreans would be ashamed to buy Kimchi, so it would be a travesty not to include it in a week of Korean food. (I’m not attesting to the truth of either of those statements, just repeating them).

Kimchi is a dish of fermented vegetables with chilli, garlic and leek. It seems that in Australia it is most commonly made with cabbage and daikon radish, although i understand from my reading that it can be made with other ingredients.

To make kimchi you first soak the cabbage, then mix it with the other ingredients and set it to ferment in a jar or pot for a few days.

My home-made kimchi

I used a recipe I found here.

So, how did it turn out? It was fermented, and spicy, and a bit sour. I’ve never had kimchi before, so I don’t know how it stacked up to the real thing, but I thought it was pretty tasty. We had some in the Bibimbap yesterday, and I’m sure I’ll figure out something to do with the rest.

Links

Before I head off to discover a new part of the world, I thought I’d leave you with a few links for vegan-korean things. And don’t forget, you can always visit your local library for recipes and much more!

Happy Cow has a list of restaurants (for those lucky enough to actually go to Korea)

Vegetarian in Korea – a blog

Spice Island Vegan has posted some Korean recipes

Happy cooking vegan kitchen travellers.

Next week: Azerbijan!