Harissa Roasted Veggie Bowl

If you get tired of eating sweet stuff during this holiday time, need something spicy to change the taste then this is your dish. It has Harissa spice paste and roasted vegetables in it , Its light on stomach but so full of flavor and above all , don't miss the tahini dressing on top of it. If you want to make a meal, you can have it on top or side of couscous or quinoa but I just had it with a side of green salad and roasted vegetables and Tahini dressing. It was supposed to be for two serving but I was enjoying so much didn't realized that I finished everything. Don't go by my vegetables, you can have it what ever you feel like and you think it will roast , take those vegetables, this was in my fridge so I used that one. I have readymade Harissa paste so used that one , if you have homemade you can use that too.

Ingredients : 

1 Red onion cut in wedged

1 Red pepper cut in strips

1 Sweet potatoes cut in cubes

Few asparagus

Few Long string beans

1 Yellow pepper 

1 Serrano pepper whole (optional) 

2 to 3 Tbsp. Harissa paste

2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 cup boiled white chickpeas

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp cumin powder

1/4 cup Tahini paste

1/4 cup warm water

1/2 lemon juiced

Some mixed greens

Method :

Heat oven to 400F.

Prepare your vegetables. 

Whisk together, Harissa, red wine vinegar and oilve oil in a bowl. Drizzle that mixture on top of your vegetables. and stir.

Put that tray in oven and roast for 30 minutes or till the sweet potatoes are cooked. 

Drain, rinse and dry chick peas if you are using can one. Toss with salt, pepper and cumin. 

Top those bean over the vegetables when vegetables are cooked for 10 minutes. 

Whisk tahini, water and lemon juice. 

Take the vegetables out and when its done. 

Drizzle the tahini dressing on top  and serve it over the bed of mixed greens or quinoa. 

Add more dressing if you like it more. 

Soy Chap Dum Biryani

I know there is only two biryanis , chicken biryani and mutton biryani but soy chap comes very close to these two biryanis. Its very flavorful and very easy to make this, I have made this in under 45 minutes. By doing two things together,  you can work this out. It was just for me so I just have used 2 soy chap but you can make it this for big batch too. For the yellow color, there is a trick, heat up the small pan, add little cream in it, just make it warm, add turmeric powder and little water to make it runny consistency and add it when you are done putting in the masala. It gives fine yellow color without using any chemical color.

Ingredients : 

2 Soya chap

1 bayleaf

Few whole spices like whole pepper corn, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom

1 onion finely chopped

1 tomato finely chopped or puree

few strings of coriander and mint chopped

1 cup long grain basmati rice soaked for at least 30 mint

1 tbsp. ginger garlic paste

1 green chili sliced

1 tbsp. Red chili powder

1 tbsp. Biryani masala

1/2 tbsp. Garam masala

1/2 tbsp. Turmeric powder

few dry red chilies

2 tbsp. yellow color mixing , recipe in above

1 tsp. coriander seeds

2 tbsp. curd

4 tbsp. oil

Salt as per taste

Method

Cut the soy chap and shallow fry them in the oil

take it out and keep it aside. 

In one pot, put 4 cups of water add bay leaf, whole spices and put the water to boil, 

When it start boiling, add presoaked rice in it and cook till its 90% done. Add salt in it and mix it. 

In other pan, add rest of the oil and add dry red chilies, and onion in it and cook till onions are little brown. 

Add tomatoes and slit green chilies and cook till tomatoes are mushy. 

Add ginger garlic paste and all the powder masala and  cook for a minute. 

Add curd and mix it and add fry chap in it and cook till oil floats on top. Shut off the gas for the masala.

By this time, your rice will be done too. If not wait till its cooked 

Take half of the cooked masala in one bowl, if your masala gravy is not warm, heat it up , THEN ONLY add half of the rice on top of the masala, sprinkle chopped coriander and mint leaves, you can add fried onions too. 

Spread one tbsp. of that yellow color mix on rice. 

Spread that masala, which you take it out in the bowl over the rice, cover the whole rice with that masala. After that add the leftover rice on top of that masala. More coriander leaves and mint and yellow color. 

You can cover with aluminum foil or just the dough.

Put the flat pan or tava on gas and put the biryani pot on it. 

Lower the flame and let it cook on dum for 10-15 minutes. 

When time is done, carefully take out foil or dough , don't let the water goes in it.

Do not touch the biryani for 10-15 minutes. When its hot and you try to take it out, rice will break since its hot. and you will ruin the long basmati rice, so always have patience when cooking biryani. 

Once it cool enough, take it out and serve it with simple raita or kachumber or as it is. 

Creamy Roasted Poblano Sauce

If you are looking for some easy sauce or dip then this is the easy and quick recipe. It just required few ingredients but flavor is so good. You can use it as dip or just pour it over the enchiladas and you can have a some good flavor dinner in no time. Just roast the poblano , take the skin off , add garlic, add half the ripe avocado  and let the grinder do the magic. For more flavor, you can add cilantro leaves and for dairy lovers instead of avocado, add sour cream or crema and it will be same smooth sauce. 

Ingredients : 

2 Poblano peppers

2 cloves of roasted garlic

1/2 ripe avocado

salt as per the taste

Method

Roast the poblano on gas flame from all the sides. When it got blisters on everywhere , put it inside of plastic or paper bag to rest for 10 minutes. 

After that take it out and remove the skin. NEVER WASHED IT AFTER ROASTING

You will remove all the flavors if you washed it. Just remove the skin and cut it out and remove the seeds. 

Put it in blender along with garlic and avocado and salt.

Grind it till it becomes smooth paste just a minute or two. 

Take it out and use it as desired. I had it as a dip with my grilled burrito but you can use it as enchiladas sauce or just use as dip too. 

 

Vegan Jamaican Curry Tofu

So I got so many scotch bonnet peppers, some I pickled it (recipe is coming soon), some I gave away and kept few to make some Jamaican curry. this is by far very simple but flavorful vegan curry with tofu but you can make it with chicken too. 

Curry is very famous in Jamaica since it has a very large populations from Indian descent and that influence you can see in their food too. This dish is a classic combination of Indian and Jamaican spices and very hearty. There is no fancy ingredients , just simple few over the pantry spices and you are done. 

I have used tofu but you can use paneer, potatoes, chicken or any thing. 

Ingredients :

1 block of firm tofu drained

2 tbsp. Curry powder

1 Carrot chopped

1 onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 tsp fresh thyme

1 whole scotch bonnet pepper

1/2 tsp allspice ground or crushed

Salt and pepper as per taste

2 tbsp. oil

1 cup water

Method :

Cut drained tofu in to small cubes and season with curry powder, garlic and salt and pepper

Heat oil in a pan, add tofu and cook until browned on all sides. Don't burn the curry otherwise it will be bitter

Add remaining ingredients with water and put the whole scotch bonnet pepper on top.

Cover the pan and reduce heat and cook it for 15 minutes. 

Remove from heat and carefully remove pepper. You don't want to pierce it otherwise whole dish will be ruined by the spice of that pepper. 

Serve with white, brown, jasmine rice.