Carrot Halwa

ingredients:                                                                                                           

• 2 lbs carrots (preferably large organic), skin scraped off and shredded
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 stick of unsalted butter
• ½ stick butter to garnish with 2 tbsp of pistachio (slivered and fried)
• 10 cardamom pods, skin removed and seeds crushed
• Pinch of saffron (optional)

Steps                                                                                                                      

1. Heat 1 stick of butter in a heavy saucepan or pressure cooker until melted.
2. Add shredded carrots and fry for 6 minutes or until wilted.
3. Add milk and cook for 15-20 minutes on low or medium low heat.  Stir constantly to avoid burning of carrots. Alternatively, in a pressure cooker, add milk and shredded carrots and cook until pressure develops for 3-5 minutes and turn off the stove.
4. Add cardamom powder and stir.
5. Add sugar and stir constantly until the mixture is translucent, for 30 minutes under a medium flame.
6. Transfer it to a glass dish.
7. Cool and garnish with fried pistachio.

Green Chutney

 ingredients:                                                                                                        

• Juice of 2 green limes
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
• 4 hot green chillies (2 inch size)
• ¾ tsp salt
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1 whole bunch of coriander (cilantro) with bottom cut off, washed and chopped fine
• 2 tsp salted peanuts

Steps                                                                                                                  

1. Combine garlic and lemon juice and grind.
2. Add chillies, salt and sugar. Grind more.
3. Add coriander and keep grinding.
4. Add peanuts. Grind.

Saag Paneer

Ingredients:                                                                                                     

• 1 large red onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1 inch of ginger, chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tomatoes chopped
• 2 hot green chillies (2 inch size)
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground red chillies (flakes)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp of coriander (cilantro), washed and chopped fine
• 2 packages of spinach, thawed and squeezed
• 1 package of paneer, cubed
• ½ cup cream
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 2 tbsp of oil

For tadka:

• curry leaves
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp oil

Steps                                                                                                                                      

1. Heat spinach in a microwave for 4 minutes.  Set aside.
2. Saute onion, garlic, ginger and cumin in oil.
3. Add chillies, tomatoes, garam masala, and salt.
4. Saute for 5 minutes.
5. Add spinach to mixture in the pan, with a little water.
6. Cook for 5 minutes.
7. Cool.
8. Puree in blender.
9. Shallow fry paneer.
10. Add to spinach mixture.
11. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
12. Add cream and nutmeg and stir well.
13. To prepare tadka,heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan.
14. Add mustard seeds.
15. When mustard spurts, add curry leaves.
16. Add tadka to spinach.

Shanghai smoke-cured tofu salad

 ingredients:                                                                                                            

• 1 piece smoke-cured tofu
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 1/4 cup roasted peanuts (smaller size the better)
• 1/2 tsp sweet soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp rice vinegar
• sesame oil
• 1 tsp hot chili sauce (optional) 

 
steps:                                                                                                                      

1. cut the cured tofu into tiny cubes about 1/4''.
2. chop the cilantro finely
3. put tofu and cilantro in a bowl, add soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, mix well
4. let it sit for 30 minutes, add hot chili sauce
5. before serving, crush the peanuts coarsely if the size of peanuts is bigger than the tofu cubes
6. add peanuts to the bowl and drizzle with sesame oil, mix again and serve as a cold dish

Bhajias (Fritters)

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle marinated peppers (red and green), chopped (6 oz)
• 3 potatoes, skins removed and cut into small thin pieces
• 1 large red onion (chopped)
• 1 cup frozen green peas (Bansi brand from Indian store recommended, peas are firm)
• 1 carrot, chopped fine
• 1 cup chickpea powder (besan)
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin-coriander powder
• ½ tsp amchoor powder (dried mango)
• 1 tsp ajwain seeds
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp oil
• Oil for frying (~ 1 ½ cup)
• Fresh chopped coriander (cilantro, optional )

Steps:

1. Soak potatoes, carrots, and peas in water for an hour to remove start. Drain well in colander.
2. Mix with remaining ingredients in a bowl.
3. Add ½ cup water, slowly, while mixing well.
4. Heat oil in khadai until temperature reaches 375F.
5. Fry in oil at 375 F.

Marinated fish and chayote

 ingredients:                                                                                                                                 

• 2 pieces of tilapia fillet
• 4 limes 
• 1 tbs mirin
• 1 tbs seasoned rice vinegar

•  2 chayote  
• 2 tbs sweet-sour ginger pickles ( chopped fine) 
• 1 tbs capers
• 4 green onion ( chopped fine)
• 6 small red radish ( chopped fine)
• 1 tsp fresh ginger ( minced )
• salt and white pepper

• 1 tbs dried seaweed flakes
• 4 Belgium endive, separated into individual leaves (optional) 

steps:                                                                                                                                           

1. cut the fish into small cubes about half an inch size
2. juice the limes, mix the juice with rice wine (mirin) and rice vinegar
3. marinate the fish cubes in the lime juice mixture, covered and keep refrigerated overnight till the fish turns opaque
4. pour off most of the lime juice, move the fish to a bowl
5. peel and core the chayote, cut into small cubes same size as the fish
6. add rest of the ingredients (except seaweed flakes and Belgium endive) in the bowl, mix well with fish, let sit for 30 minutes at the room temperature.
7. before serving, sprinkle seaweed flakes onto the mixture.
8. serve on a plate, or in a small glass bowl, or spoon the mixture onto each endive leaf and serve as "fish boat"

Boondi Raita

ingredients:                                                                                                    

• 1 cup Boondi (savory fried chickpea balls, dried, sold in packets in Indian store)
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 hydrophonic cucumber, peeled and chopped fine
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 tsp black cumin, dry roasted
• ½ cup milk
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp chopped coriander (cilantro)
• 1 tsp chopped mint

Steps                                                                                                                     

1. Beat yogurt and milk with a pinch of salt.
2. Add shallot and cumin and mix well.
3. At the very end, just prior to serving, add boondi.  Stir nicely
4. Garnish with chopped coriander and mint

red curry chicken

ingredients:                                                                                                            

• ¾ pound chicken, dark or white meat, skinned, boned,cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2-4 tablespoons red curry paste
• 2-3 tablespoons  fish sauce
• 4 fragrant lime leaves, julienned
• ½  pound Thai eggplant (green, golf ball sized) if available; or Chinese eggplants
• 2 tablespoons Thai basil, julienned

 
 
instructions:                                                                                                  

Skim cream from coconut milk. Place the cream in a pot large enough to hold all of the ingredients. Heat. Add curry paste and cook until oil appears on the surface of the mixture.

Add the remaining coconut milk, the chicken, fish sauce and the lime leaves. Cook, stirring, until the chicken changes color. Stir in the eggplant and continue cooking until the chicken is done. (Add water if needed during cooking process.) Stir in basil. Taste and correct seasoning as needed.

Serve over rice.

serves 4-6 

Som Tom: Thai green papaya salad

ingredients:                                                                                                            
 

• 1 ½- 2 pounds green papaya, grated into  long, this strips
• 8-12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1-3 garlic cloves
• 1- 1 ½ “ ginger (young as possible) chopped
• 2 each Thai red and green bird chilies
• 1-3 scallions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons dried shrimp
• 3 tablespoons blanched, roasted peanuts, chopped
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1 ½ tablespoon palm sugar
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• ¼ pound Chinese long beans, blanched and cut into 4” lengths
• cilantro sprigs
• lettuce leaves

 
instructions:                                                                                                                      

Green papaya is very firm. Traditionally, it is pounded in a clay mortar to soften the fibers so that it will absorb the flavors of the other ingredients when making this salad. If you do not have a mortar, you can achieve a similar affect by alternately mixing and squeezing the papaya with the other ingredients in a bowl.

In a mortar, begin by pounding the garlic, ginger, and chilies. Once a paste, add the palm sugar with a small amount of the papaya. Add more papaya as the ingredients begin to soften. Next, add the shrimp and cherry tomatoes along with more papaya. Continue until all of the papaya has been added. Next, add the peanuts and long beans. Lastly, mix in the fish sauce and the lime juice. Correct seasoning to taste (hot, sour, salty, sweet)

Serve on a platter lined with lettuce leaves. Garnish with cilantro sprigs.

This salad is delicious as is, however, in Northern Thailand, it is traditionally served with sticky rice.