Year Review: 2011

Posted my cookbook draft with a dozen rice recipes, with photos and recipes, tips and ingredients, as an epub file. This was one of my goals for the last year.

How much traffic did my recipes get? My recipe blog on Blogger (http://wholeplants.blogspot.com) had 33 posts in 2011, and 14 posts in 2010. Traffic averaged about 100 views/month, and the all time total has been about 1500 views. My recipe shares on BigOven (http://www.bigoven.com/user/michaelswarm) had 24 recipes. The favorite recipe was Spicy Baked Potato Wedges, with 5 reviews, 212 favorite, and 187 try soon.

I learned many things, from shopping and cooking, to computer photography and blogs and ebook publishing. There are still many more photos and recipes on my computer. I traveled for 4 weeks during the summer, sticking to this meal plan on trains, at beach houses and in other people's kitchens. I also spent many summer weeks on the boat, the longest period being 2 weeks.

For the next year, I look forward to adding Indian lentil recipes and cooking tips, and posting more European flavored soups and stews.

Green Lentil Curry

This mung bean dal is a rustic spicy soup or curry. Warm and colorful soup, good served with flatbread or rice.

Mung beans are type of green lentil common in Indian and Chinese cooking. They can be purchased whole and split with a couple of pulses of a food processor.

Ingredients
MAIN
1 cup split mung beans, (green lentils)
SPICE
1 in fresh ginger, chopped
1 whole green chili pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 cups water
FINISH
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds, ground
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp salt
handful fresh cilantro, chopped

Preparation
In pot add split mung beans, ginger, whole chili, turmeric and water, and bring to boil, 10 min. With strainer remove foam.
(Use split mung beans, or use whole mung beans and give 5-10 pulses in food processor, until more beans are split open than not. Don't process too much, or you quickly get just lentil flour and dust.)
Then reduce heat and simmer, 15-25 min., until lentils are tender.
Meanwhile, in spice grinder, grind cumin seeds. After lentils have simmered, add tomatoes, cumin powder, garam masala and salt, and simmer additional 10 min. (Total cooking time for lentils is 45-55 min.) Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve.
Quick use of stick blender turns into finished soup, or serve chunky and rustic. (Remember to remove the chili if you don't want hot!)

NOTES
Curry can be made more or less hot by adding or leaving out chili pepper.

Cookbook Download

My cookbook of everyday Indian rice recipes, with photos and recipes, tips and ingredients, as EPUB file for download. 11 recipes, 18 Photos, 6 Drawings, 82 Pages.

Download EPUB file format

My goal was a dozen rice recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. All recipes have photos, ingredients and preparation. Also shopping and pantry tips, and cooking methods and tips. This is my first effort, so it's first draft or beta quality. Comments are welcome.

Recipes are brown rice, whole plant, no added oils, no meat or dairy, vegetarian, vegan and McDougall friendly.

Rice and Lentils

There are many variations on rice and lentils from India through the Middle East. Onions and carrots make the base, and are both native to the region. The spices here are simple, just cumin and coriander, bay leaf, and a pinch of turmeric and salt.

Ingredients
BASE
1/2 onion, sliced thin
1 carrot, chopped small
SPICE
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cumin, ground
1/2 tsp coriander, ground
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp turmeric
MAIN
3/4 cup brown rice, soaked
1/4 cup lentils, soaked (whole brown or red lentils)
FINISH
1/2 lemon juice

Preparation
Prep: Soak lentils & rice.
Base: Brown and saute the onion & carrot. Result should be moist, not wet. This base gets added to the rice and lentils, along with spices, and it's flavor gets absorbed.
Main: Mix veggie base, ground spices, rice & lentils in pot or rice cooker, with water. Bring to boil, then simmer covered, 20-30 min, then remove heat, and continue steam covered, 10-15 min.
Finish: Adjust taste with lemon juice and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Recipes

Recipes are both copies and examples. The written recipe should exactly copy the kitchen. Followed exactly, you should get the same result. Followed loosely, you can improve on the result. You can vary ingredients by season and by what’s on hand, adding or removing, and adjust for taste.

However, recipes are shorthand instructions for cooking. They are brief summaries. They leave out details. Instructions typically use shorthand keywords like roast, saute, simmer and boil, and assume the reader understands these terms. Keeping the recipe short lets the cook see the idea of the recipe, and follow without getting lost in text. Recipes are made of ingredients and directions.

Because a recipe is only a brief summary, it’s necessary to detail elsewhere common ingredients (pantry section), along with substitutions and preparation, and common kitchen techniques (kitchen section), along with tips and troubles. Sometimes these make good sidebars.

Ingredients are listed in the order used. This gives a clue about timing. This makes the recipe easier to follow. Switching between recipes for multiple dishes, I often find myself asking, “Where am I?“ and “What’s next?” Ingredients that take longer to cook are typically started first, and ingredients that cook quickly are typically finish last.

I divide my ingredients by their function in a dish, and then divide my instructions into steps to match. Recipes can be thought of as layers, with each layer adding complexity to a dish.

• Base: Ingredients that are chopped small, largely invisible, slow cook or cook the longest, break down, or are blended. These are the supporting actors in the dish. Onions are a common base. Many European dishes start with an onion-carrot-celery base. Note the Indian pantry usually doesn’t include celery (bitter green), but often uses the spice fenugreek (bitter spice).
• Spice: Tiny but flavorful ingredients that enhance flavor, adding a layer of complexity. Usually added to season the base. Since the base is often slow cooked, these can be whole spices and whole dry herbs. This is the orchestra in the dish. Usually not mentioned. Many Indian dishes use garlic and ginger  (both hot herb), and cumin (pungent and slightly hot spice) and coriander (earthy spice). Garlic-ginger is often a paste, and cumin-coriander is often a spice mix.
• Main: Feature ingredients. Chopped larger, visible, lightly cooked or steamed. These are the leading actors in the dish. Usually the base of the dish name.
• Finish: Small and flavorful ingredients that would over cook or disappear if added earlier. Often herbs, which are best fresh, and powdered spices. They adjust and garnish the dish. By adding at the end, they stay somewhat separate, adding a final layer of taste and aroma. Fresh cilantro leaves are a common herb (bitter herb) and lemon or lime a common (sour agent). Garam masala (hot spice mix: cumin-coriander, hot chili and cinnamon-clove) is a common powdered spice mix finish.

These functions describe the common pattern for stove cooked vegetable and water soups, stews, sauces and gravies.

I prefer recipes from scratch. So everything is open and following recipes I can learn taste and seasoning. Everything is whole spices, roasted and ground fresh, and fresh herbs and citrus, chopped and mixed. I can always substitute a mix, jar or can. This will make a recipe have a few more ingredients, as a veggie broth is listed by ingredient, and a spice mix is listed by ingredient, and a sauce is listed by ingredient. Prepared broths, spice mixes, mixed vegetables, and jar sauces have their place, and can make a quick and easy version of a recipe. But prepared products hide their ingredients. Reading labels is often like game of cat and mouse. Whole ingredients, salt, sugar, oil, preservatives? Labels do order ingredients by volume, but don’t provide quantities, and multiple flavors are often hidden under the single term spices.

Rice Lentil Soup

Rice lentil soup is traditional breakfast (kitchari).

Ingredients
MAIN
1 cup brown rice, soaked
1/2 cup green dal, soaked
2 cups water (or more)
SPICE
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp salt

Preparation
Simmer until rice and lentils soft and mushy. May require extra water.

Coconut Rice Soup

This is a simple soup, lightly flavored. Leftover cooked rice is broken up and cooked as soup. The base is shallot-garlic-ginger which makes a light broth if water and no extra broth is added. Medium grain rice is slightly sweeter than long grain. Coconut is added for slightly richer flavor.

Ingredients
BASE
2 shallots, sliced thin
1 tsp garlic, sliced thin
1 tsp ginger, sliced thin
1 cup water or light broth
SPICE
1/8 tsp salt
MAIN
1 cup medium grain brown rice, cooked

2/3 cups water

FINISH

1/8 cup shredded coconut, soaked (optional)

1 tbsp lemon juice

Preparation

In saucepan at medium heat, covered, sweat shallots, ginger and garlic, 5-10 min.

In food processor or blender, mix cooked rice and enough water to mix. Use a few short bursts to break rice, but don't puree.
Add rice mixture to saucepan, add enough water or light broth to make soup, and salt, and bring just to boil.
Add coconut and lemon juice to taste.

Rice Pancakes

Pancake batter require a full day and night preparation. But once the batter is prepared, pancakes cook quickly. Traditional pancakes soak and grind rice and lentils, then ferment the batter. Spices are mixed into the batter. The ratio varies for rice to lentils between 2:1 (brown rice) to 5:1 (white rice.) Ingredients vary, with different variety of rice and lentils, and different spices. Size and thickness vary, from pancake thickness to paper thin crepes.

Preparation: 24 hours
Cooking: 6-8 minutes

Ingredients
MAIN (BATTER)
1 cup medium grain brown rice, soaked
1/4 cup whole black lentils, soaked (urad dal)
1 cup water, soaking
1 cup water, grinding (as needed)
SPICE
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds (option)
2 tbsp chickpeas (option)
1/8 tsp salt
FINISH
1 banana or other fresh fruit

Preparation
Soak: Soak rice and lentils separately, 4-6 hours (morning.)
Grind Batter: Drain and reserve excess soaking water. Grind lentils separately to very fine paste, soft and foamy. Grinding lentils separately fine makes fluffy pancakes. Grind rice and fenugreek seeds to fine grain, smooth. Add reserved soaking water as necessary to thin batter. Batter should be thick, but pour easily from ladle, or through fingers. Batter thickens with ferment.
Ferment: Set room temperature or warmer, loosely covered, 6-8 hours (overnight.)
Grind Spices: Grind fenugreek seeds and mix spices, fenugreek and salt, into batter. (May also wet grind whole spices with lentils or rice.)
Cook: Blend fermented batter and spices. Add water to adjust thickness. Preheat non-stick pan to medium heat. (I prefer light non-stick omelet pan.) Water drops added spatter. Batter should be room temperature. Pour or ladle batter into flat rounds of desired size. 1 ladle makes 5 inch pancake, light brown (not golden brown.) Bubbles appear, then pop or subside, and change color. Turn with spatula. Cook to golden brown. Remove to plate and serve hot. (Between pancake batches, wipe clean hot pan with damp towel or sponge.)

Shopping

What you buy is what you eat. Shopping can be as simple as going to the store for what you need. But feeding more people (crew, guests, family) and planning farther ahead (boat trips, emergency) takes forethought and practice.

I shop once a month for staples, once a week for roots, and twice a week for fresh produce. The grains are my foundation staple and long-term emergency food along with some canned vegetables and beans. The roots are my medium-term emergency food, and supplement my grain as alternate starch.

Roughly, my shopping strategy look something like this:

Monthly (big one, often Indian grocery for brown Basmati rice and spices, local for fresh produce)

- 10# brown rice, with 1-2# puffed brown rice or brown rice flakes.

- 5# bag with onions, etc., and small 5# bag potatoes.

- 10# seasonal fresh produce

Weekly (often Whole Foods for bakery and salt-free cans, local for fresh produce)

- 5# bag with onions, etc., and small 5# bag potatoes.

- 10# seasonal fresh produce

Daily (2x week, local)

- 10# seasonal fresh produce

Monthly

dry grain
brown rice	6 months	10 lbs	essential
puffed brown rice	1 month	0.5 lb	optional
flattened rice	1 month	2 lbs	optional

Weekly

root
potatoes	3 months	5 lbs	optional
carrots	2 weeks	2 lbs	optional
onions	3 months	5 lbs	essential

Daily (2x week)

fresh
red pepper	1 week	1 lb	optional
tomatoes	1 week	2 lbs	essential
eggplant	1 week	1 lb	optional
cooking fruit
lemons	2 weeks	1 lb	essential
limes	2 weeks	1 lb	optional
plantains	2 weeks	1 lb	optional
dry fruit
raisins	6 months	1 lb	essential
shredded coconut	6 months	0.5 lb	essential
snack fruit
oranges	2 weeks	1 lb	optional
bananas	1 week	1 lb	essential
mango	1 week	1 lb	essential

Grains

Rice is a staple grain. Rice is plentiful and inexpensive, can be stored for use year round, and forms the foundation of traditional Indian food. Rice is a plant starch, high in energy, and typically eaten at every meal. Rice is simple and easy to cook. The focus is on the rich variety of sauces made from fresh seasonal ingredients, herbs and fresh ground spices.

Monthly

dry grain
brown rice	6 months	10 lbs	essential
puffed brown rice	1 month	0.5 lb	optional
flattened rice	1 month	2 lbs	optional

Of the total 4 lbs per person per day, I plan for 25% cooked grains daily. Cooked grains weigh twice as much as dry grains. So I plan for 0.5 lb dry grain daily, which will be soaked and cooked to 1 lb cooked grain. 4# weekly, 16# monthly.

BROWN RICE

Indians use different varieties of rice, but the favorite and most famous is long grain Basmati rice. Brown rice was traditional before inexpensive mechanical milling to remove the hull and bran became common.
Brown rice can be found everywhere, if you accept short, medium or long grain. I’ve never found a grocery without brown rice.

Brown rice keeps six months. I shop every month for a one month supply. Shopping for one person, I bring home a 10 lb bag every month, depending on what’s left in my bulk dry store. I could keep three times more. Brown rice comes in it’s own 10 lb sack. (My dry grains also include oats, and other dry goods include legumes.)

Long grain Basmati brown rice. 10#; store 1-2 months; keeps 6 months. Rice is always in the galley pantry. 10# = 1-2 months. Between a bag at each home and boat, that gives me 20# and 2-4 months.

RICE FLAKES

Rice flakes are parboiled and rolled brown rice, and require a trip to an Indian grocer or online. Rice flakes are a convenience food. Dishes with rice flakes are quick and easy. This makes rice flakes great for breakfast and lunch dishes. Because rice flakes are already cooked, then dried, they just require soaking. Rice flakes are available in thin and thick. Thin soaks quickly, while thick holds its shape better. Rice flakes don’t keep as long as whole rice.

Rice flakes. 2#; store 1 month (half-life); keeps 2-3 months (shelf-life). Between a bag at each home and boat, that gives me 4#. Note Quaker Oats is 2#, and I typically keep 2 bins at each home and boat!

RICE FLOUR

Rice flour requires a trip to an Indian grocer, but can easily be dry ground in a spice grinder or wet ground in a blender. There is no need to keep separate milled rice flour. Small amounts can be ground in spice grinder. Or wet grind from whole rice, in blender, as for pancake batter. Grind fresh, as with spices. By grinding yourself, you control the process. You can try flours from long, medium or short grains. Flours and breads are processed foods. Baked breads and crackers are dry, with higher energy density than whole foods (1000-1500 calories/lb.) Baking was never central part of Indian cuisine. Most traditional Indian homes had stoves, but not ovens.

Roots

Roots and tubers are ideal foods. Unlike fresh produce, they are available year round outside the tropics. Because are energy storage for plants, they can be quite large. (Contrast to grains and seeds, which are small.) They don’t require chasing down, just dig them up and eat. Roots and tubers are important because they keep very well. When stored in a cool, dry place they can keep through the winter.

Roots are often a base ingredient for stews and broths. There is always a pot of onions slowly browning in many Indian kitchens.

Weekly

root
potatoes	3 months	5 lbs	optional
carrots	2 weeks	2 lbs	optional
onions	3 months	5 lbs	essential

Onion: Common; not green onions. (Rice Flakes, Pilafs) Possibly native to Middle East (Palestine, Egypt) or central Asia (Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan).

Carrot: Uncommon. Occasionally with peas and carrots in pilafs. (Carrot Rice, Pilafs) Wild carrots are widely distributed in Europe and parts of Asia. Possibly native to Afghanistan.

Potato: Common. (Rice Flakes?) Native to Peru and Bolivia. Sweet potato and yams are uncommon in Indian recipes, which prefer the very common Russet potato.

Roots generally keep one month. So I shop every 2 weeks for a 2 week supply. Shopping for one person, I bring home 15 lbs roots every two weeks, depending on what’s left in the root basket. Usually 10 lbs onions and 5-10 lbs potatoes. (I typically use more onions than potatoes, though sometimes that reverses.) That’s two paper bag (10#) or three plastic bags (5#).

Of the total 4 lbs per person per day, I plan for 25% roots daily. I plan for 1 lb roots daily, which will usually be cooked.

Produce

Produce is fresh fruits and vegetables, which are seasonal. Only in the tropics are fruits and vegetables available year round. Plants protect themselves with antioxidants and chemical defenses. Fruit and vegetables keep fresh as long as their supply of antioxidants and chemicals. We are able to eat many of these plants despite their chemicals. The variety of chemical defenses we taste as flavors. Flowering plants trade their fruits to animals in exchange for seed mobility. Fruits are sweet to attract animals and us. But they are only sweet when their seeds are ready. Tomatoes, peppers and eggplant are all actually fruits.

Leafy vegetables generally keep only a few days. Soft fruit also spoils quickly. Hard fruit (apples) and citrus fruit can keep for weeks. Some fruits can be dried, and kept and used like spices. Raisins and shredded coconut dry and keep well.

Vegetables are often the feature ingredients for stews and broths. Their seasonal freshness provides color and taste variety to the root bases and staple foods. Fresh vegetables are often prepared as raw salads, since most can be simply eaten without soaking or cooking. Fresh fruit often sweetens dishes, especially salads, and also makes simple snacks.

Daily (2x week)

fresh
red pepper	1 week	1 lb	optional
tomatoes	1 week	2 lbs	essential
eggplant	1 week	1 lb	optional
cooking fruit
lemons	2 weeks	1 lb	essential
limes	2 weeks	1 lb	optional
plantains	2 weeks	1 lb	optional
dry fruit
raisins	6 months	1 lb	essential
shredded coconut	6 months	0.5 lb	essential
snack fruit
oranges	2 weeks	1 lb	optional
bananas	1 week	1 lb	essential
mango	1 week	1 lb	essential

Produce is fresh fruits and vegetables and generally keeps one week. So I shop twice a week for 3-4 days supply. Shopping for one person, I bring home 8 lbs fresh fruits and vegetables twice a week. That’s one paper bag (10#) or two plastic bags (5#).

Of the total 4 lbs per person per day, I plan for 50% fresh fruit and vegetables daily. I plan for 2 lbs fresh fruit and vegetables daily, of which 1 lb will be uncooked (salads, snacks) and 1 lb cooked. (The other 2 lbs is staple grains and roots.) Fresh herbs, found with produce at the grocer, are included with spices.

Spices

Spices commonly refers to aromatics, herbs and spices used in seasoning. Briefly, aromatics are roots; herbs are soft green leaves and stems, usually fresh; and spices are dry seeds, nuts, fruits and barks. Herbs and aromatics keep days and weeks, but dry spices keep months and years, and have been traded around the world.

India is located at the center of trade routes on the Indian Ocean, between the Middle East and Europe to the west, and Indonesia and China to the east. Indian merchants on the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, similar to Italian merchants on the Mediterranean, introduced and supplied India with spices from both the East and West.

India is known for its spices, and provides many examples to learn and practice seasonings. Spices let us choose a varieties of tastes, instead of just fat and salt. From sauces to pickles to preserved cheeses and meats, it’s the seasonings, from roots, leaves, seeds, fruits and barks, all plants, that distinguish and provide signature flavorings to our favorite ingredients. Spices can add flavor to our everyday cooking.

There is mystery and secret in learning spices. Products often keep their seasonings secret, with ingredients listing bases like onion, garlic and ginger, and including the rest of seasonings as just spices.  Ingredients are ordered by volume, but measures are never given. Learning to blend pastes and roast and grind spices creates the almost magical potions and powders of cooking. The amounts are small, and often mixed and ground together into a single ingredient, a spice mix. I think of spice mixes, prepared for each dish, as a single ingredient.

dry herb
bay leaf	1 year	5	essential
fresh herb
garlic	1 month	2	essential
ginger	1 month	1	essential
cilantro leaf	3 days	1	essential
curry leaf	1 week	1	optional
ground spice
red pepper	1 year	12	essential
turmeric	1 year	1	essential
sea salt	1 year	1	essential
paprika	1 year	3	optional
whole spice
coriander seed	1 year	14	essential
cumin seed	1 year	3	essential
black pepper corns	1 year	2	essential
brown mustard	1 year	12	optional
green cardamom	1 year	2	optional
cinnamon	1 year	1	optional
cloves	1 year	1	optional

ESSENTIAL HERBS (5)

Garlic: Aromatic

Ginger: Aromatic. Native to China.

Bay Leaf: Bay leaf is a strong leaf, used as base seasoning in stews and broths in North India as wells as Middle East and Europe. South India prefers curry leaves.

Coriander Leaf / Cilantro: Adds bitter finish. Cilantro is used as finish for salads, sauces and stews, similar in function to parsley in European and Middle East.

Lemon (Lime): Lemon Rice. Adds sour and fruity taste. Lemon juice is used as dressing for salads and finish in stews, similar in function to vinegars.

OPTIONAL HERBS (1)

Curry Leaf: Lemon Rice. Native to South India and Asia. Curry leaf is a strong leaf, used as base seasoning in stews and broths, similar in function but different taste and aroma to bay leaf in Europe and Middle Eastern and Northern India.

ESSENTIAL SPICES (6)

Sea Salt: Rice. A pinch and no more is all that’s needed to make the difference between plain and tasty.

Black Pepper: Pilaf. Black pepper is native to India, and along with cumin, garlic and ginger, provides basic heat.

Turmeric: Pilafs. Aromatic like garlic and ginger. Gives brown rice a nice yellow color. Turmeric is a yellow root related to ginger. Commonly used in small quantities in everything.

Cumin Seed: Common. Used similar to black pepper. Often paired with coriander. Native across Middle East (Egypt), grown across Europe, Middle East and Asia.

Coriander Seed: Coriander is native to India, and grown across Europe, Middle East and Asia.

Red Chili Pepper (Cayenne Pepper): Native to America; paired with black pepper and cumin for extra heat.

OPTIONAL SPICES (4)

While common today, these spices are native to Indonesia (Spice Islands).

Brown Mustard Seed: Lemon Rice. Mustard seed is grown across Europe, Middle East and Asia. India uses brown mustard.

Green Cardamom: Eggplant Biryani, Biryanis. Cardamon is native to Middle East.

Cinnamon: Rice Flakes, Eggplant Biryani, Biryanis. Cinnamon is the bark of a tree. Native to Sri Lanka.

Cloves: Eggplant Biryani, Biryani. Native to Indonesia (Spice Islands).