Cafe Liz
Kosher vegetarian recipes from my kitchen in Tel Aviv
Okra coconut curry
October 29, 2009 at 1:00 am | Tags: coconut, eggplant, okra, parve, vegan
Tucked away in the recesses of the Carmel Market is a guy who caters to the Thai workers, selling all sorts of weird vegetable delights — bumpy gourds, eggplants smaller than olives, yucca roots, foot-long green beans and massive okra, not to mention greens that even he can’t identify. But for now, we’re going to concentrate on the okra — so-called Indian okra.
Local okra tends to be small, like narrow acorns, what we know as the “baladi” kind — an Arabic word that translates usefully as “local.” Now, the problem with okra is that it has to be trimmed, and when you’re dealing with baladi okra, that means nipping the hat off each and every one, when each pod yields only one bite. You can imagine the attraction of the Indian okra — fat, sleek and green, each one as long as my hand.
So, I picked up a handful, about 250 grams, at 20 shekels a kilo. I wanted to do something so special with it that it wound up sitting in my fridge for a week and a half. I had a vague idea of cooking it in coconut, as a curry of sorts. Finally, faced with the prospect of my beautiful okra going brown, I had to give it a go. This is what came out — a relatively simple dish with far fewer spices than most southeast Asian curries. For good measure, I threw in a handful of the itty bitty eggplants I got as well (there they are, in the photo). Continue reading Okra coconut curry…
Mom’s challah
October 21, 2009 at 12:00 pm | Tags: bread, holiday, parve
I’m not entirely sure where my mom got this recipe, but I got it from her. It’s a surefire way to impress at a Friday night dinner. It has this warm, yeasty flavor in the hours after it’s baked that dissipates as the hours pass, turning it back into just another regular bread (very good bread, nonetheless). Oh, and it’s downright massive.
It’s also quite forgiving. Last time I made it, I let my dough rise too much the second time around, and the challah became bloated and shapeless, and threatened to take over my oven. So I punched it down, braided it again and let it rise for a third, shorter time.
If you’re not making this for a religious celebration, you could just make little knots of dough. That would be good, too. Continue reading Mom’s challah…
Chai ice cream
October 14, 2009 at 11:00 am | Tags: chai, dairy, dessert, ice cream, tea
The mix of spices in this ice cream may not be the definitive recipe for masala chai — if there even is such a thing — but it produces a taste that I associate with the Indian tea, and is quite good. The light brown demarara sugar rounds out the flavor with a light molasses kick. Now, let’s enjoy some ice cream while it’s still warm. Continue reading Chai ice cream…
Coconut curry lentils
October 1, 2009 at 8:00 pm | Tags: coconut, curry, lentil, parve, soup, vegan
Coconut cream makes lentil stew a little bit less good for you, but a lot better tasting. However, I sprouted my lentils, which makes them a little bit better for you — I figure it fully counterbalances the coconut.
Anyway, I’m not seriously concerned about a bit of extra fat. Coconut milk gives this otherwise simple lentil stew a creamy, even sweet taste, and certainly makes it more fun to eat. Continue reading Coconut curry lentils…
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