Eat Out: Bouldin Creek Cafe, Austin, TX

It's hard to find a place in Texas which serves solely vegetarian food. So we were surprised when we stepped into Bouldin Creek Cafe and discovered that they served only vegetarian and vegan food. All happy, we set out to try what this place had to offer.

We had a Mexican Mocha (which was made from Mexican cocoa) and cappuccino which were refreshing.

 

Mexican Mocha

Cappuccino

My favorite dish was the Spicy Pesto Plate -  a chipotle pecan pesto (it was a spicy sauce which was yummy) served with grilled Ciabatta and sides of hummus and avacado.

Spicy Pesto Plate with Hummus & Avacado

We then ordered the Tamale breakfast (it had two tamale's, scrambled eggs, tortilla & salsa) and El Tipico (scrambled eggs, hashbrown, tortilla & salsa) and it was good. 

Tamale Breakfast & El Tipico Breakfast - Difference between the two is that one has potato tamale cakes and the other has potato hashbrowns.

The ambiance was lovely - the walls were covered with cool artwork and the building had graffiti on the walls outside. All in all, a lovely experience.

                

Eat Out: Ethiopian Cuisine

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food" - George Bernard Shaw

In my quest to try out various cuisines of the world, I bring to you my experience with the Ethiopian cuisine.

Ethiopia is a part of the African continent and its capital city is Addis Ababa. It is the main source of the longest river on earth - The Nile. Coffee originated in the Ethiopian Highlands. There is a legend that the Ethiopian goat herd, Kaldi, discovered coffee when his goats were energized by eating berries from a tree.

Taste Of Ethiopia, Pflugerville, TX:

My first experience with Ethiopian cuisine was at Taste of Ethiopia in Pflugerville, TX. It is one of the unique and traditional dining experience with a friendly staff.

Our table had a big plate in the center kept inside a woven basket called Mesob. In Ethiopian tradition, all the members of the family eat from the same plate which is a reflection of their love and bonding. We started off with appetizers - Spinach and Lentils Sambusa which was served with a hot sauce.

After we finished those, we ordered "The Ultimate Vegetatian Combo", which had many gravies which they call Wot (Gomen, Fesolia, Yemisisr Wot, Tikil Gomen, Ater Kik and Eggplant Wot). [We've tried the Veggie Firfir and Shiro Wot as well during out multiple visits after we fell in love with their food.] When our food arrived, the presentation that followed left us spellbound. It was classy. Injera which is a sourdough bread (looks like a dosa and made of Teff flour) was as big as the plate. It was placed inside the Mesob. Then all the Wots were presented in beautiful manner around the plate on top of the Injera. We had sides of additional Injera rolls. Injera's were to be eaten along with the wot and with our hands. It is a common custom to feed others in the group and this act of love and friendship is called gursha.

Next was desserts, we ordered Bakalava which was amazing. Bakalava is a layered dessert sweetened with syrup and filled with nuts. This is a common dessert among the cuisines of the Middle Eastern countries.

A visit to an Ethiopian restaurant cannot be complete without having their freshly brewed traditional coffee. They brew it fresh in a special clay pot called Jabena. A sip was all that was needed to transform me into a different world altogether.

All in all, an excellent experience. And ever since, we have been frequent visitors of the restaurant.

Bhende Phodi

Bhende Phodi is a Konkani dish which means "Okra Fry". It is a very simple dish and one of my favorite. Phodi is a word that refers to fry. You can replace Okra with other vegetables like Potato (Batata Phodi), Eggplant (Vaingana Phodi), capsicum, cauliflower, phagla etc.,

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Oil - 2 tsp
Rava - 1/2 cup
Red Chilly Powder - 2 tsp
Hing - a pinch
Salt
Okra - slit into half (other vegetables can also be used instead of Okra)

Preparation:

1. Mix red chilly powder, salt, hing and rava.
2. Roll over the Okra in the above mix
3. Once the pan heats up, spread some oil all over the pan, add the Okra to the pan and let it fry. 
4. After one side fries, add some oil on the top and turn it over. Make sure the okra fries on both sides.

Bhende Phodi is now ready to be served with rice (mixed with gravy).

The similar process can be done with any vegetables.

Below is the phagla (Teasel Gourd) phodi:

Bhende Roase

Bhende Roase is a Konkani dish which is served with rice. "Bhende" means Okra and "Roase" means sweet gravy. In Konkani cuisine, we have few dishes which are sweet and served as main course to be eaten along with rice. I was introduced to this awesome recipe by my Mom and I love eating it mixed with rice and with a side of pickle or anything spicy. The contrast of sweet and spicy makes this a perfect combo for a delicious meal.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Oil

Urad Dal

Fenugreek Seeds (Methi)

Mustard Seeds

Red Chillies

Curry Leaves

Hing

Green Chillies

Okra

Water

Salt

Jaggery

Coriander Seeds

Turmeric powder

Grated Coconut

Tamarind

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a vessel, add urad dal, fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds. 
2. Once the mustard seeds crackle, add red chilly, curry leaves, hing and green chilly.
3. Add Okra and fry it for few mins, then add water, salt and jaggery. Let the Okra boil in this mixture.
4. While the Okra is boiling, heat oil in another pan, add coriander seeds, red chillies, turmeric powder and tamarind. Once it is fried, add grated coconut. 
5. Grind the above mix with water and make it into a coarse paste.
6. Add this paste to the Okra mixture and let it simmer.

Enjoy the delicious Bhende Roase with rice.

Buns Bhaji

Buns Bhaji is a Konkani breakfast menu item popular in Goa and Mangalore. Buns looks like Puri's and are made from very ripe bananas which are often not consumable. It is usually served with aloo bhaji (potato curry) and coconut chutney.

Recipe:

Ingredients - For the Buns:

Ripe Bananas
Jaggery
Salt
Cumin seeds
Baking Soda
Wheat Flour
Water
Butter

Preparing the Buns:

1. Mash the ripe bananas, add jaggery, salt, cumin seeds, butter, baking soda and a little water.
2. Next add Wheat flour and knead it into a dough.
3. Roll them as you would for a puri (for buns, it can be thick). Deep fry it. 

Ingredients - For the Bhaji:

1. Heat oil in pan, add cloves, coriander seeds, cinnamon stick, red chilly and pepper balls. 
2. Add grated coconut. tamarind and salt.
3. Grind the above into a paste.
4. Heat oil in a pan, add onions. 
5. Once the onion cooks, add the potatoes.
6. Next add the ground paste with some water to the above mix.
7. Cover with a lid and continue until the potatoes are cooked.
8. Once cooked, garnish with coriander leaves.

Buns Bhaji is now ready to be served !!

Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji is a popular Mumbai street food. Pav comes from a Portuguese word for a small roll of bread whereas Bhaji in Marathi/Konkani refers to a curry.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
Vegetables (Potato, cauliflower, peas, beans, carrot, capsicum, eggplant, green chillies) - all chopped
Oil
Cumin Seeds
Onion - 1
Ginger & garlic - crushed
Turmeric powder
Food Color (red)
Green Chillies
Tomato - 1
Coriander powder
Amchur powder
Red chilly powder
Kasuri Methi
Hing
Butter
Coriander leaves
Water
Lemon juice


For the Bhaji:

1. Boil the vegetables until they become soft and mashy.
2. In a pan, add butter, cumin seeds and onions.
3. Once onions are cooked, add ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, green chillies and tomato.
4. Once the tomato is cooked, add coriander powder, amchur powder, red chilly powder. Add water to prevent the mixture from becoming dry.
5. Add Hing and Kasuri Methi.
6. Next add the boiled vegetables and mash them in the gravy.
7. Add butter and garnish with coriander leaves.
8. Add some food color to get a reddish color.

Serve hot with the pav fried in butter and a side of onions, sev and lemon.

Bisi Bele Bhath

Bisi Bele Bhath is one of the popular dish in Karnataka and it means "Hot Lentil Rice" in Kannada. This is often served hot with chopped onions, mixture and raita (or curd).

Recipe:

Ingredients:
Oil
Mustard Seeds
Cumin Seeds
Red Chillies (cut into small pieces)
Onion (chopped)
Tomato (chopped)
Green Chillies (chopped)
Curry Leaves (chopped)
Hing
Vegetables (Cauliflower, carrot & Beans - chopped)
Turmeric Powder
Toor Dal (soaked)
Rice (soaked)
Water
MTR Bisibele Bhath Masala
Tamarind Juice
Curd
Mixture

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a pan.
2. Add mustard seeds. 
3. Once it splutters add the cumin seeds, fry for few seconds and then add red chillies.
4. Next add onions and fry until it becomes slightly brown.
5. Add green chilly, curry leaves, hing and fry for few seconds.
6. Next add chopped vegetables, tomato, turmeric powder, soaked toor dal and soaked rice.
7. Add water and salt and pressure cook this. These should be thoroughly cooked and the dal should become mashy.
8. Once the above mix is completely cooked, add MTR Masala to the above mix.
9. Add tamarind Juice and mix well.

Garnish it with chopped onions and mixture and serve it hot with raita/curd.

Aloo Samosa

Samosa is one of the very popular snacks in India. But did you know that it actually originated in the Middle East where it was called as Sambosa? Well, now you know...
You can find a variety of samosa in different sizes, and it comes with different filling. I'm sharing one such recipe that I've tried at home which I loved a lot!!! Feel free to add your own variations to it.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Potatoes (boiled & mashed)

Oil

Cumin Seeds

Ginger (crushed)

Garlic (crushed)

Onions (chopped)

Green Chillies (chopped)

Turmeric Powder

Cumin Powder

Coriander Powder

Chilly Powder

Salt

Coriander Leaves (chopped)

Lemon Juice

Maida

Water

For the Filling:

1. Boil Potatoes until they become soft and mashy and keep it aside.
2. Take oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, chopped onions, crushed ginger, crushed garlic, chopped green chillies, turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, chilly powder, boiled potatoes, salt and coriander leaves. Mix it well.
3. Squeeze some lime juice into it.

For the Batter:

1. Take some maida, add salt, a bit of oil and water make it into a dough.
2. Next roll them into a round shape as you would for making a chapathi/puri.
3. Once round, cut it into half so now it looks like a semi circle.
4. Apply milk to the edges so that they stick together to form the code so you could stuff the filling in.
5. Make into codeshape and stuff the filling in it. 
6. Once the filling is stuffed in, close the open end. Make sure that all the sides are closed. We don't want the filling to directly get in touch with the oil.
7. Heat some oil in a pan and fry it until it become slight brownish.

Samosa's are now ready to be served with Ketchup. You could also serve it with chole in the form of samosa chaat.

Medhu Vada

Medhu Vada is a very popular South Indian Breakfast. This along with sambar and coconut chutney makes a perfect combination for a yummy breakfast.

Recipe:
Ingredients:
Urad Dal - 1 cup
Hing
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Salt
Green Chillies (chopped) - 4
Curry leaves (chopped) - 10
Onions (chopped) - 1/2
Oil
Water

Preparation:
For the Batter:

1. Soak Urad Dal for 6 hours.
2. Grind it the next morning with very little water as the batter needs to be very thick and coarse.
3. Add hing,cumin seeds, salt, green chillies, chopped curry leaves and chopped onions. Mix well for a few minutes. 

The batter is now ready.

For Frying:

1. Heat oil in a pan.
2. Wet your hands with water. This is to ensure that the batter doesn't stick to your hands. You could keep a bowl for doing this as you will need to keep wetting your hand for every vada. You can also use oil to grease your palms so that the batter doesn't stick.
3. Take a spoon of batter in your wet/greased hand, try to make it round with a hole in the center and release it into the oil. 
4. Deep fry it until it becomes golden brown.

Hot Vada's are now ready. Serve it with chutney and sambar.