Mystery of Korarima

Are the Korarima spice used in Ethiopian cuisine the same as the Badi Elaichi(large cardamon, बड़ी इलाइची)? The seeds resemble and there is an overlap in the aroma, but not entirely identical. I am sure I will eventually find the answer, but for now I know that the Ethiopians grind the seeds of the korarima and use in making different types of wots. The picture below shows the seeds of korarima:

In contrast, the black cardamom is mostly used in meat dishes in India as far as I know. The picture below shows the black cardomom and its seeds:

Here I compare the seeds of korarima and black cardamom, they have the same shape and size, however there is a subtle difference in aroma. My suspicion is that they are related but they are different.

Korarima(upper left), Black Cardomom from India(lower right)

Kik Alicha (Split Pea Stew)

Kik Alicha is a delicious and nutritious Ethiopian food that is very simple to cook.

Ingredients:

Kik (Split Pea or Chana Daal in Hindi) 

Two medium onions and four garlic cloves.

Ethiopian Turmeric(Amharic: Urdh) [I still need to confirm if this is turmeric alone, I feel there are other ingredients.]

Recipe: 

Saute the chopped onions in olive oil(or sunflower oil) along with garlic. Cook until the onions are browned, about 10 minutes or so. Add the split peas(1 Cup, washed and drained) and two teaspoons of the turmeric, and one and a half teaspoon of salt(or according to taste). Add three cups of water and cook at medium flame. Keep stirring intermittently. You may have to add additional water along the cooking process, one to two cups of water. 

Kik Alicha: Enjoy with Injera

Reducing Cooking Time using Pressure Cooker

Add one cup of kik/chana dal along with two cups of water to a pressure cooker. I use Kuhn Rikon 5 liter pressure cooker. Raise the heat to maximum and bring to full pressure, second ring or 14 psi. Reduce the heat to low and set the timer to 3 minutes! It took me a while to come up with that time, the first few attempts at cooking for 10 minutes were a disaster and the kik turned into a mush. Stir the mixture and add it to the sauteed onions(the initial steps are the same as described above) and cook it for another few minutes. This step saves a considerable amount of cooking time and gives equally wonderful results.  
 

One cup kik and two cups of water

Ready in 3 minutes!

Simple Juice Recipe

Here is a simple recipe for making a delicious juice out of ingredients that are all currently in season. If you don't like the intense flavor of the beet, you can cut back to half the size of the beet shown in the picture below. The lemons in the picture are Meyer lemons, a bit on the green side. I tossed everything whole in to the juicer, which meant the juicing took only a few minutes.

Ingredients: Apples, Carrots, Beet, and Meyer lemons. Enough for two people. 

Fall fruits in California

Here are my three favorite fall fruits that are at their peak:

Pomegranates: Select ones that are heavy for their size. I prefer the ones that are cracked or partially open, ensuring that they were allowed to fully ripen on the tree.

Concord Grapes: They have an intense, bold flavor that mirrors drinking port wine. However, they do have seeds, which makes them less popular, but in my opinion nothing comes close to these grapes.

Fuyu Persimmons: You can eat these even when they are hard like an apple, which is not the case with the Hachiya variety that have to be allowed to ripen at home until they turn extremely soft.

Misr or Malka with Rice (Pink Lentils with Rice, Khichri)

This is a new simple recipe that is inspired by Ethiopian ingredients and Indian Khichri. It is probably one of the fastest meal that I can make and I often will cook it when I don't have time. I am praying that the Ethiopian Gods will let me take their ingredients and create something simple and different. You will need to use a pressure cooker for this recipe.

Ingredients: 

• Misr, Malka, or Pink Lentils: 1/2 cup
• Arborio Rice: 1/2 cup
• Water: 2.5 cups
• Berbere: 2 teaspoons
• Oil: 3 teaspoons sunflower, regular olive oil(yellow one), or mustard oil.

Recipe:

• Place the pressure cooker with the oil over medium heat for few minutes. 
• Add two teaspoons of berbere and stir with a wooden spoon.
• Wash the rice and malka and strain the water.
• Add the rice and malka to the pan, and stir the ingredients for a few minutes.
• Add the water to the ingredients, the pan should make a bit of a sizzling noise.
• Increase the flame to high and bring the pressure to first ring (7 bar), reduce the flame to low.
• Set timer to 5 minutes, and turn off the flame and remove the pressure cooker from the stove.
• Let the pressure drop. The meal is ready to serve, just add Niter kibbe(Ethiopian spiced butter).
• Total cooking time: 10 to 12 minutes.

Heat the rice and lentils with the spices for a few minutes.

 

Add the water and close the pressure cooker.

 

Here you can see the two rings, the first one is 7 bar and the second is 14 bar. Cook at first ring. The pressure cooker in the picture is 5-liter Duromatic Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker.

 

Served with Niter Kibbe(Ethiopian Spiced Butter)

Fresh Anchovies

My experience with anchovies was limited to the canned variety that have so much salt that I didn't really know how fresh anchovies are supposed to taste. I stumbled upon them at the fish stand at the Old Oakland Farmer's Market. The Pacific Ocean near San Francisco is full of amazing delicious seafood, but it is very difficult to find fresh catch straight from the ocean. The anchovies were fresh and were caught in the Monterey Bay, they simply looked amazing. They were inexpensive, I paid $5 for 3 lbs of fish!

Cleaning: Use a sharp pointed knife, I use a boning knife that has a sharp end, to cut a slit along the bottom side of the fish and scoop out the guts. I use a 1/8 teaspoon to scoop out the contents, and then rinse the fish under cold water.

Preparation: I put the anchovies in a stainless steel mixing bowl, added olive oil, salt, and chopped garlic and mixed them. Afterwards, I spread them on a baking sheet and baked them in the oven at 350 Fahrenheit for 6 minutes. They taste buttery and delicious. The bones are fairly soft and you can easily eat the sides bones, even the main bone is fairly soft and can be eaten. It is unlikely that I am ever going to eat canned anchovies again.

Padron Peppers

Padron are mild delicious peppers that are perfect for an appetizer. They are easy to prepare, saute them in olive oil and add some salt.

 Fresh padron peppers

 Half way through the cooking process

Misir Wot (Ethiopian Lentil Stew)

I finally managed to successfully make Misir Wot which is an Ethiopian dish made with pink lentils. Pink lentils are a nutritional powerhouse, 26% by weight protein, 30% dietary fiber by weight, and high in thiamine, folate, and iron. It is one of my favorites and is very easy to make. It also tastes amazing and I can practically eat it every day. Here is the list of ingredients (You can find these at Yagerbet Market, 2412 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, the lady there barely speaks English so please be patient):

• Pink Lentils (1.5 cups)
• Two medium sized onions
• Sunflower oil(four tablespoons approximately)
• Two medium sized tomatoes
• Four cloves of garlic
• Three tablespoons of berbere
• Salt (about two teaspoon, berbere has salt but I needed a little bit extra)
• Water: about five cups
• Niter kibe (spiced Ethiopian butter)

 Pink Lentils

Niter Kibe(Ethiopian spiced butter)

 Berbere (Ethiopian Spice Mix)

Recipe: Add about 3/4 cup of water to a pot and bring to boil, dice the onions and add them to the boiling water, and cook until the water has completely evaporated. This step is radically different from what most recipes will say, I got this suggestion from an Ethiopian friend. Once the onions are cooked, add oil, and also chopped garlic. Cook until the onions are brown. Chop the tomatoes finely and add along with the onions. Cook until the water from the tomatoes is completely evaporated. I keep the pot covered during this time to speed up the cooking of tomatoes, but you do have to stir the contents to make sure they don't stick to the base of the pot. You are done when the oil starts to separate.

Add berbere and mix and cook with the onions and tomatoes for about a minute or so, it will turn in to a thick red paste. Add the lentils, and two cups of water, cover and cook on medium heat while stirring intermittently. Keep adding water as the lentils soak the water and cook and swell. You will need about five cups of water, but pay attention to the consistency of the stew. It needs to be somewhat thick. Serve with injera and enjoy this healthy and delicious meal.

Misir Wot

Bottle Gourd/लौकी(Lauki)/葫子(huzi)

Thanks to my immigrant farmers, I can find some vegetables that are common in India, but hard to find in mainstream grocery stores here, the lauki is a good example. I bought these at the Oakland Chinatown farmers' market, they were fresh and perfect. Look for the young ones that are not too big.

I like to cook lauki from time to time to introduce some seasonal variety to my cooking. I peel it and then cut it in to small pieces. 

Saute one medium sized onion, garlic, and whole dried red chili peppers, add some cumin as well. Add three medium sized tomatoes and saute until the oil separates, add cumin, and turmeric, and the pieces of lauki. Add about two cups of water, and cook at medium heat for 15 minutes, lower the heat and cook for another 10 minutes or so, until the lauki is fully cooked. 

Eggs

The best eggs are to be found at the farmers' market, I like the eggs from Highland Hills Farm, and Kaki Farm. The eggs are two to three times more expensive than regular grocery stores, but they are the real deal. The yolk is bright orange(as it should be), and they taste like how eggs do in the rest of the world. You are paying for the fact that these eggs are the outcome of nature's natural rate of production, which is inherently less efficient, but produces a far superior product.

I boil the eggs for six and a half minute, I prefer a slightly runny yolk. I sprinkle them with Indian kala namak(literal translation: black salt, although it is pink in color!).  It turns black when you sprinkle it on the eggs, not sure what kind of a reaction is taking place. It is known to have trace amounts of iron sulfide and hydrogen sulfide, the latter is toxic in high concentrations, but the amount is pretty low in the black salt that it apparently does not pose any health risk. You can just use plain old iodized salt and skip this risky black salt business.

Little Thai Eggplants(बैंगन)

This is a simple recipe to cook the tiny round eggplants in an Indian karahi(wok). I have seen at least three different types of these eggplants, the pictures below show you the color and texture. The yellow one's are a bit sweeter than the green and the light purple ones. The Oakland Chinatown farmers market is a good place, these are mostly grown and sold by East Asian immigrant farmers.

I cut the eggplants in to small wedges as shown below. The pieces will retain their shape more or less when fully cooked and don't really need to be cut in to small pieces.

Add mustard oil to the karahi and heat it add medium flame. Add two teaspoons of coarsely crushed black cumin, followed by chopped garlic, and dried red chillies, I break them in to pieces by hand. I couldn't find ginger, but ginger would go well with this recipe. Add the onions and saute until they are brown, about 8 minutes or so. Add two medium tomatoes. Cook until the oil separates. Add the egg plant and stir everything.

Add turmeric(1 teaspoon), garam masala(1 and a half teaspoon), salt, and a pinch of crushed red pepper. Stir to mix in the spices, add a cup of water, and cover. Let it cook at medium heat for about 20 minutes, and lower the heat towards the end. Also, stir occasionally to make sure the eggplant does not stick at the bottom of the karahi.

Chai (चाय)

This is my version of a recipe to make chai that uses a combination of cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and Assam black tea. Assam tea is preferred for making chai because it is full bodied and does well when combined with milk and sugar. Darjeeling, which is a delicate tea, is better reserved for drinking by itself.

Ingredients:
2 and a quarter cup of water.
7 pods of green cardamom (छोटी इलाइची)
8 cloves (लौंग)
Two inch long sticks of cardamom (either Indian or African, they tend to be more aromatic) (दालचीनी)
Two teaspoons of loose leaf Assam tea (Ceylon tea works as well)

The Kalami Assam tea is a good option, it costs about $5 for a pound of tea, almost a fourth of the cost that you would pay for this type of loose tea at most places. It can be found at the Oasis Food Market in Oakland.

• Crush cardamom and cloves.
• Bring water to a boil.
• Add crushed cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon, along with tea.
• Brew for five minutes.
• Add milk and sugar that is appropriate to your taste.

 Enjoy!