Fruit Chaat Recipe (Indian Spicy Fruit Salad)

Contrary to what one would think, fruit chaat is not your average fruit salad, and it's not served as a dessert. It's a savory snack. Several types of fruits are chopped up and mixed together, then seasoned with Indian spices such as chili powder, ground cumin and salt. For fruit chaat, bananas and oranges are a must; today I also added apples, grapes, apricots and mangoes, but you could combine any other fruits that are in season.

The first time I tasted it, my brain was expecting sweet flavors but my palate kept getting a savory signal. The subtle spiciness and tanginess with hints of cumin makes the dish very tasty. Next time you have a dinner party, this dish could make a perfect, and addition to your menu.

Taro Root Korma Recipe

Taro korma is an Indian vegetable curry. The spicy gravy contains fried onion paste and yogurt and is flavored with ginger-garlic paste as well as several Indian spices. Taro pieces are fried till crispy, and then finish cooking in the curry paste. Taro is a very starchy ingredient that makes the gravy a lot thicker and denser when added.

Kormas can be either vegetarian or "non-veg" with any assortment of vegetables, fried cheese such as paneer, or meat such as goat korma. I came up with this dish for a very simple reason: there was a basket full of taro waiting to be cooked!  Taro root usually doesn’t keep for more than a week, and it will turn sour when it's mixed and stored in the freezer. Buy it close to when you’re ready to cook, and enjoy it. It’s definitely worth the effort.

Indian Salsa: Kachumber Recipe (Chop Chop Salad)

Indian meals are typically composed of a starch such as basmati rice or flat breads (naan, roti, paratha), a meat dish (or fish), a lentil dish such as kali dal,  crudité-style vegetables such as horseradish and cucumbers, raita, and of course kachumber.

So, you ask, what is kachumber? Kachumber, also spelled cachumbar or kachumbar, is often referred to as "chop chop salad". It's a blend of onions, chiles and raw vegetables with lemon juice and other spices. It looks very similar to regular salsa but with a lot more onions and a lot more heat. For regular salsa, there’s usually a tomato base, whereas in the Indian version, onion and lemon form the base of the flavor. It’s wonderfully refreshing, and really cuts through the heaviness of Indian dishes.

Sauteed Parsley Potatoes (Poelee Pommes de Terre)

In French, poêlée de pommes de terre aux fines herbes translates to "sautéed parslied potatoes". They are a cross between pommes rissolées, pommes parisiennes and Lyonnaise Potatoes. The potatoes are sliced, pan-fried then diced and sautéed in parsley oil.  The dish is complete in no time.

My favorite way to serve these kinds of potatoes is with a steak salad. I grill a tri tip sirloin steak, slice it thin and mix it with red oak leaves and a simple lemon and olive oil vinaigrette. This is probably one of my favorite meals of all times!

Quinoa and Brown Rice Side Dish Recipe

Cooking quinoa is as easy as cooking rice: count one part uncooked quinoa to 2 parts water. However, brown rice takes a little longer to cook, so I parboiled the brown rice first and then added the quinoa for the remainder of the cooking time. Since quinoa is pretty bland by itself, I added a little kick using a paste made from tomato paste and Serrano peppers.

The addition of grilled summer vegetables and garbanzo beans completed the meal. I served the quinoa and brown rice medley as a side dish with escalope de dinde (turkey scallopini).