Tamil Ven Pongal - Peasant but Divine :)
Pongal is a harvest festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu and dedicated to the Sun God. Intrinsically pagan, it is a four day festival that marks the celebration of everything related to agriculture. The day celebrating the harvest itself is celebrated throughout the country but the other days are unique to the Tamils. The word ‘pongal’ means boiling over and many of the offerings of this festival involve just that - from milk to new rice.
We typically make sweet and savory offerings to our Gods and on this day, it is typically two different rice dishes, akin to sweet and savory puddings/porridge - chakkarai pongal (jaggery-rice pudding) and ven pongal (white pongal or rice-lentil porridge. The savory version, I love!
Time for Soup! Broccoli and Sweet Potato with Cheddar Sour Cream
Cream of broccoli soup has a particular special place in my heart. I did not grow up eating soups and my first soup like dish was a ramen, which, is not the same as the creamy soups of the Western half of the world. The first time I had ‘soup’ soup was when I moved to NYC, in the company cafeteria, on a cold Winter day - Cream of Broccoli. It was cream of broccoli. It was delicious. Mass-made and self-served with packet oyster crackers, yet delicious! And, I distinctly remember wondering how they creamed broccoli! LOL.
Lime and Pear Muffins
Pears with Citrus is the thing for the cold. One is comforting while the other refreshes. This recipe calls for lime as it balances the sweetness of pears with its tart acidity better than any other citrus cousin. But, you can easily use orange or lemon zest in its place if you find lime too strong a flavor!
These are great bites for breakfast and will last up to a week when stored in sealed containers, on the counter.
Quick Meal - Gnocchi with Shrimp in Harissa Sauce
The thing in this dish is really the garlicky harissa sauce that gives it the warmth that otherwise is the domain of a cheese sauce. Smashed garlic and generous teaspoon of harissa slowly infuses the oil in which the shrimp is cooked and then add pasta and arugula blanched in the pasta water and you are gold!
Curried Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie
To twist out of the traditional dishes but yet embrace the warmth of the flavors of the cuisine, I often incorporate the basics into an international dish. Like this one. Shepherd’s pie is a favorite comfort food. The British/American version is typically heavy on the meat and perhaps just meat in the base layer. The Irish version, that I honestly prefer, has a lot of finely diced vegetables mixed in (for economic reasons obviously). And, now my Indian version takes that up another notch and go all out vegetarian!