15 Min

GF

Fig Yogurt Salad

This salad makes a great first course. The burn of the mustard oil plays beautifully with the cool creaminess of the saffron yogurt and the rich, sweet figs. The saffron needs time to infuse into the yogurt so it is best made the day before or at least a few hours before.

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Cook Time

15 Minutes

Serves

3

Directions

Step 1

Slice the figs in half and generously sprinkle with salt. Chill until ready to serve.

Step 2

Stir the yogurt with the saffron, ground cumin, and salt and set it aside, preferably overnight.

Step 3

Just before serving, smear the yogurt onto a plate. Arrange the figs on top and scatter the minced serrano peppers around.

Step 4

Heat the mustard oil and pop the mustard seeds. Spoon this over the figs and yogurt. Tuck the mint leaves and walnuts in and around the figs.

Notes & Variations

Add Prosciutto to the salad or lemon zest for a bright, citrus note.
Use coconut yogurt instead of regular for a vegan version.

Ingredients

8 to 10 figs

1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt

Scant pinch of saffron

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

2 pinches of sea salt

2 tablespoons mustard oil

1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds

1/2 small serrano pepper, minced

10 to 12 mint leaves

2 tablespoon walnuts

Step 1

Slice the figs in half and generously sprinkle with salt. Chill until ready to serve.

Step 2

Stir the yogurt with the saffron, ground cumin, and salt and set it aside, preferably overnight.

Step 3

Just before serving, smear the yogurt onto a plate. Arrange the figs on top and scatter the minced serrano peppers around.

Step 4

Heat the mustard oil and pop the mustard seeds. Spoon this over the figs and yogurt. Tuck the mint leaves and walnuts in and around the figs.

8 to 10 figs

1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt

Scant pinch of saffron

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

2 pinches of sea salt

2 tablespoons mustard oil

1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds

1/2 small serrano pepper, minced

10 to 12 mint leaves

2 tablespoon walnuts

Notes & Variations

Add Prosciutto to the salad or lemon zest for a bright, citrus note.
Use coconut yogurt instead of regular for a vegan version.

Tags:

15 Min

Stock Your Pantry

Saffron Box (with Saffron)

$50

Crafted brass box with saffron.

Saffron Box

$40

Crafted brass box to store saffron or anything you wish!

Essential Masala Dabba

$235

A handmade spice box containing red chile, turmeric, black pepper, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, amchur and garam masala.

Tags:

15 Min

Stock Your Pantry

Saffron Box (with Saffron)

$50

Crafted brass box with saffron.

Saffron Box

$40

Crafted brass box to store saffron or anything you wish!

Essential Masala Dabba

$235

A handmade spice box containing red chile, turmeric, black pepper, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, amchur and garam masala.

That's mint.

We can assure you'll feel like a million bucks after trying these recipes. Go on!

THESE ARE MINT CONDITION

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120 Min

GF

Roasted Turnip Salad

When Harukei turnips are in season during spring-time we try to find many ways to eat them however one of the best way to coax flavor out of them is to roast them.

60 Min

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Satsuma Paneer Salad

Enjoy it as a light lunch or serve it as a last course in lieu of dessert.

20 Min

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Shaved Brussels, Cucumber & Mango Salad

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30 Min

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Skillet Pear & Dandelion Salad

This salad is the perfect showcase for the aromatic magic of popping coriander seeds and is best-eaten warm, served immediately off the skillet.

20 Min

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NF

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Spring Farm Salad

The keys in making this salad is first, finding a shallow bowl that will fit the entire head of lettuce and next, to keep the shape of the lettuce head as intact as possible while making the salad.

20 Min

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Starfruit Sprout Salad

I have now made this salad at home repeatedly, with different combinations. Just like mine, I hope this becomes a refrigerator fixture in your home.

30 Min

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Sunchoke Salad

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25 Min

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Texas Summer Kale Salad

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25 Min

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Tomato Avocado Salad

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80 Min

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Warm Orange Glazed Hakurei Turnip Salad

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15 Min

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GF

V

Watermelon Arugula Corn Salad

During the middle of hot Texas summers it is time for cooling salads, fragrant dressings and chilled watermelon.

20 Min

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Watermelon Avocado Salad

No recipe needed, just follow your senses. I hope you get the picture.

25 Min

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Winter Citrus Salad

A layered citrus salad in the winter, especially using nice oranges like Cara cara or blood oranges can be a great start to a meal. They can also be served after dinner posing as a salad cum dessert! Variations are limitless – it’s all in the art of the composition so have some fun with it.

30 Min

Asparagus Goat Cheese Cakes with Mango

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30 Min

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GF

V

Braised Brussels Sprouts

Brassicas like cauliflower and brussels sprouts are essential to our diet to get natural doses of disease fighting vitamins, minerals and phtyochemicals. These are some of the most nutritionally dense vegetables and adding spices like ajwain, amchur or ginger can offset the bloating and stomach pain that can often accompany their delicious flavors.

30 Min

GF

Chicken Pakora with Mint Chutney

Pakoras are the quintessential fritters of India, and after a long day of fasting make for a substantial and delicious starter.

10 Min

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NF

Cooling Mint Lassi

Lassi is a traditional spiced yogurt drink from India prepared in homes and sold in street stalls. The most basic ones are the sweet lassi with sugar and ground cardamom and the salty lassi with cumin and salt.

45 Min

GF

NF

Corn Mint Chaat

As we said our final goodbye to Indika, the restaurant I opened in 2001, this past week, I was reminiscing about Corn Mint Chaat, a popular summer salad. Renditions of street food from India, with magical combinations of fresh vegetables and aromatic herb-infused sweet, spicy and savory chutneys with crunchy tidbits in almost any form — and sometimes turned on its head into a salad — bring on tastes that make most of us transplants from India swoon. One of the unusual flavors common to chaat is black salt, a sulfurous salt native to India. It smells funky (imagine boiled egg aroma), appears pink but turns blackish when it hits food or water and is absolutely delicious on chaats. Over the years, I have experimented with dozens of chaat combinations — from using potato or tortilla chips for crunch to grilled kale and basil leaves for herbs — but making one is no easy task. However, here is a take on the corn mint chaat that may be relatively easy to execute at home.

25 Min

DF

NF

V

Garbanzo Stuffed Paratha

Stuffed parathas are the stuff of breakfast dreams for North Indians – Punjabis love the cauliflower and daikon stuffing, the Sindhis love the potato and lentil.

75 Min

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V

Garden Rolls

There are a variety of Asian-type rolls, most of which originate from China. However, my favorite are the fresh spring rolls native to Vietnam. I love that they are rice-paper wrapped and not fried, and as far as filling goes, pretty much anything works. Traditionally made with chicken, pork or shrimp and vermicelli, I love stuffing them with a mixture of raw and cooked vegetables with lots of herbs for fragrance and flavor. When picking vegetables, make sure they are cold when you are ready to make the rolls. It does take a bit of expertise to make them — at first, I was making lumpy, awkwardly shaped rolls with vegetables sticking out. They still tasted good, and my family happily ate them up. It took some time and practice to get them to look uniform — the key is not to overstuff them and pack the vegetables in tight when rolling.

45 Min

GF

V

Green Pea Lentil Cutlets

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45 Min

DF

GF

V

Heirloom Tomato Dal

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15 Min

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GF

V

Jain Cabbage Salad

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15 Min

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Mint Coconut Chutney

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10 Min

DF

GF

V

Mint Walnut Chutney

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90 Min

GF

Purple Potato Chaat Salad

Chaat — a family of roadside salty, sweet, tangy and crunchy snacks in India — come in many sizes, shapes and flavors. After leaving India, this is the food I missed most and, over time, taught myself how to make versions of it. These days, I can pretty much turn anything into a chaat if I just have the right sauces, which usually comprise of a creamy yogurt sauce flecked with cumin, a bright herby cilantro chutney or just a handful of herbs and something sweet — perhaps diced mango or peaches, or just a dash of sugar. The crunch can come via crushed nuts, tortilla or potato chips. Top it off with a sprinkle of black salt and roasted crushed cumin seeds and there you have a chaat.

60 Min

DF

GF

V

Roasted Brussels Sprouts on the Stalk with Mint Chutney

Roasted Brussels sprouts on the stalk make for a delicious and dramatic splash on the dinner table. Originating in Brussels, Belgium, these tiny cruciferous wild cabbages have gained tremendous popularity in the United States. I have prepared them a dozen different ways and continue playing with new ideas. Though standard restaurant fare is to deep-fry the sprouts and douse them with a spicy sweet sauce, roasting them with aromatic spices such as cumin or coriander and herbs such as mint or oregano is far easier and tastier.

10 Min

GF

Roasted Oyster Mushrooms with Corn Raita

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20 Min

GF

Simple Smoked Eggplant

Eggplants are wonderful and versatile ~ they satisfy the meaty urge, taste good cold and can be seared, broiled, braised or smoked. During my years as the chef-owner of Indika restaurant in Montrose in Houston, I was forced to rein in an eggplant obsession when a cook pointed out that we had eggplant nine different ways on the menu - from pakora to pickle to raita. When it is eggplant season, there are plenty of varieties on farm-stand tables at local farmer’s markets. So, ignore the nightshade naysayers and cook this supremely simple smoked eggplant. Eat it with steamed rice or a roti. Or spread it on a warm toast the next morning and enjoy it for breakfast!

20 Min

DF

GF

V

Spring Pea Pilaf

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60 Min

DF

GF

V

Stuffed Roasted Karela

A common staple in my kitchen — and one I have been trying to bring attention to for years — is the incredible bitter melon, aka karela. For the most part, folks hear the word “bitter” and shy away. I understand. For years as a kid, I did, too. In fact, I have memories of sitting at the dinner table trying to eat it with tears streaming down my eyes as my parents lectured me on why it was a necessary part of our diet. As an adult, I have come to love it, not just for its tremendous capacity to cleanse our blood sugar and keeping our skin glowing but also for its flavor. Karela holds up well to spices and pairs beautifully with naturally sweet vegetables such as butternut squash, sweet potato or corn. However, cooking it can be tricky if the bitterness is not balanced with a brine or a marinade. Don’t be afraid to use a generous amount of olive oil or another fat to bring out the flavor of this stuffed karela.

120 Min

NF

Tomato Focaccia

Many years ago, a friend and an expert German baker in Houston gave me a lesson in breadmaking. Within a matter of a few hours, while trading food secrets and stories, I watched him transform flour, water, yeast and a few other ingredients into crispy, delicious focaccia.

20 Min

GF

NF

Tomato Mint Raita

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150 Min

DF

GF

V

Tomato Red Bean Khichri

There are many ways to amp up khichri and create a whole meal out of one. This recipe highlights the fresh cherry tomatoes of summer.

30 min

NF

Tomato Ricotta Toast

Eating cooling foods such as yogurt and watermelon in the summer and warming foods — think peppers and squashes — in the winter is one of the most fundamental tenets of Ayurveda. It’s what keeps our digestive fire under control. However, when warming foods such as gorgeous heirloom tomatoes appear in the summer, the best way to eat them is to combine them with cooling foods including yogurt, ricotta or fennel seeds. The season for tasty, sweet heirloom tomatoes is short — enjoy them while you can. Once summer gets hotter, and we know it will, local tomatoes will be gone. This tomato ricotta masala packs a bit of heat with the Calabrian chiles but will keep in your refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. Smear it on a piece of toast or waffle for breakfast or place small dollops on cucumber slices for an appetizer.

30 Min

GF

Black Mission Figs with Butter & Sesame

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20 Min

DF

GF

V

Beet Mushroom Salad

Salads with an element of something warm and freshly cooked are so much more exciting than cold salads.

90 Min

GF

Beet Yogurt Salad

The earthiness of the beets pairs well with the creaminess of the yogurt and cheese.

150 Min

Bihari Ghugni Salad

Ghugni refers to a preparation with black chickpeas, as a snack or a curry. Here, as a salad, it makes a wonderful little starter or snack.

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