Beet, Mung and Coconut Milk Stew with Dill Chapathi

Beets mmmmm. I've always loved beets as far back as I can remember. That sweet, wholesome flavor never fails to satisfy me. Last night I was about to make the usual Beet Sambar and Rice but then decided to concoct something new since I was craving Chapathis. It's a very simple recipe and I avoided using any extra spices because the slightly sweet flavors of the beets and coconut milk are delicious as they are.



Beet, Mung and Coconut Milk Stew

1/2 C Whole Mung Beans
2 Beets (cubed)
1 Package (200 ml) Coconut Milk (I like the Dabur Hommade brand)
1 t Oil
a pinch of Turmeric
Sambar Powder or Chilli Powder
Salt
1/4 t Tamarind Paste (optional)

Heat 2 C of water with the oil and turmeric added in. Bring it to a boil and add the mung beans, beets and a pinch of salt. Cook till the mung beans are soft (pressure cooking them together works best).

Mix in salt and sambar/chilli powder to taste and boil for a minute or so. Empty the whole pack of coconut milk in and stir, bring to boil and turn off flame. Stir in the tamarind paste if using and mix well.

This tastes delicious eaten by itself or with Chapathis.

Note: For the Dill Chapathi I used my regular Chapathi recipe with a few extras mixed into the dough - a pinch of turmeric, chilli powder and dried dill herb.

Spaghetti in Cilantro Tofu Pesto

Spaghetti is not my favorite kind of pasta. Well it's okay I guess but not as yum as Fusilli or Farfalle. The thing is, it doesn't have little hiding places which scoop up the sauce making each shell burst with flavor. But then a good Pesto can make even plain ol' Spaghetti taste delicious. And my motto is a simple one..."Cilantro makes everything taste yum!" It really does! :)



Spaghetti in Cilantro Tofu Pesto

Organic Wholewheat Spaghetti
Cilantro
Garlic
Green Chillies
Tofu
Oregano Seeds
Oil (I used Coconut Oil and it tasted good but Olive Oil would be even more yum)
Salt
Pepper

Note: All quantities can be adjusted according to taste.

Cook the Spaghetti in salted boiling water for about 7 minutes, switch off flame, cover and let it sit for another 10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Keep aside.

In a blender put 1/4 block of tofu (crumbled), a large handful of cilantro, a few cloves of garlic, green chillies and salt. Grind into a smooth paste adding a little water if required.

Chop some more garlic and cut the remaining block of tofu into cubes. Heat a few spoons of oil and add a dash of oregano seeds (omum). Add the chopped garlic and fry for a few seconds, add the tofu and toss gently till it's lightly browned on all sides. Add the blended cilantro paste, stir gently and cook for a few minutes.

Switch off the flame, add the cooked Spaghetti and mix well.

Serve hot with freshly crushed pepper on top.

Vegan Fusion Wrap

Chapaathi is an Indian whole wheat flatbread similar to Tortilla. Hummus is a Mediterranean dish made of Chickpeas. The Herbs used in the Brown Rice were an Italian mix. The Green Bell Peppers (Capsicum) were stir fried with Onion, Garlic and crushed Black Pepper East Asian style. The wrap itself is layered like a Burrito, Mexican style. And finally the splash of Ketchup adds a dash of America ;)

Why the seemingly unnecessary details? Just to show that when someone says Fusion Food, this is the kind of stuff they're referring to :)

Anyone can create delicious Fusion Food. As long as the flavors and textures involved compliment each other well. Take a bunch of traditional dishes from any cuisine, feel free to add your own twists ( when it comes to fusion, no one's looking for authentic anyways), put all of them together... et voila! You have perfectly nom nom Fusion Food.



Here's what my wrap contains...

Chapathi

2 C whole wheat flour
1 C okara (the remaining bean paste after soymilk has been made)
3 t coconut oil
salt

Put everything in a large mixing bowl and mix well.
Add a little water if required and knead into a soft, elastic dough.
Make little balls.
Roll with a rolling pin as flat as you can (dip in a plate of flour a few times in between rolling to avoid the dough from sticking to the rolling pin of board).
Cook on a pan on both sides.

Hummus - with a few twists

1 C dry chickpeas and red kidney beans
2 dry red chillies
2 t sesame oil
2 t coriander powder
3 cloves garlic
salt
freshly squeezed juice of 1 lime

Wash and soak the beans using the quick soak method*.
Drain the water completely, wash and add some more water.
Pressure cook with a teeny pinch of salt for 7-8 whistles and drain again.
Lightly toast the dry red chillies.
Add everything (except lime) in a blender.
Blend well into a smooth paste using as much water as required (be careful not to make it liquidy).
Squeeze lime juice and blend once more.

Stir Fried Capsicum

2 capsicums sliced
1 large onion sliced
3-4 cloves garlic minced
2 T coconut oil
freshly crushed whole black pepper
salt

Heat oil, add garlic and fry for a few seconds. Add the onion and stir fry on a high flame till translucent. Toss in the green bell pepper (sprinkle a pinch of sugar) and continue stir frying for a few minutes till soft. Add salt, stir once and switch off the flame. Cover and let it sit for a few minutes. Crush pepper over everything with a pepper mill and mix well.

Herbed Brown Rice

1 C brown rice
2 t coconut oil
1 T Italian dried herb mix (parsley, rosemary, oregano, thyme, basil)
salt

Wash rice well, place in a large pot with 3 cups of water and the rest of the ingredients.
Cook according to instruction on package.

Mix in the Stir Fried Capsicum with the Herbed Brown Rice.

THE WRAP

Place one Chapaathi on a plate.
Spoon Hummus over it and spread lightly in the center of the Chapathi.
Scoop some of the Brown Rice Capsicum mixture onto the Hummus.
Add a small splash of Ketchup.
Wrap.
Enjoy! :)

(I also put in a few small pieces of my Pickled Orange Peels in some of the wraps for added tang).

If you try your own Vegan Fusion Wraps I'd love it if you left me a comment here on how they turn out. Feel free to share your recipes too :)

Mitsy's Flickr Favorites Game

Joining in on the flickr mosaic game by Mitsy of Artmind. I had to find a bunch of my favorite pictures on flickr and create a mosaic out of them. Then create a blog post and submit the link to theArtmind blog.

I created my mosaic entirely out of one artist's pictures. Jennifer of jakrandomart takes beautiful and interesting pictures and I often like browsing through her collection.



1. Canon, 2. Wall, 3. Blue Jay, 4. Window, 5. Parlour Gallery, 6. Carousel house, 7. Centerpiece, 8. White Bicycle, 9. Orchids, 10. Art, 11. flower, 12. Earth Day Creature, 13. Tulips

Creating a Facebook Fan Page

If you belong to the Etsy community, you're most likely familiar with Timothy Adams of the Handmadeology fame. Yep, he's the guy who very generously shares loads of tips and information on how to market your products efficiently and successfully. He spends hours creating detailed tutorials and blog posts to help make things easy for etsy sellers. His most recent post was about how to make use of Facebook to market yourself, you can find it on his Etsy Secrets blog.

The blog post gives detailed information, complete with screenshots, on what information and applications to add to your Facebook Profile and Fan Page and how to further promote them.

After reading this post, Donna of Creative Treasures, a dear friend of mine who makes gorgeous lampwork and crystal jewelry had a couple of clarifications. Since she's very new to facebook and I live half my life on it, she approached me with a few questions, one of which was exactly how to make a Facebook Fan Page in the first place.

Inspired by Timothy's effort, I also decided to create a tutorial and share it here on my blog. It might not be as professionally done but it's basic, easy to use information and I hope it helps you create your own fan page on facebook.

You need to already have a facebook account to have a fan page. This page is different from your personal profile.

1. You start by adding an application called Pages. The easiest way to find a link to this application is by going to someone else's pre-existing fan page and finding the 'Create a page for my business' link. Here's a screen shot of  my Art by Susmitha Page. You can see that the link you're looking for at the bottom of the left hand column (click pic to see a larger version).

2. Add the application and you will be taken to the 'Create New Facebook Page' link where you enter the first bit of information.

3. Now your new, empty fan page has been created. Begin by clicking on the 'Edit Information' link.

4. Enter the basic and detailed information. Hit 'Save Changes' at the bottom and then 'Done Editing on top'.

5. Now you'll be taken back to your main page where you can add your website info and URL and also a profile picture of your logo or product. When you hover over the top right corner of the profile picture space, the edit icon will appear.

6.  After you've got your pic and URL info added, go on to edit the page by clicking 'Edit Page'.

7. This will take you to the Settings and Applications page. Make any adjustments you'd like here.

8. Then scroll to the bottom of the Settings and Applications page. Click on the edit icon at the corner of 'More Applications' and browse for more apps.

9. To add your Etsy Mini to your page do a search for 'my stuff' and click on the 'gigya my stuff' application and add it.

10. Go back to your page, click on the + sign next to the Wall, Info, Photos... tabs. Add the 'My Stuff' application to your tabs.

11. Follow the instructions and paste the flash version (larger code) of the code into the box (the java version cannot be added). Now you have your etsy mini tab all set.

12. Finally, click on the 'Photos' tab and add loads of images of your products.

Your basic fan page is now ready. Hit the 'Publish This Page' link (its in red) on top and tell all your friends about it :)