Hot milk with honey and spices

In Silicon Valley, Cafe Borrone is one of those trendy coffee shops frequented by the European crowd and hip young professionals.  Always up to trying something new, I passed on the numerous espresso drinks and instead ordered their honey steamed milk.  Impressed, I set about to make my own version.

This cozy drink is simply warm milk made special with honey, nutmeg, and allspice.  For best flavor, nutmeg should always be grated immediately before use.


Hot milk with honey and spices  (serves one)

1 1/2 cups milk
1 tablespoon honey
generous pinch freshly grated nutmeg
generous pinch ground allspice

1)  Mix milk, honey, and spices in a small saucepan.
2)  Heat over medium heat until heated to desired temperature, stirring constantly.

Mango lassi

Mango lassi is, of course, as Indian as fortune cookies are Chinese.  But I love it none-the-less.  Mango lassis are also very personal.  Some people like them thin, milky, and sweet.  Others like them thick, with deep mango flavor.  Use this recipe as a launching pad for your own tastes.

Results will also differ dramatically based on the type of mango you're using.  Tommy Atkins mangoes (the red kind found in most grocery stores) will produce inferior lassi.  The rich and creamy ataulfo mango (the yellow kidney bean-shaped mango found in some American and Chinese grocery stores, also called champagne mangoes) would work better.  But often the best option is canned mango puree (preferably alphonso) found in most Indian grocery stores.





Mango lassi    (serves 2)

1 cup plain yogurt

1 1/4 cup chopped ripe mango or canned mango puree

3 tablespoons sugar or to taste (start with 1 tablespoon if canned mangoes were sweetened)

¼ teaspoon ground cardamom seeds or sweet garam masala (optional)

milk to taste

8 crushed ice cubes (optional)

1. Combine yogurt, mango, sugar, and spice in food processor or blender.  Blend. 
2. Adjust sugar and spice to taste.  Add milk (or ice, if using blender) to desired consistency.

Cauliflower and potatoes with ponch phoron

This is a dry, North Indian style vegetable curry is adapted from a recipe in Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking book.  There, she used 3 of the 5 spices in the ponch phoron mix, so I just decided to use the whole mix since I get packets of it each time my husband's relatives come back from India.  The recipe has a simple enough concept:  fry the whole spices in oil, add vegetables, sprinkle on ground spices, brown vegetables lightly, then add just enough water to steam the vegetables to completion.

Cauliflower and potatoes with ponch phoron

2 pounds cauliflower (1 small head)

2 medium boiling potatoes (about ¾ pound)

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoons ponch phoron (or more)

2 whole dried hot red peppers

¾ teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon garam masala

1. Remove leaves from cauliflower.  Break head into 2 inch long, 1/2 inch wide flowerets.  Soak in cold water for half an hour.
2. Dice potatoes into ½ inch dice.  Soak in same bowl as cauliflower.
3. Drain cauliflower and potatoes.  Dry in dish towel.  (The drier the better, so that vegetables brown, not just steam.)
4. Heat oil in a large 12 inch skillet over high heat.  When oil is smoking, scatter in the panch phoron and dried red peppers.  Stir briefly and add cauliflower and potatoes.  Stir and adjust heat to medium.  Sprinkle the turmeric, coriander, salt, and pepper over the vegetables and sauté for 8-10 minutes or until vegetables brown in spots (turn heat up if necessary).
5. Add ¼ cup water and quickly cover the pan.  Turn heat to very low and steam vegetables until tender, about 7-10 minutes.  Sprinkle with the garam masala, stir, and serve.