And we’re back…
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under india
I’ve only been back stateside less than a week. I spent my winter break in India and specifically Delhi, visiting friends (and one incredibly important person), laying the ground work for research, meeting scholars and activists, reading development material — Seeing Like a State, The Bottom Billion and Development Redefined — and eating.
This included visits to the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, the Energy and Resources Institute, Greenpeace India, JNU, WWF India, an organic farm and the Centre for Science and Environment.
It also meant many meals of gunpowder and paratha and curry and thugpa and paranthe and chana and bhel puri and, well, everything. I had the best Indian meals of my life in an out of the way faux village and probably consumed more Tibetan momos in the three weeks there than in my entire life previously. Sadly, almost none of this food was properly photographed. This seems like an incredible oversight now.
Unfortunately, the trip was too short. It always is. But I’ll be back in May.
Tags: cse, delhi, environment, food, greenpeace, india, jnu, nmml, research, shenanigans, wwf
Vegan pizza: A failure of execution…
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under united states
Lesson: looks ≠ taste
After almost four weeks of being vegan, I became ambitious and tried my hand at vegan pizza. Looks tasty, no?
I started with a bread recipe that came highly recommended, but turned out less than stellar in practice. I substituted wheat flour thinking of health and got heavy dense bread. It didn’t help that my crust was far, far, far too thick (lacking a rolling pin).
I also failed in the pizza sauce, not mixing in enough spices (oregano, garlic, salt, pepper).
Worst of all, I opted for the cheaper fake cheese veggie shreds. The higher quality, more expensive Daiya cheese-like veggie shreds work. These were an epic fail, despite promising to melt.
Continue reading this entry » » »
Tags: baking, bread, fail, food, homemade, my kitchen, vegan, vegetarian, washington d.c.
Who needs turkey?
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under india
Stew
It’s Thanksgiving. What do you do when you don’t eat meat?
Use vegetable protein. Mmmm…
Green and leafy + fungus
Tags: collard greens, cooking, food, my kitchen, photography, stew, thanksgiving, vegan, vegetable protein, washington d.c.
Feasting on fall
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under united states
Caramelicious
Getting in touch with my farm town roots, I visited an orchard a couple weeks ago in the rolling Maryland countryside. The apples were nearly picked out — I found one good Pink Lady on a tree and enjoyed it thoroughly — but no matter. The highlight of the trip was very clearly the wonderful toffee apple above.
Tags: apple, autumn, caramel, fall, farm, food, orchard, photography, shenanigans, toffee apple, washington d.c.
Carbon steel wok vs. tofu
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under united states
Dry fry
My first attempt at cooking with tofu was a disaster. Mushy, flavorless, goo.
This time, I tried the vegetarian equivalent of the sausage grillers’ “slow and low” mantra: the tofu dry fry.
After slicing up a big brick of extra-firm tofu, I browned the individual pieces over the course of an hour. Not exactly economical in terms of time, but absolutely worth the effort.
Mmmm...
The low heat essentially dries out the tofu with minimal burning. The result is a slightly crispy sponge of tofu that soaks up marinade. As soon as they had browned, the pieces of tofu went into a bowl of teriyaki, garlic, black and red pepper.
The whole mix was then stir fried up with onions, mushrooms, corn, kelp noodles and more garlic.
Tags: food, my kitchen, photography, stir fry, tofu, vegetarian, washington d.c.
Kale chips ahoy!
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under united states
Super(snack)food
A week-and-a-half ago, I found a two pound bag of kale for $2.50 at my grocer. That made for good kale stir fry and soup. But as I’ve raved about kale, everyone keeps telling me to bake up kale chips.
So this afternoon, while trying to wade through grad school reading, I also tossed the remainder of my kale bag in oil, shook on some Old Bay and they’re baking away as I type.
Timer just beeped. Now for the tasting.
Tags: cooking, food, kale, my kitchen, photography, united states, washington d.c.
Elemental dinner
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under united states
Simple
I get immense satisfaction from cooking basic foodstuffs that are healthy and turn out incredibly tasty. I realize that many people know how to cook far better, but this is a new leaf for me.
Above, left to right: Red lentils, diced tomatoes mixed with diced green peppers, a to-be-diced white onion, chopped green onions. Mostly organic.
Boil the lentils until they’re about half-way to tender in a stainless steel pot, throw in everything else, spice with black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic, lots of thyme and a tiny bit of sugar.
Salt to taste. Boil the rest of the way until the lentils are finished.
Finished product below. Continue reading this entry » » »
Tags: cooking, food, lentils, my kitchen, organic, photography, tasty, united states, washington d.c.
Hello giant Bag of Kale…
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under united states
Healthy never tasted so good...
…meet my good friend, Carbon Steel Wok. Also, say hi to his buddies, garlic, onions, tomatoes, canola, cayenne and black beans.
Tags: cooking, food, healthy, kale, my kitchen, organic, photography, united states, washington d.c.
Nature, giving me the what-for
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under united states
Not something man can create
I love peaches. They are, to my taste, so perfect that they demonstrate the limits of our great abilities to create and alter and remake according to our whims.
No matter how hard we try, we can’t create such perfection. I think tomorrow I shall go in search of peach pie.
मेरी आडू | मुझे चाहिये |
Tags: Braeutigam Orchards, food, fruit, love, peach, photography, st. louis, united states
Goodbye Desi food
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under india
Gunpowdery
There will certainly be more important things to miss from India, but I know I’ll jones for the food, too. Here, we have an appam — a fermented rice batter pancake bowl — with a fried egg on top.
This was part of my last meal at my favorite restaurant in Delhi, a hidden place called Gunpowder in Hauz Khas village.
A note to Satish, the man in charge: Please, stay open. Pay whatever bribes you have to. I have strong emotional attachments to Malabar parathas, mushroom curry and a two-seat table on the balcony. I promise to come back.
Tags: delhi, egg appam, food, gunpowder, india, malabar paratha
