Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Dare to confine




This month's Daring Cooks Challenge is hosted by Debyi of healthyvegankitchen.com. She chose Indian Dosas from the refresh cookbook by Ruth Tal, and you will find the detailed recipe and procedure on her website. I'll just say here that they have a chickpeas filling and a coconut-curry sauce.

Dosas weren't that hard to cook, but the challenge was to go and see how you can have a delicious meal while going vegan. And lactose free. Am I forgetting something? Oh, yes, about 99% oil free, considered that you will need some oil to grease the pan while preparing the dosas.



The dosas were very quick to prepare, and not harder than panning crepes.



What I loved most of going into this challenge was the mise en place.



I find it very relaxing to prepare all the things I will need to cook or bake something, the more the better. I love checking the ingredients on the recipe and marking them off, lining up all the bowls, even washing them afterwards (if anyone living with me is reading, he's invited not to comment the last one).

Besides, what's not to love in handling such vivid colors in a late summer Sunday morning?



I do not like it when garlic's flavour is too strong, so I leave the whole cloves in my recipes while they're cooking, then pull them out in the end, so that there's just a hint and I don't pay it forward too much.

All the colors melt in a golden and fragrant concoction of mildly spicy and tangy fragrances:



Coconut milk was required to prepare the sauce, which usually I find here, but not the morning I decided to take the challenge.
Did it stop me?



I'm afraid the coconut's are the only pics of the saucy part.




When it came to assemble the dosas with filling and sauce, I made what I often do with normal crepes: pile them up.
Maybe it was the Dobos Torte of teh last Daring Bakers Challenge that wasn't letting me go.



This configuration was very convenient when it became clear that I would be the only consumer of my hard work.
I should know by now that my husband has a very low spicy-ness threshold: the first meal I cooked after getting married was a pretty hot chicken curry. After 3 bites he politely asked if he could stop eating; he was all red in the face and some tears were rising in his eyes. I couldn't swear it but I clearly remember some smoke coming out of his ears.
The kids were not that enticed, either.



And that's how I ended having my own Indian week!



(Thanks Lisa Michele for kicking my butt! It was the first day of school yesterday, and with all the excitement I was forgetting to post this!)

8 comments:

  1. They look amazing, and you are right, the mise en place looks beautiful. I can't believe how many little glass bowls you have!

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  2. Love the dobos torte inspired dish!! Looks great and very creative!!

    Just one thing - spelt flour is NOT gluten free. Spelt is a form of wheat, and all wheat contains gluten. If you served something made w/ spelt flour to someone w/ celiac disease you would make them very sick!

    I think a lot of people somehow got this confused when reading the recipe. Because spelt flour was recommended, I don't think gluten free was a requirement - ha though it was for me or my husband wouldn't have had to go hungry that night!

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  3. Thank you, Jenn, you're totally right!
    I was undecided until the end with rice flour and must have mixed the informations.

    I edited the post to avoid confusion.

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  4. Seeing that coconut water I kept thinking of a friends recipe for magaritas using the same.

    Couldn't agree more about the relaxing nature of prepping your mis. It is the kind of work that is instantly gratifying. Like painting a room.

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  5. Oddio i dosa! Li adoro! :-)

    Un annetto fa ho scoperto la cucina dell'India del Sud e sta diventando una delle mie cose preferite!

    Però nei ristoranti dove vado io li ho sempre visti fare più croccanti e asciutti. I tuoi mi sembrano più umidi. Ti risulta? OSno due cose diverse?

    Cat

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  6. Cat, non ne ho mai mangiati di "ufficiali", mi sono dovuta basare sulle foto che ho trovato in giro, e ne ho visti sia di sottilissimi e croccanti, sia di spessi tipo crepes come questi.
    Un po' perchè sospettavo che fossero più facili da fare, un po' perchè li volevo impilare, sono andata per la versione spessa.

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  7. Great job Anna! I love it how it looks like a savory type of Dobos! Each picture is mouthwatering! :)

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  8. Belli davvero, in ogni caso!

    Che invidia che fai tutte queste cosette buone. La salsina che vedo li' mi sta facendo venire l'acquolina in bocca... Sara' che e' anche quasi ora di pranzo! :-)

    Cat

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