Witchy Kitchen

Tag: ginger

  • Pindi Chana

    I saw this recipe and was eager to try it for several reasons:

    1. Cooking with tea – from chamomile cupcakes to Tea Eggs, I’m always excited to cook with tea. In this recipe it stains the chickpeas a deep brown.
    2. Cooking with pomegranate seeds (anardana) – I acquired these for making chapli kebabs, and like adding these little tart and unexpected additions.
    3. Named for Rawalpindi! I’ve been there!

    It turned out quite nice! I love to make a big pot of chickpeas or lentils to have around for a day or two, will definitely add these to the rotation.

    Pindi Chana

    Adapted from Sanjeev Kapoor, mostly because cooking with dried chickpeas require forethought that I don’t have

    For the chana masala

    • 1 tablespoon pomegranate seeds
    • 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
    • 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
    • 1/2 teaspoons amchoor powder
    • pinch turmeric

    Lightly toast the spices in a dry pan, crush lightly with a mortar and pestle, then set aside

    For the pindi chana

    • 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
    • 2 teabags
    • Salt
    • 4 tablespoons ghee, divided
    • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
    • 2 medium onions, sliced
    • 1 tablespoon garlic paste
    • 1 tablespoon ginger paste
    • 1 tablespoon cumin powder
    • 1 tablespoon coriander powder
    • 1 teaspoon red chili powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
    • 2 roma tomatoes, quartered
    • 4-6 green chilies, trimmed and slit
    • 1 teaspoon garam masala

    In a medium saucepan, heat the chickpeas, teabags, a good sprinkle of salt, and water to cover. Simmer for 10 minutes and set aside.

    In a heavy-bottomed pot, karahi or wok, heat 3 tablespoons of ghee. Add cumin seeds and heat until they sizzle, then add onions and saute until they are golden brown, stirring often and being careful not to burn. Add garlic paste, ginger paste, cumin, coriander, red chili, and turmeric powders, and saute for another minute or two.

    Add the chickpeas along with a cup or two of the cooking liquid (I started with about a cup and added more as it got a little dry – you want some sauce, but not for it to be soupy).

    In a separate pan, heat a tablespoon ghee. Heat tomato and chilis with a good sprinkle of salt for a minute (crush the tomatoes slightly as they start to break down), then add chana masala and garam masala. Toss the mixture for another minute, then stir into the chickpeas.

    Mix well and cook at a low simmer for 10-15 minutes until it thickens, adding more cooking liquid or water if necessary.

  • Smokey Cardamom Ginger Molasses Cookies

    Smokey Cardamom Ginger Molasses Cookies

    The day December hits, right on schedule, visions of Christmas cookies are dancing in my head. I love peanut blossoms, pretty linzer squares, chocolatey chili cookies – and especially a wintery spice cookie.

    I don’t have one that in particular that I normally make, so this caught my eye when I saw it: Carey Nershi’s Smokey Cardamom Ginger Molasses Cookies on Food52. It had me at black cardamom; which if green cardamom is the Queen of Spices, black cardamom is the sophisticated, mellowed, and camphorous Queen Mother. This recipe not only uses the seeds as part of the spices but infuses the butter with the pods.

    I have adapted nothing about this recipe – I EVEN procured bread flour when AP would probably suffice, but after some light Googling I learned bread flour is higher in protein and therefore yields chewier baked goods – but I wanted to share it because it’s spicy and lovely and will likely become a regular part of my Christmas cookie repertoire.

    Smokey Cardamom Ginger Molasses Cookies

    From Smokey Cardamom Ginger Molasses Cookies on Food52

    • 14 tablespoons butter
    • 1 cup bread flour
    • 1 cup all-purpose flour
    • 2 teaspoons baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • Spices: 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon cloves, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
    • 5 black cardamom pods
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 1/4 cup molasses
    • 1 egg
    • 1/2 cup sugar (for rolling)

    Crack open cardamom pods and remove the seeds. Grind seeds with a mortar and pestle and set aside.

    In a small saucepan, combine butter and empty cardamom pods and heat on medium low until butter is melted and slightly foamy. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 30 minutes.

    Remove the cardamom pods and transfer butter to a mixing bowl; let cool to room temperature.

    Whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt, reserved cardamom and the rest of the spices.

    Add the sugar to the butter and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the molasses and the egg. Stir in dry ingredients until just combined. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days.

    Prepare a baking sheet with silpat or parchment and preheat oven to 375° F. Put 1/2 cup sugar for rolling in a small bowl. Scoop heaping tablespoons of batter, form into balls, and roll in the sugar. Place two inches apart on the baking sheet.

    Bake cookies in batches for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

    These were delicious straight from the oven, but chewier and even more delicious after a couple of days. Happy holidays!

  • Fig and Ginger Barm Brack

    Fig and Ginger Barm Brack

    Barm brack is an Irish sweet bread studded with dried fruits and candied peel. Though traditionally made with sultanas, I changed it up with dried figs and ginger, one of my favorite combos. It’s a Halloween tradition to eat it and play a fortune-telling game for the coming year based on little trinkets wrapped in muslin cloth baked into the bread.

    A pea: no marriage for you this year
    A stick: even worse, an unhappy marriage, or continual disputes
    A cloth or rag: rotten luck, poor poor poor

    ….hmm so far not sure I want to play this game…but then!

    A coin: good fortune, riches!
    A ring: marriage! This year!

    (Thanks again my favorite academic source Wikipedia)

    I am not even going to bother linking to the recipe I worked from because the liquid to flour measurements were way off! (At least for me). I had to add almost double the flour the recipe called for before it would come together in a dough…however, through some unexplained wacky kitchen witchcraft the end result was madly marvelous!

    So because of this, apologies for the flour measurements, but if you add a little at a time you can’t go wrong. This was fantastic, so I will definitely make this again and try to close the margin a little.

    Fig and Ginger Barm Brack

    • 1 packet (.32 oz) rapid rise yeast
    • 3/4 cup warm water
    • 4 tbsp sugar, divided
    • 3-4 cups all purpose flour, plus more for kneading
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 4 tbsp (half stick) butter, melted
    • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
    • 4 oz dried figs, chopped
    • 2 oz candied ginger, chopped

    In a small bowl, combine yeast, warm water and 1 tbsp of the sugar and let stand for 10 minutes or so (after which time it should be foamy – if not, use new yeast).

    Meanwhile, whisk together 3 cups of the flour, remaining 3 tbsp sugar and the salt, then stir in butter and eggs (does not need to be homogenous). Add fruit and the yeast mixture, stirring and adding more flour little by little, just enough until a dough forms (will be a little sticky).

    Turn out onto a floured board (or your counter) and knead for 10 minutes, adding sprinkles of flour as needed as it gets too sticky to handle. Roll into a ball and place into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap. Put in a warm spot to rise for one hour.

    After an hour, lightly oil 9×5 loaf pan. Knead the dough for a few minutes and spread the dough into the loaf pan. Cover and allow to rise for 30 minutes.

    Bake at 400° for 30 minutes – near the end if it starts getting too brown on top you can cover with foil and finish baking.

    Cool in the pan.

    Have with tea, sliced, toasted, slathered with butter and sprinkled with sea salt.

  • Crockpot Apple Butter

    Though apple butter originated in the Middle Ages as a way to preserve the fruit, and is traditionally eaten all over Europe and North America, in my mind it’s about as Southern as it gets. That’s probably because I grew up eating it at Cracker Barrel and at mountain apple festivals. Making it in the crockpot is less romantic than outdoors in the traditional huge copper pots, but isn’t all life a tradeoff between romance and convenience? This still manages to perfume your entire house while you sleep, making for apple dreams and a delicious autumn scent to wake up to.

    Things to eat apple butter on include: biscuits, French toast, bagels, latkes, pumpkin bread, pork chops, almond butter sandwiches, oatmeal, turkey and brie sandwiches, pancakes, yogurt, salad dressing, bbq sauce, sausage, pound cake, panfried salmon, sweet potato fries, ice cream, fingers, spoons.

    Crockpot Apple Butter

    • 5 large mixed apples
    • 1/4 cup sugar
    • 1/4 cup brown sugar
    • 1/2 a cinnamon stick
    • seeds from 1 green cardamom pod
    • a couple slivers of fresh ginger
    • juice from half a lemon
    • 1 cup apple cider or apple juice

    Core apples and chop into large chunks. Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook covered and bubbly on high for 1 hour (you will need to babysit it during this time and stir occasionally so it doesn’t burn.

    Reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered slightly, for 8-10 hours until dark brown and thick. Remove the cinnamon stick and blend half in the blender if you want to keep some chunks (make sure to get the ginger in there), or blend the whole thing to make it smooth (my preference).

    Return to crock pot and cook on high one more hour, stirring once in awhile to make sure it’s not burning. Cool.

    If you’re into canning, you can double or triple this recipe for pretty holiday gifts and homemade apple butter all year round!