Can-do the -Kaddooo!

Pumpkin (Kaddoo as I know it) season is here and everywhere!

Our journey into cuisine, will take us and the vegetables we know, to places familiar and new.
This journey is not going to be one of technique and precision but one of discovering the styles of souls around the world. And food will be our common language for emoting.

My mother's favorite vegetable vendor picks up fresh vegetables from one part of Mumbai at 5am drives his tempo - his wife and child in accompaniment and arrives at this tiny suburb by the ocean.. fondly referred to as "7 bungalows".. where originally only 7 homes lined a street facing the ocean.

Now this little suburb is filled with high rise apartments, the original seven bungalows not in appearance except in name alone.

Along the same street, a throng of people, early morning walkers and the like come to this "sabji waala's" (vegetable vendor's) tempo and buy out all his stock in 1hr! All cash of course, and some bargaining too.. Not much different and not much similar from buying one's vegetables at a temperature controlled supermarket in the U.S.

In making Kaddoo, as in-elegant as the name may sound, my mother is reminiscing and recreating very elegant memories - those of her father's favorite dishes found traditionally at Indian weddings. One of the funniest things I remember about my nana (maternal grandfather) is that when eating any food that he found particularly delicious, he always commented on how it paled in comparison with another dish he had eaten at a wedding. Eaten perhaps in the 1930's, decades before I was born, or even my mother for that matter. It is amazing how people and events pass, but sounds and smells and tastes prevail. Just like my nana's tastes show up in my mother's cooking today.

My nana, always the raconteur....It was my earnest wish that he had captured all his memories on paper.. I remember begging him to do that, knowing then when he was smiling at me with his mischievous smile, that he was not eternal. But he had other plans - I suppose he wanted his legacy to be discovered, for all of us to dig for the flavor that one can only find in self exploration.

So my meditation today, as I cook and eat.. will be to taste in each morsel, the generations whose taste buds are sewn in mine.... whose work I now create as myself.

Ma Francaise est tres mal...

My french is very poor. My cooking skills even poorer. But the french have a flair, that makes both their language and their food seem all at once, exotic yet within my grasp.

It is this very essence of "je ne sais quoi" that I wanted to capture in tonight's dinner.. Recipes from Alain Coumont.. the creator of "Le Pain Quotidien"... I picked him because I read an article on him where all his featured recipes were vegan / vegetarian.. It is more than impressive. In a country that made "duck confit" famous, there is still a love for simple, elegant, flavorful food cooked using vegetables, fruits and herbs.

There is a certain tangy romance in thyme... coupled with wine and bay leaves, vegetables take on a new garb, of simple sophistication. And who can deny that the French are the masters of dessert. But while Alain uses lavender, I infused some of my Indian-ness into the fig-apricot creation - Pure ghee and saffron.. The result, as my more than honest husband will tell you - was we both turned into Oliver Twist... "please, sir, I want some more."

Tonight there are those who sleep on an empty stomach and those who sleep on one too full. I will also rest, plagued with regrets of the past perhaps, but with no anxieties for the future. For I know, insignificant and disconnected as it may seem today, I have taken my first step toward the innocent who I pray sleep at peace tonight; and maybe, even towards awakening a few, who have slept too long.


Braised vegetables in white wine, with Tomato Coulis
2 cups Artichoke hearts (fresh or canned)
1/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves, finely sliced
2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 sprigs of thyme
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
3/4 cup leeks - sliced in rounds
2 bay leaves
1 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp coriander seeds
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 tsp salt / to taste







In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add garlic and fry for a minute. Add the bay leaf, black peppercorns, thyme and coriander seeds. Let them sizzle for a minute, then add the onions, leeks and carrots. Fry for 6-8 minutes until golden brown and the carrots become tender.

Add the artichoke hearts and fry until tender and browned for about 8-10 minutes more. Add the wine, salt and cover for a minute and cook.

Garnish with thin lemon slices and a sprinkle of lemon juice!

Tomato Coulis
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp sundried tomatoes
5 basil leaves
2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste

In a blender / processor, puree all ingredients together for about 2 minutes for a chunky coulis.

Serve the Coulis with the Braised vegetables, and a slice of baguette.

Figs-Apricots with a Saffron infused syrup


6 figs
6 apricots
1 tbsp pure Ghee (clarified butter, available in Indian grocery stores)
2 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp saffron

Slice the figs in halves. Slice the apricots or leave them whole. In a skillet, heat the ghee. Add the figs face down and the apricots. Turn the apricots occasionally until evenly browned on both sides. On a medium-high flame this would take about 5-7 minutes. Check on the figs to make sure they don't fall apart of burn.

In a small pot, add the lemon juice, and honey and bring to a simmer. Infuse with the saffron and let it simmer for about 5 minutes until the flavors blend.

To serve - add the apricots and figs in a bowl. Spoon over the lemon-honey-saffron infusion. Add a spoon of creme fraiche and garnish with mint and a few strands of saffron.

Bon Apetit mes amis!