The decal is done!

This week has been a great week for Tiffin Asha! We found a guy named Roger. Roger is a great man because he and he alone flipped my 5200 pound cart in its tiny little space without any problems resulting! Not only is Roger the go-to guy for Portland's many food carts that need help moving to their final destinations, but he's the guy to talk to if your food cart is in need of a space to park. He's in charge of the popular Mississippi Marketplace pod and the superpod, Cartlandia.

In other exciting news, my decal and sign were delivered just yesterday! My cart is finally coming alive! My designer Alaina Ho put together such a fantastic visual representation of what I had envisioned Tiffin Asha to become. Matt from MOTOGFX did such a stunning job of formatting the design into my decal and sign. Everything came out beautifully!

The sign is done too!

I don’t think I would have held it together as much as I have this past week if it hadn't been for my brother Kevin. He was right at my side all week through the many trials, from testing out equipment to getting it all hooked up and ready for service. Thanks Kev, you are awesome!

See you soon!

My heart is pounding as I type these words onto the page. I know it sounds silly, but I've been waiting for such a long time for this. C'mon, who wouldn't be a little nervous right now getting ready for their grand opening?!

I invite you all to join me on...

Wednesday May 15, 2013 @ approximately 11:00 a.m.

@ 1313 NE Alberta Street, PDX

 ...as I flip Tiffin Asha's sign to open! I look forward to seeing you there!

The cart is officially FINISHED and has found its way home to 1313 NE Alberta St.! Not without some help from my loving family, with mad skills in the moving department! Thank you to the both of you during moving day, for your brains, muscle and most importantly, support! Also a big thanks to the awesome crew over at Portland Food Trailers for my new home away from home! These guys do amazing work!

With only weeks away from the grand opening my nerves have shot into overdrive and I find myself wishing I could click my heels together or snap my fingers and **POOF!** VOILA!! Open for business!

But I'm afraid the many technicalities of opening up your own business, even as small as a food cart, seem to spread out before you with no end in sight. And no matter how hard I wish it, nothing but time, perseverance and patience are going to take me to that day when I can flip the sign to open.

I'll be so relieved and happy when that day arrives because my journey at accomplishing what I've set out to do can begin and I can finally share with all of you my love for South Indian food which has been so poorly overlooked and grouped into one category that defines no regional uniqueness.

Welcome to TIFFIN ASHA...

which is named after the "tiffins" (snacks) I will be selling. Asha (the name I chose for this blog) which refers to my hope in bringing it to you! Please visit the Facebook and Twitter pages for updates on the grand opening!   

facebook.com/tiffinasha        twitter.com/tiffinashapdx

The cart has officially graduated to the garage! No messin' around now! We got stainless steel up on the walls, diamond plating on the floors...

We're wired for light, ready for running water and road ready with a hitch and wheels...

When you get to this stage in the game, It feels as though you've hit the slow motion on the remote but regardless of how it feels, I'm excited and thankful I've been able to see it come this far. And really, it's only a matter of weeks before this cart will be ready for business! Look out Portland!!

3/15/2013

This week has been a momentous week for my food cart which I plan to open this May - at last, all the ideas and work spinning around in my brain are finally coming together into something I can see and touch! During the early part of the week, I finally got to see the beginning stages of my cart during construction and it ended with a very exciting lease signing on the location the cart will be situated!

Here in Portland, OR food carts, for the most part, find a location and stay semi-permanently. Usually a private lot that has been converted into what they call pods. Pods are lots in which there is more than one food cart at one location - sort of similar to a food court but one that you won’t find anywhere else! The food hails from all over the globe with many carts focusing on just a few signature items. This post will be presented in a series of posts to show the progress of my cart, from start to finish. I hope you enjoy!

Isn’t it strange how quickly months roll into years? When I think back, it seems like thousands of miles between me and my dream of having a little something I can call my own.  It took a lot of time, dedication and belief that one day my dream would become a reality. Just in this last month, I’ve been able to watch my business physically take shape, what an amazing feeling it is! As I’ve mentioned before, I fell in love with this food when I fell in love with my wife Sheila, who introduced me to her family’s home cooking. Now, nine years later after tasting, testing and researching recipe after recipe from books to blogs, to youtube videos and most importantly, chatting with Sheila’s mom about her much loved recipes – they have all contributed to helping me find my own voice amongst all of it.  I believe every chef at one time or another comes up against something in her career that becomes her nemesis – that something that just gives you grief, as though it has conquered you. That something for me was the vada.  I think if anything made me want to pull out my hair and throw in the towel, it was the vada.

I envision the perfect vada to be one in which you bite into its thin crispy exterior…it doesn’t resist but instead welcomes you into its warm, soft, fluffy interior! This was the exact reason why I found these little vadas so hard to conquer. I had this expectation. Time and time again instead of getting what I envisioned would be the perfect vada, I got this hard, dense, tasteless mask disguised as a vada! There are variations of vadas. The word vada can be a name used for many vadas with diverse ingredients and preparations, but the vada I speak of here is specifically referred to as medu vada which uses urad dal as the central ingredient.  Just like the dosa and the idli, urad dal plays an even more crucial role in this recipe because when it comes down to it, it’s all about the dal. So how can something this simple become so complicated?

Vadas are made by soaking and grinding the dal into a smooth, fluffy paste and then frying the batter until crispy. When I first started making vadas, I used a blender to grind the urad dal. This preparation works ok and with some experimenting, can yield a fairly good medu vada. Back in the days when electric appliances did not exist, people would grind the dal using a stone. With this method the dal would slowly grind in a movement that is similar to kneading dough. As the stone grinds the dal, it falls over and then onto itself creating a fluffy airy consistency. This is crucial in giving the vada a light consistency. The blender on the other hand, uses a blade to quickly cut the ingredients into a smooth paste, so it doesn’t add the much needed aeration to create a light, fluffy vada. A solution to this problem is to aerate the batter by manually whipping it with your hands for several minutes after you grind the dal – but who has this kind of time anymore?  The solution to the solution is the wet grinder. This beautiful machinery is basically an electric mortar and pestle. I was first introduced to the wet grinder by doing research online to find a solution to my vada problems. You won’t find this appliance at any Crate & Barrel or Williams-Sonoma. This machine is made in India for the modern woman and used to create time-honored classics.

I patiently awaited my very own wet grinder (Elgi Ultra Perfect S to be specific) knowing that the second I got it, it would solve all vada problems and I would finally have the vada I dreamed of!  Little did I know that when I received my grinder, it would only create more problems for me to solve. But when I finally worked out the kinks, it left me with a vada that couldn’t be replicated in any blender or a food processor. The video below shows you just how the wet grinder works!  Stay tuned for (part 2) on vadas…  

The winter has tempted me back into hibernation, bringing on another push in recipe testing and as a result, the lack of presence here. The blog can be time consuming, and even though it is about the food I love and want to share with you all, it’s challenging to focus on both. I took a break from the blog to dive back into recipe testing. From the months I’ve been away, I’ve been able to really focus on the menu for my food cart, which I’m happy to announce will be opening later this year.

I would like to start the first post of the New Year by talking about a well known dish to South India called sambar, and there’s no better time of year to talk about it than now. With the weather outside so cold and crisp, naturally our bodies crave something to eat that warms us up from the inside out – just like a hot cup of sambar.

Sambar is believed to have originated in the state of Tamil Nadu (at the south east tip of India), but is eaten throughout the south. Sambar simply can be expressed as a spicy lentil soup made from an assortment of vegetables and seasoned with the sweet-tangy fruit tamarind, and a mixture of spices ground up into a powder called sambar podi (the spice blend can vary regionally and from household to household). Toor dal (a.k.a. split pigeon peas) is often used in sambar. Toor dal has a distinctive flavor all of its own.  It can be described as having hints of sweet nuttiness with an edge of earthy complexity. Nutritionally, it is well known for its high protein content, making it an important food for a vegetarian diet.  I’ve seen sambar anywhere from thick as stew to thin as a broth. Another ingredient that is no stranger to sambar is the coconut. I like to add coconut milk to my sambar, because it brings out a silky richness that is not always present without it.  The sambar is finished by garnishing it with a temper of spices, which can include a combination of mustard seeds, urad dal, fenugreek, dried red chili and curry leaves. The garnish is called tarka.

The beautiful colors of winter. Chioggia beets & green cauliflower.

LET’S EAT!

This South Indian favorite is almost always seen eaten with rice. It is a favorite at breakfast time, but can be eaten during the hours of lunch and dinner.  Sambar is popular to eat with other morning tiffins such as: dosa, idli and vada (a savory donut made of urad dal). I plan to serve sambar with all of my tiffin when my food cart opens for business. When it comes down to it, sambar’s got it all: plenty of nutrition, texturally satisfying and packed full of flavor. It will have you licking your bowl before you know it!

Settling into fall has brought on the cold weather munchies…and what better way to please the stomach that tugs away at the strings of your brain telling you to eat, than fried pakoras! These munchy little bites would also be perfect to keep all those lurking Thanksgiving snackers satisfied until the feast begins!

The funky & delicious romanesco broccoli seems to make these pakoras extra fun to pop into your mouth, while the chocolate in the tamarind-raisin chutney satisfies the urge for rich indulgence in such cool weather conditions. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Don’t forget this is the time to remember that which makes you thankful. Life is too short.

Here’s what you need:

Tamarind-Raisin Chocolate Sauce

2  guajillo chili (seeded & broken into pieces)
¼ c. tamarind pulp (seedless)
¼ c. bittersweet chocolate
1 TB. butter
¾ c. dark raisins
3 TB. honey
1 c. water
½ tea. powdered ginger
¼ tea. of each
ground cinnamon
ground clove
ground black pepper
1 ½ tea. salt

1 head romanesco broccoli (broken into florets)
1-1/3 c. chickpea four
½ tea. turmeric
1 tea. salt
¼ c. shredded dried coconut (un-sweetened)
2 serrano chili (minced)
1 ½ tea. ghee (clarified butter)
1 TB. lime juice
½ c. water
2 tea. coriander seed (crushed)
¼ c. peanuts (chopped)
fry oil (like peanut, safflower oil or sunflower oil)
2 TB. cilantro (roughly chopped, garnish)
coarse sea salt (garnish)

For the sauce:

1) In a bowl combine tamarind and chili and cover with 1 c. boiling water. Let steep for ½ hour.

2) While the tamarind and chili are steeping, melt the butter in a pan and fry the raisins until they puff and lightly toast. Set aside.

3) Melt the chocolate in the microwave until it just starts to melt, about a minute. Do not let boil. Set aside.

4) In a blender combine the steeped tamarind and chili, raisins, melted chocolate, honey, spices and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. Add a little more water if necessary. It should be of a pouring consistency.

5) Strain sauce through a fine-mesh strainer. Serve warm or at room temperature.

For the pakoras:

1) Steam or boil broccoli just until tender. You want the broccoli to have a little bit of a bite to it still, so keep an eye on it. It can easily turn to mush. Drain and set on a plate with a paper towel to dry in the fridge.

2) In a food processor combine chickpea flour, coconut, chili, turmeric, ghee, lime juice, salt and water. Process until fully combined.

3) Pulse in peanuts and coriander. The consistency should be thick enough to nicely coat each broccoli floret. If the batter is too thick, thin out with a little more water until it reaches desired consistency.

4) Combine the blanched broccoli in a large bowl and fold in the batter. Be sure to fully coat each piece.

5) Pour about 3-4’’ of oil into a deep pan. Heat oil on med-high heat. Once oil it hot, carefully and  one by one, drop each broccoli floret into the fry oil flipping each piece over halfway through to evenly brown each side of the pakora. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with sea salt.

6) Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve hot with tamarind-raisin chocolate sauce.

Both Sheila and I came from very traditional backgrounds – hard-working middle class families with strong, deep-rooted religious and spiritual beliefs. Culturally very different, but as values are concerned, not far removed.  I grew up with a conservative family with strong beliefs in the Baptist church. Sheila, on the other hand, came from a relatively liberal, yet traditional Hindu family. Her parents were born and raised in India, moved to Europe and then made way for this country by the early 80’s. Like all those who have immigrated here before, there was a desire for an improved quality of life for themselves and their children.

Sheila’s mom is from the southwestern state of Karnataka in India. Karnataka is known as “the cradle of stone architecture,” because of its abundance of monuments. It is also currently known as “India’s software capitol.” Last weekend Sheila’s mom flew in for a visit from the Midwest. It was quite an occasion for us to have her come and stay. The last time she stayed with us was several years ago when we were living in Boston.  So for me, it was exciting and a bit nerve wrecking. I was finally going to be able to cook South Indian food for her! I felt my food had become respectably good enough to serve to one of the most important critics I will ever come across: Sheila’s mom. I spent most of the week planning and preparing for her arrival. We both wanted it to be a special visit for her. This would be her first visit to Portland. Her flight was scheduled to be here on Friday but due to delays, she wasn’t able to make it until Saturday.

Saturday morning rolled around and I found myself tossing and turning in bed. I couldn’t sleep. I was thinking about the halva I had made the day before. Halva is an Indian sweet similar to a pudding but it can also have the consistency of fudge. It’s not to be confused with the halva of the Middle-East which is a confection made up of crushed sesame seeds and honey. The Indian halva is made up of an assortment of grains, vegetables, fruits and legumes.

The weekend before Sheila and I went to Sauvie Island, OR (about 25 minutes outside of Portland) to pick out pumpkins for carving and of course, to pick some delicious specimens for me to cook! By the time everything was said and roasted, I had so much pumpkin puree I was destined to get creative with all things pumpkin! So first thing’s first, my seasonal favorite: pumpkin jam. I first came upon this rich and luscious jam when I was working as a line cook at Oleana in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I was working under Chef Ana Sortun and Pastry Chef Maura Kilpatrick. Chef Sortun’s take on Eastern Mediterranean food brought crowds of people and celebrities from around the world pounding the doors down every night to get a taste of her culinary vision.

The day before the visit…

After the many spoonfuls of pumpkin jam, I started to wonder what pumpkin dessert I was going to make for her. I had an idea in mind, but wasn’t quite sure what Indian sweet it would translate into. I started rummaging through all my cookbooks and researched some recipes on the internet and finally decided on a version of sooji halva. Sooji is hindi for semolina. I also added besan (chickpea flour) for added texture and consistency, dried coconut and of course my homemade pumpkin puree to season. I thought it could also use something to set off the heartiness of the dessert, so I made sweetened milk steeped with saffron and ghee-toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds). I set aside some of the toasted pepitas and seasoned them with a bit of flaked sea salt and black pepper.  I also toasted some dried coconut for garnish.

As I sat back and imagined serving this dish to Sheila’s mom, my heart skipped a beat, and in that moment I thought, what if she doesn’t like it?!  It needs something else, something that will make a person go ‘mmm… that’s good.’ Then it came to me, as I stood standing in front of the many jars of pumpkin jam I had filled hours earlier. Of course! The pumpkin jam! Why not, I thought?

The day of the visit…

Tossing the covers off the bed and leaving Sheila to the warmth of a Saturday morning slumber, I stumbled down our hallway to put coffee on and get my mind back on track. Why was I obsessing over this dessert? And then the image of my mom came to me. When my mom comes and visits us, she always brings her own stash of sweets with her, usually chocolate. At that moment I knew. I instantly thought of the saying, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Well, I think similarly, the way to a mom’s heart is through the desserts you serve to her.

The weekend flew by. Sheila’s mom came, saw and ATE! Bellies full and hearts happy, I will always remember this visit. Mostly I will remember the moment when Sheila’s mom turned and looked at me as I slapped another dosa on her plate, she giggled and said, ‘I haven’t eaten like this since my mom cooked for me!’ I think it’s safe to say, she’ll be back.

Here’s what you need:

Sweetened Pepita Seed Milk
2c. whole milk
½ pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
2 TB. clarified butter (ghee)
¼ tea. saffron
3 green cardamom seeds- crushed
½ c. maple sugar*

Pumpkin-Coconut Halva
2c. pumpkin puree
¼ c. clarified butter (ghee)
¾ c. semolina flour (sooji)
½ c. chickpea flour (besan) sifted
½ c. unsweetened coconut-dried & flaked
1 ¼ c. maple sugar*
1c. milk
1 ¼ c. water

Pumpkin jam
4oz. pumpkin puree
4oz. sugar
¼ tea. cardamom
¼ tea. cinnamon
Pinch allspice
¼ tea. cracked black pepper
Salt to taste

For the halva:

1) Combine the milk, water, maple sugar and coconut in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Shut off heat and stir in pumpkin puree until smooth. Cover saucepan and set aside.

2) Melt ghee in a pan over medium heat. Add the chickpea flour and semolina and toast lightly stirring regularly to avoid browning. About 10 minutes.

3) Remove pan from the heat and pour in milk mixture stirring rapidly. Set pan back on the heat and stir until milk mixture has been absorbed.  Season with a few pinches of salt.

4) Spread halva into a pan lined with plastic wrap and cool until set. Cut into desired shapes.

For the milk:

1) Melt ghee in a hot pan and toast pumpkin seeds until lightly brown. Set aside a little for garnish.

2) In a separate sauce pan add the milk, sugar, toasted pumpkin seeds, saffron, and cardamom. Bring to a boil and simmer on low heat until milk has cooked down to 2/3 its original amount.

3) Transfer the sweetened milk mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour milk through a fine mesh strainer or a strainer fitted with cheese cloth. Season with a pinch of salt.

4) To serve re-heat sweetened milk just until warm and pour over halva. Garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds tossed with coarse sea salt and cracked pepper and lightly toasted coconut.

For the jam:

1) Combine the pumpkin puree and sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until jam comes to a boil. Turn heat down to low and cook at a simmer until jam reaches desired thickness, approx. ½ hour.

2) Turn off heat and stir in spices and salt.

*You can find maple sugar in some specialty markets. Please note that it’s a sugar not the syrup. Substitute brown sugar for maple sugar.

pictured from left to right: whole urad dal, sona masoori

It’s pretty amazing that it only takes these two simple ingredients and a bit of wild homemade yeast cultivated directly from the air in my kitchen to make these steamed rice cakes called idli. Spongy and pillowy-soft, the idli uses essentially the same ingredients as the dosa: urad dal and rice. In my recipe I like to use a specific grain of rice called sona masoori.

Sona masoori (also seen and written as sona masuri) is a thin, medium grain rice from the South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Andhra Pradesh, nicknamed “the rice bowl of India,” is a state proud of its many varietals of rice; rice accounts for 77% of the state’s crops, making it one of the largest exporters of rice in India along with West Bengal.

Like basmati, sona masoori is considered an aromatic rice. I use this rice for its superior flavor. Through my research and the many idli recipes I came upon, it is common to find this rice paired with idli. I like to describe the flavor of this rice as being reminiscent to buttery nuts, with just a hint of sweetness. While the texture is stickier than basmati, its granules remain separate when cooked.

TECHNIQUE

19 hours post fermentation

As I mentioned in the very first post on dosa, idli uses a similar cooking technique, which is soaking the rice and dal, grinding it into a coarse batter and leaving it to adequately ferment. I like to think the batter is done fermenting when your nose KNOWS! When you decide to give idli making a try, you will come to find out exactly what I mean. One of the differences between the dosa and idli batter is the consistency. Because dosa is cooked similar to a crepe, the batter needs to be thin enough to be poured and spread out onto a hot griddle. Idli, on the other hand, needs to have a thicker consistency to be able to hold its shape and not seep through the holes of the cooker. In the video below, you can see an example of the consistency I'm referring to in regards to the idli batter.

Pictured here the idli batter is poured into an idli cooker to be steamed. Each saucer-shaped vessel has tiny little holes that help circulate steam through each cake, making the cakes soft, light and spongy to the touch.

TIME TO EAT!

Idli is personally my favorite South Indian snack. It’s customarily eaten during the hours of breakfast and always seen alongside sambar and chutney. Light on the stomach and texturally fun to eat, idli makes a great on-the-go snack. Completely submerged in the sambar or used to dunk like you would a chocolate chip cookie into milk. Idli and sambar are inseparable!  I also like to eat idlis with gun powder. Mixed with a little ghee (clarified butter) or sesame oil and you have yourself an addictive combination!

Today I’m saying goodbye to summer and hello to fall.  I misplaced the sudden change of season because last weekend, it felt like summer here in Portland…lightly overcast mornings burning off into warm sparkly afternoons.  It’s always bittersweet seeing the summer go and fall creep its way back in. Don’t get me wrong, I do love the fall, especially this time of year when it feels like we’re still living on the edge of summer. It’s as though your body can just feel the change and subconsciously you start reaching way back in the closet for that old sweater that has seen you through so many cool days.  With that in mind, I leave you with this post as a tribute and send off to the beautiful summer we were fortunate to have had here in the Northwest.

I thought I would experiment with the cilantro I potted this year and let it go to seed. For those of you who are not already familiar with the herb, coriander is the seed that comes from the herb cilantro. The seed is dried and used in various countries for its lovely flavor, which can be described as citrusy, nutty and astringent. Coriander makes an appearance quite a bit in South Indian food. Being that I’ve only ever tasted dried coriander, I was naturally very curious to taste the coriander freshly picked off the herb. The flavor of fresh coriander is reminiscent to its toasty twin but with more pronounced floral notes, leaving your taste buds lingering of its green leafy herb, cilantro.

I’m toying with the idea of having fried paneer on my menu. I thought the combination of fresh coriander and paneer cheese would be a tasty duo.  To finish the dish, I added some yogurt and fresh lime juice to bring all the flavors together. The dish turned out a little different than what I had originally envisioned but like many ideas that start in your head, until you can see it, taste it and touch it, it has a tendency to become something completely unexpected. Even though the paneer was fried, the added ingredients of coriander, yogurt and lime transformed the dish into something light and refreshing.

paneer cheese dusted with red gun powder & ready to fry

Tomato Chutney

What an array of delicious tomatoes this summer brought us. This year I tried growing my own tomatoes in small planter boxes on the back patio of my apartment. My plants yielded very few tomatoes, making me that much more grateful for the wonderful folks at my local farmer’s market. Pictured here is a version of the tomato chutney I plan to serve at the cart. The tomatoes I used in this chutney were a combination of early girl and some mysterious variety of large cherry tomatoes. I wanted to keep this chutney simple with just a few ingredients, so the flavor of the tomatoes would really shine.

variety of heirloom tomatoes & smoked alder salt from The Meadow

I welcome all those who would like to think out loud and bring about vision and voice on this homage to summer’s end.    Please leave a comment to keep the summer spirit alive!

Gun Powder trio

It's not what you think.... I'm really not making illegal fireworks! I've named this particular spice blend  Gun Powder because of its explosive flavor! These spice blends are traditionally called podi. Podi is made up of various whole spices, lentils and at times, nuts and dried herbs. The spices are roasted and then ground into a coarse powder. Podi is not just a term describing one spice blend; the term is used to describe many variations of spice blends. So anything goes folks! I've featured my red gun powder in most of these photos. I personally need variation in my world, so I came up with a white and black gun powder to satisfy the insatiable. The potency of heat in these powders can range from mild (with little to no use of chili at all) to intensely hot.  My blends range in heat from my red gun (the hottest) to my black gun (the mildest).

Podi is traditionally served as a condiment or a chutney and eaten with dosa, idli, or rice. It is combined with a touch of ghee or a finishing oil of your choice. Just as you would tear off a piece of crusty bread and sop it up with some amazing olive oil, you would do the same with podi. Hold on to your taste buds 'cuz they're about to go for a ride!

I know I've just introduced you to another new word: idli. Originally I was going to call this post Gun Powder & Idli, but idlis are so unique and incredibly delicious, they deserve their own post where they become the star. Stay tuned....

Now, from what I've found, there are two different classifications of podi. First, the kind you eat - which is the one you see here. I've not only eaten gun powder with dosa and idli, but I've used gun powder to add flavor to almost everything I'm eating! I've practically replaced my salt and pepper mill!

Gun powder is especially delicious with eggs. I like to fry an egg sunny side up with a little ghee (clarified butter), toast some crusty bread and finish it with a heavy sprinkling of gun powder. Simple and delicious.

The second classification of podi is used like a spice mix to enhance a dish by adding it as you cook. Quite frankly, the difference between the two comes down to whether or not it tastes good when eaten "raw". The podis I focus on here are best eaten raw mixed with ghee or a finishing oil, such as sesame or olive oil. It's essential that the raw podi has a nice coarse texture for an overall satisfying edibility.

For those of you familiar with podi or who grew up with it, I would love to hear from you about your experiences and uses of this major component of South Indian fare. And for those of you who are podi virgins, I encourage you to seek it out and experiment! Salt and pepper better move on over 'cuz there's a new podi in town!!

Hi everyone....Welcome to the very first post on ASHA! I am extremely excited to see how this will grow. I only hope that I will be able to express to you the passion and fierce drive I have for this project, and I hope that it will in turn become something memorable for you.

Lady adventurer

Let me just start off this blog by relating to all the dog lovers out there. Yes, I love my dog. She is pretty much the awesomest. BUT since she is still considered a "puppy" (I keep telling myself that so I feel better), she drives me pretty much insane! Highest energy dog and one of the smartest of pooch breds out there! So there you go, there's your recipe for this post, recipe for disaster that is!!

How does this have anything to do with a food blog you ask? Well, everyday I'm out with her trying in some way to drain that poor dog's energy. Taking her on long walks through Portland's many forests, to 20 mile out of town dog parks so she can get her swim on, all in hopes that when we reach the end of the day, she can be that peaceful pooch I thought I was signing up for. With all the many frolics through the forests and adventures in dog parks, I've come to realize something about myself that I hadn't really thought about before. I love the outdoors. I know, I live in the northwest so that really should be a given....I love just strolling around looking at the wild beauty of the outdoors. Recently I've noticed these beautiful, almost fairy-like white flowers all over Portland: Queen Anne's Lace also known as "wild carrot". I was taught in culinary school that you don't ever add a garnish to a plate if it's not already some how incorporated into the meal. But how boring it would be to live in a box! They just look good together! Don't you agree?

Let me introduce you to the infamous Dosa.

My love affair with South Indian food began with this enticing and crispy-looking crepe. Dosa could be considered by some people as India’s version of a French crepe, but in my opinion, it’s not even in the same universe.

a dosa's eye view

What is a dosa? Dosa is made up of a variety of dals and rice. Which make it naturally vegan and gluten free. My batter is primarily made with whole urad dal and basmati rice. The dals and rice are soaked for several hours and then ground into a pourable batter. The batter is left to lightly ferment, which can take anywhere from 12 to 24 hours, depending on location and time of year. Let's talk flavor profile...nutty, sour and complex. You will see dosa typically served with a steaming cup of sambar and some refreshingly yummy coconut chutney, which I will get more into in another post...

It has become pretty noisy out there when it comes to fermented foods and for good reasons. People are becoming more aware of the numerous health benefits that fermented foods possess.  Fermented foods are natural probiotics, so they aid in digestibility. They also provide increased vitamins, and the microbial content helps give flavor complexity. It's also a good excuse to see food science in action! I feel like an excited kid when I wake up in the morning and quickly rush to the oven to peek through the oven window at my dosa, warmly tucked away. Mostly my brisk pace is due to the fact that I don't feel like scraping dosa batter off the bottom of the oven at 6:00 in the morning!  But those times are rare, especially living in Portland, OR where the climate is on the cooler side.  I usually start fermenting my batter the night before by heating my oven to 170°, shutting it off after 5 minutes and leaving the light on all night. The temperature stays in the high 80's, which I have found to be the recipe for success. Tiny little lovely bubbles so soft and fluffy, tell me once again I have earned a job well done.