So-Yah! Red Vindaloo Curry Tofu Shirataki Noodles

Part of the goody bag from my Behind the Scenes: House Foods America Corporation - Garden Grove tour was this package of So-Yah! Red Vindaloo Curry Tofu Shirataki Noodles.

The shirataki noodles are made from yam flour and tofu so they're low-carb. Only 20 calories and 3 g of carbs per 4 oz serving.

This package was 10 oz, so still very low-carb if that's what you're looking for.

Besides tofu and yam flour, ingredients also included: coconut cream, tomato paste, garbanzo beans, red bell peppers, carrots, and spices.

But how did it taste?

Chai Black Tea

I had a bag of cardamom pods sitting in my spice drawer for nearly a year that just begged for me to do something with them. When I had decided to make pumpkin pie from scratch for my Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner with an Asian Fusion Twist, I figured I'd add some Indian spices. The only dessert-like Indian spice I could think of was cardamom. Which then led me to consider throwing the pods into some soy milk to make chai black tea.

Do you like my attempt to make the cardamom pods look arty? I snapped various pictures of my tea cup and it just looked so boring. Then I remembered Diana of Appetite for China's pretty photo of her kashmiri chai. So that's my attempt at food styling.

My method is pretty simple. I just added black tea, ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom to soy milk and let it steep for a few minutes. The cardamom and ginger were very strong, so I suggest going easy on those ingredients.

Pumpkin Pie with Chai Spices

I love pumpkin pie. And even though the color of my pumpkin pie isn't as dark as the store-bought kind, don't be fooled. The pie was packed with flavor. The redolent fragrance of cardamom gave a subtle nuance to the normal pumpkin pie spices.

Did you know the proper way to serve pie or pizza is to have the pointy end facing the person you're serving? That's because that's the first part people dig into. Or does anyone eat the crust first?

Ghee (Indian Clarified Butter)

Ever seen gallon-sized containers of ghee before? I didn't either until I went to Little India in Artesia. In case you didn't know, according to Wikipedia, ghee is made by simmering unsalted butter until the water has boiled off and the proteins have settled to the bottom. The clarified butter can then be stored for long periods of time without refrigeration, which makes it very important to Indian, Egyptian, and Ethiopian cuisines. Farm Fresh Inc 18612 Pioneer Blvd Artesia, CA 90701 562-865-3191 ***** 1 year ago today, musings about my family's tradition of sending care packages in the form of banh tet (Vietnamese lunar new year sticky rice cakes).

Naan (Indian Leavened Flatbread)

Doesn't the naan (Indian leavened flatbread) in the back look lovely?
Let's get a closer look shall we? No, it's not quite as nice as the naan you get in restaurants that are actually cooked in a clay oven, but I got pretty close didn't I?

Since naan is a leavened bread, make sure you allow for about 3 hours of rising time.

Naan (Indian Leavened Flatbread)
Adapted from Manjula's Kitchen (Watch her video. She's awesome.) I've increased the yogurt and yeast in her recipe just a tad to make the naan more leavened since I thought her version was a bit doughy.

For half a dozen naan, you'll need:
2 cups white all-purpose flour
3/4 cup lukewarm water
2 tblsp oil
3 tblsp yogurt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp yeast

Optional: Ghee or melted butter for brushing on naan. Add minced garlic or cilantro to topping.

Dissolve 1 1/2 tsp yeast and 1 tsp sugar in 3/4 cup lukewarm water.

In a large mixing bowl, add 2 cups white all-purpose flour, 2 tblsp oil, 3 tblsp yogurt, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp baking soda. Slowly pour the yeasty water mixture into the flour. Lightly knead the dough into a ball like so. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a towel on top and let rise for 3 hours or until doubled in size.

When the dough has sufficiently risen and you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Put a pizza stone in the oven to preheat. If you don't have one, substitute with a thick metal baking pan or oven-proof stoneware.

Flour your hands and divide the dough into 6 balls. On a heavily floured surface, you can roll the dough out with a rolling pin or stretch it out with your hands. I actually like naan with thicker and thinner parts so I just kept pressing on the dough with my palms and stretched it out with my hands.

Then, cooking three at a time, lay the naan on the pizza stone and bake for 3 to 5 minutes. Brush with ghee (Indian clarified butter) or regular melted butter before serving.

Enjoy!

My other Indian recipes:
Murgh Makhani (Indian Butter Chicken)
Purple Aloo Gobi (Indian Potatoes and Cauliflower)

*****
1 year ago today, Lien Hoa Chinese BBQ Food To-Go in Westminster is where I go for $1.50 quails.

Purple Aloo Gobi (Indian Potatoes and Cauliflower)

Purple is my favorite color. So while my recipes for roasted purple cauliflower with bacon and balsamic vinegar and gratin with purple cauliflower, fennel, and leeks were good, they didn't really strike at the "fun food" part of my soul. And after months and months of seeing Marvin of Burnt Lumpia make purple ube pancakes, purple ube ice cream swirled with blueberry sauce, purple ube gnocchi, and most recently, purple ube cupcakes with macapuno frosting, well, I was positively purple with envy. So while my purple cauliflower was lovely, it wasn't enough to stand alone. I had to pair it with another purple -- Okinawan purple sweet potatoes. The outside conceals such a lovely purple color doesn't it?

Punjab Indian Grocery Store - Alhambra

After having discovered kulfi (Indian ice cream) at Saffron Spot - Artesia (Little India), I was feeling a bit more adventurous. So one day, after lunch at Luscious Dumplings, Inc. - San Gabriel, UnHipLA and I walked down the street to Punjab Indian Grocery Store in Alhambra.

The Punjab Indian Grocery Store is located in a small strip mall on the border between San Gabriel and Alhambra, a few doors down from Pho Super Bowl Vietnamese Cuisine - Alhambra.

It's pretty small, too small for me to feel comfortable taking pictures of the interior, but filled with lots of videos to rent, packaged Indian foods, and fresh Indian sweets.

Mahan Indian Restaurant - Alhambra

For the most part, I enjoy Indian buffets. I get to try a variety of dishes, and usually for less than $10. One day when I had a craving, I met up with my brother at Mahan Indian Restaurant in Alhambra for their $7.95 lunch buffet.

Woodlands Indian Cuisine - Artesia (Little India)

After our brief stop at Saffron Spot - Artesia (Little India), UnHipLA and I decided to go back to Little India specifically to eat, and not just for dessert. I suggested Woodlands Indian Cuisine after reading about their $9.95 all vegetarian South Indian buffet in the LA Times.

Saffron Spot - Artesia (Little India)

After our lackluster lunch at Belacan Grill - Redondo Beach, UnHipLA suggested Saffron Spot for dessert. Since I've never had Indian ice cream before, I was all up for trying it out. Especially since I was mesmerized by the gorgeous pictures of Saffron Spot that she had uploaded onto Biggest Menu.

I had never seen the like before. Think of all the best parts of Indian cuisine, the wonderful spices, the colors, and imagine them in the most amazing ice creams.

Murgh Makhani (Indian Butter Chicken)

Every once in a while I get a craving to eat something with lots of sauce for dipping. My recent bread batch was just screaming for some Indian sauces to mop it up. A 4-pound bag of chicken drumsticks waited to be cooked. Per lil' sis's request, half would go toward basic salt and pepper lemon chicken. A quick check of my fridge and spice drawer later, I had enough stuff to make murgh makhani (Indian butter chicken). Ooh, I was salivating thinking of the sauce -- the richness of the yogurt, the tangy sweetness of the tomatoes, the spiciness of the chili peppers, the pop of the coriander seeds.


Butter chicken is similar to chicken tikka masala in the yogurt- and tomato-based sauce. Legend has it that chicken tikka masala was invented by Bangladeshi chefs in the U.K. when Brits demanded a "gravy" to go with their chicken tikka. But others say, that chicken tikka masala is based on butter chicken, which originated in the Punjab region of India. Or that it was invented out of expediency as a way to use up leftover chicken tikka. Either way, there's no doubt that this is a popular offering at Indian restaurants everywhere.