Out of the box cooking: Vicky Ratnani
My inspiration starts from what I see, smell and taste. The best way is to plan your menu is to keep in mind the seasonal produce, nutrition, cost, time, balance and, of course, the people you are feeding. You can create some blissful dishes in a jiffy... all veggie, and with a new dimension of flavours. They are tried and tested, and have featured in my book Vicky Goes Veg which is now available online and in most bookshops all over India. I had Sharjah eating out of my hands when I cooked these dishes at the Sharjah Book fair.
Eggless noodles with tamarind, chillies and crisp veggies
Ingredients
250 gm eggless noodles
A few drops of seasame oil
100 gm tofu or cottage cheese
A handful of cashew nuts
1/3 cabbage
1⁄2 carrot
1⁄2 a Malabar cucumber, sliced
1 spring onion stalk
2 tsp minced ginger
1 garlic clove
4-5 bok choy leaves
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp tamarind pulp
1 tbsp red chilli paste/sambal oelek
2 sliced green chillies
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
A handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
Bean sprouts (to garnish)
METHOD
Take water in a pot or pan, add the noodles and cook for two to three minutes.
Drain the cooked noodles from the water. Add some oil so that they don’t stick.
Cut the tofu into cubes and marinate with soya sauce. Put in a hot wok and fry.
Take out the tofu once it is fried. Add some cashew nuts and also fry until light brown.
In the same wok, add cabbage, carrot, Malabar cucumber, spring onion, ginger, garlic, bok choy, soya sauce, brown sugar, tamarind pulp, red chilli paste/sambal oelek, sliced green chillies, rice wine vinegar and finally the noodles. Mix well and toss.
Add roughly chopped coriander leaves and toss again. Put it in a bowl and top up with the fried tofu, fried cashew nuts and fresh bean sprouts.
Pumpkin soup with pears and southern spices
Ingredients
Some light olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1⁄2 tsp mustard seeds
1 onion
30 gm leeks, chopped
1 pear
30 gm celery, chopped
1 cup pumpkin, peeled and diced
1 tbsp ginger, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, bashed
2 lime leaves
6 curry leaves
1 tsp Madras curry powder
1 tbsp sambar masala
750 ml vegetable stock
1⁄2 stalk of lemon grass, bashed
1/3 tsp tarragon
1⁄2 tsp parsley
3 basil leaves
Salt (to taste)
A pinch of saffron
Coconut (to garnish)
A few drops of lime juice
1⁄2 tsp chives
Method
Heat the olive oil. Add the cumin seeds, mustard seeds and when they splutter, add the onions, leeks, pears, celery and pumpkin. Sweat off well for a minute or so.
Add the ginger, garlic, lemon grass, lime leaves, curry leaves, the curry powder and sambar masala. Deglaze with white wine. Cook for five minutes. Add the stock and simmer till all the vegetables are soft enough to blend.
Remove the leaves and then blend until smooth. Season to taste and add the chopped herbs.
Pour in the bowl and garnish with coconut, lime juice and some chives.
Cucumber, radish and tindli carpaccio, red pepper pesto
Ingredients
1 medium-sized cucumber
3 tindli
1⁄2 medium-sized white radish
For the marinade:
1 tsp sugar
1⁄2 tsp salt
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp dill
20 gm sliced fennel
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp scallion, sliced
2 tsp olive oil
For the red pepper and peanut pesto:
1⁄2 red bell pepper, roasted and peeled
30 gm unsalted toasted peanuts
1⁄2 tsp ginger
1⁄2 a green chilli
2-3tbsp olive oil
1⁄2 a red apple
Little jaggery
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup coriander leaves, chopped
Method
Wash and pat dry the cucumbers, tindli and radish. Slice very fine lengthwise to create long ribbons.
For the marinade, whisk the sugar and salt along with the vinegar, dill, sliced fennel, scallions and lemon juice. Blend in the olive oil. Pour the marinade over the vegetable ribbons and rest in the fridge for an hour or so.
Time to plate up! Dress the ribbons of veggies on a plate and spoon some red pepper pesto. For the pesto, just whizz up all the ingredients to get a flaming red pesto.