Mushroom millets with cashew-beer butter
Cooking time: 1 hour 30 mins, serves 2-3
Earthy mushrooms paired with hearty foxtail millets and brought together by a smooth, nutty cashew-beer butter.
Ingredients
For cashew-beer butter
70 g cashew nuts
75 ml beer
½ tsp date syrup/honey
½ tsp Dijon mustard
70 ml sunflower oil
For millets and mushrooms
110 g foxtail millets
1½ tsp olive oil
1 onion, medium, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, large, crushed
120 g brown shimeji mushrooms, cut into 1-cm slices
120 g oyster mushrooms, cut into 1-cm slices
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp mirin
2½ tsp light soy sauce
15 g chives, finely chopped
Method
To make the cashew-beer butter, in a small food processor jar, blitz the cashews until finely ground. Add the beer, Dijon mustard, and honey and process until a fine paste is formed. Gradually stream in the sunflower oil until the mixture is smooth and emulsified. Set aside.
To make the millets, in a pressure cooker, combine the foxtail millets with 2.5 times their volume of water. Cook for three whistles, then set aside so that the pressure releases naturally.
To make the mushrooms, in a pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt, and sauté until translucent. Add the crushed garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds until fragrant. Add both types of sliced mushrooms and sauté until they have released their moisture and begun to brown.
Once the mushrooms are done, add the foxtail millets, rice vinegar, mirin, and light soy sauce to the pan. Stir until everything is well combined and heated through.
To serve, put the millet and mushroom mixture on a plate. Top with a dollop of the cashew-beer butter.
Makki ke dhokle
Cooking time: 30 mins, serves 4
Makki ke dhokle served with ghee and jaggery (or sugar) is one of my favourite snacks in the winter. These little steamed delights can be made with a variety of greens in this season. This versatile recipe is from one of my favourite cooks, Surbhi Bhandari, who recommends pairing them with hot kadhi or dal.
Ingredients
1½ cups maize flour
½ cup fenugreek leaves, fresh, chopped
¼ cup coriander leaves, fresh, chopped
2 tsp sesame seeds
½ tsp red chilli powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp sugar or jaggery powder
2 tbsp yoghurt
1 tsp Eno fruit salt
Water, as required
Ghee, for serving
Salt, to taste
Method
In a mixing bowl, combine the maize flour, fenugreek and coriander leaves, sesame seeds, red chilli powder, turmeric, salt, sugar/jaggery and yoghurt. Gradually add water as needed, kneading to form a very soft dough.
Just before steaming, sprinkle the Eno fruit salt over the dough and mix gently to incorporate.
Heat water in an idli steamer and grease the idli moulds. Shape the dough into small balls, making a slight dent in the centre of each, and place them in the moulds. Steam for 15–20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Serve warm with ghee or jaggery
Excerpted with permission from The Grain Kitchen: Celebrating Grains in Every Meal, Anahita Dhondy, HarperCollins India.
