Kimchee, vegan & with Gochujang

My love for kimchee has all begun since 2020, after I discovered K-dramas. I love how they eat Kimchee with everything and so I started making my own. 

There are multiple recipes on the internet on how to make vegan kimchee, and this recipe of mine is derived from all those - this one uses Gochugaru, the chilli flakes. 

Now that am in India, I noticed it is much easier to get access to Korean food items, and a friend got some Gochujang for us from Korea town near Ananthapur. I had to make kimchee with that, and the taste is totally different and yummier. 

Gochujang is also pre-fermented , so it acts like a starter to ferment the cabbages. Plus, since we are in warmer temparatures in India, the kimchee, as it is sitting on the counter, has fermented much quicker. I also choose to use the normal cabbage available in the grocery store for this recipe. But am sure it would taste better with the Napa cabbage too.

Here are all the references I used for this recipe - 

1. FoodbyJonister - Kimchee
2. FoodietakesFlight - This post has fermentation tips too.

Allam Pacchadi, for pesarattu

I love allam pacchadi (ginger pickle), and I have always eaten Pesarattu with this, so much so that I cannot imagine eating pesarattu with anything else. I always ensure we have a big bottle of this in the fridge so we can eat pesarattu anytime we want. 

Long ago, I worked along with Mom to come up with this recipe, this is her's and she is a total boss with her kickass allam pacchadi. 

However, over the years, using her recipe as a based, I have come up with my own method, to suit my kitchen and cooking style. Here it goes... 

1. Tamarind (1C, tightly packed) - soak in water and set aside.
2. Jaggery (1C) - Chop or powder and set aside.
3. Ginger (350gm) - Wash, dry and chop ginger. Shallow roast in some oil, set aside to cool. Once cooled, grind with some tamarind-paste or water to a paste.
4. Mustard & Fenugreek seeds (1/4 C each) - Dry roast these together. Cool and dry grind them to a powder.
5. Red Chillies , dry (roughly 2C in their dry state; half and half of regular and Kashmiri chillies) - take the tips off and shallow roast in oil. Set aside to cool. Dry grind to a powder.
6. Hing - 1Tbsp, Turmeric powder - 1Tbsp, Salt - to taste.
7. Mix all the dry ingredients - the roasted chili powder, hing, turmeric and salt - together and keep aside.
8. Mix the ginger paste, tamarind paste and jaggery together.
9. Now mix the dry and wet ingredients together to a paste.
10. Curry leaves & Red chillis (to taste) - Heat some oil, sauté the curry leaves and red chillies. Add the mixed ginger paste to this and mix well. Keep mixing till the ginger paste leaves oil in the pan.
11. Take off heat and set aside to cool.
12. Keep in an airtight container. Can be eaten for upto 6 months if refrigerated.
13. Serve with Pesarattu

Mirchi ka theccha

A friend of ours always has Mirchi ka Theccha in her fridge and she pulls it out like a superpower when she is making anything desi. This is where I first discovered this amazing dish and have since kept it ready in my fridge too. We eat it for many things - spread inside grilled cheese, toppings on dips and with roti. 

Here's the recipe - 

Ingredients

Green chillies
Garlic cloves
Cumin
Coriander
Sesame seeds
Cooking oil

All the quantities for the ingredients are per your taste.

Method

1. Wash and dry the green chillies
2. Heat the pan with oil in it. Put the green chillies and sauté well. The chillies will blister and get charred in places. Once all the sides of the chillies are blistered well and it looks like they are cooked, keep aside.
3. In the remaining oil, sauté the garlic cloves. They can be charred a bit too. Take off heat and put aside
4. Coarsely grind the charred chillies and garlic together. Take care to not make them into a paste, the texture retains some of the taste.
5. Dry roast the cumin, coriander and sesame seeds, together or separately. Take care not to burn them. Dry grind once they are cold.
6. Mix the ground powder with the coarse chilli and garlic mixture well.
7. Store in a glass container. Keep refrigerated, should stay good for at least a month.

Optional

1. You can add asafoetida while dry roasting the spices and grind them all together for additional flavor
2. While storing the theccha, cover it with lemon juice to preserve it and for a tangy taste

Where to use

1. Spread for grilled cheese sandwich
2. Any Indian dish that is lacking in spice, for that oomph factor
3. Topping for hummus and other Mediterranean dips
4. Along with Roti or Thepla