Zutaten:

• 1 Dose Kichererbsen (oder 100 g über Nacht eingeweicht und gekocht)
• 3 EL Ghee
• 1.5 TL Kreuzkümmelsamen
• 2 frische Chilis, entkernt und gehackt
• 4-5 cm Ingwer, gehackt
• 1.5 TL gemahlener Koriander
• 1/2 TL Kurkuma
• 1 TL Kreuzkümmel, gemahlen
• 1 mittelgrosse Aubergine
• 5 Tomaten, gewürfelt
• 1 Staude Mangold
• 1 TL Salz (nach Geschmack mehr)
• 1 EL Butter

Aubergine schälen, würfeln, kräftig salzen und auf einem Sieb 15 min ziehen lassen. Danach abspülen und abtropfen lassen.

Mangold putzen und waschen, dabei grobe Blattstiele vom Grün trennen, beides getrennt kleinhacken.

Ghee in einer grossen Pfanne erhitzen. Wenn es heiss ist zuerst Kreuzkümmelsamen, nach etwa 30 Sekunden Ingwer, Koriander,  Kurkuma, gemahlenen Kreuzkümmel und Chili hinzugeben, weitere 30 Sekunden unter Rühren erhitzen. Auberginenwürfel hinzugeben und unter Rühren anbräunen.

Tomaten und gehackte Mangoldstiele hinzugeben, einige Minuten andünsten. Jetzt Mangoldgrün hinzufügen, Salz und ggf. einige EL Wasser.  Hitze herunterschalten und 15 Min bei geschlossenem Deckel köcheln lassen.

Kichererbsen und Butter zufügen, ohne Deckel weiterköcheln bis die gewünschte Konsistenz erreicht ist.

Und das hier sind die Standards, von denen es in letzter Zeit bei jedem indischen Essen mindestens zwei gab:

Kokos-Dãl

Raita

Bombay-Curry (allerdings mit schrecklichem Stilbruch: Schweinefleisch)

Aloo Ghobi (die Version war aber ein bisschen zu lang gekocht, da halfen auch die Dekopetersilienblätter nix)

und Naan-Brot.

ingredients:

marinade:

• juice of one lemon
• 5 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp parsley, minced
• 1/4 tsp chili flakes
• 1/4 tsp salt
• pepper

other:

• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 zucchini
• 200 g halloumi

mix ingredients for marinade together.

cut bell pepper, zucchini and halloumi in bite size pieces, put in a bowl and cover with marinade. chill in the fridge for 4 hours.

Skewer the vegetables and the halloumi. put on a baking tray and brush with remaining marinade. grill at 200°C for 20-30 minutes. (you may want to reduce to 175°C for the last minutes).

we ate it with a taboulé-style salad and a yoghurt dip.

it’s still asparagus season! today we had white asparagus for the first time this spring and i learned a great trick to make it even more tasty – cook the asparagus in stock that is made of its trimmings.

ingredients:

• 1 kg white asparagus
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp sugar
• 50 g butter
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 3 tbsp slivered almonds
• more salt, pepper

wash, trim and peel the asparagus. put asparagus skins plus trimmings in a pot with 1.8 l cold water, add salt and sugar. bring to boil and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. remove skins and trimmings.

put asparagus into the stock, bring to boil then let it simmer for 10-15 minutes (until al dente).

meanwhile toast almonds in a dry pan until they start to turn golden. add butter and orange juice, cook for a few minutes at medium heat (until butter starts to brown). remove from heat, season with pepper and salt.

transfer asparagus on a prewarmed platter,  cover with orange butter.

for dinner on sunday evening i gathered all the vegetables remaining in the fridge and put them together into a vegetable lasagna. i found: 2 celery stalks, 3 carrots and one shallot in questionable state, about 100g baby peas, one tomato, half an onion, 150g mushrooms, one zucchini. slice, dice, cut all the vegetables, then sauté for a few minutes each, throwing them in the pan in the following order: onion & shallot > carrots > celery > peas > mushrooms > zucchini > tomato. some origano can go in there as well. add 500ml vegetable stock and let it simmer for another few minutes. add 2 cans (à 400 ml) crushed tomatoes, let it again simmer. finally add 100ml heavy cream and season with salt and black pepper. it is quite runny by now, but that’s ok. i don’t like the bechamél that goes usually into lasagna, so all the liquid needed for the pasta comes from the sauce. assemble the lasagna with about 250g lasagna sheets and lay 125g mozzarella slices on top. ( i also sprinkled a bit grated parmesan – another leftover – between three of the layers.)  bake at 175° for 25 minutes.

this is an incredibly delicious veggie soup, with a recipe i found here (in german).

first roast a tbsp of anise seed and a finely chopped piece of ginger (3cm +x) in some sun flower oil. add diced vegetables and stew for a few minutes. add 1.25l vegetable stock and simmer at medium heat for about 15 minutes. add 125ml orange juice and simmer again for 5-10 minutes. season with salt and pepper.

served with orange segments, smoked tofu that has been fried with some sesame seeds, chopped parsley, olive oil and freshly ground black pepper.

it’s dead easy, and as long as you stick with the anise-ginger-orange part, it works with almost every combination of vegetables. for the soup pictured above we used a rather simple mix of 3 carrots, 3 potatoes, 100g baby peas and 1 zucchini. had an equally great result with carrots, parsnip, sweethart cabbage, peas, potatoes and leek.

more inspiration and photos here.