Another level of fusion cooking in C universe

I love chutneys, clearly! New condiments, spice mixes, salad dressings, salsas, sauces excite me with wild passion. That's why visiting roadside gift stores, mom & pop specialty stores on road trips or visiting new grocery stores, especially those that carry ingredients specific to a country or cuisine makes me truly happy. So you will find suya spice, yuzu lemon sauce, yuzu lemon dressing, zoug in my kitchen. Knowing this penchant - before we were plunged into the C universe - my Ethiopian neighbor gifted me a bottle of her prized berbere. Stuff dreams are made of! You think?

Now we're all cooking in the midst of a quarantine, thoughts astray and bodies screaming for flavor, nourishment, allure and that something, which tastes extraordinary. (Covid or no covid, taste buds are forever in search of that x factor, that flavor kick which will make you feel as if you've died and gone to heaven.) Plus all are keeping a sharp eye on what is in the pantry and fridge not only to use everything before the bloom/taste/ripeness peaks but also to stretch everything as much as possible. Dang, what a hot mess!

As a result of this hodgepodge, two new dishes emerged from my kitchen last week. They are now added to my repertoire of weekday meals.

Roasted brussel sprouts spiked with Berbere and chaat masala

Berbere is a spice mix of Ethiopian/Eritrean cuisine, eye-catching and crimson red, which my neighbor described as a combination of more than 20 spices - ginger, red chile powder, garlic, fenugreek, basil, nigella and lots more. I tasted a pinch. Even though it had a mild hot kick at first, the mouth was taken over by a cooling after taste. 

Come lunchtime one weekday, I cut up brussel sprouts lengthwise - 2 pieces from one. Poured in olive oil, chopped garlic pieces, berbere, lime juice and chaat masala in a mixing bowl of brussels sprouts halves . Something told me that the cooling, almost-sweet aftertaste of berbere would pair well with the in-your-face, sour punch of chaat masala. After making sure that each and every brussel sprout was luxuriously lathered with the Afro-Indian spice mix, I set it aside to marinade for 15 minutes and then layered it in a 6" cast iron pan. Inside the toaster oven went the brussels sprouts at a 350 degrees temperature. Within 15 minutes, golden brown, slightly burnt at the edges brussels sprouts emerged that were al dente soft - oxymoronish - but yes, that's my take and I'm sticking to it.

Recipe of Roasted brussel sprouts spiked with Berbere and chaat masala

Ingredients

* 12-15 brussels sprouts cut lengthwise into half

* 1 teaspoon berbere #

* 1/2 teaspoon chaat masala

* 2 medium cloves garlic peeled and roughly chopped

* 2 teaspoons lime juice

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

* 2 tablespoons olive oil

# Don't have berbere? No sweat! Replace with a mix of 1/2 teaspoon red chile powder, 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder

Method

* Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

* Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl

* Set aside to marinade for 15 minutes 

* Take a sheet pan or a cast iron pan and pour the brussels sprouts in it.

* Roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes. I make sure the brussels sprouts are done by piercing a knife into a piece. The knife should pierce a brussels sprout with no resistance.   

Weekday rice noodles with asparagus, carrots, bok choy 

A couple of days past their prime the asparagus and a half piece of carrot were screaming to be used up. But the wilting bok choy remained calm and collected. Finally, oh finally I rallied them around, washed and cut them up without any plan.  Sauted them in coconut oil, added a healthy dash of soy sauce, now what to do? In went coriander powder, black pepper and hold your breath - brown mustard.

Recipe for Weekday rice noodles with asparagus, carrots, bok choy 

Ingredients
* rice noodles
* 2 teaspoons coconut oil
* 6 stalks of asparagus cut into 2 inch long pieces
* 1/2 carrot diced into 1/2" half moons 
* 2 small bok choy stems chopped
* 2 teaspoons of low sodium soy sauce
* 1 teaspoon coriander powder
* 3/4 teaspoon mustard paste (any will do)
* salt and black pepper

Method  

* Cook noodles al dente. Any kind of noodles are fine, soba, udon, egg noodles. Before draining the noodles, save about a cup of water in which the noodles were boiled.
* Pour coconut oil in a thick-bottomed skillet.
* Add vegetables and let them cook for about 10 minutes. Saute intermittently
* Pour in soy sauce.
* Follow up with coriander powder, mustard, salt and pepper.
* Add noodles and 1/2 cup of saved noodle water.
* Cook for 5 minutes and serve hot.

Do you realize what is happening here? A flavor fusion where you take a condiment from one continent, pair it up with a spice mix from another continent and incorporate them into a familiar everyday dish like noodles. This does not mean just adding some cayenne to your mac and cheese or Indianizing the pizza by topping it with paneer pieces. It means making palak paneer pizza, replacing tomato sauce with a silky smooth spinach sauce and then topping it with cheese and paneer pieces. It means using tadka instead of olive oil in a salad dressing.

That according to me is the future of cooking, interesting cooking, that is. What do you think?