At last at last I made them! Low-fat potstickers, A.K.A Chinese dumplings, filled with an Indian sesame stir-fry curry type thing. They have been on the brain for weeks now since I saw the photo on the Naughty Curry site. I've been partying in Mexico all week and I came back feeling like a big fat grease ball. You know the feeling? But I ate fried food everyday down there and I was still craving it amazingly. American chinese restaurants load the oil, as you probably know already...

These little guys satisfy my spice needs, and at the same time use only a bit of oil. They are a fabulous wonderful discovery. I'm a big dipper-dunker too. MMMM. Dipping sauce du jour: Hoisin with lime.

Indian Sesame Potstickers Above are the Chinese potstickers stuffed with an Indian sesame stir-fry from Naughty Curry. SO EASY you can use any mushy leftovers for a filling, really.

"I like apples," was the first thing Vin ever said to me, at the club where he used to work. I was wearing a tight t-shirt with an apple on the chest. I thought then that it was a compliment to my chest. Turns out he really is an apple fanatic. The entire bottom drawer in our fridge is devoted to his apples. The kid knows every variety (it's his dream BTW to be an apple farmer in New Zealand one day. Don't tell him I told you.)

He's always bugging me to make fruit salad. You know, the kind with gobs of whipped cream. But I'm more of a salty-hot chick, and anyway I've had enough of that stuff from my Midwest childhood. So when I saw this recipe, using Indian spices, I thought it would be a good compromise.( I used soy yogurt so that my vegan friend could eat some, and I'll be buying soy from now on! ) Everyone at the going-away party loved it, and Vin had me make his own batch. He said it would be even better if I would add chunks of crushed Snickers bar, like his mama used to. I told him to shut up.

Zucchini-Apple Bliss Salad Magically pepped up with non-hot spices [RECIPE HERE]. The dressing is just yogurt, so it's very light. I used soy yogurt, and no one could tell.

This has been the summer of these *Curry-Ranch Oyster Crackers*. They zoom with flavor. I swear they give you a buzz. I love them and I can’t stop eating them. I hate them because I can’t stop eating them. My friend Trobee of the Naughty Curry blog would bring over a batch IF I would do her laundry. Vin kept eating them all up, and the situation was causing heated fights, so I had Trobee make them with extra cayenne so that he would stay away (though sometimes he would try. How I loved seeing HIM cry for once. Haha.)

And all this time they were so simple and cheap to make. Grrr. Trobee (the little wench) made it seem like she was a spice goddess and that it was complicated. I guess the NC blog was never planning to post the recipe – but all our friends kept bugging them. So here it is. If you like spice at ALL, I promise you will go wild for these. Like everyone else. You can use however much hot stuff you want.

Curry-Spiced Oyster Crackers My favorite munchie. Tangy-Hot-Zesty fireworks in my mouth, my good god I can't stop eating them! I finally got the recipe (CLICK HERE), which is a very good thing and very bad...

Major mental overload. (Old lovers, evil cell phones, Vin's annoying friends, and more.) 
So I just want rice. Rice. Just rice. This is the third kind of rice I have cooked up in the last two days. I'm posting on this one because it did me good. I guess the recipe [click here] is authentic, from an Indian woman known for her cooking. Anyways, it did me good. It has golden raisins and a light sweetness from the spices. The rice is boiled kind of like pasta... I didn't know it could be made this way! Love it.

Bengali Pilau Rice This pic DOES NOT do this gorgeous-flavored rice justice! I was hungry, I was in a hurry, OK? RECIPE HERE

I posted this recipe last week on my biog, but I'm making it again cause good god I can't get it out of my head.

This time I actually had the 'grape tomatoes' like in the picture. I had to get rid of some cauliflower, so I used that instead of the broccoli... but I prefer the broccoli.

This time I stuck the pasta on the bottom shelf of the fridge so Vin's caveman buddies wouldn't devour it.

Trobee took this pic for the Naughty Curry blog. When I saw it on the site though I had to laugh.... hers had been covered with coarse pepper and chili flakes! I like some heat, but only enough to light my fire, not burn me up. Who knows, though. Maybe with.all this spice-testing for the NC I'll build a tolerance...






NAUGHTY CURRY PASTA SALAD

3 cups raw rotini pasta
2 cups broccoli florets
3 green onions, minced
1/2 cup grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup carrots, chopped
1 ½ TB Spice Mix (see below)
1 1/3 cup Italian dressing, plus more as needed
salt and pepper
2 tsp black mustard seeds

**OPTIONAL: 3-7 dried red chilies, de-seeded, soaked 5 minutes in warm water, then minced. (I used 4-- I recommend using them!!!) 

Spice Mix:

2 tsp black peppercorns
1/4 cup coriander seeds
1/4 cup cumin seeds
2 whole cloves
½ tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp ginger powder
½ tsp asafetida

Dry roast the Spice Mix except for the ginger powder and the paprika. Whizz it to a powder in your coffee grinder, then mix in the ginger powder and paprika. Set aside. 

Cook the pasta until it is done but still somewhat firm. Rinse with cold water. 

Combine the pasta with the vegetables in a large bowl. Stir in the salad dressing. Add salt and 1 1/2 Tb of the spice mix. 

In a small skillet, heat a dab of oil until it is sizzle-hot. Add the black mustard seeds. As soon as they have quit popping, dump them in the pasta bowl. 

Mix everything together. Cover and refrigerate. It's best to let it chill at least an hour before chow time, if you can stand it..