Indian Food

We had a joint dinner with Shumon. We made a new dish for us: Stir-Fried Crab and Sweet Corn. It had promise but we both agreed we probably wouldn't make it again. It is from a new cookbook with a great title: Flavorwalla. Unfortunately the dish didn't live up to the hype. Oh well. If you try it let us know how it worked out.

Shumon made an old family recipe: Cauliflower, Potatoes and Lentils. It was very good. I love Cauliflower in all of its presentations. Indians really know how to cook it!

Stir-Fried Crab and Sweet Corn

Floyd Cardoza

Flavorwalla

This quick stir-try doesn’t need any accompaniment—it stands on its own beautifully. It can be served hot from the skillet (no wok required), o you can chill the corn base and then fold in the crab and tarragon to serve as a satisfying salad. Spoon it into baked mini tart shells for a really lovely hors d'oeuvre.

To prepare the roasted corn, you can fire-roast it right on your gas stove. Or, if you have the grill going a day or two ahead, throw the corn on and grill it until marked in spots, then just cut the kernels off and refrigerate or freeze until needed. Alternatively, if you live near a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, pick up a bag or two of frozen roasted corn. Be sure to let frozen corn sit out at room temperature to defrost before using it; adding frozen corn to the hot pan will quickly lower the temperature of the skillet and cause you to steam, rather than stir-fry, the corn,

serves 4

3       tablespoons canola oil

3       cups diced onions

¼       cup salted peanuts, lightly chopped

1       tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

1       tablespoon minced garlic

1-1/2       teaspoons thinly sliced seeded wet kokum

1                  serrano chili, finely minced

3       cups fire-roasted corn or defrosted frozen fire-roasted corn

¼       teaspoon ground star anise

3       cups fresh or high-quality canned lump or jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over to remove shells

Leaves from 3 tarragon sprigs, coarsely but gently chopped

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

In a large saute pan or chicken fryer, heat the oil over high heat until shim­mering. Add the onions and stir-fry until lightly colored but still firm, 8 to 12 minutes. Push the onions to one side of the pan and add the peanuts, gin­ger, garlic, kokum, and chile to the other side. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Stir the onions into the peanut mixture. (The recipe can be made through this step up to 1 day in advance, cooled, and refrigerated. Return the mixture to the pan and heat over medium-low heat until hot, then turn the heat to high for the next step.)

Add the corn and star anise and cook, stirring, until the corn is heated through.

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