It’s party time, y’all.  Put down that cheese ball and perk up your ears for somethin’ a little bit different on the holiday vittles theme.

Spinach leaves make the most beautiful pakoras of all. Photo: Kim O'Donnel

Instead, let’s tear a page from the book of chaat, the finger-licking savory snacks of India and south Asia.  At the top of my list are pakoras, delectable hand-held morsels fried in a chickpea flour batter.   Tempura’s got nothing on these babies; they’re spiced and spicy, crackly thin and light and get dipped with a cooling herbal chutney.

The caveat: Pakoras should be eaten hot and on the spot, which means you gotta fry on the fly.  My suggestion: Fry early, as guests begin to arrive.  Park yourself at the stove for 30 minutes and crank out a couple batches of pakoras, with a helper on hand to serve while they’re still hot.  At minute 30, turn off the heat, take off your apron, and take a bow. Your guests will give you a standing ovation for your best-ever fried performance.

Vegetable Pakoras

Adapted from “Lord Krishna’s Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking,” by Yamuna Devi

Ingredients: Batter:

2 cups chickpea flour (also known as besan or gram flour; available at Asian groceries; Bob’s Red Mill also sells in many supermarkets)

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon baking powder (optional: use if you like a puffier result)

1 teaspoon coriander

3/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/8 teaspoon asafetida (a peculiar and odiferous plant resin available at Southeast Asian groceries; if you can’t find it, don’t sweat it)

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (optional but nice)

Approximately 1 1/2 cups cold water

1 quart vegetable oil

Veggie options: Bell pepper rectangles, eggplant rounds (about ½-inch thick, using thinner Asian eggplants), onion rings, sweet potato round (1/4-1/2-inch thick) cauliflower or broccoli florets, spinach or kale leaves

Method

With a rubber spatula, mix all batter ingredients, except for the water, to combine. Add water gradually, mixing well after each addition, and continue until batter is the consistency of pancake batter. Let rest for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prep vegetables and make green chutney (which can be made in advance). Make sure veggies are completely dry before dipping into batter.

Eggplant and bell pepper require a medium-consistency batter for maximum adherence. More delicate items such as spinach leaves require a thinner batter. For a mixed order, prepare the heavy-batter items first, then water down batter as needed for more delicate pieces.

Heat oil in a heavy, deep pot or a wok until temperature reaches 335 degrees. Alternatively, test oil with a spoonful of batter, which bubbles in response when ready.

Dip veggies into batter, completely coating surface. With a pair of tongs, transfer veggies into hot oil and let cook until medium golden brown. Do not overcrowd oil bath; fry in small batches. Turn with tongs to brown on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to paper towels.

With slotted spoon, skim burnt bits and allow oil to return to 335 degrees before adding next batch of battered veggies.

Eat while pakoras are still warm and serve with chutney.

Green chutney

Note: I highly recommend that you double amounts and make a big batch of this stuff, as it’s addictive and your guests will plow through it.

Ingredients

1 large handful fresh cilantro leaves, chopped (1/2 cup)

1 small handful stemmed mint leaves, chopped (1/4 cup)

½-inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1 or 2 cloves chopped garlic

1 plum tomato

1 small green chili, seeded and diced

Method

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and well combined. Add salt to taste. Serve at room temperature.

Cover of Simple Vegetarian Pleasures

Ever since I started my weekly meatless feature 15 months ago, I’ve wanted to compile a resource list of titles that encompass the diverse and wide-ranging meatless recipe world.

With the holiday season in full swing, the requests for kitchen-specific gift ideas have been trickling in, an impetus if there was ever one to finish what I had started.

It’s extensive all right, a testament to how far the meatless cookbook world has gone from lentil loaf extravaganzas.  Is it  definitive? Not by a long shot. But I’d plunk my money down for any of these titles. And feel free to add to the list if you see something missing.

P.S. As I mentioned last week, Culinate is donating commission revenue to Feeding America for online purchases made through Amazon and Powell’s.

All-Purpose Tomes

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

The Passionate Vegetarian by Crescent Dragonwagon

Global Perspective

World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey

World Vegetarian Classics by Celia Brooks Brown

Getting Ethnic

Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Jewish Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the World by Gil Marks

The Greek Vegetarian by Diane Kochilas

Mediterranean Harvest by Martha Rose Shulman

Putting on the Pressure (Cooker)

Cooking Under Pressure by Lorna Sass (20^th anniversary edition released this year)

Pressure Cooking: A Fresh Look, a DVD by nutritionist Jill Nussinow

Just The Basics, Please

Simple Vegetarian Pleasures by Jeanne Lemlin

Seasonally Focused

Fast Food Fresh by Peter Berley

Vegetarian Suppers by Deborah Madison

A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop

Vegetarian Without Mention of the Word

Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson

Vegetable Cookery 411

Mediterranean Vegetables by Clifford A. Wright

Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini by Elizabeth Schneider

Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop

No Dairy or Eggs (aka Vegan)

Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero

Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry

Vegan Express by Nava Atlas

For “Mixed” Company

Almost Meatless by Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond

Adaptable Feast by Ivy Manning

Happy Endings

More Great Good Dairy Free Desserts Naturally by Fran Costigan

Vegan Cupcakes Rule the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero

New on the Shelves

Lucid Food by Louisa Shafia

The New Vegetarian by Robin Asbell

get cooking. by Mollie Katzen

For next year’s holiday gift list

Licking Your Chops, a meat-less guide for meat lovers, by yours truly (Da Capo/Fall 2010)

Books for food — Shop online, feed your neighbors

Image by katielips via Flickr

My colleagues at Culinate have come up with a clever way to both stimulate the economy during this financially-pokey holiday season and help the hungry in the most food-insecure year since 1995 (translated: 1 in 6 Americans during 2008). All month long, they are donating commission revenue from all online purchases from their site to Powell’s and Amazon. The money (4-7 percent of purchase price) will be put in the hands of Feeding America, a network of food banks across the country.

If you were already planning to do your holiday shopping online, the Culinate shopping network seems like a no-brainer. Who’s in?

Speaking of prezzies and such, my Culinate chat this week is all about gifts of the charitable, edible and culinary variety. Join the conversation Thursday (10aPT/1ET). Can’t make the live hour? Send early questions here.

For those in the social media know, Twitter has unveiled a beta version of its “Lists” functionality, which allows you to categorize Twitter accounts however you wish.  The list is an interesting way of distilling feeds by theme or topic, making it easier to keep tabs on news, particularly if it’s breaking or timely.

At first, I shrugged off the idea, arguing it’s one more reason to stay glued to the computer screen.  But I thought, what the hell, let’s see what the fuss is all about.  I created a list called @kimodonnel/sustainominded, which includes individuals and organizations discussing the why, when and where of how our food is grown and raised, the interconnected politics and policies, food safety and security and anyone that invites debate about what we put in our mouths three times a day.

I’ve just scratched the surface, but already I’ve got 25 (or maybe 27) folks and groups worth considering a follow or at least a quick Twit-peek.  Check it out, and feel free to weigh in and share some of your favorites.

@langdoncook is the voice of  Seattle-based author Langdon Cook, who’s just published “Fat of the Land,”  his adventures in foraging local foodstuffs and celebrating in the kitchen.

@bmarler is the feed of Seattle food safety lawyer (whom I often refer to as “food safety knight”) Bill Marler, a tireless advocate for an overhaul of food safety standards that “puts a trial lawyer out of business.”

@ObamaFoodorama is Eddie Gehman Kohan, the chronicler of anything and everything that the Obama administration eats, drinks and chews on –  literally, politically and figuratively.  Keeps scrupulous tabs on the comings and goings of the USDA and agricultural policy and politics.

@Ediblestories is the umbrella feed for the Edible publication family, which includes 53 regional magazines in the US and Canada, that focus on local food sheds and artisans.

@WastedFood is the project of Durham, N.C. –blogger Jonathan Bloom whose personal mission it is to get Americans to stop wasting so much damn food.

@Tomphilpott is Grist food editor Tom Philpott, a fearless big-ag policy watchdog asking the tough questions  of our elected officials.

@Theveggiequeen is Jill Nussinow, a passionate vegetarian and cooking teacher in Santa Rosa, Calif.

@Kimseverson at the New York Times Food section  and @jane_black at the Washington Post Food section

@GreenFork, the feed for the Green Fork blog at Eat Well Guide

@Jambutter, the musings of Vermont-based advocate and family man Rob Smart, who writes at Every Kitchen Table.

@Barry_Estabrook At Gourmet, Barry Estabrook wrote compelling, investigative pieces, most notably about the slave-like conditions of tomato pickers in Florida.  In the wake of Gourmet’s demise, Estabrook has started his own blog, also called Politics of the Plate.

@LDGourmet is Boston-based writer Jacqueline Church, founder of Teach a Man to Fish, an online recipe exchange and awareness campaign about sustainable seafood. This is just one of her many projects.

@GOOD is Los Angeles-based GOOD magazine, which is doing a helluva job on how to make the world a better place, with lots of regular rich content on food.

@Rogerdoiron is the Maine activist who founded Eat the View, a campaign for a White House edible garden.

@CUESA is a San Francisco-based NGO focused on local, seasonal eats an the force behind the famed San Francisco Ferry Plaza farmer’s market.

@Retrovore is the efforts of New Yorkers Kerry Trueman and Matt Rosenberg who keep tabs on who’s doing what that’s local, seasonal and sustainable in their neck of the woods.

@Eatlocalchall is the nickname for Eat Local Challenge, founded by passionate go-getter Jennifer Maiser.

@Ethicurean is the feed of this lively food politics blog, founded by food writer Bonnie Azab Powell.

@CarrieOliver is trying to change the way people think about beef. She’s working with small artisanal ranchers to promote their humanely and sustainably raised beef. Pardon the pun, but her blind tastings, much like wine tastings, are eye opening.

@Cookingupastory is a collaborative Web site that does compelling online video focusing on the movers and shakers of the sustainable food world.

@Aquaken is the feed of  Ken Peterson, of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, with regular dispatches on the state of the seas.

Similarly enlightening seafood info comes from @Hawaiifitz,  who’s known offline as Tim Fitzgerald at Environmental Defense Fund.

And then there’s @CassonTrenor,  author of “Sustainable Sushi” who wears another hat as Greenpeace activist, putting businesses on the spot to stop buying overfished species.

@NaomiStarkman is a force of nature, with her ear close to the ground on anything to do with agriculture policy, food safety and school lunch/kid’s nutrition.

Speaking of school lunch, get to know @ChefAnnC , also known as Ann Cooper, who’s been working in school districts around the country fighting for children’s nutritional well-fare.

@Fromartz is DC-based food writer Sam Fromartz, author of  “Organic Inc,” and force behind the Chewswise blog.

Greetings from Sayulita, Mexico, where I’ve traded in my turkey baster for a yoga mat and my apron for a bathing suit. It’s the first year in a dozen or more that I am not cooking, hosting or fretting over Thanksgiving dinner, and I gotta say, I’m giving thanks for the much-needed break.

In this final leg of Thanksgiving prep and countdown, there’s always someone in the crowd who has just woken up and smelled the coffee, that the Big Feast is less than two days away and the fridge is bereft of feast fixins.

In this mobile device-paced, anytime-anything-anywhere world, it would seem we’d have a better handle on slowing down and making room for time at the table with the people we love. But the opposite seems to be true: Technology, which is supposed to make our lives easier and more manageable, fails to make them simpler, as in helping to make way for the simpler, slower things in life.  We’re so distracted by headlines and e-mail alerts that supper –– even of the Thanksgiving variety — gets a back seat.

It means more of us are putting off  holiday feast planning and prep until it feels too late. And I’m here to tell ya, procrastinators, to whom this post is dedicated, that it’s not too late. You’ve still got time to pull off a scrumptious affair, and you need not burst a blood vessel to make it happen.

First thing’s first: Don’t be hard on yourself. We’ve got limited time with which to work and the last thing you need is to add self-loathing to the stress kitty pile.

About the turkey: At this point in the game, it’s too late to worry about defrosting a bird, so let it go and be okay with Plan B. If poultry is a critical to the Thanksgivingness of your experience, buy a whole chicken instead.

Time in oven: A five-pounder will take about 2 hours (less if you remove the breast skin) at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, then 375 for the remaining time.

Same thing applies to stuffing, with a little bit more wiggle room. See, stuffing requires stale bread, which you can stale on purpose by cubing and drying out in a 200-degree oven, a trick that works until the night before.

But if you haven’t gotten to “stale-ing” your cubes by Thanksgiving morning, let it go and move on to the things you can make in no time.

Such as… sweet potatoes — roasted, then mashed with garlic, chiles, seasoned with salt, a smidge of honey and lime. Garnish: chopped walnuts or pecans. I can’t tell you what this would all taste like with marshmallows on top. My advice: Another thing to let go.

Time in oven: 1 hour, plus a few minutes to mash and season.

…Or delicata squash, sliced into rings, lathered with olive oil  and roasted at 400 degrees, for about 25 minutes. Even quicker  than the ole sweet potato and a nice change of pace.  Yes, the skin is edible (and delicious) when roasted.

Don’t let the time crunch be a factor from making your own cranberry sauce, versus running to the store like a banshee and buying a can of jelly.  Real crans take just 30 minutes to whip up; you can stir the pot while watching the evening news.  You’re welcome in advance.

Time on stove top: 30 minutes. Seriously.

With a bunch of stuff loading up the oven, for your green veg, consider something that you can put together on top of the stove.  Think quick-cooking greens like spinach, which wilt in an instant and need just olive oil, garlic and salt to get ready, and if you’re feeling festive, add some raisins or dried crans to the mix.

Prep and cooking time: 12 minutes.

Dessert: Pie is heavenly, but it means making dough, which requires more time and energy than you have at this point.  Cut yourself some slack and make a crisp instead, the next best thing in my opinion.  With fall classics such as apples or pears (or a combo of both, which is lovely), a crisp is a more time-effective, straightforward option, requiring just a few minutes to pull together a brown sugar-butter topping that needs about 15 minutes in the fridge to chill.

A few tips:
5 medium apples (a mix of tart and sweet is good), peeled, cored and sliced or 4-5 ripe-ish pears (which can be an issue at the last minutes), also peeled, cored and sliced

1 tablespoon of flour mixed in with the fruit
1 or 2 teaspoons of sugar to macerate the fruit
A pinch of salt
A smidge of cinnamon

Grease a pie plate. Topping is a mix of:
6 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, softened
3/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

“Cut” butter into the other ingredients until well blended. Refrigerate and drop on top of fruit.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.