Repurposing leftovers...and signing Saturday

Remember that rice casserole I made the other night? I let it sit a day and then "repurposed" it in a way my husband really liked. I finely chopped a peeled carrot, a few sprigs of parsley, the last of the mushrooms and some chopped onions (you could spray the pan or even water-saute or broth-saute to save calories). Threw those in a bowl. Broke two eggs into a wire stainer (to smooth out any solids) and whisked them until they were strained into the vegetable mixture. Added the leftover rice casserole and about 1/2 cup of fine dry breadcrumbs. Then I pressed and formed the rice mixture into hamburger-size cakes and dusted each cake with breadcrumbs on both sides. Finally, I fried them in a mixture of olive oil and butter and kept them warm in the oven while I finished the frying. Served them with steamed broccoli. Good dinner and money-saving.

Tonight, I'm doing an Indian dish, a version of Mogul-style butter chicken. I noticed about a month ago that the Indian Grocery had moved from its rather, dark, small and hidden location on Beretania to a large, airy space at the corner of Isenberg and King Streets, with parking in back. They've got everything: frozen and chilled foods, some fresh-made samosas and snacks, Indian movies and recordings, dried foods. They even have my favorite masoor dahl (whole dark lentils, which I like to cook half and halve with long-grain rice and top with caramelized onions, tomato paste, yogurt, raisins, nuts, chutney, all kinds of things, a great vegetarian dinner).

I bought some ghee (clarified butter), bottled prepared tikka sauce and fresh yogurt. I marinated cut-up chicken pieces in the tikka sauce and yogurt for an hour or so. Fried some spices in ghee: a broken cinnamon stick, some whole allspice, a pinch of saffron, half an onion, an inch or so of grated ginger. It called for lemon juice and vinegar and I added a splash of wine vinegar but had no citrus. Went out to the garden and found this plant my husband thought was basil but it tasted like lemon. Have no idea what it is. Chopped up a handful of leaves and added it; very citrusy smell. (Lemon basil?) Put it all together and baked it in a casserole at 325 to serve with rice. (I brought some frozen paratha flatbread but forgot it so I'll serve that another day.) Keep the tikka sauce and ghee in the fridge and you can use it for other dishes.

Don't forget: I'm signing cookbook Saturday the 12th at the Hawaii Kai Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Kaiser High School. I'll have all three of my books. Books are $15 each or $42 for three. Checks and cash only, no credit cards.