# The Indian Food Thread



## IrishLass (Aug 25, 2015)

Okay, all you Indian food lovers, here's our thread! Everybody join in and contribute! :-o

One of my favorite dishes from our favorite Indian restaurant is their Palak Paneer. After many tries at trying to duplicate it at home (by much guessing and tasting and guessing and tasting and scouring through the internet), this is what I came up with. To us, it tastes very, very close to the one we enjoy at the restaurant- not 100% exact, but close enough for us to scarf it down with gusto, lol. It might seem long and complicated, but looks can be deceiving. It's so easy and quick once everything has been prepped:

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. ghee (for sautéing the onions/spices, etc.)
20 oz. frozen spinach, thawed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger
2 dry red chili peppers, whole
1 c. finely chopped onion
4 sprigs fresh cilantro, chopped
8 oz. can crushed tomatoes
8 oz. block of paneer (Indian cheese)
2 tbsp. ghee (to cook paneer/cheese in)
1/2 c. plain yoghurt (lowfat or full-fat)
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 c. lowfat buttermilk 
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground turmeric
3 tsp. curry powder (I'm partial to Penzey's Sweet Curry Powder)
1 tsp. garam masala
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (or to taste)


Directions (prep):

*1*- In a small prep bowl, add the cumin, coriander, turmeric, curry powder, gram masala, cayenne, and salt. Set aside. 
*2*- In a separate small prep bowl, add the minced garlic and grated ginger. Set aside.
*3*- In a separate small prep bowl, add the chopped cilantro. Set aside.
*4*- In a medium bowl, add the yoghurt, buttermilk, and heavy cream. Whisk until smooth. Set aside.

Directions (cook):

*A*- In a medium-sized Dutch oven or pot heat 1 tbsp. ghee over med-high heat until shimmering. Turn heat to medium and add onions, cooking until soft and golden (about 8 to 10 minutes).
*B*- To the pot, add the prep bowl of dried spices, the prep bowl of garlic/ginger and the 2 whole chili peppers. Cook over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes until very fragrant. 
*C*- Add the crushed tomatoes. Cook for about 3 minutes or so, and then add the bowl of yoghurt, buttermilk and heavy cream, cooking and stirring on medium until heated through. 
*D*- Add the thawed spinach and cook until heated through (about 3 minutes). Remove from heat. 
*E*- In 2 batches, puree the spinach mixture in a food processor for about 15 pulses or so until it is of a consistency you like. Pour back into the pot and cover to keep warm while you prepare the paneer.....
*F*- Cut the paneer into cubes.
*G*- Heat the 2 tbsp. of ghee on med-high heat in a frying pan until shimmering. Turn heat down to medium and add paneer, cooking and stirring off and on until just barely golden. Watch very closely so it does not burn, which it will do in the blink of an eye if you're not careful. 
*H*- Drain cooked paneer on paper towels and add to the palak (spinach mixture). Heat through, add the chopped cilantro, and serve.

How do you folks make yours (inquiring minds want to know!)? 


IrishLass


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## not_ally (Aug 25, 2015)

OK, this is going to take a bit of research, IL.  To my consternation, after I promised you a good cilantro chutney recipe I could not find mine!  And the ones that I did find when I searched - even from good sources - included stuff that I would not use or omitted things that I wouild.  

Also, I need to watch my mom carefully and see what she does when she cooks.  She has always been an amazing cook, and we have all taken it for granted, our whole lives.  She is starting to get dementia now, so I want to start collecting memories (and good recipes!).  Thank you for starting the thread, it will be better for me than you all, in the end.


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## doriettefarm (Aug 25, 2015)

IrishLass - that recipe looks so yummy!  It's giving me flashbacks of the best aloo palak I've ever tasted.  Also wanted to let you know that I made some liquid soap this weekend using your glycerin method and it turned out great so mucho thanks!

Here's my contribution to the recipe thread.  My hubs made it last week with okra and tomatoes from our garden . . . big thumbs up.  He also added some boiled potatoes after cooking the okra but you could also serve over rice.

Okra with Tomatoes/Mayai Wara Bhinda (from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian cookbook)

1/4 cup peanut or canola oil
1lb fresh okra, tops & tails removed then cut into 1/4 thick rounds
3 medium tomatoes (12oz), peeled and chopped
2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and mashed to a pulp
2Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2tsp ground coriander
1/2tsp ground cumin
1/8tsp ground turmeric
1/4tsp cayenne
3/4tsp salt (or to taste)
fresh ground black pepper (to taste)

Put the oil in a large, preferably nonstick frying pan and set over medium-high heat.  When hot, put in the cut okra.  Stir and fry for 7-10 mins.  When the okra starts to brown, turn the heat down to med and cook, stirring, another 3-4 mins.  The okra will have browned a bit more.  Turn the heat down to low and cook 2-3 mins, or until the okra is almost tender.  Now put in all the remaining ingredients.  Stir gently and cook on low heat for 4-5 mins, or until all flavors have melded and the tomatoes have dried a little.  Check for salt, adding more if you need it.

Serves 3-4


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## kumudini (Aug 25, 2015)

IL, I used to make my own paneer fresh and actually used a recipe that I came up with, it involves fresh spinach and no ghee or heavy cream and no paneer being fried( fresh one doesn't need frying). But it was **** good, even kids used to say kumudini auntie makes the best Palak paneer. Am I teasing? May be, here's my recipe:
Base:

Fresh spinach 1 lb
Large red onion 1 sliced
Ginger 1" piece chopped
Garlic 3 cloves
Olive oil 2 tbsp

Coming together:

Olive oil 2 tbsp
Kala jeera 2 tsp
Red onion 1/2 of a large one fine diced
Green chili peppers 2-4, sliced lengthwise 
Salt to taste
Cayenne pepper powder 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder 2 tsp
Cumin powder 1 tsp
Garam Masala 1 tsp
Tomato 2 large, finely chopped/ puréed
Puréed base
Fresh Paneer cubed - to your heart's desire.

Method:
Heat olive oil in a large pan
Add ginger and garlic pieces and sauté till fragrant
Add sliced onion and sauté till translucent
Add washed spinach and close with lid. Cook for 10 min.

Let cool and grind to smooth paste.

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan and add kala jeera, let splutter a bit.
Add onion and green chili and salt and sauté till golden brown.
Add spice powders and sauté for 30 seconds.
Then add chopped tomato and let cook on a med low heat until raw smell is gone and you start to see oil droplets on surface.
Add the spinach paste and let cook for 5 min on low heat.
Add paneer cubes and cook for few more min.
IL, for you specifically, add a bunch of chopped cilantro and enjoy.

ETA: I never used heavy cream in this because the yumminess of spinach and onion tame the heat enough that even kids could handle. But if you need to, by all means use cream or go easy on the spices.


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## kumudini (Aug 25, 2015)

Off the cuff, the green chutney is a mixture of fresh mint, cilantro, green chili, grated coconut, roasted peanuts and salt with lime juice added at the last, adjusting the amount to taste.
The Indian kind of mixer and grinder or the high powered blenders like blendtec/ vitamix do a fine job grinding it up, although the non Indian ones might need a little added water to blend smoothly.

A large bunch each of mint and cilantro
2-3 Thai green chili
2 tbsp grated fresh coconut ( the kind you could find in freezers in Indian grocers)
2 tbsp roasted and skinned peanuts
Salt to taste
Lime juice to taste.

This should most definitely do it.


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## not_ally (Aug 25, 2015)

Ok, this is the first recipe I have ever tried to create.  It took a really long time to remember/type and still seems as if an insane person came up with it, I am sure there are tons of missing steps.  But it is easy and really good, and the process of trying to remember/type it up was fun for me.  I am 100% sure that if anyone is ever brave enough to try it there will be questions, so please ask.  

I will add more reliable recipes from my mom (the actual Indian food expert) later 

Masala Shrimp


Ingredients:


  3 TB vegetable oil (actually not sure how much, exactly, just make sure the onions are caramelized in step one, then add oil if necessary after putting in the shrimp and ginger in step two.)


  1 lb shrimp, unshelled and butterflied.


  1 small onion, diced fine.


  1 jalapeno pepper, including seeds (I use three but I am Indian.), diced fine.


  1 inch cube ginger, grated.


  1/2 TB turmeric powder.


  1 Tspn cayenne powder. 



  1 Tspn  salt (actually, I am not sure how much exactly, I always oversalt so went under and you can add).


Process:

  De-shell/butterfly shrimp.  Marinate in 1 TB vegetable oil, 1/2 TB turmeric, 1 Tspn cayenne, 1 Tspn salt.  Mix it all up well with your hands, they are going to be pretty yellow afterwards.  No need to marinate for long, 20 ms or so.  Wash your hand well so that the cayenne doesn’t burn your eyes if you touch them by mistake.  I actually put some veg. oil into my hands, oil them up, and then wash them off w/soap, that is the best way to remove the chili compounds.


  Dice onion into small bits


  Fry onion in 2 TB  veg oil on medium high until caramelized/uniformly brown.  Increase heat if necessary to get brown.


  Add chili and fry/stir until tender (2 ms on medium?).  



  Add marinated shrimp.  Cook on medium until shrimp is almost done. 



Add shredded ginger and cook for two more minutes on high, or until shrimp is done.   Opinions vary here, traditionally we cook the hell out of them, until they have absorbed most all of the spices and are almost kind of chewy.  Westerners generally prefer them much more tender.


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## kumudini (Aug 25, 2015)

I'm glad I brought up cilantro in that other thread. Here we are, talking about Indian food. It makes me happy in a way. As an avid cook, I look through recipes wherever I see them and find that Indian food doesn't get the coverage it deserves in main stream media. I have seen some blatant denial in the form of a Samosa recipe copy, termed potato dumplings. I knew that people love the food. Yesterday we took hubby's niece who is visiting to an Indian restaurant that's new to us. All the tables there were filled with non Indians. I don't understand why Indian cuisine doesn't get mentioned except very rarely. I love good food, no matter the origins. But if I make a Chinese fried rice, I say so. And I don't call my hummus as chick pea chutney. 
OMG, is this a rant? I will stop. I just love that we have this thread now. Hope all the food lovers get something out of it.
B, please work on getting your mom's recipes, for yourself. Mom's cooking is comfort, in more ways than you ever realize. I'm glad I have most of my mother's as I used to cook under her guidance during my teen years.


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## snappyllama (Aug 25, 2015)

Chicken Tikka Masala

This is a recipe I got off of Allrecipes.com. I follow it mostly exactly (reducing the salt and cumin to what I wrote here), except that I sometimes cook the chicken on the stove top if it's not grilling weather. It's not nearly as good as I've had at some restaurants, but it's passable. 

1 cup yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
4 long skewers
1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro


Directions
1.In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and 2 teaspoons salt. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Preheat a grill for high heat.

3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken onto skewers, and discard marinade. Grill until juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side.

4. Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute. 

5. Season with paprika, and a little salt (to taste). Stir in tomato sauce and cream. 

6. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. 

7. Add grilled chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with fresh cilantro.


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## kumudini (Aug 25, 2015)

Snappy, your recipe needs garlic along with ginger, ground cloves in the spice mix and onions in the sauce. The onion, ginger and garlic are like the trinity of Indian cooking and onions need to almost disappear without ever getting burnt, that's when you get the authentic Indian taste.

ETA: also some coriander powder in the marinade. Thought I mentioned it


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## snappyllama (Aug 25, 2015)

Vkumudini said:


> Snappy, your recipe needs garlic along with ginger, ground cloves in the spice mix and onions in the sauce. The onion, ginger and garlic are like the trinity of Indian cooking and onions need to almost disappear without ever getting burnt, that's when you get the authentic Indian taste.




Ack, I cannot believe I left that out. editing... it's in my recipe, but I typoed it.


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## snappyllama (Aug 25, 2015)

Vkumudini said:


> Snappy, your recipe needs garlic along with ginger, ground cloves in the spice mix and onions in the sauce. The onion, ginger and garlic are like the trinity of Indian cooking and onions need to almost disappear without ever getting burnt, that's when you get the authentic Indian taste.
> 
> ETA: also some coriander powder in the marinade. Thought I mentioned it



How much onion and cloves should I put in?  I've never added that before, but trust your judgement.  I knew it was missing something!


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## kumudini (Aug 26, 2015)

Sorry if I took too long Snappy, but I would add a cup of finely chopped onion, this would go in with jalapeños, garlic and salt to be sautéed until they become a golden brown mush. Also I would add a tbsp of coriander powder, a pinch of ground cloves and a tbsp of ginger garlic paste in the marinade. Can't believe I'm tweaking a chicken recipe for you, but I've seen my mom do it and still see my friends doing it. They marinate overnight in the fridge and 'grill' under the broiler.You can look up Paneer Tikka Masala on Bhavana's kitchen channel on you tube, you will get a better idea. Hope this helps you make something you'll love.


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## not_ally (Aug 26, 2015)

As an aside, the one way where people go wrong when cooking Indian is not caramelizing the onions enough when that is required, I think.  It is hard for them to believe that they are really supposed to be dark, dark brown, almost black, but it is really an important taste component.  Although a pain to do it evenly.  Indian food is a little bit of a pain to cook generally, so much adding, stirring, adding, stirring.  I posted the shrimp one b/c it is not so much like that, it is pretty quick and easy (except for caramelizing the darn onions )

As w/garlic in Western foods (or generally really), it took years for me to wait enough time to add the garlic, I don't know why I did not accept that it changes the taste/makes it slightly bitter when it is over cooked.


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## snappyllama (Aug 26, 2015)

i will give those tips a shot, thanks!  I love Indian food so much and really want to make something at least semi-authentic at home.


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## kumudini (Aug 26, 2015)

snappyllama said:


> i will give those tips a shot, thanks!  I love Indian food so much and really want to make something at least semi-authentic at home.



Also, I heard coconut goes really well with ahem, chicken. So may be you can replace heavy cream with light coconut milk. I know, too many tweaks, but it's not soap and your food is going to end up great.


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## not_ally (Aug 26, 2015)

Snappy, do you have Madhur Jaffrey's basic recipe book, I think it is called Taste of India?  It is really good.  I will shamefacedly admit that I never watched my mom cook when I was growing up, I just ate the delicious food.  After I left home I missed it so much that I had to teach myself to cook, like you have.  It was a little easier b/c I grew up eating it every day so knew exactly what it was supposed to taste like and maybe had a better sense of what was missing when I went wrong.   But I really learned how to cook Indian from that book.  

They are mostly North Indian recipes - my family is from the South, so I *still* have to watch my mom for the veggie recipes at which South Indian cuisine excels.  The shrimp recipe is actually a traditional one that she makes originating in Kerala, where we are from, it is a coastal state where seafood used to be cheap - it is not any more - so even poor people (which we were until the last couple generations) have a long tradition of good seafood cooking/cuisine.

Anyway, that is a really good book, she is pretty good about tailoring recipes in a way that they can be made w/stuff that you can find in most places.


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## snappyllama (Aug 26, 2015)

The cookbook is now in my Amazon cart. Thanks for the suggestion! 

In high school, my friends and I used to go to Indian restaurants in Houston. The group would order one of everything to try it all out... a smorgasbord we could actually afford. My kids grew up devouring Chicken Korma as toddlers and eventually ordering Vindaloo (medium spicy, please) when they were in elementary school. When we moved to Colorado, I so missed being able to get good food so we starting trying to make our own. Eventually we found a good Northern Indian restaurant nearby. 

My mom wasn't a very good cook, and I was a vegetarian as a teen so I didn't really to cook until I met DH. Between us now, we cover a recipe or two of the different types of food we used to take for granted being able to grab as takeout on the way home from work. Now if I could find a Tex-Mex, Cajun, Gulf-Coast seafood, or Texas BBQ restaurant nearby, I'd probably gain back 20 pounds.


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## vmakkers (Aug 26, 2015)

not_ally said:


> OK, this is going to take a bit of research, IL.  To my consternation, after I promised you a good cilantro chutney recipe I could not find mine!  And the ones that I did find when I searched - even from good sources - included stuff that I would not use or omitted things that I wouild.
> 
> Also, I need to watch my mom carefully and see what she does when she cooks.  She has always been an amazing cook, and we have all taken it for granted, our whole lives.  She is starting to get dementia now, so I want to start collecting memories (and good recipes!).  Thank you for starting the thread, it will be better for me than you all, in the end.



Trust me, you wanna find out as much about her recipes as you can now. My dad passed away almost two years ago and I'm kicking myself everyday that I didn't write down or film all of his cooking things. Cooking was one of the passions that my dad and I shared and I wish I had asked him to write it all down sooner. He started writing some down but I still haven't had homemade potstickers since he passed. Potstickers were our thing together. He would hand roll out each little circle of dough and I would stuff and fold. My mom and sister always tried to help but they couldn't do it as nice as us. 
It would make him so happy for me to spend the day with him just making potstickers. 

Mingo (my dad) always told us that he put all his effort into making us amazing dinners because when he passed I would always remember the good food he made. He was right. Not a day goes by that I don't say **** IT MINGO! YOU SHOULDA WROTE THIS DOWN! I've resolved that since food is such a big part of my life and it brings me such joy to see people take a bite and just remember the memories associated with that meal. Kinda like that scene in Ratatouille when the critic remembers how his mom made it for him. It seriously makes me so warm and fuzzy inside if I can evoke those types of memories in people. It really makes spending 3 days prepping a duck for roasting worth it. I plan to write all the stuff down for my kids just in case I pass early. I was only 25, youngest sister 16, when my dad passed and it makes me worry that something will happen and my kids won't have enough time to learn all these things from me. I even started seasoning some cast iron for these future children of mine. Hopefully they will appreciate food and the memories it brings when I'm gone.


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## navigator9 (Aug 26, 2015)

OMG....Indian food is my favorite! I don't think there's a dish I don't like. One of the things I love at my favorite Indian restaurant is their" special naan". I don't even know what goes into it to make it special, but it is soooooo good, and perfect to soak up all the juices from whatever you're eating, cause you wouldn't want to miss one drop. When I cook Indian at home, I think I cook more Indian "style", because I don't really use recipes, just kind of wing it. One thing I did try a recipe for was my favorite dessert, gulab jamun. I got the recipe from an Indian friend, and they didn't come out so good, so I buy the box mix at the Indian grocery and they are wonderful. One of the Indian docs at work said they were better than his grandmother's! If you can't find the mix in a box, here is a recipe I found. 
http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/gulab-jamun-easy-gulab-jamun-recipe/


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## Aline (Aug 26, 2015)

I'm guessing you live in the US? I live in Hawaii but am from England, where there is at least one Indian restaurant in the smallest of towns. Indian food is so popular here that Chicken Tikka Masala is considered our 'national dish'. My family almost always goes to Indian restaurants for birthday & anniversaries, ever since I was a kid (English pubs being the other favorite).



Vkumudini said:


> I'm glad I brought up cilantro in that other thread. Here we are, talking about Indian food. It makes me happy in a way. As an avid cook, I look through recipes wherever I see them and find that Indian food doesn't get the coverage it deserves in main stream media. I have seen some blatant denial in the form of a Samosa recipe copy, termed potato dumplings. I knew that people love the food. Yesterday we took hubby's niece who is visiting to an Indian restaurant that's new to us. All the tables there were filled with non Indians. I don't understand why Indian cuisine doesn't get mentioned except very rarely. I love good food, no matter the origins. But if I make a Chinese fried rice, I say so. And I don't call my hummus as chick pea chutney.
> OMG, is this a rant? I will stop. I just love that we have this thread now. Hope all the food lovers get something out of it.
> B, please work on getting your mom's recipes, for yourself. Mom's cooking is comfort, in more ways than you ever realize. I'm glad I have most of my mother's as I used to cook under her guidance during my teen years.


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## amd (Aug 26, 2015)

Wahooo!!! I love this thread. I went to India in May and fell in love with the food (I'd never had it before). A few weeks ago a friend brought me the instant Idli and sambhar mix and I started crying while cooking - the good tears of remembering the fun I had there. I can't wait to try out more of the recipes posted here (and I am soooo getting that book), as nearest Indian restaurant is 2 hours away, but there is an Indian food store an hour away.


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## kumudini (Aug 26, 2015)

Aline said:


> I'm guessing you live in the US? I live in Hawaii but am from England, where there is at least one Indian restaurant in the smallest of towns. Indian food is so popular here that Chicken Tikka Masala is considered our 'national dish'. My family almost always goes to Indian restaurants for birthday & anniversaries, ever since I was a kid (English pubs being the other favorite).



Yeah, I heard about England's national dish and you guessed right, I live in the U.S., where I see glorification of various cuisines from around the world and rightfully so, but see very little about Indian food.


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## green soap (Aug 26, 2015)

Here is a green chutney recipe I like a lot.  When my cilantro goes wild in the garden, I make lots of this and freeze it in ice cubes.  One ice cube per samosa - thawed out of course.

Blend the following:

1/2 cup of tamarind sauce.

1 tablespoon fried whole cumin seeds (I use a tiny cast iron skillet
and veggie oil, just fry until golden - do not burn)

1/2 a bunch of cilantro leaves plus same amount of mint leaves, it can also be done with all cilantro, or all mint.

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 Serrano peppers, chopped but with seeds

salt to taste.


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## navigator9 (Aug 26, 2015)

O.K.......maybe not Indian, but it uses hot mango chutney, which I find in the Indian section of my grocery store......grilled cheese sandwich, with *extra sharp* cheddar and a bit of hot mango chutney. O.....M.....G!!! If you like grilled cheese, and you've never tried this, you must.


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## kumudini (Aug 26, 2015)

navigator9 said:


> O.K.......maybe not Indian, but it uses hot mango chutney, which I find in the Indian section of my grocery store......grilled cheese sandwich, with *extra sharp* cheddar and a bit of hot mango chutney. O.....M.....G!!! If you like grilled cheese, and you've never tried this, you must.



You are so right navigator, mango pickle elevates anything. This proves that you are a hard core Indian food lover.


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## not_ally (Aug 26, 2015)

V, I loved your post, although it did make me sad.   This is one of those rare posts that I wish I could like a bunch of times to implicitly say "thank you, you understand, and made me cry in a good way which I hope will help with the hard times ahead."  Your relationship  w/your dad sounds really special. I have hispanic friends that describe making holiday tamales like this, a time that you just get to hang out with family in a way that is impossible otherwise.    I love that you still have "Mingo  conversations" in your head, how comforting, and what a good way to  remember him.  Food is one of those crazy things, isn't it?  Smells can  take me back to good times in an instant, sometimes bad ones, too,  though (um, tequila?  Not a good reminder scent for alcoholics.)

Snappy, it is so  cool that you introduced your kids to different foods early on, I think  that is a pretty great gift.  Food is such an amazing experience, I  always feel sorry for people that are not willing to try anything, and  see if they like it.  Before I got my dogs I used to travel a lot, and  food - espec. local food/street food if it is that kind of place - is  such a great way to explore somewhere new.  Kids that grow up w/only one  kind of food and are not required to try at least one bite of something  else, I just think it is harder for them to want to explore later on,  and there is such a big world of flavors out there!

Nav, you are a hard core Indian food lover   Not many non-Indians can handle Indian sweets.  V, I think Nav is talking about chutney, like Major Greys (are you Nav?), not pickle, though.

amd, awesome that you had never tried Indian food before and fell in love w/it on your trip.  I am going to admit, I have difficulties traveling in India, ,and I am Indian.  It is one of those places that can be great or awful, depending on your tolerance for um, external stimuli 

Aline, it never fails to amuse me when I see curry referred to as one of the national dishes of England!  We have such a troubled history.  As w/everywhere, I suspect it is just a question of time until enough people marry each other and there are enough olive colored kiddies running around


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## Obsidian (Aug 26, 2015)

Does anyone have any tips on making a smooth chili paste? I have a lot of hot peppers getting ripe and I'd like to cook with them but I don't want to accidentally eat a piece. A nice paste I could incorporate into foods would be great.


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## not_ally (Aug 26, 2015)

O, v. few Indians make chili pastes in advance, they always just mix them up each time so the spices are most fresh and also you do not have to worry about the oils going rancid.  I think I might have seen them at Indian stores, but I am not sure how they are made, sorry.  There must be a way, though.  I cook a lot of other Asian type recipes - Chinese and Thai, mostly - and there are a ton of commercially available chili pastes there, it cannot be that different.


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## doriettefarm (Aug 26, 2015)

Not sure about the chili paste O but my hubs can make some mean sriracha sauce if you want the recipe


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## Obsidian (Aug 26, 2015)

Hmm, I wasn't really wanting to use oil. Maybe I'll just puree a bunch of peppers then can them. I would very much like the sriracha sauce recipe, thats another thing I like and I have some nice red peppers that would go good in it.


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## FlybyStardancer (Aug 27, 2015)

I only just started eating indian food a year and half, two years ago (or so). I admit, I'm a suuuuuuuper picky eater. It wasn't until I was able to start articulating why I didn't like certain things that my friends were able to drag me to an indian place and convince me that yes, I could find something I'd like.  And I did! (Though sadly, tikka masala is one of the things I've found I don't like--tomato flavors are one of the things I'm picky about and the base flavor has too much in common with tomato soup, which is a tomato flavor I don't like.)

I've made dahl and chana masala recipes at home, though the recipes I've used are nowhere near authentic. (They do happen to be easy to make when I can't think about complicated stuff, which how I use them! lol)

My favorite favorite food so far is one that isn't easy for a (mostly) white girl to replicate at home. Chettinad curry. From the few recipes I've seen, it calls for a few items that aren't in the standard grocery stores, and I'd bet that those are some of the key flavors that make it so delicious!

We have a lot of indian restaurants around here, though. No surprise, since we have a lot of various indians! (I think one of the nearby cities has one of the largest Sikh populations in the US...) What does make me sad is that the indian restaurant in walking distance for me isn't really good.  They seemed to have been decent at one point based on past Yelp reviews, but right now the place is practically empty all the time, and the food is obviously made ahead of time and reheated. And the one time I tried the dosai, it had this off flavor to it.  The place closest to wear I used to live has awesome food (even if the service can be hit-or-miss at times).


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## CaraBou (Aug 27, 2015)

Thanks for all of the sharing. I have lived in great culinary places but there has never been enough Indian to satiate my palate.  The flavors are so complex that I've never had confidence to make my own. You're saying it is possible??


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## navigator9 (Aug 27, 2015)

not_ally said:


> Nav, you are a hard core Indian food lover   Not many non-Indians can handle Indian sweets.  V, I think Nav is talking about chutney, like Major Greys (are you Nav?), not pickle, though.



Yes, not_ally, Major Greys is the one I find in my local grocery. The sharpness of the cheese, the sweet heat of the chutney, the crispy, butteriness of the bread.......heaven.......simply heaven!


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## not_ally (Aug 27, 2015)

Dancer, it seems like whenever you get an abundance of one kind of restaurant, the quality range goes up *and* down.  There are tons of Chinese, Thai and Mexican restaurants here, and it seems like they can range b/w horrible and spectacular, even at the same (and low) price point.  Good to have choice, though!  Also, I would think the one thing that would be the hardest to find for the Chettinad curry is curry leaves.  Those are even hard to find in Indian stores, my mom gets them from a friend who has a tree.  But I think the curry would be OK w/o them, though.  This might be a good one for VK to chime in on, she is from the area where that recipe originated.

Cara, definitely you can make Indian!  Just think how many billions of us do it  Try with a simple recipe first though, some of the complicated ones are time-consuming and can be frustrating, I don't want you to be put off!

Nav, this is not an Indian food recipe, but Major Grey's and curry powder (the regular yellow powder from any grocery store) are really good w/mayo and some diced apple for a quick chicken salad recipe!


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## galaxyMLP (Aug 27, 2015)

Can one of you please, pretty please, come to my house and cook any of these fantastic recipes with me?? Its just not as much fun cooking all by yourself! I always end up taking my desserts that I make to work just so I can share. I can see the same thing happening with all this wonderful Indian food!


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## not_ally (Aug 27, 2015)

K, I am like you, I always over-cook and hunt down people to take left-overs.  It really is nicer when you have people to cook with/for ...


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## kumudini (Aug 27, 2015)

I'm so tempted to stay on this thread, encourage you all to make Indian food and share my simple and tasty everyday recipes to make you see how really simple it is. Tomorrow probably, you will see recipes for tomato dal and my super simple curry powder which along with turmeric is the only spice powder that goes in my day to day recipes.


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## not_ally (Aug 27, 2015)

V, I will look forward to them!  I will try to post a couple of simple ones soon as well.  For those of you who do want to cook Indian, the basic spices you are going to want to have around are fresh onions, ginger, chilis, garlic, and powdered cumin, coriander, cayenne, turmeric.  For Northern Indian recipes also garam masala, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and cardamom.  I  know this seems like it is getting complicated, but it isn't really, and you won't use all of those things in everything, they are just the staple spices for me.  I am probably missing one or two, but those cover you on most recipes.


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## Cactuslily (Aug 27, 2015)

Hi all! Ive been out of commission for awhile, but what a treat to come back and see this thread!! I hope it continues. Thanks to everyone who is sharing. The only book i have is Feast Of India A Legacy Of Recipes And Fables by Rani. Ive had it for a long time, but havent been disappointed for the most part. Will look into the book that was recommended earlier in the thread. Penzi's Spices are the only place i can find my spices. Nothing locally.
My mouth is watering thinking of all these dishes, and having people that have such intimate knowledge and are gracious enough to share?!...i cant wait to get back into the kitchen.
The following recipe is from above mentioned book.
Hyderabadi Murgh Pilao
Chicken:
2 1/2 lb chicken breast, legs and thighs
1/4c vegetable oil
1 lg. onion, peeled and finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 1" piece fresh gingerroot peeled and finely chopped
12 green cardamom pods
24 cloves
5 bay leaves
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 T. ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground dried red chilies
1/4 c sour cream
1 c plain low-fat yogurt
salt to taste
Rice:
2c long grain basmati rice
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopeed
1/4c blanched almonds
1/2 c raisins
Prepare the chicken:
Remove skin & fat from chicken. Heat oil in Lg saucepan. Add onion, garlic, and ginger and fry over medium heat until browned. Add cardamom, cloves, bay leaves, peppercorns, and cinnamon and stir 3-4 miniutes. Stir in nutmeg, coriander, and ground chili and cook @2minutes. With a fork, lightly whip sour cream into yogurt and pour over spice mixture. stir thouroughly for 2-3 minutes and add chicken pieces. Mix the sauce into the chicken, add salt and stir well. Reduce heat, cover, and cook 20-25 minutes until chicken is tender, stirring occasionally to prevent sauce from sticking to the bottom. Turn off heat, and set aside.
Prepare the rice: Prepare plain basmati rice adjusting quantitites for 2 c rice and set aside. Heat the oil in a small saucepan. Add the onion and fry over medium heat until browned but crisp. remove the onion and drain on paper towels. Add blanched almonds and raisins to the pan and fry until almonds are golden brown and raisins are puffed up. Remove and drain on paper towels.
Assemble the dish: Preheat the oven to 300F. Place the chicken in a lg casserole dish. add the rice and spread it carefully over chicken. Garnish with the browned onions, almonds, and raisins. Cover dish tightly with foil and the lid. Bake 15 minutes. turn off the heat and leave casserole in the oven for 10 minutes more.
Serve hot with vegetables, mint chutney and pappadams
Enjoy!!


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## navigator9 (Aug 27, 2015)

FlybyStardancer said:


> My favorite favorite food so far is one that isn't easy for a (mostly) white girl to replicate at home. Chettinad curry. From the few recipes I've seen, it calls for a few items that aren't in the standard grocery stores, and I'd bet that those are some of the key flavors that make it so delicious!
> 
> .



FBS, find yourself an Indian grocery store. You will fall in love! Aisles of spices and spice blends. One of my favorites is Biryani Pulao Masala. I sprinkle that stuff on everything. It makes a plain piece of roasted chicken amazing. And lentils.......sooooo many different kinds of lentils. The smell when you walk through the door is mouth watering, and you will find all kinds of delights to help you cook your favorite dishes. Oh, and incense, and gifts, you won't be sorry.



not_ally said:


> Nav, this is not an Indian food recipe, but Major Grey's and curry powder (the regular yellow powder from any grocery store) are really good w/mayo and some diced apple for a quick chicken salad recipe!



OMG, thank you for that, it sounds delish!  And I will even use some good curry powder. My girlfriend gave me a box of spices, including Tandoori seasoning, Garam Masala, Balti seasoning and some good Maharajah Curry powder, since she knows I am likely to buy the cheap one if left to my own devices. lol I like the cheap one, because I tend to use a lot of it when I cook, since I really love the flavor. I even sprinkle it on popcorn.


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## FlybyStardancer (Aug 27, 2015)

navigator9 said:


> FBS, find yourself an Indian grocery store. You will fall in love! Aisles of spices and spice blends. One of my favorites is Biryani Pulao Masala. I sprinkle that stuff on everything. It makes a plain piece of roasted chicken amazing. And lentils.......sooooo many different kinds of lentils. The smell when you walk through the door is mouth watering, and you will find all kinds of delights to help you cook your favorite dishes. Oh, and incense, and gifts, you won't be sorry.



I am soooooooo not comfortable walking into ethnic stores. I just can't do it. Not even mexican ones, and I'm _part_-mexican! (I have a lot of quicks and hangups. lol)


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## kumudini (Aug 27, 2015)

FlybyStardancer said:


> I am soooooooo not comfortable walking into ethnic stores. I just can't do it. Not even mexican ones, and I'm _part_-mexican! (I have a lot of quicks and hangups. lol)



If there's ever a time that you'd need a shopping list in your hand, it's when entering an Indian grocers shop unless ofcourse you know your spices well. There just is too much variety. There are spices I never used before and I cook pretty good.


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## not_ally (Aug 27, 2015)

Nav, you have a thoughtful GF!  I like that recipe b/c when I buy a roast chicken (I amost always do, it just not time/cost-efficient to do it for myself, and the Cosco ones are really good, huge and cheap), there is always so much left over.  This takes about 30 secs to make if you have everything at hand, and other people like it b/c it looks/tastes a bit more exotic than the norm. Of course you can trick it up w/whatever other things you really like in chicken salads, that is just my go-to recipe when I need protein 5 ms ago 

Dancer, we are all so different.  I love wandering around in ethnic grocery stores of almost any kind.  It sometimes *is* a bit uncomfortable b/c I can tell people wonder what I am doing there if I look really different from the norm, but I don't really care, I am too busy reading ingredients.

CL, that recipe looks delicious.  I might have to get my mom on to it


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## JuneP (Aug 27, 2015)

*One of my favorites - potato cauliflower curry*

My favorite version of this recipe is the one you can find on the Internet by searching the "Bend It By Beckham curry recipe". That one is a bit different and a bit more time consuming with a few more ingredients like garam masala. It also uses canned tomatoes. 

Cauliflower, Potato, Tomato Curry

1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
3 T oil (I use olive oil)1 lb potatoes peeled, cut in 1" piece and par boiled or steamed till just tender (don't overcook)
1 head of cauliflower (about a 1 lb size) washed, cored and cut into small pieces.
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped or put through a garlic press
1/2 tsp each of turmeric, cumin and coriander powder
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 tsp salt
1- 11/2 cups water (start with a cup and add 1/4 cup more at a time if curry gets too dry during cooking).
1 large tomato cut in chunks or if you don't have a tomato, use juice of a small lemon or lime.(I used a small tomato and a bit of lemon juice).

Heat oil in a large, saute pan on medium  heat. Add the mustard seeds and as soon as they begin popping, lower the heat a bit and add the garlic, stirring it till it turns a light golden color (don't burn it). Then add the cooked potatoes and raw cauliflower and toss and cook a minute or so. Then add tomato if using, all the spices and salt, stirring often for about 5 minutes. Then add the water and when it start to simmer, you can turn the heat down a bit, cover it and cook it for 15 minutes. Check after 15 minutes to see if the veggies are tender and add a bit more water if needed and cook another 5 minutes, stirring to make sure potatoes don't stick. If you didn't add a tomato, then sprinkle the lemon or lime juice over the veggies, toss and serve


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## Aline (Aug 27, 2015)

Vkumudini said:


> Yeah, I heard about England's national dish and you guessed right, I live in the U.S., where I see glorification of various cuisines from around the world and rightfully so, but see very little about Indian food.



That is the main thing I miss here in Hawaii! However, there is now one restaurant on Maui


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## IrishLass (Aug 27, 2015)

Oh my goodness- all of these recipes are giving me such a powerful yearning for some Indian food _right now_!!!! 

To add to the awesome, growing treasure chest of recipes, here is my recipe for Mango Lassie. It's a close facsimile to the one we enjoy at our favorite Indian restaurant, but not exactly 100% 'spot-on' (the restaurant's tastes better, of course). Nevertheless, it does taste yummy, but I'm open to any suggestions to make it even better:

-1 can (30 oz.) Alphonse Mango Puree (I buy mine at my Asian grocery store down the India aisle)
-1 cup lowfat yoghurt 
-1-/2 cup lowfat buttermilk
-1/4 cup milk (or to preferred thin/thick consistency)
-1 teaspoon rosewater (also down the India aisle at my Asian grocer's)
-sugar to taste (although you may not need it since the canned puree is already sweetened)

Toss all ingredients into a blender to blend, then serve. This makes enough for 4 or more servings or so.

You can use other kinds of mangoes if you want, but I use the canned Alponse Mango Puree because it makes it taste most like the one we enjoy at the restaurant....so does the buttermilk addition.


IrishLass


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## not_ally (Aug 27, 2015)

Ha, Aline there are problems, even in Paradise   I can't believe you don't have a little collection of spices for when the missing/pangs get too intense!

IL, I am psyched about the lassi recipe!  I love mango lassi, but it has never  occurred to me to make it, how crazy is that?  This looks good, too. 

June, I don't know what it is about mustard seeds.  I don't understand how it works, but roasting them that like really does add a nuttiness that is hard to get from anything else.

I kind of hate you all, I want to try these recipes, but I am so tired and lazy I am just going to make a turkey sandwich and be irrationally bitter


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## snappyllama (Aug 27, 2015)

Y'all have encouraged me to try to find a decent ethnic supermarket in Denver so I can make some of these recipes this weekend! I loved poking around around in ones in Houston - buying whatever looked interesting and trying to find something to do with it. Since moving up north, I've been relying on Amazon to order things my supermarket doesn't carry. 

Not Indian food, but a shout out to Sylvia's "Queen of Soul Food" canned veggies. If you're going to stock up on canned goods for snow days, they might as well taste good. DH likes the collard greens, and I like the yams.


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## JuneP (Aug 27, 2015)

*Book recommendation*

I have several Indian cook books but my go to one is ften the first one I ever bought in 1985. There's a new version that came out in 2013 but I don't have that one. I checked Amazon.com and there's an older used paperback for under $3.00 plus shipping, of my version, although the cover is different; but I assume it's the same book It's the same author and title. 

The author and book are A Taste of India: Delicious Vegetarian Recipes for Body, Mind, and Spirit Paperback – September, 1985
by Bibiji Inderjit Kaur (Author). This book has the best dahl recipe I have ever had (Black beans with Cream (Makhnee Urad Dahl). I also make the simple, mild Paneer recipe, for those who can't take heavy heat in their food.But there's a spicy one for people like me who love all that heat. It also links to a page with the recipe for making your own paneer, which is easy to do; but these days some cheese shops sell paneer but it's now as delicate as what you can make on your own. When I was off dairy I used the recipe with firm tofu instead of paneer and it worked just fine. 

That book also has a delicious Saucy chickpea and potato curry, and a wonderful carrot and pea curry that I added steamed potatoes too. There is also the classic Aaloo Matar which is a potato and pea curry which is equally  delicious. One of my other favorites if the Spicy chickpeas with potatoes (Khataa Chanaa). 

There are too many delicious recipe to list individually - breads, desserts, yogurts, relishes and pickles, chutneys, etc. etc. 

This book is not for those who want to just dump curry powder into the pot. You will need to buy some basic Indian ingredients and the book has a list of stores where you can send away for those ingredients; but these days a lot of them are readily available in health food, regular grocery, and Asian grocery stores.

I just ordered the new version since it seems to have about 200 more recipes in it. That will keep me busy for a while!

June


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## not_ally (Aug 27, 2015)

Thanks for the reccd, June.  I am going to order it.  I am pretty much a committed carnivore, I like the taste too well to stop.  But Indian veggie recipes - sometimes other Asian ones, although not as often - are the only ones that provide the same kind of heartiness and satisfying-ness for me (sorry for language mangling) as meat does.  I feel sorry for vegetarians that do *not* like Indian food, it does seem to be a particularly good meeting of the minds (or stomachs


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## shaan (Aug 28, 2015)

OMG!! I've heard people praising Chinese,Thai etc,but never knew Indian food is loved everywhere. Yeah!! I am also from India, my sister is a nice cook. I would love to share many recipes here. How about starting with the famous snack 'samosa' ? Malai kofta? Dosa? Shahee paneer?


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## Saponista (Aug 28, 2015)

I have never seen palak paneer before but it sounds spinachy so I think it is referred to as saag paneer over here. Is there a difference? I really want to make my own paneer, I love it. Especially inside samosas. 

This is one of my favourite curry recipes. I use chicken though as I am not fond of lamb. 

http://www.my-indian-food.com/Dhansak.asp

Not_ally we have a vegetarian only Indian restaurant in the city I live in now. Due to lack of meat it is half the price of the other Indian restaurants and the food is probably the best Indian you can get around here. (I live in the south west of England and the people aren't very multi cultural). It is one of the only places I will eat curry down here. I have to go back to the midlands to get proper Indian food. It tends to be made for the English palate here and the sauces are sugary and oily which I find really unpleasant.

I love daal but I am really bad at cooking it so don't bother. I can never get the texture right and it burns on the bottom of the pan making it impossible to clean. 

Shaan I would love some of your recipes


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## kumudini (Aug 28, 2015)

Saponista said:


> I have never seen palak paneer before but it sounds spinachy so I think it is referred to as saag paneer over here. Is there a difference?



There is Saponista, traditionally saag is prepared with mustard greens, it's a dish popular in the state of Punjab and neighboring states where they grow mustard extensively. I don't know if one can achieve that taste with palak paneer by adding a bit of ground mustard as I have never tried that. I actually never got a chance to taste Saag in its birth place.

Also, for cooking dal it would be really nice to have a pressure cooker. It comes in handy for cooking beans as well as tough meats I guess. It's quick cooking and so very energy efficient.


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## kumudini (Aug 28, 2015)

*Curry spice mix*

So, as promised, I'm going to share my curry spice mix and tomato dal that uses the same curry spice.
To get the best results with spices, it's important to have patience and roast them slow and dry.
1 lb cayenne powder ( look for the most spicy or atleast medium spicy)
4 oz coriander seeds
1.5 oz whole mustard seeds
1.5 oz cumin seeds
0.75 oz fenugreek seeds
4 oz garlic cloves

Dry roast (at medium low heat) all the seeds, adding one after the other to the pan, in the order given. Fenugreek seeds roast very quickly, add them when the mustard seeds start crackling and turn off the heat once they turn brown. Let cool completely.No need to roast cayenne or garlic.
Now finely grind the seeds and add garlic and give a few quick pulses. You shouldn't be seeing any big garlic pieces.
Once done grinding, let cool completely and mix in the cayenne powder.
It makes a big batch, I store mine in the fridge keeping only a cup of it out for daily cooking. Most of you obviously don't need that much, so you can scale it down.

Notes:
This, if prepared like this, has the most amazing aroma, I could keep sniffing if not for the cayenne giving me sneezes.
This along with the 'tadka' can turn any vegetable sautée into Indian. 
I use Turmeric separate from my spice mix, but you could probably add it in the mix. I would add 4 oz to the full recipe.
For a lb of vegetables, I would add half to one teaspoon of this mix ( depends on the spiciness of your cayenne.)


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## kumudini (Aug 28, 2015)

*Tomato dal*

Now for the tomato dal recipe:

Tuar dal ( the small yellow, split kind)     1 cup
Medium sized onion, roughly chopped      1
Large tomatoes, rough chopped               2
Thai green chili, cut in half                       2
Turmeric                                                1/4 tsp
Curry spice mix from recipe above            1 tsp
Olive oil                                                   1 tbsp
Tamarind                                                Two pods worth ( can sub with dried       
                                                               Mango powder or lime juice)

Method:
 wash tuar dal 2-3 times and place in a pressure cooker along with 2 cups of water. Add rest of the ingredients except lime juice if using, give a quick mix and close the lid. Cook on medium high heat. If your cooker is one with distinct whistles, wait for 6 or 7.
If it's the kind where the weight kinda dances around, cook for about 6-7 min since the start of the dance. 
Let the cooker cool enough and the pressure is all gone. Open the lid, add salt ( about 2 -3 tsp) and mix thoroughly. Also, this is the time to add lime juice ( 1/2 ounce fresh)  if you are using that in place of tamarind.
You can add greens like spinach at the beginning to make spinach dal instead.

Now, it's time for Tadka:
Tadka ingredients:
Oil/ ghee
Dry chili broken into pieces 2
Mustard seeds whole 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
Split urad dal 1 tsp
Curry leaves about 10
Minced garlic 1 tbsp
Asafetida   Pinch.

In a small sauce pan, add 2 tbsp oil/ ghee and let get very hot without burning.
Add next 4 ingredients, and let fry until the white urad dal starts turning brown, now add garlic and curry leaves, fry for few seconds and lastly add asafetida and fry few more seconds. Add this whole thing to the prepared dal.

For the best Tadka, you need all the ingredients, easily found in a good Indian grocery shop. 

I can post a non pressure cooker version if someone is interested.


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## not_ally (Aug 28, 2015)

Saponista said:


> I have never seen palak paneer before but it sounds spinachy so I think it is referred to as saag paneer over here. Is there a difference? I really want to make my own paneer, I love it. Especially inside samosas.
> 
> This is one of my favourite curry recipes. I use chicken though as I am not fond of lamb.
> 
> ...



Saponista, I'm really not sure what the difference is.  It is a northern indian recipe, so did not grow up w/it, but they both have spinach and paneer in them.  I'm curious if someone knows, too.  The Dhanksak recipe looks really delicious.

I have a go-to dhal recipe which is really easy and quick (it uses masoor dhal, the little orange lentils that do not have to be pre-soaked), you can make it in about 30 ms w/some basic ingredients.  I have typed out the ingredients and process, but am winging it a little bit on amounts, I have done it so many times that when I make it I just kind of throw stuff in w/o measuring.  I don't  have the stuff to make it here (not in my own place at the moment), but this should be close enough to make a good dhal.


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## not_ally (Aug 28, 2015)

Quick and Easy Masoor Dhal

 I am not sure how easy to find where masoor dhal where all of you are, but Whole Foods (high end food chain in the States) has it in their bulk section, and it is relatively cheap, even there.  These are sometimes called "red lentils" but are actually orange, see https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrTcXsES99VTPIAEckunIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTIzM2EzcGxpBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZAM5ODA2ZjlmYTRmNDBiMThhNWRjNmM1ZTBhNTg4YWM4ZARncG9zAzEyBGl0A2Jpbmc-?.origin=&back=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fyhs%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Dmasoor%2Bdahl%26fr%3Dyhs-mozilla-002%26fr2%3Dpiv-web%26hsimp%3Dyhs-002%26hspart%3Dmozilla%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D12&w=768&h=576&imgurl=upload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2F3%2F38%2FMasoor_dal.JPG&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fbarbariansatthekitchengate.blogspot.com%2Fp%2Fabout-dal-or-dahl.html&size=80.8KB&name=%3Cb%3EMasoor+dahl%3C%2Fb%3E+-+red+lentils&p=masoor+dahl&oid=9806f9fa4f40b18a5dc6c5e0a588ac8d&fr2=piv-web&fr=yhs-mozilla-002&tt=%3Cb%3EMasoor+dahl%3C%2Fb%3E+-+red+lentils&b=0&ni=21&no=12&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=1270v3mjv&sigb=146v89ele&sigi=11qcc70vr&sigt=110tmo6cb&sign=110tmo6cb&.crumb=P01rb0i5u88&fr=yhs-mozilla-002&fr2=piv-web&hsimp=yhs-002&hspart=mozilla


  I like to use  them b/c unlike most lentils, you don’t have to soak them/pressure-cook (I admit, I am afraid of pressure-cookers!), and they cook fast, you can make this recipe in less than 30 ms.  

There are a billion lentil/dahl recipes in India, this is a North Indian one that a friend’s mother used to make.

Ingredients:

1 cup lentils

3 cups water

4 TB Oil

1 med. Size onion

4 cloves garlic

2 tsps cumin

2 tsps coriander

1 tspn cayenne

1 tspn salt (or to taste)

Lemon juice to taste (I use  a lot, ½ of a lemon squeezed, maybe more, but you can adjust this easily w/a taste test when adding.)

Garnish w/cilantro

Process:

Put the lentils in the water, bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium until they are soft, and the mixture is kind of a mush, the water will be mostly absorbed.  15 -20 ms.   Like the texture in the pic in this recipe (different one, I just wanted to show how it should look):  http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/red_lentil_dal/

I like the dhal at this texture, but if you want it thinner you can add water.

While the dhal is cooking, chop the onion and garlic.  Use a good sized saucepan, this is going to be the one everything ends up in. Saute the onion in the oil on high until brown (not caramelized, but soft and brown).  Reduce heat to medium, add the garlic and cook until just tender, maybe a minute or so.

Add the cumin/coriander/cayenne/salt to the onion/garlic mix and sauté at medium for about 1 – 2 minutes, until everything is well mixed and you have a nice toasted/roasted scent going. The spice mix should not be too oily, but if it seems as if it is burning, add a bit of oil.

Pour the lentils into the spice mix.  Adjust salt and add lemon to taste.  Both are critical, they really change the dahl from being bland and meh (“why do people think this is good?”) to really good, def. some kind of serious synergy there.  Cook on low for about 5 ms, until flavors have blended, and then garnish w/cilantro.

Serve w/rice and raita/yogurt sauce.  This is a recipe for another day, and another w/a million variations, but I make mine with plain yogurt, finely chopped onion, finely chopped chili, diced cucumber, cilantro, salt, and a bit of lemon and oil.  Also sometimes a little vinegar (that is just me, though, I don’t think I have ever seen this elsewhere, I just like the brightening effect that vinegar has.)  Will come back and actually type it up later, but wanted folks to get an idea of what went well w/what.


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## kumudini (Aug 28, 2015)

B, that's how I make my no pressure cook version of tomato dal, with a little tadka of course. you should really try adding tadka to your dals, I think it takes them to a whole different level of flavor without adding too much cook time. Five min tops, if you have everything ready, which you should actually. In your version, tadka goes first in that big pan, followed by onion and the rest of things.


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## not_ally (Aug 28, 2015)

K, I am a bit of an imposter, since I mostly learned to cook at Maddhur Jaffrey's knee (via her book) rather than my mom's, but I am not sure exactly what tadka is exactly, is it just making the masala (guys, that is just the generic term for whatever spice mix you are making/using) and adding it kind of on top of the dhal without mixing it in and cooking it?


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## shaan (Aug 28, 2015)

Saponista, you are correct. Palak is spinach. 'Saag' refers to green leafy vegetables, generally cooked dry,without gravy. ' sarson ka saag' is famous in Punjab,north India, which is cooked sarson(mustard) leaves and soft stems.


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## kumudini (Aug 28, 2015)

not_ally said:


> K, I am a bit of an imposter, since I mostly learned to cook at Maddhur Jaffrey's knee (via her book) rather than my mom's, but I am not sure exactly what tadka is exactly, is it just making the masala (guys, that is just the generic term for whatever spice mix you are making/using) and adding it kind of on top of the dhal without mixing it in and cooking it?


 Tadka is tempering a dish with whole spices fried in oil. I have detailed it in the second half of my Tomato dal recipe.


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## not_ally (Aug 28, 2015)

I did read that before, but it was still unclear to me.  Also looked it  up on line, and the specific references (w/r/t translation, not sure from Hindi/Urdu or what), seemed like  they were more about the tempering process (and when when the masala was added) rather than the ingredients.  Your  seems to be a mix of both (which is what other recipes seem to be as  well, it is just not really discussed).  I guess I am still confused about whether "tadka" is a process/timing issue, an actual ingredient mix, or both.


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## kumudini (Aug 28, 2015)

B, that's just a generic term. it could be done at the beginning of the cooking process, which is mostly the case, like you do it for biryanis and pulavs. the spices are different there cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf and kala jeera  but you add them to hot oil and sauté till aromatic and then add your onions and other main ingredients. for north Indian curry dishes its the same. In most south Indian curries you do the same but with the spices I mentioned for dal. Its only for dals, fresh chutneys and some green leafy preparations that we add the tadka later. The properly fried mustard seeds, cumin seeds and the bity urad dal along with the curry leaves, garlic and asafetida add a superb flavor profile that takes a very good dish to a finger licking goodness.
 I hope I was clear this time.


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## not_ally (Aug 28, 2015)

I think I kind of do,  finally, I was just over-thinking it.  I should have just focused on your first answer post (#61), which makes it clear that it is more about the "whole fried spices" aspect of things, rather than getting mixed up w/everything else.  Thanks, V!


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## kumudini (Aug 28, 2015)

I wanted to thank everyone on this thread, especially IL, all of you gave me more than my cooking mojo back. I made Ras Malai last night from the surplus of Hare Krishna milk I had this week. Its a dessert made out of milk solids in a base of thick creamy milk and sugar with little topping with nuts.I learnt to make it as none of the restaurant versions here came even close to what I had at the roadside snack shops in India and I detest buying those tins packaged who knows when. I am so glad I found the will power, thanks to you lovely folks and all this food talk, to go through that lengthy process, in which hubby also helped. I put in the fridge to chill, may be we will have it this evening.


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## not_ally (Aug 28, 2015)

I LOVE ras malai.  I have never made it, just bought it, yours must be so much better.  I wish I lived near you, you might have some drop-in company tonight ("hey, watcha doing, I was just driving by ").  This is one of those Indian desserts that even Westerners like, not *too* sweet, creamy, great mouth-feel, just yummy and rich in a not OTT way.


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## snappyllama (Aug 28, 2015)

Not_ally, when you bring up Indian sweets being too sweet for some palates, it reminds me of going to a buffet with DH.  He snagged a piece of gulab jamun off my plate - thinking it was a little potato. The texture and flavor completely shocked him. I think it permanently scarred him from ever enjoying them.  Unfortunately, it did not teach him to keep his fork away from my food.


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## kumudini (Aug 28, 2015)

I wish you did B, I like the drop in kind of company, its generally people who are super comfortable with me and I am with them. And most of the time I get to hear high praise for my food ( hubby is not very appreciative of food). And I most likely will send them with a bunch of food. I really wish you lived near me, we could soap together as well. we could do all the funnel pours in the world.

Snappy, that's a first for me, someone getting scarred from a gulab Jamun that is. Frankly, that's not one of my favorite either but level of sweet is not the reason.


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## not_ally (Aug 28, 2015)

K, your husband would be like "is that woman here again? Doesn't she have anything other to talk about than soap and food?"  And start turning off the lights when he saw headlights coming down the drive ("Hush, maybe she will go away ).  

Snappy, I kind of love that your poor beleaguered family is forced to deal w/your IFA/Indian Food Addiction.  You are probably creating a second generation of people who will be posting about their own IFAs in a couple of decades  

Poor, DH, bad to expect a potato and get a mouthful of extra sweet Indian desert, though!


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## FlybyStardancer (Aug 28, 2015)

K, what do you use to grind your spices? That's one hurdle for me--I don't have a spice grinder yet. Also, when you have a number with nothing after it on your ingredient list, are those measured in cups? Or something else?

On a more general note... the mansoor dahl and chana masala recipes that I use were written by a non-indian with the idea of minimum prep going into them (the dahl recipe is just a pre-home-made spice mix, orange lentils, oil, tomato paste, and water, for instance). Definitely not authentic, but it's about the most I can manage when I have zero energy (a common thing, right now... especially after work). I did add an extra step with frying the spices in oil, though. I saw that on ATK and they mentioned that they learned it from researching indian recipes, and now pretty much any time a recipe calls for spices, they cook them in oil first. lol 

Another confession: I have never worked with fresh ginger and only worked with fresh garlic a handful of times. Most of the times I've used them they've been powdered, or for the garlic I used to get that big tub of garlic bits in oil from Costco.


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## not_ally (Aug 28, 2015)

Dancer, the differences b/c fresh and powdered ginger and garlic are immeasurable.  Really, truly not comparable.  The pre-cut garlic in preservative solution is better, but still the fresh is much better.  I tried the tub stuff for a while b/c I don't like the way garlic sticks to your hands after you chop it, but it is worth it to have stinky hands for a little while 

The two recipes I have posted so far (for the shrimp and masoor dahl) are a couple of ones that I make that take v. little time and effort, like you I often have zero energy these days, so I try to stick to recipes that are not going to make me so tired making them that I am too tired to  *eat* them afterwards   Also, I tried to stick to ones w/v. limited ingredient lists, so that people could find them easily.  Both are authentically Indian, though. One from my mom, from her mom, etc.  The other from the mom of a friend who is Indian.


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## Obsidian (Aug 28, 2015)

NA, I plan on trying your easy Masoor Dhal as soon as the coriander seeds are ripe. There are no Indian markets around here so I have to stick with recipes that don't have too much specialized ingredients.


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## FlybyStardancer (Aug 28, 2015)

NA, your Dahl looks tasty, but even that is too much prep & clean up for me on days I work! (Cleaning the dishes is one of the most soul-crushing chores that need to get done. I have tried every trick to make it easier, but it is just incompatible with me.)


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## not_ally (Aug 28, 2015)

O, be sure to roast and grind the coriander seeds (I am not even sure in what order, I have always just used the powdered, maybe K can opine here.)  You should be able to find coriander in your spice section, even in a regular grocery store (I used to find it 20 years ago in the Piggly Wiggly in Durham, NC, where I was in school, not exactly a haven for international food lovers) although it will be more expensive.  It would be nicer to use your own though, I agree ....

Dancer, I know, I am so, so tired these days (not well.)  It is hard to be inspired to cook when you are too tired to eat.  I am going to be living w/my mom for a while, though, she is a good eater and is not so much able to cook herself these days, so it is kind of nice to have someone else to cook for even when I don't want to for myself.  Otherwise it would be Chef Boyardee and Ramen noodles all the way


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## Obsidian (Aug 28, 2015)

Yep, I was planning on roasting/grinding. I know it would be easier to buy the coriander but mom has a huge patch and I asked her to save me the seeds. Most will go into pickling spice.


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## not_ally (Aug 28, 2015)

I love home made pickles (here I'm talking about the Western pickled vegetables in vinegar/brine).  They are so much better than even the best store-bought ones.


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## CaraBou (Aug 28, 2015)

not_ally said:


> Cara, definitely you can make Indian!  Just think how many billions of us do it



That's pretty funny and makes a lot of sense!  Not to decide which recipe (yes, easy is good), and whether I'll make it while my DH is here or gone.  He claims to dislike Indian but I know I can sneak it past him without him realizing where those wonderful flavors originated from.  He just isn't that savvy -- and besides, who could really dislike Indian food?? :Kitten Love:


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## not_ally (Aug 29, 2015)

He might like that dhal one, there is enough lemon in it (it really does change the taste) that even people who associate Indian food with not being able to brush their teeth enough to get rid of the onion/garlic/spice taste are generally OK with it.  Me, as long as I don't get cavities, I'll eat anything and let the devil take the hindmost


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## kumudini (Sep 2, 2015)

FlybyStardancer said:


> K, what do you use to grind your spices? That's one hurdle for me--I don't have a spice grinder yet. Also, when you have a number with nothing after it on your ingredient list, are those measured in cups? Or something else?
> 
> On a more general note... the mansoor dahl and chana masala recipes that I use were written by a non-indian with the idea of minimum prep going into them (the dahl recipe is just a pre-home-made spice mix, orange lentils, oil, tomato paste, and water, for instance). Definitely not authentic, but it's about the most I can manage when I have zero energy (a common thing, right now... especially after work). I did add an extra step with frying the spices in oil, though. I saw that on ATK and they mentioned that they learned it from researching indian recipes, and now pretty much any time a recipe calls for spices, they cook them in oil first. lol
> 
> Another confession: I have never worked with fresh ginger and only worked with fresh garlic a handful of times. Most of the times I've used them they've been powdered, or for the garlic I used to get that big tub of garlic bits in oil from Costco.



Sorry, I took so long to answer. I have a Indian brand mixer and grinder that's great for dry grinding. It sells for a lot on Amazon, but I got mine from India, like most girls from my country do. Other things you can use are the bullet kind of blenders, the same kind you would use to make a smoothie for example. Or if you are grinding a big batch, I know that a regular blender would do fine. Roasted spices are easily ground compared to non roasted ones.

In my recipes, the only instance I don't have something next to a number is when I'm listing a vegetable, like 1 onion or 2 tomatoes, hope that's clear.

I agree most entrees that you find in typical Indian restaurants take a lot of time, but those are for special occasions, we can't just eat like that everyday and maintain good health. Our day to day cooking is pretty simple, what makes them flavorful are the spices and some unique but easy techniques. If you have already made the spice mix, my tomato dal or NA's masoor dal are ready in less than half an hour, while the rice/quinoa/bulgar cooks. And the recipe yields a good 4-6 generous servings and since they are cooked so well, they keep for 4-7 days in a fridge or you can freeze single servings as well. So you can make your favorite food when you have energy and save it for later.

Fresh ingredients always taste better. I do have garlic and ginger powders but I only use them for salad dressings where I don't want big chunks of either.
Also, roast the spices in oil only if you are using them for that dish or you are sure to use it up within one week, otherwise they would go rancid.


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## dixiedragon (Sep 2, 2015)

FlybyStardancer said:


> Another confession: I have never worked with fresh ginger and only worked with fresh garlic a handful of times. Most of the times I've used them they've been powdered, or for the garlic I used to get that big tub of garlic bits in oil from Costco.


 
Because I love ginger and garlic and don't always feel like messing with my press, I buy the minced ginger and minced garlic in the jars. Doing it yourself IS better, but the minced in the jar is still miles better than the powdered. I really struggling will grating ginger - what I found worked for me was slicing it thin and putting in in my garlic press. That was the only way I avoided getting peel in my food. 

Powdered ginger is so different that it's almost a totally different spice, IMO.


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## kumudini (Sep 2, 2015)

You could also use a micro plane zester, DD.


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## not_ally (Sep 2, 2015)

Re grinding spices, I use a coffee grinder for little batches (I do reserve that one just for spices, I have a separate one for actual coffee so that the coffee beans don't pick up any lingering spices, even after washing) and my mini Cuisinart food processor for bigger ones.


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## navigator9 (Sep 2, 2015)

not_ally said:


> Dancer, the differences b/c fresh and powdered ginger and garlic are immeasurable.  Really, truly not comparable.  The pre-cut garlic in preservative solution is better, but still the fresh is much better.  I tried the tub stuff for a while b/c I don't like the way garlic sticks to your hands after you chop it, but it is worth it to have stinky hands for a little while



Sooooo true, not_ally. You can't even compare powdered ginger or garlic to fresh. I always have a zip loc bag in the freezer with fresh ginger in it. It keeps very well this way, and I usually buy a whole "hand", so it lasts me a while. I've found the easiest way to use it when frozen like this, is to grate it, (unless you're making something like ginger tea, when you want to slice it, and let it steep), and I usually use the same little grater to grate cloves of garlic, too.

Ginger tea is wonderful when you have an upset stomach. Put a couple of slices in a cup and pour boiling water over them, and let them steep. You can add honey if you like it sweet. Also good for colds in winter.


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## navigator9 (Sep 2, 2015)

snappyllama said:


> Not_ally, when you bring up Indian sweets being too sweet for some palates, it reminds me of going to a buffet with DH.  He snagged a piece of gulab jamun off my plate - thinking it was a little potato. The texture and flavor completely shocked him. I think it permanently scarred him from ever enjoying them.  Unfortunately, it did not teach him to keep his fork away from my food.



Whaaaat......someone doesn't like gulab jamuns??? Is that even possible? Although, I guess he can be forgiven for not liking them, if he was expecting a potato. Tell your husband to send all his lovely, little gulab jamuns to me, I know just what to do with them. Yummmmm!


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## snappyllama (Sep 2, 2015)

Update: I tried making my tikka masala with the suggestions... cardamon, onion, clove... It was soo much better! Thanks again for the tips.


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## dixiedragon (Sep 2, 2015)

If you are trying to eat healthier or low carb, replace rice with grated cauliflower. This works especially well with Indian food b/c it is so flavorful. Grate the cauliflower with the cheese grater, add a bit of salt and a bit of whatever spices you are cooking your food with, cover with saran wrap (do NOT add water) and nuke for 2-3 minutes until desired doneness. The texture is very similar. The taste is not similar, but with strongly-flavored food you don't notice. 1 head of cauliflower makes 4 smallish servings. Unlike rice it does not grow in size and it does not absorb water.


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## snappyllama (Sep 2, 2015)

dixiedragon said:


> If you are trying to eat healthier or low carb, replace rice with grated cauliflower. This works especially well with Indian food b/c it is so flavorful. Grate the cauliflower with the cheese grater, add a bit of salt and a bit of whatever spices you are cooking your food with, cover with saran wrap (do NOT add water) and nuke for 2-3 minutes until desired doneness. The texture is very similar. The taste is not similar, but with strongly-flavored food you don't notice. 1 head of cauliflower makes 4 smallish servings. Unlike rice it does not grow in size and it does not absorb water.



I always wondered if that really worked but have been too chicken to try it. I really, really dislike cauliflower... and love rice.


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## not_ally (Sep 2, 2015)

Snappy, if you love rice, and are used to it w/Indian food, that might not work.  I think it is a *great* idea for diabetics or other people who are watching their carbohydrate intake, but it would be hard for a lot of Indians (and you are kind of an honorary one, it seems, with respect to food) to make the switch.  

My part of India (Kerala) has the highest rate of diabetes in the world, probably b/c in the last few generations we went from being mostly a people who had v. little money, ate tons of rice w/v. flavorful foods on the side to make it taste good, and got used to it.  But worked it off in the fields.  Then, even though the world changed and most of us were not so physically active, our tastes did not.  Now we just eat a ****ton of crap, plus a lot of rice, and do not move around enough.  

It is a huge problem, I really think that many folks there would rather put up w/the diabetes - and all the terrible things that come with it - than give up on rice.  I am just woolgathering here, though, I have a feeling you are not gorging yourself on rice three times a day


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## kumudini (Sep 2, 2015)

What would work with most Indian recipes, in place of rice is quinoa. Still a lot of calories but people say you get full on less, not true in my case though.
B, I agree that us Indians are eating a lot of crap just like in U.S, difference is the amount of sweets we've been eating. Just like we find McDs and KFCs everywhere, there is a sweet shop and snack cart in every corner.  Ever went to India around a festival time? All the sweets being exchanged for gifts, they are ending up in someone's tummy. Businesses are just promoting mindless eating everywhere and the television made us couch potatoes.


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## FlybyStardancer (Sep 2, 2015)

K, thanks for getting back to me! And that should have been obvious. I blame the fact that I've been really tired lately. lol And for what I meant by 'cooking it in oil', I meant the already-ground spices being cooked in oil for a specific recipe. For instance, in the totally-not-authentic mansoor dal I make, I cook the spices in oil for maybe 20-30 seconds (until I can really start to smell them) before adding the other ingredients to the pot.

For me, trying to get things done fast an easy means trying to minimize the time to prep and cook things (I'm really super slow at prep, so that can tack another half-hour onto cooking even for simple things), minimizing things I need to clean afterwards (one pot meals are the BEST), and minimizing ingredients... So a ground spice blend created ahead of time would be one ingredient. Growing up (or even now) the simple food has always been maybe 5-6 ingredients. (And admittedly we ate a lot of processed foods, because Mom was tired and overburdened and didn't have much time to devote to prepping or cooking food. Things like Hamburger Helper were easy don't-have-to-think-about-it foods.)

NA, I've been meaning to get a coffee grinder to use as a spice grinder. It just hasn't happened yet. Between money and not having space to store it... Yeah. Though I don't drink coffee, so any mix-ups would not impact me.  Dad got rid of his grinder and switched back to pre-ground because he wasn't happy with it, plus any grinder I buy should be obviously-not-for-coffee since it's ME buying it. lol But space is a biiig issue. We really already have more kitchen stuff than we should. Dad INSISTED on bringing the rice cooker over and it is sitting on the floor because it has no space. And he doesn't use it anymore anyways, and ended up buying a microwave rice cooker that he's using now instead. I don't use either of them (and hate them), and I tend to cook rice on the stove. The only rice I would eat for a long time was spanish rice, and the rice gets fried in oil first before you add anything else. Trying to make it in a rice cooker just means more dirty dishes. No matter what I'm making rice for, I always fry it and add something to it, whether it be onions or garlic pepper, or some kind of flavored liquid.

I've been trying to switch over to brown rice... but that's VERY difficult. I'm struggling with both the liquid amounts and the cook time. The cook time is the REAL killer for it--I'm rarely willing to spend an hour on rice (between the prep work, frying the grains, and then the 45-50 minutes to simmer).

Snappyllama--I'm with you! No cauliflower. Yuck. lol


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## navigator9 (Sep 3, 2015)

FlybyStardancer said:


> I've been trying to switch over to brown rice... but that's VERY difficult. I'm struggling with both the liquid amounts and the cook time. The cook time is the REAL killer for it--I'm rarely willing to spend an hour on rice (between the prep work, frying the grains, and then the 45-50 minutes to simmer).



I would love to switch to cauliflower, but it's so expensive compared to rice. I eat rice frequently, and cauliflower would just be too expensive for me. FBS, it took me a while to get used to brown rice. I'm a rice lover, and I especially love basmati rice, I just love the smell when it's cooking! But I know brown rice is healthier, so I just forced myself to keep buying it, and now I'm finally used to it. I like to mix  brown rice and quinoa in many recipes, for a little extra protein. Quinoa is a bit lower in carbs too, and it has a lot of nutritional benefits. 

As far as cooking rice. I'm with you, FBS......I suck at it. What I learned to do many years ago, is simple and fool proof. I cook it like I would cook pasta. I fill a pan with water, bring it to a boil, and add the rice. I turn it down to a simmer, set a timer, and when it's done, I drain the water from it. It results in a rice that's not sticky, and very fluffy. I know that cooking rice should be simple, but it's just one of those things that's always given me trouble. Using the above method makes it simple for me. Just make sure that there's plenty of water compared to the amount of rice.


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## not_ally (Sep 3, 2015)

I suck at cooking rice too!  It is embarrassing, I feel like that is the one thing I *should* be able to cook.  When I have people over for Indian I always make someone else bring the rice


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## Seawolfe (Sep 3, 2015)

Im good at cooking white rice, but brown rice is still my nemesis - thats a good idea Navigator, cooking it more like pasta.

What would really help would be one of those fancy fancy Zojirushi fuzzy logic rice cookers!


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## kumudini (Sep 3, 2015)

I thought I would share how I cook my rice. I do it on the stove, like FBS. I use a big enough sauce pan, rinse the rice twice, add double the volume of water.
For white rice, I set it on high heat, without the lid. Let the water reduce until I see little craters on the surface, takes 9-12 min. Then I reduce the heat all the way down to sim, cover with a well fitting lid, set the timer for 15 min and leave it. After the 15 min are done, turn the stove off, leave the lid on for 5 more min before serving.
For brown rice/ bulgar/ quinoa, I add double the amount of water, set it on high heat and once the water comes to a rolling boil turn the heat to low( between 1 and 2 on the dial), cover the pan with lid and let the grains slowly absorb all the water. Takes about 15 -20 min for quinoa and 30-45 min for the other two. 
I get great looking results all the time.

ETA: 1. I toast my quinoa before adding the water, I don't wash the quinoa.
2. About the cooking rice like pasta, in olden days, my folks used to drain and save the rice water and once it cools down,they used to drink it with a little salt to cool off, so really no loss of all those water soluble vitamins. But if you are going to just throw it away, know that you are going to loose out on some nutrition.


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## topofmurrayhill (Sep 3, 2015)

My Indian recipes are as authentic as possible, and the instructions are detailed enough to ensure success if you follow carefully. I have developed some efficient techniques that still preserve authenticity.

Instructions are included for clarifying butter because there's not much reason not to make fresh ghee, but you can buy it if you like.

Fresh turmeric root can often be found at Whole Foods or elsewhere, depending on your location, but turmeric powder is fine.

I get dried Kashmiri chillies at Indian groceries, or you can get them online. They are needed for the authentic flavor of Goan dishes like this one, so please try not to substitute.

This version uses black cumin (kala jeera), which is earthy and less pungent than the usual kind. Also obtainable from an Indian grocery or online.

Chicken Xacuti

MIS EN PLACE

*Protein*

3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thigh

Trim excess fat. Cut into quarters, or as desired, and set aside.​*Dry Masala*

8 dried kashmiri chillies

4 tsp coriander seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric powder (if not using fresh turmeric)

5 or 6 whole cloves
1 tsp black cumin
1/2 cinnamon stick, about 1 inch
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp poppy seeds
1/2 tsp peppercorns
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1 small star anise

Remove stems from kashmiri chillies and grind. If chillies are mild and more heat is desired, include a dried Thai chili or two, or hot chili powder. Set ground chillies aside.

Separately, grind coriander seeds and set aside.

Separately, grind the remainder of the spices together and set aside.
​*Aromatics*

2 small to medium yellow onions
1 inch ginger
4 large cloves garlic
1 inch fresh turmeric root

1/4 cup grated coconut
3 or 4 green cardamom pods

Cut onions in half, peel, and slice fairly thin. Peel ginger and turmeric, then coarsely slice or chop into chunks. Whack garlic cloves under a knife blade and separate from skin. Set all aside in a  bowl.

Separately, set aside the grated coconut and cardamom.
​*Liquid Base*

Chunk of dried tamarind
1 1/2 cups very hot water
1 can coconut milk

Mix coconut milk to homogenize and set aside. Mash tamarind in hot water and set aside. Pour tamarind mixture through a strainer and collect the liquid just before using (should be at least 1 cup, otherwise add some water).
​*Ghee*

Melt 1 stick butter in a small pot and set heat very low. Pick up and swirl frequently as it's bubbling to distribute the heat and prevent burning. Remove from heat when the milk solids settle and begin to brown, and the bubbles start to get small. Slowly pour the ghee off the milk solids and through a strainer lined with a paper towel.
​METHOD

Heat some ghee in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the aromatics along with 2 tsp salt and saute, stirring frequently, gradually decreasing the heat to low, until onions are brown. It will take a while. Add a little more ghee if necessary to avoid burning.

When the onions are almost done, add the grated coconut and cardamom pods and saute for 5 minutes or less. Transfer the mixture to a food processor along with the ground chillies (and turmeric powder, if using).

Add more ghee to the pot and increase the heat to medium. Add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally. While the chicken cooks, gradually add the tamarind water to the browned aromatics and process to a smooth paste.

When chicken is opaque and has released a lot of liquid, add the aromatic paste and stir well. Stir in half the coconut milk and the ground coriander and return to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer slowly for 45 minutes.

Mix in an additional teaspoon of salt, the rest of the coconut milk and the dry masala. Simmer for another 10 minutes more. Turn off heat and add a splash of white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.

Serve topped with fresh chopped coriander (cilantro) alongside basmati rice or flatbread.​


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## kchaystack (Sep 3, 2015)

snappyllama said:


> I always wondered if that really worked but have been too chicken to try it. I really, really dislike cauliflower... and love rice.



Cauliflower smells like stinky feet.  Really ripe stinky feet.


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## kumudini (Sep 3, 2015)

Cauliflower is best when roasted or lightly steamed. When over cooked, it's like brussel sprouts, really yucky. There used to be a time when I hated that thing, but now I'm fine with it and I love those sprouts roasted as well.


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## dixiedragon (Sep 3, 2015)

I use a rice cooker. It is idiot proof.

ETA: You can cook any grain in a rice cooker. I also cook quinoa in mine, and once I cooked some Kashi 7 grain pilaf.


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## Saponista (Sep 3, 2015)

I'm loving this thread. Thank you everyone for all your input recipes and advice! I will be giving some of these recipes a go.


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## not_ally (Sep 3, 2015)

navigator9 said:


> Whaaaat......someone doesn't like gulab jamuns??? Is that even possible? Although, I guess he can be forgiven for not liking them, if he was expecting a potato. Tell your husband to send all his lovely, little gulab jamuns to me, I know just what to do with them. Yummmmm!



This made me laugh, Nav, I just imagined your GF opening up the package and saying "why are your soaping buddies sending us these little turdy-looking things?"


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## kumudini (Sep 3, 2015)

I used to use rice cooker but I got vary of the non stick interiors and the lids that don't pop out for thorough clean. I had bought a SS rice cooker with just a glass lid with a vent hole, but now, I like my stove top rice too much, it's way better. Hubby gets to use the cooker when I'm not home.

I realize that most Indian cooking looks tedious to those new to it. Too many ingredients, too many steps. But, with things pre made like spice mixes, ginger garlic paste, you just need some knife skills and need to know where all your ingredients are. Once you get the hang of it, you can finish cooking very fast. I can start with whole spices portioned,onions sliced and rice soaked, chop and add things as I go and be ready to serve my one pot Pulao loaded with veggies and flavored with various biryani spices, with raita on the side in about 45 min. But you do need to get familiar with the spices, general timing of adding those. 
Wish I could make some videos of simple recipes for my SMF friends, or... I could start a spice mix line just for you, wish I could do both. Wish.... But hey, there are like a gazillion home videos on the same subject on YT. One I like is Bhavna's Kitchen, I believe she only does vegetarian. The other one is Vahrehvah channel, that guy is simply awesome. He also cooks meats and fish and he has videos for spice mixes too.


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## not_ally (Sep 3, 2015)

Thank you for the recommendation on the Vahrehvah channel, K, I am pretty comfortable w/cooking almost everything but fish.  It is so delicate, and the good stuff is expensive, so I am always reluctant to ruin it (Indian food or otherwise).  I will check that out.


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## FlybyStardancer (Sep 6, 2015)

Okay, some more questions! I swear I'm gathering together what I need to try some of these dishes. 

K, for your recipes... Can you post the non-pressure cooker temps & times? I don't have a pressure cooker. And I'm trying to figure out some of the ingredients... Like the two types of dal. I'm really only familiar with the red/masoor dal. And I guess the tamarind is not the paste I've heard of, but a different form? (And while I don't have limes, I do have a lemon tree out in my back yard...) And what type of dry chili should I be looking for? There's so many in the markets I go to! (One of the benefits of having a high Mexican-American population--chilies are everywhere at all times of the year.) And if I'm reading it right, you add the tadka to the tomato dal, correct?

NA, what's the purpose behind cooking the lentils separately from the aromatics and spices? I'm just curious, because I hadn't heard of it before. 

And in general, what's a good resource/recipe for chana masala? That's my bff's favorite dish, so of course I'd like to do a better version of it for her.  I'm fine starting from either canned or dry chickpeas.


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## not_ally (Sep 6, 2015)

Dancer, cooking the spices seperately allows them to develop flavor in way that is really different from cooking them in the lentils w/the water.  The lentils hold on to it, and it is different, in a way that would be impossible if you cooked it all together.  It gives the lentils much more flavor.


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## not_ally (Sep 6, 2015)

dixiedragon said:


> It is idiot proof.



Whenever I see this phrase I have a sinking feeling that I am going to be the idiot that refutes all the other proof


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## not_ally (Sep 6, 2015)

Vkumudini said:


> Cauliflower is best when roasted or lightly steamed. When over cooked, it's like brussel sprouts, really yucky. There used to be a time when I hated that thing, but now I'm fine with it and I love those sprouts roasted as well.



K, I was a kid in England for a few formative years, when brussel sprouts boiled to death were a constant on the school lunch menu.  I hated them, they smelled exactly like farts.  Now, roasted w/olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground pepper, yum.  School lunches have a lot to answer for.

Dancer, I know what you mean about sauteeing rice in spices first.  I made arroz con pollo a while ago (Cuban recipe) and it was so yummy.  One of the few successful rice dishes ever for me.


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## FlybyStardancer (Sep 6, 2015)

NA, just checking to see if I could get away with cooking the aromatics/spices, and then adding the lentils and water to cook, to cut down on dirty dishes. Heh.

I've been looking to try to find an Arroz con Pollo similar to what my Mom made one time... It was more of a mexican-style though, using saffron and she used boneless & skinless breasts, but they didn't come out dry or overcooked (and I really doubt that she added them at a different time).


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## FlybyStardancer (Sep 8, 2015)

Ah! The spices are being more difficult to find than I expected.  At the very least I remembered Costco carrying cayenne powder in containers that were close to a pound in size. Went today to both Costco and then hit Smart&Final on the way home, and neither had it.


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## not_ally (Sep 8, 2015)

I'm glad that you didn't find it, that is too much to buy!  For folks like us - not using them every day and in large amounts - it is better to buy in smaller ones, the flavors go off after a while.  In LA most big grocery stores in ethnically Hispanic areas have racks w/spices that come in bags for a dollar or two, do you have those?  That is what I usually buy.  

They usually have cayenne and powdered cumin on those (the cheap) racks.  You might have to go the more expensive racks for stuff like turmeric and powdered coriander, but veggie curries in particular are so cheap that it is still a really inexpensive, delicious meal.


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## FlybyStardancer (Sep 8, 2015)

I was looking for it for K's spice mix recipe from earlier in this thread.  I was going to make it, then stick most of it in the freezer to preserve it.

I tend to buy those baggies for chile powders and ground cumin too, because I go through so much of them when I'm in the swing of making mexican food.


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## IrishLass (Sep 9, 2015)

Call me weird, but I _love_ cauliflower and all the other *stinky* vegetables such as cabbage and Brussels sprouts, etc... Yum! I actually got to try some of the grated cauliflower thing a few weeks ago at my sis's house that Dixie mentioned in her post. I had never even heard of such a thing up until then, but it was actually pretty good. It was served in a dish with chicken and a spicy tomato-y sauce.

As for rice- me and rice have no problems- it cooks in a regular pot on the stove beautifully for me every time...... thanks to the directions on the back of the bag . Jasmine and basmati are my favorites, with jasmine beating out the basmati for top favor. Speaking of people having problems cooking rice, here is a short clip of one of my favorite I Love Lucy shows where Ricky and Fred switch places with Lucy and Ethel in the kitchen and try to cook arroz con pollo.... and have problems with the rice (Fred put too much rice in the pot) It's hilarious, lol): [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToVtd98RhXs[/ame]

Well, we had a glorious gastronomical Labor Day weekend- hubby took us out to our favorite Indian restaurant Sunday evening (it had been such a long time since we last went!), and the enjoyment continued on through Monday when we ate the leftovers for dinner, which I supplemented with my first ever homemade cilantro chutney, as well as jasmine rice spiced with cumin seeds that I pre-heated in ghee, Kirtiraj brand papadum and Asoka brand naan (from my corner international market), and homemade mango lassi. Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum! Our taste buds were _so happy_!

Up until Monday, I had never tried making my own chutney, but it actually turned out great! When we were at the restaurant on Sunday, they served us the cilantro chili chutney that we love so much, and we were all examining and savoring the taste of it like detectives to see if we could decipher what it was made of. lol Then when we came home, we looked at V's recipe here, as well as other recipes on the net to compare with the flavors lingering on our taste buds, and after putting our heads together, we ended up using a recipe off of a site called Veg Recipes of India as a plumb line of sorts, with a few tweaks here and there thrown in. This is what we came up with (it made 1 cup worth and tasted so much like what our taste buds enjoy at the restaurant):

50g chopped fresh cilantro leaves
3 scallions/green onions
1 tbsp. freshly grated ginger
1 small jalepeno (19 grams worth)
1/3 of a pasilla/poblano pepper (27 grams worth)
3 tbsp. water
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon peanut oil
3/4 teaspoon powdered cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt

We threw everything into my small Ninja blender and blended 'till smooth and enjoyed it with the papadum we had bought at the store. 

The papadum was a first for me, too. I mean, we've always enjoyed it at the restaurant, but we'd never had it at home before, and so I didn't know exactly what to look for at the store. I ended up buying a package of what looked like it could be the right thing- round disks with cumin seeds embedded in it, and which thankfully had cooking directions on it (the only one that did, actually), and it happily turned out that I chose well.  Whew! It was a lot of fun watching them cook, too. I cooked them one at a time on a small indoor electric grilling apparatus that we have (instead frying it in oil), and it was amazing- it only took seconds before it bubbled up and turned golden and crisp. I gotta say that I love these things more than I love tortilla chips, which is saying something, because I really _love _tortilla chips. I just love how thin and delicate they are in comparison. And the flavor just can't be beat.

Yep, it was a good and yummy holiday weekend and our tummies and taste buds are very happy. 

Oh- at the restaurant, one of the dishes we ate was Madrasi Chicken, which was cooked in a coconut sauce, and it was so yummy! Do any of you know of a good recipe for it?


IrishLass


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## Obsidian (Sep 9, 2015)

I'm getting closer to trying to cook something Indian. I bought a cookbook and hit the spice store today, only thing I didn't get was saffron but I will at some point. I couldn't find orange lentils either so I just got regular ones.


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## kumudini (Sep 9, 2015)

Wow, IL! That was quite a weekend of Indian food. You tried so many new things, so brave you are. Glad that everything turned out to your liking. Here I'm, tired from my trip,waiting for my dal to get done cooking so we could eat.I'm already so hungry and your post just made it intolerable, lol! 

FBS, I really wish I could point you to a good source of Indian spices. I never bought them online so, really can't recommend a vendor. I will work on creating a super easy dal recipe that doesn't use pressure cooker though,just for you. So far it's either the pressure cooker or a method similar to N_A but only longer. I will see if you could pre soak the dal like you do for dry beans. Then you could finish the whole thing in one pot with less hands on time.


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## kumudini (Sep 9, 2015)

Fresh hot rice and hot tomato dal, yummmmmmm! When I'm tired and hungry, no better comfort than this.


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## Obsidian (Sep 9, 2015)

Is there anything that I can sub for fenugreek seeds and asafoetida? I want to make lime pickles and neither of these can be found locally.
*
*


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## kumudini (Sep 9, 2015)

I'm not sure which lime pickles you are talking about O, I make mine without either. It's red hot, sour and sweet and only takes salt, cayenne powder, sugar and extra lime juice along with the lime quarters ofcourse. So, yeah they are not needed for me. Could you may be share your recipe so I could see what you could substitute them with?


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## Obsidian (Sep 9, 2015)

There are a few recipes I was looking at, the one from my book is:

6 limes, quartered
1/2 cup salt
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
seeds from 2 star anise
4 small green chilies
3/4 cup light muscovado sugar
3-4 tsp water

then there are these
http://www.onetomato-twotomato.com/2013/05/key-lime-pickle/
http://sinfullyspicy.com/2012/05/18/indian-lime-pickle/

I'd be happy to try a simpler recipe, I just couldn't find one. I've never actually eaten a lime pickle but they look really good, especially that last recipe I linked.


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## kumudini (Sep 10, 2015)

Quite frankly, I haven't tried much variety of pickles. I only preferred what my mom made because all others paled in their comparison. Only way mom used to make lime pickle is this.
Rinse and thoroughly dry the limes and quarter them. If the limes are too large she would cut them into 16 pieces each.
Add about half a cup of chilli powder, cup of salt per 25 limes( our limes used to be just a little bigger than key limes). 
Mix them very well and put into a clean glass jar or one of those earthen pots specifically made for pickles.
Cover well and let rest.
After three days, she would check on them, add extra lime juice if needed. Give a taste test and adjust the salt, mix thoroughly.
Cover again and forget about it for a month.
Now you have a lime pickle that's going to last forever. It might darken a bit over time, but it's still good. Since there's no oil, there's no question of rancidity. 
As a kid I used to enjoy this with rice and home made yogurt.
I started adding the sugar because of my husband. I would typically add 3/4 cup of sugar to the limes in the first step.

Coming to your recipe, I don't think you'll miss the fenugreek seeds in this. The recipe in that last link, I really don't know how all those spices will play together. I would think that the amount of carom seeds is a bit much but may be the lime juice will tame it. FYI, carom seeds taste like thyme, only much much stronger. The asafetida, I hate it in raw form. I only ever used it in hot oil for garnish/tempering. It's very pungent smelling but again, the lime may tame it as well.  I would think it's easier to find both fenugreek seeds and asafetida than say kala namak or carom seeds. Basically every Indian grocery store has them.
If you end up trying either recipe, please let me know how they turn out. The reviews don't say if the writer actually tried the recipe and liked it, they for me, are pretty useless. It's the same with most blogs. That's why I prefer recipe sites where people have tried the actual recipe and if they needed to make any tweaks, why they made them and all such info is readily available.


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## Obsidian (Sep 10, 2015)

Thank you for all the advice. I think I will try your moms recipe for now since I have the stuff it needs and its simple. How do I know if they need more juice added? How much liquid should be in the bottom of a quart jar?


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## kumudini (Sep 10, 2015)

By day 4, everything should be covered in juice. You might want to go easy on the cayenne pepper, although it seems like your tolerance for heat is as much as mine.
Also, if you are using those decent sized limes from Costco like I did, only use 15 and halve those quarters so you end up with 8 per lime.


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## Obsidian (Sep 10, 2015)

I only had 8 limes, they were decent sized so I chopped them into 8 pieces each. I need to get some more, even though I reduced the amount of salt/spice, I think I used a bit much. About half of the limes are covered in juice right now. I did replace about half the cayenne with paprika, figured I should take it easy on the heat  my first time.


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## kumudini (Sep 10, 2015)

Don't adjust anything right now, once the juices start coming out the sour will balance out the salt. Adjust if you need to on day 4.


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## Obsidian (Sep 10, 2015)

Thank you, can't wait to try these.


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## not_ally (Sep 10, 2015)

They are an acquired taste, a bit, O.  Don't let them put you off Indian food if you don't like them right off the bat.  My best friend loves Indian and eats everything - when he visits my mom he goes right into her refrigerator and starts helping himself - but he does not like pickles as much as those of us who grew up with them.


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## kumudini (Sep 10, 2015)

I agree with B, these are not your typical pickles in vinegar. But limes are not typical pickle material either. Anyways, be sure to have some yogurt kind of thing at hand when you try these.


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## Obsidian (Sep 10, 2015)

I expect I will really like these. I love limes and lemons, I always eat them raw instead of oranges. There is a mexican spice that is a combo of cayenne, lime powder and salt, its one of my favorite flavors.
I can't eat yogurt, I'm lactose intolerant and the rice or coconut milk yogurt is really nasty.


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## kchaystack (Sep 10, 2015)

That is odd that yogurt disagrees with you.  The fermentation of yogurt breaks the lactose down.  Alton Brown had a show about yogurt once and mentioned it


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## Obsidian (Sep 10, 2015)

Dairy in any state messes me up. I can eat a little yogurt once in awhile and occasionally have a milk based dessert like pudding or whipped cream. I can take those lactose pills but I have a tendency to forget, its easier to just stay away from dairy.


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## shaan (Sep 15, 2015)

http://www.jhilmildsaha.com/2015/09...gn=Feed:+blogspot/Vlryb+(Beauty+&amp;+Beyond)

just checked this link,if anyone likes to try!


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## IrishLass (Sep 15, 2015)

shaan said:


> http://www.jhilmildsaha.com/2015/09...gn=Feed:+blogspot/Vlryb+(Beauty+&amp;+Beyond)
> 
> just checked this link,if anyone likes to try!


 

Ooooh! That Chicken Shawarma looks positively yummy! Thanks for sharing! 


IrishLass


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## cm4bleenmb (Sep 22, 2015)

*just another reason this forum rocks*

I love it. I went to a forum about making soap and got distracted by a 13 page thread about Indian food that was started by a member named Irishlass. 

I've only had Indian food a few times, my fav was something called saag ghosht--which I probably spelled wrong--it looked like something you'd find in a diaper, but it was soooooo good! And naan, mmmmm, naan. 

We're not really foodies but we do cook a little more than average, I guess. Hubby tends to get caught up in that whole try-to-copy-the-restaurant-dish thing more than I do. For me, there are some things that I just want left in that realm of special rather than turning it into home-cooking and being able to have it any time I want.

Maybe in part because growing up we were too poor to go out to eat and I still have an odd little, "OOOO, special!" kind of reaction to restaurants--even just getting coffee at Starbucks. :crazy:


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## CaraBou (Dec 30, 2015)

This thread inspired me to try my hand with Indian food.  Wow - what a success!  I made three dishes plus a mint-cilantro chutney.  My two girlfriends were in awe, and now they think I'm some kind of culinary wonder.  But it was super easy, and may i say, super healthy.  Other than the paneer (cheese) and a little avocado oil to heat the garlic/ginger/spices, everything was a whole food.  So many fresh vegetables and very little fat or simple carbs.  While I've always loved Indian, I was tugged slightly more by Thai food, which is also very flavorful.  But now I see huge advantages in the lack of coconut milk and more readily available spices that go with Indian food.  I'll never look at cumin, coriander, turmeric or ginger the same way again.  Now I know the possibilities!

I intended (and was prepared) to make three dishes from this thread, but was a bit ambitious (because I had 5 total in queue).  I ended up making only the palak paneer from this site, which I prepared as a hybrid between IL and Kumadini's recipes.  That was the first dish out of the pan and my friends went nuts on it!  Then came aloo matar (potato and pea curry) and chana masala (spiced chickpeas).  That was it, they were floored and there was no reason to assemble the other two dishes even though I was organized to do so (the dishes were not_ally's Masoor Dal and dorittefarm's Mayai Wara Bhinda).  I will save them for another day. My husband won't know what hit him before "this is good" slips from his lips!

The biggest thing I learned from cooking so many dishes at once was to be organized and keep recipe "piles" separate since many of the same ingredients are used (in different proportions) for different recipes.  Also, I started to get the hang of how to bring each dish together, and can see how this can be very fast cooking when you know what you're doing. Can't wait to get better at it  

In the spirit of this thread, I share with you the aloo matar recipe I made last night.  It came from the vegrecipesofindia website and goes like this:

*Aloo Matar* 

stick blend to a smooth paste:
1 medium onion, 80 grams or ½ cup chopped onions
2 medium to large tomatoes, 150 grams or 1 cup chopped tomatoes (I used one can fire roasted)
½ inch ginger/adrak, chopped
3 to 4 cloves garlic/lahsun, chopped
Set this paste aside

Other ingredients:
2 tbsp oil (I used avocado)
½ tsp cumin seeds/jeera
1 tbsp fresh malai or low fat cream or almond or cashew powder (optional) (I used cream since it was on hand)
250 grams potatoes or 3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced (I used about 8 small red)
⅔ to ¾ cup green peas/matar, fresh or frozen (I used 1 bag frozen)
a generous pinch of asafoetida/hing (I didn't have/didn't use)
½ tsp red chili powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder/haldi
½ tsp garam masala powder
1.5 cups water
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
salt as needed

Instructions
Make a smooth paste with the onion, tomato, ginger and garlic in a grinder or blender; Put aside.  Heat oil in a pot and crackle the cumin seeds, then add the ground onion-tomato paste.  Stir and then add the cream (or ground nuts). The mixture sputters so cover partly with a lid. When spluttering stops, remove the lid and saute. Then add the dry spices (except garam masala).  Stir and then add the peas and potatoes. Saute for a minute. Add water and salt, stir well, and cover the pot. Simmer till the potatoes and peas are cooked well. Lastly, stir in garam masala powder and cilantro, then serve.


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## IrishLass (Dec 31, 2015)

Congratulations on your success! Prepare to be addicted to Indian cuisine now. lol That aloo matar recipe sounds so yummy! Thanks for sharing! I _need_ to make that!


IrishLass


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## Arimara (Dec 31, 2015)

I'll have to pop in this thread another time to read through it. My family likes Indian food but it's not my strongest preference.


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## Saponista (Dec 31, 2015)

I am currently making leftover turkey and random vegetables curry. It's very British and not really remotely Indian. We like to steal food from other nationalities!


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## JuneP (Jan 17, 2016)

My favorite vegetable curry is Aloo Gobi, a potato and cauliflower curry from the movie Bend it like Beckam. My next favorite is Aloo Matar, a potato and pea curry (I also add carrots to this classic recipe). I just bought a nice, small head of cauliflower so I think i'll use it to make the Aloog Gobi in a couple of days. Here's the recipe i found on line for this wonderful dish!

ALOO GOBI - FROM BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM Yield8 servings
Ingredients

vegetable oil - I just use a little spray
1 large onion, peeled, finely chopped
1 large bunch of cilantro
a few green chilies, cut up small
1 cauliflower cut up into small pieces
3 large potatoes, peeled & cut into ¼ inch slices
1 tin of peeled tomatoes, grated (she actually uses a cheese grater in the movie)
fresh ginger to taste, peeled & grated
fresh garlic to taste, chopped
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons turmeric
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons garam masala
Preparation

She doesn't bother with very precise measurements from time to time. Use taste & discretion when putting this together. Heat oil in large pan (you'll need a lid later - keep that in mind). Fry up chopped onions & cumin seeds. Don't brown the onions, you want them to start turning translucent. Finely chop stalks of cilantro bunch up to the leaves. Add to onions in pan with turmeric and salt. Let the turmeric heat up a bit, then add chilies. Pour in liquids from can of tomatoes, then pulverize your tomatoes and add them in too. Mix in ginger & garlic. Now your ready for the main ingredients, the potatoes & the cauliflower. You'll also want to add a few tablespoons of water at this time, but keep in mind that aloo gobi is supposed to be a dry dish, not a saucy one. As Chadha clearly says in the featurette, the last thing you want is watery aloo gobi. Make sure that the liquid in the pan has covered everything, then cover & simmer for 20 minutes. Then stir in garam masala and chopped cilantro leaves. Turn off the heat and recover the dish. Leave it standing for about 20 minutes before serving. This allows the veg to really soak up all the liquid in the pan, making for a more savory dish in the end.


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## rosemaria (Jul 22, 2016)

Thanks for the recipes!!


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## asmita (Aug 17, 2016)

*Trick to adding flavour to Palak Paneer*



IrishLass said:


> Okay, all you Indian food lovers, here's our thread! Everybody join in and contribute! :-o
> 
> One of my favorite dishes from our favorite Indian restaurant is their Palak Paneer. After many tries at trying to duplicate it at home (by much guessing and tasting and guessing and tasting and scouring through the internet), this is what I came up with. To us, it tastes very, very close to the one we enjoy at the restaurant- not 100% exact, but close enough for us to scarf it down with gusto, lol. It might seem long and complicated, but looks can be deceiving. It's so easy and quick once everything has been prepped:
> 
> ...




The final trick to turn a decent Palak Paneer into that something that you tasted in a restaurant is - Mix 2 tablespoon of yogurt (sour if possible) with 1 tablespoon of chickpea flour (besan in Hindi) and add to the cooked spinach. Cook further for 3-5 min on low medium  heat stirring all the while till raw smell of chickpea goes away. 

Voila, your palak paneer has that silky texture that restaurants give you. (No need for cream when using this trick)


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## IrishLass (Aug 17, 2016)

asmita said:


> The final trick to turn a decent Palak Paneer into that something that you tasted in a restaurant is - Mix 2 tablespoon of yogurt (sour if possible) with 1 tablespoon of chickpea flour (besan in Hindi) and add to the cooked spinach. Cook further for 3-5 min on low medium heat stirring all the while till raw smell of chickpea goes away.
> 
> Voila, your palak paneer has that silky texture that restaurants give you. (No need for cream when using this trick)


 
Thank you so much for that tip, Asmita! I will try that out. And welcome to the forum! 


IrishLass


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## asmita (Aug 21, 2016)

IrishLass said:


> Thank you so much for that tip, Asmita! I will try that out. And welcome to the forum!
> 
> 
> IrishLass



Thank you . Lovely to be here!


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## isha (Dec 21, 2017)

My grandmas  recipe for some hot n spicy pepper curry...  

Amazing for cold winters keep you warm n the soar throat cough n cold away... 
You can have it steamed rice.  Or drink like a cup of tea.. 

pepper garlic rasam recipe | pepper rasam with garlic recipe


Ingredients

1 tbsp tamarind/ lemon juice
10 black pepper
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp turmeric powder
pinch hing / asafoetida
5-10 curry leaves
2 tablespoons finely chopped celantro leaves
2 tbsp oil
2 tsp grated dry coconut.  /copra
2 tsp  ghee 
1tsp  split black gram / urad dal
salt to taste

Instructions ( 1 cup =255 ml)

firstly ,  add 1 tsp  ghee in a pan on low heat roast the below
Pepper 
Cumin seeds
Dry copra 
asafoetida
Roast till golden brown n remove from heat. 
Add water as required and Grind it to fine paste

Take a deep pan, add 3 tsp of oil and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and hing. after mustard seeds start spluttering, add curry leaves.also add chopped garlic and saute for few seconds. keep an eye on garlic, as it shouldn't burn.
now add 1.5 cups of water
The paste that we just made and than let it boil for 5-7 minutes in a low flame. make sure you stir it occasionally

 add 2 cups of water and salt. give a mix and give 1 - 2 boil in a medium flame.

Now add freshly squeezed lemon juice n turn off the stove
finally,  add  chopped cilantro and close the  lid.  Let it steep for a few minutes 

Finally pepper garlic rasam is now ready. serve with hot and steamed rice. Or drink it just as it is


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## navigator9 (Dec 21, 2017)

curaherbal said:


> My grandmas  recipe for some hot n spicy pepper curry...
> 
> Amazing for cold winters keep you warm n the soar throat cough n cold away...
> You can have it steamed rice.  Or drink like a cup of tea..
> ...



Well, I see another trip to the Indian grocery is in my future. When I walk through the door of that place, the aroma almost makes me swoon. The rows of fragrant spices make me walk slowly and inhale deeply. With winter upon us, this sounds like a good way to try and fend off colds and flu. Thanks for this!


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## isha (Dec 21, 2017)

navigator9 said:


> Well, I see another trip to the Indian grocery is in my future. When I walk through the door of that place, the aroma almost makes me swoon. The rows of fragrant spices make me walk slowly and inhale deeply. With winter upon us, this sounds like a good way to try and fend off colds and flu. Thanks for this!


My pleasure..  Hope u enjoy it..  I make it almost every few days..  Keeps ur body warm inside...


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