Dateline: March 4, 2021 Indian Night

On a phone call with friends I said I was making Indian food that night, Lyn asked what was on the menu.  I rattled off a list of dishes that I was jonesing for, such as dal, turkey vindaloo, palak paneer, aloo gobi or aloo jeera, and Bill stopped me in my tracks and said, "That's a lot of food for 2".  Sadly, he was right, and I pared the menu down to turkey vindaloo, palak paneer, and rice.  

I used a new vindaloo recipe that I was not too thrilled with, it lacked the depth of flavor that I usually get when I make pork vindaloo.  I attribute this to the microwave browning of the onions and garlic.  Needless to say, I will not share that particular recipe as it did not meet my incredibly high standards of practice.

My issue with the vindaloo was that it was orange....I know, I should not judge a dish by its color, but it was really jarring to me....I've only eaten vindaloos that are a deep greenish brown.  The dark color is because you brown the onions until they are a very dark brown and the spice mix is dark in color, and perhaps just the hint of some molasses darkens things up.  The vinegar sharpness was also quite pronounced.  While I like the vinegar in a vindaloo, I feel it should be amalgamated into the total and not discernible along with each other element.  Sadly, the sum of the parts did not live up to my expectation.  Next time, I will not take short cuts and use Madhur Jaffrey's recipe for pork vindaloo instead and sub in the poultry for the pork.

The palak paneer recipe was a good one, and I've made it before.  It's from Urvashi Pitre's Indian Instant Pot Cooking.  The ingredients are what you may already have around the house, frozen spinach, onions, garlic, ginger, canned tomatoes, hot peppers, etc.  The only ingredient that may be somewhat esoteric is the paneer.  You could easily substitute firm tofu and the dish would be just as tasty.  It helps to have an Instant Pot, but this can be done on the stove top without much thought, it might even be better that way!  Another important tool for this is an immersion blender.  It makes the puree-ing of the spinach much easier than loading the hot stuff into a blender and doing it that way.  

The left overs are also delicious the next day, so if you make tons, it's good eating.

Dateline: January 27, 2021 Vegetarian/Vegan Indian Night: Chana Masala, Sambar, Vegetable Masala

I runneth over with cauliflower and cabbage these days, so I must make something with them that will be tasty and satisfying, and of course, spicy.  I also decided that I didn't want meat tonight.  I can hear Bill saying, "What did you do with Clarissa?" 

All of these recipes come from Vegetarian Indian Cooking with Your Instant Pot by Manali Singh.

Sambar

For the sambar, I will use as many veggies as I can squeeze into it, certainly using up the cabbage, celery, carrots, etc.   

Chana Masala

For the vegetable masala, I used the recipe on the back of the Shan Vegetable Masala package.

Here is the Sambar....it turned out really nice, a very comforting soupy/stewy consistency and a nicely spiced taste.  Not quite what I loved about India, but pretty darn close.

Vegetable Masala

500 g mixed vegetables, I used mostly cauliflower, cabbage, and parsnips, chopped in large pieces

2 T oil

1 large red onion, sliced through the root

2 T garlic/ginger paste

2 tomatoes, pureed

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped

1 can diced tomatoes

3-4 T masala powder

1 c water or stock

Method

1.  Heat instant pot on saute and add oil when hot.  Add onion slices and jalapeno peppers, saute until onions lose raw smell.

2.  Add garlic/ginger paste and stir to combine.  Add spice powder and stir to combine.  Add pureed tomatoes and the can of the tomatoes.  Stir to combine.  Add vegetables and stir to coat with spices.  Add water and stir to combine.  

3.  Close lid, and pressure cook on high for 5 minutes.  Use quick release and stir and adjust spices, if necessary.

Here are the 2 curries, chana masala on the left, why is it so dark?  I used green chickpeas, which as far as I can guess, are under ripe chickpeas.  They take a little longer to cook, but do not have as much of the, err, after effects of eating beans.  On the right is the vegetable masala.  I used too much water in my version so it was too soupy for my taste.  The flavor was quite good.  I added 2 cups of water, plus there was also the juice from the can of tomatoes, and it was just too much.  I keep thinking that it might burn if I don't add more water.....you need a minimum of 1 cup of water in the pot for it to come to pressure, the ingredients also will supply water/juice as they cook....I've got to learn that lesson!

Dateline: January 18, 2021 Curried Vegetables with Chick Peas

 I had to clean out the vegetable bin and decided to try a prepared curry spice mix that I had. I used Shah's Vegetable Masala mix.

Ingredients

2 T ghee or olive oil

1/2 head napa cabbage, chopped in chunks

1/4 head green cabbage, chopped in chunks

2 carrots, peeled, chopped into chunks

4 stalks of celery, chopped into 2 in pieces

1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into large chunks

1 broccoli crown, peeled and cut into large chunks

1.5 c chunked butternut squash

1 jalapeno, chopped and seeded

1/4 polano pepper, chopped and seeded

1 small celeriac root, peeled, and chunked

1 large onion, sliced stem to root

2 T ginger, chopped and minced

2 T garlic, chopped and minced

2 Roma tomatoes cut into quarters

1 c chopped diced tomatoes, I used what was left from the can from the day before

equal amounts of tuscan kale and collard greens, stemmed and chopped in thick ribbons

2 T white poppy seeds

4 T Shah's vegetable masala powder, divided, 3 T and 1 T

1.5 c stock, I used chicken, but use what you have or water

1 can drained chick peas

Method

1.  Thoroughly blend and mash up the ginger and garlic together into a paste.  I used a spice grinder with a special cup and blend for wet ingredients.  Remove and hold aside.

2.  Heat up Instant Pot on saute setting.  When hot, add ghee and melt.  Then add onions and peppers.  Stir to coat and soften.  When softened and fragrant, add in the ginger garlic paste and stir to distribute.  Some of it will stick, try to scrap it up as best you can.  You will get rest when you add stock.  Add 3 T of the vegetable masala powder.  Stir to incorporate.

3.  Add cauliflower, broccoli, butternut squash, celeraic, celery, and chopped tomatoes.  Stir to coat all veggies with the paste in the pot.  Add 1 c of the stock or water, and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the instant pot.  

4.  In a blender or spice grinder, put as many tomato quarters as can fit and the 2 T white poppy seeds.  The poppy seeds will help thicken the curry and will bind with the tomato juice and pulp.  Blitz up and add any remaining tomato quarters and blitz until well combined.  Contents will appear very thick and somewhat gelatinous.  This is a good thing.  Add to the pot of veggies.

5.  Stir well and add the leafy greens, cabbages, and the rest of the stock, if necessary.  Mix well.  Sprinkle the remaining 1 T of masala powder and stir again.  

6.  Press cancel. Set pot to Pressure Cook on Low for 5 minutes.  Use quick release.

7.  Open lid when pressure has released and stir contents.  Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.  There is plenty of salt and pepper in the veggie masala mix.  Add chick peas and stir.  If the veggies are cooked, then put on Keep Warm.  Serve with rice.

I over cooked the veggies by using 10 minutes of pressure on high.  DON'T DO THAT.  That is why I suggested 5 minutes on low pressure.  Veggies will remain in bigger chunks, flavor will not be effected if you over cook, but texture is!

This was really good, albeit, overcooked!  Bill was very happy and forgot all about the fact that there was no meat in the meal, except for the stock.  

Dateline: December 12, 2020 Indian Redux

 Our buddy, Servet, was coming over for dinner and tasting weird beers.  What goes with beer, Indian Food!  I made Achari Chicken, Aloo Gobi, and Baingan Bharta.  Recipes came from Urvashi Pitre.  

The Baingan Bharta is an eggplant stew that is cooked down until the eggplant has broken down completely and it is finished with a dash of cream.  I can't say that it was the best that I have ever eaten, but it certainly held its own.

The Aloo Gobi is a mixture of cauliflower and potatoes with indian spices and some tomatoes.  I was totally happy with how it turned out.

The Achari Chicken, is from Hydrabadwallah website and is an absolute favorite of mine.  A go to chicken dish that never fails to please.

Of course, as we were tasting interesting, and some not so interesting beers and hard seltzers, I only took a photo of the chicken dish.

October 23, 2020 Dal and Vegetables

I was jonesing for indian food.  It was getting late, and we had a zoom call at 6.  Instant pot to the rescue!

I grabbed some moong dal, and cleaned out the fridge of veggies: 1/2 a head of cabbage, celery, bell peppers, zucchini, onions, garlic, ginger, jalapenos and a can of tomatoes.  Dinner!

I first rinsed the dal and held on the side.  I chopped the veggies into large pieces so that they don't disintegrate.  Even with my large pieces, most of the veggies were now sauce!

Spices:  cumin seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric, Kashmiri chili powder, ground cumin, ground coriander, garam masala, and veggie masala powder.

0

Method

1.  Make garlic ginger paste by putting equal amounts of garlic and ginger into a mini processor and grind to a paste.  Hold on the side

2.  Heat instant pot on saute and when hot add 1-2 T of ghee (or olive oil) and then add cumin seeds and mustard seeds.  Let sizzle until they start to pop.

3.  Add garlic ginger paste and let sizzle a bit.  Then add turmeric and chili powder and stir to combine.  Cancel saute.

4.  Add dal to the pot and mix well, add veggies and try to mix as best you can.  

5.  Sprinkle 1 - 2 T of the vegetable masala mix along with ground cumin and coriander.  Dump 14 oz canned tomatoes over the top, try to stir and rinse can 1/2 can  left over wine and 1/2 can water and add that to the mix.  

6.  Close lid, set pressure for 8 minutes.  Let pressure release naturally

7.  Taste.  It may need salt depending on your masala mix.  Adjust and enjoy.

Dateline: September 25, 2020 Vegetarian Indian Night With Friends

 Menu

Chana Masala

Saag

Achari Vegetables

Aloo Jerra

Rice

Meyer Lemon Chutney

Coconut Cilantro Chutney

I am so up for this!  I have been cooking up a storm this morning because I have to go out for about 1.5 hours and wanted to be sure that dinner would be ready for the 6 PM kick off.

The Chana Masala is from Urvashi Pitre as is the Aloo Jeera, I couldn't find on line the recipe that I used, but this one is very, very close.

Achari Vegetables recipe was one by Manali Singh.  I had never made it before, but love Achari chicken, so thought I'd try it.  It is fabulous!  I also used her saag recipe, with a few changes.  I did not use the corn flour, and I used collards, curly kale, and chard as the greens.  I did not have white radish, so I used a thick slice of jicama instead.  It turned out really well.  That's another keeper.

The Meyer Lemon Chutney and Coconut Cilantro Chutney are from Urvashi Pitre, as well.  I must say, they were easy and the meyer lemon is spectacular.  Reminds me of the tamarind chutney that is ubiquitous in Indian restaurants, but chunkier and thicker and soooooo much better.  The green chutney fresh from the blender was very garlicky, but mellowed with time in the fridge.  I used only 4 cloves instead of the 6.  It was also much better than what you get in restaurants!

Now, once again, I did not take photos.  Photos on the websites are so much better than I could have taken.  

The evening was lovely.  We started on the deck with Gwen and Tony, with the chutney's and papadum (which Bill made).  We moved inside for dinner and had a lovely time talking about everything and anything over the course of the evening.  The beer and wine flowed freely and Gwen and Tony seemed happy with their to go bags!

Dateline: September 15, 2020 Lamb Keema and Roti

  

I had one pound of ground lamb that needed to be used in the fridge.  I was torn between lamb burgers or keema.  Keema won!  I decided to use Tejal Rao's recipe for roti.    I  happened to have the atta flour!  I know, I know, my pantry is not like many others.  I have tons of esoteric ingredients for the off chance that I want to make something Asian, or Mexican, or, Indian, or or or.... I am guessing that if you have whole wheat pastry flour that would work fine.  

I also used Tejal Rao's recipe for keema.  I used the lamb, mentioned above, but the recipe calls for ground beef.  I suppose you could use anything ground or minced up and it would still be delicious.  I used kashmiri red chili pepper instead of cayenne, and I could have easily used much more of it.  The dish did not have the zip that I wanted it to.  That's on me, not the recipe!

   

Onions waiting to get brown and crispy, and the blender waiting for tomatoes, ginger, and onions.

The sauce of tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, and hot pepper coming to the boil and waiting for the lamb to be added.

Lamb added and cooked until most of the sauce evaporates, and the oil comes to the surface.  I added peas, well, because it's customary, but the recipe does not call for them.  I also liked the added green.  I did use the mint and cilantro mix as well as a few chives from the garden.

The roti were fun and easy to make.  I used my tortilla press, I know, and made 16 balls instead of the suggested 12.  Why, because it was easier to create equal sized balls by dividing things in half over and over.  After the balls sat, I used pieces of parchment paper to sandwich them between the top and bottom of the press.  I found that the press made one section quite thin, so I rotated the pancake 1/4 turn and pressed it each rotation.  That way the edges were somewhat uniform.

As suggested in the recipe, I did lightly glaze one side with ghee, I know.  These were pretty darn good.  I think next time I will add a bit more salt to the dough and take it out of the bowl and knead it to create more layers.  They got somewhat puffy and when torn, showed the layers.  But, I want more layers!

Dateline: May 8, 2020 What to do with Fish Cubes?

I had ordered fish cubes, shrimp, and scallops from Fresh Direct.  Not really having an idea of how I was going to use them!  The assortment was salmon, tuna, and some kind of flaky white fish, probably snapper.  All nice looking pieces, nothing gnarly looking, all skinless.

I was craving good Indian food, sadly, take-out from the few Indian restaurants around here that are doing take-out, leaves me feeling unsatisfied and a bit duped.  Out came the Indian cookbooks, and the NYT Cooking app, and I was ready to research.

I settled on Meen Gassi.  It was worth the pounding and grinding in the mortar and pestle to get the ingredients into a smooth paste.  Once I got the hang of how to do it, it became easier to grind the chilis and seeds against the wall, rather than pounding at the bottom.

midway thru grinding process

with tamarind added

Scarily enough, I actually followed this recipe, the only substitution I made was chicken stock instead of water (as I had lots and lots of stock made).

Here are the fish cubes, sprinkled with tumeric and salt

Onion, garlic, jalapeno, and ginger sautee-ing

paste added along with chicken stoc

fish into the pool

         

finished product

To go with this, I was craving beans, much to Bill's annoyance, but I also had ordered some fresh spinach so I decided on chana saag.  

I cooked up 1 cup of green chickpeas instead of using the cans.  Green chickpeas are young beans.  They are a deep green color and take a long time to get soft.  Thank goodness for the instant pot.  I cooked on high pressure for 30 minutes.  Tested a bean, still had a starchy core and was not very tender.  Did another 20 minutes and the tester was still a tiny bit starchy, but was tender.  I drained and held aside while I made the spinach sauce.  

After the cooking time in the instant pot for the sauce, I got out the stick blender and blended everything into a dark green semi-soupy mess.  Threw in the chickpeas and tasted.  It needed a bit of salt and as I was really hungry and couldn't spend the time searching for the amchur powder, I threw in the juice of 1/2 a lemon.  All was right with the world.  

Finished sauce

chick peas in and some garnish!

We ate the meal with some naan.  I was so happy!

Note:  the fish was quite spicy and the chana saag quite bland in comparison.  I didn't want two things that might blow your head off on the spice scale.  So I was happy with the spice level in both.  The sauce for the fish was dynamite.  It would be great on any protein!  I think next time I would like it to be thicker so that I coated each piece of fish nicely.  But, it's a keeper!

Dateline: April 28, 2020 Indian food again! YEAH!

I do love Indian food, there are very few dishes that I don't like or wouldn't eat a second or third time.  Tonight's menu is Rasedar Jinga, or shrimp in dark sauce, from Madhur Jaffery's Indian Cooking.

I really like this recipe because it is tasty, first and foremost, but it is also easy and relatively quick to make.

To go with it, I am making jeera aloo, cauliflower with cabbage, and a relish/salad, with beets, yogurt and spices.  I had some frozen naan so that will stand in for some rice.

spices and ginger garlic paste browning

tomatoes and tumeric now in

finished with shrimp and cilantro

We had a zoom happy hour with some friends prior to dinner and in order to not over cook the shrimp, I let the sauce come to a boil, then added the shrimp and turned off the heat during the call. Worked great.  I just brought the pot up to a simmer before bringing to the table.

Little potatoes were steamed in the instant pot then spiced up in a cleaned inner pot and lightly fried.

finished taters

cauliflower cooking down

I cut the cauliflower up into tiny florets, sliced the cabbage into ribbons, and cut a jalapeno up into thin strips.  Into the pot went some ghee and cumin and mustard seeds and a pinch of asafetida.  When the seeds started popping, in when the veggies.  Stir around and then I added a cube of chicken stock and let them mingle until cooked

beets, ready to eat

The 2 beets were steamed in the instant pot as well and then after 25 min or so, the skins will slip right off when cool.  I cut into little cubes, added 1/4 c plain yogurt and a tsp of salt.  In a sauce pan, I heated up some ghee and added mustard seeds, cumin seeds and some asafetida and then poured it over beets. Mix and serve.

Note:  I think without the happy hour interruption, the sauce would have been thicker, but in the future, I would hold the shrimp for the duration of the hiatus while the sauce was left uncovered on simmer.  I'd add the shrimp and cook for an additional 5 minutes until cooked through.  I would have a clinging sauce and perfectly cooked shrimp

Dateline: April 6, 2020 Achari Chicken

This is one of my very favorite Indian dishes.  It is also known as chicken with pickling spices.

There are 3 distinct steps in this recipe, but each is simple once you have set out all of your various spices.

Marinade

1 lb or so chicken parts.  (I think dark meat works better)

1/2 t salt

1/2 t tumeric

1 t Kashmiri chili powder

1 t ginger/garlic paste  (equal parts finely minced garlic and ginger)

1/2 c yogurt, whipped with a fork

Combine all ingredients after chicken until well blended. Add chicken parts and mix well and marinate for at least 1 hour.

Spice Paste

1 t coriander seeds

1 t cumin seeds

1/2 t mustard seeds

1/2 fenegreek seeds

1/4 t nigella or black onion seeds

Toast in a dry skillet until fragrant, let cook and grind into a powder and set aside

Cooking

3 T neutral oil or ghee

1 large onion sliced

Cook in a pan (arge enough to hold onions AND chicken with room to spare) until brown and beginning to crisp up.  Go longer than you think, it is the brown-ness that gives depth to the finished product.

Add to browned onions

handful of curry leaves

1 T garlic/ginger paste

1/2 t tumeric

Now add chicken and stir in a small can of diced tomatoes (14 oz, max for 1 lb chicken).  Cover and cook on lower heat until chicken is semi-tender.  Uncover cook until the oil separates.

Add to chicken

1/2 t salt

the reserved spice powder

2.5 t Kashmiri chili powder

handful of chopped cilantro

handful of chopped mint leaves

about 2 c of water or chicken stock

Simmer until the chicken is tender and soft.  Add in either 1 t amchur powder or juice of 1 lemon

Serve with rice and a side vegetable.  

This will quickly become your go to Indian dish.  Once you have all the spices, it is very easy to make and doubles nicely as well.  Only caution is to taste your Kashmiri chili powder first, sometimes it is quite mild, other times very spicy.  If yours happens to be spice, cut back on it to your spice level, if you are a chili head, hey, go for it, just don't overwhelm the other spices.  This should have a kick, but also a well rounded undertone of sour and savory flavors.

dateline: March 23. Indian Food

I had never made keema before.  It seems strange that that would be true, as I cook Indian Food often.  Keema will be in the rotation from now on.  It is easy to make, using lamb makes it succulent and richly flavorful.

I relied heavily on Tejal Rao's Indian Essentials from the NYT cooking section March 11, 2020.
The recipe is straight forward and very simple to prepare.

Cooking the keema happens in 2 steps, first, grind garlic, ginger, and hot peppers together.  Brown and caramelize the onions, and then add tomatoes and onions to the ginger/garlic/hot pepper paste, and grind up together to form a masala.  This gets cooked down with the raw lamb.  I was unsure, at first, that this would actually turnout something rather tasty.  It is delicious.

In the next dish, I made a  mushroom and spinach curry with tomatoes.  The husband unit loves mushrooms while I like them, I am not a uber fan.  I will eat them, but would rather have other veggies instead.

This last photo is of the potato masala that would usually go inside a dosa.  This is a killer recipe and it is sooooo good, anyone who says they don't like Indian food needs to try this dish, it will change your mind.