Category Archives: Indian food

Paneer Ghee Roast (Kerala Style)

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I love South indian preparations- in both dry and curry form. But the techniques are so tedious- scrape cocount, grind to paste, dry paste- so on and on and on. This is my version of a much quicker dry roast. The masala will not be as smooth as a blender-ground masala but the flavor is spot on and this dish will be ready in 30 minutes.

Prep:

Chop: 1/2 a large onion diced (about 1 cup), 4-6 cloves of garlic, 3-5 kadipatta leaves (chopped fine)

Masala: mix together 2 tsp of  ground red pepper  (I used the Korean Gochugaru but Kashmiri red chillies  will work), 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tbsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp of turmeric, 1 tsp ground fennel seeds and 1/8 tsp ground methi(fenugreek) seeds. ( I used a mortar and pestle to grind the fennel and methi  to add to the powders)

Other flavorings: 2 tbsp tamarind paste (which I always have frozen) and 1 tbsp ground jaggery

Cook:

Cube 1/2 lb of paneer and roast in 1 tbsp of ghee on a low flame till lightly browned. Remove to a plate.

In the same pan, add another 1 tbsp of ghee, add curry leaves and onion. Cook till onion starts turning translucent.

Add masalas and roast till fragrant (around 1-2 minutes) without burning any of the ingredients.

Add tamarind, jaggery, 2 tbsp of yogurt and 1/4 cup of water. Cook for a minute and add paneer.

Cover and cook on low heat for 10-15 mintues.

Serve with dosa or rice or appam.

Marathi Ukad

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When a maharashtrian child is sick, mother makes ukad – it’s a spicy version of baby food and in the same class of comforting chewy rice flour dishes as mochi and rice balls and kadbu but simpler

Step 1: whisk 1/2 cup rice flour, 1/2 cup sour yogurt and 2 cups of water today

Step 2: to 1 tbsp of oil, sputter 1 tsp mustard seeds, add 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 2 pinches asaefoetida, 2-3 curry leaves and 1-2 dried red chilies

Step 3: add rice flour mixture, chopped cilantro and 1 chopped jalapeño

Cover and steam on low heat for 10-15 min

Shakshuka dosa

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I combined my 2 favorite brunch items today and they were delicious together

Deconstructed shakshuka : this is how I like to make shakshuka – with a fried egg rather than poached (it’s easier and less messy and I like the crispy fried edges of the egg)

Sauce: 1 tbsp olive oil – add 1 tbsp cumin seeds and heat till they sputter and turn color. Add 1 diced onion and 1 diced red pepper. Cook over medium to high heat till onions brown. Add 1 14 oz can of tomatoes with 1 tbsp minced garlic, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1tbsp gochuang paste (not essential but delicious), 1 tsp soya sauce and cook for 10 min. Add salt and chilli powder to taste (about 1 tsp of each). Finish with 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Top onion, tomato, pepper mixture with fried egg when ready to serve.

Serve with dosa in place of bread

Easiest butter chicken gravy

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my quickest indian tomato curry recipe: Heat 1 tbsp ghee or butter- add 2 cardamom pods, 3 cloves, 1 inch stick of cinnamon and 6-10 whole peppercorns. Add 1 tsp of grated ginger and 1 tsp of grated garlic. Cook for 15 -30 seconds, add a small 14 oz can of tomatoes (I puree whole tomatoes), Add 1 tbsp of honey and 1 tsp of degi mirch (chilli powdwer found in indian store with a lot of color)- cook for 20 minutes and add some water if needed (1/4 cup or so). Finish off with 3 tbsp of heavy whipping cream, 1/2 tsp of garam masal and 1 tsp of crushed kasoori methi (fenugreek seeds). Can be doubled and frozen before adding cream.

Tikka Masala Kit

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So this Tikka Masala Kit works ! I found it at Whole Foods. I used paneer – it has whole spice (cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, red chilli) which is toasted in hot oil (30 sec). The protein marinaded for 10 min is then fried in the same oil (5 min). The curry is then added with 1/4 cup of water and simmered for 5 min. I added a splash of cream and dinner was ready. I routinely make this gravy from scratch and honestly this was almost as good.

Mutta Roast (Egg Roast – Kerala Style)

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I watched a video on another FB group recently. It is a song/recipe for Mutta Roast  by a vlogger – Sawan Dutta. Binge watch warning- once you start her videos, it’s  tough to stop and you may spend the day singing “Macher Jho….l, Macher Jho…l” . It may be worth it- I enjoyed her youtube channel and her point of view.

Anyway back to Egg Roast.  This recipe is not the recipe on her video- this is a recipe cobbled together from other recipes on the internet. I’ve made egg curry plenty of times but never with this recipe – “All the way from the Malabar coat- Mutta Roast, Mutta Roast”

Ingredients:

6 Boiled eggs – as an aside, if you haven’t read the Serious Eats blog post on boiling eggs- please do so ASAP, it is brilliant.

Aromatics: one large red onion- sliced, 1 tbsp ginger, 1 tbsp garlic, 6-8 curry leaves, 1 jalapeno- halved

Spices: 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp fennel seeds, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp garam masala, 2 dried red chillies

Base of curry: 1 can tomatoes (14 oz) pureed Oil: 2 tbsp olive oil (or coconut oil if you have it) Salt and 1/2 tsp of sugar

Boil eggs for 11-15 minutes (you did read the serious eats PhD thesis on boiling eggs right), shock in cool water and peel. Make slits in the eggs (about 4-5 per egg , these should be fairly shallow)

Heat oil, add mustard seeds – wait till they sputter and pop. Now work quickly, add the turmeric, green chilli or chillies, red chillies, fennel seeds and curry leaves. Stir and immediately add the onions with sugar and salt.  Roast in the oil till pale brown on medium heat (about 10 minutes). Add ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute, add coriander powder and tomatoes and eggs. Cook- stirring every few minutes for 15-20 minutes till the curry thickens. Taste for seasoning- add the garam masala and salt and pepper.

Serve with appam, rice, toast or as I did today, with dosa.  Here is a link to my dosa recipe.

 

Ragi noodles – 2 ways

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I was introduced to Ragi vermicelli by a Tamilian friend of mine in the USA. Ragi is a millet, rich in calcium and gluten free (but don’t quote me on that). It is also easily available as flour and vermicelli in the Indian store and is delicious. It is important to prepare the ragi noodles according to the instructions on the packet to avoid the vermicelli clump from hell. This particular brand wanted me to soak the noodles for 3 minutes in salted water and steam for 5 minutes.

I prepare these 2 ways:

Coconut and ghee- For my American non-spice loving kid, I roast some frozen coconut in ghee and add some frozen corn and 1-2 tsp of sugar. Add the ragi noodles, cover and steam on low heat for 3-4 minutes. Serve.

Spiced ragi noodles: Start as you would with a poha recipe- for me that is 2 tbsp of oil, 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds- heat till they sputter, add a pinch of asafetida, 1/2 tsp of turmeric, 1 dried chilly, 3-4 chopped curry leaves, 1/2 a chopped preserved lemon (can be omitted) and 2-3 crushed stuffed dried chillies (also found in Indian store but can also be omitted). Add one onion finely chopped and cook till golden brown with some salt, pepper and a tsp of sugar. Add frozen corn, frozen coconut and the cooked ragi noodles. Cover and steam for 5-10 minutes till everything is heated through and the corn is cooked. Add chopped cilantro. Serve with a squeeze of lime.

Chole

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Chole is a spiced chickpea dish that is ubiquitous in India. They say there are as many chole recipes as there are North-Indian families. I’m not North Indian and I’ve been searching for a good chole recipe for a long time.

This variation of a recipe by “your food lab”- the Tasty videos of India (link below) comes very close to what I think are perfect chole. A trip to the Indian store for the spices is essential. I had to buy the Chana masala (I got the MDH brand).

Pressure cook- on high for 30 min

1 cup chickpeas soaked for 24 hours- drained

In a tea ball or cheesecloth – 1 tsp peppercorns, 3-4 cloves, 1-2 Black cardamon pods, 2 bay leaves, 1 inch cinnamon

2 tea bags

4 cloves garlic – crushed

½ cup onions- sliced

1 tsp ajwain (carom seeds)

1 tsp baking soda

Add 2 quarts of water

In a pan:

Melt 2-3 tbsp butter

Add 3 tbsp of Chana masala and 2 tbsp of cumin-coriander powder

Cook for 3 min or so

Add 1 can of tomatoes – puréed

1tbsp of ginger

Cook for 10 min or so

Add pressure cooked chickpeas with their water (removing the tea bags and the spice bouquet)

Cook for 20 minutes

Stir in 1 tsp of amchur powder (dried mango powder) and 1 tsp of garam masala and 1 tbsp of kasuri methi (crushed fenugreek)

Salt to taste – this recipe needs a lot of salt

Garnish: raw onions, chopped preserved lemon, slivers of garlic

Serve with roti or naan or rice or griddled multigrain pizza dough (store bought) which tastes a lot like naan except its whole grain.

https://m.facebook.com/yourfoodlab/posts/2002122406771755/

Spring roll Dosa

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Of all the street food in Mumbai, my favorite is the spring roll dosa

Here is my version of it

Filling: use a cast iron skillet – it’s the only thing that can potentially mimic the high BTUs of a professional kitchen’s wok. Oil, onions (1 large), 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp garlic, 1 red pepper- stir fry, add cabbage ( one packet of angel hair slaw). Stir fry for a minute till cabbage is heated through. Top with my favorite sauce of 3-4 tblsp soy sauce and 1 tbsp butter (remember not to salt this dish- the soy is plenty salty). Top with toasted sesame

Made dosa, add stuffing – so delicious