Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

[Jamestown1630]

I fell in love with Indian food by encountering it in little hole-in-the-wall places – first at the eatery at Union Station in D.C., and again at a surprisingly wonderful strip-mall restaurant near my home.

I was very happy when my local grocery chain started selling packaged, boil-in-bag versions of various Dal, Chana Masala, and other items. They weren’t like restaurant fare, just pretty good when I needed a fast Indian Flavor Fix. But they are so expensive! so I recently decided to strike out on my own and try to make some of these things at home.

My first attempt was a Chickpea dish (Chana Masala) which turned out really good – much better than the packaged stuff, and even fresher and brighter than the hole-in-wall offering. I used this recipe, and the only change I made was to cut down the garlic a little bit – next time, I don’t think I’ll cut it down. I used a fat Jalapeno for the pepper:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/236564/chana-masala-savory-indian-chick-peas/

Garam Masala, a traditional and widely-used spice mixture, is best when you roast the herbs and grind them, as you make each dish. But for convenience, I’ve bought a bottled one. If you want to make your own from prepared spices, here is a recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/142967/easy-garam-masala/

Another item that my local restaurant makes is a little onion fritter – Onion Bhaji – and I would go there just for this! There are lots of recipes for Onion Bhaji; here is a simple one:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/onionbhaji_85976

But what makes the Onion Bhaji really special is the sauce served with it – a mint/cilantro ‘chutney’:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/cilantro-mint-chutney-238020

-JT

[Jamestown1630]

This week: Indian Food – or your personal favorite exotic recipe!

(If you would like to be on or off of this weekly cooking thread ping-list, please send a private message.)

-JT

[wyowolf]

I let my Tamil wife do all the Indian cooking :)

[no-to-illegals]

May I have a MOAB??

[jra]

Homemade Indian Butter Chicken and Spiced Chickpeas.

[trisham]

Not a fan. :)

[bgill]

I touched on this a couple threads back but wanted to share the best empanada/baked fruit tart/etc. dough recipe as a whole. Fill it with whatever you wish. We happened to have some leftover Salisbury steak and gravy so put it all in the food processor for the filling. There’s sure to be an Indian recipe here that could be used.

Dough:
1 stick butter
4 oz cream cheese
1 C flour

Whirl in the food processor. Chill for half an hour. Roll out. Yields sixteen 3 3/4” rounds. Fill it, fold in half and pinch the edges. Or use a dough press. Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes.

Mr. b, who doesn’t give much of a critic said it was a keeper and finished them all off that night. So flakey and super simple.

[Jamestown1630]

Lucky you!

[Jamestown1630]

That pastry sounds great.

I want to try Tamales, soon. I’m here in the midst of the barrio, and I’ve never tried making them.

[no-to-illegals]

Spare parts???

[Jamestown1630]

Shush.

[no-to-illegals]

Amen

[txhurl]

I rub Saag Paneer in my hair. Technically I think it’s made with cubed farmer’s cheese that, like cottage cheese, doesn’t melt, just adds protein and dairy and substance.

It always amazes me how a 6 inch wide X 1 ft long X 6 inch deep container of fresh spinach collapes into about a cup of cooked for $5, so I grow my own.

As a dago, I keep the rich curry flavor but otherwise mozzarella, parmesan, garlic fusion it into Indo-Italiano, with buttered Naan or Italian crisp breadsticks to devour it with. Frankly, frozen spinach is the most cost- and labor-efficent way to manage cooked spinach dishes.

[Bull Snipe]

Self taught in making tamales. Lot of work, but I think they are worth the effort. If you give it a try, use lard for the tamale dough.

[Jamestown1630]

I don’t really like frozen spinach - I usually use the fresh baby stuff. But I’ve found that using a potato ricer squeezes the moisture out very efficiently, if you have to steam spinach for use in a recipe.

(I’ve heard of mayonnaise for hair, but not cheese ;-)

[Jamestown1630]

Thanks for the tip.

I’ve thought this little gadget might be useful:

http://www.tamalespreader.com

[txhurl]

Definitely a drinking sport. I got invited to a tamale bee - Mexicans share the pain and expense for a day of work together but everybody leaves with four dozen, sweet AND savory - in my teens and remember every minute of it.

The mexicans *insisted* on Gebhardt’s chili powder, which you could not buy in bulk at the time so there were 25 empty bottles of it after we all ante’d up.

Gruesome scene. A whole hog head is simmered overnight, with bits of other meat thrown in, but the dulce - sweet - tamales were just a delight to make.

[mylife]

This past Christmas we had Goat Buryani for Christmas dinner

Gosh that was interesting, we had Momo’s an Roti

[txhurl]

Soooooo good...

[mylife]

My brother once asked his Indian wife "what do you put in this dish"? She said 'Everything, everything in the kitchen' He said that explains why it all tastes the same" ☺