Harry's Curried Potatoes

Harry likes Indian people and Indian food, but doesn't think he'd like India, at least not as much as Joan and I love it.

Harry's ubiquitous ingredient is heavy cream, and it does add a lovely tang.  He knows just how to add it to everything.

As for the curry mixture, it was a special one made by an Indian cook, so I can't provide the recipe. Every Indian cook has their own recipe and they can be quite different.  I have a curry recipe on this blog if you need a place to start.  Just make sure you buy whole spices and grind them yourself.

Here goes with his curried potatoes.

Ingredients:

Oil
Curry spice mixture
Potatoes
Broccoli
Onion
Mushrooms
Cream

Instructions:

Cut all the vegetables into 1 inch pieces.

Heat oil in a pan.

Put in half the curry spice, and cook in the oil for a minute, stirring so it won't burn.

Add all the vegetables.  Add the rest of the curry spice.  Add cream.

Turn down heat, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are soft.  Serve.

Eggplant Bartha (Akbar's)

I scored this recipe at Akbar's a few weeks ago but have not tried it yet.

Ingredients:
1 large purple eggplant
ginger
garlic
Onions
Tomatoes, chopped fine
Salt
Red chilis
Coriander
Cumin

Instructions:
Bake the eggplant in the oven at 360 degrees F for 30 minutes until it is soggy and shriveled.
Peel and mash the eggplant.
Chop onions very fine.
Heat oil in pan, and saute onions until soft.
Grate in ginger and garlic and saute another minute.
Add the eggplant, tomatoes and spices.
Cook for another 5 minutes.

Palak Paneer -- The Best

Akbar's on Broadway makes the best Palak Paneer --- I love the smooth consistency.   Our waiter cheerfully provided the recipe and we tried it with great success.
It is a bit of a fuss, but cooked spinach is yucky so this recipe is worth it.

Ingredients:
2 pounds fresh spinach --- about one big box
Sea salt
Garlic (2 cloves)
Ginger (1 inch piece)
Small onion, very finely chopped or grated
1 tsp. ground cumin
Garam masala (1 tsp each ground cinnamon, coriander, cardamon, pepper)1/2 pound paneer
Ground red chili


Instructions:
Cook the spinach for 20 minutes with a bit of salt.
Blend the spinach until smooth.
Heat the pan on medium.   Add oil.
Grate garlic and ginger and fry for a minute.
Add the onion and fry until golden brown.Add the spinach and cook for 5 minutes.   Add a little water if necessary.
Add the paneer and cook.   You can also fry the paneer until golden separately.
Remove from the pan into a bowl.
Mix oil and 1 tsp chili in the hot pan and pour over the spinach.

Cardamon Chicken

Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 tsp ground cardamon
Chicken thighs or breasts
Salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp. tomato paste
2/3 cup yogurt

Instructions:
Heat the pan, add the oil and heat, then fry the cardamon.
Add the chicken and salt, saute under sealed.
Add the chili powder, turmeric, and tomato paste.  Stir well.
Add the yogurt and 1/2 cup water.   Turn down the heat and simmer until the chicken is tender.
Serve with a sprinkle of cardamon on top.

Lemon Coriander Chicken

This is a delicious Indian recipe.  It's important to use whole coriander and cumin seeds.

I use chicken thighs with bone and skin in most chicken recipes.   It's the juiciest and most flavourful.   Cut thighs in three pieces at least.

When browning chicken, only put in a few pieces at a time.  Don't turn the chicken until it loosens from the pan by itself.

Ingredients:
Chicken pieces
Olive oil
Cracked coriander seeds

Cumin seeds
1 yellow onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 lemon, juice and zest
1 tsp.ground ginger
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. paprika
freshly ground pepper

Instructions:
Heat the oil in a large saute pan and brown the coriander and cumin seeds.
Brown the onion and garlic and remove.
Add oil and brown the chicken. 
Add juice of one lemon and lemon zest, ground coriander, ground ginger, paprika, and pepper. cream, yogurt, and chopped tomato.   Turn down the heat and simmer until chicken is tender.

Aloo Gobi - Cauliflower and Potatoes

Sorry for being away so long, friends. I am still cooking and trying new things.

This recipe is a great example of layering spices, the key to great Indian cookery. I made it several times this summer and fall, and it's delicious, healthy, and makes great leftovers.

Aloo Gobi

Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower, cut into small pieces, about 1/2-inch in size
2 waxy potatoes (Yukons, German, Island Amber)
olive oil - EVOO
1/2 tsp. fenugreek seeds
1 t. whole cumin seeds
1-2 dried hot red chili peppers, broken into pieces (red pepper flakes are okay too)
3/4 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp kosher or sea salt
1/8 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp. garam masala (mix your own of course)

Instructions:
Cut up the cauliflower and potato (with peel) into 1/2 pieces.
Meanwhile, heat a large saute pan on medium heat.
When the pan rim is hot, add 2-3 Tbsps olive oil and heat.
When the oil is very hot almost smoking, add the fenugreek, fennel, and cumin seeds and the pieces of dried red peppers.
Stir and then add the cauliflower and potato.
Stir until the vegetables are covered in oil and spices
Add the turmeric, ground coriander, salt and pepper.
Saute for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add 1/4 cup water and put the lid on the pan immediately.
Turn the heat to low and steam the vegetables until tender.
Sprinkle garam masala over the vegetables, stir once, and serve.

Indian Fried Fish with Gujerati Dal

There's a lot of fresh snapper around town these days at very reasonable prices, so why not add another fish meal to your weekly repertoire

Here's the best recipe I have found for preparing firm white fish. I've used it for snapper, but any firm white fish would work. When I made it, I made extra, but I and the students just kept eating one more piece until it was gone. I modified the technique to eliminate the egg and the separate flour dredging and instead combined the flour and spices. I used my standard olive oil instead of vegetable oil. I used regular wheat flour instead of chick pea and rice flour. For the dal, I used yellow split peas, which I prefer to lentils.

The recipe is adapted from Meena Patak's book --- she married into the British Indian food importer and manufacturer. As a guest on Christine Cushing live, she gave several great tips for dealing with Indian spices. For one, she said to use the green cardamon with the pod as the pod has a lot of flavour. She also uses asafoetida, which I have yet to find west of Main Street or even any Indian cook who has heard of it. I wish I could find an Indian shopping tour.

Regarding legumes, there are so many reasons why it is much better to cook dried ones rather than opening cans. I usually cook 2 to 4 cups of dried beans or peas for a yield of 4 to 8 cups, then freeze half for another day. For health reasons, collect a repetoire of good bean and pea recipes that can be made more or less with ingredients on hand.


Indian Fried Fish

Ingredients:
4-pieces of snapper, 6-8 oz. each
2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. turmeric, ground
3/4 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. coriander, ground
1 t. cumin, ground
1 tsp. salt (kosher or sea)
1/2 tsp. asafoetida (optional)
2 tsp. fresh grated ginger
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Instructions:
If frozen, thaw the snapper completely and dry with paper towels.
Mix the spices, ginger, and lemon. Do not increase the ginger and lemon juice or the mixture won't stick onto the fish properly.
Pat the fish with the spice mixture.
Set aside for 15 minutes to allow the flavours to mix (optionals).
Heat the frying pan on medium, testing by touching the top edge with your finger.
When hot, add olive oil. Adding the oil to a hot frying pan prevents the food from sticking.
Fry the fish 3 minutes on one side, 2 minutes on the other side.
Fry in batches if the pan is not big enough. Add more oil if necessary.
Remove the fish to a platter and serve with Gujurati Dal and Patak's Lime Pickle.

Gujurati Dal

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups yellow split peas
1 tsp. turmeric, ground
1 1/2 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves, whole
2 green cardamon pods
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
1/2 t. asafoetida (optional)
juice of 1/2 lemon
fresh coriander, chopped

Instructions:
Put the peas into a sieve or colander and rinse in cold water several times and drain. Sort through and take out any stones or other dirt.
Do not soak the peas.
Put in large pot with 6 cups cold water. Add the turmeric.
Cook for 20 to 60 minutes or until the peas are mushy.
Add the brown sugar and salt. Don't add salt until the end as it can stop the peas from softening.
Meanwhile, heat a frying pan on medium heat.
When hot, add the olive oil and the spices. Reduce the heat, and when the spices crackle, add them to the peas.
Stir well. Add lemon juice and fresh coriander.

Cooking Legumes from http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/

For those that want to cook legumes from dried, here's a list of the soaking and cooking times for some legumes. Soaking is not necessary for some legumes but it increases all legumes' digestibility and shortens their cooking time.

To soak legumes, put them in a bowl, cover by at least two inches (they will expand) with water and let soak at least eight hours. Legumes can take soaking periods of more than eight hours, but don't let them soak for more than a day. Before cooking, drain them and rinse them well. To cook, put them in a pot, cover with water by at least an inch, bring to the boil, cover and put on a low simmer.

Don't add salt or any acids (such as lemon juice or vinegar) until the end of cooking, because those things slow down the cooking time.

The cooking time can vary depending on the quality of the water used to cook. Beans are done when tender, underdone when al dente and overdone when mushy. Depending on the variety of legume, a given amount of dry will yield about 2 to 3 cups cooked.

If you have extra cooked legumes, you can keep them in the fridge in a container with their cooking water for about a week.

Black beans (soaked): 1.5-2 hours
Black-eyed peas (unsoaked): 30 minutes – 1 hour
Broad beans a.k.a. fava beans (soaked): 30 minutes-1 hour
Chickpeas a.k.a. garbanzo beans (soaked): 2-3 hours
Red kidney beans (soaked) 1-1.5 hours
Red lentils (unsoaked): 10-15 minutes
Green or brown lentils (unsoaked): 40-45 minutes
Navy beans (soaked): 1-1.5 hours
Pinto beans (soaked): 1.5-2 hours
Yellow or green split peas (unsoaked) (cooking at medium heat): 45 min-1 hour

Here's a handy guide to cooking grains and legumes including volume of water, cooking time and yield for unsoaked grains and legumes.

http://www.darkroad.com/Recipes/CookTime.htm

Beef Short Ribs in Cinnamon Onion Curry

This recipe is adapted from Vij's book and it is outstanding. I only streamlined it a bit and omitted the wine. It is amazingly delicious and I can't stop thinking about it. I don't think I'll make short ribs any other way for awhile. None of the flavours dominate but all are brought out to their fullest.

I like using short ribs rather than stewing beef because the ribs are so succulent and the fat and bone make the dish so nutritious and tasty. They are not usually available in regular grocery stores, but Stongs, small butcher shops, and Real Canadian Store usually have them if you ask. There is a fad for boneless short ribs lately so you have to ask for the butcher to cut some with the bone in.

Spices

Indian cooks are true artists with spices (Italians with herbs, and Mennnonites with milk dishes). You have to know how to roast and grind spices, but also at what stage to add them, and also how guage how strong the spices are. Some whole spices are added to the hot oil at the start, some ground spices are added a little later with other ingredients, and some are added at the end. Salt and fresh herbs are added at the end.

You should buy whole seeds and roast and grind your own, but fresh ground spices are okay too. You will need a mortar and pestle and for really hard seeds, an electric coffee grinder set aside for spices only. I don't recommend buying curry and masala blends as you don't know what the proportions are.

I buy my herbs and spices locally but would love someone to do a cooking tour of the Indian shops so I know what to buy and can find some things that can't be found elsewhere. I think that's on the list of summer activities --- a self-guided tour of Indian grocery stores.

I used butter instead of ghee and olive oil instead of canola. I left out the wine because I find cooking with wine really changes the taste, so you really have to like that flavour. I kept the fat and bone with the meat. I didn't bother chopping things too fine or pureeing the tomatoes because, after 4 hours cooking, the tomatoes and onions are mush. I used my turkey stock from the freezer.

Vij recommends taking the cinnamon bark out part way through cooking if it seems too strong. Mine wasn't overpowering at all.

My fenugreek seeds were not ground so I used my dedicated spice grinder. The seeds are too hard to grind with mortar and pestle. Fenugreek is salty tasting so do not add more than the recipe specifies and then add a tiny bit of salt before serving.

Beef Short Ribs with Cinnamon Onion Curry

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. butter or ghee
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. cumin seeds
2 large onions, chopped
10 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp. ground fenugreek seeds
1-1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 ground cayenne pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp. Mexican chili powder
1 3 inch piece cinnamon bark
3-4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup red wine (optional)
2 packages (about 3 pounds) beef short ribs with fat and bone (8 medium or 6 large)

Instructions:
Take the stock out of the freezer to thaw.
Rinse the short ribs and set on a clean dish.
Chop onions and garlic and hold on the cutting board in separate heaps.
Chop tomatoes, put in a bowl, and measure out the fenugreek, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, chili, and cinnamon bark and add to tomatoes, but don't stir. Grind any spices if required
Melt ghee or butter in a large pot on medium heat. If using butter, use low heat.
Add oil and increase heat to medium.
Add cumin seeds and allow to sizzle 30 seconds.
Add onions and saute til brown, about 10 minutes.
Add garlic and saute til golden brown, about 2 minutes.
Keep sauteing garlic and onions until quite brown, the darker the better, up to another 30 minutes.
Reduce heat to low and add tomatoes and spices.
Stir and increase heat to medium until ghee/oil separates from the tomatoes, about 10 minutes.
Add the stock (and red wine if used) and simmer stirring occasionally, until ghee/oil separates from the stock and rises to the top, about 15 minutes.
Add short ribs, and simmer 4 hours, stirring occasionally. The curry will be dark almost black by this time and incredibly delicious.
Place one short rib in each bowl, and pour curry over top.
Add a very short grinding of salt.

Cabbage with Turmeric and Mustard Seeds

Cabbage with Turmeric and Mustard Seeds


I love cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts and serve one of them almost every day. In summer, I add kale from my garden to salads, stir fries, stews and soups but often as not, just saute a huge heap in a frying pan with olive oil and garlic. I make salads from fresh cabbage picked 10 minutes before dinner. What an amazing difference eating really really fresh food makes to the taste.


Cruciferous vegetables are the number one cancer fighting foods according to Foods that Fight Cancer by Richard Beliveau and Denis Gingras. Not only that, they contain carotenoids and flavonoids that slow mental decline according to Michael Roizin and Mehmet Oz, authors of the You books. (Cruciferous vegetables are cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, collard greens, radishes, mustard plant, and watercress).


Turmeric is the bright yellow spice that gives mustard and curry their colour. Turmeric prevents cancer and Alzheimer's disease so we need to find more ways to use it daily. Turmeric stains so wear an apron and be careful.


Growing up we had steamed cabbage with raisins and boiled cauliflower with butter often. Later on, with turkey dinners we had boiled brussels sprouts, but we never knew about kale or broccoli, never mind watercress and collard greens, except as mysterious mentions in books. But we did eat plenty of cabbage borscht, cabbage rolls, cole slaw and sauerkraut. I loved it all.


Don't put the lid on the pan or pot when cooking cruciferous vegetables. Watch them carefully and remove them from the heat as soon as they are done while they still have their bright green colour. A moment too long and they lose colour, flavour and texture.


This recipe is absolutely delicious and is now my standby recipe for cabbage.


I have also tried a mixture of cabbage and broccoli and it was equally wonderful. With cauliflower it is slightly less successful. I can't wait to try it with Brussels sprouts.


Cabbage with Turmeric and Mustard Seeds

Slice half small green cabbage.
Heat a large saute pan on medium heat until the edge is too hot to touch.
Then add 1 Tbsp. olive oil and 1 Tbsp. butter to the pan, and make sure it coats the sides of the pan.
Add cabbage and saute for 2 minutes, stirring with wooden or metal tongs or spoon.
Add 1/4 cup water, turn down the heat, and stir frequently until almost cooked.
Mix 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tsp. turmeric, and 1 tsp mustard seeds in a cup. When the cabbage is almost cooked, pour the oil mixture on the cabbage, add sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, stir well, cook 1 more minute and serve.

Homemade Yogurt Indian Style

My students love the homemade yogurt and say it is much better than what I buy in the store. It is so easy that you will wonder why you didn't make it all your life. In India, it is made daily.

After many experiments with incubating the yogurt, including putting it into a cooler wrapped in towels in front of the heat register, I found the oven method is the easiest.

Creamy firm consistency is the hardest thing to achieve. Once my yogurt turned out slimy and stringy. So I googled and found a lot of possible reasons. The most likely is the quality or age of the starter. I also read a lot of moaning from desis (Indians transplanted to US or Canada) about how they miss their Indian yogurt. I agree, the Indian yogurt is the best.

Desis miss their yogurt so much that they entreat relatives to bring frozen yogurt culture from India. The other option mentioned by one desi online is a yogurt starter called Yogourmet. I found it at Stongs, tried it and I agree the result is superior to using store yogurt starter, very firm and very delicious. You want to eat a whole litre, so it's good discipline to eat a little bowl.

In any case, take the starter for the next batch from the fresh yogurt that you just made and freeze it in a small glass jar --- about 1/2 cup (125 ml). When making the next batch, thaw it in advance and get it to room temperature. Once the consistency of the yogurt is not good any more, use a new Yogourmet envelope.

You have to use fresh milk and, if using store yogurt starter, fresh yogurt, straight from the store. Using milk or yogurt from containers that have been opened or taking your starter from the bottom of a container does not make nice firm yogurt.

Whole milk and full fat yogurt results in creamier firmer yogurt but you can use 1 or 2 percent milk. I think whole milk and yogurt are healthier because dairy fat contains CLA which has many health benefits.

All utensils and containers must be very clean and dry but you don't have to sterilize them. I was a little careless one day and the result was blue mold on my yogurt. If anything not clean touches the yogurt or jars, the yogurt will be contaminated and not ferment or thicken properly. Wash the jars and lids in the dishwasher and use a clean tea towel or paper towel to dry your containers and utensils. I use glass jars, a glass measuring cup, and a pottery bowl, and try to stick to wooden and metal utensils. I also use a thermometer, but you can also use traditional methods.

Homemade Yogurt Indian Style

Ingredients:

2 - 3 litres of fresh whole milk
Yogurt starter (fresh store yogurt, Yogourmet envelope, or yogurt from the last batch)

Instructions:

Heat the milk to a boil in a stainless steel pot on the stove or in a large glass or pottery bowl in the microwave (much easier and easier to clean up). If heating on the stove, watch it constantly so as not to burn or scorch. In the microwave, it will take between 20 and 40 minutes to heat the milk, depending on how much milk you are heating. It doesn't actually have to boil, but it should be very foamy and a skin should form. I use a thermometer and get it to about 180 degrees F. (80 degrees C.) but you can just look at it.
Take off the skin and discard.
Cool the milk to between 110 and 120 degrees F. (43 - 48 degrees C. ). Finger test: it should be a little warmer than lukewarm. You should be able to put your finger into it for more than 10 seconds. It takes about 45 minutes to cool but you have to watch it carefully.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees F. (80 degrees F.) and turn off.
Add 2 or 3 heaping Tbsp. (75 - 125 ml.) of fresh unopened store yogurt, or all your thawed starter yogurt from the last batch, to the warm milk. Mix very well with a whisk.
Using a clean glass measuring cup, fill clean dry 1-litre glass sealer jars with the warm milk and put the lids on tightly.
Put the jars into the warmed oven for exactly 3-1/2 hours. Exactly 3 1/2 hours makes perfect creamy yogurt, not too tart. For a more tart yogurt, leave it longer. Do not disturb. No checking or moving it.
Put the jars into the frig overnight to thicken the yogurt.
Don't forget to put the starter for the next batch into the a jar in the freezer. When your yogurt consistency is not firm and creamy any more, use a new starter.