BS: Indian Food Recipes

Subject: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: Maryrrf
Date: 21 Aug 11 - 09:47 AM

A different spin on Gnu's thread (I have a few basic Chinese food recipes which I'll post)- I've recently discovered an Indian market near where I work, that has a tantalizing array of spices and ingredients. I've made curryies using run of the mill curry powder - they're always so so, but now I want to make my own from scratch. What I'd like to do is make up a pot of delicious curry sauce and freeze it in small batches. If I understand right, by adding cream or yogurt you turn curry sauce into Korma, which I love. I'm also partial to the coconut milk based curries.

My first project will be daal. I bought two kinds of lentils, red and yellow, which the Sikh gentleman who runs the shop told me to mix. I have the basic ingredients for curry - cumin, cinnamon, tumeric,etc. plus a ginger/garlic paste that he recommended. He also recommended a bag of dehydrated fried onions and said they would do in place of frying real onions. He said his wife often utilizes them and they give an excellent flavor. Apparently it's hard to get the onions just right - you have to fry a large quantity of them and if you scorch them or don't cook them enough they're ruined, so he thought for a beginner the bagged onions would be a good idea.

There are loads of recipes on the net - I just wonder if anybody has any "Tried and True" that I could experiment with. Indian cooking is something I've never tackled myself.

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 21 Aug 11 - 10:02 AM

I don't have any authentic Indian but I did my always comes out OK spicy vegetables yesterday.

I fried a couple of teaspoons of cumin and coriander seeds in some olive oil then add onion and some tumeric and continue to fry.

Then I added one mug of hot water plus a veg stock cube. 3 seeded mild red chilli peppers and then threw in tomatoes, mushrooms, (I think) mini pumpkins, runner beans, turnip and potatoes, ie whatever was lying around.

Brought to the boil and simmered for an hour, tasted it and decided to add a bit of celery salt.

This was done mid afternoon and I reheated at tea time. Tasted fine but what's left should taste even better tomorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 21 Aug 11 - 10:04 AM

"even better tomorrow."

I mean today...

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 Aug 11 - 11:57 AM

Venison stewed with juniper berries. Pemmican -- pounded jerky with dried berries and fat. Buffalo (bison) jerky. Fry bread. Lots of Indian recipes.

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: Maryrrf
Date: 21 Aug 11 - 12:41 PM

I should have specified - Indian recipes from India. I've had fry bread - it's good.

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: Max Johnson
Date: 21 Aug 11 - 01:25 PM

Browning onions isn't at all difficult, but it can take longer than you thought it was going to.

My method is to chop the onions small, and fry them gently in butter on a low heat. Preferably clarified butter, but if you've only got unsalted or even salted it's not going to make much difference. It can take 20 minutes or half an hour for the onions to brown, and the initial water-content of the onions will make a difference to the time. You're looking for a light brown, not a dark brown. They will reduce in volume as they brown.

It's best not to scorch them, but if they catch slightly it won't do any harm.

I lived in Bradford for 15 years, and I got some great recipes while I was there, one of which is a wonderful, but simple one for daal which I'll post later if anyone's interested.

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: Maryrrf
Date: 21 Aug 11 - 01:51 PM

Yes please post the daal recipe !

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: Max Johnson
Date: 21 Aug 11 - 03:25 PM

Daal

Mixing Red and yellow lentils might work, but as yellow lentils take longer to cook than red lentils, I'd either add the red lentils later, or don't mix them.

200g Red or yellow lentils, washed, drained and soaked for about 1/2 hour.
750ml water.
2 tbsp oil
20g butter
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp chopped hot green chillies. De-seed them or use less if you don't like heat - use more if you do.
4 cloves
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt. pref sea salt.
1 onion. Doesn't really matter but let's say medium. Chopped small.
1/2 Red pepper, de-seeded and cut roughly to about 1" squares.
A couple of tomatoes, 4 if small, roughly chopped.
Bring the lentils slowly to a slow simmer. Partly cover with a lid. remove some of the resulting froth with a spoon. After 5 or 10 minutes add the peppers and tomatoes. Cook the lentils for about 30 mins or until soft.
Meanwhile, brown the onion slowly in butter. When you think they're browned take them off the heat.
While they're browning slowly, heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the mustard seeds on a medium heat until they start to pop. Then add the cumin seeds and lower the heat because they burn easily. Cook them for half a minute and then add the chilli, cloves, salt and turmeric. Cook very gently for a few minutes. The turmeric will look burnt because it will go very dark in the oil, but it probably isn't. Add the browned onion to the spices (or vice versa), stir together and then add to the lentils. Stir into the lentils. Give it five minutes for the flavours to mix. Done.

The only place you can go wrong is to burn the spices, which if you keep the heat down you won't. Splash a spoon of cold water on if you think they're too hot.

Dead easy. Tastes fantastic. You can do aything with this, and after the first time, you'll probably change the recipe to suit.

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 21 Aug 11 - 04:24 PM

Has anyone an easy recipe for saag bhaji?

Easy.

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 21 Aug 11 - 04:43 PM

Drifting from making, but does anyone else here ever use these Kohinoor things

I'm particularly fond of Palak Paneer (with a sort of Pilau rice Pip makes to go with it).

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 21 Aug 11 - 05:29 PM

Max J. A brother of mine was in Bradford uni. Dropped out (maths to study), was more into rock climbing (and he was very good, think he was the first person to solo a 7A one the GT Orme...), now lives in Oz. but he cooks a mean curry...

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 21 Aug 11 - 05:30 PM

(maths to study)

I mean to study maths... He got something like 100% in his mock A Level.

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: Max Johnson
Date: 21 Aug 11 - 07:51 PM

Richard - I'll see if I can find something. Spinach goes really well in the above Daal. Just drop a big handful of leaves in at some point.

Jon - I wonder if your brother knew my friend Jill Blackburn. She used to be in the England Climbing Team, and also helped with running the Leeds climbing wall (and did big, scary climbs).

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 21 Aug 11 - 08:03 PM

Can't answer that Max but brother's name was Tim Freeman. One of his climbing partners was better known - Andy Pollitt. Also, Gerry Moffatt was another of this time and in that circle.

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 21 Aug 11 - 08:05 PM

(of climbers - not sure the other two were ex Bradford uni or curry makers)

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: KT
Date: 22 Aug 11 - 01:47 AM

Richard, see PM.

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 22 Aug 11 - 04:12 AM

Alas, no PM!

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: Max Johnson
Date: 22 Aug 11 - 04:55 AM

Found this. I've never tried it, but it looks a) good and b) very easy.

Saag Bhajee

1 lb Spinach.
1 tblsp sunflower or groundnut oil
1 small onion, in long, thin slices
1 small clove garlic, finely chopped.
salt
knob of butter
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/3 tsp garam masala

Wash the spinach. Steam or boil until tender, in just the water that adheres to the leaves.
Heat oil over medium heat and fry the cumin seeds for 2 mins.
Add onion and garlic and fry until golden (gently, or the garlic will burn).
Add garam masala and stir well in. Fry for about 5 mins.
Add the drained spinach to the frying pan mixture, add the butter and fry gently for 5 mins. Season to taste.

If you try it, please let us know how it turns out.

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 22 Aug 11 - 05:57 AM

That's a lot easier than others I'd seen on the internet, and quite close to what I had been doing which was basically spinach with balti curry powder and very lazy garlic in a non-stick saucepan. I'll give that a whirl on Tuesday (it's salmon today).

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: Max Johnson
Date: 23 Aug 11 - 05:58 AM

Maryrf - I made the daal yesterday afternoon just to check that the quantities that I gave work, because I never measure it these days. Fantastic!

Jon - I looked for Kohinoor stuff in Sainsbury's, but couldn't find it. A shame - I love cooking curries, but sometimes it would be nice just to open a bag! I'll try Asda next.

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 23 Aug 11 - 06:16 AM

The only place I've seen it locally is a corner shop. We usually usue their online shop though, getting basmatti rice and sometimes a couple of cooking sauces at the same time, making up a £32 (free delivery) order - not a lot of help if you just want to try one though...

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: Maryrrf
Date: 23 Aug 11 - 09:47 AM

I'm going to be doing some cooking this weekend - I'll let you know how it turns out. That shop I discovered (well there are probably plenty like that in the UK, but they're not that common in Richmond, Virginia) with all the spices and ingredients has inspired me!

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: Max Johnson
Date: 23 Aug 11 - 10:29 AM

Maryrrf - apologies, I assumed you were UK, don't know why. Yes, we have a lot of towns with a relatively large Asian population here, and they're obviously the place to go for the herbs and spices. Usually much better quality and a quarter the price of a supermarket.
Please let us know how it goes!

Subject: RE: BS: Indian Food Recipes
From: Tug the Cox
Date: 23 Aug 11 - 07:38 PM

My own daal( Tarka)....yellow lentils ( split peas) Bring to boil and simmer for half hour -40 mins ( less if soaked overnight) Putting cardamon pods and choped green Chilli in for the simmer period. Remove these after 30 mins if you require. Meanwhile, fry some onions ginger and garlic in a frying pan, add ground cumin, turmweric and coriander to make a sauce. Stir into Daal 5 mins before end of simmer...then add garam Masala just before end, then stir in a handful of fresh coriander leaves.....Stunning.