Tag Archives: Introduction to Indian Cooking

by

Khare Masale Ka Gosht (Madhur Jaffrey)

8 T vegetable oil

1 stick cinnamon, 2 inches long

20 whole black peppercorns

15 whole cloves

10 whole cardamom pods

2 bay leaves

1 whole dried hot pepper (or to taste)

2 lb boneless lamb, 1 inch cubes

1 – 1 1/2 tsp salt (to taste)

1 tsp garam masala (better if you grind it yourself)

Garnish:

1 T trimmed, chopped Chinese parsley

1/4 tsp freshly ground cardamom seeds

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat.  When it is very hot, add spices quickly:  cinnamon, peppercorns, cloves, cardamom pods, bay leaves, hot peppers.

When the peppers begin to change colour and darken, add meat and salt.  Stir until pot begins to make boiling noises.  cover, lower heat, and cook approx 70 minutes, or until the meat is tender.

Remove the cover, and continue cooking on medium heat for a final 3-5 minutes, gently stirring.

Sprinkle with garnish.

Can be made the day before.

by

Marinated Shrimp with Whole Spices (Madhur Jaffrey)

3 lbs shrimp
10 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 by 1 1/2″ fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/4 – 1/2 tsp cayenne
3 T lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
6 T olive oil
1 cinnamon stick, 2 1/2 – 3″ long
5 cardamom pods
6 whole cloves
10 whole peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp ground tumeric
Garnish:  2 scallions

Peel and devein shrimp.  wash under cold running water.  Drain and pat dry.
Blenderize garlic, ginger, cayenne, lemon juice, salt, and ground pepper until it is a smooth paste.
Mix shrimp and paste in a bowl.  Cover.  Leave for an hour.  (2-4 hours, if in fridge.)
10 minutes before serving, heat oil over a high flame.  Add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, peppercorns, and bay leaf.  Stir until bay leaf darkens. Add shrimp and marinade, and let this bubble and cook, stirring constantly, until shrimp are pink and opaque.  Remove the shrimp with a slotted spoon, and set aside.  add tumeric to pan.
Keep cooking over high flame, stirring all the time, until it becomes thick and paste like.  Put the shrimp back in.  Stir around until the shrimp are well coated.

by

Chicken cooked with Yogurt (Madhur Jaffrey)

4 chicken legs
1 chicken breast
1/2 c plus 2 T plain yogurt
5 medium onions
2 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 inch cube fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
7 T vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne

Prepare chicken.
Put 1/2 c yogurt in a bowl, add 3/4 c water slowly, mixing as you go.
Peel onions.  Cut 4 into 1/8 inch rainbows.  Chop the fifth onion coarsely.
Turn the chopped onion, garlic, giner, and 6 T water into a smooth paste.
Heat 5 T of oil over a medium heat.  Put in the rainbowed onions and fry them until slightly carmelized.  remove and set aside.
add 2 more T of oil to the pot, and brown the chicken on all sides.  remove and set aside.
turn heat to low and add paste.  Scrape for meat drippings, and mix those into the paste.  Raise heat to medium and fry, stirring, for 4-5 minutes.  Add 1 T yogurt, scrape, continuing to fry and stir, about a minute.  Repeat.
Add the chicken pieces, the yogurt and water mixture, the salt and the cayenne.  Stir and bring to a boil.  Cover, lower heat, and simmer 20 minutes.
remove lid, raise heat to medium, and cook for 5 minutes or so, to thicken the sauce.
Mix in onions, and heat another two minutes.

by

Khatte Aloo (sour potatoes) (Madhur Jaffrey)

Experiment #2 with the Indian Cookbook.  These are stated as being a “street-side snack,” but I used them as a side for a mustard/turmeric chicken that I’d jury-rigged from an idea that came when making the chow-chow the other day, and with the saute of vegets that I’ve already posted.

Roasted cumin makes a lovely smell as you grind it.

The chicken didn’t work out the way I’d wanted it too, should have gone for a longer marinade and more vinegar, but it was still really tasty.  These were lovely.

7 medium sized potatoes, boiled ahead of time, set aside for at least two hours to cool
1 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
2-3 T lemon juice (or to taste)
2 tsp ground roasted cumin (shake seeds around in pan until they change colour, 3-5 minutes, and then grind up with method of your preference.  I prefer mortar & pestle + Kitchen Troll)
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 – 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 T chopped Chinese parsley (didn’t have it, so didn’t use it.)

Peel the cooled potatoes, and dice them into 1/2 in cubes.  (Or sort of combine cutting them up into bites and letting them fall apart into bites, which is more what the process seemed to be to me.)
Place in large bowl.
Add remaining ingredients.  Mix well.  Taste test.  Serve as you like.  (Apparently on a plate with toothpicks is typical.)

by

Mulligatawny (Madhur Jaffrey)

4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
A piece of fresh ginger, about 1/2 inch cube, peeled and chopped
1/2 pound of boneless lamb (from shoulder or leg), with fat removed, and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
2 T vegetable oil (I used olive)
1 T white poppy seeds, roasted (3-4 minutes in a pan, stirring constantly) and ground (She specifies in the book that one should not substitute other poppy seeds, and I found them fairly easily for not arm and leg prices.  For the grinding I used my kitchen mortar and pestle, which worked quite well.)
1/2 tsp ground coriander (I’ve never actually seen it ground, so I used the m&p for this to, slightly more dangerous)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground tumeric (I misread this and used half, which worked)
1/2 tsp salt (if the broth is unsalted)
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 T chickpea flour
2 c chicken broth
1 T lemon juice
2-3 T cooked rice, or 1-1 1/2 T uncooked rice)

Put the garlic and ginger into the container of an electric blender with 3 T of water.  Blend at high speed until you have a smooth paste.  Set aside.
Pat dry the pieces of lamb.  Heat the oil in a 2-3 quart pot over medium high flame, and add the meat.  Turn, and fry until the pieces are lightly browned on all sides.  Remove, and set aside.  turn the heat off.
To the same pot, add the paste from the blender, the poppy seeds, the turmeric, cumin, and coriandor.  Turn the heat to medum, and fry, stirring constantly, for about a minute.  Turn the heat to low.
Now add the browned meat and any accumulated juices, the salt, the cayenne, and the pepper. Stir and leave on low flame.
Combine chickpea flour and 1/4 c water in a bowl, mixing thoroughly until you have a smooth paste.  Slowly add the chicken brother, stirring as you do so.  Pour this mixture over the meat in the pot.  Turn heat to high and bring soup to a boil.  Add uncooked rice if you are using it.  cover, lower heat, and simmer gently for a half an hour or until the meat is tender and rice is coked.   Stir in the lemon juice.
If you are using cooked rice, add to soup 5 minutes before serving.

Recipe claims to serve 4.  If this is all for the meal, it mostly feeds 2 ravenous male persons and a walnut-stomached me, quite nicely.