Tag Archives: Introduction to Indian Cooking

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Chicken with Tomato Sauce and Butter (Madhur Jaffrey)

4 chicken legs
2 chicken breasts
2 medium sized onions, peeled and chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
2″ by 1″ piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 stick cinnamon, 2 1/2 to 3 inches long, broken up
seeds from six whole cardamom pods
8 whole cloves
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
2 bay leaves, crumbled
1 hot dried red pepper, crumbled
6 T veget oil
16 oz canned tomato sauce
1 tsp salt
4 T lightly salted butter

Remove skin from chicken.  Divide legs and quarter breasts.  Pat dry and set aside.
Blend:  onions, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom seeds, cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves, red pepper, and 3 T water.
Heat oil.  When hot, add chicken pieces, and brown (minute a side).  Remove and set aside.
Lower heat to medium and pour in blender paste.  Either shield the pot, or close your eyes and avert your face as you do so.  Stir and fry for five minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan as you go.  Add tomato sauce, 3/4 c water, and salt.  Bring to a boil.  Cover.  Turn heat to low and simmer 30 minutes, stirring every 6-7.
Add chicken to pot.  Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer over low heat for 25-30 minutes.  Stir every 5-6 minutes to avoid sticking and burning.
I suggest preparing to this point in advance, and leaving it in the fridge for a day or so.  The improvement to the taste is incredible.
Cut the butter into four pats.  Take off heat.  Add butter, and stir in gently.

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Dal Soup (Madhur Jaffrey)

1 1/2 c green or yellow split peas, washed
6 c chicken broth
24 black peppercorns and 10-15 whole cloves (in cheesecloth or teaball)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 – 3/4 tsp salt (only if broth is unsalted)

Garnish:  8 lemon wedges, 6 slices worth of croutons

Combine split peas and chicken broth in a pot and bring a boil.  Remove scum.  Add cheeseclothed spices, turmeric, and salt.  Cover, lower heat, and simmer gently for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until peas are tender.  Remove cheesecloth, squeeze into soup, and discard.
Garnish with lemon wedges, with the croutons on the side.

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Potato Soup (Madhur Jaffrey)

1 T veget oil
1/8 in pebble asafetida or 1 pinch
1/4 tsp whole cumin
2 medium potatos, peeled and quartered
2 T tomato paste
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Heat oil in 3 qt pot over medium flame, and put in asafetida and cumin, and stir once.  When seeds begin to sizzle, add potatos, tomato paste, turmeric, salt, and cayenne.  Stir and fry about 2 minutes.  Add 4 c water and bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer gently for 45 minutes.  Turn off heat, mash potatoes.  Serve.

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Vegetable Pakouris (Madhur Jaffrey)

1 small head cauliflower, or 4 medium sized onions or 1/2 to 3/4 pound peppers or 3 medium sized potatos or spinach or some combination thereof…

Batter:
1 c chickpea flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cumin (best fresh ground)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp black pepper (also best fresh ground)
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

2 1/2 to 3 inches oil in the bottom of your chosen pan.

Put chickpea flour in a bowl.  Gradually mix in about 3/4 c water, until you have a thickish batter.  Add other ingredients and mix well.
Florette cauliflower, 1/16 in ring the onions, spear the peppers, or 1/16 in round the potatoes and put in a bowl of cold water.
Heat oil over low flame until hot but not smoking.  Take a few vegets bits at a time, wipe dry, and dip in batter.  Drop in oil.  Fry slowly, 7 to 10 minutes a side.  (Until cooked through and golden brown.)  Remove with slotted object and drain on paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

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Moong Dal (Madhur Jaffrey)

This was really amazing.  Especially the garlic cloves that had cooked in it.

1 1/2 c moong (or other) dal (hulled and split)

2 cloves garlic, peeled

2 slices fresh peeled ginger (1″ square, 1/8″ thick)

1 T coriander greens or parsley, chopped

1 T turmeric

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 T lemon juice

3 T veget oil or usli ghee

A pinch ground or tiny lump asafetida

1 tsp whole cumin seeds

lemon or lime wedges

Clean and wash dal.  Put in 3-4 qt pot.  Add 5 c water and bring to a boil.  Skim froth and scum from top.  Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, and cayenne.  Cover, lower heat, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.  Stir occasionally.  Once cooked, add salt and lemon juice.  (Should be thicker than pea soup, thinner than cooked cereal.)  In a small skillet or pot, heat the oil or ghee over medium high heat.  When hot, add asafetida and cumin seeds.  Once the asafetida sizzles and expands, and the seeds darken (few seconds), pour the oil over the dal and serve.  (Over rice, wedges on the side, can garnish with onions.)

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Kheema (Madhur Jaffrey)

2 medium onions, peeled and chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1 inch by 1 inch chunk ginger, peeled and chopped

4 T vegetable oil

1 2″ stick cinnamon

4 whole cloves

4 black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

1-2 hot peppers

1 T ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1 large canned tomato or 2 small, coarsely chopped

2 lb ground beef or lamb

3/4 – 1 tsp salt

1 T lemon juice

Blend onions, garlic, ginger with 3 T water into a smooth paste.

Heat oil (medium).  When hot, add cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, bay, red peppers.  When peppers turn dark, add paste from blender.  Fry about 10 minutes, stirring pretty constantly, sprinkling water if it starts to stick.  Add coriander, cumin, turmeric, fry another 5 minutes.  Add tomato, fry another 2-3, add meat and salt, fry on high heat 5 minutes.  Break up meat and brown.  Add 1/2 c water and the lemon juice.  Bring to a boil and cover.  Lower flame and simmer an hour.

This was pretty nifty.  And there seem to be about a hundred ways one could use this basic stuff… with vegets added as you cook it initially, or in tandem with other things.

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Rice with Spinach (Madhur Jaffrey)

2 c long grain rice

3 tsp salt

1 1/2 lb fresh spinach or 2 packages frozen

6 T vegetable oil

2 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped

1 tsp garam masala

Wash rice and drain.  Cover with cold water and 1 tsp salt.  Leave for 2 hours.

If using fresh spinach:  Fill a 4-6 quart pot with water.  Add 1 tsp salt, and bring to a boil.  Trim and wash spinach thoroughly.  Wilt the spinach by dropping it, a little at a time, in the boiling water.  As the spinach wilts, remove to a colander, and rinse with cold water.  Press water out, and chop very finely.  If using packaged spinach – prepare as per directions, then drain and squeeze.

In a 3-4 quart oven and flame proof container, heat the oil, add the onions, and saute on medium 5 minutes or until golden.  Add spinach and garam masala.

Preheat onion to 300.

Drain rice and add to spinach mixture with 2 1/4 c water and 1 tsp salt.  Bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cut aluminum foil to fit top of pot snugly.  Cut a half inch diameter hole in the center.  Put in over for 30 minutes.  Check rice.  If not done, cook another five.

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Egg Moghlai (Madhur Jaffrey)

12 hard-boiled eggs, peeled

4 medium onions, 2 peeled and chopped, 2 rainbowed

1 1/2″ by 1″ piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

8 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

10 T vegetable oil

2 cinnamon sticks, 2 1/2 – 3 ” long

2 bay leaves

10 cardamom pods, slightly crushed

10 whole cloves

1 tsp whole cumin seed

Dry-roasted and ground:  1 1/2 T coriander, 1/2 tsp cumin

3 T yogurt

1/4 c tomato sauce

1- 1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp saffron, roasted and crumbled (I generally substitute safflower in 2 to 3 times the amount asked for, as saffron is so pricey)

Put the chopped onions, garlic, and ginger into blender with 4 T water.  Turn into a smooth paste.

In a 10″ pot, heat 8 T oil.  Put in rainbowed onions, and fry over medium-high heat 10-12 minutes or until browned and crispy.  Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add remaining 2 T oil to the pot, and add cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, cardamom pods, cloves, and whole cumin.  Stir and turn spices once.  Add paste from blender and fry, stirring, for ten minutes.  Turn heat down to med and add dry-roasted coriander and cumin, turmeric, and cayenne.  Stir and mix one minutes.

Add at intervals, constantly stirring and frying:  the yogurt, the tomato sauce, stir for a minutes, eggs and salt, stir for 2 minutes, 1/2 c water.  Mix well, bring to a boil, cover, lower heat, simmer gently 20 minutes.

While cooking, soak saffron in warm milk.  After done simmering, add browned onions and saffron milk.  Mix, cover, and simmer five more minutes.

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Boti Kabob (Cubed Lamb Kabob) (Madhur Jaffrey)

3 level T tomato paste

6 level T yogurt

2 tsp dry English mustard

2 tsp salt

3/4 c olive oil

1/4 c lemon juice

1 T ground coriander

1 T ground cumin

1 T ground tumeric

1 T garam masala

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground mace

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

10 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

1″ square piece of ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped

1/4 – 1 tsp cayenne

2 1/2 lb lamb, cut into 1 inch cubes

Garnish:  1 medium onion

Blend tomato paste, yogurt, mustard, salt, 1/2 c olive oil, lemon juice, coriander, cumin, turmeric, garam masala, cloves, mace, nutmeg, cinnamon, garlic, ginger, and cayenne.  Blend until pureed.

Trim fat from meat.  Stab pieces, then place in a glass or ceramic bowl.  Pour the above marinade over the meat.  Mix well, cover, and refrigerate 4 hours to overnight.

Broil or grill on skewers.  (7-10 minutes a side.)

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Mushrooms with Cumin and Asafetida (Madhur Jaffrey)

Subtler flavour than many things from this particular book, but just as blissful.  Served these last night with a spinach rice underneath, and the sour potatoes on the side.

1 1/2 lbs fresh mushrooms (I used baby portabella)

2 T vegetable oil (I’ve taken to using sesame rather than olive oil for her recipes)

A generous pinch of ground asafetida or approximately a 1/8 inch lump

1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds

2 whole dried red peppers

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1 c tomato sauce

1 tsp salt

Clean mushrooms.  Chop off the woody end bits.

Heat oil in 3 quart pot over medium heat, and put in the asafetida.  It will sizzle and expand within 5 seconds.  Now add the cumin seeds, and as soon as they darken (5 to 10 seconds), the red peppers.  Stir once and add the turmeric and the mushrooms.  Stir mushrooms for 1/2 minute, and add the tomato sauce, 2 1/2 c of water and the salt.  Cover, lower heat, and simmer gently for 15 to 20 minutes.

They can be served immediately, but letting them sit for a couple hours in the juices and then reheating makes for a much better flavour.