recent cooking
Feb. 4th, 2013 07:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kindkitI have returned to Project Learn to Cook Indian Food after a hiatus due to Christmas and then being sick. At the moment I'm trying to focus on south Indian food, although I do keep seeing recipes from other regions that tempt me.
Here are the highlights from what I've cooked recently (I'll happily post recipes if anyone would like me to):
Lamb with vinegar and mustard seeds (this is a dish popular among south Indian Christians, hence its not being vegetarian; it's good in its assertive, take-no-prisoners way, and as I discovered tonight, it becomes even better after it's been in the fridge for a couple of days)
Buttermilk sambhar with ivy gourd (ivy gourd is an Indian vegetable that vaguely resembles zucchini/courgettes in taste and texture; here it's served as a kind of stew in a tart, spicy, complex sauce that despite the name is made with yogurt, not buttermilk; the result is fantastic)
Onion pakoras (onion and potato with chiles and cilantro in a chickpea flour batter, fried--how could they be anything but delicious? and now I have a ton of leftover pakoras for future delectation)
Bell pepper poriyal (a poriyal is a dry, which is to say non-sauced, vegetable dish; I was glad to find an Indian recipe using bell peppers/capsicums, which I like a lot; basically it's just peppers--I used red--lightly braised with mild spices and a tiny bit of yogurt)
Carrot and cashew payasam (a sort of pudding made from milk, the aforementioned carrots and cashews, and cardamom; OMG YUM even though I scorched the milk a bit; sounds like an obnoxious "wholesome" hippie dessert but doesn't taste like one)
ETA: Recipes have been requested, so they're under the cut.
Vinegar-marinated lamb (from Raghavan Iyer's 660 Curries)
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick, about 3 inches long, broken up
1 pound boneless leg of lamb (I used the vastly cheaper lamb neck, trimming off as much fat as I could; I started with about 1 1/3 pounds but 2 pounds would be better)
1/2 cup white vinegar, cider vinegar, or malt vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 small red onion
2-3 tablespoons grated ginger root
4 large cloves garlic
1 pound russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces and put in a bowl of water to remove some starch and prevent discoloration
5 tablespoons oil, divided
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro/fresh coriander
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
15 to 20 medium or large fresh curry leaves (the dried ones apparently lose most of their flavor; if you can find them fresh, buy lots and stick them in the freezer, where they darken but keep their flavor well)
Grind together the coriander, fennel, peppercorns, cumin, and cinnamon. Put in a bowl and add the lamb, vinegar, salt, cayenne, and turmeric. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to as long as overnight. (Mine was in the fridge for a good 15 hours and it didn't do any harm, but then I'm sure lamb neck starts out tougher than leg.)
When you're ready to cook the lamb, put the onion, ginger, and garlic in a food processor and pulse until minced. (Pulsing rather than running the processor continuously keeps the blend from turning into a paste.)
Drain the potatoes, pat them dry, and sautee them in 2 tablespoons of oil for 10 minutes or so, until they're browned and crisp outside but not cooked through. Set aside.
In a large pot, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat, add the onion blend and cook for aobut 5 minutes until it's lightly browned. Add the lamb with its marinade and cook uncovered for about 15 minutes, until the marinade has cooked away, the oil has started to separate back out, and the meat is browning a bit. Then add a cup of water, bring to a boil, cover and simmer until the lamb is tender. You may need to judiciously add more water.
Add the potatoes and the cilantro, and simmer until the potatoes are fully tender.
Right before serving, heat the last tablespoon of oil in a small pan, add the mustard seeds, and cook until the seeds pop like popcorn. Remove from heat, add the curry leaves, give it a stir for 30 seconds or so, and add to the lamb and stir.
Carrot and Cashew Payasam (from Chandra Padmanabhan's Dakshin: Vegetarian Cuisine from South India)
1/2 cup raw cashews
7 cups whole milk, divided
2 tablespoons ghee or butter
1 1/2 cups grated carrot, about 10 ounces
1/2 cup sugar
6 whole cardamoms, crushed
Soak the cashews in 1 cup warm milk for an hour or so. (I turned out to have only 1/4 cup of raw cashews, so I used raw pecans for the rest and the result tasted fine to me.)
Put the other 6 cups of milk in a heavy-bottomed pan, bring to a boil, and then simmer until the milk reduces to half its original volume. Stir constantly, scraping the bottom of the pan to insure the milk doesn't stick to it. (This process is as boring as it sounds, and kind of tricky too. I failed to prevent some milk from solidifying on the bottom of the pan and ending up in little rubbery pieces in the dish. Some recipes call for sweetened condensed milk, with I think may have its advantages.)
Meanwhile, sauteed the carrot in the ghee or butter for 5 minutes. Put it in a blender along with the nuts and milk and grind to a coarse paste. Add this paste to the reduced milk and stir well.
Add the sugar and cardamom and simmer until it's all well blended. (You might want to put the cardamom in a cheesecloth or a paper tea strainer or something, otherwise you'll be picking little bits of cardamom shell out of your pudding.) Serve chilled.
Note: When I made this, it came out pretty thin. I'm not sure if I didn't reduce the milk enough or if it's supposed to be thin. Anyway, I ended up adding about a teaspoon of rice flour dissolved in a litte milk, to thicken it a bit more. The dish does also thicken as it cools, but it doesn't acquire the thick creaminess of an American-style pudding; it's more the texture of a milkshake. Also, if you taste the payasam while it's hot it may seem too sweet. Once it's cool it's not overly sweet, at least not to me.
Here are the highlights from what I've cooked recently (I'll happily post recipes if anyone would like me to):
Lamb with vinegar and mustard seeds (this is a dish popular among south Indian Christians, hence its not being vegetarian; it's good in its assertive, take-no-prisoners way, and as I discovered tonight, it becomes even better after it's been in the fridge for a couple of days)
Buttermilk sambhar with ivy gourd (ivy gourd is an Indian vegetable that vaguely resembles zucchini/courgettes in taste and texture; here it's served as a kind of stew in a tart, spicy, complex sauce that despite the name is made with yogurt, not buttermilk; the result is fantastic)
Onion pakoras (onion and potato with chiles and cilantro in a chickpea flour batter, fried--how could they be anything but delicious? and now I have a ton of leftover pakoras for future delectation)
Bell pepper poriyal (a poriyal is a dry, which is to say non-sauced, vegetable dish; I was glad to find an Indian recipe using bell peppers/capsicums, which I like a lot; basically it's just peppers--I used red--lightly braised with mild spices and a tiny bit of yogurt)
Carrot and cashew payasam (a sort of pudding made from milk, the aforementioned carrots and cashews, and cardamom; OMG YUM even though I scorched the milk a bit; sounds like an obnoxious "wholesome" hippie dessert but doesn't taste like one)
ETA: Recipes have been requested, so they're under the cut.
Vinegar-marinated lamb (from Raghavan Iyer's 660 Curries)
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick, about 3 inches long, broken up
1 pound boneless leg of lamb (I used the vastly cheaper lamb neck, trimming off as much fat as I could; I started with about 1 1/3 pounds but 2 pounds would be better)
1/2 cup white vinegar, cider vinegar, or malt vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 small red onion
2-3 tablespoons grated ginger root
4 large cloves garlic
1 pound russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces and put in a bowl of water to remove some starch and prevent discoloration
5 tablespoons oil, divided
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro/fresh coriander
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
15 to 20 medium or large fresh curry leaves (the dried ones apparently lose most of their flavor; if you can find them fresh, buy lots and stick them in the freezer, where they darken but keep their flavor well)
Grind together the coriander, fennel, peppercorns, cumin, and cinnamon. Put in a bowl and add the lamb, vinegar, salt, cayenne, and turmeric. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to as long as overnight. (Mine was in the fridge for a good 15 hours and it didn't do any harm, but then I'm sure lamb neck starts out tougher than leg.)
When you're ready to cook the lamb, put the onion, ginger, and garlic in a food processor and pulse until minced. (Pulsing rather than running the processor continuously keeps the blend from turning into a paste.)
Drain the potatoes, pat them dry, and sautee them in 2 tablespoons of oil for 10 minutes or so, until they're browned and crisp outside but not cooked through. Set aside.
In a large pot, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat, add the onion blend and cook for aobut 5 minutes until it's lightly browned. Add the lamb with its marinade and cook uncovered for about 15 minutes, until the marinade has cooked away, the oil has started to separate back out, and the meat is browning a bit. Then add a cup of water, bring to a boil, cover and simmer until the lamb is tender. You may need to judiciously add more water.
Add the potatoes and the cilantro, and simmer until the potatoes are fully tender.
Right before serving, heat the last tablespoon of oil in a small pan, add the mustard seeds, and cook until the seeds pop like popcorn. Remove from heat, add the curry leaves, give it a stir for 30 seconds or so, and add to the lamb and stir.
Carrot and Cashew Payasam (from Chandra Padmanabhan's Dakshin: Vegetarian Cuisine from South India)
1/2 cup raw cashews
7 cups whole milk, divided
2 tablespoons ghee or butter
1 1/2 cups grated carrot, about 10 ounces
1/2 cup sugar
6 whole cardamoms, crushed
Soak the cashews in 1 cup warm milk for an hour or so. (I turned out to have only 1/4 cup of raw cashews, so I used raw pecans for the rest and the result tasted fine to me.)
Put the other 6 cups of milk in a heavy-bottomed pan, bring to a boil, and then simmer until the milk reduces to half its original volume. Stir constantly, scraping the bottom of the pan to insure the milk doesn't stick to it. (This process is as boring as it sounds, and kind of tricky too. I failed to prevent some milk from solidifying on the bottom of the pan and ending up in little rubbery pieces in the dish. Some recipes call for sweetened condensed milk, with I think may have its advantages.)
Meanwhile, sauteed the carrot in the ghee or butter for 5 minutes. Put it in a blender along with the nuts and milk and grind to a coarse paste. Add this paste to the reduced milk and stir well.
Add the sugar and cardamom and simmer until it's all well blended. (You might want to put the cardamom in a cheesecloth or a paper tea strainer or something, otherwise you'll be picking little bits of cardamom shell out of your pudding.) Serve chilled.
Note: When I made this, it came out pretty thin. I'm not sure if I didn't reduce the milk enough or if it's supposed to be thin. Anyway, I ended up adding about a teaspoon of rice flour dissolved in a litte milk, to thicken it a bit more. The dish does also thicken as it cools, but it doesn't acquire the thick creaminess of an American-style pudding; it's more the texture of a milkshake. Also, if you taste the payasam while it's hot it may seem too sweet. Once it's cool it's not overly sweet, at least not to me.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-05 03:33 am (UTC)Where did you get the ivy gourd? Do you have a South Asian market near you? I used to be able to get a wider variety of veg when I lived in New York, but now it's just the conventional stuff, unfortunately. (At least I can usually get it from farmers?)
no subject
Date: 2013-02-05 04:16 am (UTC)I got the ivy gourd frozen--there's an Indian grocery in the larger city about an hour from where I live, as well as a general "international" grocery that carries some Indian foods. I'm sure the fresh is better but I haven't seen it available anywhere. And since vegetables are so often stewed until quite soft in Indian recipes, I think frozen probably works fine.
When I used to live in Minneapolis, there were lots of wonderful unusual-to-westerners vegetables, mostly southeast Asian, available in the farmers' markets. I even found Malabar spinach there once; at the time I didn't know what it was, but bought some because it looked so beautiful. Unfortunately, where I live now the farmers' markets are expensive and there's not much variety.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-05 05:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-07 04:23 am (UTC)If you haven't tried Yellow Split Peas in a Yogurt-Spinach Sauce, I heartily recommend it.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-07 01:25 pm (UTC)