ABCD's of Cooking - AMERICAN-BORN CONFUSED DESI RECIPES

A Singing Supper

May 13, 2010 Chitra Agrawal

Last Saturday, Sabra and I hosted another Indian-Mexican supper club! This one was special because we had our friend Asha sing. She was incredible:

We even snuck in from the kitchen to watch:

Ash was glowing.

We served a four course meal with the help of some of our besties – Busayo, Alana and Paul:) Our menu:

We started off the meal with golgappa, an Indian street food that kind of resembles little tostadas. We filled them with black beans, potato, gaucamole and topped them with some yogurt/sour cream, mint and tamarind chutney and crunchy sev (fried chickpea flour strands). You just pop them in your mouth!

This is what the cute little guys look like. You just poke a hole in the top and fill them:

Our golgappa assembly line:

We served a saru gazpacho. Saru is a spicy tomato lentil soup from South India. We blended it, added some chopped fresh veggies and topped it off with some boondi, avocado and cotija cheese.

This is what boondi looks like. Its fried chickpea flour batter:

For the main course we served tamales. Me and Sabes were up late the night before making 50 of them – yes 50! It was great. In the next post I’ll share our recipe for them. We filled one with tamarind chutney and white cheese and the other with mustard greens curry and jack cheese. On the side we had a butter masala sauce and mint chutney.

For dessert we served homemade yogurt, carmelized mango, honey, chocolate shavings and a sprinkling of chili and cumin powder.

Me and Sabes working on dessert:

Sabes made the chocolate and dipped chili peppers and corn husks in it.

We put the chili peppers on the tables for decoration and peeled off the chocolate from the husks for the shavings. They had these neat little imprints on them from the husk:

I think Busayo liked it.

Thanks everyone for a great night – there will be more:)

Thanks Alana, Ryan and Stephen for photos!

More Masala Loca Events
First Supper
A Fall Supper
Greenpoint Food Market
The L Magazine Emerging Artists Showcase
Brooklyn Magazine Launch Party

Share on Tumblr

Posted in Events & Classes | Tagged brooklyn, chaat, indian, mango, mexican, saru, supper club, tamales | 9 Comments

Mustard Greens and Tofu Curry

May 11, 2010 Chitra Agrawal

Mustard greens are used in North Indian cooking. The leaves have a really spicy, pungent flavor and come from the mustard plant, which also produces the seeds used in dijon mustard. They are mildly bitter – kind of halfway between kale and spinach. I like the flavor of them, but blanching the leaves or boiling them for some time will remove this bitterness. This is what the greens look like:

On Indian restaurant menus sometimes you will see saag paneer or palak paneer. The difference is that saag is actually a mixture of mustard greens and spinach and palak is just spinach. Also when used in a curry, they are usually boiled and blended into a paste, but I like them leafy when I cook them. Mixing spinach with the mustard greens is good because it mellows out the taste and complements it well.

I made this dish for my friend Louis and we ate it with rice and some boondi raita.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons oil
1/2 block of firm tofu, cubed small
2 tablespoons ghee or oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
pinch of asafoetida or hing
1 bunch mustard greens, rinsed and chopped
1 10 oz bag baby spinach
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch piece ginger, grated
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 teaspoon coriander powder
1/3 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder (or more)
2 tablespoons whipping cream (or more)
salt to taste

Method:
In a non stick pan fry the tofu in a tablespoon and a half of oil under medium low heat for about 15-20 minutes, turning the tofu so it gets evenly fryed.

Bring a pot of water to boil and throw in mustard greens. Boil for 10 minutes and drain.

Heat ghee or oil under medium heat. When hot, put in cumin seed and asafoetida and shake pan up. Heat until cumin seed turn golden brown and smell fragrant.

Throw in onions and cook for about 15 minutes, until turning brown.

Can cook longer until a bit carmelized.

Next throw in garlic and ginger and stir well. Cook for 30 seconds.

Add in garam masala, coriander powder, turmeric, red chili powder and salt and mix well. Coat onions with spices and fry for a minute. (If getting dry can add a bit of water or oil to the pan) advantages of open source software

Next add in mustard greens and spinach and cook for 5 minutes. Add in tofu, mix and cook for about 2 minutes covered under low heat.

Turn heat off and stir in whipping cream.

Serve hot with rice or roti.

Share on Tumblr

Posted in Autumn, Curry, Dinner, Gluten-Free, North Indian, Recipes Index, Sides, Stir-Fry, Vegetarian, Winter | Tagged curry, mustard greens, north indian cooking, tofu, vegetarian | 4 Comments

Spinach Raita

April 29, 2010 Chitra Agrawal

This is an easy one guys! I made spinach raita with Andrew and Faouzi for our lesson. This is a different kind of yogurt raita though than usual because you cook the vegetable that you are putting into it. You just have to sautee the spinach with some spices, cool it and then add some yogurt and sour cream to it.

My mother makes this from time to time, but I was reminded of it during a dinner I had with my friend Asha and her family. Her mom, who is one of the sweetest ladies, is an amazing cook. She had prepared a humongous meal and brought it to Fort Greene to share with all of our friends. This dish was gone really fast because it’s so tasty and goes well on everything.

Enjoy!

Spinach Raita

Ingredients

12 ounces baby spinach, chopping is optional (can use frozen thawed as well)

1 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon mustard seed

pinch of asafeotida, hing

1 dried red chili, broken into pieces

1 1/2 cups yogurt, beaten

2 tablespoons sour cream

cilantro

salt to taste

Method

Heat oil under medium high heat with mustard seed and asafoetida. When mustard seeds start to pop frequently for a few seconds, turn heat to medium and stir in red chili around for a few seconds until coated with oil (will spurt a little so be careful). Next cook spinach for about 5 minute or until wilted but still bright in color. Place in fridge for an hour and take out when cooled.

Mix in yogurt, sour cream and salt. Garnish with cilantro.

You can eat plain or serve as a side with rice & lentils or curry & roti.

Share on Tumblr

Posted in Autumn, Dinner, Easy, Favorites, Gluten-Free, Recipes Index, Sides, South Indian, Spring, Summer, Vegetarian, Winter, Yogurts | Tagged raita, spinach, vegetarian, yogurt | 4 Comments

Mushroom Curry Quesadilla

April 24, 2010 Chitra Agrawal

This curry is inspired by Maddhur Jaffrey’s mushroom mattar (peas) recipe. Usually mushroom curry is made with peas – any vegetable though can take it’s place – no offense peas! This time I used zucchini. I originally made this curry to just eat with rice, but I had a stack of corn tortillas in my fridge so ended up putting it in a quesadilla and eating it with some spicy tomato pickle. I kept making these, but I think I OD’d on corn tortillas – it’s hard to finish a whole package!

The quesadilla reminded me of a crepe I’d order at Ti Couz in San Francisco. They make crepes out of buckwheat and have this one with cheese and mushroom and mushroom sauce on top – so good!

This is what the curry looks like:

Curry and rice

Mushroom Curry

Serves 8

Ingredients

3 tablespoons ghee or oil

1 teaspoon cumin seed

pinch of asafoetida, hing

1 medium onion, chopped

1 leak, chopped fine

1/3 teaspoon turmeric

2 cloves garlic, chopped fine

2 green chilies, chopped fine

1 tablespoon ginger, grated

2 cups zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch slices

4 cups of mushrooms, cut into 1/4 inch slices

4 tablespoons crushed tomato

1 teaspoon garam masala

2 teaspoons coriander powder

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons cream

salt to taste

Method

Heat 2 tablespoons of ghee or oil under medium high heat. Throw in cumin seed and hing and shake up the pan. When the cumin seed starts to brown more and become fragrant, throw in the onions and leeks. Cook the onions/leek for about 15 minutes. Add turmeric and mix well. Stir in the garlic, chilies and ginger and cook for 30 seconds. In the middle of the pan, make room and heat 1 tablespoon of ghee or oil and add in the zucchini and cook for 5 minutes. Add in mushrooms and cook for 10 minutes.

Next add the tomato and cook for 2 minutes. Mix in garam masala and coriander powder well. Add water and simmer for 5 minutes (you can cook more if the zucchini and mushroom are not tender) Mix in cream and turn off the stove. Add salt to taste and garnish with cilantro leaves.

Mushroom Curry Quesadilla

oil

2 corn tortillas

2 tablespoons of mushroom/zucchini curry

small handful of grated monterey jack cheese

Method

Put just a few drops of oil on a non stick skillet and fry up corn tortillas under medium heat. When one side is browned spread out mushroom curry and cheese on it. Cover with another browned side of tortilla and cook until both outside are browned.

Serve with a hot sauce or Indian pickle.

Share on Tumblr

Posted in Appetizers, Autumn, Curry, Dinner, Lunch, Mains, North Indian, Recipes Index, Snacks, Summer, Vegetarian, Winter | Tagged curry, mushroom, mushroom mattar, quesadilla, vegetarian, zucchini | 1 Comment

Saru / Rasam (South Indian Tomato Lentil Soup)

April 16, 2010 Chitra Agrawal

Saru, also called rasam, is a South Indian tomato lentil soup that I probably ate almost everyday growing up. It’s spicy and kind of tangy from the tomato and tamarind and also filling from the lentils. The recipe is really healthy because it does not require too much oil or butter.I can remember my mother many times cutting up heaps of tomatoes for saru and giving me a few pieces to snack on. Now I cut up heaps of tomatoes in my kitchen! Saru is also a good way to get rid of leftover cilantro stalks.

Everyone has a preference for how thin or thick they like it. I like mine medium so depending on how you like soups, you can add water accordingly. Oh yeah and the best way to eat it is on rice with some potato chips crushed over it! No one ever talks about this, but it happens in many Indian households:) Also a favorite of mine is to eat it with green beans palya.

Saru / Rasam (South Indian Tomato Lentil Soup)

Ingredients
1 cup toor dal, also called split pigeon pea – can use oily or non oily variety (Note: you can use red lentil if you don’t have a pressure cooker as it cooks much faster.)
6 cups water
1 tablespoon oil (peanut, sunflower or corn is best)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
5 fresh curry leaves (optional)
bunch of cilantro stems, chopped (optional)
4 tomatoes (4 cups), chopped
(you can also use canned diced or pureed, when tomatoes are not in season)
2 teaspoons rasam powder – MTR is good brand (ingredients below)*
1/2 teaspoon tamarind paste or fresh tamarind pulp (optional if your tomatoes are super fresh and tasty)
1 teaspoon brown sugar or jaggery (unrefined sugar)
salt to taste
1 tablespoon butter
pinch of asafoetida
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed

Method
You can either cook the dal with a pressure cooker or without. If cooking without pressure, soak the dal in water for 1 to 2 hours.

Wash toor dal thoroughly in luke warm water until water is clear and oil is removed.

Put 6 cups of water and the dal in a pressure cooker or pot under medium high heat. This dal has a tendency to foam very much.

Keep removing the foam and throw it away in the sink. (You can add a bit of ginger which decreases this foaming.)

When the water is boiling and you have gotten rid of the foaminess, add the oil, turmeric,

curry leaves and cilantro stems. Next add the tomatoes and mix it all up.

If not using a pressure cooker, place pot under a medium flame with a lid partially covering it. Check on it often so that it does not boil over. This will take about an hour for dal to get tender. (Note – you may need to add more water as needed).

If using pressure cooker, place lid on cooker, making sure that the lid is well aligned (should snap into place). After a couple of minutes, steam starts to ooze out of the nozzle at the top. (If you don’t go thru the ritual of throwing away the foam in the beginning, you will encounter a messy situation at this point). Now, place the pressure cooker stopper over the steaming nozzle.

Keep the heat at medium. The stopper will start to rock. Let it rock for 8 minutes and then turn off burner and remove from heat. (Timing varies on pressure cookers so if your lentils are not completely soft, you can just continue to cook them until tender.)

After about 15-20 minutes, you will notice that when you tilt the weight a bit, no more steam comes out. The pressure valve also should not be sticking up anymore. This is an indication that its safe to open the cooker after removing the weight. If you find that the steam is coming out too much, then wait a few more minutes until no steam comes out.

If you are using tamarind pulp as opposed to tamarind paste, break off lime size ball of tamarind and submerge it in warm water for about 15 minutes. Then press the softened pulp and liquid through a strainer over a bowl to separate the usable diluted pulp from the seeds and fibers. Set aside. Tamarind looks like this, white part is the fiber, brown is the tamarind pulp:

If using tamarind paste, Tamcon is a popular brand:

After you open the pressure cooker lid or when the dal is finished cooking add the rasam powder.

Put the cooker or pot on medium heat and let it boil open. Make sure that the powder is homogeneously mixed and that there are no lumps. Let it boil to a golden brown color ~ 15 minutes.

Add tamarind paste or pulp.

Add brown sugar or

jaggery and some salt to taste. This is jaggery – it’s concentrated cane juice and it’s actually a sweetener that is good for your body since it’s so unprocessed. If you can get some at an Indian store, definitely use it instead of the sugar. Also try it raw. It is so good, you won’t want to eat sugar again:

Let it all boil. If you have a mechanical egg beater, you can use it to mix the whole thing as its boiling in the pressure cooker. After saru has come to a boil for 5 minutes, remove from heat.

In a small pan take 1 tablespoon of butter and heat it under a medium flame. Add asafoetida and cumin seed. When the cumin seed is golden brown and fragrant, pour over the saru. Add cilantro for garnish.*rasam powder is made from red chilli, coriander seed, black pepper, fenugreek seed, cumin, mustard seed, asafoetida

Share on Tumblr

Posted in Autumn, Dinner, Gluten-Free, Mains, Recipes Index, Soups & Dals, South Indian, Summer, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged lentil, rasam, saru, tomato, toor dal, vegan | 6 Comments

A Birthday Feast

April 9, 2010 Chitra Agrawal

This week I’m in San Francisco visiting my nephew and to thank his nanny Kenda for being so great to him, I prepared a special birthday meal for her and her partner Charity. We had Indian tacos which I’ve made before, but with some additional items. I really like making these for dinner parties because with such a variety of fillings, they never get old and there are also so many Indian ingredients that go well in tacos.

I’ve included a few of the recipes below and a complete list of fillings at the end of the post:

Curried Tofu

Ingredients

3 tablespoons oil

1 block extra firm tofu, cubed

1/3 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 clove garlic, minced

1 plum tomato, chopped

salt to taste

Method

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a non stick fry pan under medium heat. Throw in tofu and fry until sides are lightly browned and skin is starting to get more firm on outside ~ 25 minutes.

Make a free area in the middle of the pan and put 1 tablespoon of oil. When heated, put in turmeric, chili powder, coriander, cumin powder and garam masala and mix well. Fry for a few seconds and throw in garlic.

Mix well and fry for a few seconds. Next throw in the tomato and mix, still keeping everything in the middle of the pot. Fry for 2 minutes and then coat tofu with this mixture. Fry for another 5 minutes or until tofu is completely browned. Add salt.

Mango Salsa

Mix up the following:

2 mangos, peeled and cubed

2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

1 tablespoon mint, chopped

1 small pickling cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 lime, juiced

salt

Cooked Tomato Salsa

Rough chop the following ingredients:

4 plum tomatoes

1 small shallot

1 jalapeno

3 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon cumin powder

salt

Method

Puree tomato, shallot, jalapeno and garlic in blender.

In a saucepan, heat 2 teaspoons of oil. When hot, pour mixture in with water and cumin powder. Simmer for 15 minutes – should be dark red when done. Add salt to taste.

Taco Fillings – we used soft corn tortillas

refried black and pinto beans

curried tofu

tamarind rice

sauteed onion, spinach and peppers

radish raita with sour cream

mint chutney

mango salsa

cooked tomato salsa

fresh tomato salsa

cotija cheese

sliced avocado

lime

cilantro

Share on Tumblr

Posted in Chutneys & Pickles, Curry, Dinner, Gluten-Free, Mains, Recipes Index, Sides, Spring, Summer, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged mint chutney, salsa, tacos, tofu | Comments Off

Palak Paneer (Spinach and Cheese)

April 1, 2010 Chitra Agrawal

Palak paneer is spiced creamed spinach and Indian cheese. It’s definitely a favorite at North Indian restaurants. You may also see saag paneer on menus which is made traditionally with mustard greens which impart a more pungent flavor or is sometimes made with a mix of greens. I have a recipe for that too using kale, spinach and dried fenugreek leaves with tofu in place of paneer here. That version is also a smoother version where you cook the greens down and then blend them to make a sauce.

I like making palak paneer at home because it’s so easy and it’s a lot cheaper since you’ll be able to stretch it out for a few meals. There are a number of ways to make this dish and this version is kind of the quick and dirty using frozen spinach but fresh spinach works too. Making this palak paneer was special though because the paneer was homemade🙂 It goes best with Indian roti or rice.

I remember sharing this meal with Alana – definitely a highlight of the weekend since the night before we had ended up attending a gallery event with some of the whackest performance art I have ever seen. Thanks for taking us Sumanth!

Palak Paneer (Spinach and Cheese)

Ingredients:
16 ounce package frozen chopped spinach or 16 ounces fresh spinach blended with a little water
8 ounces cubed paneer, packaged or homemade
3 tablespoons ghee or oil
pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 large onion chopped
1 tablespoon ginger grated (1 inch piece)
3 cloves garlic cloves crushed
3 plum tomatoes chopped
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 teaspoons coriander powder
1/3 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder – or to taste
3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream – or to taste (you can also substitute with sour cream)
salt to taste
cilantro for garnishing

Method:
Thaw out spinach in microwave or on stovetop with 1/2 cup water and then drain. You can blend the spinach at this time for a few seconds – texture should be smooth and not pastey. (I skipped this step.)

You can either fry your paneer or use it fresh (I did not fry mine, but it does taste good fried too). For frying, use 1 tablespoon of oil in a non stick pan under medium heat. Once the oil is hot, place paneer into oil. Gently turn the paneers until all sides are golden brown. Set paneer aside.

Heat ghee or oil under medium high heat. When hot, put in asafoetida and cumin seed. Shake the pan a bit so they mingle. Once the cumin seed gets brown and fragrant (~30 seconds), throw in the onions and mix.

Cook onions until translucent. You can cook them further until they are kind of carmelized as well – if you have more time.

Throw in garlic and ginger. Stir and cook for a minute. Next throw in tomatoes.

Once the oil starts to separate from the tomatoes, mix in the spices – garam masala, coriander powder, turmeric, chili powder.

Cook the tomatoes for about 15-20 minutes under medium heat. Next, mix in the spinach. Cook for 10 minutes or until you have reached the right consistency. Then add cream and cook for 2 minutes. Next add in paneer.

I throw the paneer in and then spoon spinach on top so that they warm up faster. I try not to stir it so much because the paneers break really easily especially if you have not fried them.