Thursday, April 29, 2010

India = Success

I was a little scared to continue on Mate's journey after the way Nepal turned out. But, I pressed on. Mate and Shawn are with Shawn's parents now (they are missionaries, too) in India. They will leave here on Sunday. So, I thought I should cook before the weekend arrived and life got crazier. We have a ton of leftovers.

Spicy Shrimp in Coconut Milk - I had coconut milk leftover from a previous country, so this worked out well. And, since I cooked shrimp for my family last night and Bob missed out, I decided to cookshrimp for him tonight. I tasted the sauce for this and I really liked it. I found I needed to double what the recipe calls for in spices.
1/4 cup oil, 1 cup chopped onion, 1 tbsp minced garlic, 2 tsp minced fresh ginger, 2 tbsp coriander, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp cayenne, 1/8 tsp turmeric, 1 can diced tomatoes - drained, 2 1/2 cups coconut milk, 1/2 cup water, 1 tsp salt, 1 1/2 lb shrimp

- Heat oil in a large skillet (really large!). Add onions and cook for 3 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook for 2 minutes. Add next 5 ingredients and cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and cook 1 more minute.
- Add coconut milk, water and salt and bring to a boil. Simmer until thickened. (This is where I tasted it, thought it was bland and dumped more spices (coriander, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne and turmeric) in.)
- Add shrimp and cook until done.

Chole - Which I thought was Chloe. So, I thought I should make something named after my smallest Best Friend. Close enough, right? This was pretty yummy.
2 medium onions - chopped, 1 tbsp grated ginger, 2 tbsp chopped garlic, 1 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 bay leaf, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 2 medium tomatoes - chopped, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp turmeric, salt, 1/2 tsp cayenne, 2 cans garbanzo beans - rinsed and drained, 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tbsp lemon juice
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, heat cumin, bay leaf and cinnamon until very fragrant.
- Add ginger and garlic until the smell fills the air.
- Saute onions until translucent (add drops of water to prevent sticking).
- Adds tomatoes, coriander, tumeric, salt and cayenne. Bring to a boil.
- Add garbanzo beans, cover and reduce heat. Simmer on low for 10 - 15 minutes.
- Stir in garam masala and lemon juice right before serving.

Golden Basmati Rice - this makes a ton! But, it was good. And, everyone needs a good starch when eating Indian food, right?
2 cups brown basmati rice, 4 cups water, 1/2 tsp cumkin, 3/4 tsp turmeric, 5 cloves, 1/3 cup chopped onion, 1/2 tsp salt

- Combine all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer, cover and let cook 15 - 20 minutes.
- Check after 15 minutes and let it continue to cook until the water's gone.
- Let rice sit, mostly covered, for 7 - 10 minutes.

Potatoes with Indian Spices - If the 12 servings of Basmati rice were not enough, I thought I would serve some more carbs. But, I liked these. Bob could not taste these very well because he has a cold. I ate my portion and then some. Yes, I am a starch-itarian!
2 lbs peeled potatoes, 2 tbsp vegetable oil, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp chili powder, coarse salt, 1/2 tsp cumin
- Slice potatoes into half-inch rounds. Dice into small pieces.
- Fry potatoes over high heat (this makes them stick to the pot which makes Bob not so happy to clean the dishes). Turn heat down and cover. When the potatoes are a little more than half done, add turmeric, chili powder and salt, closely followed by the remaining spices. Stir to combine and put the lid back on.
- Cook until done (soft and mushy).

Speaking of Mush - Badam Burfi - "a North Indian speciality that's rich and lick-your-fingers yummy." I kinda substituted some stuff, so this did not turn out like it was supposed to. And, I did not like the texture (it was a little like the texture of coconut). Bob liked it. This was supposed to cut into squares. We just had a glop of stuff in a bowl. We have now put it in the fridge to see if it hardens up.
1 cup finely ground almonds, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup whole milk (I used skim), 2 tbsp ghee or clarified butter (I used my organic butter)
- Grease a shallow 6x6 inch pan with ghee (I only have 8x8 inch dishes).
- In a frying pan, over a low flame, mix almonds, sugar and milk. Stir.
- After 5 minutes, add ghee.
- Continuing stirring until the mixture thickens to the consistency of bread batter and starts leaving the sides of the pan. Stir for a few more minutes. (Maybe I have never seen bread batter)
- Remove from flame and pour into prepared greased dish.
- 20 minutes later, after it partially cools, cut into 1 inch squares (or scoop some glop into a bowl).
- Cool completely.

2 comments:

  1. mate...i would love the potatoes and rice. i must be a starchatarian too!

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  2. mate..i am ready for your recipes from the good food countries....get to posting!!!

    ReplyDelete