indian food

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Kim O'Hara
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Re: indian food

Post by Kim O'Hara »

underthetree wrote:I really love Keralan food. If you have a halfway decent Indian grocery nearby it's surprisingly easy to replicate the flavours at home. Unfortunately my better half loathes curry leaves but I've found that lemon balm (melissa) makes a very good substitute.
I have a similar problem - cooking for someone who is oversensitive (IMO :tongue: ) to chili and who has a (genuine) problem with garlic. I do still cook a lot of Asian food - Indian, Thai, Vietnamese - but can't use pre-prepared curry pastes. I still do okay, by combining :stirthepot: the separate spices myself. It takes a bit more time and sometimes I cheat by adding a bit of chili to my plate after serving ...

:juggling:
Kim
Simon E.
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Re: indian food

Post by Simon E. »

Kim O'Hara wrote:
underthetree wrote:I really love Keralan food. If you have a halfway decent Indian grocery nearby it's surprisingly easy to replicate the flavours at home. Unfortunately my better half loathes curry leaves but I've found that lemon balm (melissa) makes a very good substitute.
I have a similar problem - cooking for someone who is oversensitive (IMO :tongue: ) to chili and who has a (genuine) problem with garlic. I do still cook a lot of Asian food - Indian, Thai, Vietnamese - but can't use pre-prepared curry pastes. I still do okay, by combining :stirthepot: the separate spices myself. It takes a bit more time and sometimes I cheat by adding a bit of chili to my plate after serving ...

:juggling:
Kim
The Vaisnavs ( The Krishna movement is their populist wing ) do not use any alliums ( onion, garlic leeks ).
They use instead a dried resin called asafoeteda ( " Hing " in Hindu/Urdu ). In its raw state is has an unpleasant smell, but when cooked it gives a nice savouriness to a dish which compensates for any lack of garlic etc.
“You don’t know it. You just know about it. That is not the same thing.”

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche to me.
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: indian food

Post by Kim O'Hara »

Simon E. wrote:
Kim O'Hara wrote:
underthetree wrote:I really love Keralan food. If you have a halfway decent Indian grocery nearby it's surprisingly easy to replicate the flavours at home. Unfortunately my better half loathes curry leaves but I've found that lemon balm (melissa) makes a very good substitute.
I have a similar problem - cooking for someone who is oversensitive (IMO :tongue: ) to chili and who has a (genuine) problem with garlic. I do still cook a lot of Asian food - Indian, Thai, Vietnamese - but can't use pre-prepared curry pastes. I still do okay, by combining :stirthepot: the separate spices myself. It takes a bit more time and sometimes I cheat by adding a bit of chili to my plate after serving ...

:juggling:
Kim
The Vaisnavs ( The Krishna movement is their populist wing ) do not use any alliums ( onion, garlic leeks ).
They use instead a dried resin called asafoeteda ( " Hing " in Hindu/Urdu ). In its raw state is has an unpleasant smell, but when cooked it gives a nice savouriness to a dish which compensates for any lack of garlic etc.
Thanks, Simon. I had heard of its name but never known why or where it was used. I will have to look into it.

:namaste:
Kim
Simon E.
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Re: indian food

Post by Simon E. »

Dont be put off by the smell when you open the box/pack. Its smells like old socks. But when cooked it adds a really nice flavour.
“You don’t know it. You just know about it. That is not the same thing.”

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche to me.
Kunzang
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Re: indian food

Post by Kunzang »

Simon E. wrote:Dont be put off by the smell when you open the box/pack. Its smells like old socks. But when cooked it adds a really nice flavour.
Not for nothing, one of asafoetida's Western names is "Devil's Dung"! :D I store it in a glass jar with a good lid.

This thread reminds me I'm out of hing and curry leaves.
Critics slap labels on you and then expect you to talk inside their terms. - Doris Lessing
Simon E.
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Re: indian food

Post by Simon E. »

The first lot I bought Kunzang, was in a little plastic box which had been filled to the brim, so when I opened it some fell onto my trousers..which of course had to go to the wash...
“You don’t know it. You just know about it. That is not the same thing.”

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche to me.
emaho
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Re: indian food

Post by emaho »

M.G. wrote:Are the sweets that sweet in India or is that an American thing?
Don't know about America, but in the places in the north of India where I've been the sweets were incredibly sweet. Also in the chai the sugar is extremely overdosed. On the other hand they don't eat gummibears and stuff like that in India.
"I struggled with some demons, They were middle class and tame..." L. Cohen
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Lindama
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Re: indian food

Post by Lindama »

ReasonAndRhyme wrote:Also in the chai the sugar is extremely overdosed. On the other hand they don't eat gummibears and stuff like that in India.
The spices in chai, esp the cinnamon, balance the sweetness and aid digestion. I sometimes put cinnamon in my cofee although I don't use sugar.

ps: chai is really good when you make it with whole peppercorns... it is the crowning glory.
Not last night,
not this morning,
melon flowers bloomed.
~ Bassho
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: indian food

Post by Kim O'Hara »

Who says wikipedia has no sense of humour?
In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (NWFP) area of Pakistan, people hang a small bag of asafoetida around the neck or tie it around the arm to keep safe from seasonal, bacterial and viral illnesses, the efficacy of which might have more to do with repelling potentially infected people rather than the disease-causing organisms themselves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asafoetida#Etymology

:lol:
Kim

:focus:
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rory
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Re: indian food

Post by rory »

If you type for 'Brahmin recipes' you'll get tons using asafoetida. I love it (doesn't smell bad to me!) and use it quite often when I'm too lazy to prep garlic and onions. Also if you're making mild food, instead of putting in red pepper on your dish, try serving it with a nice spicy pickle! I've made my own lemon pickles and they're very easy....Hmm I have tons of curry leaves in my freezer but now is the time to get my curry plant and keep it alive. I know I can...I don't care for drumstick either, what's fun is reading foog blogs and seeing (in my case) US greens such as collards, brocolli etc being substituted in Kootu so look around it's a fab cooking world and can be very healthy too.
gassho
Rory
ps the one dessert I do enjoy is carrot halwa mmm:)
Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu
Chih-I:
The Tai-ching states "the women in the realms of Mara, Sakra and Brahma all neither abandoned ( their old) bodies nor received (new) bodies. They all received buddhahood with their current bodies (genshin)" Thus these verses state that the dharma nature is like a great ocean. No right or wrong is preached (within it) Ordinary people and sages are equal, without superiority or inferiority
Paul, Groner "The Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture"eds. Tanabe p. 58
https://www.tendai-usa.org/
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Lindama
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Re: indian food

Post by Lindama »

Kim O'Hara wrote:Who says wikipedia has no sense of humour?
In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (NWFP) area of Pakistan, people hang a small bag of asafoetida around the neck or tie it around the arm to keep safe from seasonal, bacterial and viral illnesses, the efficacy of which might have more to do with repelling potentially infected people rather than the disease-causing organisms themselves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asafoetida#Etymology

:lol:
Kim

:focus:
oh dear, it's not that funny. Hanging asafoetida around the neck is a rough equivalent of hanging garlic around the neck for healing in the western paridigm. I'm not so familiar with hanging it on the neck, but they were onto something. Ofc, there are several things to consider.... does the method in fact work... and does it work with ppl who think it is a so-called humorous thing. The rain falls where it will.

@Kim... so you really think it has to do with repelling potentially infectious people? IMO, let's talk about how this societal and spiritual immune system does exactly that... it repells the undesirable; we don't need garlic or asafoetida! At the end of the day, kiss the leper and call me in the morning. Then we shall walk in the land of shalom.

ps: I like to make any variation of split mung bean soup/dal.... asafoetida is a wonderul addition along with cumin, dash turmeric and coriander.... ofc, curry! Know what your are doing!
Not last night,
not this morning,
melon flowers bloomed.
~ Bassho
emaho
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Re: indian food

Post by emaho »

Awakening this old thread from the dead, because I'm totally into necroing ;)

I just made this recipe from Manjula and it's absolutely amazing. It's a crossover between Parathas and Samosas, in other words: flat Samosas you can shallow-fry in a pan. Until now the reason I never made Samosas at home was that I don't like deep frying, this problem is now solved and this is already a favourite dish of mine:

phpBB [video]


I added a bit of garlic to the filling and used spelt flour instead of wheat for the dough, result came out fine :smile:

P.S.: and in a non-stick pan one doesn't even need to shallow fry them, one can sauté them with a tiny bit of oil.
"I struggled with some demons, They were middle class and tame..." L. Cohen
Jesse
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Re: indian food

Post by Jesse »

It's so sad. I moved again, now to the middle of nowhere.. There is no where here that sells good indian food, but even worse.. there are no indian bakeries.. so no more bengali sweets for me. :x
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A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.
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Ayu
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Re: indian food

Post by Ayu »

It's not that difficult to cook Indian style:

http://www.sailusfood.com/categories/ayurvedic-cooking/

You just need a sortiment of the right spices. Much coriander and curry.
emaho
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Re: indian food

Post by emaho »

Jesse wrote:It's so sad. I moved again, now to the middle of nowhere.. There is no where here that sells good indian food, but even worse.. there are no indian bakeries.. so no more bengali sweets for me. :x
Cooking is really quite simple, once you've gotten used to it. You don't need an Ancient Technology Activation gene or something. It's basically chopping things into the right size and throwing them into the pot in the right order, while occasionally giving it a stir. :smile:
"I struggled with some demons, They were middle class and tame..." L. Cohen
Jesse
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Re: indian food

Post by Jesse »

I do cook, but most indian food can take a long time to prepare, and some recipes are hard to find. Especially ones that taste just like my favorite restaurants, (samasoa chaat). Also im terrible at baking, so i doubt id be able to pull off many of the deserts I like ha.
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Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world:
A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.
emaho
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Re: indian food

Post by emaho »

Hmmm, yup, cooking your favourite food from the restaurant can of course be difficult. Some desserts I love require to cook milk for over an hour and reduce it while constantly stirring... not my favourite pastime either. But I love that yt channel from Manjula, most of the recipes are really quite easy to cook. The only thing I don't like about it is that being from a Jain family she's using lots of Asafoetida (hing) which I don't like at all. So I'm re-replacing it with garlic and onions instead.
"I struggled with some demons, They were middle class and tame..." L. Cohen
A Ah Sha Sa Ma Ha
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Re: indian food

Post by A Ah Sha Sa Ma Ha »

My Indian Spice Box....(in the begining when i first learned to cook Indian food, i felt so disoriented..,having this "spice box" really helped !!) Now I'm a pro !! I work for a Jain family, and make chai every morning (with lots of fresh ginger & cardamon seeds) :)

I love Manjula's Kitchen :applause: I LOVE hing !!!! Especially in Toor dahl (my fav)

I also use mustard seeds a lot (they are now in my spice box, this pic is a few years old)
indian spice box.jpg
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rory
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Re: indian food

Post by rory »

Oh gods please share your Jain recipes please! I'd love some:) I have my bottle of hing all ready & I'd love a chai recipe..please:)
I have a full drawer of Indian spices. and right now I'm cooking from a Parsi website Mumbai + Persian, which is pretty cool.
http://www.bawibride.com/

Here's a tip, if you make restaurant, cookbook recipes, be prepared to spend tons of time in the kitchen. Instead look for blogs of normal people who post their home recipes. Huge difference, in terms of time and they are delicious.
Bhavna's kitchen is quite nice:
http://bhavnaskitchen.com/

Now must order curry plant.
gassho
Rory
Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu
Chih-I:
The Tai-ching states "the women in the realms of Mara, Sakra and Brahma all neither abandoned ( their old) bodies nor received (new) bodies. They all received buddhahood with their current bodies (genshin)" Thus these verses state that the dharma nature is like a great ocean. No right or wrong is preached (within it) Ordinary people and sages are equal, without superiority or inferiority
Paul, Groner "The Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture"eds. Tanabe p. 58
https://www.tendai-usa.org/
emaho
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Re: indian food

Post by emaho »

Wow, a pro! :bow: That spice box looks great! I keep my spices in humble jam jars, doesn't look impressive at all, but it's probably better since I'm not a pro and I'm not using such great amounts of spices, so it's probably better to store my spices in something airtight to protect them from becoming bland.

What I really love most about Indian cooking is the magic of turning the simplest ingredients into great tasting food by spicing them up, like for instance these curry potatoes with roti - I forgot the name but I hope you guys know what I mean? This is really pure genius and alchemy, taking two of the blandest foods imaginable, potatoes and wheat flour, and turning it into an amazing dish.
"I struggled with some demons, They were middle class and tame..." L. Cohen
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