metea

Has anyone tried the pickle recipe in Land of Plenty. I made it a few days ago (using only carrots), but the carrots came out waaaaaaaay too salty for my tastes. I guess I will halve the salt and try again. Are there any other chinese or simply asian pickling recipes I should know about?

Thanks for the in depth response Jenni. Very, very helpful. To summarize, can I say that every masala is a garam masala then? Is there anything you can add to a masala that will make it not-garam masala? I'm starting to think that all these names do more harm than good... What about masalas where the spices are roasted first? Is there a name for these (I'm guessing no). Are there some guidelines as to when and why we would roast spices before using? What has been really eye-opening for me is the preciseness of how the spices are used. Prior to jumping into Indian cooking I used spices a lot, but pretty inattentively. I would toss random amounts here and there without thinking too much about it. Now I see all these different masalas which often use the same spices, but with different amounts, lending a different emphasis to the mix. I can't wait to get more sensitive to this. Today I will try to make the "Bin Bhuna Hua Garam Masala" in 660 Curries that andiesenji linked to, with a mortar and pestle. ooph

Hello. I'm very new to Indian cooking and I'm trying to wrap my head around all these different "masalas" that I see in different recipes. I'm aware that a masala is going to differ from household to household, but surely there are some general rules that apply? Garam Masala Sambar Masala Chole masala Chat Masala Chana Masala ... The list goes on... Are there any guidelines to what typically goes in these? Or when to use which mix? Are "curry powder" and "garam masala" generally used interchangeably? I'm very enthusiastic about making my own masalas but I'm a bit overwhelmed and don't know where to begin. Thank you.

Ingredients: red pepper, red pepper powder, soy sauce, fermented black beans, soy oil, sugar, garlic, flavor enhancer (E621)

Also, is "chili bean sauce" the same thing as "soy chilli sauce"?

How long should you simmer the soup if you're not using a slow cooker?

Lots of great advice here, I too can't wait to try some of it out. I have been using this along with some fermented black beans (although I think there are some in that sauce). I'm generally OK with handling heat, but this sauce seems like too much. I'm using less and less each time and I think it's slowly causing me to tamper too much with other ingredients to balance it out. Maybe it's time to experiment with another sauce. Has anyone else used the Koon Yick soy chilli sauce?

I'm surprised at the lack of recipes involving veal cubes on the web. Is this perhaps because they can be used interchangeably with beef cubes? Any difference? What do you like to do with them? I'm thinking some kind of curry, but not sure what to watch out for.

Apologies for resurrecting this thread, but I must! As someone who is now getting into cooking and looking forward to making my own stocks, I simply had to join to say thanks for this excellent primer and discussion. Now for some questions. I currently don't have a stock pot, but I'm looking into getting one. I was wondering what the consensus on using a pressure cooker for stock making is. Surely it would speed up the process? Are there any downsides?