indiachef

You do not need any water to make Achar Gosht. However, if the meat dries up before being cooked, you may add as required Mustard oil is to be added when marinating the meat

What you have described is known as "Dhakai parathas". Laccha Parathas need not be made with white flour. White flour tends to make the dough very elastic. This Glutinous product can be fortified with melted ghee (I would prefer half pure and half vegetable). Fat in the dough not only strenghtens the structure of the dough but also breaks down the elasticity of the flour Some also recommend adding mashed potato or cornstarch - it does work against the elasticity - but does not enrich the product. Use whole wheat flour, add salt and melted ghee. Rub in the ghee. Add water and make a pliable dough. Use a little oil to smear on top when dough is ready. The trick is to knead the dough slowly and rest it. Make small rounds and roll gently. Smear enough oil and sprinkle enough flour to absorb the oil. Mix with fingers and spread evenly on the rolled dough. Make pleats, stretching it from both ends and fold in joining both ends. Rest it again for some time under a moist cloth (not wet) Roll again gently. Cook on a slow well heated thick griddle. Cook on both sides and then smear with ghee. Some purists do the lacchas twice.

Episure, I am not in the Trade anymore, though the passion for food still exists. Can't really speak much about trends. Unfortunately the Molson muscle has started bothering a little Somewhere in this topic I was asked my favorite recipe. There have been many but one that stands out is the "Achar Gosht" - given to me by a Disciple of the so called God of Indian Foods - Imtiaz Quereshi Achar Gosht: Lamb - 1kg thick yoghurt - 1/2 kg real mustard oil - 1/4 litre salt - as required roasted coriander powder - 15 gms mustard seeds - 5 gms methi seeds - 5 gms kalonji - 5 gms green chillies - 7 to 8 nos In a thick bottom pot (steel) - mix the cleaned meat with yoghurt, salt and the coriander powder. Leave it overnight in a refrigerator Roast other spices and pound them coarsely. Stuff in slit green chillies Cook the marinated meat - covered on a moderately hot stove. Check, stir occasionally. When meat is almost cooked, remove lid and let the water evaporate. Add stuffed chillies, and cover the pot. Simmer it for a little over 10 minutes. Turn of the stove, let meat stand in for a couple of hours. Reheat and serve This dish is fairly dry and may have considerable amount of oil separated from the meat

Pankhi kebab: Chicken wings - cleaned and cut in half Salt Chilli powder Paprika Lemon juice Cream cheese and or Sour Cream Ginger and garlic pastes (if desirable) Mustard oil and olive oil (1:1) Mix and marinate for a couple of hours Charcoal broil. Pankh ke Pakode: Chicken wings Salt Ajwain Roasted crushed cumin seeds Chilli powder Lemon juice or vinegar Besan Eggs whole Chopped cilantro Chopped ginger Chopped green chillies Cornstarch Add salt and lemon juice or vinegar to the cleaned wings. Mix well. Add ajwain, chilli powder, cumin seeds, cilantro, green chillies, ginger and mix well. Add beaten egg, besan and cornstarch. Fry in moderately hot oil

In my personal opinion, I think Triphal does not go in a Sukke, but that's just an opinion However, try grinding it along with the coconut and other sukke additives, one or two should suffice Triphal, I think is more used in Bendis and some specific Fish curries Indiachef

One of the most underused vegetables in the world AFAIK. Some fancy the asparagus and the long beans instead. Two of my favorites. Slice beans - to almost dice size. Wash before cutting. Temper hing, mustard seeds and whole red chillies in oil. Add beans, stir and cook covered, with salt and a pinch of sugar. Old timers would use jaggery. When almost done, add in scraped white coconut. Eat with layered Chappatis String whole beans and cook till underdone in boiling salted (Avoid the soda-bi-carb) water. Heat oil in a vok, add sliced garlic, green onions. and green beans and stir fry. Add seosoning. Goes well with almost any red meats cooked either dry or in a gravy. I use it as a warm salad

Dahi Wadas/Dahi Bhallas/Dahi Gujiyas!! They all come from the same place The art lies in making the batter right. That's the secret. Soaking in water is to remove the oil and make it absorb the beatern yoghurt. Whatever the recipe, the batter needs to be ground on a stone grinder with almost no water. Soaked lentils have enough water in them A good recipe of a Bhalla would have half moong dal and half urad dal. Although a gujiya tends to be more rich, in that it is stuffed (AFAIK), it yet has the same base recipe. Frying is important too. The fermented batter, should be lightly beaten and seasoned with salt before frying. Some use a spoon and others are comfortable with moistened hands.

thanks That was very educative I think I now know how to cook a Steak!!! Is Paneer made different ways. Not sure if there are different styles of making Paneer But then you never know, with an increasing awareness of Indian cuisine globally, there could be some interpretations. And for the majority of paneer dishes, I would not fry the Paneer. If its to be accepted as a soft block cheese product sans the fanfare, it should be left at that. However, Indian restaurants have been visibly responsible for half educatiing the minds about Indian foods. Which is why I never understood either, why is it also referred to as Cottage Cheese? Sure. Why not. Am still wondering what flavoring we enhance in SEARING Paneer, apart from making it more rubbery and hard Coloring, Yes I agree, as a matter of Opinion Yet another attempt to vegeterianise Tandoori foods. Although the best Paneer Tikka is barely passable, it amazes me, why this concoction is a favorite when planning Indian menus. And of course I could never omit this from the menus I designed, lest I don't get paid for not listening to my Boss Indiachef

By far the best is a tall glass or two of ICE TEA with lots of ice, sugar and lime juice It works wonders Indiachef

I would preferably buy it from an Iranian Grocery stores. Iran makes the best saffron, no matter what others say about Spanish saffron It is more expensive than the ones in Indian grocers Indiachef

Surprisingly in the Mugal era - Pulao was considered a richer concoction than a Biryani, which was looked as a poor man's food made with left-overs. How this got reversed is something not many can tell Personally, I prefer biryani and truly its almost impossible to find a good Pulao. The ones I tried in Persian restaurants are too bland for our spiced tongues Differentiating between the two is more appropriate in contemporary times. Who knows what its original Recipes were. One major difference is that a Pulao is a self contained nourishing Rice delicacy, enriched with just about meat and or nuts and spices, but nearly always never hot. Specifically a Pulao is cooked in a Yakhni/Stock. A Biryani on the other hand has its own ritualistic ways of dealing with the rice and meats either separately or together. The emphasis in a Biryani is to preserve the grain testure of Rice, and umistakenly imparting all fanciful spiced flavors to the meat. Except for a few strands of saffron and a few whole spices, Rice is not heavily pampered. Again in a Biryani, many prefer to half cook rice with whole spices and use this with the meat mix in alternate layers finishing off in the Dum. Some prefer to cook rice in absorbtion method too. A Kutchi or Hyderabadi Biryani, uses blanched rice (forget the specific term used), with the marinated meat cooked together on Dum Indiachef

How insulting can little knowledge be. Not afraid to speak up, I always suspected, Chefs with no knowledge of other cuisines come up with their own definitions of things alien By no means Tandoori is a mix of spices. Agreed Edward, but the Tandoori masala is another hyped product on the shelf living upto its image of churning out a red -colored Chicken. Simply defined a Tandoori chicken is Chicken cooked in a Tandoor. Marinades can vary from a cheap bright red normally made in Indian restaurants, to a white, green or its own natural color yoghurt is the favorite as a marinade base. But you may use any one or a combination of Sour cream, Cream cheese, Thick cream, lemon juice in addition to the spices. Minced kebabs are generally spiced up with fresh cilantro, roasted powdered spices and green chillies, with a little bit of ginger and or garlic Chopped onions in a minced kebab make it very succulent, Unfortunately not many tend to use it (at least in the skewered variation) for the fear of falling off. Cashewnut paste ia another way of fortifying and enriching a marinade, though its usage outside the sub-continent for this purpose is very rare Mustard oil is another commonly used item, though some may use good qualtiy olive oil too. Speaking of Beet - Yes - I have used beet - surprisingly to add color to Consomme - that was only once. Cooked beet with diced boiled potato makes a good Raita

Searing is a term used generally when cooking meats. Is there any juices to be retained in Paneer, that it needs to be seared. Yes I do agree, its fried - either deep or shallow in a lot of places, but that's what intrigues me. Why do we need to fry paneer? Answers that come to mind could be; To get rid of milky smell Increase its shelf-life Make it crusty Make it more appealing And also used as a snack item as deliad has mentioned. But this last one, I would only try it with a rich Malai Paneer Indiachef

The basics of making a grainy Pulao is to cook it on high heat. Rice when cooked on low heat turns in khitchdi. Using Tawa as an underliner to Rice pots is an attempt to keep the rice from getting burnt at the bottom. Its usage has become a norm in some places. Making goood rice in large quantities, in my opinion is a true test of a responsible cook, not necessarily good Rice should always be cooked in shallow pots, with a heavy bottom. Once rice has absorbed almost all moisture, it is safe to turn of the heat and keep the pot covered for some time. Remove lid, and loosen rice with a wooden spatula. Preferably transfer it in another bowl. Again, I would add drained rice, once the water comes to a boil and not before it. Recipes normally suggest to fry the rice in oil. I strongly reject this approach, it only breaks the grains. Do not leave rice unattended, gently stir twice with a wooden spatula, when cooking Personally I would prefer to place the pot in a pre-heated oven for 5 - 10 minutes, depending on the size of the pot

"Ambeche Saasam" - Mango Saasam - made with small fibrous ripe mangoes, in a sauce of coconut and other spices. Is a favorite of the Saraswats and the Konkan region