What Indian food have you been cooking?

[aneja_r]

Hi Friends

A very important everyday question, What should I cook today???? It would be interesting to know what everyone out there is eating and cooking for lunch and dinner......

[Okanagancook]

We had whole urid dahl curried with plenty of ginger, chapatis, vindaloo pork, and cucumber/mint rita. The leftover dahl was sealed inside chapati dough and fried like a calzone for lunch the next day (served with lime pickle).

[aneja_r]

Hi Okanagancook

Urad Dhal inside chapati dough is delicious! Sounds very similar to Bedmi Puri.

[pastameshugana]

The leftover dahl was sealed inside chapati dough and fried like a calzone for lunch the next day (served with lime pickle).

That sounds amazing!

[aneja_r]

We had home-made Chhole-Bhature for lunch today!!!!

Edited December 5, 2012 by aneja_r (log)

[Okanagancook]

Hi Okanagancook

Urad Dhal inside chapati dough is delicious! Sounds very similar to Bedmi Puri.

It's a great way to use up leftover dough and any kind of dahl. The dahl just has to be not too thin...I usually reduce the liquid in the saucepan before putting in the fridge overnight that way it's easier to pack into the pockets. I have also frozen extra pockets on a sheet pan in the freezer then wrapped in foil for a quick lunch. Sometimes the dahl leaks out and gets nice and crispy in the pan :-))

These are not deep fried like puri though, just in a frying pan with a nice bit of ghee to create a crispy exterior to the dough while heating the dahl inside.

[patrickamory]

Chicken braised in yogurt (dahi murghi) tonight.

[sadistick]

Just did a Thai/Indian fusion chicken coconut soup served with a side of rice for 'dipping'

[Ranz]

My family is Indian, so we eat curries and the like quite often. I have been branching out to other styles than we usually have though, SA cooking is a bit different from Indian-styled cooking.

[bague25]

Kheema matar with chapatis for dinner :-)

[patrickamory]

Kheema matar is one of our favorites - I make it all the time.

Fresh turmeric makes all the difference with this dish.

[Okanagancook]

I've never tried fresh turmeric. Can you freeze the extra?

[patrickamory]

Hmm, I think so, though it lasts a long time in the fridge - say up to 3 weeks.

[bague25]

Patrickamory, I agree! :-) I have trick leave fresh turmeric at room temperature, but wrapped up in a kitchen towel (cloth) - it lasts for months without drying out - good for ginger too or even better just bury the roots in a pot and take out a bit as needed.

[janeer]

Patrickamory, I agree! :-) I have trick leave fresh turmeric at room temperature, but wrapped up in a kitchen towel (cloth) - it lasts for months without drying out - good for ginger too or even better just bury the roots in a pot and take out a bit as needed.

a pot of soil? sand? I hate refrigerating ginger, I will try this

[bague25]

Soil, just like it would be in a pot - it's stays super fresh, does not get stringy and if you're lucky, it would even sprout and you might get a plant in spring.

No need to water this in winter.

The soil needs to be humid but not wet at all.

[patrickamory]

In places with dry winters - especially NYC apartments! - I suspect you'd have to do some watering. The soil would turn to sand in a couple days.

That said, bague, I'm going to give your method a try!

janeer, I hate refrigerating ginger too, but turmeric seems to react differently despite being a root. It does go moldy eventually though.

[FrogPrincesse]

I've been on an Indian food kick lately, and have been re-discovering my copy of Vij's, Vikram Vij's restaurant in Vancouver. Lots of simple recipes that have great flavor combinations.

Coconut and saffron shrimp curry with grilled coconut kale. The kale was marinated in coconut and spices and then grilled. The tomato-based curry had a mild flavor but the saffron came through.

Prawns in coconut masala. Good flavor from the blend of onions (yellow and green) and tomatoes.

Last night's dinner: grilled grouper with tomato-yogurt broth. The fish (the recipe originally called for sablefish) was marinated in oil and spices (paprika, cayenne) for a while and was cooked on the grill. The broth had a great flavor with a nice spike of ginger.

An old favorite from the same book, the lamb popsicles. They are served with a fenugreek cream curry that I could drink by the bowl full.

[bague25]

Patrickamory, I guess you are right - with low humidity levels you might need to spray the soil so that it remains moist.

It's true that I use more fresh turmeric than ginger so I do not have the experience of it going mouldy, but I'm lucky to source fresh ginger and turmeric easily. I buy about 100g of turmeric and about 500g of ginger so, turmeric gets over earlier than ginger.

That said I've never had either turmeric or ginger go bad at my place...

Let us know about your experiences :-)

[patrickamory]

I've had both go bad, the ginger gradually starts to rot at the outside, it doesn't ever seem to get moldy - probably dries out first. The center can usually be salvaged if it isn't too old. The turmeric lasts a surprisingly long time - a month or more - in the fridge.

Produce in NYC is often not that fresh. It is one of the huge downsides of living here - some of what can be seen at my local supermarket would horrify you - it's incredible they have the gall to even sell that stuff.

On the bright side, it is very easy to source high-quality ginger and fresh turmeric from the Indian groceries near me.

[Okanagancook]

How much fresh turmeric do you use in recipes that call for dried/powdered turmeric? Is it like fresh vs dried herbs: twice as much fresh? Now I just have to get my hands of some fresh turmeric. None in Penticton so will have to go to the East Indian stores in Kelowna. Drat.

[percyn]

Sali Boti - google it.

[patrickamory]

I just use more fresh... one and a half to two times as much perhaps. Depends.

[patrickamory]

Sali Boti - google it.

I did - yum! Is there a particular recipe you'd recommend? Online or in print.

[bague25]

I have a chicken jardaloo sali on my blog but at the time when my blog was not bilingual... but Percy's the expert... I test his recommended recipe :-)