Some basic questions

[RSincere]

I am very inexperienced with cooking and eating Indian food; I grew up eating American midwest-style casseroles which almost always contained ground hamburger, a starch, and a can of Campbell's soup. I have never been to an Indian restaurant.

That said, I received "The Everything Indian Cookbook" last week, and I finally have gathered enough ingredients so that I can try some of the recipes!

I do have a few questions. First, if a recipe calls for "red chilis" or "red chili powder," I'm not sure what to use. I bought dried Sanaam chilis from Penzey's, because it said on the bag that they were Indian chilis. But for chili powder, I don't know what to use. I have cayenne pepper and ancho powder, but both of those seem Mexican to me. Do I grind up the Sanaam chilis to make "red chili powder"? Or is the cayenne okay to use?

Are curry leaves dried like bay leaves? I haven't seen them anywhere. If fresh, how long would they last in my refrigerator?

I did find an Indian grocer about an hour away from me, but I bought a can of garam masala from him without looking at the expiration date, and when I got home I saw that it had expired back in April 2003. So I'm not sure if I want to go back there. I was very disappointed with that experience; he has a very small store and not very much stock so it shouldn't have been that hard for him to keep track of his stock.

About chutneys and relishes, this is probably a silly question, but I'm not sure exactly what to do with them. I know you serve them alongside your main dishes, but do you just eat them plain, or mix them into the dish, or put them on top of your main dish?

I have found Indian recipes that involve a pressure cooker. These recipes often say "cook to four whistles" or "cook for one whistle." I have a jiggle-top pressure cooker that does not whistle. Is there some kind of conversion that I can make; i.e. four whistles = 8 minutes under pressure?

When I read cookbooks of foods that are familiar to me, I can imagine just how the food will taste just by reading the recipe. When reading an Indian recipe, I can't imagine how it will taste--it's fun but a little scary!

Thanks for your time.

[Monica Bhide]

Great! I will get to your questions shortly.. just to clarify that the recipes in Everything Indian dont need a pressure cooker.. i think you mention that other recipe in other places do.. just a clarification

[RSincere]

Great! I will get to your questions shortly.. just to clarify that the recipes in Everything Indian dont need a pressure cooker.. i think you mention that other recipe in other places do.. just a clarification

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Oh, I wasn't clear. I meant that I found pressure cooker recipes in other places, not in your book. I can't wait to cook from your book though! Thanks for getting back to me.

[rajsuman]

Hello Rachel,

Welcome to the world of Indian food! I do hope you're smitten at the first bite. Monica's book is a good place to start - the recipes are light and uncomplicated. What's even better, you could get personal advice from her right here!

I'm sure Monica can answer your questions better, since they pertain to her book, but in the meantime, I could give you a general idea. I notice you're online right now. Cayenne pepper is what's used in Indian cooking. To me, 'whole red chillies' in a recipe means any variety of dried red chilli I might happen to have. Generally I have three varieties in stock - one for colour, one for heat and another for decorative purposes. However, I wouldn't think twice about substituting one for the other in recipes, unless I need a HUGE amount of heat. In that case it would have to be the hotter one, nothing else.

Curry leaves have no acceptable substitute. Even the dried ones don't come close, but if you can't get fresh ones, then dried ones are better than nothing. Fresh ones last pretty long in the fridge, at least 3-4 weeks if kept in a closed container lined with paper towel. I also buy a packet for the freezer. I prefer frozen curry leaves to dried ones any day. Just don't take the whole bag out of the freezer - take as many as you need. They defrost quickly and turn black easily.

If you have all the spices, you can very easily make garam masala at home.

As for the chutneys, we have a little nibble at them every now and then during the meal or dip our breads into it.

I'm not sure about the pressure cooker conversion - Mine gives off whistles so loud it's enough to startle my neighbour in his sleep . It's a miracle he hasn't moved or forced us to find a new place!

Hope this helps - and please do not feel discouraged by the mini-stumbling blocks you may encounter. We're all here to help - toss us any question and we'll try to help. One thing is for sure, once you discover the magic of Indian cuisine, you'll want it to go on forever.

Suman

[rajsuman]

Oooops! A bit of overlap there! By the time I typed out my long reply, there were two replies already!

Suman

[foodietraveler]

Oooops! A bit of overlap there! By the time I typed out my long reply, there were two replies already!

Suman

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rajsuman, thanks for saying what you did about curry leaf. I like you, do not like dry. prefer frozen fresh over dry. I always buy plenty for refrigerator and then 2-3 packets for freezer. By the time the leaves are changing color in freezer, I have cooked with them and bought new. You are totally right about no substitute for them. They are amazing and make all difference.

My mom cooked lot with pressure cooker. I have one futura pressure cooker. I always make daal in it. While I have not checked dal chapter of Monica, I know even if she says to cook it on stove, with dal, I will make exception and cook in cooker. It is so quick and so easy. Reluctantly, i now have no fear of cooker.

[RSincere]

Thank you, Monica, Suman, and foodietraveler, for your responses. I put off my grocery shopping until tomorrow so I could see what I would need to buy. I already have cayenne pepper so that is good to know!

I'm going to make the garam masala from Monica's book now that I have all the ingredients. I was just kind of sad, the owner of the Indian grocery store was so nice to me, and here he was selling me a spice mix that expired a year and a half ago. I'm not saying he did it on purpose, but like I said, the store was tiny and there wasn't so much in stock that he couldn't keep track of it.

I take it that fresh curry leaves don't last "indefinitely" in the freezer; they eventually go black and slimy? Since I go shopping every 2 weeks, and they can last in the refrigerator for 3-4 weeks, I will just purchase a 2-week supply every time.

Suman, is the time between whistles on your pressure cooker the same every time? For instance, if the whistles come every 3 minutes more or less, I could convert the recipes that way.

Thanks again,

[RSincere]

I'm replying to myself. :-)

I made the simple Chicken Curry from Monica's book today and served it with Basmati rice. It was really, really good! My husband liked it as well.

Also, I went back to the Indian grocer and asked for fresh curry leaves. She gave me a quart-sized baggie full for only 99 cents--this is more than I'd use in a month, I'm sure! Do they get slimy in the freezer after a while or do they last indefinitely in the freezer?

Now my other question, which may sound silly. Do curry leaves taste like they smell? I know certain foods don't taste the same way they smell, like hing. I'm intrigued by the smell of the curry leaves, but I'm not quite sure if I like it yet, and some recipes call for 8 of them in one dish. Are they milder when cooked?

Thanks.

[Pumpkin Lover]

I think that curry leaves last a pretty long time in the freezer, but like rajsuman said, don't take out more than you need. Put the leaves in a Ziploc baggie, something easy to open and close, and don't let the baggie sit out in the open for a long time; just take the leaves and chuck the bag back into the cold. This is what my mom does, and I don't think her leaves have ever gotten slimy while still in the freezer.

[Episure]

I think that curry leaves last a pretty long time in the freezer, but like rajsuman said, don't take out more than you need. Put the leaves in a Ziploc baggie, something easy to open and close, and don't let the baggie sit out in the open for a long time; just take the leaves and chuck the bag back into the cold. This is what my mom does, and I don't think her leaves have ever gotten slimy while still in the freezer.

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Suggestion:

Add a small piece of absorbent paper in the ziploc bag. Equivalent of 10% volume of curry leaves. Tissue, packaging paper, anything will do as long as it is not glazed.

[Monica Bhide]

I'm replying to myself.  :-)

I made the simple Chicken Curry from Monica's book today and served it with Basmati rice.  It was really, really good!  My husband liked it as well.

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glad you enjoyed it. Since the curry leaves questions have been addressed I wont add more

[trillium]

The best way I've found to store curry leaves in the freezer is to lay them out in a single layer on a sheet of aluminum foil, roll the foil up, smoothing down the foil as you go (so there are no air pockets) and then put your rolled up leaves in a freezer ziplock. You just unroll the amount of leaves you need, so none of the others get oxidized or exposed to the freezer air. It works great for kaffir lime leaves too.

regards,

trillium

[foodietraveler]

trillium, do the leaves remain nice and green?

[RSincere]

Thanks for all the great tips! I mentioned in an above post that I was nervous about using curry leaves, as I was intrigued by their scent but not sure if I liked the scent...

well, I wasn't going to decide against it until I tried it! And I did, and they were fine!

Guess I like curry leaves!

Thanks.