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So tonight I am going to write a bit about Indian food. The Indian cuisines are diverse, given that most states have their own ways of cooking and flavoring; there is very little that is common to these cuisines. (There are about 28 states in India). However, most northern state use wheat flour, made into rotis (like wheat-flour tortillas) as their main source of nutrition and most southern states use rice for the same. The vegetables, or meat dishes are used as condiments, the base --wheat or rice-- is used as a flavor/condiment transport system.
I am most familiar with Punjabi food (state in northern India), but you don't need to try to make rotis to like or make it. In fact, in my family, my sister and mother like to eat everything with boiled rice, whereas my father and I clamor for rotis.
The 1 indispensable spice you need to make Indian food is: Turmeric powder. That is it.
I am going to present 2 recipe templates here:
1.If you want to make dal or Lentil soup Indian style with red or yellow hulled lentils, the one thing you need to know is that you can make it in any style. Given all the regional varieties in India, there is no right way to make it--you can personalize it in any way you like, using whatever herbs or spices that are your favorite.
You will need:
1 cup lentils
4-5 cups water
Salt
Cayenne pepper (or any other source of heat that you like)
Turmeric powder (1/3 teaspoon)
Wash the lentils thoroughly, at least 5-6 times. Heat some oil or butter in a pot, add the washed lentils, stir to coat them, add the spices, stir for a second or so more, then add the water. It is important to remember that turmeric should be added before you add water. It is not a disaster if you forget, just that otherwise the clean taste of the spices does not come through.
Let the whole come to a boil, then turn the heat low to simmer, cover the pot, leaving a tiny opening if you are cooking red lentils, they tend to froth, so it is a good idea to either use a large pan or leave some opening for the air to escape.
Cook them for about 30 minutes (checking in occasionally), and you are almost done.
The last step: tadka or chaunk. There really isn't an English translation for this--in Indian cookery terms it is called tempering, but tempering is smoothing the temperature variables in American cooking.
So once the dal or the soup is cooked and has the necessary brothy consistency that you like, in another pan heat some oil, butter, or ghee, and add whatever seasoning you like--I normally add some diced ginger (1 inch or so) some minced garlic (3-5 cloves) 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin powder, but you can add diced onions and chopped tomatoes, or sage leaves and rosemary sprigs. You can even add capers and tuna flecks! Really, personalize it any way you wish.
When this is browned to your liking, add it to the dal, and de-glaze the pan with a ladleful of dal. Garnish with cilantro or parsley or not--totally upto you.
(I think the words, tadka or chaunk are onomatopoeic. When the hot seasonings enter the hot dal, the sizzle and crackle sounds very like tadka or chaunk.)
2. The next recipe template deals with potatoes and cauliflower, or potatoes and broccoli, or potatoes and green beans. You get the idea--potatoes and whatever. Most Indian recipe names are just a list of main ingredients. So Gobi Aloo merely means Cauliflower Potatoes.
You really need tons of ginger for this one.
Saute, in a large pan, at least 2-3 inches of diced ginger in oil. Mustard oil is ideal, but any oil would do.
Add 2 medium potatoes diced--peeled or not --upto you.
Add salt, cayenne and 1/3 teaspoon turmeric.
Stir to coat the potatoes and cover the pan, lower the heat to simmer. Check after 7-9 minutes, if the potatoes are moderately soft (not totally cooked through), add the vegetable of your choice, chopped into sizes that you like.
Don't mix and match--some vegetables like green beans or peppers exude water and other vegetables, markedly cauliflower, are allergic to any hint of water. In fact, adding any water to cauliflower will deflate all its flavor, and make it relatively unappetizing.
(I feel the same for okra, too, but there are a number of gumbo afficionadoes here, so I will shut up about okra.;-) Next time I'll give you the Indian recipe for okra.)
Cook covered for another 7-10 minutes, then uncover, turn the heat to moderate high and cook for another 2 minutes stirring all the while. This last step is important, it will meld the flavors of the green vegetables, spices, potatoes all together and make it delicious.
Thought this was a rather funny sign for this diary!
