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If I've said it once, I'll say it a thousand times: make daal tarka. It's such a mind-numbingly simple recipe (cook lentils, fry spices in fat--usually just some cumin seed--dump atop lentils, salt to taste, eat) but it showcases the heart of Indian food. That is, humble ingredients elevated to their best form through the clever use of spices. The Northern curries are great, but I feel like they rely a bit too heavily on cream and butter to get there. You throw enough butter at anything, and it's going to be good. The central and southern Indian vegetable dishes I feel like are fairly easy to make, but really let the ingredients stand on their own. Or, why not both? Do a complex, multi step, 30 - 40 spices needed curry, but serve it with a really simple side dish or two. Seriously though, however you slice it, Indian food is endlessly fascinating and fun to learn to make. 
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Mar 13, 2018 22:04
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Cloks posted:Looks like a sizzle pan for serving fajitas. That was my first thought, but it seems a little shallow for that to me. I don't have much experience with fajita pans, though.
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Mar 13, 2018 22:39
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In my pile of random crap in the basement, I have pan with that exact shape, except it's heavy aluminum. Plain anodized surface, no non-stick. No idea what its for, or where it came from.dino. posted:If I've said it once, I'll say it a thousand times: make daal tarka. It's such a mind-numbingly simple recipe (cook lentils, fry spices in fat--usually just some cumin seed--dump atop lentils, salt to taste, eat) but it showcases the heart of Indian food. That is, humble ingredients elevated to their best form through the clever use of spices. The Northern curries are great, but I feel like they rely a bit too heavily on cream and butter to get there. You throw enough butter at anything, and it's going to be good. The central and southern Indian vegetable dishes I feel like are fairly easy to make, but really let the ingredients stand on their own. Or, why not both? Do a complex, multi step, 30 - 40 spices needed curry, but serve it with a really simple side dish or two. I'm consistently shocked by how many white people in the Boston area are scared of Indian food and refuse to try it. I just don't get it, we have some of the best Indian restaurants and markets in the whole USA. We have such good options! An Indian friend of mine told me this story: she travels to India 2-3 times a year for business, and her grandmother was always sending her a list of spices and dry goods to bring back. She hated this, as it interfered with getting work done. Finally, when Apna Bazar opened in Norwood, she took her grandmother there, and that was the end of bringing stuff back from India. Her grandmother agreed that the selection, prices, and freshness was actually better then most of what she used to source from the India.
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Mar 13, 2018 22:55
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Squashy Nipples posted:In my pile of random crap in the basement, I have pan with that exact shape, except it's heavy aluminum. Plain anodized surface, no non-stick. No idea what its for, or where it came from. Boston white guy eating Indian food checking in. Do you have any recommendations for markets? I've been hitting up Shalimar in Central Sq. and some random shops in the suburbs when I run out of hing or whatever. Most frustrating: I can never find fresh curry leaves in any major grocery stores. Also: Punjabi dhaba is clearly the best.
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Mar 13, 2018 23:10
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Squashy Nipples posted:In my pile of random crap in the basement, I have pan with that exact shape, except it's heavy aluminum. Plain anodized surface, no non-stick. No idea what its for, or where it came from. The place in Waltham has consistently been amazing for spices, too. And, agreed, there's a ton of good indian places near us!
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Mar 14, 2018 00:29
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Jewmanji posted:Boston white guy eating Indian food checking in. Do you have any recommendations for markets? I've been hitting up Shalimar in Central Sq. and some random shops in the suburbs when I run out of hing or whatever. Most frustrating: I can never find fresh curry leaves in any major grocery stores. The problem is, most of my suggestions are South Shore based, I haven't lived in Boston for a long time. That said, Punjabi Dhaba is good, and very consistent. If you want sit down Punjabi cuisine, I would suggest Punjab Cafe in Arlington: https://www.yelp.com/biz/punjab-arlington-2 There is a market next to H Mart in Central Square, but I haven't shopped there... If I'm in that neighborhood, I'm there to shop at H Mart. Here are the two Indian markets that I like best: South Shore India in Braintree https://www.yelp.com/biz/south-shore-india-market-braintree Produce quality varies, but they have a good selection. They have a full Halal meat counter in back, and a deli counter with hot food. Apna Bazar in Norwood https://www.yelp.com/biz/apna-bazar-norwood Can be a little pricey, but you can't beat the selection. Everything you could ever want.
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Mar 14, 2018 21:32
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Is the dal recipe in the OP going to be more of a soup or thicker curry texture? My wife is Baha’i and at their feasts there would always be dal. I want to try making it, but she said it was the thicker kind and I want to make sure I get it right.
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Apr 21, 2018 21:57
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22 Eargesplitten posted:Is the dal recipe in the OP going to be more of a soup or thicker curry texture? My wife is Baha’i and at their feasts there would always be dal. I want to try making it, but she said it was the thicker kind and I want to make sure I get it right.
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Apr 22, 2018 04:24
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Ah, okay. I guess it will be trial and error then. Her family stopped going a long time ago and she's not Persian herself so she doesn't have a family recipe or anything. I'll find a recipe that's noted as a Persian style and hope that it's close. Thankfully we have a couple pretty decent Asian markets for a town our size that have a ton of whole spices, more obscure prices, and ghee that doesn't cost $Whole Foods. We've also got a Sprouts nearby that has bulk lentils. Does this recipe look like it would be suitable for a spice wimp? https://turmericsaffron.blogspot.com/2010/11/dal-adas-southern-iranian-style-red.html 22 Eargesplitten fucked around with this message at 20:39 on Apr 22, 2018 |
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Apr 22, 2018 18:55
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I have no opinion on the spices, but making your own ghee isn't hard or expensive, just time-consuming. http://goonswithspoons.com/w/index.php?title=Clarified_Butter&hsa=1 I do four sticks at a time, whatever unsalted butter I can find that is cheapest. So that's $3-4 plus some time for ~half a mason jar of ghee. Same thing plus spices gets you niter qibe for African cooking. Don't need to spoon it off the solids at the end; I find that straining through a double layer of cheesecloth works just fine. Also thank you to whoever maintains the goons with spoons wiki, I use it on the regular.
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Apr 22, 2018 22:12
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Huh, interesting. I bought maybe a half pint of ghee for $7 yesterday anyway.
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Apr 23, 2018 20:24
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Double posting because I live on the edge and follow my own rules. My wife made it a couple nights ago. Fantastic even though she forgot the onion. I think she cut the red pepper in half, which is fine by me. I could take it hotter, but even medium salsa is too much for her so we make food for the weakest tongue.
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Apr 25, 2018 16:23
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22 Eargesplitten posted:Double posting because I live on the edge and follow my own rules. Sounds good! You definitely want some onion in there though. Very important. People in India literally riot when onions are threatened. If you want an easy way to add heat without messing too bad with flavor for the individual pallete, get some chilli oil and drop on to your liking. I'm gonna try again to make Boyfriend Dal this week. He makes the bast drat Dal I've ever tasted, and I just can't get the trick of it.
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Apr 25, 2018 17:42
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When I saw this recipe on my subscriptions, I decided to make it because it looked great. I don't have access to any dried fenugreek leaves in spite of living in a big Bangladeshi neighborhood, so I skipped that. I added additional chili powder. Oh, and I replaced the gulab jamun with chicken breast, because I'm a carnivore. Turned out very well, and spicy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXO988vLRG8
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Jun 5, 2018 02:15
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I've got a bunch of Indian recipes that generically call for "dried chilies" (like that helps me much). I've had pretty bad luck buying random bags from the grocery store, most being pretty tasteless or devoid of spice entirely. Say for example I have a Vindaloo recipe that calls for "20 dried chilies", can anyone recommend for me what I should be looking for? Or some I could pick up from amazon that would taste good? Alternatively, should I just substitute some chili powder instead? I'm still just getting started with Indian cooking so I'm trying to figure out how to manage all these different spices and how much to get or how long they keep etc.
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Jul 2, 2018 16:45
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Gwyrgyn Blood posted:I've got a bunch of Indian recipes that generically call for "dried chilies" (like that helps me much). I've had pretty bad luck buying random bags from the grocery store, most being pretty tasteless or devoid of spice entirely. Say for example I have a Vindaloo recipe that calls for "20 dried chilies", can anyone recommend for me what I should be looking for? Or some I could pick up from amazon that would taste good? What kind of ethnic markets do you have around you? That's usually the best place to find spices. Buying from Amazon is going to be a crapshoot because you have no idea how long it's been sitting on a shelf. If you don't have an Indian market maybe you have a Mexican market or a Chinese market? Chiles de árbol are going to be pretty close to dried Indian Chilies, Thai birds eye chilies and the Korean and Chinese dried chilies will probably be farther off but acceptable.
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Jul 2, 2018 17:03
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We've got lots of ethnic markets around here but I haven't had a chance to stop in at an Indian one yet. I'm not sure what varieties of Indian chilies I should be looking for specifically though, once I get out to one.
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Jul 2, 2018 17:24
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Gwyrgyn Blood posted:We've got lots of ethnic markets around here but I haven't had a chance to stop in at an Indian one yet. I'm not sure what varieties of Indian chilies I should be looking for specifically though, once I get out to one. Definitely check it out, the prices on spices will be shockingly tiny. The long, thin red chilies are the ones that you're looking for. The fatter Kashmiri chilies are milder and smokier in flavor. They're also tasty and get used in other Indian recipes but the long thin ones are the right kind for Vindaloo. If you're dead set on buying online this is the right kind: https://www.amazon.com/Swad-Chillies-3-5oz-Indian-Groceries/dp/B00BLBJOO0 Leviathan Song fucked around with this message at 18:00 on Jul 2, 2018 |
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Jul 2, 2018 17:53
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Cool, thanks. I'll see if I can't pick up everything I need at the local market, just as soon as I figure out how to organize all these extra spices I need 
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Jul 2, 2018 20:10
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Leviathan Song posted:Definitely check it out, the prices on spices will be shockingly tiny. there's a dude in Phoenix who I'm almost certain was smuggling things or laundering money because his saffron prices were impossible never reported him to the feds, though, because i like spices
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Jul 3, 2018 00:10
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Trash saffron, sometimes dyed with tumeric if they're super sketchy, is mad cheap
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Jul 3, 2018 01:37
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i like nice words
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My friend's mom took a trip to Malta or Cypress or somewhere and came back with a pound of "saffron" and was like "It was only $50! Those people are so stupid!" It looked as if someone had dyed hamster bedding with turmeric.
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Jul 3, 2018 05:24
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Is there a good place online to buy some solid jaggery that can be eaten like pieces of fudge?
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Jul 15, 2018 01:37
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Vindaloo turned out good   Wondering about the color though, as mine came out a pretty dark brown overall. Restaurants around here are typically a very bright red, is that likely a major difference in recipe? Or type of ingredient maybe? It definitely tasted great so no complaints about that part. Still working on a storage solution for all these loose spices, just got piles of mini tupperware containers doing the job for now.
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Jul 16, 2018 18:32
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Pretty sure a bunch of restaurants just use food colouring. It definitely is a thing with tandoori chicken.
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Jul 16, 2018 18:39
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Yup, red food coloring. I once saw into the kitchen at one of my favorite Indian joints, and they had shelf with GALLONS of red food coloring.
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Jul 16, 2018 18:46
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Oh, bleh. Guess I'll just enjoy my brown colored Vindaloo as is then. Or maybe add some more chilies to brighten it up a bit what could go wrong 
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Jul 16, 2018 19:17
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idk how red it would make your vindaloo, but kashmiri chili powder is used in India to give foods colour. It's hot but not hot hot hot
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Jul 16, 2018 19:48
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Kashmiri mirch will make it a bit redder, and adding some turmeric will give you a nice golden hue. Or you can dehumanize yourself and face to food coloring.
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Jul 16, 2018 23:35
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qkkl posted:Is there a good place online to buy some solid jaggery that can be eaten like pieces of fudge?
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Jul 17, 2018 01:41
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I've got a bag of kashmiri powder already so I'll give a little of that a go next time. Another question though, if I want to add some vegetables to the vindaloo, should I just follow general stew simmer times? So like, ~30-40 minutes for potatoes?
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Jul 17, 2018 17:58
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Qubee posted:goan fish curry will forever change your life and raise your standards for flavour and yumminess of food, full stop. Need a link to a good recipe, thank you. First thing I found on google called for low-fat cooking spray and I immediately clicked out. I don’t know a good general source for Indian recipes if you could help with that too
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Jul 21, 2018 05:20
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fr0id posted:Need a link to a good recipe, thank you. First thing I found on google called for low-fat cooking spray and I immediately clicked out. I don’t know a good general source for Indian recipes if you could help with that too it was in a recipe book my mum made, but it's been so long I can't remember if I made it myself or if I ate it whilst I was visiting family. my mum has tonnes of old indian cookbooks, I'd ask her to take a photo of it but every time I ask for recipe photos, she either forgets or doesn't know how to.
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Jul 21, 2018 17:30
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I just made the best daal I've ever made in my life. I wanted to share. It has lentils, wild rice, some garden vegetables, curry leaves, and a ton of ghee tarka. Thanks, dino! You got me thinking about it with a recent post.
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Jul 31, 2018 22:27
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1) I have a recipe for Malai Kofta here that calls for ghiya (winter melon), which I have not seen around here. Any idea what kind of suitable replacements there might be? 2) I made some lamb kabobs the other day, they tasted absolutely amaizing but they just would not hold together at all. Not sure if I got too much moisture (too much onions maybe) or what. But I should be able to add an egg yolk and some breadcrumbs to help things hold together right?
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Aug 3, 2018 19:05
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What's something I can make with dried green split peas? I think I bought them thinking they were akin to one of the daals. It'd be extra helpful if it's low fat, too.
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Aug 4, 2018 22:35
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QuarkMartial posted:What's something I can make with dried green split peas? I think I bought them thinking they were akin to one of the daals. It'd be extra helpful if it's low fat, too. Not Indian, but split pea soup is all I can think of for dried green peas. Here's my go-to recipe: https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/slow-cooker-split-pea-soup For low-fat (kinda-sorta), I recommend using diced smoked turkey rather than ham hocks
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Aug 5, 2018 07:16
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Saffron for a Biryani, should I be looking for Kashmiri saffron? I couldn't find any at the Indian market or at Penzy's, should I just try my chances on Amazon? I did try some Spanish saffron previously and it uh... didn't taste real good.
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Aug 6, 2018 17:57
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Gwyrgyn Blood posted:Saffron for a Biryani, should I be looking for Kashmiri saffron? I couldn't find any at the Indian market or at Penzy's, should I just try my chances on Amazon? If you bought cheap saffron it was almost certainly fake.
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Aug 14, 2018 16:56
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Gwyrgyn Blood posted:Saffron for a Biryani, should I be looking for Kashmiri saffron? I couldn't find any at the Indian market or at Penzy's, should I just try my chances on Amazon? Unless you’ve got a very good spice purveyor, you won’t find Kashmiri saffron. It’s heart stoppingly expensive. If you can get Iranian saffron, it’s really good stuff. But whatever you do, don’t get saffron from the grocery store. Get it from either a specialty spice seller, or an ethnic market.
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Dec 11, 2018 14:25
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