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mcustic posted:I got some Indian jaggery/ghur. What kind of sweet can I make with it? If possible, vegan. Unni appam! Rice flour, jaggery, very ripe banana, cloves, ginger. Make a lumpy batter and deep-fry spoonfuls. So good.
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Jul 12, 2014 00:49
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Thanks guys. Will stuff work if I use coconut oil instead of ghee/butter for ladoos?
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Jul 12, 2014 09:32
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mcustic posted:Thanks guys. Will stuff work if I use coconut oil instead of ghee/butter for ladoos? yes
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Jul 12, 2014 14:13
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dino. posted:yes My ladoos are cooling right now. I'll make 'em into balls soon. They kind of went dark really fast, much faster than when I used to use butter. Five minutes tops. We'll see how tasty they turn out to be.
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Jul 12, 2014 15:10
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I've been trying to make red lentils (masoor dal) into something tasty on-and-off. It's always so bland. I suspect when I go out for something with lentils, they cram it to death with butter and cream to make up for things. On a similar vein, I have some trouble with brown rice too. It seems to come off as a little mushy, but what I gather for South Indian, that is ideal. Is that right? I'm wondering if masoor dal requires any special treatment compared to other dal. Then beyond that, is there a dish where that is the primary ingredient? It might just be that I'm trying to make a masoor dal porridge with lumps of vegetables in it.
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Jul 13, 2014 22:44
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What are the spices you're using? When I do the mustard/cumin/turmeric thing, plus hot green peppers, plus whatever other spices I feel like adding (like in the OP), the dal is anything but bland.
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Jul 13, 2014 23:42
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Oh god, why. OK. It DOES need fat, if you're making it North Indian style. It needs very little fat (but lots of other spices) if it's South Indian style. In the OP is a recipe for daal. Use it. Basically, for 1 cup of dry daal, use roughly 2 TB of oil, 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds, 1 large onion, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 3 - 5 thai bird chilies, chopped up, anywhere between 1 and 3 small plum tomatoes (chopped; if you use tinned tomatoes, pass them through a blender right quick, and pulse until it's pureed somewhat), and a hefty couple of tablespoons of fresh grated ginger. If you can get them, add curry leaves as well. If you can't get curry leaves, cilantro does great. In a pot, add 1 cup of lentils, and add 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, and let it simmer away for 25 minutes or so. While that goes, make the spice blend. In a separate pot, add the oil, and heat it up. Add the cumin seeds, lift the pot off the stove, and swirl it around. The cumin seeds will pop and such. This is good. Add the curry leaves, chopped chilies, and turmeric. Stir quickly. Put the pot back on the stove, and dump in the onions. Drop the heat to medium, and cook the onions (covered) for about 10 minutes or so (lift off the lid and stir every 3 minutes). When the onions are softened, crank up the heat to as high as it'll go. When you hear the onions sizzle like mad, continue cooking until they're light browned. Add the tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes are a gravy like consistency. By now, the daal should be boiled. Add the spices to the daal. Salt GENEROUSLY. Add plenty of black pepper. Add the grated ginger. Turn off the heat, and let it sit for about five minutes. Garnish with cilantro. Eat with rice. If you want it more soupy, add more water to the daal. If you have mushy rice, go for a more liquidy daal. Mash the rice up vigorously, either with a potato masher, a spoon, or your fingers. Mix in the liquidy daal. Eat.
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Jul 14, 2014 00:01
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dino. posted:Salt GENEROUSLY. I'll try the recipe in the OP within a few days. I wasn't too different, but I think on the sum I wound up using a little less spice. Normally I'm not shy on that stuff, but I don't really know the proper proportions for dal. Out of principal, is there an alternative for tomato? I'm trying to find some Indian food that doesn't have tomato in it that my wife will like. I had dabbled in using curry leaves before generally, but my wife thinks the flavor they impart tastes too much like burnt plastic or something. I don't get that vibe at all, but I have to ask if that sounds like I hosed up something. I've tried keeping the leaf in and also taking it out, and she could tell either way.
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Jul 14, 2014 04:19
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Can I have a good chana masala recipe?
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Jul 14, 2014 05:11
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Skip the tomato and it'll be fine. You can taste it and add a bit of lemon juice to brighten it up. If the curry leaves are tasting off, try adding it at the end, without the bursting it in fat. If she's still unimpressed leave it out. Do. Not. Skimp on salt or spice. Pepper helps a lot too. It'll really waken it up.
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Jul 14, 2014 05:44
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Along with what everyone else posted, I always add a good amount of acid to dal - it really livens up the flavor. Lemon juice, amchur (mango powder), vinegar, whatever you have really helps. e: never mind it was posted already.
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Jul 14, 2014 05:48
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Happiness Commando posted:Can I have a good chana masala recipe? I just make a standard masala with turmeric, cumin, ground coriander, onion, garlic and ginger. Green chilies to taste. The important thing is then to season with amchoor, dried mango powder, this is the crucial part of the recipe. No amchoor, no channa masala. I usually add some tomato pulp as well. Add cooked chickpeas to the masala as it simmers, get it pretty dry. Add a good pat of butter and a handful of chopped fresh coriander at the end. I like mine fiery hot, but you are pretty free to adjust this as you like.
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Jul 14, 2014 07:28
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Looks like the salt and the vinegar worked out. My wife gave it a quality control pass, although she asked for more salt and a dollop of sour creme. I think taking it in the direction of salty and acidic gave her the general impression and she knew how to handle it at that point. I will admit I liked it a lot more than whatever I was making before. This is what I had done: 1c masoor dal, measured dry, then cooked. 2T pure olive oil 1t black mustard seed 1t cumin seed 1t tumeric 1t amchur powder 2T rice vinegar 9 jalapeanos, minced 1 onion minced, ~1T fresh ginger, minced lots of salt lots of pepper A bed of basmatic rice, since that's what I had. I didn't really get the mustard seeds and cumin seeds to dance in the pot. I didn't let the oil warm up as much as I should; I would have been better telling myself I was trying to make popcorn. I was afraid I burnt the seeds, but it looks like I got them one step before that. So next up: what about okra? They're in season now here and I haven't found too many uses for them. We usually end up stewing them, but I suspect there's a South Indian method for doing them dry that would be really nice.
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Jul 16, 2014 06:35
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Rocko Bonaparte posted:Looks like the salt and the vinegar worked out. My wife gave it a quality control pass, although she asked for more salt and a dollop of sour creme. I think taking it in the direction of salty and acidic gave her the general impression and she knew how to handle it at that point. I will admit I liked it a lot more than whatever I was making before. This is what I had done: I'm glad it went well for you! That sounds really tasty. One note: instead of sour cream, I'd use yogurt. Whole spices in general, but especially mustard seed and cumin benefit from popping in the pan. They won't dance, exactly - they should explode with enough force that you will want a lid over the pot. Heat up the oil with a single mustard seed in it; when that pops, add the pinch. You can treat okra sort of like eggplants, the small kind. There are several eggplant curries around; take a look at Manjula's Kitchen and VahRehVah for a few good recipes. Basically, just make a curry and throw in ingredients!
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Jul 16, 2014 08:52
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For the popping of spices, skip the olive oil. It won't get hot enough. Peanut or other vegetable oil will work perfectly. Like Symm said, it needs to try to escape your pot. Okra is one of those dishes that you either cook very long or very short. If you want them crispy, toss the slices in the popped seeds until combined. Transfer to a lined baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes at 350. By ovening them you won't have the slimy factor. The stirring seems to bring up the slimy big time.
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Jul 16, 2014 10:11
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Last time I tried to cook Indian food, I failed miserably. Tonight, though, I made some dry roasted potatoes and cabbage and your lemon rice, and everybody loved it! Thanks, dino 
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Jul 22, 2014 05:48
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Looking for a good Aloo Mutter and Vegetable Biryani recipe if anyone has one or a recommendation from a cookbook. Also, how tough is it to do naan in your oven, I have a pizza stone if that would help.
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Jul 22, 2014 06:21
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calcio posted:Looking for a good Aloo Mutter and Vegetable Biryani recipe if anyone has one or a recommendation from a cookbook. Also, how tough is it to do naan in your oven, I have a pizza stone if that would help. Here's a good aloo mattar recipe: shameless self-promotion
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Jul 22, 2014 07:34
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calcio posted:Looking for a good Aloo Mutter and Vegetable Biryani recipe if anyone has one or a recommendation from a cookbook. Also, how tough is it to do naan in your oven, I have a pizza stone if that would help. The best tip I learned for making naan at home and emulating the tandoor is to preheat a nonstick cookie sheet in the oven (around 425), slap the pre-stretched dough onto it once it's hot and stick it back in the oven until the top starts to get brown. Gets the texture you want. Crisp and crunchy in spots while still being soft and bready.
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Jul 23, 2014 23:21
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I get pretty good naan results by using a giant heavy cast-iron skillet I have - I preheat it dry over a high heat until is is super hot then throw the stretched naan dough in. When it gets puffy I put a splashguard wrapped in foil over the whole thing to retain the heat, then flip the naan after a couple of minutes to brown on the other side. Coat in melted butter and sprinkle with giant sea salt from Guérande (because I have a sack of it). Yum.
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Jul 24, 2014 10:01
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I have been having some success with this style of cuisine. So far I have had made a good lentil curry, dosas, a too-thick sambar that made a great vegetable curry, and some cabbage fried in that essential mustard seed/spice mix. We have been especially startled by the cabbage and how well we can replace half our rice with that. Come to think of it, what I don't know what to name what I did with the cabbage. It was fried mustard seeds and cumin with onion slices and cabbage. There was no coconut. The cabbage was sliced into ribbons. It was cooked until it was soft but still had some crunch. What would that be generally? I hate to say this though, but is there something good that is, say, red or green? Everything has been coming out yellow. I haven't been using tumeric in everything, but I have used red palm oil, which seems to come out yellow. I did say I was trying to dodge tomato, but I suppose that's fair game now. Maybe something with red-colored beans (albeit not necessarily American red beans). Beets would be fair game and a clever path to follow; we don't have many tricks for using beets here. Please: nobody tell me to get into naan. I had built a wood-fired oven at my old house and it could poo poo those things out like nobody's business. It makes me sad to try to think about that now. I might have enough fireclay and pottery sand left here to form a small tandoori, but let's not talk about it.
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Jul 30, 2014 06:04
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Rocko Bonaparte posted:I have been having some success with this style of cuisine. So far I have had made a good lentil curry, dosas, a too-thick sambar that made a great vegetable curry, and some cabbage fried in that essential mustard seed/spice mix. We have been especially startled by the cabbage and how well we can replace half our rice with that. I pretty often make cabbage just like that, and it's always delicious. I don't know what to call it, though. Any sort of saag, such as palak paneer or methi saag, will be green - anywhere between bright and dark green, though usually on the darker side (at least the way I prepare it). For red coloring, use degi mirch, kashmiri mirch, or paprika. Tomatoes, of course.
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Jul 30, 2014 07:17
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My girlfriend and I have started to cut down on meat in our diets due to the cost and partly because of blurry ethical reasons. However, you'll note I said cut down not cut out, as we've got terrible/non-existent self control. I recently found some vegetarian/vegan recipes for jackfruit curries that purport to be Southern Indian (and Sri-Lankan, but this isn't that thread). What exactly is jackfruit, how is it used both modern and traditionally, what does it taste like, how is it prepared, and have you got any recipes someone with access to pretty much any ingredients I could try at home? Or correct me/the internet if I've been lied to.
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Jul 30, 2014 08:40
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@Rocko: You've discovered muttakose curry. Literally, cabbage curry. It's a VERY commonly eaten dish in the south. You can fancy it up with onion, or carrot, or bell peppers as the mood takes you. Green chillies are also a favourite. To make it more delicious, some people add potatoes (cooked potatoes) to it, and let the potatoes get crispy. You eat it with rice or roti. I have a recipe for tomato gotsu. http://goonswithspoons.com/Tomato_Curry_by_Dino It's a dish I shared with one of the goons in the IRC. He made it, and loved it, and kindly transcribed it for me. Casu Marzu if you know who he is. This is the time to make it, because it keeps forever in the freezer, and the last of the summer tomatoes are coming in. @Crowtribe: In the south, we just eat the jackfruit when it gets ripe. The vietnamese and thai people cook it. Correction. SOME people in the South like to cook with green jackfruit, but it's not very common. Here's a recipe, if you're curious: http://www.rakskitchen.net/2012/04/raw-jackfruit-curry.html Frankly, jackfruit is so expensive that I wouldn't dream of eating it any way but straight up.
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Jul 30, 2014 15:03
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crowtribe posted:My girlfriend and I have started to cut down on meat in our diets due to the cost and partly because of blurry ethical reasons. However, you'll note I said cut down not cut out, as we've got terrible/non-existent self control. Depending on where you live you might be able to find tinned jackfruit, both unripe and ripe kinds, in Chinese or south-east Asian supermarkets. Aroy-D and Chaokoh brands sell it relatively cheaply online too, though I'm not sure what the delivery costs are like. I like using cans of unripe jackfruit in Indonesian food. It has a similar texture to some cuts of pork once cooked, it shreds and flakes into strands like meat does, and it takes on flavour nicely, so it makes good fake babi kecap or even a more Western-style pulled pork or hog roast too. I simmer it in vegetable stock for a little while along with a small amount of whatever spices or flavourings I'm using in the final dish, then treat it like meat after that, either reducing the stock and adding sauces to stew it, braising it or stir-frying it. Ripe jackfruit is very sweet, it's quite a bit like a very ripe mango with a similar texture, but with a faint extra taste that reminds me a little of chewing wax crayons as a kid, not in an unpleasant way though.  I'd be interested in recipes for ripe jackfruit, I see the tins alongside the tins of young unripe jackfruit, but I never know what to do with it.They look amazing on the tree, too, they're enormous. I wish I could see a whole one in real life sometime instead of already cut up in tins. Look at the size of these things!   
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Aug 5, 2014 00:34
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It's not a thing you cook with. Here is the recipe. Open mouth. Insert ripe jackfruit. Eat. Are there no things in the USA that you just eat!? Eat it.
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Aug 5, 2014 13:22
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quote:I wish I could see a whole one in real life sometime instead of already cut up in tins. If you go to a good asian grocery, and I mean giant supermarket but is extremely Chinese (or maybe Korean), they might have whole jackfruit. Kam Man, in the Boston area, has em, and holy poo poo are they gigantic.
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Aug 5, 2014 14:24
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dino. posted:It's not a thing you cook with. Here is the recipe. Open mouth. Insert ripe jackfruit. Eat. Are there no things in the USA that you just eat!? Eat it. I'm in the UK, but it's pretty much the same story here, British food is traditionally all stewed to hell but without all the sugar of USA food. Though our food has been getting better over the years, partly thanks to influences from India! 
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Aug 5, 2014 14:38
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I'd like to dig this thread out of the ditch to ask for some tips on making real thin dosa. I'm using a food processing to grind up lentils and rice, and I think it is too coarse/grainy. I think some of the chunks end up being too thick for the kind of dosas I've been having at restaurants that have a South Indian specialty. When I make them, they're more like potato pancakes. I kind of want to be able to lay out a full layer of batter on a griddle and roll up this giant, thin fatty of dosa.
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Sep 15, 2014 05:12
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Rocko Bonaparte posted:I'd like to dig this thread out of the ditch to ask for some tips on making real thin dosa. I'm using a food processing to grind up lentils and rice, and I think it is too coarse/grainy. I think some of the chunks end up being too thick for the kind of dosas I've been having at restaurants that have a South Indian specialty. When I make them, they're more like potato pancakes. I kind of want to be able to lay out a full layer of batter on a griddle and roll up this giant, thin fatty of dosa. Let mah boy vahchef show you some science: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp-YNd_4N04
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Sep 16, 2014 04:59
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SymmetryrtemmyS posted:Here's a good aloo mattar recipe: shameless self-promotion Don't suppose you ever cook a keema aloo mattar (or just a keema mattar)? I've been on a long quest to make one that tastes as good as my ex's mum (from Kerala) used to do, still not quite there yet.
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Sep 16, 2014 17:37
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El Grillo posted:Don't suppose you ever cook a keema aloo mattar (or just a keema mattar)? I've been on a long quest to make one that tastes as good as my ex's mum (from Kerala) used to do, still not quite there yet. I'll confess I rarely use meat. I find vegetables cheaper and tastier. I don't think I've cooked a single keema dish, actually. This seems like a good, authentic recipe, though: Niru's Kitchen. Adding aloo is fairly simple: add skinned, cubed, and rinsed potatoes a minute or two after you add the onions (just after they turn a little glossy and start to sweat) then proceed as written. If you're still on speaking terms with your ex, you might want to ask her if she can get the general idea of the recipe (which spices to use, for instance). A lot of times people will find a certain flavor blend that works really well for them, and it can be difficult to guess what it is. I'm guessing black cardamom is the missing taste, but you might've tried that already.
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Sep 16, 2014 23:01
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Tupperwarez posted:Let mah boy vahchef show you some science: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp-YNd_4N04 This guy is great, he is more enthusiastic and has more fun that pretty much any other chef when he is presenting his work. Thanks for the tip.
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Sep 17, 2014 07:45
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Rocko Bonaparte posted:I'd like to dig this thread out of the ditch to ask for some tips on making real thin dosa. I'm using a food processing to grind up lentils and rice, and I think it is too coarse/grainy. I think some of the chunks end up being too thick for the kind of dosas I've been having at restaurants that have a South Indian specialty. When I make them, they're more like potato pancakes. I kind of want to be able to lay out a full layer of batter on a griddle and roll up this giant, thin fatty of dosa. The thing about dosa batter is that it needs to be /very/ finely ground for it to work properly. If it's coarse, you've got uttapam, which is equally delicious, but it ain't dosa. Food processor will never get the batter ground finely enough. You need a blender. You also need to be making the batter in small batches, so that you can add the absolute bare minimum of water possible to get the more finely ground possible. I made a thread about dosa: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3585837
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Sep 18, 2014 05:02
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^^that thread is awesome dino, though gently caress knows I can't ever see myself having the time to do it! Did you ever post your recipe for the potato masala? Used to have that for breakfast all the time at the ex's place, lots of green chillies in it though At one point we were having it with fried bread (soft white rolls), it was incredible.SymmetryrtemmyS posted:I'll confess I rarely use meat. I find vegetables cheaper and tastier. I don't think I've cooked a single keema dish, actually. Thanks man, I'll give that a go! Yes, I've only been using green cardamoms so far. The whole cumin and coriander seeds in that are new to me as well. Do you folks use frozen garlic/ginger paste, or pastes out of a jar? I'm kind of edging towards going back to using fresh garlic/ginger and chopping them - it's not as much of a pain as I remember and it seems like the taste benefits would be worth it.
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Sep 24, 2014 16:15
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El Grillo posted:^^that thread is awesome dino, though gently caress knows I can't ever see myself having the time to do it! Did you ever post your recipe for the potato masala? Used to have that for breakfast all the time at the ex's place, lots of green chillies in it though Let us know how it works out, and how it compares to her recipe. Making a tarka (popping whole spices in hot oil) is a pretty essential part of Indian cooking, and often what separates the good dishes from the really good ones. Powdered spices just don't taste the same. Personally, I make enough garlic, ginger, and chilli paste to last a week or two. As far as the spicy pepper to use, if you don't have an Indian grocer nearby, I recommend serrano peppers. They have close to the right taste, and are about the right heat. That said, I've used jalapeños when I couldn't find serranos, and they were still delicious.
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Sep 24, 2014 20:29
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The potato masala is a damned fine recipe, and one that you can make your own, depending on how you like it. 2 potatoes, boiled and peeled 1 TB canola oil 1 tsp mustard seeds OR 1/2 tsp mustard seeds + 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp urad daal few big pinches of hing (asafoetida) Curry leaves, to taste (I like a lot) 1 onion, diced 2 TB grated ginger (fresh) 1/3 tsp turmeric 1 cup boiling water, reserved Generous amount salt, to taste While the potatoes boil, add the oil to a pot, and heat over high heat. Add the mustard seed, and pop them. If you're using cumin seeds, add them after the mustard seeds pop. Swirl the pan around frequently (off the heat) to prevent burning of spices. Add the hing, urad daal, and curry leaves (in that order). Roast the ingredients until the urad daal turns light brown. Add the onion, ginger, and turmeric (in that order). Stir to get everything yellow. Drop the heat to medium low, and cover the lid. Cook until the onions are softened, and not browned. DON'T BROWN THE ONIONS. It will make everything insufferably sweet. Lightly crush the potatoes, and add them to the softened onions. Stir to combine, and let the potatoes cook in the dry pan until it starts to coat the bottom of the pot. Add the boiling water, 1/3 cup at a time, until the dish looks a little on the liquidy side. Boil furiously over high heat until it's the thickness you like. VARIATIONS: - add a bunch of chopped cilantro - finish with a squeeze of lime juice (I hate this variation so much. SO MUCH.) - Add plenty of chopped green chilies (preferably Thai bird's eye chilies) along with the onions. - Leave off the ginger (not an option in my house) - Add a few roasted cashews (kind of decadent, but delicious) As for pre-ground ginger and/or garlic, I avoid it. It takes just a second to grate ginger.
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Sep 25, 2014 05:51
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dino. posted:The potato masala is a damned fine recipe, and one that you can make your own, depending on how you like it. You hero. Going out to get Hing, urad daal and cumin seeds right now  Hmm, not a terrible first attempt (sorry for awful tupperware pic):  Overall came out a bit bland though except for some clumps of the ginger which wouldn't go away. The urad dal wouldn't turn light brown as you said it should - it just stayed black (as you can see in the image) and I think I spent too much time waiting for it to do something! I'll give it another crack over the weekend when I've eaten up this batch
El Grillo fucked around with this message at 22:05 on Sep 25, 2014 |
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Sep 25, 2014 18:54
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Wait, you had black urad daal? I've never seen that. :O I've only seen the white one, that's been hulled. Please GOD tell me you didn't buy the whole one with the shell still on? That stuff is terrible and I've got no clue what the hell to do with it.  If you needed more flavour, bump up the spices to your needs.
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Sep 26, 2014 14:53
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dino. posted:Wait, you had black urad daal? I've never seen that. :O I've only seen the white one, that's been hulled. Please GOD tell me you didn't buy the whole one with the shell still on? That stuff is terrible and I've got no clue what the hell to do with it. Well. That would explain it :facepalm: I'll let you know how I get on when using the proper ingredients!
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Sep 29, 2014 15:29
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