| Today, we prepared an Indian-inspired nut desert for a potluck picnic. First, we boiled milk to half its original volume, added sugar, then cashews ground in a food processor, and finally cardamom. We cut the fudge into diamond shapes and decorated each piece with a blanched almond (because we ran out of cashews). Here is the Cashew Milk Fudge recipe. |
Archive for Geo:Indian
Cashew Milk Fudge (Barfi Kajoo)
Lentils with Garlic Butter (Masar Dal)
Today, I flavored orange lentils (masoor dal) with a fried garlic oil. It was a nice change from the Masala Dal, or lentils spiced with caramelized onion and cumin seeds that we have been preparing regularly. Here is the Lentils With Garlic Butter recipe.
Shahi Sabz Korma (Royal Braised Vegetables in Cardamom Nut Sauce)
This week, we prepared two dishes that use milk.
Earlier in the week, we made paneer, an Indian cheese, with just boiled milk and lemon juice. We also prepared a cardamom spice mixture called Mughal garam masala.
Then today, we cooked potatoes, carrots, and turnips in a rich liquid mixture of sautéed onions, garlic, ginger, jalapeño peppers, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, almonds, yoghurt, the paneer, cream, and Mughal garam masala. The dish is called Shai Sabz Korma. The term “Korma” refers to “braising” in Indian cooking.
For desert, we boiled shredded carrots in milk and cardamom, pan-fried the carrots with a buttered oil and sugar, and then mixed in golden raisins and pistachio nuts. The dish is called Carrot Halva. The term “Halva” refers to a sweet confection.
Here are the recipes for Paneer, Mughal Garam Masala, Royal Braised Vegetables, and Carrot Halva.
Cauliflower
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Today, we deep-fried several vegetables with chickpea flour batter. |
Here is the recipe.
Tim and Mary Indian Party
We prepared an Indian dinner with Tim’s and Mary’s family to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. The centerpieces were Chicken Tikka Masala, a tomato-based curry, and Andi’s Chicken Curry, the classic yellow curry with carrots and potatoes.
We also prepared Lentils With Garlic Butter, Cauliflower Fritters, Whole Eggs In Tangy Tomato Sauce, Plain Steamed Basmati Rice, and Yoghurt Sauce.
Cauliflower and Squash
Today, to provide ideas for Thanksgiving, we prepared two cauliflower dishes and one squash dish.
| The first cauliflower dish was prepared Indian-style with homemade curry spices.
The second cauliflower dish was prepared Roman-style with the combined flavors of garlic, lemon, and olive oil. Finally, the squash dish was prepared French-style with glazed squash and gently cooked onions. |
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Here are the recipes.
Tomatoes and Okra
Today, we prepared heirloom orange tomatoes into a tomato sorbet. This savory dish is served in fancy meals to clean the palate in between courses.
We also prepared heirloom red tomatoes into a more traditional tomato-potato cream soup.
Our town of Northfield was hit hard by hail a few days ago. Many tomato gardens were damaged and tomatoes had to be harvested. We prepared oven-dried tomatoes to show what could be done with the unexpected harvest. We served the dried tomatoes in a cracker and sour cream canape.
Finally, we prepared stir-fried okra, lightly salted and without the slimy texture that turns many people away.
Here are the recipes.
Cabbage and Turnip
Today, we prepared two dishes with the bounties of local produce. The first was a cabbage dish with Indian spices. The second was an elegant cream of turnip soup, prepared French style.
Here are the recipes.
Andi’s Chicken Curry and Other Yogurt Delights
Today, we prepared yogurt, an ancient food product, in three different ways — with a vegetable (spinach), with a fruit (bananas), and finally, with a meat (chicken). We used Nancy’s Organic Yogurt, which is made up only of milk and fermenting bacteria (no sugar, starch, or artificial anything).
For the first dish, we blanched spinach and dressed it with yogurt spiced with freshly roasted and ground cumin and coriander. For the next dish, we incorporated ripe red bananas from Chile with blanched almonds and raisins in yogurt sweetened with honey and accented with freshly ground nutmeg. For the penultimate dish, we prepared Andi’s chicken curry with fresh free-range chicken, deboned and wrapped in a golden sauce from a home-made mixture of spices and accompanied by yukon gold potatoes and green top carrots.
Here are the recipes.
Mulligatawny Soup (Mullagatani)
Today, we featured an Indian soup which has developed western characteristics. Mullagatawny soup involves classical Indian cooking methods like caramelized onions, curry powder, red pepper, and cilantro. It also features western methods in the form of pureed vegetables and heavy cream.
We prepared the soup with a curry powder that we mixed from several whole spices, turmeric powder, and cayenne pepper powder. The soup was served with ciabatta rolls.
Here are the recipes.
Luigi Cooks 