Hmm, finding a vegetarian Indian dish to make for dinner from scratch (which doesn't require a lot of ingredients I don't have and time) is an interesting challenge 🤔
Thus, why Indian restaurants and grocery stores here with takeout counters are appealing, LOL.
@ai6yr
Vegetable Biryani is easy to make, and most people enjoy this mild dish.
Green cardamom and star anise are the main things you might not keep at home.
Basmati rice is more fragrant, but you can substitute other long grain rice. https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/veg-biryani/
@EugestShirley Thanks! We have cardamom and star anise... just no pre-mixed Indian spices in the recipes I had been finding. Getting great ideas now here though!
Things are shaping up! I may, however, bicycle down to the grocery store for dried chickpeas instead...have to go there anyway for bunny snacks. Also have cumin, coriander, chili powder, turmeric around d here someplace.
@ai6yr
For a lot of Indian cooking, they use cardamom still in pods. If you enjoy chai, you throw a couple of pods in the water before boiling. The flavor get in the dish, and the whole pod is easy to extract. They are smaller than almonds. Look for green fresh looking pods.
@ai6yr My favorite accompaniment to our meals is Patak’s Chili Pickle. Pickles or achaar are to be used sparingly. You dab it with roti or naan and then scoop up the dish. Even among Indian stores this flavor is rare. Once they start ordering it for me it becomes their best seller lol.
@ai6yr A recipe for cilantro (dhania) chutney. Also goes good drizzled over chana & as a condiment for Samosa, Pakoras. Process in small food processor until finely chopped:
2 jalapenos, chopped in large pieces
½ inch ginger, peeled
2 garlic cloves
Add to the food processor and pulse until desired consistency is achieved:
1 cup cilantro leaves, packed.
1 lemon’s juice
2 tsp salt
2 ½ tsp sugar
1 tsp paprika
@ai6yr Wash & squeeze the juice from 1 medium sized lemon before you begin.Thoroughly wash the cilantro leaves and pack tightly into a measuring cup. Depending on bunch size from the grocery store, this could be anywhere from 1 to 1 ½ to 2 bunches. Since I don’t dry off the cilantro before packing it into the measuring cup, I don’t find it necessary to add any water to the chutney, but if it is too thick, you can always add water until you get the consistency you are looking for.
@ai6yr YW. It is always popular and I measured specifically so people could replicate it. Most hari (green) chutney has mint too but this is what I prefer. Aunties admonish me for the lack of mint and then ask for the recipe lol. It can doubled, tripled, quadrupled. People have tried to scale it for events, that doesn’t work lol. Also just twist off the woody stems from the bunch- no need to remove individual leaves!
@deewani@ai6yr
I wish my mother-in-law had taught me more, but her English was limited, and my Hindi is pathetically absent.
Also my roti were unacceptably not round.
I could watch, wash and chop.
@EugestShirley@ai6yr Lol @ rotis. Shape isn’t that impt but MILs will notice. I use an OXO rolling pin these days because it is the only one I’ve found to be easily washable without rust. The way I taught rolling to my nephew was that while you are rolling back and forth you are also making micro circles of your hands at the same time. Traditional fixed pin ones are usually too small for me. These days there are so many cookbooks so hopefully you find a similar recipe.
@deewani@ai6yr
My sister-in-law learned to make roti when she was 9-10?
Her MIL STILL complained about the shape, and every other thing she ever made. SIL is a good cook, though less masterful than her own mother.
@EugestShirley@ai6yr Tis the way ha ha. I learned the basic tadka for all Punjabi dishes from my cousin around that age. Loon, mirch,masala,haldi was the mantra she implanted in my brain for the spices (salt,pepper,masala,turmeric). The rest I learned from doing temple service. Library had few cookbooks in the 70s. Don’t get me started on moms & daughters lol.
@EugestShirley@deewani I've actually grown fond of recipes with metric measurements... I was very good at math in school, but for the life of me all the random conversions between measurements drives me bonkers. I'd rather multiple or divide by 10, THANK YOU, LOL.
@EugestShirley@ai6yr My mom came to the US from the UK with Mrs. Balbir Kaur’s Indian Cookery cookbook. That is how I remember the title, it shows up as Mrs. Balbir Singh’s Indian Cookery now. I never read it so I don’t know what the format was but I bet it was as you described. I was asked about a cookbook recommendation in 90s & saw Smita Chandra’s from Bengal to Punjab at B&N, read some recipes and it was similar to how I cooked so I chose that for my friend.
@deewani@ai6yr
Oh I love Patak's chili pickles.
I have trouble locating any cauliflower pickles, though.
You are right about using them sparingly. A touch will do.
@EugestShirley@ai6yr Hmmm I am not sure why that is. Certain pickles are the kind that are made at home like cauliflower (gobi) and carrots (gajjar), the veggies remain crisp kind of like a good jar of refrigerated pickles like Grillo’s. They do not have that typical deep orange base as many store bought pickles have. Perhaps they get too soggy for store bought?
@deewani@ai6yr
I don't know either. I make lemon pickles at home, but never tried making Gobi.
I used to be able to buy them canned, and transfer to a glass jar once opened.
I live near Artesia, CA, where there is block after block of Indian grocers.
Conclusion: Good! But, I need to get some garam masala, my attempt at homemade with partial ingredients was only partially successful. Also, used too much water so it was more like chana masala soup, LOL. Tasty, but not saucy. Also, either chop the tomatoes smaller or blend/smooth it more to be closer to the real thing! Tasty nonetheless, even if it was really "the same ingredients as chana masala without the exact right spice blend and consistency"
@ai6yr Try canned crushed tomatoes (or sauce or paste) next time instead of fresh tomatoes, that should blend with the spices better and give you better consistency. I love making chana masala!
@CStamp@chrisnelder It came out great! I ate more than I should have, but I have some leftovers I'll probably eat for breakfast, LOL. I'm adding that one (probably, refined) to my "easy possible quick dishes" list. Managed to get it done in 30 min and then walk away when I had a Zoom call and it was done.
@ai6yr@CStamp I've never tried doing Instant Pot methods with Indian food - it always seemed to take me all day (but I was also making saag paneer, chicken tikka masala, etc.) so 30 mins sounds like a win to me!
@chrisnelder@CStamp That was my initial hesitation here, and lots of GREAT suggestions from here pointed me immediately there. Which is AWESOME (since I clearly did not have all day, LOL)
@ai6yr You could always bring it to a boil on the stove without a lid to boil off the water so it is thicker. Also, mashing some of the chickpeas with a spoon against the side of the pot helps thicken it. I never tried instant pot methods so I can’t comment there.
@ai6yr I make Instant Pot Chana Masala often. Curry Lentils are a close runner up. Prep and cook time is just minutes, but I’m not great at keeping all the ingredients on hand.
@ai6yr The spice mix is always what gets you. You can mix canned chickpeas, tomatoes & random greens (spinach, kale, etc) with tumeric & other spices (or purchased yellow sauce like curry or korma) for a nice dish (from my Indian co-worker). Heat oil medium hot, add black mustard seeds until popping & spices to toast, then add chickpeas and tomatoes on lower heat until warm, then toss in greens & maybe paneer cheese until barely cooked.
@deewani@dougfir Mmmm... next time I hit the long distance interstates, I know where I am eating. No more lousy hamburgers or gas station hot dogs, or lame pancakes!
@deewani@dougfir Oh wow, wish I knew about that last time I went through the I-40, there are a bunch of places where that would have been superior to the gas station hot dogs or Dairy Queen or whatever terrible fast food we ended up with.
@ai6yr@dougfir Samosas with chana on the side and chutney is the best. A cheat for the crust is the refrigerated uncooked flour tortillas from Costco. Have written that recipe out for others too if anyone is interested.
@ai6yr@dougfir In general you can enjoy vegetarian Punjabi food in any Sikh Temple for free. You need to cover your head and remove your shoes. Sunday lunch is the biggest spread. Breakfast with chai & snacks is usually offered as well. As a little girl I perfected my chapati/roti rolling/cooking skills in service at the temple kitchen. I have to admit that I don’t eat Indian out that often.
@mem_somerville Hmm, now to see if I have any Masala anywhere here... or I may just need to run to the local Indian grocery (not too far, but will have to drive).
@ai6yr@mem_somerville Garam masala blend ingredients will vary by family and region. Some use whole spices instead. Since I haven’t repurchased a grinder yet, I have been happy with the simpler ground blend by Jiva organics. I tend to stay away from the ones with ginger probably because I use it fresh.
@ai6yr some ones I make (with different spice combos)
Kidney beans & onions
eggplant stuffed with crushed peanuts, tamarind,
tornla (sp?)
So many lentil dishes either just lentils or tomatoes, onion, rice etc.
But yeah if you're trying to make an Indian-American style dish they'll have a bunch of stuff
@ai6yr The quickest pantry meal is (hulled and split) moong dal because they usually take 20-25 minutes to cook, similar to rice. Often the 2 are cooked together to make khichdi (also seen recently at Trader Joe’s).
@ai6yr@colo_lee After our fire, the long hotel stay was made a little easier by buying quality frozen meals as takeout gets old fast. That is when I tried Amy’s khadi for the first time and I was shocked to find it tastes remarkably similar to what we usually make. https://www.amys.com/our-foods/indian-inspired-vegetable-pakoras
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