Category Archives: indian

Vegetable Biryani and Raita

Posted by Dave in gluten-free, indian, vegetarian and tagged with , , ,
Vegetable biryani and raita

Vegetable biryani and raita

I like Indian and Pakistani vegetarian dishes and have been preparing more of them lately so that I can share them with vegetarian (and gluten-free) friends; I’d not made biryani before, so here’s my first go at it.

This is like my Vegetable Pulao recipe, but with slightly different spices and vegetables.
I made a large amount, perhaps 8 servings.

Ingredients for the rice:

  • basmati rice (2 cups, rinsed and soaked for about 30 minutes, and drained)
  • ghee (~2 T., alternatively substitute canola oil)
  • tumeric (~1 T.)
  • bay leaves (a few)
  • coriander seed (~1 t.)
  • cumin seed (~1 t.)
  • cardamom (~6 pods)
  • cinnamon (1 stick, broken in half)
  • water (4 cups; I mistakenly used 8, having not carefully read the recipe below that par-boiled the rice in 10 cups, then drained and discarded the water, so I needed to bake the biryani to remove excess moisture)

Preparation: In a large pot, melt the ghee, add the spices, cook for a couple mins over medium heat; add the rice to brown slightly, and then add the water, stir and cook rice as usual, covered over low heat.

Ingredients for the vegetable and masala:

  • canola oil (~2 T.)
  • sweet onion (1/2 medum, sliced thinly lengthwise)
  • fresh green beans (1/2-2/3 pound, ends trimmed and cut to 1 inch lengths)
  • carrot (2 large, diced)
  • whole cashews (~1/2 cup)
  • slivered almonds (~1/3 cup)
  • coriander seed (~1 T.)
  • cumin seed (~1.5 t.)
  • garlic paste (~1 T.)
  • fresh ginger (~2 thumbs, finely minced)
  • fresh habanero pepper (1 pepper, seeded, deveined, and finely minced)
  • water (1/2 cup)
  • fresh roma tomatoes (4, puréed with the aforementioned 1/2 cup water)

Preparation: While the rice is cooking, prepare the following in oil (in an oven-safe pan if possible) over medium heat, in this order, progressively: carrot, onion, nuts, spices, garlic, ginger, habanero, green beans, stirring regularly.  When those vegetables are mostly tender, add tomato/water purée and reduce until carrot is tender.
When rice is done, stir tenderly into the vegetable mixture, e.g., with a bowl scraper.

Once I did this, the dish was still too moist, so I baked it at 350° F for 20-30 mins to reduce moisture and create a slightly dry consistency on the exterior.

Ingredients for the raita:

  • greek yogurt (16 oz.)
  • garam masala (~1 1/2 t.)
  • cucumber (1, peeled and cut to small pieces)
  • tomato (~1/3 cup finley diced)
  • carrot (1 small, julienned)
  • water (~1/2 cup, to desired consistency)
  • salt (to taste)

Preparation: before or during the preparation of rice and vegetables, mix thoroughly and let sit.

Serve the biryani with the raita on the side.

Vegetable biryani

Vegetable biryani

My desi housemate visiting from Bangalore approved of it; that’s a pretty good measure.
I asked him not to say anything if he didn’t care for it. :)

This was my first attempt, so if you have suggestions, please let me know.
The baking may be unnecessary if the water amount was corrected (e.g.., 2 cups water per cup of basmati rice), but I like the slightly crispy texture and browning it adds to the biryani.
Also, the habanero spiciness was nearly undetectable; if you like spicy foods, I’d use 2 or 3 habaneros for this amount of rice.

Here are the recipes I consulted for ideas:

Butternut Squash Curry

Posted by Dave in indian, vegetarian and tagged with , , ,

Butternut Squash Curry

It’s hard to pass up the beautiful squash at the farmers’ market this time of year.  I’ve been anxious to use the ones I bought recently, so this is my first squash recipe of the season.

Butternut squash, onion, red pepper.

For four servings, here are the ingredients:

  • 1/2 large butternut squash, cleaned of seeds, peeled, and cubed
  • 1 medium yellow onion, medium chop
  • 1 large red pepper, medium chop
  • ghee (or substitute canola or sunflower oil)
  • cumin seed
  • 1 habanero pepper, finely minced
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • powdered ginger
  • tumeric powder
  • garam masala
  • salt

Tip: ave, rinse, and toast the butternut squash seeds just like pumpkin seeds!

Squash, onion, and red pepper, prepared for roasting.

To prepare, toss the squash,onion, and red pepper lightly in canola oil, lay out on a baking sheet, and bake at 375-400° F for 30-45 minutes, until squash is tender, but not completely mushy.  Stir these ingredients on the sheet occasionally, to cook evenly.

When the vegetables are nearly done roasting, prepare curry spices in a large pan over moderate heat.  Toast cumin seeds in ghee, add tumeric, garam masala, then stir in a paste made of the garlic, ginger, and habanero.  Once the tumeric is cooked satisfactorily, stir in the roasted vegetables to coat evenly with these curry seasonings and salt to taste.

Combining the roasted vegetables with curry seasonings.

This dish was served accopanied by raita and rice.
The raita consisted of the following:

  • homemade yogurt
  • carrot, finely chopped
  • red pepper, finely chopped
  • scallion, finely chopped
  • salt

The basmati rice was prepared in a rice cooker with cumin seed and saffron threads.

My housemate had earlier prepared a nice dal that we served with the meal along with a store-bought naan.

Butternut Squash Curry served with basmati rice, raita, naan, and dal.

All in all, this was a pretty complete meal for a couple of computer science students… and a welcome return of fall/winter vegetables to the table.

Autumn’s early sunsets have been causing me much trouble with photographing dinners. Lots of adjusting color in photos, due to the exclusively artifical light in the house, and I’m still not very happy with it.

Here are some related recipes that I consulted when concocting this meal:

Kohlrabi Curry and Paprika Fish

Posted by Dave in fish, indian, vegetarian and tagged with , , ,

Kohlrabi Curry and Paprika Fish

A friend with a garden plot gave me a nice selection of vegetables that I used for this curry:

  • kohlrabi
  • eggplant
  • onion
  • jalapeno peppers (seeded)
  • zucchini

Additionally, I used these ingredients:

  • apple (e.g., Braeburn)
  • oil
  • garlic
  • cumin seed
  • tumeric
  • garam masala
  • salt
  • water
  • homemade yogurt
  • cooked rice

I usually wouldn’t add rice into a curry (but rather serve it on the side, as is traditional), but I had added too much water (to boil off without overcooking the vegetables), so I added some cooked rice at the end to soak up some of the water and thicken the curry.

Fresh Curry Ingredients

I’ve not cooked with kohlrabi before, but upon dicing it, I realized it’s going to take a lot longer to cook (until tender) than the other ingredients.  Cut the apple and vegetables to their desired size for the curry; for instance, I like onion in strips (top to bottom of onion), zucchini in slices.

Curry Ingredients

To further spice the curry, I added bay leaves, cardamom pods, star anise, and to the oil with the cumin seed, tumeric, and garam masala, then cooked the kohlrabi in that mixture for 15-20 minutes (until somewhat tender) before adding any more vegetables.  (I removed the cardamom, star anise, and bay leaves at that point.)

Oil and spices

While cooking the vegetables, I periodically added water and covered the dish to steam the vegetables.  Once they were the desired tenderness, I stirred in yogurt and some cooked rice.

The curry: almost finished

For the fish, I prepared a mixture of mild spanish paprika, fennel seeds, salt, and pepper, and coated swai fillets (thawed from frozen) and pan-fried them in hot oil.

Pan-frying the fish

Before turning the fillets over, I applied minced garlic liberally to the top side, then flipped them (once) to cook through until flaky.

I really enjoy anise and fennel, and quite liked how this flavorful preparation of fish went with this somewhat mild curry.

Kohlrabi Curry and Paprika Fish

Colorful Coconut Cream Curry

Posted by Dave in asian, indian, potatoes, vegan, vegetarian and tagged with , , ,

Colorful curry with carrot, red potato, broccoli, and coconut cream served with jasmine rice and raita

It’s been a few weeks since my last post, mostly because I’ve been making some old favorites that I’ve already posted and otherwise enjoying the nice weather and summertime.

Today’s post is a new off-the-top-of-my-head vegetable curry with a lot of color. I’ve done a number of indian and thai curries, but this one may be something of a haphazard fusion of the two, as I just chose my ingredients by whim.

Ingredients for the rice:

  • jasmine rice
  • cumin seed
  • bay leaves
  • cinnamon stick
  • hot curry powder
  • salt

Ingredients for the raita:

  • yogurt (I was lucky to have been given some homemade, from cow’s milk)
  • garlic, minced
  • carrot, julienned
  • green pepper, finely chopped
  • tomato, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
  • garam masala
  • saffron threads
  • salt

Ingredients for the curry:

  • canola oil
  • water
  • carrot, peeled and sliced
  • red potato, skins intact, small-diced
  • broccoli, bite-sized pieces, steamed
  • red onion, sliced (top to bottom) into thin strips
  • garlic, minced
  • habanero pepper, seeds and veins removed, finely minced
  • cumin seed
  • tumeric
  • garam masala
  • salt and pepper
  • coconut cream/milk
  • cilantro (chopped fresh or crushed dried)
  • thai bird peppers (one per serving)

I chose coconut cream for sweetness; you could substitute coconut milk (or even a yogurt) if you prefer.  Here’s one discussion of Coconut Milk vs. Cream.

Preparation:

First, to prepare the rice, I simply put the ingredients in a rice cooker and let it do its thing; afterwards I removed the cinammon stick and bay leaves and added them to the curry.

While the rice was cooking, I prepared the raita.  (Of course, if you want a vegan dish, you’ll have to skip the yogurt-based raita.)  Simply mix all the ingredients together, and let sit.  (This is also nice to make in advance, and refrigerate, as the flavors mellow and blend together.)

I prepared the curry in a 12 inch cast iron skillet; first toasting the cumin seed, then mixing the spices and oil, garlic, onion, hot peppers, and cooking the potatoes.  I added the sliced carrot later, as it was sliced thinner and would cook faster.  Add water occassionally as necessary to avoid sticking to the pan, and add the (separately steamed) broccoli and the coconut cream after the potatoes and carrot are cooked to suitably tender.

Coconut Cream Curry with raita and spiced jasmine rice.

I served the rice, curry, and raita sprinkled with some crushed dry cilantro leaf and a (cooked) whole red thai bird pepper.  (This hot pepper makes it easy for each diner to spice it up to their own taste.)

A colorful curry with rice and raita

That’s it! I hope this inspires some colorful cooking for you to share to likewise share with the wonderful people that color your life. :)

By the way, WordPress tells me this is my hundredth post!
(Now the money will start rollin’ in, right?)

Asparagus & Paneer Masala

Posted by Dave in gluten-free, indian, potatoes, vegetarian and tagged with , , , , ,

Asparagus & Paneer Masala with potato and swiss chard, accompanied by Saffron Rice

It being springtime in my hemisphere, asparagus is de rigueur.
This dish is my melding of that favorite, oven roasted, and combined with a new challenge for me: paneer – a fresh, Indian cheese, that I hoped would complement the asparagus.

First, I prepared the paneer. As it happens, I signed up for a cheese-making class this coming weekend and was looking forward to trying my hand at a fresh cheese such as queoso fresco. Coincidentally, Tahmina post Paneer – 101 just in time for me to give it a try.  I prepared the paneer just as she described, using the juice of a bit more than 2 lemons, and similarly pressed it at room temperature under a cast iron skillet for about 3 hours before using it.  Once the paneer was kneaded smooth, I also added toasted cumin seed (1 1/2 t.) and salt (3/4 t.), that I’d crushed a bit with a mortar and pestle, and distributed it evenly throughout the paneer.

Paneer with Toasted Cumin Seed

I prepared the saffron rice, first, by soaking perhaps 10 saffron threads in a few teaspoons water for an hour or two.  Then I prepared rinsed jasmine rice in a rice cooker; when it was done, I separated half of it into a bowl, and thoroughly mixed it with the saffron and the yellow water in which it was soak.  Lastly, I combined the yellow and white rice, and mixed them until approximately evenly distributed.  (Chopsticks are a good choice of tool to mix rice if it is somewhat sticky.)

I prepared the masala roughly according to these two recipes: Squash, Potato, and Chard Curry and Subzi Paneer Masala.  I used a large red onion and 2 cans of diced tomato for the sauce, puréed in a blender with minced garlic and ginger.  I diced multi-colored small potatoes (brown, red, and purple) and partially cooked them in oil (left from frying the paneer) before adding them to the masala. I cut the chard stems into bite sized pieces, and the greens more coarsely, adding them sometime after the potato, since they need less time to cook.  Also, rather than fresh hot pepper, I used a bit of cayenne powder.

While preparing the masala, I roasted the whole asparagus spears under the oven’s broiler on a foil-lined baking pan, with olive oil, being sure to turn them occassionally and not allow them to burn.  (If you were to serve roasted asparagus as a side-dish, you’d likely add, salt, pepper; since I was preparing it to top the masala, I used only the oil this time.)

To serve, rather than mixing the asparagus, cut into bite-sized pieces, and fried paneer into the masala, I simply tossed them together, keeping them warm in the oven, and placed them atop the masala so that their textures and colors were retained.

All in all, I wasn’t completely happy with this dish.  The tomato and yogurt-based sauce didn’t have the smooth consistency nor the bright orange color that I expected and had seen, for instance, in butter paneer masala dishes at restaurants.  I used a low fat greek yogurt, rather than the usual [high fat] greek yogurt that I buy at Trader Joe’s;  that may have been part of the lack of smoothness to the resulting sauce.

Here are a few things that I learned:

  • Making fresh cheese is not difficult, but practice may be necessary to get the desired consistency.  Mine was a bit on the soft side for pan frying;  I should have squeezed just a bit more water from the paneer before pressing it.
  • To present the beautiful colors of vegetables such as various potatoes and rainbow swiss chard, don’t cover them in a tomato-based sauce.  Next time I think I will either use the potato and chard or the blended tomato sauce, but not both. :)
  • I used whole coriander seed, that I toasted lightly with the cumin seed.  In this dish, however, the whole coriander seed was a bit too much of an occassional flavor explosion, so I would grind it next time.  (I have had a shrimp and broccoli dish that is perfect with whole coriander seeds, so it works with some things and not others.)
  • Bright yellow saffron-rice and white rice mixed doesn’t provide quite enough contrast to be as visually dramatic as I wanted.  Some Indian restaurants must use red food coloring as well.

I was quite happy with the paneer, and now I do have plenty masala left-over for meals this week… back to work. :)

Vegetable Pulao with Egg

Posted by Dave in indian, vegetarian and tagged with , , ,

Vegetable Pulao with Egg

This is the first dish that I’ve made from a fellow WordPresser’s blog, since I started my blog last month, specifically from this recipe: Vegetable Rice Palao.

This is a great vegetarian dish with a combination of spicy (especially with the quite hot Indian chili powder I had) and sweet (with the raisins, sweet corn, and carrots)!

I had most of the ingredients on hand, except I used a quality garam masala rather than cardamom and whole cinnamon; I put two star anise pieces in as well.  Also, *gasp* I didn’t have basmati rice, so substituted rinsed jasmine rice instead.  I cut the recipe to 2/3 (i.e., 2 cups uncooked rice, but the suggested amount of vegetables, raisins, and cashews), only because it’s quite a large quantity and I meant to eat this as a standalone meal, so I wanted a slightly higher ratio of vegetables to rice.  The suggested pairing with Egg Curry sounds great, but I was being lazy so just made some hard-boiled eggs, and buried them in the pulao to add some more protein to the dish after removing it from the heat.

Hmm, in hindsight, that’s probably too many changes to a desi chick’s recipe, but that made it fun for me; perhaps I have a problem following directions. :-)

Even with the reduced amount of rice, I got 6 full servings, some of which I served to friends with raita and garlic naan (Trader Joe’s).

Raita ingredients, stirred together:

  • greek-style plain yogurt, 16 oz.
  • cumin powder, 1/2 t.
  • garam masala, 1/2 t.
  • garlic, 3 cloves, dry roasted and minced
  • carrot, 1, peeled and finely julienned short pieces
  • cucumber, 1, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
  • onion, 1, small yellow, minced
  • tomato, 2/3 can, fire-roasted, diced
  • saffron (perhaps 6 threads)
  • fresh lime juice, from one lime (or add progressively to taste)
  • salt (to taste)

Vegetable Pulao with Egg and Raita

Chicken Tikka and Curried Potato

Posted by Dave in indian, meat and tagged with , , , ,

Chicken Tikka and Curried Potato

Served with basmati rice and cucumber raita.

Chicken: bite-sized chicken breast pieces marinated for hours then broiled. Marinade: goat milk yogurt, toasted cumin seed, minced fresh garlic and ginger, lime juice, salt, tumeric, garam masala, black pepper, cayenne, paprika.

Potato: prepared in a covered skillet, with canola oil, diced russet potato, minced garlic, white onion, water, chopped cilantro leaves, fennel seed, hot curry powder, garam masala, salt, green peas (frozen).

Here are some useful related recipes:

“Chicken Tikka”
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chicken-Tikka-109308

“Chicken Tikka Masala”
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chicken-tikka-masala

“Vegetarian Tikka Masala Recipe with Potato, Cabbage, and Peas”
http://melissaraydavis.hubpages.com/hub/Vegetarian-Tikka-Masala-Potato-Cabbage-Peas

“Cucumber Raita”
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cucumber-Raita-104741

Potato and Chickpea Masala Dosa

Posted by Dave in indian, potatoes, vegetarian and tagged with , ,

Potato & Chickpea Masala Dosa

I selected the ingredients for this masala mostly from the recipe below: Russet potato, cumin seed, jalapeno, fresh ginger, garlic, garam masala, curry powder, cinnamon, tumeric, canola oil, water, yellow onion, chickpeas, green peas, cilantro, but I also stirred in about 3/4 cup of goat milk yogurt at the same time as the frozen green peas.

This one was SPICY!

For the dosas, I used half all-purpose flour and half rice flour and added a bit more water until the batter spread thinly in the pan. Also, it was easier to spray the pan with cooking spray than to brush it with oil.

Some restaurants prepare a similar delicious dish, presenting a crispy dosa impressively as a tube larger than the dinner plate.

“Rava Dosas with Potato Chickpea Masala”
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Rava-Dosas-with-Potato-Chickpea-Masala-356035

Spicy Curry with Catfish

Posted by Dave in fish, indian and tagged with , , ,

Spicy Curry with Catfish

Tonight I made a hot curry spiced with one fresh habanero chili.

This curry was prepared similarly to an earlier curry, with garam masala, cumin powder, toasted cumin seed, tumeric, nutmeg, star anise, cinnamon, a spicy chili powder, a thinly-sliced fresh habanero and these vegetables and fruits: onion, garlic, red potatoes, acorn squash, apple, eggplant, rainbow chard, a yellow tomato, and cilantro. I also added a can of coconut milk, some honey, and peanuts. The large catfish fillet was splashed with lemon juice, seasoned with salt and pepper and pan-fried in canola oil, then divided into smaller pieces to serve.

I’ve definitely overcome my aversion to cooking things with very many ingredients since this dish has more than twenty-five!

Squash, Potato, and Chard Curry

Posted by Dave in indian, potatoes, vegan, vegetarian and tagged with , , , ,

Squash, Potato, and Chard Curry

This is one of the first Indian-style foods that I’ve made – a vegetarian dish that is both spicy and sweet; its inspiration was simply to make use of the fresh vegetables at hand and the Garam Masala I’d bought a couple months ago but had yet to use. :-)

Starting with one acorn squash, cut it in half, remove the seeds, but do not remove the squash peel; the peel will keep the squash from disintegrating during cooking, yet will become tender enough to eat. Cube the squash into approximately 1″ pieces and one medium potato to about 3/4″ pieces, and one coarsely chopped tomatillo. First, toast about two tablespoons of cumin seed in a pan (large enough to hold all ingredients), and remove them from the pan. To the pan, on medium heat, add a few tablespoons of canola or other oil and return the cumin seeds to the pan. Then add a coarsely chopped red onion and sauté it until the onion begins to turn translucent. In a mortar or bowl, mix four crushed garlic cloves, a finely chopped jalapeno and thai pepper (both with seeds), perhaps a teaspoon each of these spices: garam masala, tumeric, ground ginger, ground cloves, curry powder, and make it into a paste by stirring in about a quarter cup of water. Next add the squash, potato, and tomatillo to the pan and thoroughly stir in the spice paste, then cover the pan with a tight fitting lid and simmer on medium-low heat until the squash and potato is tender – about 20 minutes, stirring about every 5 minutes to check tenderness and add a bit of water as necessary to prevent burning. Lastly, add chopped green swiss chard, and cook for a few more minutes until the chard is cooked tender.

Serve over rice cooked with cumin seed. Enjoy!
I like this with tzatziki too; that’s arguably very similar to raita (Indian yogurt sauce), e.g., http://www.phamfatale.com/id_1846/title_Cucumber-Raita-Indian-Yogurt-Recipe/

I took some hints from the following recipes:
“Vegetable Masala”: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/vegetable-masala/detail.aspx
“Rava Dosas with Potato Chickpea Masala”: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Rava-Dosas-with-Potato-Chickpea-Masala-356035
“Acorn Squash Masala Fry”: http://yummyodds.blogspot.com/2011/01/acorn-squash-masala-fry.html