Suja's Feast (Recipes)

I'll start with simple stuff, 'cause typing on the iPad is a pain.

Carrot Salad

Grate carrots. Chop Thai green chilis fine. Heat a little ghee (clarified butter) or oil. Add a few cashews and fry till pale brown. Take off heat, add the chilis and add to carrots. Squeeze a little lime or lemon juice (key lime works well too) and add salt to taste.

Lemon Rice

You can make this with any leftover long grain rice.

Heat oil or ghee. When hot, add black mustard seeds, and let pop. Add curry leaves ( if you can find it), a dried red chili or two, a little turmeric, and fry another 30 seconds or so. Add cooked plain rice, salt and lemon juice to taste. Separately, fry in a little ghee, some golden raisins. They'll plump up. Add some pieces of cashews or roasted peanuts ( traditional is peanuts, but I don't like them, so I use cashews), and brown slightly. Add to the rice before serving.

More later, if you ladies want.

Yes, please! I am excited to try some new stuff! DH went grocery shopping tonight but returned without coconut for the green bean dish. I will have to go again this weekend.


Thanks for taking the time to post these!

:bellyrubs:

Thank you, Suja! We went out with friends a few weeks back and my friend had a meal that was sort of the same taste as a korma but it had a bit more a tomato flavor and was orange in color. I can't remember the name of it, but it was so good; do you know what it could have been and do you have any recipes for something like that? It seem like it was called pandori or something like that.

Thing is that there are lots of variations on the same theme, so it could've been something like this:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/vegetar...ma/detail.aspx

My own recipe goes something like this.

Veggies of your own choice, all cut into similar size. Grind tomatoes, ginger, garlic, coconut, green chilis. Heat oil, add a few fennel seeds (a little goes a long way), chopped onions, and fry until onions are slightly browned. Add a little garam masala and fry for another few seconds. Add veggies, ground tomato mixture, red chili powder, salt and turmeric. Cook until veggies are done. Garnish with coriander leaves, and serve with rice or naan/ chapati. For variations, you can soak some cashews and grind and add, or finish with a little heavy cream.

Another quick recipe

Potato Stew.

Chop ginger and onions, slit a few green chilis lengthwise. Cube potatoes, add the ginger, onion, chilis, salt and water, and cook till done. Should be thick when done. Add coconut milk, bring to a boil. Garnish with fresh curry leaves.

You can replace the potatoes with chicken or add green peas and carrots to this dish. It should turn out white. Serve with bread ( regular old bread, not Indian bread), or any of the Indian breads.

Chicken 65

Grind onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, garam masala, green chilis, red chili powder and a few strands of soaked saffron. Marinate chicken for at least 3-4 hours. Heat oil and fry until the chicken is done and the masala is well cooked (you don't want it to taste like raw onions or tomatoes. One way to tell it is done is that the oil will start separating from the rest of the dish. While this is not complicated, it takes patience.). This dish does not have a liquidy gravy.

Butter Chicken

Grind same stuff as above, plus bay leaves. Clean chicken and marinate it in a little salt, cumin powder, coriander powder and garam masala powder, mixed into yogurt (plain, non-fat works fine) In a little hot oil, fry a few fennel seeds, chopped onion and chopped tomatoes. Add the chicken and brown. Add the ground stuff, the yogurt marinade, and cook until chicken is done, and the gravy is thickened. Pour some melted butter over it and garnish with coriander leaves.

I'll admit that many of my recipes are simple, and tweaks of traditional recipes, because they tend to be too time consuming.

Thank you, thank you, for posting the butter chicken. I guess I'm not swinging completely vegetarian these days.

Since Suja took the time to create this thread, I'll pitch in by copying in the stuff from our other thread that started it all.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Suja

Chances are good what you've eaten is mostly North Indian food. What I cook/eat is mostly South Indian, so the flavor profile is going to be completely different.

I'll post a recipe of my own, and you can tell me if you think you'd like it. And a link to a recipe that I like a lot. The key to inoffensive onion is to chop it small and fry it really well.

http://vegeyum.wordpress.com/2009/11...ngbeansprouts/ (*extremely* healthy and YUMMY!)

Green Beans Stir Fry

Chop green beans really fine (as in 3 or 4 mm thick; you want to do this ahead of time as it is time consuming). Heat a little oil and add a pinch of turmeric. Add the beans, salt, red chili powder and saute until done (I like it a little crunchy). Add grated fresh coconut (or frozen grated coconut; if you live in a place with Indian grocery stores, you can find it there. You can add toasted coconut flakes in a pinch; just make sure it's not sweetened). Fry an additional 3 minutes or so and call it done.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y65...GreenBeans.jpg

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Do you have a favorite way to make raita? When we eat the ready-made Indian dishes from Trader Joe's, I chop up cucumber, tomato, a little mint if I have it and stir it into plain yogurt. It's never the same thin consistency or as smooth-flavored as what we get in restaurants.

Oh, also, I have several pounds each of red and yellow lentils. Any ideas about what I can do with them?

:D

3:30 am, and I want Indian Food.

I'll be goign to the store with Abbey tomorrow, for sure!

more recipes, please! Do you have any vegetarian recipes with lentils?

BREAKFAST SHAKE

Print

Ingredients
Banana - 1
Strawberries - 7
Granola - 28 grams
Milk - 1 cup
Flax seeds - 1 tsp
Method
Blend well and serve immediately as it cannot be stored.
Nutritional Value (per serving)
Kcal - 320
Protein - 10 grams
Fat - 2 grams
Vitamin C - 90 mg
It also provides a good amount of manganese, calcium, vitamin D, riboflavin, zinc and selenium.
Read out more at: http://www.divinewellness.com/content/breakfast-shake/

Suja! Come back. You've Pavlov'ed me and now when I think of you, my mouth starts to water.

http://www.havenvideo.com/images/smi...face-drool.gif

Me too! I sent those recipes to my dh (he's the main cook in the house) so I hope to come back soon with a report of yumminess!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by demigraf

Do you have a favorite way to make raita? When we eat the ready-made Indian dishes from Trader Joe's, I chop up cucumber, tomato, a little mint if I have it and stir it into plain yogurt. It's never the same thin consistency or as smooth-flavored as what we get in restaurants.

Oh, also, I have several pounds each of red and yellow lentils. Any ideas about what I can do with them?

:D

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There are lots of different kinds of raita. My personal favorite is to use finely chopped red onions and tomatoes. I buy my yogurt at the local Indian store, but you can use regular plain yogurt, whisk it (important!), and add water if necessary. Split green chilis and mash it into the yogurt. Remove the green chilis. Add the onion and tomatoes, chopped cilantro, and before you serve, add salt.

My cucumber raita consists of grated cucumber (squeeze and remove water), yogurt (whisked and thinned if necessary), salt, a little ground roasted cumin, mixed together. Add salt before serving. It looks really pretty if you use red chili powder and cumin on top, to decorate. You can add mint or cilantro (or both) if you like those flavors. Some people add garlic, but I'm not overly fond of that in a cucumber raita.

This lady usually has good recipes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYhp3ReLYzo (for this recipe, I'd chop them finer or use a food processor)

Basic Dal Recipe (for any lentil you might have)

Cook dal (depending on what kind, soaking first might help) with salt and a little turmeric.

Chop onion, garlic, ginger, green chilis (optional) and tomatoes. Heat oil, fry onion, when translucent, add garlic, ginger green chilis and fry some more, usually a few more minutes. Add to dal, add tomatoes, let simmer a few minutes, and garnish with coriander leaves. For a slightly different taste, add a pinch of garam masala. You can also play around with different meat masalas to see what you like.

*Everything tastes better if you use ghee instead of oil. As a variation, you can add some whole cumin to the oil before you add the onion.

I have a dry lentil recipe somewhere, but I can't find the darn book where I wrote it down. Maybe next time.

This is apparently my own recipe. Lord knows I'm not an 'own recipe' kinda gal, so I don't know where I came up with it.

Egg curry

Chop onions and ginger. Hardboil eggs, peel and halve. Heat oil, add a few fennel seeds, a couple of whole peppercorns, curry leaves. Add the chopped onions and fry, then add ginger. Add some chicken/meat masala (NOT garam masala, it won't taste the same; if you can find the brand 'Eastern', that works best) and fry for a few seconds, then add coconut milk. Add water to thin if you'd like, add the eggs, boil for another 5 minutes, and turn off the heat. Garnish with more curry leaves. Goes great with Indian breads.

Egg Fry

Cut onion into thin slices. Chop up some ginger. Hardboil eggs and cut in half. Fry the onion, and when slightly browned, add the ginger. Add a little water (like a couple of teaspoons; this keeps dry ingredients from burning), then add turmeric, chili powder, coriander powder, and fry a little longer. Add tomato ketchup (not too much; if you've got a lot of time on your hands, add chopped tomatoes and fry until the oil separates from your mixture), fry for an additional minute. Garnish with curry leaves.

Variants: You can add chopped garlic along with the chopped ginger, meat masalas, garam masala etc. to vary it up. If you use real tomatoes and fry it low and slow forever, it comes out tasting extra good, but who's got the time? Goes great with rice or Puri/Poori.

Oh my goodness. Am faint with desire for all the foods in here. We should rename this thread "Suja's Feast" or something grand like that. I'm going to try your egg curry recipe this weekend.

My dh loves Indian food and wishes I'd cook more of it, so I think I'll surprise him and put some of these on my shopping list today.

Mylah, just in case you're interested, there is a raw kale salad cooking demo downtown next week: http://sf.funcheap.com/raw-kale-sala...cker-galleria/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 3andMe

My dh loves Indian food and wishes I'd cook more of it, so I think I'll surprise him and put some of these on my shopping list today.

Mylah, just in case you're interested, there is a raw kale salad cooking demo downtown next week: http://sf.funcheap.com/raw-kale-sala...cker-galleria/

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Neat. I'm right there and can probably pop over for lunch that day. Thanks, L!

Love the new thread title. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by demigraf

Love the new thread title. :D

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The funny thing is that I don't really like to cook, so feasts are indeed rare.

Ghee Rice

Soak basmati rice in water for about 30 minutes. Drain and spread out on paper towel/newspaper to dry. Boil some water. Quarter an onion, and slice thin (I use red onion). Heat ghee and fry some golden raisins. They'll plump and brown slightly. Remove and set aside. Then fry some cashews, broken into pieces. Brown and set aside. Fry the onions until caramelized, and set aside. In the remaining ghee (add more if you need to) add a small piece of cinnamon, a few cloves, a couple of cardamom, a couple of bay leaves, and stir for a few seconds until the aromas are released. Add the rice and fry for 5 or 6 minutes (the rice should not turn brown). Add twice the amount of water as the rice - one cup of rice = two cups of water. Add salt to taste, put a lid on, turn down the heat low and cook until the water is absorbed. Before you serve, stir in the onions, cashews and raisins.

Most of the aromatics will rise to the surface if you cook the rice undisturbed, and will help you fish them out before you or someone else chomps on it. Kind of unpleasant.

I just stuck this thread because I am still using the recipes from it and have not printed any of them out and don't want it to ever get lost!

Just wanted to let you know, Suja, that I am still using the Butter Chicken recipe regularly. It is time-consuming for me, much more than my regularly-scheduled 30-minute meals, but I love it and my dh loves it and even though my kids don't like eating it, they really like helping cook it.

I love to cook. I will try some of those for the weekend.

Suja: just curious. Why did you start the thread in Secular vs. Random or NMMIG?

Tanya, the thread was a spin-off from the confessions thread where we were talking about food. :-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tanyachap

I love to cook. I will try some of those for the weekend.

Suja: just curious. Why did you start the thread in Secular vs. Random or NMMIG?

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It was a spin-off. I think it started with the green beans elsewhere, I gave other Indian food ideas, and there was a request to have a separate thread since it's easy for this to get lost in a fast moving thread spanning a gazillion pages. It was request based, so ended up here.

Oh, it makes perfect sense. Thanks Suja and Ashley. I will definitely try one of the chicken recipes above tomorrow or Monday.

Eggplant recipes for Myles

Baingan Bharta
One great big eggplant (Italian?)
Chopped onion (One large)
Tomato (about 3)
Chopped ginger (about a 1" piece)
Chopped garlic (About as much as the ginger)
Chopped green chilis
Chopped cilantro (lots)
Cumin seeds
Turmeric
Asfoetida - a pinch, absolutely no more than that (optional)
Coriander powder
Red chili powder
Garam Masala powder
Ghee
Salt to taste

Traditionally, the eggplant is roasted over coals. You can grill it whole (make slits and grill), or bake it in a 350 - 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes. When cool, peel off the skin and chop.

Immerse the tomatoes in boiling water for a few, peel off the skin (Dad does this, I haven't seen anyone else do that, but this might be why his tastes better than any of the rest), and chop.

Heat the ghee, and when hot, add the asfoetida and cumin seeds, then the chopped onions, and fry.

When it starts to brown, add the chopped ginger, garlic and green chilis.

Fry for 4 or 5 more minutes, and add the chopped tomatoes.

Once the ghee starts separating from the ingredients (low and slow works best), add the turmeric, coriander powder and chili powder, and fry briefly.

Add salt and the chopped eggplant, and fry for another 10 minutes or so. Traditionally, you mash the eggplant as it cooks.

Add the cilantro and garam masala, mix, and serve with more cilantro for garnish.

Goes great with any Indian bread, and also with rice.

For a small (and non-traditional) variation, you can squeeze a little lime/lemon over it at the end.

DH loves eggplant, so I do a really simple eggplant recipe. This may not be for you if you don't really like eggplant.

Eggplant Fry

Small eggplant, sliced thin. Mix with salt, and leave in a strainer to get rid of the water. Pat dry when done (if you want to, I usually skip it).

Heat oil, add some chopped onion, and fry until it starts to turn brown, then add a little bit of chopped ginger and fry for a couple of minutes.

Lower heat, add a tsp. or so of water (keeps the dry ingredients from burning), and add turmeric, coriander powder and chili powder. Fry until the water is all gone, then add the eggplant.

Stir to combine the ingredients, put a lid on it, and let the eggplant cook on a low-medium flame for a few minutes.

When the eggplant is just done, take off the lid, adjust the salt, increase the flame (if there is excess moisture), and do a quick stir fry.

Garnish with a quick tadka of oil, sesame seeds (the spherical black kind), and curry leaves.

Mostly, you want to not over-stir the eggplant, to help it keep its integrity, and you don't want it to overcook with the lid on. It tastes just fine whatever you do to it, but looks better if it's not so mushy.

Thanks, Suja! I am going to substitute the ghee with olive or coconut oil for whatever amount of time I'm avoiding dairy. I'm sure they won't taste as good, but I'll let you know how I do. These recipes just sound so AMAZING! I found an Indian grocery store about 20 minutes from my house for things like garam masala and asfoetida, and it's next to a Mexican grocery store I sometimes go to. So I can get everything in one trip, and maybe be inspired to come up with some Indian-Mexican hybrid dish like "chickpea chilaquiles in chutney" or something. LOL. Seriously, though, you're awesome for sharing your recipes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by demigraf

Thanks, Suja! I am going to substitute the ghee with olive or coconut oil for whatever amount of time I'm avoiding dairy. I'm sure they won't taste as good, but I'll let you know how I do. These recipes just sound so AMAZING! I found an Indian grocery store about 20 minutes from my house for things like garam masala and asfoetida, and it's next to a Mexican grocery store I sometimes go to. So I can get everything in one trip, and maybe be inspired to come up with some Indian-Mexican hybrid dish like "chickpea chilaquiles in chutney" or something. LOL. Seriously, though, you're awesome for sharing your recipes.

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Does ghee count as dairy? I know it is derived from butter, but it is pure fat; there is no milk protein there.

I don't know exactly how things classify as dairy, like if it has to contain milk solids to qualify as dairy, then I guess not, but since it's derived from a product that derives from cow's milk, I used that term. I wouldn't say no to ghee on most days (YUM!), just not on the current program.