Thanksgiving Dinner!

Today Thanksgiving Dinner menu was:

• Fried Tomatos with Chipotle Aioli


• Veggie Kebobs with spicy honey-cumin glaze


• Mint Pulao


• Fruit Custard Dessert

Fried Tomatoes

• 3-4 large tomatoes (beef stake tomatoes will do good as they are fleshy and large)


• All purpose flour


• Panko Bread Crumbs


• Yogurt or Kefir


• Oil to Fry

This is a fairly simple dish.

Cut tomatoes to about 2 inch thick slices. Sprinkle some salt on tomatos to draw out water. Pat tomatoes with paper towel to make them dry. Water in the frying ingredients will lead to a greasy food as water draws oil during frying rendering the dish very oily. 30 mins of leaving aside will make the tomatoes fairly dry.

Keep flour, kefir, breadcrumbs in 3 separate plates.

Put tomatoes in the plate of flour, then in the kefir/yogurt plate then in the bread crumb plate, coating the veggie very well.

Put it in a shallow fry pan with some oil and fry both sides.

Immediately transfer to paper towel or newspaper to draw out excess oil. You can also pat the slice in paper towel to get an oil free dish.

Serve with Chipotle Aioli.

Chipotle Aioli

Although the cookbooks recommend Aioli to be made with egg yolks etc. For me, the egg free Mayonaisse from Trader Joe's works wonderfully with the same taste. This is a very simple dish to make and you can use it as a dip for fried foods, chips and for sandwiches.

• 1-2 tbsp of chipotle peppers (you can get these in grocery stores as canned food, comes along with Adobo sauce, which is a tomato sauce. Choose the brand with less sodium)


• 3 tbsp mayonnaise


• 1-2 tbsp lime/lemon juice


• 2 tbsp oil


• 2 tbsp panko bread crumbs

Just put all these ingredients in the blender and blend. adjust texture, heat and lemon juice to taste. Add salt if needed. This should not come out runny but should be like somewhat of a thick dip.

Vegetable Kabobs with Honey Cumin Glaze

• about 7-10 Bamboo skewers. You can get them in grocery stores, they are cheap. Soak them for 20 mins or more so they wont burn.


• Veggies:


• Various peppers (orange, red, yellow, green, etc.) cut into 2 inch triangular slices


• Cauliflower: cut them rather large as it is somewhat tricky to put them on to the skewer if they are small.


• Onions: cut them into 2-3 inch long slices suitable for skewering


• Pineapple cubes 2-3 inch


• Paneer optionally


• You can also include other veggies like potatoes, brocolli, etc.


• Glaze:


• 2 tbsp lime/lemon juice


• 1 tbsp veg. oil


• 1-2 tbsp honey


• 3-5 red chile peppers


• 1 tsp cumin


• 1 tsp pepper

o Prepare glaze by powdering cumin, pepper and peppers. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk them adding salt as needed.

o Build skewers by stringing veggies into the sticks.

o use a brush to coat veggies with glaze

o Grill the skewers on the gas burner set at medium. You can put a steel wire rack on the gas burner to help with the grilling. Keep turning the skewers occasionally. You can put 2 skewers on the burner at a time. Apply glaze occasionally.

About making Pasta in NYTimes

This article says pasta must be made with lots and lots of vegetables or lots of sauce
and less pasta. that way we get less carbs and more of veggies, etc.

I agree very much with this. I made this pasta recipe today:

Farfale (bowtie) with lots of veggies

o 1 diced onion
o 2 or 3 med size tomatoes chopped coarsely
o 2 zucchinis julienned and cut to 2 inches
o 1 cup baby spinach
o 1 cup boiled chick peas
o 1 cup broccolis and cauliflower florets
o 3 carrots diced
o 1 bell pepper diced

o 2 cups of basil chopped
o 1 tsp oregano
o 1 tsp pasta seasoning (trader joes. contains no salt with lime rinds, basil, soonf etc.)
o 2 tsp chili flakes
o 1 tsp pepper


o boil chick peas in 2 cups of water and set aside
o Cook farfale and set aside
o saute onions in 1 tbsp olive oil, pepper and chili flakes
o add carrots and saute, then add bell pepper then add zucchinis then add broccolis then spinach progressively as the veggies are done. cover for 10 mins.
o Then add seasonings and 1 cup of basil.
o Finally add chickpeas
o Then add chopped tomatoes
o Finally add farfale, mix well cook for 5 mins.
o Salt can be added as pasta cooks, as veggies cook etc.
o For low salt cooking, salt can also be added finally to the finished dish.

This is a hearty dish with good mix of carbs and protein and veggies.

Namaste

meaning of namaste, probably taken from some upanishad verse from:
http://www.californiayoga.com/new_to_yoga.php

I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides, I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace.

I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.

Kadalai Masal

This is a receipe for a snack that i used to have at Erode in a roadside cart( i believe at valaiyakara st). The cart had a lot of customers usually lining up well before the vendor started business. And the preparation time included cutting onions and tomotoes in front of you. It took a long time, atleast 45 minutes, there was no seating, except for the bicycles ofcourse. But the taste of the Kadalai Masal made it all well worth it.

There are 2 variants: Kadalai Masal and Thayir Masal. Thayir masal is cooler but the heat can be adjusted by adding hot chutney on top. You start by making 3 chutneys: coriander chutney, red chili chutney, coconut spice chutney.

coriander chutney:
o 1 cup of coriander leaves
o 2 green chilies for heat
o you can add 2 jalapeno peppers after deseeding and removing veins. deseeding completely removes heat from the peppers and adding only the flavor.
o blend these with very little water with 1 tsp salt

red chili chutney:
o 6 red dried chilies
o 1 tbsp coriander seeds
o 1 tsp salt
o optionally 4 tbsp cut onion
o blend them to a paste in a blender adding very little water

coconut chutney:
o 1/2 cup frozen or fresh coconut
o 1 tbsp soonf seeds
o 2 green chilies
o blend them to a past with 1 tsp salt

Kadalai Masal:
o 1/2 cup of finely diced onions
0 1/2 cup of finely diced tomatoes
o 2 tbsp coriander and coconut chutneys; 1 tbsp chili chutney
o toss all these together and then toss in 1 cup masala peanuts (or bonda kadalai)
and 1 cup of crumpled indian snacks like ribbon pakoda or thattai or murukku etc.

Thayir Masal:
Same as above but add 2 tbsp yogurt. and 1 tbsp red chili chutney for extra heat.

The amount of chutneys can be adjusted to get the desired effect of heat or spice or creaminess.
Peanuts and snacks should be fresh to deliver the best taste. I buy my snacks at Saravana Bhavan at Sunnyvale.

This will be a guaranteed party hit if done well.

Potato masala

This can be made chunky, pasty or watery depending on the application. It can be
accompaniment to poori, chapathi, dosa etc. Or you can make sandwiches out of the masala.

• 4 large potatoes (boiled)
• 2 large onions (chopped medium size)
• 4-5 green chilies (slit long strips..)
• 2 tsps channa dhal, mustard, hing
  
• 1 inch ginger (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
  
• 1 tsp chana dal flour
  
• optional: curry leaves, cilantro leaves
  
• salt to taste..

1. Cut potatoes into 4 pieces, boil them and peel the skins
2. Cut 1 or 2 potatoes into small chunks and mash the rest
3. Sprinkle turmeric on potatoes and set aside
   
4. Heat oil, fry channa dhal until golden brown. add dash of hing and crackle mustard and add ginger and green chilies
   
5. Add onions and saute
6. add curry leaves optionally
   
7. Finally add potatoes and cook
8. When it is about to be done, add chana dal flour to 1/2 cup of water (upto 4 cups depending on the texture you need)

This can be made chunky or watery depending on application. YOu can use it for chapati, dosa, poori etc. You can use it as a sandwich filling as well or make wraps out of it.

spinach kootu

(slightly modified from the above recipe from bawarchi)

Spinach Kootu
Ingredients
Moong Daal -- 1/2 cup
chana dal - 1/2 cup
Baby spinach (or normal spinach)--- 0.75 Oz (340 gm)/1 bag
Cumin seeds (jeera) -- 3 teaspoons
Grated coconut -- 6 teaspoons
Pepper -- 1 teaspoon
Green chillis -- 4 (or less if u want it less spicy)

For Seasoning :Red chillis -- 2 , Mustard -- 1 teaspoon , and cooking oil -- 1 teaspoona teaspoon of salt & Asafoetida (Hing--in hindi , Inguaa--in telugu, Perungayam -- in tamil)
Method :
Boil Moong Dal and chana dal spinach in the cooker and allow 2 whistles. (can be put in the same vessel)
Grind the green chillis, pepper , coconut gratings , cumin seeds.
In a wide mouthed vessel (kadai) pour 2 t-spoons of cooking oil and season with mustard and red chillis.
Now add the cooked Dal-spinach mixture and put salt and the above paste.
Let it cook for 5 mins....stirring in regular intervals.----IMP
Now add a pinch of Asafoetida.

aloo gobi masala

Aloo Gobi Masala

This recipe is from bawarchi.com

Ingredients

4 Nos.- Medium sized potatoes
1/4 kg- Gobi
1No- Tomato
2 tsp.- curd.
1 tsp.- chilli powder
1 tsp.- dhania powder
1/2 tsp.- Jeera powder
1/2 tsp.- haldi
Hing.
3 tsp.- cooking oil
Salt and Coriander leaves.
( if you require the dish to be spicy you can added chillipowder as per your taste.)

Method:

1. Peel the Aloo and cut in cubes of 1 inch.
2. Cut the Gobi into small sizes.
3. Put the oil in a kadai and add the chilli powder, Jeera powder, dhania powder, Hing, and haldi.
4. Immediately add the Aloo cubes. When all the Aloo pieces are nicely coated with the mixture, add the Gobi.
5. Stir well, add salt and little water and cover the kadia and allow to in low flame
6. When cooked, add tomato ( cut into wedges) and the curds and stir well for about 1 min.
7. Remove from flame and nicely decorate with finely chopped coriander leaves.

crouton recipe

i looked it up in joy of cooking. it is:
cut bread into small pieces. sprinkle olive oil or butter (salt if needed).
spread on a baking sheet and bake for 374 deg F. for 12-15 mins until the croutons turn golden brown.

pav bhaji, bread peas masala recipes

bread peas masala recipe is at: http://www.hemant-trivedis-cookery-corner.com/curry/spicy-peas-masala-curry.html

from bawarchi:

http://www.bawarchi.com/cookbook/mealsnack2.html

http://www.bawarchi.com/contribution/contrib3843.html

from wikipedia:
pav bhaji recipe

i adapted recipe from wikipedia and it came out well.

3 red tomatoes; large and chopped roughly

2 med size red onions; large and chopped roughly

1/2 pound or 3 potatoes; boiled, peeled and mashed

1 cup cauliflower florets, boiled and mashed

1 cup carrots, boiled and mashed

1/2 cup green peas

6 green chillies, deseeded and chopped

1/2 inch ginger chopped 2 garlic chopped

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoons coriander

1 teaspoon cumin (powder coriander and cumin)

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

2 teaspoons garam masala

2 teaspoons pav bhaji masala [optional]

2 tbsp oil

50g butter

a handful of chopped coriander leaves

salt to taste

Heat oil in a huge wok/saucepan. Puree tomatoes, onions, green chillies, ginger and garlic in a blender. Add the puree to the wok alongwith the turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder, salt and garam masala. Sautee the mixture for 10 mins till it acquires a rich, roasted colour. Add all the vegetables, stir well and simmer on low heat for 50 mins. You may add water if you desire a thinner consistency.

Viewing Tamil web pages

Im still researching this topic and i will update this post as i find out more on this.

There are 2 things to consider when viewing Non-English content like Tamil:

a) Encoding
b) Font

There are various encoding schemes. For example, in Firefox, i have seen Tamil web pages requiring one of the following:
o user defined
o Unicode - UTF 8
o Western - Windows-1252

The webpages and content are at the end of the day stored as a stream of bytes.
Encoding is the format which which the language is represented in these bytes. For example,
ASCII is the standard encoding for english and in that: A is represented using number 65.

User defined, Western etc. are not standard encodings. They are whatever the web page writer chose for representing their content. Unicode UTF 8 on the other hand is standard.

Font:
Given an encoding, a font is used to map a byte in the webpage to a letter symbol drawn on the screen. The font and the encoding are related. When you say unicode font for example, you mean a font that can render content encoded in Unicode format.

Im going to document the fonts that i know of for rendering Tamil in this post.

Vikatan.com: This uses a true type font: http://www.vikatan.com/vikat_tm.ttf
It uses "Western - Windows-1252" encoding. Font config for vikatan is documented at:
http://www.vikatan.com/trouble.asp

kumudam:

dinamani:

FONTS:

Latha: This is a unicode font. I do not like this font. This doesnt show tamil in its natural written form. This is new fangled and confusing.


OS:
Windows XP: Unicode Support for Tamil is not installed by Default in XP. you need to add it by using the procedure described here:

For Windows XP, getting additional languages installed is as follows:

Start > Settings > Control Panel > Regional Options and Language Options.

Vista: Vista supposedly comes with out of the box support for Tamil.

Browsers:

Firefox: Firefox falls back to the operating system for Unicode fonts.

IE: IE has built in support for Unicode and do not have to fall back to the OS.



References:
this site: http://www.alanwood.net/unicode/index.html
has very good information on unicode settings, browser configs, etc.

WALTT: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/tamilweb/

Best Unicode Tamil Webpage to view and test: Tamil Wikipedia

Veg Blog site - vegconcoctions

Came across this site: http://vegconcoctions.wordpress.com/

had some interesting okra recipes like here: http://vegconcoctions.wordpress.com/tag/okra/

Tomato Gojju

This is a recipe from Traditional Iyengar Recipes of South India: Kamala Narsiwodeyar
A book that i highly recommend for south indian cooking

Tomato - 1 pound - pick juicy ones
1 tsp jaggery
1 tsp mustard
2 green chilies
1 sprig curry leaves
1 tbsp oil
pinch of asafoetida

ground masala:
1 or 2 tbsp coconut
2 tsp mustard seeds
2-3 green chilies

o Cut tomato and season with salt
o Heat oil in pan, add mustard seeds, wait till they pop, add chilies and curry leaves
o add tomato, jaggery and 1 tsp salt
o grind masala with little water
o once tomato smells cooked in the pan (5-10 mins), add masala
o leave for 2 mins and take off heat and serve


This is a very tasty and simple curry that you can have over steamed rice with other vegetables.

Low fat Cheese Pizza

Make Pizza Dough using the recipe here.
You may want to leave the dough for about 1 hour in the bread machine to raise.

Trader Joe's Low fat grated cheese blend
Trader Joe's Pizza sauce

o Flatten and roll or toss Pizza dough.
o Paint pizza with sauce
o sprinkle cheese as desired. 1/2 cup to 1 cup will be sufficient.

Pizza Dough using bread machine

This recipe is from joy of cooking.

makes 2 14-inch pizza crusts

2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp active dry yeast (red star) (or 3/4 spoon quick rising yeast)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup of water

put ingredients in bread machine in dough cycle

Curry milk beverage

We make this drink in our family. Typically this is drunk before going to bed. This is also soothing to your throat when you have cold or throat infection.

1 cup milk (cow or bufallo milk that you get in India)
1 tsp honey (or more if you like it)
a pinch of turmeric powder
black pepper to grind

• Heat milk; if using microwave upto for 90 secs on high
• You could foam the milk by pouring in 2 cups back and forth from a height
• add honey and a pinch of turmeric and mix
• grind black pepper on top and mix

shukto - Bitter Gourd Curry

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard
1 two-inch piece ginger, minced
2 bitter gourds cut into 1/2 inch rounds
1 white radish, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 green banana (plantain), with skin, cut into 1 inch rounds
2 potatoes cubed
2 carrots 1/2 inch rounds
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 cups water

• heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat for 2 mins
• add mustard seeds; when they pop reduce heat, add ginger, fry for a min
• add veggies, salt, sugar and stir fry for 5 mins
• add water, bring dish to boil, lower the heat, cover and cook for 10 mins
  

baingan burtha

serves 4
1 large eggplant
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 large onion, chopped
1 twoinch ginger
4 green chilies
6 cloves garlic
4 tbsp oil
1 tbsp ghee
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground mace
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
4 large tomatoes
salt
1 tsp lime juice
1/4 cup cilantro leaves

• hold eggplant with tongs and potholder and cook it over gas flame on medium heat
  
• sear the skin while cooking the flesh turning sides as skin burns
• hold eggplant under cold running water and remove skin and chop flesh coarsely
• in blender combine eggplant, yogurt, onion, ginger, chilies, garlic making to smooth paste
• heat oil over med heat for 1 min; add ghee and lower heat, then add eggplant paste, coriander, mace, turmeric, cumin; simmer for 3 mins
• add tomatoes; mix well and cook over low heat for 5 mins
• add salt, lime juice and cilantro leaves before serving
  
• 
  

colombo curry paste

makes 1/2 cup

1 1/2 tbsp ground turmeric
1 1/2 tbsp coriander
1 1/2 tbsp mustard
1 1/2 tbsp peppercorns
1 1/2 tbsp cumin
3 cloves garlic crushed
1 one-inch ginger grated
2 fresh habanero chilies deseeded

• grind together turmeric to cumin into a fine powder
• add powder to garlic, ginger, etc. mix and leave for 1 hour

Trinidadian curry paste

makes 1 1/2 to 2 cups

6 tbsp roaster coriander seeds
1 tsp roasted aniseed
1 tsp roasted whole cloves
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp roasted cumin seeds
1 tsp roasted fenugreek
1 tsp roasted peppercorns
1 tsp roasted mustard seeds
2 cloves garlic
1 large onion
1/2 fresh habanero chile deseeded
water

• grind all ingredients to a paste in a blender
  

Berbere curry paste

makes 1 cup

1 tsp ground cardamom
2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp whole peppercorns
1/2 tsp fennugreek seeds
1 small onion coarseley chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 cup water
12 small dried hot red chilies as piquins deseeded
1 tbsp cayenne
2 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3 tbsp dry red wine
3 tbsp veg oil

• Toast cardamom, cumin and coriander seeds, cinnamon, peppercorns and fenugreek seeds in a skillet for acouple of mins until they gain aroma; grind spices to powder
• combine onion, garlic and 1/2 cup of water in blender and puree until smooth
• add roasted spice powder, chilies, cayenne, paprika, ginger, allspice, nutmeg and cloves and continue to blend
• slowly add 1/2 cup of water, wine, oil and blend until smooth
• place the sauce in saucepan and simmer for 15 mins to blend flavors and thicken
• this will keep in the fridge for upto 2 monts
• this can be added to soups, stews, veggies, etc.
  

Harissa curry paste

makes 1 1/2 cups

7 dried red new mexican chilies (deseeded)
5 small dried hot red chilies such as piquins (deseeded)
5 cloves peeled garlic
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground caraway seeds
1 tsp ground cinnamonn
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp dried mint
2 tbsp olive oil

• soak the chilies in water for 30 mins
• place them in blender with other ingredients and puree
  

cape curry powder

makes 2 cups

1 tbsp whole cloves
2 tbsp whole black peppercorns
1/2 cup coriander
3 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp mustard seeds
3 small dried hot red chilies (deseeded)
1/4 cup ground cardamom
1/4 cup ground turmeric
3 tbsp ground fennugreek
1 tbsp ground ginger

• in a skillet toast separately cloves, pepper, coriander, cumin, fennel, mustard over medium heat
• combine toasted ingredients and the chilies in a spice blender and grind to fine powder
• combine with remaining ingredients and store in airtight jar

English curry powder

makes 4 cups

1 1/4 cups coriander
2/3 cup cumin
1/3 cup fenugreek
1/2 cup chana dal flour
1/2 cup garlic powder
1/3 cup paprika
1/3 cup turmeric
1/3 cup garam masala
1 tsp dried powdered curry leaves
1 tsp hing
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp red chile powder
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

• in a dry skillet toast coriander, cumin and fenugreek then grind in a mill
• mix them with the rest of the ingredients

Singapore Curry Powder

Makes 3 1/2 cups

1 cup coriander seeds
1 cup cumin
2/3 cup whole star anise
1/3 cup dried red chilies, deseeded
1/4 cup turmeric powder
1 oneinch cinnamon piece
4 whole cloves
2 tbsp whole black peppercorns

• roast each of spices separately in a dry skillet over low heat until lightly browned
• grind spices in a spice blender and store in airtight bottle
  

lemongrass curry

makes 4 cups

1/3 cup lemongrass sliced with bulbs
4 cloves peeled garlic
1 tsp dried ground galangal
1 tsp turmeric
1 jalapeno (deseeded)
3 shallots, peeled
3 1/2 cups coconut milk
3 fresh lime or lemon leaves
pinch of salt

• in a blender puree lemongrass, garlic, galangal, turmeric, jalapeno and shallots
• bring coconut milk to a boil and add pureed ingredients, lime or lemon leaves and salt
• boil for 5 mins; reduce the heat to low and summer, stirring often, for about 30 mins until leaves are tender and the sauce is creamy
• remove leaves before serving
  

Veechu Parotta

Moved from my Cooking Blog:

Veechu Parotta Recipe
500 gm maidha flour
inch of salt, baking soda;
knead with oil and keep for 1 hour
Take a ball; spread it; then catch it and swing it until it stretches like a paper
fold and roll like a rope; lightly press it and fry on tava
after that crush parotta on sides to flake it up

alternatively:
500 gm maida;
1tsp salt; 1tsp sugar; 1 cup milk; 1/2 cup water; 1 egg

Other parotta recipes: http://www.spiceindiaonline.com/parotta contains videos to explain how to make it.

Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Shoba Narayan's website: contains nice south indian recipes

posted by Murali # 2:31 PM

Muslim curry paste

makes 1 1/4 cups

12 small dried red chilies (deseeded)
1 cup warm water

1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp cumin

1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp each: ground cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, cardamom

3 2-inch stalks lemongrass including the bulbs chopped
1 1-inch piece fresh galangal (or substitute ginger) peeled

6 shallots peeled and chopped

2 tsp salt

• soak chilies in warm water for 20 mins to soften, remove and drain
  
• roast coriander and cumin seeds, pepper, cloves for 2 mins ;
  
• roast cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, cardamom for 1 min
• dry all the above to a fine pweder
• combine roasted ground spices with all ingredients in a food processor and puree until you get a fine paste
• pour paste into airtight jar and refrigerate; it will keep in fridge for a month
  

red curry paste

makes 1 cup

10 small dried red chilies (deseeded)
1 cup warm water

2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin
2 small onions (perl)
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1/4 cup basil leaves (mint could be substituted)
1 tsp salt
3 2-inch stalks lemongrass including the bulbs chopped
1 1-inch piece fresh galangal (or substitute ginger) peeled
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp corn or pnut oil
1 tbsp lime zest
1/4 cup water

• soak chilies in warm water for 20 mins to soften, remove and drain
  
• roast coriander and cumin seeds for 2 mins ; after that grind to fine powder
• combine roasted ground spices with all ingredients in a food processor and puree until you get a fine paste
• pour paste into airtight jar and refrigerate; it will keep in fridge for a month
  

Green curry paste

makes 1 1/4 cups

1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp cumin
6 peppercorns
3 2-inch stalks lemongrass including the bulbs chopped
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 2-inch piece fresh galangal (or substitute ginger) peeled
4 shallots, peeled and coarsely chopped
12 green chilies (remove stems and seeds), halved
1/4 cup water
1 tsp salt

• roast coriander and cumin seeds for 2 mins ; after that grind to fine powder
• combine roasted ground spices with all ingredients in a food processor and puree until you get a fine paste
• power paste into airtight jar and refrigerate; it will keep in fridge for a month
  

stuffed eggplants

serves 4

2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 cup freshly shredded coconut
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 large onions; 1 whole and 1 sliced
1 lemon size tamarind pulp (or 2tbsp tamarind paste? )
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup each almonds cashews, raisins, peanuts
6 cloves garlic peeled
1 2 inch ginger;
2 fresh red chilies
2 green chilies
1/4 cup cilantro or mint leaves
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
salt
8 long thin eggplants
2 tsp veg oil
1 cup ghee

• roast sesame, coriander, coconut, cumin over low flame for 3 mins
• hold whole onions in togs using potholder to grab tongs burn onion on medium flame until peel turns black; remove peel, slice onion and set aside
• soak tamarind in warm water 15 mins; strain pulp and add sugar to liquid
• in a blender, grind nuts, raisins, roasted sesame, ginger, garlic, chilies, cilantro or mint; turmeric and salt until a paste forms
• make 2 slits in each eggplant cutting half way thru; stuff paste into eggplant
• heat oil in a skillet for 1 min; add ghee; add unroasted onion and the eggplants and cook, covered for 10 mins over med heat;
  
• turn eggplants lower heat and cook another 10 mins; add sweetened tamarind liquid
• garnish with roasted onion slices
  
• 
  

pineapple kalan

serves 4

1 cup freshly shredded coconut
4 fresh red chilies (remove stems/seeds for less heat)
4 green chilies (remove stems/seeds for less heat)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp fenugreek
1 large pineapple peeled cored and diced
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 cup water
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup curry leaves
seasoning:
2 tbsp ghee
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1 fresh chile
1 small onion aka pearl onion chopped

• in a food processor grind coconut, red and green chilies cumin, mustard and fenugreek seeds into a paste
• in a skillet place pinapple, turmeric and 1/2 cup of water; cover and cook for 6 to 8 mins
• beat yogurt with 1/2 cup water; add it to pineapple
• add spice paste and curry leaves ; add salt
  
• cook covered over low heat for 3 mins
• head ghee , mustard and chile and onion; fry until mustard pops and then add to curry
  

coconut milk

makes 2 cups

4 cups freshly grated coconut
2 1/4 cups boiling water or hot milk

• In a bowl, cover the grated coconut with the boiling water (or milk for cream)
• steep for 15 mins
• using a strainer, drain the coconut (you could use cheesecloth also)
• store the milk for about 2 weeks at the most; cream will rise to the top
• You could also blend the coconut in a blender and then strain; this will give thicker milk

curry powders

The curry related recipes that i posted in the past few days are from this book:
A world of curries
- Dave Dewitt and Arthur Pais
ISBN: 0316182249

I highly recommend this book. A very interesting historical and culinary reading.


Bafat - hurry curry powder

(makes 2 cups)
1/3 cup coriander seeds
1/4 cup cumin seeds
2 tbsp mustard
2 tbsp peppercorns
2 tbsp cloves
1 tbsp fennugreek
2 tbsp cardamom powder
2 tbsp cinnamon powder
1/2 cup freshly ground hot chile powder (like cayene)

• Dry the spices @ 200F for 15 mins; make sure they dont burn
• remove from oven, cool and grind them in a coffee blender

Ceylon Dark Curry Powder

(makes 1 cup)
10 small dried hot red chilis (seeds and stems removed so there is not much heat)
1 tbsp uncooked rice
1 tbsp freshly shredded coconut
1 two-inch cinnamon
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp cardamom seeds
1 tsp fennugreek seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
6 whole cloves
5 curry leaves

• Roast chilies on a cookie sheet in oven at 350 F until they turn dark; cool
• in a dry skillet, roast the rice, and other spices minus cloves and curry leaves
• now put everything in a spice grinder and blend to fine powder

Menu combinations that worked

Here are some dish combinations that worked for me for a good br/lunch.

Chow Chow chutney
Rasam
Keerai Koottu

Eggplant sesame kozhambu
Rasam
Beans sabji (like poriyal)

Kadugupuli
kothavarangai Usili
Rasam

Cabbage
Avaraikai Kootu (poricha)
Mango pacchadi
Rasam

Kozhambu sadam (with lots of vegetables)
Pachadi

References to food blogs from Indian American magazine:

Ahaar : contained rasmalai recipe made from canned rasgollas

Nordljus

Food For Thought
had Gur Bhaat recipe