Simple Indian Food

One of my stepdaughters Rose came down for the inauguration with a half dozen friends in tow. We were happy to host and I was happy to cook a big indian meal for them.

I made sweet and sour eggplant, dry spiced potatoes and cauliflower, chicken tikka, fish curry, 3 kinds of chutney, chipati and raita. We fed 12 people and it took about 90 minutes to make. That's crazy isn't it? Rose wanted to take the spoils back to school so I went to our indian market and picked up all the basics ... mustard power (she doesn't have a grinder), cumin, coridander, red pepper, garam marsala, ghee, and ginger-garlic paste.

Off they went after the inauguration and I thought .. she could do a lot of damage with that stuff if she doesn't have a sense of the proportions. Imagine equal parts mustard, chilli and cumin ... yikes! Sure enough she had a go at it last night ... and called in distress.

She needs some simple recipes:

Sweet and Sour Eggplant:
dice eggplant
dice shallots
sauté
pinch of kosher or sea salt
toss with dolop of tamarind concentrate to taste
pinch or two of red chili

Dry Spiced Potatoes and Cauliflower
dice potatoes - boil for 10 minutes until slightly soft
dice cauliflower
put potatoe and cauliflower in a deep sauce pan with vegetable oil or ghee
toss with garam marsala, cumin, corriander, mustard (3 parts garam marsala, 1 part cumin and corriander and 1/2 part mustard - unless they are seeds) ... jut to give a sense of the proportions.
dump in a bunch of peas a few minutes before serving and cover.
salt to taste.

Chicken Tikka
yogurt (soy or regular), 3 tablespoons of the spice mixture from the potatoes and 2 tablespoons tumeric - mixture should be very bright.
cube chicken and marinate in yogurt with half a lime's juice for 30-90 minutes.
pour in one layer in a backing pan and roast until internal temp reads 170 degrees.
sqeeze with the other half of the lime

Raita
Drain one whole plain yogurt in a dish towel or cheese cloth for 3- 6 hours.
Add lime juice, salt and mint to taste
(also good very dry - drain all day - with chopped garlic, salt and olive oil).

Chipati
sometimes I use the yogurt drainings for this ... otherwise water and flour to make a stiff dough. Add salt to taste.
Roll into small balls and flatten into 6 inch rounds with a rolling pin (or run through a pasta maker).
Fry both sides in a vegetable oil.

That's all for now ... chutneys and the fish curry another day ...