Indian Food Recipes - any killer recipes you've tried? Curries? Desserts? (2 Viewers)

[Caesar]

Regarding desserts, IMO don't bother.  Mango lassi is interesting, but in my opinion, Indian desserts aren't worth the calories.  Heck, that extends to all of Asia for me.  Make a French dessert if you want a good dessert.

Agree 100%.  From my time in Japan and India, I can say they simply don't have the love affair with sugar that Americans and Europeans seem to have.  Maybe it is not as available, but their stuff just doesn't get it done in the sweets department. 

Tick nailed it.  Mango Lassi is pretty good, but not really worth it for me.  My wife and kids loved it, but hey, they are kinda Asian.

 

[wikkidpissah]

If the gobi is too meloo, it makes my paneer saag

 

[Phil Elliott]

I enjoy tandoori. You can cook over a hot grill. I skip step one and buy the chicken from the store .   I get over to Bangalore a couple times a year, usually March and October.

tandoori

 

[Mister CIA]

This Butter Chicken recipe looks right.  I'm going to make it and report back here on the outcome.  (One of the ones from the link provided by the friendly CIA).

Update? 

I'm making the aforementioned chicken korma dish this weekend. Will begin marinading the meat Friday night, and bring it all together for Sunday dinner.

 

[Mister CIA]

:X

In terms of visual appeal, I agree that Indian cuisine often looks terrible. For example, here's a Google image search for chicken korma. Even if it tasted great, I would have to fight hard against my gag reflex, and would likely fail. That's the main reason I started trying to cook my own. For something that awful looking, I have to know exactly what is in it and how it was cooked.

 

[Mister CIA]

Update? 

I'm making the aforementioned chicken korma dish this weekend. Will begin marinading the meat Friday night, and bring it all together for Sunday dinner.

Skipped this last week because I felt lazy last Friday evening, but I'm off to the races tonight. Chicken is marinading in an exquisite curry paste, and will stay there until Sunday, which is when I will begin the long braise in a cashew curry sauce.

 

[Dope]

I just made a dish called Chicken 65 that came out real good.

Chicken 65 Masala Mix

It's prolly cheating using a mix, but it came out really good. Also, i'm trying to eat healthier so I used fat-free greek yogurt and I grilled the chicken pieces instead of deep frying.

I thought it was so good that I brought in some to work the next day to share with some of my staff...half of which are from India. They raved.

The first ingredient IS chili pepper so it's gonna be a little spicy. I'd say its somewhere halfway  between normal buffalo wings and hot buff wings. The flavor is bomb though.

 

[Mister CIA]

I just made a dish called Chicken 65 that came out real good.

Chicken 65 Masala Mix

It's prolly cheating using a mix, but it came out really good. Also, i'm trying to eat healthier so I used fat-free greek yogurt and I grilled the chicken pieces instead of deep frying.

I thought it was so good that I brought in some to work the next day to share with some of my staff...half of which are from India. They raved.

The first ingredient IS chili pepper so it's gonna be a little spicy. I'd say its somewhere halfway  between normal buffalo wings and hot buff wings. The flavor is bomb though.

Confession time, I don't like Indian cuisine, yet. Just does not set well with me - there's a requisite adjustment, I'm sure (I'm more Italian/Mex, with a healthy preference for French cuisine thrown in), but I love the love that goes into preparing Indian dishes. I could spend the rest of my life preparing curries. Do yourself a favor and try making your own from scratch. You will blow your mind.

 

[Dope]

Confession time, I don't like Indian cuisine, yet. Just does not set well with me - there's a requisite adjustment, I'm sure (I'm more Italian/Mex, with a healthy preference for French cuisine thrown in), but I love the love that goes into preparing Indian dishes. I could spend the rest of my life preparing curries. Do yourself a favor and try making your own from scratch. You will blow your mind.

Yeah, I just cheated on the spice mix...the paste was made by me. I do believe in creating your own spice mix but I'm kinda new to this too so I wanted to baseline it. I forgot in my post above that my paste (best way to describe the consistency) also had Ginger/Garlic Paste added to the dry spices and yogurt.

And the pictures of chicken korma (dont recall ever having that) i think look really good. You know its yogurt and the yellow color is usually so tasty. If you're doing a 36 hour marinade that chicken is going to out of this world

 

[Caesar]

I really love lamb saag.

TIA

 

[Northern Voice]

made this last night: 

Fry garlic, onion, and carrot for a few minutes, add curry, ginger, paprika, fry for another minute.  Add vegetable stock, tomato puree, potatoes, chickpeas and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, add cauliflower and let simmer for a half hour.  Add garam masala and curry to taste, serve with warm naan. 

If anyone in interested I am sure I can get exact measurements. I was just taking mental notes while my wife made it. 

I’d be interested - always looking for more veg friendly recipes with lots of flavour for the wife and I. 

 

[mr. furley]

I really love lamb saag.

TIA

had some of this about 2 weeks ago 

anyone have a good kheer recipe?

 

[Eephus]

I’d be interested - always looking for more veg friendly recipes with lots of flavour for the wife and I. 

I've been trying to cook a meatless dinner every Thursday.  The local farmer's market is Wednesdays so it's kind of like a dice roll to decide what to make.  I got a good deal on eggplant a couple of months ago so I cooked them up with some red dal.

I roasted the eggplant to develop the flavor but you probably wouldn't have to.  Cube the eggplant and coat with olive oil and spices.  Roast in a 425 oven until they're starting to brown.

Cook the dal separately.

Fry up garlic, ginger, onion and pepper.  Throw in the spice mixture and toast.  Add a can of tomatoes reserving the juice.  When you like how it tastes, introduce the dal.  Add the eggplant at the end.  If you didn't roast the eggplant first, do them before the tomatoes.

Serve with rice and/or naan.

A lot of vegetarian Indian uses dal.  They cook pretty quickly on the stove and ridiculously fast in a pressure cooker.  I suppose any lentils would work but I like the color of the red ones.

 

[Eephus]

One Indian spice that's worth seeking out is Kashmiri chili pepper.  It's milder than cayenne but still brings some heat.  The brilliant red color adds brightness to dishes, especially those with a cream based sauce like tikka masala.

 

[mr. furley]

One Indian spice that's worth seeking out is Kashmiri chili pepper.  It's milder than cayenne but still brings some heat.  The brilliant red color adds brightness to dishes, especially those with a cream based sauce like tikka masala.

i've seen this referenced in a few recipes lately but haven't a clue where to buy it

suggestions?

 

[Eephus]

i've seen this referenced in a few recipes lately but haven't a clue where to buy it

suggestions?

If you don't live in a city with an Indian grocery, you can buy spices on Amazon or even eBay.  It's cheaper than buying those tiny boxes at Whole Foods or Spicely.  I've seen Kashmiri pepper sold as Kashmiri chili powder and Kashmiri mirch

You're in Milwaukee right?  So you have the Spice House on Old World 3rd.  I don't know if they carry Indian spices but I usually bring home a bag of something when I'm in town.

 

[mr. furley]

If you don't live in a city with an Indian grocery, you can buy spices on Amazon or even eBay.  It's cheaper than buying those tiny boxes at Whole Foods or Spicely.  I've seen Kashmiri pepper sold as Kashmiri chili powder and Kashmiri mirch

You're in Milwaukee right?  So you have the Spice House on Old World 3rd.  I don't know if they carry Indian spices but I usually bring home a bag of something when I'm in town.

not in Mke anymore or i'd be able to pick it up

after thinking about this though i think i know where to go now

 

[culdeus]

One Indian spice that's worth seeking out is Kashmiri chili pepper.  It's milder than cayenne but still brings some heat.  The brilliant red color adds brightness to dishes, especially those with a cream based sauce like tikka masala.

Isn't tikka masala something like spaghetti and meatballs, sort of an american version of indian food?

 

[culdeus]

Still looking to figure out how to make a spinach based sauce that doesn't just turn to gloppy green goo.

 

[mr. furley]

Isn't tikka masala something like spaghetti and meatballs, sort of an american version of indian food?

it has been explained to me that the sauce is basically Indian ketchup

 

[Eephus]

Isn't tikka masala something like spaghetti and meatballs, sort of an american version of indian food?

it has been explained to me that the sauce is basically Indian ketchup

Tikka masala and butter chicken have been westernized but there are other Indian dishes that use similar cream or tomato based sauces.

 

[Eephus]

Still looking to figure out how to make a spinach based sauce that doesn't just turn to gloppy green goo.

Saag is pretty much gloppy green goo.

I think the texture is better if you puree it with an immersion blender.

 

[Klimtology]

 

[Eephus]

Made a coconut dal with spinach and potatoes for Meatless Thursday

Peeled, diced and par boiled some potatoes

Coarse chop onion, green pepper, garlic and ginger and sautee in olive oil.  Add half your spice mix (about a TB) near the end.  Transfer to a pressure cooker but don't rinse the fry pan.

Hit the onion, etc. with a stick blender along with some broth to make a paste.  I used chicken broth in defiance of Meatless Thursday convention.  Add a can of coconut milk and rinse the can with more broth.  I tried about a 1:1 ratio of dry lentils to liquid because I didn't want it to be too soupy.  I added some fish sauce here as well because my palate likes glutamates.

Pressure cook for 9 min.  While that's going on, I fried the parboiled potatoes in the pan from the aromatics.  I could have used butter here but didn't want to push it.  Dump the remaining spice blend on the potatoes when it's time to flip them.

Microwave about 4 cups of spinach.  I had some arugula I was trying to get rid of so that substituted for half the spinach.  Pulse that with the stick blender to break down the stems.

Dump the stuff not in the pressure cooker into the pressure cooker and correct seasonings.  Served with rice and naan.

It turned out really well if I do say so myself.  It didn't require much prep and was done within the time needed to cook the rice.  The potato and spinach added just enough texture to the porridgey dal.  I used masoor dal so the dish was Packers colors.  I might try leaving the onions and peppers intact the next time.

My spice blend tonight was mustard, cumin, turmeric, kashmiri chili, coriander, white pepper but any curry powder would work fine.  I read somewhere that you shouldn't add garam masala until the end so I did that at final assembly.

 

[General Malaise]

made this last night: 

Fry garlic, onion, and carrot for a few minutes, add curry, ginger, paprika, fry for another minute.  Add vegetable stock, tomato puree, potatoes, chickpeas and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, add cauliflower and let simmer for a half hour.  Add garam masala and curry to taste, serve with warm naan. 

If anyone in interested I am sure I can get exact measurements. I was just taking mental notes while my wife made it. 

Did you ever post this?  This sounds fantastic!

 

[Jaysus]

Did you ever post this?  This sounds fantastic!

No, but I convinced the wife to make it again soon.. I'll take better notes this time!

 

[Maik Jeaunz]

No, but I convinced the wife to make it again soon.. I'll take better notes this time!

this does sound amazing. I recently went vegetarian, so I'm looking for good veggie recipes to try.

 

[Eephus]

I came across this the other day.  it's basically a paste of caramelized onions, spices and tomato that can be used as a starter for other dishes. 

I made a half batch in a 14" skillet instead of my pressure cooker because it has more surface area and it's easier to control temperature.  Caramelizing onions takes time but not a lot of effort.  I used the entire portion I made to season a chicken and dal curry but it would be good to make a larger batch and freeze the remainder for future use.  The recipe suggests using an ice cube tray to freeze blocks but it's thick enough to just freeze a couple tablespoons in a small ziplock.

 

[Northern Voice]

this does sound amazing. I recently went vegetarian, so I'm looking for good veggie recipes to try.

Yeah I'm about 95% vegetarian as well (my wife is vegan), I have some pretty good recipes around but they're mostly not Indian and I'm not sure FBGs at large can handle a vegetarian thread

 

[General Malaise]

Yeah I'm about 95% vegetarian as well (my wife is vegan), I have some pretty good recipes around but they're mostly not Indian and I'm not sure FBGs at large can handle a vegetarian thread

Honestly, I think you'd be surprised.  20 years ago, I would have scoffed at the idea, but the older I get, the more it makes sense to me.  My wife is a fish-eating vegetarian (eats dairy too) and I've toyed with that as a diet for myself.  I just......I'm not there yet.  I have yet to find a vegetable, fruit, fish or sweet that comes anywhere near to providing me the same satisfaction a perfectly cooked steak or marinated piece of chicken brings me.  

 

[Eephus]

eah I'm about 95% vegetarian as well (my wife is vegan), I have some pretty good recipes around but they're mostly not Indian and I'm not sure FBGs at large can handle a vegetarian thread

Honestly, I think you'd be surprised.  20 years ago, I would have scoffed at the idea, but the older I get, the more it makes sense to me.  My wife is a fish-eating vegetarian (eats dairy too) and I've toyed with that as a diet for myself.  I just......I'm not there yet.  I have yet to find a vegetable, fruit, fish or sweet that comes anywhere near to providing me the same satisfaction a perfectly cooked steak or marinated piece of chicken brings me.  

I struggle with the limited vegetarian choices for proteins.  My GI tract can only handle so many legumes.  I like tofu but not every day.  Quinoa and other ancient grains cook up more like a starch than a protein.  Cheese and eggs are great of course but I probably shouldn't increase my intake of them.

The texture of meatiness is a big loss as well.  I'm hoping prices go down as fake meats like Impossible, Beyond, Seitan etc. become more readily available

 

[Jaysus]

My wife makes a bastardized version of Aloo Gobi that we call Meloo Gobi that I just can not get enough of.

Ingredients:
1. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2. 2 cloves garlic crushed
3. One large onion chopped
4. One large carrot sliced
5. 2 tablespoons medium to hot curry powder
6. One teaspoon finely grated ginger root
7. Two teaspoons paprika
8. 3.5 cups vegetable stock
9. 2 tablespoons tomato puree
10. Half small cauliflower broken into florets
11. 1.5 cans chickpeas rinsed and drained
12. 5 medium potatoes peeled and chopped into big chunks
13. Garam masala, salt and pepper

Directions: in large sauce pan
1 Fry garlic, onion, and carrot for a few minutes,
2. Add curry, ginger, paprika, fry for another minute.
3. Add vegetable stock, tomato puree, potatoes, chickpeas and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat, add cauliflower and let simmer for a half hour.
5. Add salt, pepper, garam masala and curry to taste,
6. Serve with warm naan and basmati rice.
 

@Northern Voice @General Malaise @Maik Jeaunz