So..... Indian food.

[Fire Me Boy!]

I rarely eat it, though I dig it. I've never tried cooking it. So looking to the board the vast expertise available.

What say you about Indian (forehead dot, not feathers) food?

[BigOlChiefsfan]

Re: Indian food - this is my take on Dahl, which may be any sort of peas/pulse spiced up. I make this a couple of times per month. It's cheap, tasty, filling, and good for the stuff that's wrong with me.
I pick over a lb of split peas, put them in a big crock pot with a 48 oz package of chicken broth and a can of ro-tel, let them cook for 6 - 8 hours on low. Next, dice a couple of small onions and 4 cloves of garlic. Heat 3 Tblspns of olive oil in a med. skillet, add your onions and stir for 5 minutes or so. Add your garlic, add 1 Tblspn of cumin seed, 1 of mustard seeds, some thyme and crushed red pepper. Then add a spoon or 2 of curry powder. Stir well. Let the curry cook onto the onions while the seeds 'frizzle' in the hot oil for 3 or 4 minutes, then pour the whole pot of veggies and spiced oil into your peas. Stir again. (This is called 'tempering' your dahl, adding spice at the last minute to get the full flavor). I usually add a well rinsed can of kidney beans or a can of chick peas at this stage. Stir in a drizzle of sesame oil, taste and correct any seasoning as needed.

I serve this as is, or with basmatti rice, with a dollop of plain yogurt - I sometimes doctor up the yogurt w/a clove of minced garlic and sometimes a hunk of cucumber, diced fine, some mint (this is similar to a condiment called 'Raita').

It's not rocket science, and I'm not sure if split green peas are 'traditional' Indian food but I like their taste this way. You might like 'em too. If you cook other Indian peas, the same trick of spicing them w/hot oil, aromatics like onions and seeds just before serving is usually a good one.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by BigOlChiefsfan

Re: Indian food - this is my take on Dahl, which may be any sort of peas/pulse spiced up. I make this a couple of times per month. It's cheap, tasty, filling, and good for the stuff that's wrong with me.
I pick over a lb of split peas, put them in a big crock pot with a 48 oz package of chicken broth and a can of ro-tel, let them cook for 6 - 8 hours on low. Next, dice a couple of small onions and 4 cloves of garlic. Heat 3 Tblspns of olive oil in a med. skillet, add your onions and stir for 5 minutes or so. Add your garlic, add 1 Tblspn of cumin seed, 1 of mustard seeds, some thyme and crushed red pepper. Then add a spoon or 2 of curry powder. Stir well. Let the curry cook onto the onions while the seeds 'frizzle' in the hot oil for 3 or 4 minutes, then pour the whole pot of veggies and spiced oil into your peas. Stir again. (This is called 'tempering' your dahl, adding spice at the last minute to get the full flavor). I usually add a well rinsed can of kidney beans or a can of chick peas at this stage. Stir in a drizzle of sesame oil, taste and correct any seasoning as needed.

I serve this as is, or with basmatti rice, with a dollop of plain yogurt - I sometimes doctor up the yogurt w/a clove of minced garlic and sometimes a hunk of cucumber, diced fine, some mint (this is similar to a condiment called 'Raita').

It's not rocket science, and I'm not sure if split green peas are 'traditional' Indian food but I like their taste this way. You might like 'em too. If you cook other Indian peas, the same trick of spicing them w/hot oil, aromatics like onions and seeds just before serving is usually a good one.

This sounds pretty good.

But the bolded part, what you've described is called "blooming" the spice.

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by aturnis

curry is gross...

Have you tried curried chicken? Or a light dusting of curry on fried eggs along with onion powder, garlic powder, white pepper and sea salt?

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

This sounds pretty good.

But the bolded part, what you've described is called "blooming" the spice.

Huh...that's interesting. Here's an article about it:


Blooming is a technique where you take some spices and heat them up in oil to release and amplify the flavor of the spice.

(snip)

The first thing to note about spices is most of the flavor is carried by essential oils. Because the flavor compounds are tied to the oils, it means that they will not easily dissolve in water or water-based solutions. Although there are ways around this, dumping a bunch of spices into a stew and hoping everything distributes evenly and well is not a guaranteed method of success.

A difficulty with the flavors being tied to the essential oils is that things that break down oils will harm the spices. Air, heat, and, light are all enemies of the spice flavorings, so minimize exposure except in certain circumstances.

On the other hand, spices are still food, at least the way we use them, and being food it means that we can often change the flavor with cooking. Take cumin, for example: if you apply heat to cumin, then the cumin seeds brown, which changes the flavor on account of the maillard reactions. Golden brown and delicious applies to many spices just as much as it does to a piece of fried chicken.

For a great article about the Maillard rections, I recommend getting a copy of the February-March 2009 Issue of Fine Cooking and checking out The Food Geek column on page 22. However, for those who don't have that handy, the Maillard reactions are the complex browning reactions that happen to food at temperatures below that of caramelization. Sugar caramelizes at a temperature above the smoke point of most cooking oils, and most food burns if kept at that temperature for too long. Still, the food does turn brown, and it is tasty, and the culprits in these instances are the Maillard reactions.

What blooming does is take advantage of the oil nature of the spice and the potential for flavor-changing maillard reactions without destroying too much of the flavor. The idea is to put the spices into an oil, heat to somewhere just below the smoke point of the oil, and cook for just a little while. Spices will brown, and more importantly, the essential oils will emerge from the spices and infuse the rest of the oil.

You can filter the oil and use in what you're cooking that evening, or if you've made enough, you can store it for later. This is the general idea behind a chili oil: create a bunch of flavor that you can insert into your cooking later.

What can you do with this spicy oil? You can use it as a last-minute flavor addition, especially for long-cooking dishes such as a stew or anything in a slow-cooker. Any sauce that has an oil component could be modified with this oil. This goes from a reduction sauce or barbeque sauce to, say, mayonnaise. Naturally, this could make a lovely end-of-the-year gift for your friends and family. Let your imagination run wild, and have fun with your new technique.


http://www.finecooking.com/item/9788/bloomin-spices

[lazepoo]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

I rarely eat it, though I dig it. I've never tried cooking it. So looking to the board the vast expertise available.

What say you about Indian (forehead dot, not feathers) food?

Is there American Indian food around? I've never had it or seen a place advertise it.

[Fritz88]

Originally Posted by Paniero

I spend some time in India, and find the food unbearable. My least favorite cuisine.

The actual authentic Indian cuisine will not be liked by many in the west.
Posted via Mobile Device

[BigOlChiefsfan]

This turkish eggs and yogurt dish is better tasting than it may sound:

turkish poached eggs with yogurt

[DJ's left nut]

Ugh...I hate Indian food.

A friend of mine said it best: "Rich people in India aren't eating this shit"

The Indian food we tend to get here is the crap meat slathered in heavy sauces and seasoning because it's the only way they could make so few resources feed so many people in that country.

It's some of the worst stuff I've ever eaten.

But it does make me respect Mexico and China that much more - afterall, their crap food is still tasty as hell. Indian food just looks and smells like something my dog has yacked up.

[BigOlChiefsfan]

spicy chickpeas

http://www.chickpearecipes.com/

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Ugh...I hate Indian food.

A friend of mine said it best: "Rich people in India aren't eating this shit"

The Indian food we tend to get here is the crap meat slathered in heavy sauces and seasoning because it's the only way they could make so few resources feed so many people in that country.

It's some of the worst stuff I've ever eaten.

But it does make me respect Mexico and China that much more - afterall, their crap food is still tasty as hell. Indian food just looks and smells like something my dog has yacked up.

You're ignorant.

There are fine dining Indian restaurants all over America that serve amazing food.

[scho63]

One more item: there are MANY different types of Indian food as they have many different flavors and dishes depending on what part of India. Very varied

UPDATE: Went to a great Indian Buffet about 50 miles away today when visiting a client. One of the best I've been to-second time here.

I ate some

[scho63]

Originally Posted by scho63

UPDATE: Went to a great Indian Buffet about 50 miles away today when visiting a client. One of the best I've been to-second time here.

I ate some

SEE PHOTOS ABOVE

[boogblaster]

no .....

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by Toad King

You're ignorant.

There are fine dining Indian restaurants all over America that serve amazing food.

Yup.

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by Fritz88

The actual authentic Indian cuisine will not be liked by many in the west.
Posted via Mobile Device

Meh. Authentic Mexican food isn't all that hot either. Most of what you eat here is going to be Tex Mex or Cal Mex.