Cooking
Tonight I prepared two dishes from Suvir Saran's Indian Home Cooking: Ground Beef with Spinach and Fresh Mint (Hara Keema) and Cucumber Raita (Kheere Ka Raita).
I especially enjoyed the Raita and found that it was quite easy to prepare. I used nonfat Greek Yogurt which has a wonderfully creamy consistency that I hadn't thought possible in a nonfat yogurt. The sizing of the yogurt was a bit of a puzzle to me, though. The 500g container claimed to have 3 1/2 cups in it. I needed 2 1/4 cups for this recipe, but when I measured the yogurt using a measuring cup, I found that I actually had only 2 cups or so.
I had a little trouble with the Ground Beef and Spinach recipe. It instructs you to bring 2 inches of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Ordinarily I wouldn't think twice about that type of vague directive in a recipe, but in this recipe a subsequent step calls for you to puree the spinach in a blender "with any remaining water". I agonized over this for a while and finally decided to put just one inch of water in my 3-quart saucepan. When it was time to puree the spinach, I had serious misgivings about putting all that water into the blender. I should have followed my gut and put the spinach and just a little of the water in the blender. But no, I had to slavishly follow the recipe. So instead of a green paste I had a watery green soup. The recipe says to add the green paste to the beef mixture and simmer for 5 minutes. Since I was adding green soup instead of green paste, it was clear I would have to cook it much longer in order to cook off all that water. I'm not sure how long I actually did cook it, but it was more than half an hour and maybe as much as an hour. The end product was still a little watery, but it was well after 10:00 and I needed to eat!
I enjoyed the dish, but not as much as the corn curry I made last week. I wonder if the long cooking affected the flavors of the dish. It was spicy hot, but the more subtly flavored spices weren't very noticeable - though I did get a blast of cardamom when I bit into a pod! I would think that long cooking of the greens in the green paste - spinach, cilantro, and mint - might have killed their bright fresh taste. Ah well, at least I know how to fix it next time!
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- Lentil & Potato Curry Recipe
When I saw the Lentil & Potato Curry recipe in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian cookbook I thought it would be a budget friendly recipe. I can't seem to shake the idea that potatoes are inexpensive. The truth is, they are...
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Last Summer I spent my birthday up in the Napa valley. I stayed at a spa, went wine tasting and ate out, of course. It was sunny and relaxing and just a little bit indulgent. I had a terrific time and especially terrific meals, the highlight of which...
- Aushak Dumpling Recipe
I love dumplings! Russian pelmenyi, Italian ravioli and gnocchi, Japanese gyoza, Chinese wontons, potstickers, dim sum...I don't think there is a dumpling I don't adore. But I'm more likely to order them in restaurants than I am to make them...
- Y Is For Yellow!
Yellow Squash Dalcha, Carrot Raita and brown rice Sorry, this is hardly the most beautifully composed dinner plate, but what it lacks in good looks it more than makes up for in good taste! I really don't need an excuse these days to cook myself an...
Cooking
A Second Helping of Indian Home Cooking
Tonight I prepared two dishes from Suvir Saran's Indian Home Cooking: Ground Beef with Spinach and Fresh Mint (Hara Keema) and Cucumber Raita (Kheere Ka Raita).
I especially enjoyed the Raita and found that it was quite easy to prepare. I used nonfat Greek Yogurt which has a wonderfully creamy consistency that I hadn't thought possible in a nonfat yogurt. The sizing of the yogurt was a bit of a puzzle to me, though. The 500g container claimed to have 3 1/2 cups in it. I needed 2 1/4 cups for this recipe, but when I measured the yogurt using a measuring cup, I found that I actually had only 2 cups or so.
I had a little trouble with the Ground Beef and Spinach recipe. It instructs you to bring 2 inches of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Ordinarily I wouldn't think twice about that type of vague directive in a recipe, but in this recipe a subsequent step calls for you to puree the spinach in a blender "with any remaining water". I agonized over this for a while and finally decided to put just one inch of water in my 3-quart saucepan. When it was time to puree the spinach, I had serious misgivings about putting all that water into the blender. I should have followed my gut and put the spinach and just a little of the water in the blender. But no, I had to slavishly follow the recipe. So instead of a green paste I had a watery green soup. The recipe says to add the green paste to the beef mixture and simmer for 5 minutes. Since I was adding green soup instead of green paste, it was clear I would have to cook it much longer in order to cook off all that water. I'm not sure how long I actually did cook it, but it was more than half an hour and maybe as much as an hour. The end product was still a little watery, but it was well after 10:00 and I needed to eat!
I enjoyed the dish, but not as much as the corn curry I made last week. I wonder if the long cooking affected the flavors of the dish. It was spicy hot, but the more subtly flavored spices weren't very noticeable - though I did get a blast of cardamom when I bit into a pod! I would think that long cooking of the greens in the green paste - spinach, cilantro, and mint - might have killed their bright fresh taste. Ah well, at least I know how to fix it next time!
- Vegetarian Green Chili Recipe
Vegetarian green chili was the request for dinner the other night. Chili is very popular at my house. But I rarely make it the same way twice. It might be red or green made with white beans or black beans. I have made it with pork, beef, bison, turkey...
- Lentil & Potato Curry Recipe
When I saw the Lentil & Potato Curry recipe in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian cookbook I thought it would be a budget friendly recipe. I can't seem to shake the idea that potatoes are inexpensive. The truth is, they are...
- Cucumber Avocado Soup: Recipe
Last Summer I spent my birthday up in the Napa valley. I stayed at a spa, went wine tasting and ate out, of course. It was sunny and relaxing and just a little bit indulgent. I had a terrific time and especially terrific meals, the highlight of which...
- Aushak Dumpling Recipe
I love dumplings! Russian pelmenyi, Italian ravioli and gnocchi, Japanese gyoza, Chinese wontons, potstickers, dim sum...I don't think there is a dumpling I don't adore. But I'm more likely to order them in restaurants than I am to make them...
- Y Is For Yellow!
Yellow Squash Dalcha, Carrot Raita and brown rice Sorry, this is hardly the most beautifully composed dinner plate, but what it lacks in good looks it more than makes up for in good taste! I really don't need an excuse these days to cook myself an...