Adventures of the Basmati Hottie

Raita (Refreshing, Seasoned Yogurt Condiment)

2008-07-20T20:13:00.009-04:00

Raita or pachadi is a South Asian/Indian condiment based on yogurt (dahi) and used as a sauce or dip. The yogurt is seasoned with cilantro (coriander), cumin, mint, cayenne pepper, and other herbs and spices. Vegetables such as seeded cucumber and onions are finely chopped and mixed in. The mixture is served chilled. Raita has a cooling effect on the palate which makes it a good foil for spicy Indian and Pakistani dishes.

Ingredients:

1 medium cucumber, seeded and drained
1/2 small onion, finely chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 cups plain, whole-milk yogurt
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons fresh coriander or mint leaves, chopped
cayenne or paprika to garnish

Preparation:

Peel cucumber. Cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch strips, remove seeds, then cut into thin slices crosswise. Blot off moisture with paper towels. Chop onion, set aside. Toast cumin seeds for a few seconds in a small, heavy frying pan over high heat. In a bowl, stir yogurt until it is smooth. Mix it with the cumin, garlic and coriander or mint leaves. Combine mixture with cucumber slivers, onion (if you choose), sprinkle with cayenne or paprika, and chill before serving. Enjoy!

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Kheema (Spicy Minced Meat)

2008-05-16T17:50:00.010-04:00

My mother-in-law told me that this is the first dish that her children learned when they were away at university abroad. It is easy to make and can be cooked plain or with potatoes, peas or mushrooms. My husband not only provided this recipe, he taught me how to make it - now you know it's gotta be easy!

2 medium-sized onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 piece ginger, 2-inches long and 1-inch wide,
peeled and coarsely chopped
4 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 stick cinnamon, about two-inches long
4 whole cloves
4 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1-2 whole red hot peppers to taste (optional)
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 small tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 lbs freshly ground hamburger, chuck or lamb
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
juice of 1/2 lime or lemon
chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves for garnish

Place onions, garlic and ginger in blender with 3 tablespoons water and blend into a smooth paste (1 minute). Set aside.

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. When hot add cinnamon stick, cloves, black peppercorns, bay leaf and the red peppers if you choose to use them. When the peppers turn black (about 10 seconds) add paste from blender. Stir and fry about 10 minutes, adding sprinkles of water if the spices stick to the bottom of the pan. Add the coriander, cumin and turmeric, and fry another 5 minutes, keep stirring. Now put the chopped tomato in, fry another 2 to 3 minutes and add the chopped meat and salt. Fry on high for 5 more minutes, breaking apart the meat as it browns. Add 1/2 cup of water and the juice of the lemon or lime. Bring to a boil and cover. Lower the heat and let the whole concoction simmer for an hour.

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with rice, chapatis or parathas and a vegetable if you'd like.

Yield: 6 servings

I encourage you to experiment with the ingredients and adjust to your preference. We actually like this dish with extra cumin and red pepper then filled out with left-over boiled potatoes and baby peas. You can add these last two ingredients with the water and lemon juice before covering to simmer.

Enjoy!

Worldly Word of the Week - Week 2 - Karahi

2008-05-12T17:22:00.010-04:00

Take a peek into any Pakistani or Indian kitchen and you are sure to see this next item:

"A karahi (also spelled karai - both pronounced the same "ka-rai") is a type of thick, circular, and deep vessel (similar in shape to a wok) used in Indian and Pakistani cooking. It is useful for shallow or deep frying of meat, potatoes, sweets, and snacks like samosa and fish, and for simmering of stews (which may also be called "karahi"). Karahi are traditionally made out of cast iron, although other materials like stainless steel and copper are sometimes used, and non-stick varieties do exist."

If you are going to attempt some of the recipes I'll be posting it 's not a bad idea to invest in a karahi. They are very useful and very sturdy, capable of withstanding very high cooking temperatures and sizzling oils. Wooden stands are also available so that the pot can be brought to the table for easy serving. Now don't fret if you don't have a 'Bombay Bazaar' to run down to and acquire such devise, a heavy-based frying skillet should do just fine.

Mughlai Cooking - Getting Your Kitchen In Order - Implements

2008-05-12T16:39:00.013-04:00

You should find that your own kitchen is sufficiently stocked to with everything you need to produce most of the dishes posted to this blog. Good-quality saucepans with heavy bases, wooden spoons, a slotted spoon, mixing bowls, sharp knives, a chopping board, a strainer and a rolling pin are the main essentials. A balloon whisk for beating yogurt and a pastry brush for basting kebabs with marinade may also be useful.

A heavy-bottomed skillet (frying pan) is a must, and you may like to try cooking dome of the dishes in a traditional karahi or balti pan - a deep rounded vessel with two circular handles. The other specialty implement you find in a Pakistani kitchen is a tava, a flat or slightly concave cast-iron frying pan used for cooking chapatis, roti and other breads, patties and for roasting spices.

A food processor, blender, and clean coffee grinder are all major labor-savers and will be invaluable for making pastes or pureeing ingredients quickly and efficiently. Fresh spices can be ground finely in the coffee grinder or by using an old fashioned mortar and pestle.

Now that we've covered the obvious, let's go over some of the other terms you may come across in your cooking adventures.

Chimta - These flat, smooth-edged, long tongs are used for everything from picking up live coals to turning over hot breads.

Katori - Small bowl made out of gold, silver, aluminum, etc. used to serve individual portions of meat, vegetables and dals. Often several katoris are arranged on a thali and the thali is then placed before the diners.

Mutka - Round pot of half-baked clay used for storing water and excellent for making "water pickles."

Tandoor - A large clay oven used for baking chicken, fish, meat, lentils and breads. Very popular in the northern Indian state of Punjab.

Thali - Gold, silver, or brass tray used both for serving and as a plate.

Introduction to Mughlai Cooking of South Asia

2008-05-07T12:13:00.014-04:00

According to The Complete Book of Indian Cooking by Shahzad Husain and Rafi Fernandez, "The vast and far-reaching sub-continent of India offers a range of culinary delights as rich and diverse as it's people and history. Each region has it's own unique cooking style: yogurt, ghee, cream and nuts dominate dishes in the north, while the south favors chillies, coconut and coconut oil. Fish and mustard oil reign supreme in the east while the west incorporates the greatest number of foreign ingredients." There is one element that unites these diverse and delicious styles - the use of exotic spices to create the flavors, layers and aromas distinctive of South Asian cuisine."

The flavors of Indian food are appreciated all over the world and although delicious, the nutritional content of some traditional Indian dishes has been at odds with our modern view of healthy eating. Liberal use of ghee, also known as clarified butter, adds an unsettling amount of saturated fat to prepared dishes.

In Western society, the healthy living message is everywhere; and that most definitely includes our daily diet. While implementing the recipes posted in this blog you will find a bounty of healthful ingredients; items such as lentils and legumes, fresh vegetables, lean meats and seafood. Poultry can be prepared without the skin and meats can be trimmed of excess fat. Heavy cream can be substituted with plain non-fat yogurt and ghee can be replaced with olive oil. So you see, there is no reason anyone needs to abstain from enjoying scrumptious Indian food!

For the purpose of focus, I will narrow my articles to regions of Northern Indian and Pakistan. I hope that you all enjoy the recipes and please feel free to add pointers, ancient family secrets and the likes in the comments section! If you'd like a more far-reaching introduction, I highly recommend An Invitation to Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffery. The original was published in 1973 and may be difficult to find however, it is worth it's weight in gold.

Worldly Word of the Week - Week 1 - Lehenga

2008-05-06T13:37:00.015-04:00

Since most of my friends are having trouble keeping up with some of the words my hubby and I throw around, I've decided to implement "Worldly Word of the Week" as a public service to those I know and love... and you can come along for the ride. Come on, it'll be fun! Today we'll start with an easy one.

"Lehenga: A kind of skirt that is the traditional women's attire worn commonly in India and Pakistan. The lehenga resembles the gypsy skirt and usually features a voluminous flare. The lehenga is usually accompanied with a choli or bodice which is designed to be usually mid-riff baring. The choli is cut to fit tightly to the body and commonly features short sleeves with a low neck. Possibly derived from Sanskrit lanka, standing for the waist, and anga or limbs."

Lehengas are what I like to call sari-light. There isn't any pleating or tucking of yards and yards of cloth like the sari, yet they still evoke the same beauty and grace. And there isn't any danger of some stranger stepping on your skirt at the Taj Mahal Palace buffet and having the entire 6 yards of embroidered silk puddle to your knees in front of the chicken tikka masala, never mind the children. If you'd like to see more beautiful examples of lehengas check out HomeIndia.com, I visit whenever I want to add a little glamor to my day dreams! If you'd like to see a picture of my wedding lehenga, it is enclosed with my first post.

Oops, From the Far Reaches

2008-05-03T23:37:00.016-04:00

Peek-a-boo from forever! I know that it has been an impossibly long time since I've last posted and I really do have a myriad of great excuses; moving across country, a "new" old home, a new baby niece, a desperately needed weight loss journey, the list goes on and on and on. The past year was a year of great upheaval and change and I am now finally starting to feel a sense of stability and peace again.

We've settled quite nicely into our "new" home, a 150 year old Victorian in rural North Carolina. We have a little bit of a commute "to town" but the serenity and beauty of our historic town is unmatched and I couldn't be happier here. The house was completely restored before we purchased it and the kitchen is fabulous! The best part is that I haven't set anything else on fire. I have gotten down a darn good chicken karahi, chicken tikka masala, vindaloo, and my latest favorite, murgh cholay (spicy chickpeas and chicken). Still elusive, is my mother-in-law's amazing kofta salan. Oh well, all in time! One of these days I will get around to posting some of my recipes so that you too can enjoy a little bit of Pakistan.

Jeweled Khussas are Burning

2007-07-24T07:57:00.003-04:00

What, you wonder, makes me the "Basmati Hottie"? I thought you would never ask!

The first part, Basmati, is a given for anyone who is even slightly aware of Middle Eastern and Asian culture. Every meal I prepare comes with cumin scented basmati rice, an aromatic long grain rice renowned for it's delicate flavor and soft texture. I have basmati rice on the table every night, even when I am serving some of my mother's family-famous Bavarian recipes.

The second part, Hottie, is a little more involved. It all started when my husband and I were married a few short weeks. We had just returned to our apartment after marrying and honeymooning abroad. Being a newlywed, and vigorously inspired by my very cuisine savvy in-laws, I wanted to impress my husband with a beautiful Mughlai dinner. I had worked all day and my husband was returning from classes at the nearby University, so I ran down to the Persian grocer and grabbed all the implements required for kofta salan, a deliciously spiced meatball curry.

Multi-tasking my way around our tiny kitchen, my husband bounded through the door with eyes large and mouth watering in anticipation at the glorious concoction bubbling away on the stove top. As I rushed to greet him, the look on his face went from excited anticipation to pale terror. "What?!", I thought out loud. Did the raita look to milky? Was the naan cooling to quickly on the carefully prepared table? What could it be? Then "it" hit me, or rather "it" hit my nose... fire! Something was burning on the stove behind me! Whirling around, to my horror, I saw that a corner of the towel used for catching the steam on my simmering pot of basmati rice had fallen loose from it's bundle and was dancing in the open flame of the gas burner. "Oh my G-O-D", I screamed as I twisted forward and grabbed a yet untouched portion of the towel.

Throwing it to the floor, I stomped at the flame that was quickly engulfing the delicate flour sack. Stomp, stomp, stomping away, I thought I had it licked until my beautifully jeweled khussa also started smoldering. With eyes tearing and arms flapping, it all came to a swift and sudden end with a firm "cla-PLOD" from my husband's size 11 sneaker. So yes, the fire was out but so was the tiny pinkie-toe tucked into said delicately beaded slipper.

We managed through the dinner; the kofta was almost as good as his second cousin's youngest daughters interpretation, and she's 11. I think that my husband actually enjoyed telling and re-telling the story to every member of his extended family more then the meal itself. Out of this humbling experience, the Basmati Hottie was born. Not as glamorous as you originally thought, huh?

Welcome! वेल्कोमे!

2007-07-23T20:01:00.003-04:00

This blog is under construction - check back soon!

थिस ब्लोग इस उंदर कोन्स्त्रुच्शन - चेक बैक सून!

Here begins our journey as husband and wife. We decided that we would have a inter-faith wedding ceremony. Our families graciously stood by us as we planned our wedding, a very intimate affair with only family by our side. I decided on a "fusion" gown, something that would reflect both my faith and the faith of my husband and his family. I felt that the traditional red saree or lehenga of Pakistan would have given my mother a heart attack just as a white frilly gown would have isolated my soon-to-be in-laws. So, viola, I found a Pakistani designer in Los Angeles that had the cream silk lehenga hand made in Lahore per my specifications. All without the knowledge of either side of the family. Needless to say, everyone enjoyed the gown and the wedding!

After all, isn't marriage, and life, about compromise?