Indian food

For my birthday this year, Lisa and Jamie took me on an amazing date: a cooking class featuring Indian food!  We all really enjoy Indian food, and Jamie makes a really good curry dish and Lisa makes really good naan.  I make rice.  And salad.  We were all very excited to learn more.  It was a wonderful experience and the chef was really entertaining and a very good teacher; he spent a lot of time on things that had to do with cooking in general but not specific to what he was being paid to teach us that evening.  Ever since that class, we've been waiting for a Sunday to make it all on our own and this Sunday will be the day!  We're all super excited.  It's soooo good.

Murgh Makhani

(Butter Chicken)

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Serves 6

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut in large chunks

1/2 yellow onion, frenched (it's the way you cut it!)

4 oz. butter

2 tsp. garam masala

2 tsp. sweet paprika

2 tsp. ground coriander

1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger

1 cinnamon stick

6 cardamom pods, bruised

2 Tbsp. tomato puree

1/4 c. plain yogurt (he used goat yogurt which is a lot runnier but more expensive.  You can use regular stuff, just add milk to make it the consistency of like a heavy cream)

1/2 c. sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

Heat a wok until really hot, add 1 Tbsp. oil

Add half the chicken and stir-fry for about 4 minutes or until chicken is a nice color.  Remove to plate; add extra oil and repeat with remaining chicken. (He actually precooked all the chicken in hot water and then saves the broth for soups and such, but this way works, too.)  Remove from wok.

Add onions and sweat them for a few minutes until fragrant.

Reduce heat and add the butter

When melted add all of the spices and stir-fry until fragrant-about 1 minute.

Return chicken to wok and stir to coat with the spices

Add the tomato and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Making sure it's at a simmer, add yogurt, sour cream and simmer a few more minutes until the sauce thickens a bit (if it is too hot, the oils will separate from the cream; if this happens, add some milk to get it creamier; this happened to us-it doesn't look as pretty but it still tastes really good!).

Season to taste with salt and pepper, take out the cinnamon stick and serve over rice.

Aromatic Yellow Rice

Prep time: 40 minutes (this includes the soak time) 

Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves 6

2 c. basmati rice

1/4 c. frozen green peas

5 c. water and 2 2/3 c. water

1 1/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp ground turmeric

3-4 cloves

3-4 strands of saffron

1 cinnamon stick

3 bay leaves

3 Tbsp unsalted butter cut into small pats

Rinse the rice then put the rice in a bowl and cover with 5 c. water; let soak for 30 minutes then drain.   Combine drained rice, peas, 2 2/3 c. water, salt turmeric, cloves, saffron, cinnamon and bay leaves in a heavy pot and bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce to a simmer.  Cook for 25 minutes (don't stir!!!  That will make the rice mushy.)  Let the rice rest covered for ten minutes.  Removes spices and add the butter and gently mix with a fork.

Mint Chutney

Makes 2 1/2 c.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 2 minutes

1 c. tightly packed mint leaves cleaned from stem

2 1/4 c. raisins (he used red and golden)

1/2 c. cider vinegar

1 pinch cayenne

Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend until a course paste forms.  Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or up to 1 week.  Bring to room temperature before serving-this is great on braised meats and naan bread. 

Naan Bread

Makes 10-12 loaves

4 c. all-purpose flour

2 c. plain yogurt (he used goat yogurt which is expensive, so you can use regular yogurt, just add milk to get the consistency of a heavy cream)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients in a mixer with dough hook or by hand until the dough comes together in a soft ball.  Coat with a light coating of oil, cover, and let rest for 30 minutes.

Portion a ball about the size of a golf ball.  Coat with flour and roll out until 1/8" thick.  Preheat a cast iron skillet with no oil on high heat.  (It should be really really hot) Place bread on hot skillet and bake for a minute.  Flip and bake for 30 more seconds or so.  Remove from heat and brush with melted butter and sprinkle with salt (we like to add cilantro and/or garlic, too).

Baida Vindaloo 

(Pickled Eggs)

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Serves 3-4

4 cloves garlic, peeled

1 inch ginger, grated

pinch of cayenne pepper

2 tsp. paprika

1 1/2 tsp. cumin

1 1/4. tsp. salt

 1 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 Tbsp plus 1/2 c. white vinegar

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 inch cinnamon stick

1/2 onion, frenched (the way it is cut)

1/2 tsp. garam masala

2/3 c. water

6-8 hard boiled eggs, peeled and cut in half lengthwise

Mash the garlic and put through garlic press

Combine garlic, ginger, cayenne, paprika, cumin, salt, brown sugar, and 2 tbsp. vinegar in a small bowl and mix well.

Add oil to saute pan and toasted cinnamon in it for a few minutes.  Add and sweat onion until fragrant.  Add the spice paste as well as the garam masala and cook until mixed and fragrant.  Add the 1/2 c. of vinegar and the water.  Stir and bring to a simmer.  Add the eggs to the pan cut side up, and spoon the liquid over them.  Cook until the sauce has thickened (about 5 minutes); continue to spoon liquid over the eggs.  Serve or refrigerate.

Sweet and rich Mango Lassi

Prep time: 20 minutes

Makes about 2 cups

1 c. plain yogurt

1/2 c. milk

1 c. chopped mango (peeled and stone removed) (he did half mango, half peach...amazing)

4 tsp. sugar, to taste

Dash of ground cardamom (optional)

Put all ingredients into blender and blend for 2 minutes.  If you are making larger amounts you will need to process it in batches.  Allow to chill for at least 30 minutes.  Pour into glasses, garnish with a pinch of cardamom and serve.  Lassi can be kept refrigerated for up to 24 hours.

Lau Lau and Otai

Kelly's Aunt Ellen is in town, and taught the kids and I about Hawaii, where she lives.  We decided to have an Hawaiian dinner to help ourselves be educated.  :)  She taught us how to make Lau Lau (Jill can say it perfectly!)

For a big 9x13, we used the following:

4 large chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch-ish cubes

1 bag of spinach

1 onion

salt and pepper

1 can coconut cream

coconut milk

You layer the spinach, then chicken and onion, season with salt and pepper, pour the coconut cream and some of the milk on top, then top with more spinach.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 for an hour.  Elena took seconds, and even though the other kids didn't, they still liked it.  Kelly doesn't like coconut anything, but he even liked it and couldn't taste the coconut.  I, on the other hand, LOVE coconut and loved the smell of the cream and milk-it reminded me of sticky rice and mango.

For dessert, we made a traditional drink called Otai.  It's a chunky drink, so you want to crush up some ice and make sure the fruit is only as blended as you want it.  It's usually made by hand, so it's supposed to be pulpy/chunky, but however you want it is fine.  We used one pineapple, lots of watermelon (too much, so be careful) and coconut milk.  Oh, and the crushed ice.  Just mix it and serve it cold!  Use as much of each ingredient as you want for your taste.

Pumpkin Shake

I re-pined this recipe from mom, and we tried it ASAP. It was pretty good.

Ingredients

• 1 can (15 Ounce) pumpkin pie filling
• 1 1/2-3 cups milk (depending on desired consistency)
• 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt or desired sweetener (sugar, agave, splenda...)
•   a few dashes of cinnamon
• cinnamon graham crackers, crushed

Preparation Instructions

Well ahead of time, place pumpkin pie filling into a freezer-safe container (cylinder in shape or ice cube trays will make it easiest). Freeze until frozen solid. 

To make the smoothie, add milk, and yogurt/sweetener to a blender. Drop in the frozen pumpkin pie filling and blend until the frozen filling is completely pulverized. Add more milk or yogurt as needed to get it the consistency you'd like. 

We added some graham crackers to the smoothie as well. 

Pour into individual glasses and sprinkle the tops with graham cracker crumbs/dash of cinnamon. Serve immediately!

Recipe from: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/10/pumpkin-smoothie/

*Note: Make a lower-calorie smoothie by using unsweetened/unflavored pumpkin puree, nonfat plain yogurt, and the sweetener of your choice.

*Can also sprinkle with cinnamon and/or nutmeg instead of graham cracker crumbs.

I liked it the first time- it was more smoothie like; Ben liked it the second time- it was really thick. 

I accidentally bought the large pumpkin puree, and then froze the whole thing in a square container, which made using it and actually putting it in the blender impossible. I would recommend using the smaller 14 oz. can if you are making this for 1-3 people, and if you are making a large batch, freeze the bigger can in small portions. You could use ice cube trays or cylinder-type containers to freeze. You may also have to run some hot water over the container so the frozen puree pops out.

Jimmy Carter Shake

I had this type of shake one time at a burrito place at the airport- then I found the same place at the mall...then the one in the mall closed down. Super sad. So, I could only get one at the airport. Maybe that's why I flew a lot this year, ha.
There's not much to it, but I only just got it down to a happy satisfaction.

Ingredients
1 ripe banana
1 cup milk
1-2 spoon full of peanut butter
dash of vanilla
2-3 ice cubes

Blend it all up and tada, and awesome shake that keeps you full for awhile. You could add protein powder to it if you want, or use frozen yogurt instead of milk (which is how the restaurant does it). I am happy as is.