Indian Cuisine

[DeletedAccount53]

We'd love to visit Indian Star in Av. boulevard de la République, but the restaurant never takes bookings as it's always packed for its low charges, otherwise we'd book a table at Maya Jar in Princesse Grace except it's heavenly cuisine is marred by hellish prices; starting at an eye watering €90. That is per person. Criminal prices.

And that is the reason why I love making Indian food at home. Unless perhaps after we all get vaccinated we can nip across the border to France and pig out in Nice. Great restaurant prices there, and we'd come home with wallets intact! Except pigging out in Monaco can cost you.

Lately I've been at Sauveur online, and saved some wonderful Kashmiri meals such as:

Kashmiri Lamb in Chile Sauce (Mirchi Qorma)
https://www.saveur.com/article/recip...n-chile-sauce/

Now, this Kashmiri meal is a belter! But if you don't like too much fire from those '2 Thai red chiles' and also, '1 tbsp. red chile powder, such as cayenne' leave them out! The Kashmiri Lamb will taste just as wonderful, only without killing your mouth.

Also in the ingredients are stated '6 dried Kashmiri chiles'. Kashmiri chillies are not very hot at all. If you're thing "hmm, she could be wrong", then cut down to 3. After 20 minutes or so, try a taster. If you think that the other 3 dried Kashmiri chiles will be okay, then drop 'em in.

Also, use the jalapeño chile because though hot, it's not burning hot and has a wonderful depth to its taste. By all means remove its seeds, then slice it in half. Just try the half-jalapeño, see how hot it is when cooking all the ingredients. Again, if that half-jalapeño isn't hot enough, put its other half in.

What is most important is enjoying your Indian meal at the heat threshold you can tolerate.

No 'Kosher salt'? Nevermind, use sea salt. It'll also cost cheaper than Kosher. We use Malden, or salt from the Guérande district, hand-harvested using wooden rakes in the salt marshes, or another lovely salt from salt marshes near Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez where we used to holidays as kids.

Anyway...back to that recipe. It's very tasty, completely moreish and the lamb, if used from lamb shoulder will be tender, succulent and full of good flavour. Lamb should is not expensive at all, unlike lamb fillet, which you could use instead if you fancied 'pushing the boat out' and a paying a lot more.


Malabar Fish Fry is sensational! https://www.saveur.com/article/recip...abar-fish-fry/ and instead of 1 1⁄2 tbsp. red chile powder, use half a teaspoon or according to taste.


Note: a teaspoon measurement is a level teaspoon measurement, not a heaped as some gung-ho curry noshers use.


And how about a dessert? Indeed, if plums are available, try making the utterly delicious Plum Galette! https://www.saveur.com/plum-galette-recipe/

If you can't be doing with making pastry, buy ready-made, also a half-litre tub of ready-made vanilla custard from the supermarket.


+ if you must have a side salad with your Indian meal (as saome Brits will) make this wonderfully easy Heirloom and Cherry Tomato Salad.


https://www.saveur.com/heirloom-and-cherry-tomato-salad-recipe/ Or better still, enjoy it for a nice lunch with crusty bread and a wedge of your favourite cheese. Yum!


Bon appétit!

[Dawn.]

I have Indian food now and again.

[DeletedAccount53]

Originally Posted by Flight.

I have Indian food now and again.

I'm glad because most of it (not too much fried stuff) is healthy and good for the stomach, though I try to lower the amount of fat when cooking and always ensure any meat is nicely browned as it provides good flavour, unless a recipe says otherwise.

Taken from Harvey Day's many recipe books on the curries of India (I don't like the word 'curry'), Sarojini Mudnani's curry powder recipes are a very good kitchen cupboard standby because Indian spice powders keep for a long time and improve in flavour, but the containers must be airtight and kept out of sunlight:


Reference link: http://macheads2.net/recipes/SMCurryPowder.html


Book reference: Curries of India - Harvey Day; Sarojini Mudnani; Kaye & Ward, 1969, Hardback. See also 'vgc' from abebooks.com and amazon

Indian Relish, taken from Savvybearcat.com: http://savvybearcat.com/pageview.aspx?tab=1&catid=33

Ingredients:
12 medium cucumbers
6 green tomatoes
2 tomatoes
2 sweet green peppers
2 sweet red peppers
2 onions
1/4 cup pickling salt
4 cups vinegar
1 cup water
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon, Ground
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cloves, Ground
1/2 teaspoon allspice, Ground
2 tablespoons white mustard seeds


To make:

Slice the cucumbers and green tomatoes; peel and slice the ripe tomatoes.
Seed and chop the peppers, peel and finely chop the onions.
Mix the vegetables with the salt and let stand overnight.
Drain the vegetables, add 2 cups of the vinegar and the water, and bring slowly to a boil.
Drain again.
Mix the sugar, cinnamon, turmeric, cloves and allspice to a smooth paste with a little of the vinegar.
Bring the remaining vinegar to a boil, stir in the paste, and add the white mustard seeds and the vegetables.
Bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes, stirring constantly.
Turn into sterilized hot jars and seal.

Note: In this large food compendium there are 112 Indian recipes



One to try originated by Rick Stein, his Cod Curry.
Reference link: https://www.womanandhome.com/recipes...-curry-recipe/





Goodnight! I'm off to sleep.

[Dawn.]

I try to avoid foods that are fried or high in salt and sugar anyway lol.

[DeletedAccount53]

Originally Posted by Flight.

I try to avoid foods that are fried or high in salt and sugar anyway lol.

It's a good thing. Too much salt isn't good for us. There again, proper seasoning of food is essential for taste. We mostly use olive oil as it's a mediterranean habit, but for authentic Indian food, ghee is always best, though it's very high in saturated fat!

Ghee cooks very well, but using sunflower oil that is low in saturates does not enhance the quality of taste in Indian food because sunflower oil doesn't make for tasty food. The only other option is to use ghee by aerosol, but it isn't satisfactory when preparing Indian food because a fair amount is needed. Slaking off the ghee would be better for health, but we'd miss that supremely wonderful taste.

At high heat, ghee is more stable than butter because it doesn't have any proteins or sugars that will burn. The majority of ghee's fatty acids are saturated, making it a great choice for sautéing and searing at higher heat, but saturated fat is very bad for one's health. If you have to cook hotter than 350° F, grass-fed ghee is apparently the gold standard in Indian cuisine.

We can't win. Best to use a little ghee than none at all.

As for sugar, we prefer using Demerara in caster form, not granulated unless for coffee. (I drink coffee without sugar, but like a teaspoon of sugar in my tea, unless it's Darjeeling as that tea has an almost pronounced muscat overtone). Demerara is healthier than white refined sugar, and less is used because Demerara has a more pronounced taste. Tell you what is yummy, though - largish fingernail-sized pieces of crystallized Demerara - that is lovely to nibble on! Jaggery is good when used for Asian cuisine, but it's difficult to come by.

Regarding salt. Sea salt has a very pronounced taste, so we always use less during cooking. If I've a plate of food that may need a little salting, I always grab a pinch of sea salt, but place it on the side of the plate. It's good practice. Whereas Maman will habitually scatters salt all over her food without tasting it first. "The woman is scrambled!" Julie remarked.



Healthline: What is Jaggery and What Benefits Does it Have? is an interesting read: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/jaggery

[Dawn.]

Originally Posted by Pork Chops

It's a good thing. Too much salt isn't good for us. There again, proper seasoning of food is essential for taste. We mostly use olive oil as it's a mediterranean habit, but for authentic Indian food, ghee is always best, though it's very high in saturated fat!

Ghee cooks very well, but using sunflower oil that is low in saturates does not enhance the quality of taste in Indian food because sunflower oil doesn't make for tasty food. The only other option is to use ghee by aerosol, but it isn't satisfactory when preparing Indian food because a fair amount is needed. Slaking off the ghee would be better for health, but we'd miss that supremely wonderful taste.

At high heat, ghee is more stable than butter because it doesn't have any proteins or sugars that will burn. The majority of ghee's fatty acids are saturated, making it a great choice for sautéing and searing at higher heat, but saturated fat is very bad for one's health. If you have to cook hotter than 350° F, grass-fed ghee is apparently the gold standard in Indian cuisine.

We can't win. Best to use a little ghee than none at all.

As for sugar, we prefer using Demerara in caster form, not granulated unless for coffee. (I drink coffee without sugar, but like a teaspoon of sugar in my tea, unless it's Darjeeling as that tea has an almost pronounced muscat overtone). Demerara is healthier than white refined sugar, and less is used because Demerara has a more pronounced taste. Tell you what is yummy, though - largish fingernail-sized pieces of crystallized Demerara - that is lovely to nibble on! Jaggery is good when used for Asian cuisine, but it's difficult to come by.

Regarding salt. Sea salt has a very pronounced taste, so we always use less during cooking. If I've a plate of food that may need a little salting, I always grab a pinch of sea salt, but place it on the side of the plate. It's good practice. Whereas Maman will habitually scatters salt all over her food without tasting it first. "The woman is scrambled!" Julie remarked.



Healthline: What is Jaggery and What Benefits Does it Have? is an interesting read: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/jaggery

That's fair enough.

[DeletedAccount53]

Tonight while I was chasing off a migraine, Julie made the following:

Rajasthani lamb curry (laal maas) a recipe from Olive magazine online, Bombay Potatoes from BBC Good Food (also online) with

Traditional Indian Raita to cool things down. It certainly chased away the blues and she made enough for the rest of the weekend. Raita is very cheap to make and tastes far better than any restaurant version. She used mint from the garden, swapping the cilantro because we can't stand it.

Cooking on a budget, too. Julie used shoulder of lamb for best flavour and domestic economy. Instead of having rice, we mopped up the juices with fresh crusty bread. It was truly wonderful experience made lovelier by fairly mild Kasmiri chile.

For Indian food affectionados, check out Hari Ghotra's site: https://www.harighotra.co.uk/indian-recipes There are some wonderful recipes there and cheap to make, too!

[Dawn.]

Originally Posted by Pork Chops

Tonight while I was chasing off a migraine, Julie made the following:

Rajasthani lamb curry (laal maas) a recipe from Olive magazine online, Bombay Potatoes from BBC Good Food (also online) with

Traditional Indian Raita to cool things down. It certainly chased away the blues and she made enough for the rest of the weekend. Raita is very cheap to make and tastes far better than any restaurant version. She used mint from the garden, swapping the cilantro because we can't stand it.

Cooking on a budget, too. Julie used shoulder of lamb for best flavour and domestic economy. Instead of having rice, we mopped up the juices with fresh crusty bread. It was truly wonderful experience made lovelier by fairly mild Kasmiri chile.

For Indian food affectionados, check out Hari Ghotra's site: https://www.harighotra.co.uk/indian-recipes There are some wonderful recipes there and cheap to make, too!

Sounds great!

[DeletedAccount53]

Originally Posted by Flight.

Sounds great!

Our Rajasthani lamb curry was fantastic! Tasty, moreish, hot - but not too hot. Adjust the chile to suit your heat preference. It's gonna taste even better tonight! Yummo!

[Dawn.]

Originally Posted by Pork Chops

Our Rajasthani lamb curry was fantastic! Tasty, moreish, hot - but not too hot. Adjust the chile to suit your heat preference. It's gonna taste even better tonight! Yummo!

Glad you enjoyed it.