Teach Me the Basics of Indian Cooking

I have only made a couple of Indian recipes in my entire lifetime, so I am certainly no expert. I did find a very nice, simple site that contains the basics of Indian cooking, and some nice recipes. Enjoy!



http://www.cuisinecuisine.com/HomePage.htm

I'm no expert, but I often see reference to Madhur Jaffrey for just this (learning the basics). Here's one, there are a lot more:

Madhur Jaffrey's "An Invitation to Indian Cooking"

my indian recipe books seem to be stored away

here's a very good site indian food and cuisine guide


start basic, a lamb curry, some rice, i have made pakoras (a fritter like appetizer, i had peas in mine but this site doesn't add them), the breads are pretty basic nan and poori, basically flat breads, and and as a cooling side dish a cucumber raita (the version here is described as a coleslaw like sallad, but the version i've made is more like a dip)

squnney and had Indian last night and used raita and a wonderful chilled Austrian white to take the edge of the heat. It was wonderful, but today I'm a little farty.

Phoenix and dj - Those sites looks very useful. I'll spend some time on them for sure. I've made Tandoori Chicken before and really liked it. I'd like to try making curry. I need to get just the right spices. I don't think I can get all of them locally. Probably have to take a trip to a larger town and stock up.

Soz - I couldn't get that link to work but I'll check out Madha. I've heard her name before.

BPB - What dishes did you have? I need to start learning some names.

Vocabulary of Indian Food

there are some fantastic recipes here (from one of North America's best Indian restos)

http://www.vijs.ca/index_in.htm

more from Vij

http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/43218

this one gets rave reviews at a number of sites

http://www.pacificpalate.com/r_2003_8.html

this one includes Vij, but is more all-encompassing

http://www.ananthapuri.com/recipe.asp?recipe=122/96

As much as I'm not a fan of the Whole Paycheque chain, they do have some good resources on their website, including recipes ...

this is a nice basic

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/vegetarian/redlentilsgarlic.html

Red Lentils with Crispy Garlic and Onion

Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Vegan
Serves 6

* 2 cups (dry) red lentils
* 1/2 tsp tumeric
* 4 cups water
* 1/2 tsp sea salt
* 2 TB canola oil
* 1 large red onion, finely sliced
* 12 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
* 6 cups (cooked) organic brown Basmati rice

Rinse red lentils and add to water. Add tumeric and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until lentils are very soft and pulpy, about 25 minutes. Add salt to lentils after cooking, then purée in blender. In a skillet, sauté the onion and garlic slivers to a golden brown, taking care not to burn them. Add the onion mixture to the lentils, stirring well. Serve piping hot with basmati rice.
Nutrition Info

Per Serving (176g-wt.): 340 calories (50 from fat), 5g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 17g protein, 57g total carbohydrate (11g dietary fiber, 5g sugar), 0mg cholesterol, 220mg sodium

and does anyone not love Butter Chicken ?

1/4 pint/150ml natural yogurt
2 ounces/50g ground almonds
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp crushed bay leaves
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp garam masala
4 green cardamom pods
1 tsp ginger pulp
1 tsp garlic pulp
14 ounce/400g can tomatoes
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 pounds/1kg chicken, skinned, boned and cubed
3 ounces/75g butter
1 tbsp corn oil
2 medium onions, sliced
2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
4 tbsp cream

How to make butter chicken :

* Place the yogurt, ground almonds, all the dry spices, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and salt in a mixing bowl and blend together thoroughly.
* Put the chicken into a large mixing bowl and pour over the yogurt mixture.
* Set aside. Melt together the butter and oil in a medium karahi, wok or frying pan. Add the onions and fry for about 3 minutes. Add the chicken mixture and stir-fry for about 7 to 10 minutes.
* Stir in about half of the coriander and mix well. Pour over the cream and stir in well. Bring to the boil. Garnish the indian butter chicken with the remaining chopped coriander to serve the chicken curry.

from Indian Food Forever

http://www.indianfoodforever.com/index.html

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I started studying Indian cooking about 35 years ago. Our teacher had to order some of the ingredients from Toronto. The other groups in my class studied French, German and British cooking. We were totally considered freakish for choosing Indian cooking at the time.

love butter chicken

Butter Chicken sounds really good. What would you serve with it, Beth? Rice? a veggie?

truthfully?

a simple basmati rice and 3 or 4 veggie sides

ok back from clicking stuff

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I'd start with a cucumber/tomato salad

I'd make up a tub of raita (cucumber/yogurt sauce/dip)

Aloo Gobi : cauliflower/potato curry

then picking from my internal menu system (and the names from a menu)

Baigan Bhurta : Baked eggplant sauteed with onions, garden peas & tomatoes.

Tarka Dal Makhani : Black lentils simmered for hours with herbs and spices and then tempered with butter.

Saag Paneer : Homemade cheese & spinach sauteed with a touch of cream.

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small servings of everything

Indian meals are IMNSHO wonderful sampling meals ... and make grrrrrrreat left-overs.

What exactly is paneer? Is it something you can make yourself?

Nver mind. I found a recipe. Paneer

Doesn't sound too hard to make.

Madhur taught this novice how to cook Indian! I was living with a long-term vegetarian at the time & was very keen to learn about varieties if vegetarian food I'd find interesting & Madhur filled the bill! Many (though not all) of her books are are based on Indian vegetarian cooking. I bought many of them & and I'm now addicted to Indian food - & cooking it!

Beginners on the subject of Indian food (like me) and seekers after the truth, will be interested to dip into this fascinating site

http://www.route79.org/journal/

Some recipes with pictures assembled with care and love for the subject.

I'm going to get Madhur's cook book. Two great minds can't be wrong.

McTag- What an interesting site. I like the fusion dishes. That's really more my style. Take the familiar and add the exotic.

Indian Food is an Absolute Delight for veggies.

Its the ONLY cusine in the WORLD that has Maximum vegeterian dishes identified yet.

Yea. We don't eat much meat. Hubby eats even less that I do. We are always looking for new meatless dishes. Gotta get to Penzey's and buy some spices.