Teach Me the Basics of Indian Cooking

In that case, Swimpy, definitely buy Madhur's Eastern Vegetarian Cooking. It's a classic. By far the most used Indian cooking book I own & the one I started out with on my valiant quest to learn Indian cookery. It's fantastic for a beginner or anyone else, for that matter!

(I will be back, later .... today, sorry, I'm kinda crumpled by work.)

I'd recommend trying some of the Madhur Jaffrey recipes you can find by googling, before getting one of her books. Just to be sure she's the kind of cookbook author you like.

recipezaar offers these Madhur Jaffrey recipes

http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/34704

http://www.uktvfood.co.uk/index.cfm?uktv=chefs.chef&iID=530755

another selection of Madhur Jaffrey recipes

Thanks, I'll check those out.

Tip 1: Making Indian Curries in their natural taste? Avoid readymade Curry powders. They are exaggerated mixed versions of non-so-authentic-Indian spices.

Use individual masalas (spices) & Curry Leaves are must must must.

Tip 2: Making Tandoor dishes? Use barbeque if u own one or Use Coal Pan or even Gas Stove. OTG will also give good results but microwave wont.

Tip 3: If you have leftover simple bread (of last 2-3 days) then instead of throwing it, dry it in sunlight and make a powder. Use it as Gulab Jamun Mix, an absolute delightful Indian Sweet dish.

Tip 4: Use ONLY Plain flour (Maida), Rice Flour (Chawal Atta), corn flour or suji (semolina) for covering Kebabs or Indian cutlets.

Vinsan, do you have a good recipe for curry? I don't know what the proper proportion of spices is. I can buy a packaged garam masala from a very good spice vendor, but I'm a bit nervous about making my own.

Hi there, Swimpy. I said I'd return & here I am.
Here's one of of the simplest "essentials" for an Indian meal: a good ol' Mung dahl! (I'm not sure if some one else might have posted a recipe for it yet?) Anyway, it's a good companion for a curry & steamed rice. Very comforting! This is the no fuss, delicious one which I often use. Personally I find ghee rather too rich & subsitute with a lighter (vegetable) oil. And if you dont't have asafetida on hand, it's not the end of the world, either! Just leave it out!

MUNG DAHL

Recipe By : Madhur Jaffrey
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Ethnic Vegetarian

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 1/2 c Mung dahl, split
2 ea Garlic cloves, peeled
2 sl Fresh ginger, peeled
1 tb Cilantro
1 tb Tumeric
1/2 ts Cayenne, optional
1 1/2 ts Salt
1 1/2 tb Lemon juice
3 tb Ghee
1 pn Asafetida
1 t Whole cumin seeds
Lemon wedges

Clean & wash dahl. Place in a heavy pot. Add 5 c
water & bring to a boil. Reduce heat & remove froth.
Add garlic, ginger, cilantro, turmeric & cayenne.
Cover, leaving lid slightly ajar & cook for 1 1/2
hours. Stir occasionally. When cooked, add salt &
lemon juice.

In a skillet, heat ghee till hot. Add asafetida & a
few seconds later, add the cumin. When the cumin
seeds darken, remove from heat & add to the cooked
dahl & serve.

Madhur Jaffrey, "An Invitation to Indian Cooking"

OK...stupid question #1- What is Mung dahl? #2 when the recipe calls for cilantro, I assume you mean the leaves, not coriander, right? #3 I don't even know what asafetida is much less have it in my pantry

and what is a pn, a portion?

I'd suspect it means a "pinch", osso. I usually buy asafetida in powdered form, in very small quantities as you usually don't use much at once. (& keep it in a very tight jar! It smells quite strong, uncooked!) I'm thinking the pn was a result of me accidentally chopping off a bit of the word as I tidied up the form of the recipe to post here.)

Swimpy

Mung beans in Indian cuisine are stripped of their outer coats to make mung dal. Mung beans are widely consumed by Keralites along with kanji (rice gruel). When they are hulled & split they are yellow in colour & look much like (yellow) split peas. Whole mung beans (before hulled) look like this:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mung_bean

These and other beans are used in Indian cooking to make dahl (or dal):

Dal (also spelled dhal, dahl, or daal) is a Sanskrit term common to many South Asian languages referring to pulses which have been stripped of their outer hulls and split, as well as to the thick, spicy stew prepared therefrom, a mainstay of Indian cuisine...
Dahl is commonly used as an accompaniment to other Indian foods (like curries) on steamed rice. There are many different varieties, depending on which beans are used & which region the recipes came from. My personal favourite is Mung dahl, because it's simple, easy to make & delicious! For me it's a comfort food!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dal

Swimpy

Your confusion about all this reminds me of when I decided to learn to cook Indian: So many ingredients! So many spices! Was I going to have to purchase them all? It seemed very daunting indeed. My way around this was to follow the advice of some wise author of a good Indian cookbook (It was probably Madhur, not certain): buy (or find online) a good, reliable source of Indian recipes. Then perfect a couple of the recipes (one curry, one dahl) that appealed to me. Rice you already know! That way I needed to purchase only those particular basic ingredients rather than all the 123 available! THEN, I kept reading & branching out to into other recipes. You'll either really enjoy the cooking experience & the food or you won't. It really helped me to learn to walk before I attempted to run.

I'd not heard of mung dahl. I guess I'd call them mung beans, not sure that's correct. I haven't, obviously, cooked them, but I have made glass noodles, which are mung bean threads....

osso

If you're interested in having a go, go back to the recipe I posted, then the Wikipedia links. Mung dahl (dal) is easy peasy, trust me. One of the simple basics. (There are also a variety of mung soups & other dahl soups.) I'm addicted! These are vegetarian staples. That's the great thing about Indian cooking - so many vegetarian options!

Yes, I remember liking the recipe, something I could handle...

I'm not sure yet where around here I could get mung dahl, though I can think of one place on the other side of town. In the meantime, would this work with lentils or .... not?

... & one of the easiest things to cook! ... & healthy!
Most health shops here (in Oz) sell mung (& other) suitable beans. Also a lot of the spices & flavourings. I suspect it'd be the same where you are. You can also use the split red lentils you find in supermarkets. (called Masur dahl. I hope I spelt that correctly.)

OK, I've used those before...

A word of advice: skip the ghee unless you really like the flavour! It's very rich (& not particularly healthy or wonderful for the weight conscious). Many contemporary Indian cook books substitute a light vegetable oil for ghee, for health reasons ... & often in smaller quantities than the more traditional recipes. Also learn to substitute when the right herbs, etc, aren't at hand: for example when coriander (leaves) aren't available I use parsley instead. It works! And, say, asafetida: you can omit it altogether if you don't have it.

Coriander of both kinds is easily available here, but asafoetida... well, again, maybe in that shop ten miles away. Back in Los Angeles, I had a good international market fairly close by. Here in Abq, the stores are very ordinary on this side of town. Well, I can find things if I get serious - one can look online. I'm not that serious re changing my cooking mode. Just that I have room in my heart for some dahl...