Ask the A2K cooks!

A note about ghee & oils in Indian home cooking. It's a matter of taste, but personally I find ghee a bit too rich & over-powering. So I always substitute with a vegetable oil, like sunflower or corn (though not olive) oil.
Healthier, too!

RED KIDNEY BEANS PUNJABI-STYLE

Ingredients:

175g (6 oz) red kidney beans, washed & drained

1.25 litres (2 1/4 pints) water

3 thin slices of unpeeled ginger, plus 1/2 tsp peeled & very finely chopped ginger

about 1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tbs lemon juice

1/4 tsp garam marsala

150 ml (5 fluid oz) double cream (or adjust to personal preference of variety of cream)

3 tbs of ghee (or vegetable oil)

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

i garlic clove, peeled & finely chopped

2 whole hot red chillies

* Put beans & 1.25 litres (2 1/2 pints) water into a heavy saucepan & bring to boil. Turn heat to low & simmer for 2 minutes. Turn off heat & allow beans to sit, uncovered, for 1 hour.

* Add the 3 slices of ginger to the beans & bring them to a boil again. Fast boil foe 10 minutes, then cover, leaving the lid very slightly open. Turn the heat to low & simmer gently for 1 hour. Discard the ginger slices.

* You may now mash the beans against the sides of the pot or take 1/2 of the beans & their liquid & puree them in a blender. This gives the dish a pleasant texture. Pour the puree back into the pan of beans.

* Add the salt, lemon juice, garam marsala & cream. Stir to mix & check the seasonings.

* Heat the ghee (or vegetable oil) in a small frying pan over a medium flame. When it is hot, put in the cumin seeds. Two seconds later, put in the finely chopped garlic & the remaining chopped ginger. Stir & fry until the garlic browns lightly. Put in the red chillies. Stir once & pour into the pot with the beans. Stir to mix.

* The chillies are not meant to be eaten. (Unless you like fire really want to! :wink: )

~

Enough for now.
Madhur has a ripper Black beans/peas with mushrooms recipe, which I absolutely adore. If you're interested, let me know & I'll post it here.

I'm going to do the kidney beans, but probably use cranberry beans.

I have Jaffrey, but don't know if I have that one. Seeing it here will be inspiring if you have the interest in posting...


Just about nuthin' makes me happier than beans soaking...

To anyone reading this & considering experimenting with a bit of Indian home cooking for the first time, please note: You do not have to be incredibly accurate with the quantities of spices, etc (like I was, with my first efforts! ). They will work just as well if instead of say, 2 garlic cloves, you use 3 or even 4! (If you love garlic as much as I do!) Same goes with the spices. It won't be the end of the world if you put in 1/2 tsp of garam marsala, when the recipe say 1/4. You can also leave out/reduce the amount of chilli, or salt, or oil if that is your preference. It will still work, I promise! Just follow your nose & your instincts!
Oh, & when using rather "aged" spices which have lost a bit of their zing, feel free to use more than the recipe suggests.

I know, osso. It feels so ... sort of productive, or bountiful, or something, ...!

I think I have something like 8 (more?) Madhur cookbooks, gathered over the years. She was a lifesaver for the beginner vego 1 was in the early 80s. Though I'm no longer a vegetarian, I still use these recipes a lot. And still love em!

You know, I don't think I've ever seen a cranberry beans, say nothing of tasted one! Interesting!

Their prettiest when dry, and the color changes as you soak and cook them, or it does for me. I think they're tastier than the big red kidney beans, but I haven't used either in a while (like pinto, great northern white, or black beans, mostly). Mine may be too dry, I'll probably have to soak them a goodly time. But hey, it's the big bowl with the beans that makes a house a home.

the cranberry beans


More about them..

http://www.foodreference.com/html/fcranberrybean.html

For you, osso. Oh I love this dish! Yum!

Black-eyed beans (peas) with mushrooms
(Lobhia aur khumbri)

(Serves 6)

Ingedients:

225 (8 oz) dried black-eyed beans, picked over, washed & drained.

1.2 litres (2 pints) water

225 g (8 oz) fresh mushrooms

6 tablespoons vegetable oil (I've often used less (like 4). Up to you. Fine either way.)

1 tsp cumin seeds

2.5 (1 inch)piece of cinnamon stick

150g (5 oz) onions, peeled & chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled & very finely chopped

400 (14 oz) tomatoes, peeled & chopped. (I have used the tinned variety in winter, or when tomatoes are not particularlt flavourful. In other words, often!)

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground tumeric

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp salt (or as you prefer)

freshly ground black pepper

3 tbs chopped chopped fresh coriander (or parsley is fine, if none is available)

* Put the beans & water in a heavy saucepan & bring to a boil. Cover, turn the heat to low & simmer gently for 2 minutes.Turn off the heat & let the pan sit, covered & undisturbed for one hour.

* While the pan is resting, cut the mushrooms through their stems into 3 mm (1/8 inch) slices.

* Heat the oil in a (large) frying pan over a medium-high flame. When it is hot, put in the cumin seeds & the cinnamon stick. Let them sizzle for 5-6 seconds. Now put in the onions & the garlic. Stir & fry until the onion pieces turn brown at the edges. Put in the mushrooms & stir fry until the mushrooms wilt. Now put in the tomatoes, ground coriander, ground cumin, tumeric & cayenne. Stir & cook for 1 minute. Cover, turn the heat to low & let this mixture cook in its own juices for 10 minutes. Turn off heat under the frying pan.

* Bring the beans to a boil again. Cover, turn the heat to low & simmer for 20-30 minutes. To this bean mixture add the mushroom mixture, salt, black pepper & fresh coriander. Stir & bring to a simmer. Simmer uncovered on a medium-low heat for another 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

* Remove cinnamon stick before serving.

~

OK, I've everything but the blackeyed peas (we have them at the grocery) and fresh mushrooms. Thanks a lot...

Thanks, osso.

I learn something new every day!

They look a little like the Italian borlottis (sp?) I buy. Would they be a suitable substitute?

I know what you mean about red kidney beans. They're not my favourite bean, either. But they do work very well in the recipe. Something to do with the cream (& also the spices, no doubt!), I think. (Nice coloured dish, too! :wink: ) Good combination!

A pleasure!

You'll really like this, I promise!

... & do let us know how these turn out, osso!

OK, nag me if I forget.



Made some good scalloped potatoes tonight. To start a thread, or not. Not, I think, because I signed up for Fantasy baseball and have a whole lot of research I want to do.



Anyway, on the scalloped potatoes...

1 chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tinned anchovies, cut up
all sauteed in some olive oil until onions translucent;

5 medium to big red potatoes thinly sliced in mandoline or by hand
a small chunk of fresh cabbage chopped (1/4 small cabbage?)
a couple of thin slices of 'hot capicola' torn and tossed into the mix
a couple of big handfuls of shredded low fat mozzarella

all that mixed together in medium big baking dish, with some ital seasoning

a roux of butter and flour with some cups of 1% fat milk poured over,
baked 50 minutes at 375.

Now that sounds good, osso! Yum!

I'm gonna try it, some time soon.

Just one question (from an Orstralian! :wink:). What is 'hot capicola'? Can I find it in Oz under another name? If not, what would you suggest as a substitute?

Well, I've never had capicola before either.. it's a kind of packaged ham cold cut that has the slices dusted with paprika. I had been considering pancetta, and I would have added sausage if I had any. Didn't add very much, just, y'know, for some extra flavor.

Pancetta!

Gotcha!

No problem!

I'm sitting here looking at a 15 ounce can of thick cut Seville oranges. I thought I was buying marmalade (I could make marmalade -- 6 pounds of marmalade! -- there's a recipe on the can, but I've never made it, or even jam, in my life) and if I'm honest I bought it because the can is so beautiful. Anyone have any suggestions for a can of sliced oranges? The ingredients list is: Prepared Seville Bitter Oranges, Water, Citric Acid, Pectin. Should I just buy 4 pounds of sugar and a box of mason jars?

Hi Tai Chi,

I made marmalade last summer with a bunch of fresh oranges. I just cut them in wedges small enough to fit in the feed tube of my food processor and sliced them whole, including peel. Then I put them in a heavy bottomed pot of water with and a lot of sugar and boiled it until it thickened. It didn't need anything else and was wonderful, much more intense citrus flavor than store bought.


In mid summer when produce is abundant, I like to use sliced oranges in green salads with chunks of cheese and ham and onion slices with a mild orangy vinegerette.

Another good salad is thin sliced red onions and orange slices with an oil and balsamic dressing.

You could also make a chicken salad and add some orange chunks to the mix or just add orange slices in a ham sandwich in place of tomatoes.

You could also caramelize them in a brown-sugar glaze or broil them as is in the oven without extra sugar. Serve them over vanilla ice cream.

Sorry about not responding earlier, MsOlga. I didn't get any email notifications about this thread and only now noticed it has updated. Thanks for the recipe suggestions.

The Kidney Beans Punjabi Style recipe sounds great! I'd probably use yogurt in place of the cream. I can't handle the high fat content since removal of my gallbladder. I'd also eliminate the chillies. But the rest sounds very tasty.

I made something close to that this weekend except I didn't use any milk product and added a can of crushed pineapple. It had the usual seasoning that goes into a jerk blend plus extra whole corriander, allspice, pepper corns and a few bay leaves and a lot of minced ginger. I let the beans soak for two days before changing the water and they were almost soft enough to not need much cooking. So far there haven't been any musical side effects. I bet it would be good with some yogurt in it too.