Besan Ji Bhaji

Ok, I know "normali" is a relative concept on this blog, but this recipe is still downright weird. Don't get me wrong, this is delicious, fantastic, bizarre, and amazing: exactly what I'm searching for. And it isn't simple; this takes a while. This is delicious though.

Gram flour, or besam, or chick pea flour may be available at your local natural foods store, and definitely at a local Indian store. It's usually very cheap, so this is an inexpensive meal.

Besan ji Bhaji

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 1/2 hour

Serves: 3-4

Chickpea Biscuits:

1 cup gram flour (besam)

1 tbsp poppy seeds

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 tsp coriander

3/4 tsp red chilli powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 garam masala

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

2 tbsp oil

salt to taste

Curry:

3 onions, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp coriander powder

1/4 tsp red chilli powder

2 green chillies

1/2 tsp garam masala

Prepare the Gram Flour Biscuits:

Mix all the chickpea ingredients in a bowl. slowly add water, mixing until it has a dough-like consistency. Use the gram flour to powder a surface and your hands, and flatten the dough onto the surface. Sliced into small squares.

Heat a large pot full of water, and add 1/2 tsp turmeric powder.

Add the squares and boil for five minutes.

Remove them and strain, and then heat a little oil in a frying pan and fry the chickpea pieces, until golden brown on each side. Remove from the oil, and set aside to prepare curry.

Curry:

In a large pot, heat a little ghee or oil. Add the onions, lightly salting them, and fryuntil translucent. Add green chillies, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, and tomatoes and cook until tomatoes are tender. Add the garam masala and chickpea biscuits and sprinkle a little water over the curry, and simmer for 5-7 minutes.

Serve with rice and garnish with cilantro.

Paneer Palak

Paneer is a common Indian cheese that doesn't melt. It is curdled with lemon juice, and does not involve rennet. You can find recipes online to make paneer from cow's milk, though if you have a Indian store locally, you can buy it frozen or fresh.

Paneer Palak

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

2 lbs spinach

1 large onion, chopped

3 tomatoes, chopped

3-4 green chilli pepper, minced

1 inch ginger, grated

8-9 cloves garlic, minced

salt to taste

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp garam masala

6 oz paneer cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes

Cooking:

Wash spinach leaves, boil them in water for several minutes until cooked. Strain, and using a food processor, turn into a thick paste.

Put some oil into a pressure cooker, and fry onions until translucent. Remove the onions, mix them in a food processor, and return the onion paste to the pressure cooker, and fry for several minutes.

Mix ginger, tomatoes, garlic, and chillies in food processor until it's a paste, and add to the onion paste, and fry for several more minutes. Add the salt, turmeric, coriander, and garam masala.

Add the pureed spinach, mix, and pressure cook for 3-4 minutes after it whistles.

Separately, fry the paneer cubes with a little salt, until lightly browned.

When the pressure has left the pressure cooker, add the paneer cubes, return to a simmer for 5 minutes. Add more salt if needed, and serve with Bugha Chawar.

Jeera Rice

This isn't quite as amazing as Bugha Chawar, but certainly a tasty use for rice.

Jeera Rice

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

1 cup long grain basmati

1 tbsp ghee

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp garam masala

1 1/2 cups water

salt to taste

Preparation:

Wash rice well and soak for twenty minutes.

Cooking:

Heat ghee in a heavy vessel. Add cumin seeds and fry until lightly browned. Add bay leaf and fry for a few seconds. Add sugar and drained rice, and gently stir for a minute.

Add garam masala and salt. Mix. Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 15-20 minutes.

Serve with rajma.

Kidney Bean Curry

This red kidney bean made its way to India from Central America, and this dish certainly, in some ways, is reminiscent of Chilli con Carne, minus the Carne, but the uniquely Indian blend is sure to impress anyone who thinks they've tasted it all.

Rajma

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 1/2 hours

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

1 cup red kidney beans, soaked overnight

3 cups water

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp ginger, grated

1 clove garlic, minced

1 pinch asafoetida

pinch of turmeric

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp red chilli powder

2 big tomatoes, finely chopped

1/4 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1 tbsp coriander

1 1/2 tbsp ghee or oil

salt to taste

Precook the beans:

Pressure cook or boil red kidney benas in water until they are soft. Remove half a cup of beans and crush coarsely.

Preparation:

In a food processor, grind onion, garlic, and ginger into a fine paste.

Cooking:

Heat ghee or oil in a pot, and then add the cumin seeds, frying them until they are browned slightly. Add red chilli powder, turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder, and salt, and mix well.

Add the tomatoes, and cook until the ghee seperates.

Add whole kidney beans and a couple cups of water, return to a simmer and cook for three minutes.

Add crushed kidney beans and a cup of water. Add garam masala and cook until thickened.

Garnish with fresh cilantro. Serve with Jeera Rice.

Dhaas Bindi

This simple side dish is impressively tasty, winning over even those who dislike okra for its "slimy" texture which is thoroughly removed.

Dhaas Bindi

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

8 oz fresh okra

4-6 cloves garlic, minced

1 gren chilli, minced

salt to taste

1/4 tsp turmeric

2 1/2 tsp coriander powder

1/4 tsp red chilli powder

a pinch of asafoetida

oil

Preparation:

Rinse okra with water and dry with a paper towel. Slice off the ends, and make a slit through the okra.

On a plate, mix together the garlic, chilli, salt, turmeric, coriander, red chilli powder, and asafoetida.

Carefully stuff the spice mix into the okra, taking care not to damage them.

Cooking:

Heat oil in a frying pan, and fry the okra, tossing every few minutes, until the stuffing is browned. Take care not to overcook the okra, as dark brown okra will not taste very good.

Serve hot.

Bugha Chawar

I've tried different variants of turmeric rice, but Bugha Chawar is by far the most delicious of them.You need little more than a pot with a lid, some basmati rice, and a few spices.

Bugha Chawar

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

1/2 cup long grain rice, preferably basmati

1 onion, sliced

1 bay leaf

2 green cardamom pods

1 inch piece of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of turmeric (add more until it reaches desired color)

butter ghee or oil

salt to taste

1 1/2 cups water

Cooking:

Melt ghee in the bottom of a pot, and fry cardamom, cinnamon, and bay leaf for a couple of minutes. Add the onions, and sautee until onion is lightly browned.

Add rice, turmeric, and salt and sautee, stirring constantly, for 4 minutes.

Add water, bring to a simmer, thne reduce flame to low and place lid on, cooking it for fifteen minutes.

Palak-Chana Daal Ka Saag

You will need a pressure cooker for this wonderful dish, best served with Bugha Chawar. Even people cautious about foreignfoods will have a hard time turning this down.

You will need a pressure cooker to make this dish come out right.

Palak-Chana Daal Ka Saag

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cooking Time: 90 minutes

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

1 bunch spinach

1/2 bunch fresh dill

1 tsp tamarind juice

2 medium tomatoes, chopped and diced

1 onion, diced

1/2 cup chana daal (hulled, split chick peas)

1/2 tsp grated ginger

6-8 cloves garlic, minced

1 fresh green chilli, minced

1 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cumin

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup water

2 tbsp oil

salt to taste

Preparation:

Wash and soak the chana daal in water for 15 minutes.

Wash and chop spinach and dill.

Cooking:

In a pressure cooker add oil and diced onions and fry until translucent. Add chana daal, tomatoes, ginger, 6-8 garlic, green chili, coriander, chilli powder, and turmeric. Cook for a few minutes or until lightly browned.

Add spinach, dill, and tamarind juice and stir until greens are wilted.

Pressure Cooking:

Add water and pressure cook for 5-7 minutes after it whistles.

Remove from heat and allow pressure cooker to cool off, and roughly mash with a potato masher.

Fry cumin:

In a separate pan, heat a little oil and fry cumin and 1 clove garlic, and then add mixture to the chaana daal/spinach mixture.

Serve hot with Bugha Chawar.

Aloo Tuk

Not the curry, look above it. Common to Sindhi cuisine is Aloo Tuk, deep fried potatoes sprinkled with chaat masala. You can mix your own chaat masala (although finding all the ingredients could be more difficult than finding pre-mixed chaat masala, though you could probably make something acceptable without all of them), so a recipe is included.

Aloo Tuk

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time:

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

6 big potatoes

oil for deep frying

chaat masala

Preparation:

Thoroughly wash potatoes and slice lengthwide into four pieces each. Heat oil in a small pot, and deep fry the pieces for about 5 minutes at 325. Then remove them from the oil, and lay them on a flat surface and beat them flat with the back of a spoon- if they break a little, that's ok.

Return the pieaces to the deep frying oil and deep fry again, until golden brown (about 3 minutes). Drain on a paper towel and sprinkle with chaat masala.

Chaat Masala

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

1 tbsp cumin seed

1/2 tbsp dried mint leaves

1/4 tsp caraway seeds

1/4 tsp asafoetida

1 tbsp rock salt

2 1/2 tbsp dried manga powder

5 cloves

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp black peppercorns

2 tsp salt

Preparation:

Put all ingredients into a spice grinder and mix thoroughly.

Chapter 17 : Sindh (Pakistan)

The division between Indian and Pakistani cuisines is blurry, at best, due to the partition of India. Muslims and Hindus lived side by side in Sindh, where historically there had been no violence between the two groups. After the partition of India, however, the Sindhi Hindus found themselves increasingly the target of violence, relocating into India.

Sindhi cuisine is not vegetarian, although Muslim Sindhis observe Halal meat guidelines, so pork isn't common. Certainly, beef, lamb, fish, and chicken would be consumed, although in researching Sindhi cuisine we found a wealth of vegetarian recipes and eschewing meat seemed easier than not.

Curry, of course, had become well known worldwide, whether it be Indonesian Gulai, Japanese Curry Rice, Jamaican Curry Goat, or even German Curry Ketchup. But of course, it is originally from the subcontinent of India. Less well known is the Curry Leaf, which is commonly used to make curry in Southern India especially. This Sindhi recipes makes use of the enigmatic leaf.

This also uses Gram Flour, otherwise known as Besam/Besan. Gram flour is made from chick peas, and its unique flavor is used to make a sort of chickpea/butter ghee roux in this recipe. You might be able to replace it with white flour, although the flavor would certainly be very different.

Fenugreek can be found in most ethnic groceries, though not in mainstream groceries. It has a maple-like scent, and nothing else seems even vaguely like it.

Asafoetida is an allium that is found powdered, usually in Indian groceries.

Sindhi Curry

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time 1 1/2 hours

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

3 tbsp ghee

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

a pinch of asafoetida

4 tbsp gram flour

salt, to taste

1 tbsp grated ginger

2 green chillies, minced

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp red chilli powder

20 curry leaves

1 tbsp cilantro, chopped

1 tbsp mint, chopped

2 tbsp tamarind pulp

1 1/2 chopped vegetables (carrots, okra, and potatoes, though you may need to pre-boil the carrots and potatoes)

Produce a Roux:

Heat the ghee, then add the cumin seeds, fenugreek, and asafoetida. Fry until lightly borwn, and then sift in the gram flour, stirring constantly. When the gram flour becomes golden brown in color.

Cooking:

Slowly add 4 cups of warm water to the gram roux., stirring in a little at a time. Add salt, ginger, green chillies, turmeric, and red chilli powder. Add vegetables and curry leaves and bring to a simmer. When vegetables are nearly done, Add the mint, cilantro, and tamarind pulp.

Serve with aloo tuk.