Indian Cooking w/ Nalini's mom

Indian Cooking w/ Nalini’s Mom!
*pictures will be added soon*
These are some recipes I learned a couple of weekends ago w/ my friend Nalini's mom. Nal's dad is from India and her mom has been cooking Indian food for 35 years. We had a fantastic feast and learned a lot. We're hoping she'll have us over to do it again soon. I also am getting my mom to teach us a class in Southern/Cajun cooking. We had a really nice time hanging w/ the girls and cooking up a storm. Kudos to Bernadette Raghavan for sharing her family recipes w/ us.

Dosai (Crepe/pancake)

1 C wheat/farina
1 C rice flour
½ C all purpose flour
2 T salt
2 C buttermilk
2 C water

Mix together and let sit @ room temp for a minimum of 3 hours, preferably overnight, to ferment. The longer the better.

On a griddle, put a small amount of veg oil and ladle about a 1/3-1/2 C of mixture and spread thinly. As bubbles start to form in the center of crepe/pancake, loosen the edges, and flip to cook other side. Continue process for as many dosai as you want/need. The batter will keep in the refrigerator for several days.


Fried Sambar Powder

1 C dried coriander seed
½ C chana dahl
½ t methi
10 dried red chilies

Fry in oil til flavored & brown. Remove to drain on paper towels, then grind in a spice grinder (or coffee grinder), & keep in refrigerator until use.


Sambar (soup)

2 T veg oil
½ t black mustard seeds
¼ t methi
5-6 curry leaves
~ 2 C vegetables (maybe 3 kinds, cut in large chunks)
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1 t tamarind paste
1 ½ T sambar powder
1 ½ t salt
Pinch of turmeric powder
~ 2 C water
1 C cooked Toor Dahl
1 T unsweetened shredded coconut
¼ C fresh cilantro (coriander)

Fry the mustard seed til it pops, then add methi & curry leaves in 2T oil. Add veggies and let the oil coat them. Add tamarind, sambar powder, salt, turmeric, & water. Then add Toor dahl, coconut & simmer til veggies are cooked. Add fresh cilantro last 5 min.


Coriander Chutney

3 bunches of cilantro, stems removed
4 fresh green chilies
3 dried red chilies
3 T Urad Dahl
1 T black mustard seeds
2 + T oil (oil lessens the heat of chilies, preserves flavor, & lends to consistency)
1/2-3/4 t hing (asafoetida powder)
2 T brown sugar
1 t salt
¾ t tamarind paste

In a skillet, pop the mustard seeds, then add hing, urad dahl, & chilies, all cilantro, & cook down, adding a tiny bit of water if needed. Add brown sugar, salt, & tamarind. Put everything in a blender or food processor and blend adding a little water till you get the consistency you want.


Potato Masala

9 med potatoes peeled, boiled, & cubed
1 onion sliced (half moon slices)
1 green chili pepper
1 ½ T finely chopped ginger
Oil & ghee
1/3-1/2 C cashew nuts
1 T urad dahl
2 red chilies (to be removed after cooking)
1 t cumin seed
1 ½ t mustard seed
2 t hing
5-6 curry leaves
1 ½ t salt
1 t turmeric
1 handful of fresh chopped cilantro

In a skillet, in a combo of oil & ghee, saute’ onion, green chili pepper, & ginger, til onions are translucent. Either remove onion mixture temporarily or use a separate skillet to fry/saute’ all other ingredients together (except cilantro)– starting w/ the black mustard seed til it pops. Then add cashew nuts, urad dahl, red chilies, cumin seed, hing, curry leaves, salt, & turmeric. Fry all this together, then add onion mixture back in, then add potatoes in and roughly mash or break the potatoes up. Finally, add the cilantro in, stir to mix together. Serve w/ dosai.
This can also be used as a “stuffing” for the dosai.