My best yet Indian dish

I. Love. Indian. Food. There, I finally found something to say worthy of one word sentences. Indian food is slow food, takes lots of time to make, but they believe that the more work that goes into a meal, the better it is for you.

Last Summer I met a new friend at the park who is from India. As we got to know each other a bit, she said she'd love to teach me how to make Indian food, which I've been trying to do all by myself for years now. What an amazing experience!! Her mother-in-law led the cooking tutorial and Anita whizzed around the kitchen doing this and that. Both of them flitted in and out of the kitchen to check on the kids (four between us) while I took as many notes as possible to not forget all that I learned. I have made this numerous times now, I can't even count, and it is hands down the best Indian food I know how to make. The following recipes are written separately, though they were combined in my notes as they made them simultaneously. However, true to Indian cooking tradition, the recipes are written experientially, just as you would do them, not with ingredients in a list, then directions.

Sauteeing the onion, and spices (unmixed)

Garbanzo Bean Curry

Puree three onions in food processor, set aside in separate bowl

Puree 6 garlic cloves, 1” ginger, 1 med. Hot chili (green long skinny), set aside in separate bowl

Puree one 14oz can undrained tomatos, set aside in separate bowl

In another bowl, microwave 3 cans chickpeas (undrained) for 5-8 minutes (cover, they pop!)

In large skillet put:

3 T oil

2T butter

Pureed onion

1t. sea salt

In small bowl mix:

½ t turmeric

1t. garam masala

1t. chili powder (can use American or Indian hot chili powder)

2t. sea salt

2T Punjabi Chhole Masala, also called Chana Masala. (don't skimp on this!)

After cooking onions for 10 minutes add garlic mixture, mix well, add spices, mix well, add tomatos. Cook at medium heat. With potato masher, mash chickpeas half way. Add to pot of onions and spices. Add 1c. water. Turn up heat to medium high 10-15 minutes. Add a little salt. Serve with puri, naan or rice.

Poori/Puri

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Poori is that scrumptious soft, puffy flat bread that they serve at Indian restaurants. I never in a million years thought I'd actually learn how to make it!! This recipe lasts my family of three adults and two kids at least three meals. Anita used this bread to scoop up the curry, had no rice and used no utensils. We usually make rice and do a mixture of forks and bread scooping.

In large bowl combine 4c. all purpose flour, 1 c. wheat flour

Add 2 T. vegetable oil and 1/2 cup plain yoghurt, mix with your hands.

Add 1/2 c. warm (not hot) water and mix by hand.

Add 1t. oil to make it smooth, get on your hands and knees and knead vigorously in a bowl on the floor for several minutes until dough is firm. That's what my friend did, so I copy her.

Let sit for a while (doesn't matter, longer is probably better, or you can freeze it until ready to use). Then grab a little dough and roll out into flat rounds (or oblongs like mine). A skinny rolling pin is easier to work with and what my friend used.

Rolling out the purri

Oops, too thin.

That's better. 1.5mm is just about perfect.

Don't have the oil up too high or they'll fry hard as a rock.

Medium to Medium high heat is perfect.

This is my current favorite dinner to make and to eat. If you're feeling fiesty, run over to your nearest Indo-Asian Grocer and pick up some spices!! Or order them on-line. You'll be glad you did!!!

Three bits

The Wee little Wiglets

Caught these two cuddling and had to get a pic. He begged to hold her twice in one day. I got grabbed the camera both times. We have a new doc since our last one passed away. We met him today (the new one) and found that Z is in the 91st percentile for weight at 41 pounds and is off the charts for his height (42"), though this picture doesn't make him look very tall. Juju is still 25 pounds and was 32 inches last she was measured. She's losing her chubby rolls, but there's still plenty to squeeze.

Chicken Korma

This is my new favorite meal to make. Until my new Indian friend, Anita, teaches me something better, this Chicken Korma is just wonderful and it's not very difficult. I found the recipe here. My only caution after making it several times is not to use as much salt as they suggest (my apologies for learning this too late for Missy's freezer meals she got for our sibling exchange). I found mango chutney in the Indian section at Giant Eagle, but you could use orange marmalade in a pinch. I already had the other non-traditional ingredient: garam masala. I bought mine at the Indo-Asian grocer in Canton, but you can substitute ground coriander and cayenne. The chutney and the masala are the hot ingredients so use as much or as little as you wish. I made a mild version and a hot version for our New Year's guests.

I talked to my mom tonight and she was trying my Chicken Korma for dinner. She's putting green bell peppers in with the korma to bake since I haven't given her recipes for the following yet. The side dishes shown above are both Ayurvedic dishes: kidney bean bhaji and what I like to call Samosa Stuffing. I made the stuffing for the inside of samosas but didn't have time or energy to make the dough to wrap them and to deep fry, so I just served the spicy veggies all by themselves. I have made the samosas with ready made pie dough and you just bake them, but it makes it a pretty heavy dish, I recommend making the dough and deep frying or not at all. The recipes for these are so long I can't bother to type them out. Let me know if you want them and I'll scan them out of the cookbook for you. The naan is courtesy of WalMart's bakery. I can't make it that flat, so I cheated and bought it. I made Indian Rice Khir for dessert, see here for the recipe.

Deb in Uganda

Finally, please pray for my sister-in-law, Debbi. She left yesterday for Uganda. She'll be there for three months studying abroad. She had the choice to live on the campus or with a Ugandan family and she chose to stay with a family, so she will not have running water or indoor plumbing. I'm so excited that she has this opportunity and yet ask for all of your prayers that she will be safe and return safely. And that she doesn't lose her passport while she's there. She plans to keep us updated on her new blog she created just for this trip: Bless the Rains Down in Africa

Also pray for my best friend's mom that she'll be healed of her cancer,
and for the health of all the babies our friends are having right now. Two of our friends are having twins (this one and this one) and so many others are pregnant right now, I can't even count them all.
Thank you for your prayers, now do it right now before you forget! Thanks!

Banana Dosai

Something new to try with old bananas! These were super good hot off the griddle! Batter didn't taste like much, but the fried result was fabulous! The "Ghee Guy" in the video is right, these are healthier with ghee, but if you don't have any, just use butter!

A big meal!

This slideshow has pictures from this past weekend, playing in the snow and enjoying time with our former foster daughter, Kim, her son, Tristan and my cousin who lived with us for a year, Jamie. Jamie is still in the Navy and will be for at least three more years. She lives on a small ship on the East Coast. Kim also lives near Norfolk, Virginia and was able to catch a ride with Jamie to visit. She starts a cleaning job tomorrow and otherwise stays home with her 9 month old. Her husband, Paul, works for the Navy on a different ship in the Atlantic. Below are pictures from our yummy dinner we had Saturday night. So sorry to our friends, Matt and Molly who were to join us, but were prevented by the blizzard we had.

As a side note, our VOIP (voice over internet phone) isn't working...again. Not happy with them at all! It's been down for four days now. We're looking at our alternatives. So, if you need to reach us call our cells or e-mail or something. Thanks!

This is Bulgogi. It's a Korean dish we'd order in a lot when I was a kid living in Maryland. I found all the ingredients at the Oriental Food store in Canton. We buy special beef there that is sliced super thin, marinade it in half a jar of "Assi" brand, "BBQ sauce for beef" aka Bulgogi sauce for 24 hours. Ben grills the beef (yes in a blizzard), then I add it to steamed veggies which Jamie helped chop, toss and add a little more sauce. We serve it over rice. Truly a family favorite. The girls always ask for this or my coconut chicken when they come home to visit. I just looked through all my old posts and I've never shared the latter recipe. Definitely, someday I'll do that! It's sounding yummier the more I think about it!

English oranges. This is my mom's recipe:

8 juicy oranges
2 c. sugar
1 c. water

Peel 2 oranges with sharp knife. Cut peel into thin matchsticks. Simmer matchsticks for five minutes in boiling water, drain. Pour cold water over. Peel other oranges, seed if necessary. Chop pieces in half. Put into serving bowl. Slowly heat sugar and half of water. Boil until like syrup. Pour in rest of water. Bring to boil again. Allow to cool. Stir frequently as it cools. If it hardens, add a little water and reheat. After syrup has mostly cooled, pour over oranges, stir. Add half the matchsticks, stir. Decorate with other half of matchsticks on top.

I'm not a big fan of rice pudding, I prefer tapioca. However, if I'm gonna have rice pudding I want it to have coconut milk and heavy cream in it! Yum! I found several recipes for Indian Rice pudding, or Kheer, before finding this one which I've made twice and definitely deem a winner! Thanks for making it for us, Jamie! You were such a help!

Finally, we have my favorite cookie, I think of all time! Perhaps that's a tough call, but still, these are a must to try especially if you like coconut! Check out this Easy Chocolate Macaroons Recipe!

at the bottom of the page.

Well, it was a lot of cooking and baking for one meal, but it was fun and super yummy. I think we'll just have left over oranges and sloppy joes tonight. I'm storing my energy back up to make some fancy meatballs for spaghetti. Recipes welcome!