A Flare for Indian Food

I am pretty adventurous when it comes to eating food. Not to adventurous when it comes to cooking unfamiliar foods, like Indian for example. I am more inclined to just go to my nearest Indian Restaurant and order some curry with vegetables, Chicken Tandoori, and soak it all up with Naan. One day while discussing my affliction to Indian food, a chef friend of mine recommended that if I wanted to learn about great Indian food that I had to checkout “Classic Indian Cooking” cookbook, by Julie Sahni. It was this cookbook my chef friend found, along with Thomas Keller’s cookbooks that made her give up a six figure salary and become a chef making no more than 40,000 a year. Now that is passion.

At first I was a little leery to dig into something so foreign, but my local library had the cookbook on hand. I was surprised to find that this is not just a book full of recipes, but a history, cultural background, and cooking techniques on Indian food. The first section discusses the ever over whelming assortment of Indian spices, goes over equipment and cooking techniques. The rest of the cookbook is divided into appetizers, main dishes, side dishes, accompanying staples, desserts, and beverages. There is even an index and glossary for us non-Indian cooks out there. But the most impressive feature about this cookbook is the brief summary before each recipe. So you know that Gosht Tikka (Meat Cutlets) is full of Indian spices, but is a very western looking dish due to 150 years of British influenced in India. Or that Gobhi Matar Rasedar (Cauliflower, Green peas, and Potatoes in Spicy Herb Sauce) is typically found in the Uttar Pradesh state of India and typically served at wedding banquets.

I choose two recipes to try. One easy and one that is not so easy. Masala Gosht (Beef in Spicy Tomato Gravy), and Hare Gobhi Ki Sabzi (Broccoli smothered in Garlic Oil). Masala Gosht is typically served in Indian restaurants and not found in Indian homes. The harder of the two, I am assuming it is found mostly in restaurants because it is a lengthy processes to make, is constructed of several steps. But Masala Gosht which required a few ingredients I have never cooked with before, like coriander leaves and meaty bones, became an excellent first time Indian cooking experience. The number one reason for choosing this recipe was to learn the art or technique of Brown-frying. Brown-frying is not found in western cooking, and is somewhere in the middle of deep-frying and sautéing of onions, garlic, or ginger root for twenty minutes. This requires constant stirring during the whole 20 minutes. The end product of brown frying onions for this recipe brings out the aroma of the onions, a Carmel-brown color, which looks like brown shriveled up pieces of onions. This technique comes from Moghul cooking and is often found in darker colored gravy’s or curries of India. Masala Gosht also requires the roasting of spices another technique very popular to Indian cookery.
I chose my second recipe, Hare Gobhi Ki Sabzi to learn the cooking technique of glazing vegetables; this method is found in Northern Indian. It is the easier of the two recipes. The glazing process gives the broccoli a crisp bite with the taste of garlic infused oil in the taste. Both dishes come out tasting wonderful. Though I will think twice before doing the lengthy Masala Gosht again, total prep and cook time 4 hours. But the end result left an Indian dance festival in my mouth and an Indian restaurant aroma in my house.

Overall this is an excellent cookbook to get your feet wet or to jump head first into a pool of Indian cookery. The author lives in America, and just like Julia Child, has adapted a foreign cooking method for us Americans. She often gives alternative ingredients for those hard to find items that might not be in a typical American supermarket. She also gives us cooking methods and techniques understandable to the American cook. This cookbook gets 5 stars! The ISBN number is 0-688-03721-6, and to purchase this book, it can be found at amazon.com and surlatable.com.

Bon Appetite!