5 Spices, 50 Dishes: Simple Indian Recipes Using Five Common Spices

133 Pages·2007·32.558 MB·English

by  Ruta Kahate, Susie Cushner

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5 spices, 50 dishes
simple indian recipes using five common spices
by ruta kahate | photographs by susie cushner
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For Ma and Tata,

my beloved parents, who introduced me to a world of excellent eating and cooking.
Acknowledgments
Text copyright © 2007 by Ruta Kahate. It all began with my parents, Gangadhar and Priyadarshini Kahate. Passionate about
Photographs copyright © 2007
food, they’d constantly experiment and improvise in the kitchen, making meal times
by Susie Cushner.
All rights reserved. No part of this book a joy. Seeking allies, they taught me and my brother, Yashodhar, how to cook when
may be reproduced in any form without
written permission from the publisher. I was eleven, encouraging us through our early kitchen disasters. Without guidance
from them and constant good-natured teasing from my brother, himself an excellent
ISBN: 978-1-4521-3373-7
cook, I’d never have inherited their love and curiosity for all things culinary.
The Library of Congress has previously
cataloged this title under ISBN: 978-0- And without my husband Neville’s support, I wouldn’t have taken that passion and
8118-5342-2
turned it into my profession. He urged me to pursue my hobby as a career and edited
Designed by Benjamin Shaykin my recipes ruthlessly to the point where I could write them in my sleep. He’d hold
Typeset in FF Clifford 9, MT Grotesque,
our screaming baby for hours while I was teaching a cooking class and then help do
and H&FJ Numbers Indicia
Prop styling by Mary Ellen Weinrib the dishes after the class.
Food styling by Allison Attenborough
My kind, gentle mother-in-law, Vivianne deSouza, continues to be another huge
The photographer wishes to thank the following
stores that loaned props: H Groome, Nine Main culinary influence, sharing my ability to talk about food any time of day or night.
St., Southampton, New York 11968, and 294
South County Rd., Palm Beach, Florida 33480; Over the years, she taught me everything she knows about Goan cuisine, generously
Calvin Klein Home, Madison Avenue at 60 St.,
sharing her old family recipes.
New York, New York 10021; Maya Schaper,
106 W. 69 Street, New York, New York 10023;
Paula Rubenstein, 65 Prince St., New York, This cookbook wouldn’t be a reality without my dear friend Linda Carucci and my
New York 10012; and Takashimaya New York,
editor, Amy Treadwell. I first met Amy while teaching a cooking class at Linda’s
693 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10022.
home school and we became friends over a shared interest—our children. Everyone
Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street should be lucky enough to get as kind and patient an editor.
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00 And finally, twenty-five recipe testers all over the country and in the United Kingdom
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22 gave freely of their time and opinions, helping me decide which recipes made the
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table of contents
“you eat like this every day?” 7
my promise to you 7
five simple spices 8
one essential technique 10
before you pick up that pan 11
a few menu ideas 13
chapter 1 vegetables (dishes 1–12) 14
chapter 2 dals (dishes 13–16) 36
chapter 3 beef and lamb (dishes 17–23) 44
chapter 4 chicken and eggs (dishes 24–27) 60
chapter 5 seafood (dishes 28–34) 68
chapter 6 salads and raitas (dishes 35–43) 84
chapter 7 rice and bread (dishes 44–50) 100
chapter 8 sweets 115
chapter 9 a perfect cup of chai 125
index 128 PP
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table of equivalents 132 L L
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““yyoouu eeaatt lilikkee tthhiiss eevveerryy ddaayy??””
I get asked this question all the time, usually by people with busy schedules or children. It’s no use
explaining that the meal was quite simple to make. “You’re a chef,” they scoff. “We’re not.” They have
all these romantic notions of Indian cooking: complex sauces that take all day to cook, cupboards full
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of spices with unpronounceable names, secret techniques passed down from ancestors in a faraway land.
While Indian cuisine can be all of those things (my mother’s signature goda masala contains forty-two introduction
ingredients, for instance), very few Indians cook that way on a daily basis—they have busy schedules
and children, too. But I can understand my friends’ disbelief. A weeknight meal quickly put together
with a few spices can taste as if I’d slaved over it for hours.
That’s the beauty of Indian cooking. You can create dishes that taste as though you put in a lot more
ingredients and effort than you really did. All you need is a tiny bit of direction. And that’s where this
cookbook comes in.
My premise is simple: Using five common spices and a few easily available ingredients, you can make fifty
superb, well-balanced Indian dishes. I’ve carefully chosen the spices for their aromatic properties and
versatility. While the ingredients and steps are simple, you’ll find the results are anything but.
Happy cooking, and may the Kitchen Gods be with you.
my promise to you
indian food that’s not intimidating the same spices, but not the same flavors
To use this cookbook, you won’t even have to step Although you’ll be using combinations of the
into an Indian store. The spices and ingredients same spices, every dish will have a unique flavor.
are readily available at your local supermarket Steamed Cauliflower with a Spicy Tomato Sauce
or health food store. The whole point is to keep (page 26) and Curried Mushrooms and Peas (page
every thing simple and accessible enough that 34) share the same four spices, yet each dish tastes
you’ll be motivated to cook Indian as often as completely different.
possible.
rule #1: no hard-and-fast rules
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simple recipes, but not simplistic dishes Although I’ve provided sample menus (page 13) TT
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The recipes in this book don’t require special and serving suggestions, you won’t need to limit L L
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equipment or hours of prep work, yet they’ll yield yourself to these combinations. Feel free to serve 11
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some pretty spectacular dishes. My favorite party non-Indian accompaniments with some of these 77
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dish, Roasted Lamb with Burnt Onions (page dishes—I do, all the time. For instance, Anglo- H:H:
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57), needs just two spices and a few short steps Indian Beef Stir-Fry (page 51) goes really well ””
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to create a flavorful, meltingly tender roast your with a green salad and French bread. If it feels W:W:
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guests will be talking about for days. right to you, that’s really all that matters. 22
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five simple spices
The following spices will allow you to make dozens 3. mustard seeds are pungent, slightly bitter,
of balanced, complex Indian dishes. They are and tiny. In fact, in ancient India, “one mustard
common enough that you’ll probably find them at seed” was the smallest weight on the scale. While
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your local supermarket. If not, look for them at a mustard is used mostly as a prepared condiment
0 dishes health food store. itnh itnhge fWroemst ,s iImndpilae ndsi suhsees t thoe cwomhopllee xse ceudrsr iine se, vferroym-
5
5 spices, 1th.a ct’os rbieasnt dwehre sne tehdes s aededds a a lreem forensyh, leya grtrhoyu nflda.v or srepcicipe ebsl eunsde st htoe Ibnladcikan o-rs tbyrloe wpinc kvalersi.e tMy,o bstu It nind iaa n
Coriander is the seed of the cilantro herb, and is
pinch you can substitute the yellow kind.
one of the world’s oldest known spices; traces of
it have even been found in the tomb of Tutankha- 4. ground cayenne adds heat, color, and a
men in Egypt. Used whole, coarsely crushed, or slightly smoky aroma. The cayenne pepper is one
ground, coriander is an indispensable part of of the hotter varieties descended from Capsicum
Indian cooking. Since it complements other spices annuum, the original “chile” cultivated by the
so well, it finds its way into many of the Indian Aztecs thousands of years ago. Although India
spice blends known as garam masalas. is the largest exporter of cayenne today, chile
peppers were unknown in that country until the
2. cumin seeds have an aromatic, peppery
1500s, when Portuguese sailors brought them
flavor. Part of the parsley family, cumin was an
from South America. In my recipes, “cayenne”
important spice to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks,
refers to the red powder made from sun-dried
and Romans. It’s certainly one of the most widely
red chile peppers of the same name. The “chili
used spices in India, where it may have arrived via
powder” sold in Indian stores can come from a
the armies of Alexander the Great. Indians cook
variety of chiles and, as such, varies in color and
with whole, ground, and roasted cumin. Aside
level of heat.
from cooking, they like to chew cumin seeds after
meals for digestive reasons. 5. ground turmeric adds a distinctive yellow
hue and musky flavor that makes a lot of Indian
dishes taste the way they do. Part of the ginger
family, turmeric is a rhizome that has antibacte-
rial properties, another reason Indians rub it on
JJ fish and meat—and on minor scrapes and burns.
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introduction
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one essential technique
Tadka is the basic Indian method for transferring Since the oil has to be very hot, making a tadka
the flavor from spices to food, and you’ll use it over takes a tiny bit of skill and speed. If you do burn
and over again. The name varies with the region the spices, don’t panic. Discard them, rinse the
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of India—tadka, bagar, chonkh, phodni—but the skillet, and start over. Once you’ve done it a
0 dishes tveecrhyn hioqtu oei ils. Tthhee ssaimzzeli. nFgi risntf, uthsieo nsp oicre tsa darkea aids dtheden to couple of times, you’ll be an expert.
55 spices, used to flavor a dish. Here’s how it works: toniply # w1:h Deno ny’otu p’rree paabrseo lau ttealyd krae aidny a tdov uasnec iet., Mbeackaeu site it’s
1. Heat the oil in a pan. Keep a spatter screen or most potent at the point when the spices are sizzling.
lid handy—cumin and mustard seeds will sputter
tip #2: Since the tadka is ready in seconds, you won’t
and pop wildly.
have time to refer back to your recipe. So keep the ingre-
2. When the oil just begins to smoke, add the dients for the next step on hand, ready to add to the pan.
spice(s). Cover and allow the spice(s) to cook—this
tip #3: A tadka may also be used to finish off a dish,
literally takes seconds. As soon as the sputtering
by pouring it over a prepared raita or dal to impart
stops, the tadka is ready.
a delicious smoky flavor. In this case, take it off the
3. Immediately add the larger ingredients to the heat as soon as the spices stop sputtering and add it
pan—this cools the oil and prevents the spices immediately to your dish.
from burning.
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