okra & aloo gobi

so the third part of last sunday's lunch didn't appear the next day, but here it comes, okra and aloo gobi. yes, i found fresh okra in one of the asian markets in helsinki! my next mission is to find those small eggplants and make peanut stuffed eggplants. now to sarojini's recipe for dry okra. she made this while i was visiting and i might have some of the spices wrong but the okra tasted great (not as good as saroj's!)

the spices from top: 4 cloves of garlic chopped, ½ tsp turmeric, 1 tsp jeera, 1/4 tsp chilli powder, 4 pieces of kokum, ½ tsp cumin seeds and ½ tsp fenugreek seeds.

start by heating up 2 tbsp oil on high heat and fry the cumin and fenugreek seeds until they start to pop...

...then add the garlic, fry for a minute...

...then add the sliced okra and the kokum. still on high heat fry the okra for a few minutes, turn the heat to medium low and add rest of the spices (and some salt if you wish).

put the lid on and cook for another 15 to 20 mins, remove from heat.

the aloo gobi...this was the point i got busy with everything cooking along...i did manage to take pics of the cauliflower florets...

...the spices which included cumin and black mustard seeds, ground coriander, turmeric, chilli powder and salt...there was also potatoes, but they didn't get their picture taken. i think i used (very freely) laxmi khurana's recipe, but the web is bursting with different aloo gobi recipes.

cooked cauliflower has never been a huge favorite of mine, but in this curry it's nice.

zoom was right, cooking indian is time consuming and a lot of work! one dish is ok, but indian meal isn't about just one dish, you need your chapati or rice and one or two things to go along. i did show certain someone and his mom how you eat with your hands...certain someone stuck to his fork, the mom tried her fingers...

kozhy curry & mung dal

part two of sunday's lunch dishes, chicken curry and mung bean dal. i now have 4 indian cookbooks (two more are on their way...), the chicken curry is from das sreedharan's simple ways to success indian. i couldn't find his recipe online, but you can find one that looks similar here.

whole spices, bay leaf, curry leaves (my addition), cloves, anisseed (saunf), cinnamon stick and black cardamom.

ground spices from top, ground almond, garam masala, chilli powder, turmeric and coriander.

garlic and onions...

...that went into the pan first with whole spices.

then added the ground spices and the chicken. the recipe says to use smaller pieces but this was the chicken i had so i went with the whole piece, and the recipe does say that "using chicken on the bone will give the sauce a richer flavor".

as you can see the pan is very crowded. i had decided to use the wok shape pan for this as i thought that it would work on ceramic stove as well. once again i was reminded why i would like to have a gas stove, the wok shape just won't heat up as well on ceramic stove...i had to take a regular pan with a lid and pour everything in it to continue with the simmering. will i remember this next time i want to use the wok pan...

the result was very tasty, spicy but not hot as i didn't put in as much chilli powder as the recipe called for. i now regret not cooking rice with this meal, the rice would have soaked up all that delish gravy.

now, drums please! my pressure cooker makes its first appearance... the booklet that came with the cooker says to start simple, like boiling potatoes. i felt brave and went with mung beans (well, now that i got over the "first time" i think mung beans ARE simple, too).

measure the amount of beans the recipe calls for, add water and close the lid...

...wait for 8 minutes, patiently (hah!)

and the beans are done!

for this i used wendy hobson's recipe from 1000 classic indian recipes. why the llink says the book is by carolyn humphries i don't know, my book has the exact same cover and wendy hobson's name on it...anyways, the recipe is called whole moong beans, i can't find it online.

the recipe calls for cooking the beans separate in water with a pinch of turmeric, and the tarka (seasoning)separate. the tarka had cumin seeds, onion, ground chilli powder, turmeric, ghee / oil and canned tomatoes.

started by sauteing the cumin seeds and the onion and it seems that at this point the stove was really crowded with pots boiling away and i forgot to take pics...

...here is the finished dish.

two more dishes tomorrow...

chapati & sago pudding

i cooked at lot over weekend and thought it best to divide the dishes to several posts. first, bread and dessert, namely chapati and sago pudding.

i looked thru several recipes for chapati, even got gram flour in case i wanted to make them with that...but the graham flour won since vast majority of chapati recipes used graham flour. you all know what gram flour is, right? well, i didn't but know now, it's chickpea flour. i used this organic flour from knehtila farm, such a cute package.

for the chapati i used the recipe from wendy hobson's 1000 classic indian recipes.

most of the chapati recipes i looked thru seemed to differ on what use as the wet ingredient, water, milk or yogurt, i used water. on hind sight, i think i should have used at least part yogurt, this was pretty stiff dough and kneading a lot of work...

...but i managed to get it into this shape...

...and let it rest for 45 mins before...

...rolling them thin...

...and frying them on dry pan.

the stove was getting pretty crowded at this point.

i did consider brushing these with melted butter, should have as they were rather on dry and hard side. nest time will definitely used yogurt and brush with butter.

this here isn't fish eggs but sago pearls that have been soaking in water overnight.

i made these into sago pudding / sabudana kheer and used indian khana's recipe. that's sugar, cardamom and slivered almonds (wanted to use pistachios but had none...)

i used full fat milk as i had some in the fridge, but i think using cream or half and half would make it taste better (no surprise there!). i had sago pudding for the first time at gigi's house in kolhapur, i'd say mine was a skinny version of gigi's and you all can figure out which one tasted better...