Adventures in India
Last night we made aloo paratha and palak raita. Woo!
That is, aloo = potato; paratha = fried bread; palak = some modifier I can't parse yet, but might just mean "this particular recipe"; raita = yogurt salad that you spread on stuff, like paratha.
I made the raita first and left it to chill in the fridge while I mowed the lawn. I combined thawed (formerly frozen) spinach, mustard seeds crushed in my mortar and pestle, cumin, a dash of sugar, asafetida (that garlicky, oniony stuff I haven't quite determined the function of), cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper in some home-made yogurt.
I hesitate to take too much credit for making the yogurt. I just brought the right players together and let them do their thing. Between the yogurt and the bread, there's been a lot of animal husbandry going on at my place. Cooking is part chemistry, part biology. Mad Chef Sherbie! Muahahahahah... Uh, where was I?
So the yogurt mixture goes into the fridge, to chill and blend. It creates an engaging contrast of hot and cool.
The parathas are just fun. We made mashed potatoes, mixing in cumin, tumeric, salt and pepper, some sauteed serrano chili (half a chili against one potato, and it was still hot), and cilantro. Meanwhile, I whipped up a quick whole-wheat dough, which is just flour, salt, oil, and water. Whole-wheat cake flour gives the best texture.
Take a ball of dough and press it out into a cup in your palm. Put a forkful of potatoes in the middle and seal the dough around it. Seam-side down, roll the ball out to 1/4-inch thick, and toss that on a dry griddle for a few minutes, until brown spots form on the bottom. Flip it until the other side has brown spots, and spread oil on the face-up side using a pastry brush. Flip it back to fry with the oil, and paint oil on the newly exposed side. One more flip to fry the final side. (If you're losing count, these are just two-sided pancakes. You cook each side twice, once dry, once with oil.)
We served 'em up warm, with the yogurt-spinach in a pretty little bowl for spreading on top.
Man! So many different, exciting flavors, and almost too hot, but immediately cooled with yogurt and flour.
Oof, speaking of India, I need to go get on a conference call...
That is, aloo = potato; paratha = fried bread; palak = some modifier I can't parse yet, but might just mean "this particular recipe"; raita = yogurt salad that you spread on stuff, like paratha.
I made the raita first and left it to chill in the fridge while I mowed the lawn. I combined thawed (formerly frozen) spinach, mustard seeds crushed in my mortar and pestle, cumin, a dash of sugar, asafetida (that garlicky, oniony stuff I haven't quite determined the function of), cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper in some home-made yogurt.
I hesitate to take too much credit for making the yogurt. I just brought the right players together and let them do their thing. Between the yogurt and the bread, there's been a lot of animal husbandry going on at my place. Cooking is part chemistry, part biology. Mad Chef Sherbie! Muahahahahah... Uh, where was I?
So the yogurt mixture goes into the fridge, to chill and blend. It creates an engaging contrast of hot and cool.
The parathas are just fun. We made mashed potatoes, mixing in cumin, tumeric, salt and pepper, some sauteed serrano chili (half a chili against one potato, and it was still hot), and cilantro. Meanwhile, I whipped up a quick whole-wheat dough, which is just flour, salt, oil, and water. Whole-wheat cake flour gives the best texture.
Take a ball of dough and press it out into a cup in your palm. Put a forkful of potatoes in the middle and seal the dough around it. Seam-side down, roll the ball out to 1/4-inch thick, and toss that on a dry griddle for a few minutes, until brown spots form on the bottom. Flip it until the other side has brown spots, and spread oil on the face-up side using a pastry brush. Flip it back to fry with the oil, and paint oil on the newly exposed side. One more flip to fry the final side. (If you're losing count, these are just two-sided pancakes. You cook each side twice, once dry, once with oil.)
We served 'em up warm, with the yogurt-spinach in a pretty little bowl for spreading on top.
Man! So many different, exciting flavors, and almost too hot, but immediately cooled with yogurt and flour.
Oof, speaking of India, I need to go get on a conference call...