I think Im becoming a compulsive cooker
I need more people to feed...
Today I went to the pow wow for extra credit for my native american class. It was ok, lots of trinkets and people dancing in costume. I also had fried bread! yummy!
Honestly the highlight of my day was spice shopping. I went to a spice store that was pretty expensive and got garam masala, ground fenugreek, fennel seeds, asafoetida, tamarind paste, and white poppy seeds. The funny thing about the asafoetida was they kept it in the back room because of its strong odor. Asafoetida, for those of you that do not know, smells very strongly of garlic/onion but tastes delicious in dishes. I am not sure where I am going to store it after I open it, you can smell it slightly in my drawer when its not open and in a plastic bag. I also thought about getting saffron but saffron is very expensive; it costs about $8 for a gram. The reason it is so expensive is that it is just the dried stigma of a type of crocus flower. One pound of saffron would cost about $1300, so it is a good thing that you only need about 2 stigmas per dish.
After my trip to Spice House I went to AP Foods, which is an Indian/Pakistani grocery. All of the spices here were much cheaper, I wish I went here first. I got a billion bay leaves for $1.97. At my local grocery store the largest jar, which doesnt compare to the size of bag that I got, would cost about $8. Insane!!! I love that store! At AP foods I also got cayenne powder, cinnamon sticks, whole pepper seeds, black mustard seeds, ground cumin, chana dalia, urad dal (little split peas), unsweetened coconut power, chutney powder, rasam powder, sambhar powder, and some yellow split peas. As I walked through the store I mentally groaned in pain at how much more I spent at the Spice House, I am never going there again.
Now this teaches me an important lesson, never leave me unsupervised in a spice store. I will buy a billion spices. Now I just need people to cook for =/ Who wants some brussel sprouts kulambu!
Today I went to the pow wow for extra credit for my native american class. It was ok, lots of trinkets and people dancing in costume. I also had fried bread! yummy!
Honestly the highlight of my day was spice shopping. I went to a spice store that was pretty expensive and got garam masala, ground fenugreek, fennel seeds, asafoetida, tamarind paste, and white poppy seeds. The funny thing about the asafoetida was they kept it in the back room because of its strong odor. Asafoetida, for those of you that do not know, smells very strongly of garlic/onion but tastes delicious in dishes. I am not sure where I am going to store it after I open it, you can smell it slightly in my drawer when its not open and in a plastic bag. I also thought about getting saffron but saffron is very expensive; it costs about $8 for a gram. The reason it is so expensive is that it is just the dried stigma of a type of crocus flower. One pound of saffron would cost about $1300, so it is a good thing that you only need about 2 stigmas per dish.
After my trip to Spice House I went to AP Foods, which is an Indian/Pakistani grocery. All of the spices here were much cheaper, I wish I went here first. I got a billion bay leaves for $1.97. At my local grocery store the largest jar, which doesnt compare to the size of bag that I got, would cost about $8. Insane!!! I love that store! At AP foods I also got cayenne powder, cinnamon sticks, whole pepper seeds, black mustard seeds, ground cumin, chana dalia, urad dal (little split peas), unsweetened coconut power, chutney powder, rasam powder, sambhar powder, and some yellow split peas. As I walked through the store I mentally groaned in pain at how much more I spent at the Spice House, I am never going there again.
Now this teaches me an important lesson, never leave me unsupervised in a spice store. I will buy a billion spices. Now I just need people to cook for =/ Who wants some brussel sprouts kulambu!