Sunday, October 2, 2011

Indian Cooking: Building Blocks

I finally invested the time to do a bit of prep for Indian ingredients instead of just cheating and used pre-made curry powders and butter or oil instead of ghee. The result is a well-stocked pantry and I can't wait to make even more Indian dishes with these ingredients. I'm switching up the usual format to include a lot of these recipes below. All of these recipes come from Raghavan Iyer's 660 Curries, an excellent book to have on hand if you enjoy cooking Indian food. Recipes included on this page are: One year ago: Meat Balls in Tomato Sauce

Ghee
Ingredients
454g unsalted butter

1. Line a fine-mesh strainer with a piece of cheesecloth, set it over a clean, dry glass canning jar (ideally a pint-sized jar) and set aside. (My strainer has a very fine mesh and I was able to skip the cheesecloth. The mouth of the jar we were using was a little bit narrow for the strainer, so we placed a funnel underneath to ensure we didn't loose much of the precious ghee.)
2. Melt butter in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally to ensure an even melt.
3. Once it melts, foam will begin gathering on the surface. (If you're butter doesn't start foaming, increase the heat slightly, but not past medium-low.) Skim the foam off the surface. Milk solids will settle at the bottom and brown lightly giving a slightly nutty flavour to the butter. Be patient, this will take 15 - 20 minutes.
4. Once the liquid is clear with an amber hue, pour it through the strainer and set it aside to cool.
5. When the ghee is cool, close the jar. Do not close sooner and make sure the jar is dry, because moisture will promote mold growth. Keep the jar at room temperature. It will turn solid at room temperature.

Ginger Paste
Ingredients
8 ounces coarsely chopped fresh ginger (you don't need to skin)
1/2 cup water

1. Pour water into a blender jar, then add ginger. Puree until it forms a smooth, light brown paste.
2. Store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze in small 1 tbsp portions for up to a month.

Garlic Paste
Ingredients
50 medium-size cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 cup water

1. Pour water into a blender jar, then add garlic. Puree until it forms a smooth paste.
2. Store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze in small 1 tbsp portions for up to a month.

Punjabi Garam Masala
Ingredients
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp whole cloves
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp cardamom seeds from black pods
3 cinnamon sticks (3" long), broken into smaller pieces
3 fresh or dried bay leaves

1. Preheat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add all ingredients and toast, shaking every few seconds until coriander and cumin turn reddish brown, the cloves, peppercorns, and cardamom turn ash-black, the cinnamon and bay leaves appear brittle and crinkly, and the mixture is highly fragrant, 1 - 2 minutes.
2. Immediately transfer the spices to a plate to cool. Do not keep on the skillet as they will cook further. Make sure you take the time to let them cool so that you don't have extra unwanted moisture from the heat that will make the blend cakey.
3. Place in a spice grinder, coffee grinder, or mortar and pestle and grind until texture resembles finely ground black pepper.
4. Store in a tightly sealed container, away from light, heat, and humidity for up to 2 months.

Bin Bhuna Hua Garam Masala
Ingredients
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp cardamom seeds from green or white pods
2 dried bay leaves
3 - 4 dried red Thai or cayenne chiles or 1 tsp ground cayenne

1. Place all ingredients in a spice grinder, coffee grinder, or mortar and pestle and grind until texture resembles that of finely ground black pepper.
2. Store in a tightly sealed container, away from light, heat, and humidity for up to 2 months.

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