Indian Food Updates and New Recipes

I am planning another Indian meal for two of my sisters next week. Some recipes are ones I have made before, like Kachche Gosht ki Biryani, and some I have made many, many times before, like Palak Paneer. I will be serving an array of chutneys, such as Dhania Poodina (Mint and Cilantro Chutney), Khajur Imli Chatni (Date Tamarind Chutney) and Am Chatni (Mango Chutney). One of my sisters in particular, really loves turning up the heat, so i returned to a recipe I had made in past, called Allam Pachadi, a Ginger Tamarind 'Pickle.'

Allam Pachadi / Ginger Tamarind Pickle

So, looking back over that recipe I used for Allam Pachadi, I thought maybe I should change some things. First off, while I like heat, sometimes it's just heat with no perceptible flavor, while your taste buds try to crawl away screaming, and hide. So I went back to look through the internet and some of my favorite Indian blogs, and others that are new to me, to see what other ingredients or methods might be used for this 'pickle.' I am putting that word in quotes, as these in no way resemble what we know here in the U.S as pickles. They fall more in the category of chutney, and some blog writers seem to use these words interchangeably for the same recipes. 

Looking through recipes then, I stopped at one that seemed to be very interesting, both for the change of ingredients as well as the method of making the pickle. In the first attempt for this pickle that I made some years ago, the main recipe I used, and made a few alterations to, called for 6 TABLESPOONS of Indian powdered chilis. Yikes! I reduced that to 2 tablespoons, substituting paprika for the remainder, but even so, it was too screaming hot for me to do anything but taste. When I encountered a recipe that sounded like it had promise, it was at the blog site called Hebbar's Kitchen. I used that recipe as a starting point, altering a few things as I went. I added more red chilies, more mustard seeds, more sugar. I added in some asafetida and turmeric. What I liked best was the method, which was simpler, IMHO.

As it turned out, while quite hot, this pickle is not as screaming hot as the last one, and it had flavors I could actually taste. I love it!

Allam Pachadi

Makes about 14 ounces

Allam Pachadi

Small ball of "seedless" tamarind
Boiling water for soaking the tamarind, about 3/4 cup
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 1/2 tablespoons channa dal
1 tablespoon urad dal
1/2 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1/4 teaspoon asafetida/hing
8 dried red Kashmiri chilies, broken
15 to 20 curry leaves, depending on size (mine were small)
2.5 ounces / 75 grams ginger root (about 4+ inches worth), peeled, in small chunks
4 cloves garlic, in small chunks
2 - 3 tablespoons jaggery or light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

TEMPERING:
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1/2 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
4 - 6 curry leaves
2 whole dried red Kashmiri chilies

Soak the tamarind in boiling hot water for at least 20 minutes to soften.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet and add in the channa and urad dal with the first half teaspoon mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. Stir constantly until the dals just start to turn golden (not brown) and everything is fragrant. Add in the curry leaves, broken chilies (I did not use the seeds that fell out), the ginger and garlic. Cook this, stirring quickly until the garlic no longer smells raw, just a minute or two, then pour all the contents of the skillet into a blender container. Add in the turmeric powder and salt.

Separately, pass the softened tamarind through a sieve, pressing it through with the back of a spoon to get as much pulp as possible, using some of the soaking liquid to facilitate the process. Keep remaining soaking liquid aside. Add the tamarind pulp tot he blender, and blend the whole batch to a puree. You may need to add some of the reserved tamarind soaking liquid in order to puree the pickle. I had to use the better part of the entire 3/4 cup of liquid to blend the mixture down. 

Separately, heat the tablespoon of oil for tempering (meaning added flavors) and add in the mustard seeds, curry leaves and the two dried whole chilies and toast briefly. Pour this over top of the pickle when serving. Or, just stir it into the mixture. Store the pickle in a clean glass jar with a tight fitting lid and refrigerate up to 3 weeks. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another thing I am working on for this dinner is dessert. I truly despise deep frying, so I am not making Gulab Jamun, and I do not want to make more paneer, as it has become nearly impossible, what with the ultra-pasteurization that has become so rampant, so I am not making Rasgulla, which now that I went to paste in a link, I realize I never posted my recipe! 

Rasgulla, recipe soon

At one of my Indian dinners I had made Gajar Burfi, a carrot fudge. This may sound strange, carrots in fudge, but after living in Guatemala as a young wife, and finding how many veggies went into desserts, I was no longer fazed when reading about carrots in fudge; it is absolutely delicious! So I thought I would return to that. But then again, I can never leave well enough alone, so I went looking at some Indian sweets recipes I had looked at before but never made. I opted then, to make an assortment of small batches of sweets, so we can all pick and choose. My first new recipe is called Badam Katli (Thin Almond Fudge). Since I used the recipe mostly as I found it, from Swasthi's Recipes, at Indianhealthyrecipes.com, while I will post what I did here, please read her recipe, made the long way.

My one error was cooking the mixture just slightly too long, as it really dried out. Good, in a way, because it is certainly not sticky, but I could absolutely not get the nuts to stay adhered to the top. I used almonds, since it is almond fudge, instead of the pistachios used in Swasthi's recipe.

As most of these sweets are festival or holy day treats, they are often made truly special by gilding with edible silver or gold foil. I happened to have silver foil on hand, so I used it.

Badam Katli / Thin Almond Fudge

My understanding of the word 'katli' is that it means thin, as with rolling out the fudge into a thin layer. The meanings of different words gets mightily confusing at times, and I have seen this recipe, nearly identical, called Badam Burfi or Badam Halwa.

Trying to tease out the meanings and differences, Wikipedia had some things to say that made sense. I know these will not apply in every instance, but in this case, I'm just going with it. Any 'Burfi" (sometimes "Barfi" but I prefer the other spelling for obvious reasons) type fudge candy is made using milk, whether Khoya, plain milk, condensed milk or powdered milk (and sometimes all of them). My Carrot Burfi recipe in its original form, would use khoya or a cooked down milk, which can take literally hours and hours of stirring. Not gonna happen! I used powdered milk and it came together in minutes. Yum!

Halwa, on the other hand does not use milk, but generally uses a sugar syrup to create the mixture, but without milk.

Similarly with any recipe for laddoo/laddu/ladoo, whether deep fried or made quick cooked or simply ingredients mixed together (similarly to Bourbon Balls at Christmas time), are always made into round balls. Laddoo made with cooked semolina is on my list of things to try for this upcoming dinner as well.

On to the recipe. Simple and delicious. I doubled the recipe as it stood on Swasthi's site, but I did not quite double the amount of sugar. They are delightful.

Badam Katli

Badam Katli or Thin Almond Fudge

Made about 20 - 25 pieces

2 cups fine almond meal with no brown skins
1 cup + 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup water
-----
Almond slices or pistachio pieces for decoration

In a medium skillet over high heat, place the sugar and water and bring to boil. Stir, and once the sugar is all dissolved, add in all the almond meal and cardamom. Lower heat and while mixing, it is best to take the skillet off the heat. Mix well with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula until all the almond meal is evenly distributed, with no lumps. Return the pan to the heat and keep it at a simmer, because the mixture, as it boils, sends up geysers akin to watching lava burst from a volcano and with similar effect. You WILL get burned! Stir, quickly and constantly, to keep this from occurring. It will take about 6 to 8 minutes of stirring before the mixture comes together as one mass. Pour out onto a greased plat until it cools slightly.

Do not cool too long or you will not be able to knead the mixture. Knead the mixture until it comes together smoothly (I used a silicone spatula to do this, lifting, turning and forming over and over until smooth - it was just too hot!)), then place the mixture onto a piece of parchment and roll with a rolling pin to flatten. Place sliced almonds or pistachio pieces on top and roll again to make the nuts set evenly with the top of the fudge, which should be no more than 1/4-inch thick. With a sharp knife, trim edges neatly, then cut into about 1-inch wide strips. Separate the strips and cut into small squares or into diamond shapes. Store in a tightly sealed container. 

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Back from the Holidays - Happy New Year

Before drizzling with melted white chocolate

My husband and I got to visit with most of my sisters and also some friends over the recent holidays. It is always a celebration when my sisters get together and only one missed out this time, so there were 5 of us, along with spouses, some children and some grandchildren. My sister hosting most of the get together had 20 people in her house. The decibel level was amazing! It was a riotously good time. The week prior to Xmas we visited with friends and also enjoyed their company immensely. I am grateful for all the people we got to spend time with, some for the first time. I am grateful to have been able to arrive safely at all the destinations, though driving conditions were not always optimal. And, grateful to be home safely as well. 

Before leaving for the holidays I had done some baking and prep for holiday goodies. One new item I made was a White Chocolate Matcha Bark with Pistachios, Almonds and Rose Petals. I have had a fascination with Matcha green tea for some time. I have found that all Matcha is not created equal. The best, and best for drinking can be exceedingly costly, while there are some sold that are so pale in color as to hardly be noticeable. The best is a deep and bright green, or so I have read. My first attempt at buying Matcha green tea powder yielded a very pale green powder that required large amounts if one was looking for color in the final product. I had made some Pistachio Tea Cookies, a version of Snowballs. They were delightfully flavored, but their color was pale, pale green.

Paler Matcha Cookies left, Darker Matcha Cookies right

Then this past year I ran out of that powder and ordered another bag, this time being more careful of what I was ordering. This batch was a deep green, nearly olive, and far stronger flavored. I made the Pistachio Tea Cookies once again and this time I used less of the Matcha powder, yet the recipe yielded a far deeper green color, shown in the photos above. The flavor was excellent both times, though the tea flavor was slightly more pronounced this second time around. I explain this so that any who are unfamiliar with this Matcha powder might know what they are looking at, or for.

Back to the White Chocolate

I guess in my life, I had always taken for granted what was called white chocolate. I recall loving white chocolate as a child. Perhaps because when I was a child, there was actually white chocolate made with cocoa butter. These days it is becoming harder and harder to find any true white chocolate at all. What is commonly sold is an approximation of white chocolate, and often with no cocoa butter in the ingredients. It never occurred to me that one could make white chocolate from scratch!

After drizzling with melted white chocolate

Generally, white chocolate is a combination of cocoa butter, whole milk powder and sugar. Often, the white chocolate sold commercially is far too sweet. Making it oneself allows one to judge the amount of sweetness involved, making it more to taste. I felt that adding the Matcha powder would also help with this sweetness factor, as the Matcha is a bit bitter. I am not much of one for chocolate at all, and rarely eat chocolate. Once in a great while I will crave chocolate, eat a few bits, and be done with it for months on end. Since this is the case, I do not use chocolate often. I keep chocolate chips in case of the need to make cookies. I generally do not make candy. One of my sisters does make candies and does a lovely job of it. But not me. Which brings me to the subject of "tempering."

Tempering Chocolate

I will not go into too great detail on tempering chocolate here - only enough so you might try out this recipe with some success. Tempering is not absolutely necessary. What tempering adds to the outcome is that shiny exterior and a crisp snap when it is broken. Since I was starting from scratch, I felt I might as well go the whole nine yards and see if I could successfully temper the white chocolate.

Tempered White Chocolate Matcha Bark with a lovely shine

In order to temper chocolate, it is necessary to have on hand some commercial (or homemade) chocolate that has been previously tempered.  Since I was making this white chocolate from scratch with cocoa butter, I had to get something commercial that was previously tempered. I found some Lindt White Chocolate with true cocoa butter in it. This previously tempered chocolate had already had a chemical chain reaction called "seeding" occur. Some of this commercial tempered chocolate is needed to "seed" the new batch of chocolate. Tempering is required for this shiny exterior and crisp snap on breaking whether it is white or dark chocolate being tempered. 

Tempered White Chocolate Matcha Bark with drizzled white chocolate

In tempering white chocolate, bring ¾ of the chocolate (in my case all of the new white chocolate made from cocoa butter) to 110 degrees F. Chop the remaining ¼ of the chocolate (in my case some commercial white chocolate kept aside, i.e. the Lindt) into small pieces and keep handy. Remove the melted chocolate from the heat as soon as it reaches 110 degrees and begin stirring in the chopped commercial chocolate, a few bits at a time. Stir gently, so as not to incorporate air bubbles, and allow the pieces to melt before adding more. Continue adding in pieces of the "seed" chocolate until the temperature is reduced to 83 degrees.

At this point, remove any unmelted pieces of the "seed" chocolate. It is suggested to use a blow dryer to heat the sides of the pan gently. Blow the hot air onto the sides of the pan in 5 to 10 second bursts, until the temperature of the chocolate increases to 87 degrees F. Now, proceed with whatever is being done, whether using the chocolate for dipping or for pouring out onto a surface, as in my recipe. 

A Note on Dried Rose Petals

I happened to have some dried rosebuds in my spice pantry, as I had used them when making my Ras el Hanout. Not everyone will have dried rose petals in their cupboards, so these can be left out entirely, if desired. For the Xmas holidays, I felt the pretty dark rose colored petals would look great on the green colored chocolate. If desired, dried rose petals are available on www.amazon.com.

White Chocolate Matcha Bark with Pistachios, Almonds and Rose Petals

White Chocolate Matcha Bark

Makes approximately ¾ pound candy

12 ounces (¾ pound) cacao butter
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1½ cups confectioners' sugar
3 - 5 teaspoons Matcha green tea powder
1 tablespoon dried whole milk powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 - 5 drops rosewater
1½ tablespoons chopped pistachios
1½ tablespoons sliced almonds
2 tablespoons crushed dried rose petals
½ teaspoon medium grind Himalayan sea salt 

FOR TEMPERING:
1 bar (4.4 oz.) Lindt Classic White Chocolate Bar, broken or cut into small pieces

In a double boiler, set over (not in) boiling water at a gentle simmer, melt the cacao butter and coconut oil. Stir or sift together the confectioners' sugar, green tea powder and dried whole milk powder. Stir this mixture into the melted cacao butter. Add in the rosewater and vanilla extract. Pour onto a Silpat or proceed with tempering.

To Temper: With a candy thermometer, or one that will show lower temperatures from 83 to 110 degrees, monitor the temperature until the chocolate reaches 110 degrees. Remove from heat. Begin adding the Lindt white chocolate pieces, one or two at a time, stirring gently to melt. Add more only once the previous pieces have melted. Monitor the temperature carefully until the temperature decreases to 83 degrees F. Have handy a blow dryer. Begin blowing the warm air at he sides of the pan in bursts of 5 to 10 seconds. Monitor the temperature until the temperature of the chocolate reaches 87 degrees. 

Have ready a Silpat or other silicone surface, or grease aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet. Pour the tempered white chocolate onto the surface. Combine the chopped pistachios, sliced almonds and rose petals with the Himalayan salt and sprinkle this mixture over top of the chocolate. Allow the chocolate to cool completely, then break apart into chunks and store in a tightly sealed tin. If desired, melt any remaining Lindt White Chocolate and drizzle over the top.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Revised Chestnut Cheesecake Stars on New Year's Day

New Year's Day Feast

Happy New Year to all!

I found a recipe for Chestnut Cheesecake many years ago, and promptly made it with a lot of revisions. The recipe as it stood seemed to be clumsy, and with far too many steps. To me, superfluous steps are anathema. I am not saying I don't make complex recipes; I have created a few of my own. I always try to make them in the least steps possible to accomplish my ends.

The recipe was made in an 8-inch spring-form pan. Plenty big enough, I guess, and we really didn't need anything larger here for just three of us for dinner yesterday. Still, if one was having guests and there was need, this revised version, made in a 9-inch pan, makes 16 narrow slices. Quite big enough for dessert, after a large New Year's Day meal of High Temperature Roast Prime Rib, Twice Baked Potatoes, Creamed Green Beans with Bacon and Brioche Buns! 

Best of all, this cake is totally gluten free!

Beautiful Chestnut Cheesecake II

The major change to the original recipe was the addition of another 8-ounce block of cream cheese and 2 eggs. A couple of other small changes, and with ingredients accordingly adjusted upwards, and my Chestnut Cheesecake II was a smash hit. It came out so very creamy and with such a perfect mouth feel, my sister-in-law and I were in raptures, eating it. The recipe does require a couple of expensive ingredients, particularly if you live in areas of the country where these ingredients are not available. They most certainly are not available up here where I live, but I had a can of sweetened chestnut cream/paste and a can of whole chestnuts in the pantry waiting for me to use them.

A slice of Chestnut Cheesecake II: note the coarse chopped chestnuts in the bottom.

The sweetened chestnut cream I have seen and used most often has come from France; Clement Faugier Chestnut Spread. It is a remarkably good sweetened spread that can be used for most any purpose. I love this stuff, and could easily eat it by the spoonful. This time, I had a different brand on hand; Minerve Chestnut Cream. This one is also produced in France. The key when looking for one of these products is that it be sweetened. There do exist variations without sugar; I ran into this once! Without the sweetening effect of the sweetened chestnut paste, more sugar will have to be added to the recipe. I have not tested this out, so I cannot give an alternative amount for sugar in the recipe. All I can say is that French labeling sometimes leaves much to be desired. Look very carefully.

Both these cans shown here are 17.6 ounces. I have been using this size for some time, though originally I had two 8-ounce cans. It seems easier to use this one larger can, plus the little bit extra of chestnut flavor it allows. Any amount from 16 to 18 ounces will work great.

Minerve Chestnut Cream

Clement Faugier Chestnut Spread

As for the whole chestnut part of this cheesecake, I use whole chestnuts set in the bottom of the crust and also on top for decoration. Williams Sonoma does carry whole chestnuts vacuum packed in a jar, and these are ideal. Expensive, but great quality. If you know of a source for whole, roasted and peeled chestnuts elsewhere, great. I have read that some Asian markets carry them very inexpensively. The Minerve brand also carries whole chestnuts in a jar. The last jar that I got at William's Sonoma, large though it is, was over $18. Be advised. So, this cheesecake is generally made for a special occasion, around my house. 

If you have time, and know that most of the cheesecake will be used up at once, topping with little rosettes of whipped cream and a piece of chestnut works great. If you must ready the cheesecake in advance, a little bit of frosting piped into little stars or rosettes and topped with a piece of whole chestnut works better. I opted for the latter, so the recipe for frosting will follow the cheesecake recipe. Granted, the amount of frosting I made was about double what is needed, but trying to pipe the frosting from a bag and a larger open star icing tip requires just about this much to be able to handle the bag  easily.

Chestnut Cheesecake II

Chestnut Cheesecake II

Serves 12 to 16
 
CRUST:
1⅓ cup whole, unblanched almonds
3 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon almond extract
3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
--------------------
6 - 8 ounces whole, roasted, peeled chestnuts, divided


Preheat oven to 375. Have ready a 9-inch spring-form pan. Place the almonds and sugar in a food processor and process them fairly finely. Add in the extract and butter and continue to process until very fine. Press this mixture onto the bottom and up the sides about 1 inch. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden. If the crust has puffed up a bit in baking, just press it back into corners as needed, while still quite warm. Cool the crust completely. Cut a large sheet of foil and completely cover the outside bottom and sides of the spring-form. Reserve aside 6 to 8 whole chestnuts and refrigerate for decorative topping later. Coarsely chop the remainder of the whole chestnuts and strew them into the bottom of the baked and cooled crust. Set aside. Leave oven on.

crust pressed into pan; crust just baked;
outside of pan covered in foil; chopped chestnuts in bottom of pan

FILLING:
3 (8-ounce) blocks cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
4 whole eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (17.6-ounce) can sweetened chestnut paste/cream/spread

Set the cream cheese into the bowl of a mixer and beat until smooth. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add this to the cream cheese and beat in until smooth. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well to combine after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Add the whole can of sweetened chestnut paste/cream/spread and beat briefly to just combine. Use a spatula to scrape up any unmixed portions from the bottom of the mixer bowl and stir in well. Pour the filling into the cooled crust, over the chestnut bits. Tap the pan on a counter 2 or 3 times to release any air bubbles.

1st 6 ingredients whipped, add in chestnut cream, combine well, pour into crust, bake               

Set the foil covered spring-form pan into a larger pan or casserole that will comfortably contain its size. Have hot water ready. Place the pans gently onto a lower-middle oven rack and carefully pour the hot water into the larger pan until it comes about halfway up the sides of the foil covered cheesecake pan. Bake 30 minutes at 375. Reduce the oven to 325 and bake an additional 30 minutes. The cheesecake is done when most of the outer edge is set, but the center is still slightly jiggly. Once done, remove the spring-form from the water bath and set it to cool on a rack for about 3 hours. Refrigerate for at least 1 day and up to 3 days, well covered.

ICING for DECORATION:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
pinch salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
5 teaspoons sour cream

Beat together the butter, sugar and salt. Add in the vanilla and the sour cream as needed, adding 1 teaspoon at a time until the frosting is stiff enough to hold star shape when piped, but spreadable.

 Chestnut Cheesecake II

Decide how many portions to make of the cheesecake. On top of the cooled and refrigerated cheesecake, use a long knife to mark portions. Gently press the knife into the top once to mark the cake in halves, then in the opposite direction to mark quarters. At this point, divide the quarters into 3 or 4 portions apiece. Once the top is marked, pipe a rosette or star shape of frosting or whipped cream on the outer edge of each proposed slice. Cut the reserved whole chestnuts into 4 pieces each and set a quarter piece into each rosette or star.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Making a Lamb Curry

It's been about 2½ weeks since I wrote. An unexpected trip came up, and unfortunately, the time and place I had intended to write had no wi-fi hookup. Then I was with my sisters and families and while I had an absolute ball seeing family again, there was no time at all left over to write a blog. But shopping - ahhhh. We Shopped. Capital "S".

I am home now, and just before we left on this trip I had received delivery of a whole, butchered lamb, much to my joy. Lamb here is extremely expensive, if one can even find it, so when I was at the Farmers' Market just over a month back, I was overjoyed to see a sign saying "Ask Me About Lamb!" I went to the woman and asked! She said they raise sheep and were looking to get into the market a bit more widely around here. I was overjoyed to tell her right there and then that I wanted a lamb. As I said, it was delivered just before our trip, so I had not had an opportunity to use it before we left. As soon as we got back I remedied that right away.

My husband and I love lamb, and one of my most favorite ways to make it is in something Indian. I had made Keema Matar (ground lamb with peas) in past, but since living up here, I have only been able to make it with beef hamburger meat. Our dinner was so delightful. Yesterday I wanted to try out the stew meat. In these parts they call it "chislic", and it is used most often to either fry or stew and often is served with toothpicks as an appetizer. Marie said she used hers most often to make her curries. I was a little dismayed to find out just how much fat was on these bits and pieces of meat. To use it as chislic would have been fine, as frying the meat would render a large portion of the fat away. To use in a curry type dish (without browning the meat), this was just far too much fat for my taste. I easily trimmed off ½ pound of fat from the 1½ pound package of chislic meat. Oh well.

Lamb Korma with rice and Chapatis

My Korma Konundrum

There is a recipe that is in all of my Indian cookbooks (about 6 or so), called Korma. Usually made with lamb, this dish has a sauce that is very pale and in some cases, bland. Surprising, when you think about Indian cooking to have a recipe come out so bland. I have tried various iterations of the recipe from many of these books and have never been quite satisfied. It is one thing to have a nice, light sauce with lots of flavor. I love my Chicken and Dumplings with its creamy-white sauce and great flavor. The Korma has mostly been, well, meh. I sat down yesterday with all my books laid open to the page with this recipe, to try and piece together what, exactly makes Korma. I created a recipe based on my findings. I am not Indian, though I just love all the flavors and spices. How much of what I did is genuinely authentic, I have no clue. All I can say for sure is that the result was most excellent.

From my study of all the recipes in all these books, there are some things that stand out as common parts of this recipe. One is the particular masala used. Masala is a mixture of spices; nothing more. In the case of a Korma, in every book these spices were at minimum coriander, cumin, cinnamon and cardamom. I added a tiny bit of cloves and a small tej patta leaf, both found in one particular recipe. Another thing that is common to all the recipes is the use of plain yogurt for a marinade. A third thing common to all the recipes is the use of nuts to thicken the sauce. Most common (and according to one book's explanation, most authentic) is almonds, though cashews can be used. A fourth thing is that the sauce is created from pureeing together onions and garlic (at minimum), with the possible additions of fresh ginger root and green chiles to your tolerance lever. Some add in dried red chiles also. I do not mind some slightly hotter dishes, but my husband is a South Dakota boy, born and bred, and he jokes that ketchup is the hottest he can stand. 

One thing only differed in one of the recipes. When it came to making this pureed sauce, most books had one pureeing raw onion, garlic and ginger. One book only called for first sauteing the onions golden, adding the garlic and ginger to the pan to make them fragrant and then pureeing this combination into a sauce, along with the blanched almonds. This seemed to make more sense, as I have been looking for more flavor. 

One complaint about the Kormas I have made, aside from lack of flavor, is that the sauce always seems to be enough for 2 or 3 recipes worth of meat. If the almonds are supposed to thicken the sauce, there is just no way to thicken this much runny liquid, and the cooking time would have to double in order to cook out some of the liquid. By first sauteing the onions, garlic and ginger, and then pureeing with the almonds, the mixture was so thick I had to add far more than the ½ cup of water I had allotted to this task. Beef or lamb stock could (and perhaps should) be substituted for the water, but I hadn't enough time to accomplish the making of a stock beforehand. Water it was, then.

Blanching Almonds

Peeling Blanched Almonds

Blanching almonds is an easy enough task. It can be a bit time-consuming, depending on how many almonds need to be used. When blanching and peeling a pound of them for making almond paste, it is time consuming indeed. For the purposes of this small recipe it was a snap. It is best to use whole, raw almonds, when blanching and peeling. Place the almonds into a saucepan and just cover with water. Bring the pan to a boil, remove from heat and let rest for a minute. Drain and rinse with cold water, then hold an almond in one hand and pinch the skin (which is now very loose) at the thicker end. The white almond will start to pop out of the pointed end. Once in a while, one almond will be contrary and pop out the blunt end, but not often. Do this with each almond, until they are all done.

If using for a sauce such as this Korma, they are now ready to use. If looking to process into a powder that will be stored, they will first need to be dried completely, so as not to rot.

Lamb Korma

Serves 2 to 3

Lamb Korma with rice and chapatis

LAMB MARINADE:
1 pound lamb stew meat, in small chunks
½ cup plain yogurt
½ teaspoon saffron threads
1 tablespoon rosewater (or plain water, if rosewater is not available)
1 teaspoon salt

SAUCE:
1 tablespoon ghee or cooking oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 - 3 green chilies (serrano, jalapeno)
½ cup almonds, blanched and peeled
½ - ¾ cup water or stock

MASALA:
1½ teaspoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1-inch true cinnamon stick, crumbled
¼ teaspoon cardamom seeds (or remove the seeds from two green pods)
2 whole cloves
1 small tej patta (Indian Bay leaf), veins removed, crumbled

Make the marinade: Stir together the saffron threads with the rosewater or plain water and set aside for a few minutes while preparing the meat. In a bowl large enough to hold the meat and yogurt, mix together the yogurt with the saffron and its soaking liquid and the salt. Add in the meat and toss to coat completely with the marinade. Cover the container and refrigerate for about 2 hours.
 

Sauteed onion mixture in blender  |  blanched almonds added     |     mixture pureed with water     |     finished sauce

Make the sauce: Set the almonds to blanch as described above. Heat a skillet and add in the ghee or oil with the onions and saute, stirring very often until the onions begin to turn golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. While onions are sauteing, prepare the green chilies. If you love the heat, remove the stems and chop them whole. For less heat, remove seeds and membranes also before chopping. Add in the garlic, ginger and chilies and saute for another 3 to 5 minutes, until the ginger and garlic become very fragrant. Pour the sauteed mixture into a blender. Add in the blanched and peeled almonds and some of the water or stock and blend until smooth, adding more water by small amounts, only as needed. If done earlier in the day, or even a day before, place this pureed mixture into a container with a lid and refrigerate until needed.

Masala Spices

Make the Masala: Heat a dry skillet over medium heat until quite hot. Add in all the whole spices and stir constantly and shake the pan often until the spices are very fragrant and lightly toasted, about 1 or 2 minutes, depending on how hot the pan. Pour the toasted spices at once onto a plate to cool. Leaving them in the pan will overcook or burn them. Once cooled, grind them in a small spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle. Set aside until needed.

Make the Korma: In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon more ghee or oil. Add in the sauce and the Masala mixture and stir well to combine. Add in the meat with its marinade and stir well. Cover and cook the mixture over low heat for about 45 minutes or an hour. Serve the Korma with rice. Chapatis make a nice accompaniment - recipe in next blog!

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Cherry Frangipane Tart with Pate Sucree

Cherry Frangipane Tart with Cookie Dough Crust

A few days ago I made a Cherry Frangipane Tart, which was delicious, no question. When I made it, I used a simple roll cookie dough for the crust; great also. When I was making the decision to use a cookie dough for a crust, I also was considering trying a Pâte Sucrée; French for "sweet pastry". In actuality, a Pâte Sucrée falls somewhere between regular pastry or pie dough and cookie dough in sweetness and richness.

Sweetness Factor

When making different recipes for a plain pie pastry, some of the recipes use a little sugar in them though most do not. The recipe I usually make, Never Fail Pie Crust, does call for a couple tablespoons of sugar, though it is not necessary for a great outcome. If making a savory tart, pie or galette, I leave the sugar out. For a Pâte Sucrée, I have seen recipes with as little as 2 teaspoons of sugar and up to 1/2 cup for a recipe for 2 tart pastries. The amount of sugar is certainly varied.

Richness Factor

Very simple pie pastry is made from flour, some kind of fat, whether shortening, butter or lard, salt and water. They can get fancier, calling for sugar, egg, vinegar, buttermilk and other enriching ingredients. My Never Fail Pie Crust calls for sugar, egg and vinegar. The type of fat involved is strictly up to individual taste, though there is always the crispness and flakiness that will depend on the fat used. A Pâte Sucrée nearly always has egg and sometime just egg yolks to enrich the dough, and I have not yet seen a recipe that calls for anything but butter as the fat used. Butter obviously imparts wonderful flavor and tenderness, but without the flakiness of shortening or lard.

Cherry Frangipane Tart with Pâte Sucrée Crust

And then the Vodka Factor

Much more recently, I read an article on Food 52 (though originally from Cook's Illustrated), where they described a most wonderful way to help out making a very flaky pastry: substitute 1/2 the liquid called for in the pastry recipe with vodka. The reasoning is that once water or other liquids are added to a pie pastry, any manipulation of the dough will begin to work the gluten. Too much working of gluten and the pastry will be tough. Substituting half the liquid amount with vodka will help out with the overworking of the gluten, but it also has the good grace to evaporate out of the crust while baking, leaving behind a far more crisply flaky finished pastry. Using the vodka is not a necessity. If not using, simply use all water for this recipe.

Cherry Frangipane Tart with Pâte Sucrée Crust

Pâte Sucrée

makes two 9.5-inch tart shells

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter in small cubes
1 egg +1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon cold water
1 tablespoon cold vodka

In the bowl of a food processor, pour in the flour, sugar and salt and pulse to combine. Alternatively, mix these ingredients in a bowl. Add the cubed butter to the food processor and pulse until well blended, or cur butter into the flour mixture by hand with a fork or pastry blender. Mix together the egg and yolk and pour into the processor while running, then stop to check consistency. Mix the water and vodka together and dribble in a small amount. Pulse the mixture a few times. If it is coming together, stop and do not add more. If needed, dribble in a bit more water and vodka until the mixture just holds together. Turn out onto a counter and bring the mass together. Divide into two portions and wrap each portion well. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to three days. The pastry may also be frozen for up to 2 months, giving the option of making another tart at a moment's notice. Thaw on the counter for 1 - 2 hours until pliable before using.

This pastry may be blind baked: fit the pastry to the tart pan, trim the edges. Place a sheet of foil into the pastry, fitting it gently all the way to the edges and corners. Fill with dry beans or other pie weights and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, lift out foil and pie weights and return to the oven for another 10 minutes, or until the pastry is golden. Cool before using.

The New Cherry Tart

I made the Pâte Sucrée dough last evening, pulling it out to work with this morning. The dough was beautifully pliable, rolled easily and went into the tart pan with no difficulties. When eating the last Cherry Frangipane Tart, I considered that I might have left the cherries whole, instead of slicing them in half. The tart was really excellent, but I just wanted more cherries in a cherry tart. So, in addition to using a different crust recipe, I also left the pitted cherries whole in this new version. The third thing I did differently was with the Frangipane filling. In the last couple of instances when I needed a frangipane filling, I used almond flour or almond meal. This time I didn't have quite enough, so I went back to making it from scratch: I brought whole, raw almonds to a boil for 1 minute, drained them and removed the skins. I set them on paper toweling to dry off a bit, then into the food processor with the sugar in the recipe to process the almonds finely. It seems to me that this way yielded more volume of almonds than the 1 cup I allowed for with the almond meal. This could be just because the almonds had been boiled and were a bit waterlogged still. 

With the recipe for Pâte Sucrée making 2 tarts worth, I used the second half of the pastry to line four 5-inch tart pans. I had two peaches in the refrigerator, and wanted to try them out in a tart. As I only had 2 peaches to work with I could only make two of the small peach tarts. I set the pastry lined small tart pans in the freezer along with the large one for the cherry tart. When making the frangipane, I doubled the basic recipe, up to the added flavorings/liquids and then divided it into two separate bowls. For the cherry tart, I used only 1 tablespoon of Kirsch and 1 tablespoon of water, along with some almond extract. To the other half I added 1 teaspoon of Matcha Green Tea powder, 1 tablespoon of water, 1 tablespoon of apricot brandy and 1/2 teaspoon of peach flavoring. This yielded a nice green frangipane, which I thought would make a nice backdrop for the bright orange peaches.

Cherry Frangipane Tart with Pâte Sucrée

makes one 9.5-inch tart

From the oven: Cherry Frangipane Tart with
Pâte Sucrée

1/2 recipe Pâte Sucrée (above), chilled at least 2 hours
1 pound Bing cherries, pitted

FRANGIPANE:
3/4 cup (4 ounces) almonds
2/3 cup  (4.6 ounces) sugar
2 tablespoons  (2 ounces) melted, unsalted butter
1 large egg + 1 yolk
1 tablespoons Kirsch or other liquid
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon almond extract or cherry flavoring 

PASTRY: Roll the chilled Pâte Sucrée to fit a tart pan with removable rim and trim edges. Set the pan onto a baking sheet and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375. Line the partially frozen pastry with foil and fill the bottom with dry beans or other pastry weights. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and lift out the foil and weights and allow to cool while making the frangipane.

FRANGIPANE: Blanch almonds in boiling water to cover for 1 minute. Drain and slip off skins. Place almonds in a food processor with the sugar and process until fine. Whisk together the egg and yolk with the Kirsch, water, flavoring and melted butter. Add this mixture to the processor until well combined. Spread this mixture into the bottom of the cooled crust. 

Set the cherries onto the frangipane. Bake the tart in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until the frangipane is set and the crust is golden.  

NOTE: This pastry can also be used to fit to a pie pan for making a sweet pie.

Peach Matcha Frangipane Tartlet with Pâte Sucrée

Peach Matcha Frangipane Tartlets

makes four 5-inch tarts

1/2 recipe Pâte Sucrée (above), chilled at least 2 hours
4 peaches, peeled and sliced

FRANGIPANE:
3/4 cup (4 ounces) almonds
2/3 cup  (4.6 ounces) sugar
1 teaspoon Matcha Green Tea Powder (optional)
2 tablespoons  (2 ounces) melted, unsalted butter
1 large egg + 1 yolk
1 tablespoons Apricot or Peach Brandy or other liquid
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon almond or peach flavoring

PASTRY: Roll the chilled Pâte Sucrée to fit a tart pan with removable rim and trim edges. Set the pan onto a baking sheet and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375.

FRANGIPANE: Blanch almonds in boiling water to cover for 1 minute. Drain and slip off skins. Place almonds in a food processor with the sugar and Matcha and process until almonds are very fine. Whisk together the egg and yolk with the Apricot Brandy, water,  flavoring and melted butter. Add this mixture to the processor until well combined. Spread this mixture into the bottom of the frozen tart shells. 

Set the peach slices onto the frangipane. Bake the small tarts set onto a baking sheet in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 35 minutes, or until the frangipane is set and the crust is golden. 

NOTE:  If Matcha Green Tea Powder is not available, simply make this into Peach Frangipane Tartlets. This frangipane would also be wonderful made with pistachios instead of almonds. Follow the same procedure.




My passion is to teach people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and help pass along my love and joy of food, both simple and exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things weekly. Join me at A Harmony of Flavors Website and Marketplace, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. I am also on a spiritual journey and hope you will join me at my new blog, An Eagle Flies.