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. 

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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
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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.

A Couple of Chutnies

A couple of months or so ago, I made some Indian chutnies that were new; at least new to me. One, made with tomatoes, was one I had tried in a restaurant, though I was not impressed with its flavor. The other was a new style totally, being a savory mango chutney made with green mangoes. 

Here in the U.S., most grocery stores will not be carrying mangoes as green as what this mango chutney calls for, as the hope would be for the large pit to not yet have become hardened. I had to make do with mangoes that were green enough to be mostly hard, but nowhere near the greenness that would have made this chutney more authentic. Still, it was good enough. Can't complain.

And then the holidays hit.

Idli with Sambar and Chutnies

I completely forgot about these chutnies and they were sort of lost in the shuffle of things during that time of guests and frantic cooking activity. I had some of those two chutnies left, in the fridge, but I had yet to post the recipes here. And then I made Idli, to share with a visiting friend. These Idli, despite this being the very first time that the batter actually fermented and doubled overnight (which had me so ecstatic I had to run and share this event with my husband!) for some unknown reason just did not work well making the Idli. Instead of lovely little puffy pillows, the first batch came out flat and mostly melted into the steaming water! So I went from ecstasy to agony in less than half an hour. Eventually I got some to come out, though not my best efforts, to date!

It was with the Idli that I wanted to serve little bowls of different chutnies, and both these two chutnies were on the plate (shown in the photo above) - just not yet here on my blog. 

The Tomato Chutney, or Tamatar ki Chatni, is pretty simple to make. It has a few ingredients not in everyone's household, so be warned. Particularly now, with access to a great Indian grocery, I have the ability to keep things in stock. Things such as Urad Dal, Chana Dal, curry leaves, asafetida or even tamarind concentrate. I have been using Swad's brand of tamarind concentrate with great success (it can be found on Amazon, here). Tomatoes and shallots, the bulk of the recipe, are available in most any U.S. grocery. The Indian chili powder can be substituted with cayenne, as per your preference. 

Tamatar ki Chatni or Tomato Chutney

Tamatar ki Chatni

Tamatar ki Chatni or Tomato Chutney

(or Tomato Chutney)

Makes about 3 cups

1.5 lb tomatoes (600 grams)
12 oz shallots (342 grams)
2 - 3 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon cooking oil
½ teaspoon chana dal (Desi chickpeas)
½ teaspoon urad dal
¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder (or use cayenne to your heat preference)
½ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon tamarind concentrate

TEMPERING:
1 tablespoon cooking oil
½ teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1 dried red chili, whole
8 to 10 curry leaves
¼ teaspoon asafetida

Prepare the tomatoes: wash, then cut into chunks. Place them into a bowl and set aside. There should be about 3 cups of chopped tomatoes. Prepare the shallots and garlic: Chop the shallots and garlic and set aside separately from the tomatoes.

Prep vegetables  -  measure the urad and chana dal and fenugreek  -  toast the dals and seeds

Heat a large skillet and add in the first tablespoon of cooking oil. Once hot, add in the chana dal and urad dal and toast, stirring constantly, until deep golden in color, then add in the fenugreek seeds for a few seconds more. Add in all the shallots and garlic and saute until the shallots are tender, but not browned. 

shallots raw then cooked - tomatoes raw then cooked

Tempering Ingredients

Add to the skillet the chopped tomatoes with the Kashmiri chili powder (or a pinch or two of cayenne), the sugar and tamarind concentrate. Lower heat slightly and cover, cooking until the tomatoes have completely broken down, about 12 minutes. Once cooked down, pour the contents of the skillet into a blender container and blend smooth. Pour into a bowl for serving.

Now prepare the "tempering" ingredients (tempering is nothing more than flavoring ingredients added in last, and whole): Heat a small skillet to very hot. Add in the tablespoon of cooking oil, then the mustard seeds. Cook until the seeds begin to pop, then add in the remaining ingredients all at once, stirring quickly, just until fragrant. Pour the tempering ingredients over top of the chutney to serve.

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On to the Mangoes

For the Mango recipe, firstly, the recipe is Tamil and this is technically called a "pickle." I have yet to truly understand what the difference is between a chutney and a pickle, in most cases. This South Indian recipe is termed "pickle" or Thokku.

Green Mango Thokku or Pickle

The fact that my mangoes were green and hard did not mean that it translated to green inside, so my "pickle" is still bright mango colored. It is strange to eat, as it is likely sweeter than it should be, were it truly made with green mangoes, but is not sweetened. I like the flavor. The recipe does have just a little heat. More can be added, to taste, or left out, as needed.

Green Mango Thokku

Green Mango Thokku or Green Mango Pickle

(or Green Mango Pickle)

Makes almost 2 cups

2 green, unripe mangoes
2 - 3 teaspoons Kashmiri chili powder, to taste
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
½ teaspoon brown sugar 

TEMPERING:
1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil
6 curry leaves, lightly chopped
½ teaspoon brown mustard seeds
- pinch asafetida

Peel the mangoes and grate finely, then set aside.

Heat the tablespoon of oil in a skillet and cook the mustard and fenugreek until the seeds begin to splutter. Turn out into a mortar and crush the seeds. Set aside. 

In the same skillet, adding more oil if needed, pour in the grated mango, chili powder and salt. Stir in the pounded seeds and the sugar. Stir well and cook for just a few minutes until the mixture loses some moisture and thickens. Turn out to a bowl for serving. 


Tempering: In a separate skillet, heat the 2nd tablespoon of oil and add in the curry leaves, brown mustard seeds and asafetida. Cook, stirring, until the seeds begin to splutter, then pour over the mango mixture and serve. 


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.