Fusion - really?

I am all for fusion cooking except ( you knew this was coming didn't you) for Italian food. I love that cuisine so much, I refuse to do it any other way than how it's supposed to be. My dear husband wants me to experiment pasta with some garam masala to it or make chicken cacciatore with some extra red chili powder and I haven't given into his wishes yet. He realized it too and stopped asking me ( sorry hon). I think I am very biased when it comes to Italian cooking. My pesto will not have mint and my marinara will not have garam masala:). Hey Italians use bay leaves, pepperoncinis, cloves and cinnamon too you know;).

I think, I should start looking into fusion Indian cooking. That sounds more fun. We went to this restaurant called "The Rupee Room" in NJ. It's an Indian-American fusion restaurant and the 2 times I had food there, I was impressed. However, I am not sure if the "fusion" was in the decor and presentation or in the food. I actually have to go read up on what do you call "Indian-American". Baked potato with some Cabbage Pappu as topping or Grilled Shrmip with Masala Dressing? I am not sure yet but I don't think it hurts to try:).

Random Thoughts

There are several tastes that you get when you prepare a dish. Sweet and sour, hot and spicy are not the only things to do. I was watching food network's All star grilling at south beach last night and something that Tyler Florence (I have a serious crush on this guy;)) did made me go, "Dhuhhh". He added honey to one of the coconut sauces he made and also some extra brown sugar. And then everyone complains as to how we are adding extra calories to our food and then they come up with another show called "low-calorie food".

I guess my point for this entry is this: Just because you have a sour sauce doesn't mean you HAVE to balance it with sugar and just because you are making a spicy sauce doesn't mean you have to have a big Chocolate cake as dessert. Back home in India when I was growing up, we didn't have the concept of having a desert every night after dinner. Sweets and cakes are made for special occasions and even if we did them for everyday use, it was more used as an evening snack instead of having it after 7.30 in the night ( which from what I read and hear is not good).

Let's talk about fruits for a second here. Eat the fruit the way it is. Don't make a fruit salad and add simple syrup to it. The fruit already has sugar in it and you are extra sugar to it. And strawberries can be eaten just the way they are. You do not HAVE to dip them in chocolate all the time. Let's just keep sugar for coffee and tea and chocolate for just once in a while indulgence now, shall we?

If you spend 5 minutes planning the menu, you can save minimum 30 minutes of time you spend in the kitchen and also can come out with a well balanced meal. It could be Indian, Italian, Mexican or Chinese. A cup of cooked brown rice with a side of lentil s with tomato and a beans and broccoli stir fry sounds like a good deal to me and I can promise you won't spend more than 30 minutes in the kitchen ( I am trying really hard not to sound like Rachael Ray here).

My new Costco find

We made a trip to costco yesterday and apart from the usual stuff I also picked up some sushi and some veggie burgers. My review:
Sushi: hmmm not so great.
Veggie Burgers: very good.

I had the burger in between 2 big iceberg lettuce leaves instead of bread with some provolone cheese and tad bit of mayo. It was good. Low on sodium which is always a plus.

What did I have on the side. Now don't laugh when I tell you this. Well, mom and dad had their traditional Indian lunch with white rice, Eggplant stir fry and Senagapappu(Bengal gram). SO I had the eggplant stir fry as a side. Not so bad considering the spicy eggplant dish gave my veggie burger a nice kick on the side;)

NY Times article

on kitchen essentials. Good read. Here is the link. If and when you have time do check out Mark Bittman's cooking series on PBS. He is funny and knows what he is talking about:).

Saturday Night Dinner

Okra fry ( Suvir Saran's Style)

I saw Suvir Saran on PBS' show "How to cook everything" By Mark Bittman. He made this okra sald with deep fried okra, chaat masala, onions and tomatoes. Thought I would try it too without the chaat masala, onions and tomatoes.

Ingredients:

Okra ( Bhindi/bendakaya/vendakaya/ladies finger) - 1/2 lb julienned
Salt - to taste
Turmeric - Pinch
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp.
Oil - for deep frying.

Procedure:

Deep fry the okra in oil. Take it out in a medium mixing bowl. Make sure you don't fry the okra till it's dark brown. Add the salt, turmeric, chilli powder and coriander powder and toss. Serve with a lemon wedge.


And now, vegetarian look aside. The following curry might seem like it will take lot of time and too many ingredients but once you get everything together, it's very easy. Whenever I am cooking a dish with many ingredients or if it looks too complicated, I try to get everything on to the counter near the stove. That way I know what's going when into the pan.

Kheema Curry ( Suji's Style)

Ingredients:

Kheema - 1lb
Red onions - 2 cups minced
Tomato - 1 medium - minced
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - as needed
Water - 2.5 cups

Marinade:
Ginger and garlic paste - 1Tbsp
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Lemon Juice - 1Tbsp.

Marinate Kheema with above ingredients for 2 to 3 hours.

Dry grind:
Cardamom - 8
Cloves - 12
Cinnamon - Two 1" sticks

Grind to Paste:

Garlic - 4 cloves
Mint Leaves - 1/2 cup
Green chilli - 1
Red Onion - 1/4 cup


Procedure:
Heat oil in a pan. Add onions and saute them till they are translucent. Add salt just enough for the onions, turmeric and red chilli powder. Add the Kheema, tomatoes and 2 cups of water. Put the lid on and cook for 20 minutes mixing every 10 minutes. Make sure there are no lumps while stirring. That way meat cooks evenly. Add the masala paste and half of the dry masala. Stir for few minutes and half cup of water and let it cook on medium to low flame for 20 minutes or till meat is cooked. Add salt, rest of the dry msala and cook for another 10 minutes stirring in between on medium flame. Turn off and serve with rotis or rice.

You can also add sauted peas to this if you want. Also, I do not "garnish" most of my dishes with coriander leaves. That's because I cannot stand it:). However you are more than welcome to do so if you like it.

You can cook this dish a little gravyish if you like it curry style. I usually cook it till it's a little dry because that's just how mesa likes.

One last thing. Always add salt towards the end when you are cooking any kind of meat. If you add salt in the beginning meat tends to become tough.