No posts for a bit...

I haven't posted in weeks and likely won't be posting till the new year. I've been busy working on my thesis. So for ppl that actually check on this blog from time to time (thanks for all the support!) no new posts in the next few weeks guys, sorry about that!
Take care and happy holidays!

Rogan Ghosh

Haven't posted for ages, been really busy working on my thesis. Almost can't stand to look at work related stuff anymore.. So here's what I made tonight: Rogan Ghosh roughly translated as red lamb. Its not actually spicy (well this one isn't!) the colour comes from Kashmiri chillies.

So here's the recipie for the authentic stuff:

Roughly slice two little onions (pink/red ones always!) and 8 fat garlic cloves. Heat enough oil in a pot to put in
1 cinnamon stick
2 kashmiri chillies
4 cloves
4 green cardamoms
2 little black cardamoms
a small pinch of asafoetida (this is ground up tree gum of some sort)
1 (indian) bay leaf (yes it is different from the western variety)

Fry till the onions become transluscent, toss in 300g or so of lamb/ mutton fry till the meat changes colour. Add 1 teaspoon of ground fennel and a teaspoon of dried ground ginger. Grate in some black pepper and add a few pinches white pepper as well. Mix well add salt as required add a roughly chopped tomato (and some sun dried tomato paste if you want it more tangy) cover and simmer till cooked :D yum

Masala Bhaat!

Augh! Gotta stop using the dark coloured plates they show fingerprints!!! :(

Maharashtrian food tonight! (Maharashtra is the state Bombay's in)

Bhaat is Marathi for rice. I'll try to post the recipies as and when I have time. So here goes tonight's:

Heat some olive oil add a tsp of mustard seeds, a dozen currey leaves and 2 Kashmiri chillies.
Toss in a couple of chopped potatoes, fry around, add a fourth tsp turmeric, a half a cube of (MSG-free) chicken stock, stir add some garam masala and a bit of chilli powder as per your taste ( I use Biryani masala powder from Ambari Suhana - www.pravinmasalewale.com). Grate in an inch of ginger, add the rice, stir well, add water and cook as usual. That biryani masala is really delicious (my granny sent me some from India).

Vindaloo and Aloo Saagwaala

Vindaloo is pork based Goanese dish cooked in vinegar (no water, no tomatoes, no yogurt). Aloo saagwaala is potatoes cooked with spinach.

Mark's special chicken curry

This is absolutely the best thing that has Ever been cooked in this house! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

: 3 Gotta go eat now!!!

Pasta with spinach last night!

I was too sleepy to post last night, after dinner I went straight to bed! So here's last night's dinner (the night before's dinner didn't photograph too well and since I'm approaching my Flickr quota for the month I thought I'd omit it!).



Shells with garlic, sun dried tomatoes, tuna, and spinach! Hmmmm spinach... love spinach!!

Kashmiri night!

Its Saturday so I've had a bit more time to cook. Decided to cook Kashmiri food tonight. The stuff in the cooker is Dum Mahi, a slow cooked fish, Kashmiri style (the colour is from the Kashmiri chillies). Dum implies that the food has been slow cooked in a closed vessel (often in an oven) simmering in its own juices for a very long time (there were curries made in antiquity that were simmered like that over NINE days! Wonder what they did while waiting for that to cook... prolly pillaging the nearby communites for a week or so and then riding back in time for dinner! heheh).

The stuff in the saucepan is Hedder another Kashmiri dish made out of mushrooms. Chop 4-5 large cloves of garlic finely, toss into hot olive oil in a pan. Stir fry and add a finely chopped pink onion (pink/ red onion NOT white!) and stir fry till the onion bits start going transparent. Then toss is 250g or so of quartered mushrooms. Stir fry, grate in black pepper, salt and chilly powder (as according to taste; I've added a Kashmiri chilli for colour) then add a cup of milk and allow to simmer. For a thicker sauce add a tablespoon of flour and stirfry for a bit before adding the milk. Consume immediately.

The rice is just regular indian basmati rice (Indian Basmati and Australian? Doongra rice are the best you can get, not sure exactly where the latter's from...) just add a few pinches of turmeric into the water you cook it in.