# Obsessed with Indian food



## LaLa (Nov 18, 2001)

I cannot get enough Indian food!
I've tried to cook it at home, but I suck at it!
I don't know what the ingredients even ARE, more or less where to buy them!?

Luckily we have an AWESOME Indian Food restaurant close by and it's cheap and yummy!

Dd ate some saag paneer last night and finished it off with an entire Mango Lassi!
She's only 20 months old and she drank the WHOLE thing!
:LOL

Anyway, it's 10am, and I'm eating leftover indian food for a snack.
I think there's something wrong with me...

anyone else share my passion?
Anyone can walk me through these recipes?
I'd love to make and amazing saag paneer...


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## Carmen (Nov 19, 2001)

I do, I do, I do!!!









My favorite is Palak Paneer - the spinach dish with the cheese cubes in it. I have tried twice now to make it using a recipe of a friend of mine's from India. Just didn't taste the same.

Now my mouth is watering for it and we are having re-fried bean tacos tonight. Those are good too, but not as good as Palak Paneer!!!


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## seanjoshmom (Apr 18, 2002)

I lived in India for a year, and I can't seem to get food here that tastes anything like those heavenly dishes!! The Indian restaurant near our home is only passable. Forget cooking--not one of my strong points when it comes to international dishes! And yes, I do eat leftovers for every meal (breakfast, snacks) until it's gone--sometimes without even saving any for DH.


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## owensmom (Feb 23, 2002)

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!! I love it! Palak Paneer is so awesome, I am an hour away from decent Indian food too.









I love the dessert Gulab Jamon (sp?) - those deep fried milk balls soaked in syrup.

I have a big Indian Vegetarian cookbook, but the recipes are often time consuming, haven't made anything recently.

YUM!


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## NewMa (May 2, 2002)

stop you guys..... you are making me soooooooooo hungry!!!

I LOVE Indian food so much! I just got a cookbook with some recipes that look good and fairly simple. I'll try to post some for everybody after DD wakes up (she's crashed out on my chest and I don't want to bother her).

Man, now I'm going to have a craving for palak peneer until I get some. My favorite too. And some nice chutney and rice.....

All right, I'm starving now!!


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## LaLa (Nov 18, 2001)

There was a little girl CRYING at the restaraunt last night because there was no Gulab Jamon on the Buffet!
:LOL

Luckily there was some rice pudding for her









I love those too!
I love almost everything...
The red masala sauces with the homemade cream..
the homemade chunks of cheese in the paneer...

Oh, I know it's bad for me, but I LOVE IT!


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## Etoile (May 8, 2002)

Try the book "Classic Indian Cooking" by Julie Sahni it's my cooking bible!

I'm obsessed too!


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## paula_bear (Nov 23, 2001)

We LOVE Indian food! Our 28 m/o loves her mango lassi, but usually we share one! There are some awesome recipes in Robin Lim's book, After the Baby's Birth: A Complete Guide for Postpartum Women I have tried preparing Indian dishes from a cookbook I have, but with little success. I tried the following recipe for a simple dahl and it was great (although I will use less curry powder next time...)

*2 cups lentils* (the small, salmon-colored lentils cook faster and digest more easily; if unavailable, use mung beans or yellow split peas)
*1 cup brown rice*
*6 to 8 cups fresh water*
*4 to 6 tablespoons ghee* (clarified butter)
*2 tablespoons curry powder*
*Salt*

Bring lentils, rice and water to boil in one pot. After it boils, reduce to low heat and allow pot to simmer until lentils fall apart completely (30 minutes to an hour). Dahl should be thin and soupy, so add more water if needed. Stir in remaining ingredients and serve.

You can make your own curry powder (she has a recipe for that as well) or you can buy several varieties at Whole Foods. I'll give you her mango lassi recipe as well, since your DD likes it so much. (This should be taken after the meal as it aids in digestion. We usually get it beforehand and drink it throughout, but you aren't suppossed to drink it with the meal...)

*1 cup organic yogurt*
*2 cups pure water*
*1 ripe mango* (peeled and pitted)
*1 pinch dried cardamom*
*3 to 4 dates* (optional, for those with a sweet tooth! Choose soft ones, remove pits.)
*Rose petals, for garnish* (unsprayed, from your garden)

Combine all ingredients (exept rose petals) in blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Serve garnished with rose petals.

Hope this helps! If I find a really good cookbook, I'll let you know and y'all do the same!

Happy Eating,
Paula


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## Piglet (Mar 12, 2002)

MMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Chicken Korma, peshwari nan bread, loads of poppadoms, onion bahji yum yum.

You could always try and move near Indian people, we had Indian neighbors and at the slightest celebration they would bring round food for all the neighbours. Now we have moved I really miss the smell of her cooking as well yum yum.


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## LaLa (Nov 18, 2001)

Here is a link to a site FULL of recipes
and this will describe how to make paneer
http://www.bawarchi.com/features/feature6.html

It sounds like too much work for a lazy cook like me!
I'm glad the Indian food restaraunt is so cheap and nearby!


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## Jish (Dec 12, 2001)

In my pre-marriage/children life, I used to have a guy who was from India who worked for me. He was basically American since he had lived here for as long as he could remember, but his parents spoke no English. He was bilingual, but couldn't read his native language.

He had an arranged marriage to an adorable woman who was an amazing cook. He used to bring in food for me to try. I have no idea what any of it was called, but it was all great! There was always so much grease in the food though, that his clothing would smell like grease. I think that is what made it all taste so good, though.


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## sleepies (Nov 30, 2001)

god i love indian food.
there aren't any "close to my house".

maybe an indian "foodstore" will help you out...they might have advice and better ingrediants than a "supermarket".

you have made me hungry!


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## TripkeHughes (Nov 19, 2001)

We live two blocks from the largest Cacasian/Indian Sikh Ashram (Temple). Oh my word, you wouldn't believe the smell of the food coming from there. We love Indian food and luckily there are a few good rest. here in town. Dh and I try and make it sometimes, even buy the spices/ingredience from their markets, but it never comes out like the rest.

Good luck.


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## lavender (Nov 21, 2001)

Mmmmmmmmm.....

I love Indian food!

My favorites are palak paneer and one called kashmiri kofta that has vegetable/nut rolls in this kind of sweet sauce. Don't even get me started on the lassis....

I've had some success with Indian food at home. I use The Best of Lord Krishna's Cuisine by Yamuna Devi.

Now it's only a matter of time before we have to visit my favorite Indian restaurant...


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## LaLa (Nov 18, 2001)

We try to go every week. I enjoy the food so much, but I also really feel like it's important to support them! In this city, nothing survives unless it's a chain! And if they closed...I'd be so sad! I'm not kidding. I moved here from Portalnd and it was so depressing, and that amazing little Inidan food place means a lot to me in this town!

Wow, am I a dork or what?
Jbjcmom...are you sure you want to meet me tomorrow?
:LOL


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## USAmma (Nov 29, 2001)

A really good book to think about getting is called Indian Vegetarian Cooking in an American Kitchen by Vasantha Prasad. It gives simple instructions and uses ingredients that can be found in the US at most grocery stores (although you may have to visit an ethnic one for a few of the spices).

Two of my other favorites are:
The Hara Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking by Adiraja dasa
(skip the first section unless you are interested in religion but the recipes are wonderful)

Curries Without Worries by Sudha Koul and has an intro to Indian cooking included. About 2/3 of the recipes are not veg though.

Happy cooking and eating! 

Darshani


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## SoHappy (Nov 19, 2001)

We can walk to an Indian restaurant and OH BABY! It's awesome. Luckily, we moved four blocks further from it. We went there way too often when we lived in our old house. Chicken Tikka and vegetable biryani are favorites.

Years ago I had an internet recipe exchange going with a man in India. Sadly, all the recipes bit the dust when my hard drive did. It was really fun sharing recipes with him, though, because we used different measuring standards. So it would reduce us to saying things like, "a pile the size of your thumb" or "bigger than a lentil, but smaller than a pea."

Dang, I gotta go see what's in the fridge. Thank goodness my book club is meeting at the Indian restaurant soon!


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## bigcats (Nov 24, 2001)

Kheer.... mmmmmmmm! My favorite food in the whole world.


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## Beloved (Jun 22, 2002)

Yummy mmmmm,

There is nothing better than cold palak paneer in the morning. I've never been able to recreate it at home either though , maybe bc i shy away from using the heavy creme (don't mind eating it if i don't see it going in though







) also the tikka sauce ...the tomatoe/creme one..mmm...
i love the fried vegetable fritters soaked in tikka sauce , can't remember the name.

DH and i are celebrating our anniversary tonight, we may have to change our plans.

Blessings, Kelly
(LaLa, its stClaire..i'm baack online)


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## LaLa (Nov 18, 2001)

Kelly I am so happy you are back!!!
I have been wondering about you!!!
Fill us in, where have you been?

I hope your family is well









Have you gotten my emails?


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## amy mama (Apr 17, 2002)

I have a great Indian-spiced chicken dish if you aren't a veggie, LaLa. Let me know and I"ll post it-its really easy and your whoe house smells awesome when you make it. In fact, I am making it tonight!


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## LaLa (Nov 18, 2001)

Oh yes, that would be GREAT!
Dh will only eat the indian dishes with Chicken!








so it would actually be perfect.

I am still hesitant to make paneer from scratch, but maybe my local store sells it premade?


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## Jennah_Gole (Dec 12, 2001)

ooooh, i too, love indian food. you guys made me really hungry after reading ur posts. But i don't know what this palak paneer is. Anyone mind explaining.

i make some indian recipes specifically chicken korma, and chicken biryani. I don't know much more but i will write up these recipes ...they are fairly easy.

Chicken Biryani

Basmati Rice, half cooked
1kg chicken
4 onions, sliced
25 g each of garlic, ginger paste
2 green chili peppers, chopped
200g tomatores
a small bunch of coriander leaves
a pinch of saffrom
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp cumin powder
a few bay leaves, cardamom pods, cinnamon, cloves
2 tsp each turmeric and chili powder
200 gms ghee
salt, to taste
200 gms yogurt

cut chicken into pieces and marinate with ginger-garlic paste, garam masala, salt, chili and turmeric powders, cumin powder and yogurt for an hour. Saute onion and green chili peppers in ghee until golden brown. Add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, bay leaves and chopped tomatores, and cook for a few minutes. Add chicken and cook for 15 minutes.
Grease bottom of a pot and spread a layer of basmati rice. Then place a layer of the gravy chicken. Repeat the process: rice followed by chicken ending with rice at the topmost layer. sprinkle with rose water and saffrom. Cover the pot with a tight fidding lid and cook on low. This way the rice absorbs all the flavors from the chicken. Once the rice is done remove from heat and serve.

NOTE: i usually put half the rice and then put the chicken mixture in the middle and then put the other half of the rice on top. i don't sprinkle with rose water just saffron

this is good eaten with cucumber-yogurt sauce...which is just cucumbers and yogurt with salt, a little garlic...you shread the cucumbers in the yogurt.

now my chicken korma recipe i noticed does not have the exact amount of everything to use:

Chicken Korma

Chicken breast
2 large onions
chunk of fresh ginger
5 cloves of garlic
chili powder
1/2 tspn turmeric
1 tspn cumin
1 tspn coriander
1/2 tspn cinnamon
1/2 tspn cardamom
1/8 tspn cloves
1-2 cups chopped tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
Nestle Creme

Brown chix breast in ghee and remove.
process the onions with the ginger, garlic, chili powder. put this mixture in the same oil as you used to brown chix and fry it until the water evaporates and then add the rest of the spices.
Put chicken into the mixture and add the chopped tomatoes and salt and pepper. simmer on low for 1/2hour. When done slowly mix in 1/2 can of Nestle Creme

Hope these help.


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## sdr (Apr 22, 2002)

You all are making me feel homesick ( I am from India) and
I feel like inviting you all to my house for a real authentic Indian dinner. Wishe we were all in the same place! I make Indian food pretty much everyday . It takes looong and very tiring . And you have to clean up the mess with all these spices otherwise it will stick to your clothes and hair , so as soon as I am done I have to take a shower. Since I am a WAHM it is possible right now . But when I was working onsite before my ds was born, I still had a tough time keeping up household chores and my work.
Its really nice to hear that there are many Indian food lovers out there.


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