Brief Interviews With Hideous Recipes

Dahl and paneer, courtesy of Mrigaa Sethi.

Dahl
Directions
Boil some dahl (lentils) and water (roughly 1:3 ratio) with turmeric and salt, and once it's turned into a nice loose porridge-like consistency, after about 15-20 minutes, heating ghee, cumin, garlic, and hot paprika in a small pan and tossing it over the dahl makes the whole thing BLOOM! Et voila. Eat with rice and yogurt (see if you can find an organic brand, without stabilizers), and you have a delicious, quick, and protein-rich meal.

Paneer
Directions
You'll need a cheesecloth, and you can find one easily at most food stores. Make sure it's a fine mesh, not one with giant holes.

Bring your desired volume of whole milk (half-gallon? quarter-gallon?) to a slow boil, and as it begins to rise, pour two tablespoons of vinegar into it. The milk and the whey will begin to separate immediately.

Add another tablespoon of vinegar if you think you need to -- eyeballing is a valuable skill in all cooking! -- and once you have this fluffy, beautiful white stuff, drain it into your cheese cloth, squeeze out the water, and wash out the vinegar. This is paneer.

You can cook the paneer as-is, with cumin, turmeric, triumvirate of spices, chopped onions and tomatoes.

If you want a block of paneer instead, tie up the cheese cloth tight and place a weight (I use a pot full of water) on it. In two or three hours, you'll have a solid brick.

Brief Interviews With Hideous Men No. 1

My father used to say that only in India would people understand why, if you put a little bit of cheese into an enormous vat of meat, you have to throw the whole thing away. It's because the country's Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, and Muslims get the concept of religiously-mandated eating. Also helpful: so much Indian food adheres to the regulations of kashrut. And given the recent opening of a fleishik Indian restaurant in Teaneck, not to mention the many vegan yogurts and milk products that make it possible to cook chicken tikka masala, it seems that kosher Indian food is having a bit of a renaissance.

To that end, I interviewed Mrigaa Sethi, a cook, writer, and teacher who grew up in India and Thailand. Mrigaa came to the U.S. for college, and presently lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn. She holds degrees from Emerson College and the M.F.A. program at New York University, and she is one hell of a cook. Lucky for us, she shared tips about cooking Indian food with ease and a few of her favorite recipes. This is part 1 of 2 installments.

Who taught you to cook?

My mother, of course! Though if you ask her, she'll say having me in the kitchen still makes her crazy! She gets anxious watching me wield a knife with my left hand!

Seriously, though, at home I was never expected to learn these things -- none of that "you must learn to cook for your husband" stuff. But after a year away at college in America, trekking out in the snow for mediocre $13 curries, I came home and seemed to pick up my basics in just a couple of months. These days my mother imparts recipes and ideas over the phone, or even via G-chat.

Can you could suggest some typical and simple Indian recipes?

There is an impression out there that Indian food is laborious and technically complicated, but it's not -- unless you hate chopping vegetables.

It doesn't get any more basic than dahl (lentil soup). It's the anchor of every meal. In India, dahl is even used as a symbol of any kind of food, a la "All I want in life is dahl and roti and someone to love." The yellow (split mung) dahl is easy, versatile, and absurdly flavourful.



My other answer is paneer (or Indian "cottage cheese" -- it's only the appearance that's similar, so don't substitute). People recognize paneer from restaurants, but it's possibly even easier to make than dahl.



Top three ingredients any amateur cook of Indian food needs in her kitchen.

I could write a whole cookbook around the blessed triumvirate of cumin (zeera), turmeric (haldi), and hot paprika (deghi mirch) -- if you don't want the whole thing turning bright red, however, replace with coarsely ground red chili powder. I'm still amazed at the range of flavours and dishes these spices are able to churn out. They really enhance the individual properties of whatever produce you're working with.

Technically speaking, is there anything absolutely vital to do when preparing Indian food? I've read that sauteeing the spices separately, then adding to the main dish, is key. True?

That's a great tip!

Have you got others?

1. Grind your own garam masala. Super easy in a coffee grinder -- just clean it out by grinding stale bread before and after, and wiping down with a damp cloth.

2. Sometimes my mother toasts cumin seeds until they're nearly black (tread with caution!) and grinds them coarsely (with a rolling pin, say).

3. Add a generous sprinkle of toasted cumin to some beaten yogurt with grated cucumbers and salt. Homemade raita -- a savory yogurt, with variations (cucumbers, boiled potatoes, onions and tomatoes), added to one's plate at the table.

3. After-you-turn-off-the-stove additions: cilantro, green chillies (get the tiny, short, bird-beak looking ones from an Asian market), or even a teaspoon of vinegar, in some cases.