Tag: indian food
Ground Pork with Cauliflower in Cilantro Sauce (Keema Gobi)
One of our favorites…
Cilantro Sauce
- 1 cup cilantro, chopped
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 1 inch fresh ginger, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- ½ yellow onion, chopped
Blend the cilantro, green onions, ginger, garlic and onion in a blender till veggies form a smooth paste. Keep aside.
- 2 tablespoons extra light olive oil
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
- Salt
- 2 teaspoons coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 cup cilantro, chopped
Heat a heavy saucepan with the oil. Add the cumin seeds and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the ground meat and sauté on high heat. Separate the meat while stirring with a wooden spoon- for about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the cilantro paste and sauté for another 3 to 4 minutes on medium heat. Add the cauliflower, coriander powder, salt and cayenne pepper. Mix well and lower heat to simmer and cover. Cook for 20 minutes. Take the lid off and turn the heat up, stirring constantly, cook for another five minutes or till the excess moisture has cooked through. Check for seasonings and garnish with cilantro.
Chicken Curry with Roasted Onion and Garlic
This is a very different way of making a curry- usually, the onion, ginger, garlic and tomato and cooked to death to achieve a deep, deep flavor. I like to cook simple food that doesn’t take me forever to cook… but I want to get the cooked to death flavor- so I roasted the onions and garlic…. it created an amazing, amazing flavors…
- 1 large yellow onion, cut in half with skin on
- 3 garlic cloves, intact
- 2 inch piece of ginger
- 1 14 ounce can of fire roasted tomatoes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Wrap the garlic and ginger in a piece of aluminum foil. Place the onion and the aluminum packet on a lined cookie sheet and roast in the oven for 40 minutes. Take out and let cool and transfer to a blender. Add the canned tomatoes and blend till a smooth sauce is formed. Keep aside.
- 2 tablespoons extra light olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter or ghee
- 2 pounds chicken thighs, skinless and boneless and cut into 2 inch pieces
- Sprinkle with salt
- 2 teaspoons black cumin or regular cumin
- 1 cinnamon stick- 3 inches
- 3 cloves
Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt. In the meantime, heat a heavy saucepan with the oil and butter/ghee. Brown the chicken pieces on both sides on a medium high heat. Take out of pan and keep aside. Add the cumin, cinnamon and cloves. Saute for 30 seconds on medium heat. Add the onion and tomato sauce and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the chicken pieces, a cup of water and bring to a boil. Simmer on low heat covered with a lid for 30 minutes. Take the lid off and adjust seasoning as desired. Serve with rice or roti.
Mattar Paneer (Peas with Paneer) in Cilantro Sauce
A classic made a little different… I love, love cilantro- so I used it as a base for this dish… so, so good!!
- 1 cup fresh cilantro
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 3 garlic cloves, skin off
- 6 to 7 scallions, ends cut off and halved
- ½ cup full fat yogurt
- ½ cup water
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 tablespoons extra light olive oil
- 12 ounces paneer, cut into 1 inch squares and soaked in warm water (for an hour)
- 1½ cups frozen peas
- ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Transfer the cilantro, cumin, garlic, scallions, yogurt, water, salt, turmeric, cayenne pepper and ground coriander to a blender. Blend till a smooth sauce is formed. Keep aside.
Heat a heavy saucepan with the olive oil. Add the cilantro sauce and sauté on medium heat, stirring every couple of minutes, for about 20 minutes. Drain the paneer and add to the sauce. Mix well and bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes. Add the frozen peas, bring to a boil and simmer for another 5 minutes. Check for seasonings and garnish with cilantro.
Cilantro Cauliflower and Potatoes (Aloo Gobi)
- 1 cauliflower head, cut into small florets
- 4 to 5 medium yellow potatoes, sliced in wedges
- 2 tablespoons extra light olive oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
Preheat oven to high broil.
Place the cauliflower and potatoes onto a lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle the salt and olive oil. Broil for about 10 minutes, turning the vegetables half way to brown all sides.
- 4 to 5 green onions
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup water
Blend the green onions, garlic, cilantro and water till smooth. Keep aside.
- 2 tablespoons extra olive oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- Salt
Heat a medium saucepan with the olive oil. Add the cumin seeds and sauté for 10 to 15 seconds. Add the green onion mixture and sauté on a medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the roasted cauliflower and potatoes- mix well and cover with lid and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Check for seasonings and serve hot.
Ground Meat with Cauliflower (Keema Gobi)
I make this dish all the time. I do like to change it up a bit- just to make it more interesting. For this one I first combined green onions, garlic and cilantro and used them as the base. I then used cardamom, cloves and cumin to flavor the dish- the result- absolutely delicious!!
- 4 green onions, chopped rough
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- ½ cup cilantro, chopped
Process the aromatics in a food processor until they are chopped fine. Keep aside.
- 3 tablespoons extra light olive oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 cardamom pods, smashed
- 3 cloves, smashed
- ½ pound ground pork
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 cups or a medium sized cauliflower, florets taken apart
- 1-2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ cup cilantro, chopped
Heat a heavy saucepan with the olive oil. Add the cumin seeds, cardamom pods and cloves and cook for 30 seconds over medium heat. Add the pork and increase the heat to high. Break the meat with the back of a wooden spoon while browning it, for about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for 30 seconds. Add the cauliflower, salt, ground coriander, turmeric and cayenne pepper. Mix well and cover with lid and lower heat to medium low. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes and take lid off. Break the florets into smaller pieces with the back of a wooden spoon and cook on medium high heat for another 5 to 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Check for seasonings and garnish with cilantro.
Potatoes Corn and Carrots with Dill
This is a great side or main dish. I made it as a main dish for meatless Monday. The classic is a combination of potatoes, carrots and peas.. but as I started cooking, I realized I didn’t have frozen peas… what?? I had no idea.. so I used roasted frozen corn instead and the combo was great!!!
- 2 tablespoons ghee/butter
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
- 3 medium yellow skinned potatoes, chopped into 1 inch dice
- 3 carrots, chopped into 1 inch dice
- 1 cup roasted corn, frozen
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ cup fresh dill, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh chives, chopped
- ½ cup cilantro, chopped
Heat a saucepan with ghee/butter on a medium heat. Add the green onions and ginger. Saute on medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the potatoes, carrots and corn. Add salt, ground coriander and cayenne pepper. Saute on medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low and cover with lid and cook for 5 to 6 minutes or till the potatoes and carrots are cooked through. Mix well and taste for seasonings. Turn heat off and add the herbs. Mix well and serve.
Minted Masoor Dal
I love simple lentil dishes. It reminds me of home- comfort food. I like using the pink lentils the most as they cook really fast and are delicious. I served these lentils with the cauliflower in the past. This is a perfect complement to the veggies as the lentils provide a good amount of protein without cooking any meat- if you don’t want to. I recently decided to go vegan twice a week. Mondays and Tuesdays are my day to stay away from meat and all meat products. I certainly don’t want to give up any kind of food, but I think reducing the amount of meat we eat is a great idea. The good thing is that Indian food lends itself to a vegan lifestyle. If you are not eating vegan, by all means use butter or ghee to finish off the dish- it brings a whole lot of nutty flavor to the lentils and makes them delicious. The other important ingredient in this dish is dried mint. You must try this dish- it is one of my favorite…
- 1 cup masoor dal
- 3 cups water
- 3 garlic cloves, mashed
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- Salt
- 2 teaspoons dried mint
- 2 teaspoons oil, ghee or butter
Add the dal, water, garlic, turmeric and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or till the lentils are soft. Add the dried mint and oil/ghee. Cook till it reaches desired consistency. Check for seasonings and serve with rice.