I wish Indian men would cook...

Boy I wish men would cook. Mine does not. At best he will order pizza. But he does make the morning tea and I can't move without that. Yes, tea. It's finally becoming fashionable here in the US. I remember Steve McQueen or someone saying in an old war movie: "Tea? What's that? I have it only when I am in the hospital." But the funniest is to step into the local Starbucks or Panera and find Chai Tea as an item on their menu. Chai is the Indian word for tea. It's like saying Tea tea. No-one says noodles noodles. Or coffee coffee so why tea tea...

July 4th!! Independence Day!! Flags. Fireworks galore. We watched the firework show that the American Legion had from our backyard. This will be the very first firework show we have seen in New Lenox. Yeah. For the past 3 years, the firework shows have been washed out due to rain. We're hoping we'll be able to catch the show at the high school tomorrow.

4th of July is grillin' time, folks!! Lots of grillin'. Corn on the cob (bhutta - Indian style). And chilled watermelon.

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I made incredible turkey burgers the other day. I just have to share the recipe. It's my own. My 5 year old simply loved them!!

Turkey Burgers
A touch of mint and lots of spice
Spice Level: ENTIRELY UP TO YOU!!

This is something that you can toss together while your coal is heating up. What? You have a gas grill? You're losing out on something essential...Flavor! You have no grill at all? Go get one. You must!! I have one of those cheap $30 charcoal grills that I bought from some bargain store. It has survived 3 Chicagoland winters without a cover. I was kind of hoping it would not survive this last winter so I could buy a new grill with all the works...oh well!

Here's what you will need:

1 tray of Jennie-O lean ground turkey (approx 20 oz)
1 tablespoon of very finely chopped garlic(you could grate it too...but it tastes better if it is chopped fine)
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
5-6 fresh mint leaves, sliced fine
2-3 teaspoons of any garam masala^**optional(I prefer Shan's Chicken Tikka masala or Boti Kabab masala. Even Nihari or Paya Curry masala will do. If you don't have Shan, then any old garam masala will do. Add more if you want to kick it up a bit. I do!!)
fresh ground pepper(as much as you want to add)
egg white^**optional(This works like a binder but I have found that I don't need it. If you can't separate the yolk from the egg white and have no cholesterol issues then just add the whole darned egg!!)
1/3 bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped
salt to taste
Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue sauce for basting while grilling

Hmmm....Let's start. In a large mixing bowl, add all the ingredients except the Sweet Baby Ray's sauce - that's to use while grilling, remember? Mix everything together so that it's all well blended. Use your hands - you have to get them dirty. Using a spoon or spatula will just not work as the spices need to be rubbed well into the meat.

If you have a young child at home who cannot handle the spices, then do not add the garam masala and freshly ground black pepper as yet. Place aside some of this mixture for your kids or anyone else who cannot tolerate the heat. Then add the garam masala and pepper and mix well. Shape and pat this mixture into burgers.

I usually make 6 burgers from 1 packet of Jennie-O's. This seems to work out really well for us.

Brush some oil onto the grate and place the burgers on your hot grill at medium heat. Keep turning the burgers over every now and then. After the burgers are no longer pink on the outside, baste them with Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce. Turn them over. Baste the other side and cook for a couple of minutes. Baste. Turn over. Baste. Turn over. Basting and frequent turning ensures that the burgers remain very moist. About 15-20 minutes later, you have the most delicious turkey burgers, ever!!

I don't baste my daughter's burgers with the bbq sauce. She finds that 'spicy' - but she will eat Hot Mix!! I brush hers with olive oil.

Interesting things to do with these burgers
I don't work at shaping the burgers till they look like the burgers you get at the fast food places. Mine are round and about an inch or more thick. These can then be sliced thin and stuffed into pocket pitas with chopped onions, tomatoes, lettuce, a slice of cheese - simply anything you may feel like adding.

The wonderful thing about creating your own recipes is that you can do precisely what you want!! Believe me, the results are often very inspiring and very very gratifying. Imagine how overwhelmed I am when my 5 year old wolfs these down like she has never seen food before. And this from a child who is less than 10 percentile for weight and seems to survive on air.

A variation of this recipe is to saute chopped onions in the olive oil, add everything except the meat, mint and cilantro and saute some more. Cool the mixture and then the rest of the ingredients. Go out and grill your burgers!

Check for salt
How do you know if you have added enough salt? That has always been my basic dilemma with each dish. With raw meat, tasting is not an option - so what I put a very small amount of the mixture in a bowl with 2-3 tablespoons of water. Heat it in the microwave for 30-35 seconds or as much time as it will take for that teeny amount of meat to cook. It might become leathery but hey! you will be able to tell if you added the right amount of salt.

The nicest part about these burgers is that they can be spiced to the level you want. They are made from lean ground turkey - so none of the red meat and cholesterol issues come into play. Use Extra Virgin Olive Oil - it's the best!!

Burgers, corn and watermelon!! A terrific meal!!

Reunions

What a fantastic weekend!! Catching up with my best friend from school after 18 years. These picture galleries make for wonderful nostalgia...was it really all that long ago?

And what would a reunion be without food?

Needless to say the menu was 100% Indian. Friday's dinner was heralded in by sponge-soft idlis, delicious piping hot sambar and coconut chutney. Brunch on Saturday was delectable pav-bhaji. After a wonderful day in Morris, attending a birthday party at PC Pottery, followed by incessant noise at Chuck E Cheese's in Tinley, the evening was topped off by a spicy dinner that included lamb curry, turkey kheema, naan, steamed white rice and home-made yogurt.

I will be posting recipes for these treats soon!!

I'm on AllRecipes.com

Some - actually all ;-) - of my recipes that have been posted on Allrecipes.com
Aloo Gobi ki Subzi (Cauliflower and Potatoes)

Crunchy Catfish Nuggets

Jeera (Cumin) Rice

Quick and Easy Indian-style Okra

Rajma (Red Kidney Beans)

Happy Cooking!

(Update: unfortunately, most of my recipes have been changed by AllRecipes.)

Vangi Bhath

Vangi Bhath

Spiced rice with eggplant...yum!

Vangi Bhath was something I hated when I was child. It's a grown-up taste. I still remember the shudders in my little body if Mom announced: Vangi Bhath for dinner, tonight!

Today, I miss her and I miss her Vangi Bhath. I make a pretty decent Vangi Bhath but it never is the same, is it?
(Bhath is cooked rice. Vanga is eggplant or brinjals as we called them.)

I made this on Sunday night for dinner. I realized as soon as I took a bite that this was a little above my soon-to-be 5 year old's level of spice. But she smothered it in plain yogurt and chomped right through it. She does not have regular kiddie tastes. She loves veggies and will eat okra by the spoonful.

7-8 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 cup of white onion, sliced
1 medium sized egg-plant, cubed into pieces about 1 inch by 1 inch
3 medium sized potatoes, sliced thin and long
*15 whole black peppers
*2x1inch sticks of rolled cinnamon
*2 cardamoms
*1 tamalpatra bay leaf
*8 whole cloves
*2 teaspoons of goda masala
1/8 teaspoon of turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of brown cane sugar
1 teaspoon of grated garlic
2 teaspoons of grated ginger
1/2 lemon, juice of
2 cups of aromatic Basmati rice (long grained Indian rice)
4 cups water
Salt to taste

(Ingredients marked with an * can be toned down to your liking or even omitted.)

Heat the oil in a large non-stick pot. If it heats to a point where it starts fuming, turn off the heat and let it cool some.
If you use a regular pot that is not non-stick, you may need to increase the amount of oil.
Toss in the whole spices. Be careful as the whole black peppers tend to leap out of the pan and right into your eyes. It is usually a good idea to cover the pan while the whole spices get heated up and start releasing their true flavors.
Add the cumin seeds and let them splutter a little bit in the oil along with the rest of the whole spices.
Add the turmeric powder.
Add the sliced onions and saute for about 4-5 minutes on medium heat.
Add the potatoes and the diced eggplant and saute for another 2-3 minutes.
Add the ginger and garlic and saute for another 2 minutes or so.
Add the lemon juice.
Add the rice and saute that for a minute or so with the rest of the mixture.
Add the goda masala (What is goda masala? What if you don't have it?)
Add the water, sugar and salt to taste.

There is an easy rule of thumb to figure out if the salt will be adequate or not. You can of course add the salt afterwards but it takes away from the heavenly flavor of the dish. Add about 1 teaspoon full of salt after you have added the water. Mix it well. Taste the water. It should be slightly salty. Add a little more salt, mix and taste again. Stop when the water is just slightly salty.

Cover and cook the mixture on medium-high heat till you no longer see the water when you peek inside the pot. About 10 minutes. Turn the heat to low and let the rice simmer till it is fully cooked. Another 20 minutes or so. The rice grains should be separate - not all mushed up - and each grain must be fully cooked yet retain its integrity. Wow! I love that! Rice retaining its integrity!!

Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve with plain yogurt.

Goda masala is a wonderful blend of spices that has been powdered with a surprise ingredient: dried coconut. I say surprise cos I hate the smell of dried coconut. But in this masala, it's divine! Note that we don't say curry - we say masala.

Curry is any dish that has some kind of sauce. The dish is not dry and can be poured over rice or dipped into. So chicken curry means it is a chicken dish that is not dry and has a sauce.

To get back to the point, you can buy goda masala from any Indian grocer nearest you. The brand I recommend is Badshah (means king!) Or you can use regular garam masala - which does not usually have the dried coconut. Or try the Madras Periyar masala - brand MTR. This has the dried coconut.

Don't have it? Just ignore it ;-) But if you decide to leave it out, then make sure that you use the whole spices. The rice will be a total disaster if BOTH these are missing.
Or borrow some from a friendly Indian neighbor!!

Once the rice is cooked, toss it about with a fork - making sure not to break the grains - remember, the rice must retain its....yes! integrity!!

Image added on 04/09/2007, almost 4 years later!

This is simply delicious!! I am my own biggest fan since Mom has passed on and there is no 'home' to go to for comfort food, I started off with doing the best I could. Now, I like what I make so much, that I can't stop raving about my own dishes!!