Recipe Reviews: Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey

Recipe Reviews for Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey

2010-12-31T12:00:00.000-08:00

For the holidays in 2006, I asked my parents for a Indian cookbook (and gave them a number of choices of books I've heard recommended). They bought me:

Indian Cooking
by Madhur Jaffrey
2003 edition
Barron's
Buy from: Amazon

Below are the dishes I've cooked so far by star rating (out of five). I plan to group dishes into categories after I've cooked more of them. Within each star rating, the ordering is arbitrary -- it doesn't mean anything. Click on the dish's name for a review.

A list of what I've cooked most recently appears on the right side of the blog under the heading "Recent Dishes."

Chicken & Meat & Seafood

Picture	Name	Rating
	Red Lamb or Beef Stew (Rogan josh)	5 stars
	Lemony Chicken with Cilantro (Hare masale wali murghi)	4.5 stars
	Shrimp with Zucchini (Jhinga aur ghia)	4 stars
	Chicken with Tomatoes and Garam Masala (Timatar murghi)	4 stars
	Delicious Cocktail Koftas (Chhote kofte)	4 stars (optimistically)
	Tandoori-Style Chicken (Tandoori murghi)	3.5 stars (maybe 4)
	Chicken in a Fried Onion Sauce (Murghi rasedar)	3.5 stars

Pulses (Dals)

Picture	Name	Rating
	Red Split Lentils with Cabbage (Masoor dal aur band gobi)	4.5 stars
	Whole Green Lentils with Spinach and Ginger	4 stars
	Small Yellow Split Peas (Chana dal)	4 stars
	Sour Chick-Peas (Khate chhole)	4 stars
	Red Split Lentils with Cumin Seeds (Masoor dal)	4 stars
	Black-Eyed Beans with Mushrooms (Lohbia aur khumbi)	3 stars
	Red Kidney Beans (Punjabi rajma)	3 stars

Vegetables

Picture	Name	Rating
	Gujerati-Style Green Beans (Gujerati sem)	5 stars
	Cauliflower with Cumin and Asafetida (Heeng zeere ki gobi)	4.5 stars
	Carrots, Peas, and Potatoes Flavored with Cumin (Gajar, matar, aur aloo ki bhaji)	4.5 stars
	Cauliflower With Potatoes (Phool gobi aur aloo ki bhaji)	4.5 stars (likely, if made with less salt)
	Frozen Spinach With Potatoes (Saag aloo)	4 stars
	Cauliflower with Onion and Tomato (Phool gobi ki bhaji)	4 stars
	Cabbage with Peas (Bund gobi aur matar)	4 stars
	Beets With Onions (Shorvedar chukander)	4 stars (maybe 3.5)
	Gujerati-Style Cabbage With Carrots (Sambhara)	3 stars

Desserts

Picture	Name	Rating
	Carrot Halva (Gajar ka halva)	5 stars
	Semolina Halva (Sooji ka halva)	4 stars
	Drunken Orange Slices (Sharabi narangi)	3.5 stars

Misc

Picture	Name	Rating
	Yogurt with Eggplant (Baigan ka raita)	4 stars
	Gujerati Carrot Salad (Gajar ka salad)	3 stars
	Carrot and Onion Salad (Gajar aur pyaz ka salad)	2 stars

Questions? Comments? Thoughts? Post a comment to the relevant page for the particular recipe (or this page itself) or e-mail me: my first initial followed by pearson42 AT yahoo.com. My name is Mark.

Additional keywords: review, reactions, thoughts, changes, revisions, change, revision, descriptions, kitchen, cook, cooking, recipes, Indian food.

Cauliflower with Cumin and Asafetida (Heeng zeere ki gobi) Review

2010-01-08T20:00:00.000-08:00

4.5 stars? 5 stars? (on a 5 star scale)
p. 145

A very good dish that's both easy to prepare and fast to cook.

Some notes on the ingredients:

I skipped the "generous pinch" of asafetida because I didn't have any.
I used one fresh hot green chili, with seeds. (The recipe recommended 1/2 - 1 chili.)
I skipped the 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander because I didn't have any. Though I didn't miss it / didn't think it would add anything, my friend says she would've liked it.
I used 1/4 teaspoon cayenne. (The recipe recommended 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon.)
I skipped the lemon juice because I didn't have any. Both of us eating this dish thought it would've added a nice touch (for next time).

Some notes on cooking:

I used only two tablespoons of oil (rather than the three recommended) to apparently no ill effect.
I added the recommended 1/2 cup water. I think this was too much; I needed to cook the cauliflower at medium/medium-high heat (rather than low) for twice the recommended length of time (12 minutes compared to 5-7) in order for most of the water to be gone. Next time add less water.

Shrimp with Zucchini (Jhinga aur ghia) Review

2009-11-08T20:00:00.000-08:00

4 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 118

Decent/good. My dinner companions really liked this dish, saying I was under-rating it.

A quick one-pot meal (when served with rice). Cooking is fast after you start, so chop and measure everything beforehand!

I changed the recipe slightly to apparently no ill effect. (I didn't bother sweating the zucchini, and I used about half the recommended oil.)

The sauce was too liquidy in my opinion, as is typical for this cookbook.

Note: Sorry for the shoddy picture; I made this at a dinner party where it was inappropriate to spend time posing the dish to be photographed.

Gujerati Carrot Salad (Gajar ka salad) Review

2009-04-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

3 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 217

Not particularly good. In fact, the first time I cooked it, I burnt the mustard seeds (it's impossible to tell visually, but I could taste it) and the dish was so bad (though still edible) (2 stars) that I vowed to give it another try. I tried it again and didn't burn the mustard seeds. The flavor combination was interesting--lemon, carrot, and mustard seeds--and a bit better than before but still not something I'd make again. I tried both attempts at room temperature and chilled.

The recipe is easy and fast. Grating the carrots takes the most time, but that's not much.

Regarding the pictures, because both were of servings from the bottom of the bowl, they show more mustard seeds than the other servings.

close-up

Carrots, Peas, and Potatoes Flavored with Cumin (Gajar, matar, aur aloo ki bhaji) Review

2009-04-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

4.5 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 147

A fresh-tasting dish that feels (and is) healthy. It's surprisingly good for such a simple recipe and doesn't take too long, assuming you boil the potatoes ahead of time. The dish is onion heavy, which is good for me because I like onions.

Some notes on the ingredients:

I substituted canola oil for the mustard oil, as the recipe said was reasonable.
I used only two tablespoons of oil (rather than the three recommended) to apparently no ill effect. I possibly could've used less: the vegetables were slick, though not unappealingly so.
I used dried arbol chilies for the dried hot red chilies called for by the recipe. Yes, I know they're Mexican, but they're what I had available.

By the way, 1.5 pounds of English peas makes 1.5 cups of shelled peas.

Addendum: One time that I cooked this later, I used frozen peas rather than fresh to apparently no ill effect. Maybe next time I'll use a bag of frozen peas and carrots to further cut down on the prep time.

close-up

prep: shelled peas, peeled and diced carrots, cumin seeds, and hot, dried red chilies

prep: chopped onions, boiled and chopped potatoes, and sliced green onions

completed dish

Cauliflower With Potatoes (Phool gobi aur aloo ki bhaji) Review

2009-04-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

4.5 stars (likely, if made with less salt) (on a 5 star scale)
p. 144

Solidly good but not great. The dish is definitely too salty, but otherwise I like the spicing. Also, it's easy to cook, even counting taking the time to roast and grind the cumin seeds.

Some notes on the ingredients:

I used four small potatoes instead of two medium ones.
I used half the recommended oil.
I ran out of ground coriander, thus using about 1/3 of a teaspoon rather than the 1/2 of a teaspoon the recipe calls for.
I used a whole jalapeno after seeding it (versus the 1/2 to 1 hot green chili called for by the recipe).

close-up

Beets With Onions (Shorvedar chukander) Review

2009-04-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

4 stars (or maybe 3.5) (on a 5 star scale)
p. 139

An easy recipe for a satisfying dish with a tomato tang. It's more like soup without much broth (i.e., mostly the soup solids, not much liquid) rather than a stew, if that makes any sense. The tomatoes practically visually disappear into the soup because they're cut so small (as instructed). I liked the dish better chilled than warm.

Some notes on the ingredients:

I cut the oil in half, using only two tablespoons.
I used 1/4 of a teaspoon cayenne (versus the 1/8 to 1/2 recommended by the recipe).

By the way, a beet weighs roughly 1/4 of a pound. Thus, this recipe uses three beets.

Note to self: I used my smaller saucepan; it just barely fit.

Carrot Halva (Gajar ka halva) Review

2009-01-19T20:00:00.000-08:00

5 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 230

A pretty good Indian dessert tasting mainly of sweetened carrots. It's good warm and at room temperature. It tastes like traditional, moist Indian sweets, though in this case the flavor is carrot. There's a ghee flavor there too, but it isn't too strong. Also, leftovers smelled strongly of ghee, but they didn't taste any more strongly of it than the fresh dish.

Some notes on the ingredients:

I used incredibly sweet, fresh, farmers-market carrots--maybe that's part of what makes this so good. They're delicious alone.
I used only 4 tablespoons of ghee, not the recommended 5. This turned out well, as 4 left me with extra ghee that wasn't absorbed by the carrots.
I used currants instead of golden raisins because that's what I had at hand. (Yes, I know golden raisins would make the dish look prettier.)
I skipped the pistachios because I couldn't easily acquire any.
I declined to add the optional cream.

Some notes on the preparation:

It took about an hour to boil off all the liquid. (The recipe estimated 30+ minutes.) It's easier to boil when there's less liquid in pot--I found myself gradually turning down the burner to keep the amount of boiling constant and not scorch the carrots or the milk.
The recipe suggested 10-15 minutes of frying at medium-low should turn the carrots a "rich, reddish color" and make them "no longer have a wet, milky look." I found I needed medium heat to get anything to change color. Despite this, I never managed to turn anything red, though the carrots did get a bit darker. Furthermore, after 20 minutes, the carrots still had a wet look. (I thought that was enough frying so I stopped around then.)

close-up

Delicious Cocktail Koftas (Chhote kofte) Review

2008-10-11T20:00:00.000-07:00

4 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 47

Perhaps because the meatballs were slightly overcooked / a little dry inside, I liked the sauce better than the meatballs. This worked out fine, as there was lots of sauce--barely any liquid boiled off. This surprised me, as the recipe implied that most, if not all, the liquid would boil off, and that the sauce would be thick, not thin. Because the dish came out looking so different from what was intended, I'm tempted to try making it again. In this instance, this wasn't a four star dish, but I have high hopes the sauce will be thicker and the meatballs not overcooked next time.

As for the preparation, there are many things to do, but the steps aren't hard. The only confusion I ran into was that the recipe said that after adding the paste, to cook until browned. But everything's already brown!

Regarding leftovers, the leftover sauce wasn't as good, but it was still decent. Also, the refrigerated leftovers had a layer of congealed fat on top of the dish. (I don't recall what I did with it when I reheated the dish to eat.)

sauce before adding meatballs

meatballs before cooking

after adding meatballs (no flash)

meatballs and sauce after simmering (with flash).
(i.e., completed dish)

Sour Chick-Peas (Khate chhole) Review

2008-09-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

4 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 173

A nicely sour, fragrant, flavorful dish. Although I like it, I must admit it's so sour one can't eat too much of it once, implying it must be a side dish, not a main dish. Sometimes I'm inclined to describe the broth as rich, but given that it's light and lacks cream, I think what I really mean is rich in flavor and that the sourness gives it a sense of fullness.

I like it warm or cold better than lukewarm. (I only mention this because the cookbook suggests lukewarm might be good.)

It smells really potent (but good) as it cooks.

Some note on the preparation:

Rather than cooking chickpeas from scratch, I used canned chickpeas. Two 15-ounce cans yielded 2.75 cups of chickpea, half a cup more than the recipe calls for. Also, these two cans yielded 1 7/8ths cups of chickpea water, a slight bit more than the 1.75 cups the recipe calls for. I don't know if the canned liquid is a higher or lower percent chickpea juice than that made by cooking the chickpeas the standard way.
I used half the recommended oil.
It takes a while to cut all the vegetables!
It takes a lot of ginger to make one tablespoon of very finely grated ginger.

Black-Eyed Beans with Mushrooms (Lohbia aur khumbi) Review

2008-09-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

3 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 174-175

A basic chili: satisfying enough. Despite coming from this cookbook, it's doesn't seem Indian.

The dish takes ages to make.

The picture in the book shows more mushrooms than what my result seemed to have. Did they get the recipe wrong, or simply pick out the mushrooms and put them on top for photographic reasons?

Whole Green Lentils with Spinach and Ginger Review

2008-09-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

4 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 168

A good, hearty side dish that tastes more of spinach than lentils. The flavors are bright, probably from the lemon, which I probably wouldn't identify if I didn't know it was there, and the nearly invisible presence of ginger, ground pepper, and fresh peppers.

Unlike other pulses, this one isn't soupy or stewy.

Incidentally, I used only 4 tablespoons of oil, not 6, and used 2 serrano peppers (for the 1-2 suggested ones).

Semolina Halva (Sooji ka halva) Review

2008-06-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

4 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 226

Although the halva looked unappealing, it actually served as a fairly good light dessert or snack. My main complaint is that it could use a little more moisture. Water kind of does it, but not entirely. I think the source of the problem was that I cooked the recipe with three tablespoons of ghee (because that's all I had), not the five the recipe called for. (I decided not to make up the difference with vegetable oil, thinking they wouldn't mix correctly.)

I tried serving the halva with ice cream, but ice cream was too sweet for it. I also tried serving it with yogurt, but the yogurt I happened to have was too tangy.

Some notes on the preparation:

While the recipe calls for fine-grained semolina, I used something labeled semolina flour. After researching on the web, it appears these are the same thing.
The semolina didn't turn golden, even after 15 minutes. (The recipe said 8-10 minutes would be appropriate.)
I used ground cardamom seeds instead of finely crushed cardamom.

As for leftovers, I found I liked the leftover halva served chilled rather than at room temperature or warmed. Over time the semolina condenses into small balls. While I could easily break them up, I learned that I don't like the chewy nature of the ones I miss.

I found myself less excited about eating the leftovers, and so contemplated downgrading the recipe to 3.5 stars. But, I realized the main complaint was probably my fault, and the dish is really easy to prepare (a bonus!), and therefore left the recipe at 4 stars.

Gujerati-Style Cabbage With Carrots Review

2008-05-14T20:00:00.000-07:00

3 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 141

An unexciting, though quickly cooked, dish of carrots and cabbage. It might work as a side dish for something, but wouldn't be a great one. The vegetables, when fresh off the stove, were oily in texture, despite me using less oil than the recipe recommended. (I used only enough to cover the bottom of the pan, not the whole four tablespoons.) The leftovers happily weren't oily but they still weren't particularly appealing. I didn't taste much lemon or cilantro. Worried that my lack of tasting these flavors was what was marring the dish, I added more lemon to one plate. It definitely made the lemon more prominent but didn't help the dish at all.

Some notes on the ingredients:

Because I don't have a grater, I peeled the carrots, then chopped the peels.
The recipe suggests using half or one green chili. I used one whole serrano but removed most of the seeds first.
For the dried red chili, I used an arbol because that's what I had at hand.
I skipped the optional asafetida because I didn't have any.

close-up

Red Split Lentils with Cabbage Review

2008-05-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

4.5 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 166

A very good, nice, mellow combination of lentils, onions, tomatoes, and cabbage. I think all the spices--garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin, green chilies--contributed to the flavor. I especially liked the crunch of the onions. Although I usually don't like dals, especially stewy ones, I definitely liked this dish. And, for those like me who prefer less soupy dishes, rest assured that the leftovers are less liquidy. (In fact, despite the stewy nature of the freshly made dish, I'd still give it 4.5 stars on taste alone.)

Some notes on the ingredients:

I estimated the amount of cabbage to use. The recipe calls for 225 grams. The large head I bought weighed 1200 grams. I used a fraction of it, probably 300-400 grams.
I cut the oil in half to apparently no ill effect.
The recipe suggests using one to two green chilies. I used two, but removed most of the seeds to tone them down.
I used two small tomatoes, not one medium tomato.
I used a quarter of a teaspoon of ground ginger instead of half a teaspoon freshly grated ginger.

Regarding the preparation, the recipe says to "stir and fry the cabbage mixture for about 10 minutes until it begins to brown and turn slightly crisp." The mixture didn't turn brown or crisp (nor would I expect cabbage to brown and crisp unless cooked and burnt at very high heat--I'd normally expect the cabbage to soften).

Cabbage with Peas (Bund gobi aur matar) Review

2008-01-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

4 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 140

Simple, easy to make, fast, and fairly good, or what I would imagine would be fairly good if it weren't slightly too spicy. I used one jalapeno chile, seeds and all. Next time, I should use less.

I only used 2/3rds of a cabbage--the rest of the cabbage wouldn't fit in my large frying pan. The cabbage shrunk substantially as it cooked.

Cutting cabbage into long strips was easy: simply slice it in one direction like an onion, then the layers peel apart easily into strips.

I don't understand why the recipe calls for a large quantity of oil. I used much less with no difficulty.

close-up

Red Kidney Beans (Punjabi rajma) Review

2007-12-29T20:01:00.000-08:00

3 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 169

Okay. Significantly different in color--it's lighter--and taste than the traditional chile-like rajmas I've had previously. This rajma smells of ghee, but only tastes of cream. I don't think it's bad, yet I won't cook it again, partially due to my lack of excitement about the taste and partially due to the dish's unhealthiness.

Red Lamb or Beef Stew (Rogan josh) Review

2007-12-29T20:00:00.000-08:00

5 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 70-71

Very good: well worth the significant preparation time. I used lamb cut from the shoulder. It ended up pretty tender. I had to de-bone the lamb myself, which was a bit of a hassle.

Although I had some trouble with the recipe, somehow everything worked out and we were all very pleased with the results.

First, my blender had trouble blending the ginger, garlic, and water because most of it ended up sinking below the blades. I kept having to push things around to get it to puree. The result was a mixture of liquid and pulp: not quite a paste.

Second, the onions took about twenty minutes before they began turning brown, not the five the recipe said ought to be necessary to get them medium-brown. After twenty minutes, though they were not really yet what I'd call medium-brown, I moved on.

Although the recipe suggests using paprika that is "fresh and has a good red color," the paprika I used was probably two years old and reddish-brown. Nonetheless, it seems things turned out all right.

After the period of covered simmering, the dish still had too much liquid. I boiled it more, uncovered, for about thirty minutes. It didn't end up as thick as I wanted, but I was hungry and stopped then. Next time, I'll simply add less liquid (than the 1.25 cups the recipe says). The juices must've congealed overnight, as the leftovers had the perfect consistency.

After mostly everything was done,
but before adding water and simmering for an hour.

After adding water and simmering for an hour.

Red Split Lentils with Cumin Seeds (Masoor dal) Review

2007-12-16T20:01:00.000-08:00

4 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 165

Originally, I said the dal had too much ghee and was too soupy and I was going to give it three stars. J agreed with me on the latter count. Perhaps I should've boiled it less gently. However, leftovers both condensed (i.e., became less soupy) and mellowed, making the ghee less noticeable, and hence I'm bumping up the rating.

J tasted the coriander in the dal and appreciated it, saying that it added a kind of meatiness.

We both liked the cilantro and felt it complemented the dish well. I thought it so much that I added much more cilantro to my dal than called for in the recipe.

I didn't use the optional asafetida.

It's odd that the dal looks yellow yet is made from red split lentils.

Cauliflower with Onion and Tomato (Phool gobi ki bhaji) Review

2007-12-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

4 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 142

Not amazing, but both J and I liked it. She identified the lemon juice and enjoyed the tartness it added.

The cauliflower was supposed to brown in two minutes. I waited five to ten for it to brown; it didn't. I gave up and moved on. (I didn't want the cauliflower to get too soft during this step.)

It takes a while to prepare all the vegetables.

I used a serrano chile, seeds and all.

I wonder what soaking the cauliflower in water does.

Lemony Chicken with Cilantro (Hare masale wali murghi) Review

2007-08-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

4.5 stars (on a 5 star scale) (4 stars originally, 5 stars leftovers)
p. 95

A good dish of very moist chicken. As with other recipes from this cookbook, the leftovers were noticeably better than the original serving. Indeed, regarding the original serving, I complained the dish wasn't cilantro-y enough, partially blaming the state on my not using as much cilantro as the recipe called for. But the leftovers were quite cilantro-y. Even the lemon came out stronger in the leftovers. If the chicken was this good on the first night, I'd have given this recipe 5 stars.

Some notes on the ingredients:

Two big bunches of cilantro were not enough! Each bunch, after chopping, made a bit less than a cup of cilantro. The recipe calls for three cups of cilantro, which I clearly didn't have.
I used all the juice from one lemon instead of measuring two tablespoons of lemon juice. (Past experience has taught me the two are roughly equivalent.)
I used a mix of chicken thighs (1.5 pounds) and breasts (1.0 pounds).

Some notes on the preparation:

It takes longer to prepare than what one would guess from reading the recipe. In particular, separating the leaves from the stem for that much cilantro a pain.
It's hard to thoroughly puree such a small amount of ginger.
Although the recipe recommended using six tablespoons of vegetable oil in which to brown the chicken, that seemed excessive to me and so I used less with no difficulty.
I didn't add all the spices at once because I didn't have them ready. I added them as I measured them.
I accidentally added garlic at the wrong time.

Gujerati-Style Green Beans Review

2007-07-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

5 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 131

Very good and easy to make. Nicely garlicky, perhaps because the cloves I used were abnormally large. I think the mustard seeds add something as well.

I used less oil than suggested because I used a non-stick skillet.

Some notes on the ingredients:

For the one-half to one dried red chili, I used one arbol chili because that's what I had at hand.
I forgot the ground black pepper.

On a plate.

Close-up.
And here's two more pictures that admittedly aren't very relevant to the dish:

The chopped but as yet uncooked green beans with which I made this dish.

A close-up of the chopped but uncooked green beans.

Tandoori-Style Chicken (Tandoori murghi) Review

2007-07-14T20:00:00.000-07:00

3.5 stars (on a 5 star scale) (may be 4 if left to marinate for a long time)
p. 90-91

Quite different from tandoori chicken I get in restaurants:

Restaurant chicken tends to be spicy. This was not.
Restaurant chicken is often dry. This was moist throughout.
Restaurant chicken often isn't tart. This was tart, likely from the effect of heating yogurt. I'm told tandoori chicken is frequently supposed to be a bit tart, so this taste shouldn't be as surprising as it was to me.

The chicken was decent but not that interesting -- chicken that I'd be fine eating again but probably won't make again, at least given how it turned out the first night. Leftovers were better, possibly due to the longer time they sat, and also less tart. If the quality on the first night were as good as the leftovers, I might make it again.

Some notes on the ingredients:

I used drumsticks and thighs. Removing skin from the drumsticks is a pain. Next time buy de-skinned chicken!
I skipped the food coloring.

Some notes on the preparation:

I marinated the chicken for only six hours, a minimal amount of time.
Almost all of the paste went through the strainer.
I baked the chicken at about 550 degrees, the highest temperature my oven would go. When I checked the chicken after twenty minutes, it looked like it had just completed cooking.

Another picture of the chicken. This picture misrepresents its actual color.

Drunken Orange Slices (Sharabi narangi) Review

2007-07-01T20:01:00.000-07:00

3.5 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 225

An extremely simple dish of sliced oranges, cinnamon, and Grand Marnier -- no more than the sum of its parts. I'm fairly indifferent between eating it and eating simple, unadorned orange slices.

It's neat that one can taste each ingredient, but so what. The Grand Marnier, some claim, comes more in the aftertaste of a bite than in a bite itself.

Yogurt with Eggplant (Baigan ka raita) Review

2007-07-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

4 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 212

An easy to make dish of mashed eggplant in yogurt. I like the refreshing coolness of the combination of the yogurt, scallions, and mint. It's better chilled, which implies that one needs to let the mashed eggplant cool for a long time, enough so that after mixing with the eggplant, the result is still cool.

I tried eating it with pita chips, but felt the flavor of the chips I had overwhelmed the dish. It's much better eating it with a fork or spoon.

Frozen Spinach With Potatoes (Saag aloo) Review

2007-05-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

4 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 157

A respectable, mild dish in which mushy spinach surrounds potatoes. Although I was disappointed when I realized it's not the type of saag one gets in Indian restaurants, when I judge it on its own merits, I'm fairly happy. It looks as an authentic dish should, dotted with black mustard seeds. Some bites are pretty flavorful -- maybe those are ones with more garlic, mustard seeds, and the stuff from the bottom of the pan.

Some notes on the ingredients:

I used a yellow onion, as the recipe didn't specify what type.
I used Yukon gold potatoes, as the recipe didn't specify what type.
I skipped the asafetida, as I didn't have any on hand.

Some notes on cooking:

I used three tablespoons of oil, not five as suggested by the recipe. I partially made this decision because I used a non-stick skillet.
I didn't bother chopping the spinach coarsely -- it didn't seem necessary.
I forgot to press the water out of the spinach, but I did leave the leaves in the colander for a while.
Perhaps as a result of the previous oversight, I found the spinach gave off enough water during cooking so that I didn't need to add any.

This dish doesn't need rice.

close-up

Chicken with Tomatoes and Garam Masala (Timatar murghi) Review

2007-05-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

4 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 99

A pretty good, quite mild chicken dish. The sauce was fairly liquidy, despite simmering uncovered for twenty minutes at the last stage in the recipe, instead of the suggested five. However, I didn't mind the thinness of the sauce.

Preparing the recipe is quite straightforward, though chopping two onions, six tomatoes, six cloves of garlic, and a cube of ginger takes quite a while. It's great to have people help.

Some notes on the ingredients:

I used 2.5 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken, including 1.7 pounds of breast fillet and 0.8 pounds of thighs. The recipe actually called for three pounds of skinless chicken parts; it wasn't clear whether these should be boneless or not. I figured 2.5 pounds was close enough that it wouldn't matter much either way.
I accidentally used chili powder instead of cayenne powder. Oops! The recipe called for one eighth to one half of a teaspoon of this spice; I used one-quarter of a teaspoon. These facts may have to do with the mildness I mentioned earlier.
I used a packaged garam masala mix, not Jaffrey's recipe.

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Small Yellow Split Peas (Chana dal) Review

2007-05-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

4 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 167

I like it. This is a pretty strong statement, as I usually don't like dals. It's certainly better than the average dal I've had at a restaurant. And it's really easy to cook -- although it takes a while, it requires practically no attention.

The dal ends up quite soft and with a strong and pleasant ghee flavor. It still had texture: i.e., it isn't uniform mush.

Some notes on the ingredients:

I used chana dal. (The recipe allows yellow splits peas as an alternative.) Apparently they are different:
This bean looks just like yellow split peas, but is quite different because it doesn't readily boil down to mush. It's more closely related to garbanzo beans, or chickpeas. The differences are that chana dal is younger, smaller, split, sweeter, and has a much lower glycemic index.
--http://www.mendosa.com/chanadal.html
That web page also contains some interesting stories about how some stores mislead customers and how other stores valiantly attempt to prevent confusion.
I used a packaged garam masala mix, not Jaffrey's recipe.
I used bottled ghee.

Regarding cooking, during the initial boiling phase, I removed scum as directed by the recipe -- perhaps a bit more than half a cup in total. Also, I had no problem with the dal sticking to the pot as the recipe warned may be an issue.

Another picture of the dal.
This one better represents its color but is slightly out of focus.

Chicken in a Fried Onion Sauce (Murghi rasedar) Review

2007-04-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

3.5 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 93

A decent recipe. The initial version was surprisingly mild given that four onions went into the preparation. Three stars. The third round of leftovers (and beyond), after the recipe sat for several days, was better, with stronger and more interesting flavors. That'd be four stars.

The main aspect preventing the dish from getting a better rating is the chicken. It was fairly tasteless; no flavor penetrated it.

Although the taste of the sauce wasn't initially assertive, the smell was. The puree smelled strongly of onions and ginger and, to some extent, garlic. The fried onions smelled potently of, well, onions. My apartment smelled of fried onions for several days after cooking. These facts make it even more surprising that the sauce, until it sat for a time, wasn't that strong. (Maybe most of the flavors went into the air?)

Incidentally, the dish felt like it ought to have rice. It actually requires little because the sauce is relatively mild and only slightly more than is required to cover the chicken. Thus, although it requires little rice, it should have some.

Some notes on the ingredients:

I used 2.1 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets. The recipe called for 2.5 pounds of skinless chicken parts; it's not clear if the recipe wanted bones or not. I figured 2.1 pounds was close enough that it wouldn't matter much either way.
As the recipe didn't specify which type, I chose to use red onions.
I forgot the cilantro/parsley garnish.

Some notes on the preparation are below. One common theme is cooking takes longer than one might expect.

Peeling tomatoes is easy using the technique described on p. 30: drop tomatoes in boiling water for 15 seconds, rinse with cold water until cool, and peel by hand.
Frying onions takes a while.
When adding the paste, it didn't splatter or sizzle as the recipe suggested it would. Maybe I should've fried the paste at a higher heat? I fried it at medium, as the recipe directed.
The paste was supposed to brown within four minutes. I waited close to ten without any significant color change, then continued on with the recipe.
By accident, I simmered the mixture uncovered.
The last simmering stage said to simmer "for 7-8 minutes or until the sauce reduces and thickens." I was hungry so after eight minutes, although the sauce was thin, I ate. I simmered more later and the sauce properly reduced.

frying pureed onions

finished dish, in pan

Carrot and Onion Salad (Gajar aur pyaz ka salad) Review

2007-04-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

2 stars (on a 5 star scale)
p. 217

Disappointing. The onion overpowers the rest of the flavors. It's so strong the salad is hard to eat. Maybe I shouldn't have used a red onion. (The recipe didn't specify. I used a red onion simply because most Indian recipes use red onions. This cookbook, sadly, never mentions anywhere what type of onions to use.) Or maybe I should've used four carrots, not three. The recipe calls for three carrots, "about half a pound," and I guess I chose smaller carrots because it turns out I should've used four to get half a pound. On the other hand, in an attempt to make the salad more palatable, I tried removing the onions; the result was simply not interesting. Adding the onions gradually back makes the salad remain not interesting until a particular point at which it switched instantly to having too much onion pungency. There was no middle ground.

Incidentally, match-sticking carrots is a pain.

Random remark: What the heck does "bring to a boil again. Boil rapidly for 2 seconds only" mean?! It's impossible to be so accurate with two seconds whereas defining boiling is much less precise.