Dinner Tonight: Cauliflower-Potato Curry (Aloo Gobhi)
I've been taking baby steps into Indian cooking, focusing especially on the all-vegetarian meals. Even though I'm a happy meat-eater, these dishes really do something for me. They don't taste like they're missing anything. Basically I'm at the point where I need a good beginners' guide to Indian cooking. I realize the subject is perhaps a little too vast. But I'm approaching the jumping-off point.
I'm past the bulk curry powder and am getting into toasting spices and combing them myself. Mahanandi is a good place to start. The site doesn't try to dumb down the process, and while recipes there might look like they have a lot of ingredients, most of them are familiar vegetables and spices I also have on hand. In adapting this cauliflower recipe, I had to cut a few things out, but it certainly didn't taste like anything was missing. This simple recipe was so delicately spiced and delicious I've been thinking of it ever since I made it.
About the author: Nick Kindelsperger is a freelance writer in Chicago. He is the co-founder of The Paupered Chef and spends most of his time playing with the new cooking gadgets he got from his wedding.
Cauliflower-Potato Curry (Aloo Gobhi)
- serves 3 to 4 -
Ingredients
For the masala:
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of cloves
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
handful of cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
For the aloo gobhi:
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cauliflower, stems removed and florets separated
1 potato, peeled and chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 onion, thinly sliced
6 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 handfuls frozen peas
Procedure
1. Add the masala ingredients to a blender. Pour in half a cup of water. Puree the ingredients until smooth.
2. Pour 1 tablespoon of the canola oil into a skillet over medium heat. Add the mustard seeds, cumin, and garlic. Cook for about 1 minutes, or until very fragrant. Then add the onion and cook until very soft and golden, about 8 minutes. Turn the heat to medium-high and add the tomatoes. Cover the skillet and cook for 10 minutes, or until the tomatoes are soft. Then add the potatoes and carrots and cook for 10 minutes, or until the potato is soft.
3. Pour in the masala mixture, 1/2 cup of water, and the cauliflower. Stir to combine, reduce the heat to medium low, and cover. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Then dump in the peas and cilantro, let cook for a minute more, and then serve.
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11 Comments:
Nick, that first paragraph could have been written by me. I have Julie Sanhi's Classic Indian cooking and that new 660 curries book, which are useful in their own way, but I still feel a little lost. Anyone have suggestions?
TruckBoatTruck at 6:41PM on 03/25/09
My introduction to Indian cooking was intoxicating: weeknight, starving after work, ran into grocery store without my list. Brain dead from hunger, I wandered with no clue what to get (was trying to resist the dreaded impulse purchases...sauteed oreos, anyone?). The store had a small cookbook section which I raided for ideas. Picked up "World of the East Vegetarian Cooking" (was not vegetarian at the time), by Madhur Jaffrey, and was tantalized by the first few recipes. Scooped up cauliflower, green beans, a couple spices, and ate the entire "serves 6" cauliflower with cashew sauce by myself. Really wonderful book, great glossary/explanation section in back. This was years ago, my copy is taped & heavily spattered, I have internalized many of her methods, but still enjoy reading around in it.
erialc at 8:45PM on 03/25/09
@TruckBoatTruck, here's a link to a post that I blogged about awhile back for palak channa (spinach with chickpeas). Once you are able to get the masala part of this (everything red up until you add the spinach) down, you'll be able to replicate it for a lot of different Punjabi dishes - such as mattar paneer (peas and cheese), aloo mattar (potato and peas) and rajma (red kidney beans).
@Nick, you aloo gobi looks great. And I LOVE Mahanandi's blog.
nithya at hungrydesi at 9:35PM on 03/25/09
@TruckBoatTruck, Julie Sahni is a great place to start. If you find her Classic Indian Cooking daunting get yourself a copy of her Indian Regional Classics. It's a pared down version of her seminal work(very pared down)but the recipes are tasty and easy to prepare. Get behind a few of those recipes and then, as you feeling more confident, go back to Classic indian Cooking. Also check out the web site cuisinecuisine (www.cuisinecuisine.com). All Indian all the time with some very good recipes and lots of lore.
ohmygod at 9:45PM on 03/25/09
Try Nita Mehta's Indian Cooking. Its a basic starter and has all simple but tasty dishes - what Indians eat on a daily basis at home.
Vicky at 12:26AM on 03/26/09
ohh this sounds really really good and wholesome, nice job
amandad at 7:16AM on 03/26/09
Mahanandi is a brilliant site and an incredible resource. Thanks for reminding me about it.
intheyearofthepig at 9:28AM on 03/26/09
I agree with you - Mahanadi is a brilliant and beautiful site. I like Madhur Jaffrey's books and also have the 660 curries too. I just started a new cooking school in Chelsea called Indian Culinary Center. It is an excellent way to learn Indian cooking, which can be a tad intimidating with all those spices. Check out http://www.indianculinarycenter.com
hameshahungry at 1:47PM on 03/26/09
Indian food can be time-consuming, but I recently began doing the following which has saved me loads of time, allowing me to prepare an Indian dish for a weeknight meal very quickly. I buy garlic in bulk, peel it, food processor it, flash freeze it and store it in a zip lock bag in the freezer. I do the same thing for ginger. Then, to make most Indian dishes, I just have to chop and brown onions and I can just break off a small piece of frozen ginger and frozen garlic. My mother freezes already browned onions as well, which would save even more time.
sperrone at 3:08PM on 03/26/09
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I figure if I just make enough different recipes, I'll find myself not needing them anymore. Which is definitely my goal here. Curry tonight it is.
TruckBoatTruck at 4:11PM on 03/27/09
fantastic! raced to the kitchen, found most ingredients on hand, no tomatoes or cilantro, this time, substitued prepared sweet curry, garam marsala and muchi curry for time available...added a tablespoon of butter with the canola, as little as possible.. Yummy dish...
serve with basmati rice with golden raisins and toasted almond.
marigold at 8:52AM on 06/04/09