Indian cooking essentials
I will update this list from time to time !!
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NAME INDIAN NAME DESCRIPTION
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Asafoetida
Hing
Dried gum resin from the root of various Iranian and East Indian plants. Has a strong fetid odor – definitely an acquired taste. May be obtained.
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Besan
Besan
Flour of dried chick peas.
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Cardamom
Elaichi
Dried fruit of a plant. Mostly the seeds are used. Seeds of 4 pods measure approximately 1/4 t.
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Coriander
dhania
Aromatic herb of the parsley family. Sold as cilantro or chinese parsley. Also sold as seed or dry powder.
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Cumin
Jeera
Very aromatic and reminiscent. Sold whole or ground.
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Dals
Dal
Hindi name for all members of the legume or pulse family. Commonly used are: Arhar, Channa, Masur, Mung, Labia (black-eyed peas), Rajma (red kidney beans).
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Fennel Seed
Sauf
Has an agreeable odor and licorice flavor. Available whole or ground.
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Fenugreek
Methi
Has a pleasant bitter flavor and sweetish odor.
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Garam Masala
Garam Masala
A mixture of spices; details come later.
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Chat Masala
Chat Masala
A variation of Garam masala. Available in Indian stores.
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Ghee
Ghee
Fat for frying. Pure ghee is clarified butter.
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Mustard oil
Larson
Pungent oil made from black mustard seeds.
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Mint
Pudina
Aromatic herb. Fresh and dried leaves are used in the preparation of chutneys. Dried leaves are much less fragrant than the fresh ones.
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Pomegranate
Anar dana
A flavoring agent. Has some scent.
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Saffron
Kesar
Made of stigmas of a flower grown in Kashmir and Spain. It is aromatic and yields a yellow color.
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Turmeric
Haldi
An aromatic powdered root. Used as a flavoring, and for flavoring curries.
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Kankrol – Jignesh Bhai and New Jersey
From past few days Futchu was craving to have “Kankrol” alias “Kantola”. Both my Mom and her’s have been cooking the same thing and when she heard that over phone, her craving increased manifold.
Now you must be thinking what’s the big deal? well let me remind you that though in Virginia we have a wide variety of product of Indian origin available, yet some of them are yet to come. To name a few – Kankrol or Kantola, Patol or Parwal, Proper Mango, paka Kanthal etc.
Jignesh and Sheetal are our close friends living in Maryland with their two beautiful children Anoushka and Raahil. Jignesh works from New Jersey and visits home every thursday. New Jersey being a place full of Indians and Pakistanis carry all sorts of products that’s not available elsewhere in the country. So, I approached Jignesh Bhai and luckily he understood what exactly we wanted 
Also he was very willing to help us out. A big Thanks to him.
The Kankrol (small, not like the ones we see in Guwahati) arrived and we relished it for several days to come. Here are a few pics for you to enjoy.
Kankrol
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Kankrol from NJ
Tomato turned red now !!
These are cherry Tomatoes, red and small in size. This is the first one that turned red !! Enjoy ~
Red Cherry Tomato
Tomatoes and Chilli in our Balcony this summer
Filed under: Creative, Food and Drinks, Private, Thoughts
After the strawberries, it’s time for the Tomato plants to bear fruit and so are the Chillies. Here are a few pictures Enjoy ~
Green Chilli
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More Tomatoes
Micks Pancake House – Virginia beach
Filed under: Creative, Design and CSS, Food and Drinks, PhotoBlog, Places, Thoughts
I love Virginia beach. I have probably been there for 5 times and I cannot get enough of it. The small beach town, with the mighty Atlantic ocean as a backdrop is just awesome !
And I love VA beach more because of Mick’s Pancake house The first time Futchu and me camped in the beach was with Greg, Tom and Simon. For breakfast we went to this place and it was love at first sight. Great food all freshly cooked and very very homely. Couple of years later Futchu and me camped here again and we ventured out to find Mick’s pancake house again. Futchu in her usual confident tone told me to drive down the bay loop and VOILA there was the small shack.
Here are a few pictures from our earlier collection. Dont miss the genuine I-am-very-happy-to-be-here smile on our faces.
Cheers !!
Bis.
so that you dont miss it
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I am happy too
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Indian Version Of Chilli Chicken
Hmmm - Mouth watering and Hot !!
Indian Version Of Chilli Chicken
tag to this name? Well it is much Indianized recipe. I will tell you some thing! When ever I try to cook some thing away from Indian kitchen, finally I end up making it Indianized. I think my hands are more friendly to the spices:-) which are used a lot in Indian Kitchen! Is the same with any of you too? If answer is “Yes” then Iam not surprised. Since, I understand the love and effection we all have towards our basic habits, unknowingly hidden some where in our minds, with which we have grown up, though we some times try to deviate ourselfs to new things which we want to adopt. And its is very very hard to leave them behind. Now! you all know “Basic Habits” here I mean reffering to the food! ofcourse!! After all we are all foodie’s:-) What ever we talk, what ever the story we share, what ever …ever….ever…….what ever!! we end up with our food post. With such an intention, Iam proceeding towards my todays post. So here I go..
Ingredients:
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3lb chicken (cut into small pieces)
2 big onions (cut into very thin layers)
2 medium tomatoes (cut into long and thin pieces)
3 tbsp yogurt(curd/perugu)
2 tsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp corn flour (mix in some water to form paste with out any lumps)
1 stem curry leaves
6 green chillies (chopped into small pieces)
3 tsp red chilli powder (adjust to your spice if needed)
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp ajwain
1 tsp cumin seeds
3 garlic cloves (cut into very small pieces)
2″ ginger (cut into very small pieces)
2 tsp coriander powder
1 flat tsp garam masala powder(optional)
Lemon juice extracted from 1 lime
2 tbsp finnely chopped cilantro
salt as required
Oil for cooking (prefferably 2 tbsp)
Method:
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Meanwhile, chicken gets marinated, make other ingredients ready as mentioned in the ingredients section.
After 45 to 60 minutes, take a wide and little depth pan. Heat oil. Add ajwain and green chillies. Fry for few seconds. Add curry leaves and fry till they turn crispy. Now add onions and fry till they turn to light brown on thw whole, in color.
Now add ginger and garlic pieces and fry for few seconds. Add the marinated chicken into this and mix well. Fry the chicken for 3 to 5 minutes on high with out closing the lid. See that bottom is not burned.
Now close the lid and reduce the heat to medium and allow the chicken to cook for 10 more minutes. Here if needed add very little water, as chicken will release some water on its own. Just see the bottom of the content is not burned.
Open the lid , add tomatoes and mix well. Close the lid again and allow the tomatoes to be cooked and the its juice gets into the rest of the contents. Cook approximently for another 5 minutes.
Add coriander powder and garam masala powder here if u need and mix well with rest of them. Allow it to cook for another 3 to 5 minutes. Finally, mix the lemon juice and cilantro.