[rohanjf]

I tried the Goan style dal for my wife yesterday, and it was a hit.

Ingredients: Tur dal, tamarind pulp (since it is from my grandma's backyard, I soaked it for half an hour), grated coconut, cumin, fenugreek seeds, spinach, green chillis and chopped onions.

Cook dal in pressure cooker with little salt. Keep aside.
Blanch the spinach and keep aside.
Dry roast cumin and fenugreek seeds, then blend them with tamarind and coconut. Optionally, you may also add dry-roasted dried chillis in blender (we do not like chillis, so I skipped this).

Fry onion and green chillis in oil (preferably, coconut oil). Add the blended masala. Add cooked dal. Finally add blanched spinach and if required, salt. Cook for a few minutes.

[rohanjf]

I completely forgot one of the most important ingredients of Goan Konkani cuisine: Tirphal. I added a few Tirphal seeds when I cooked dal in pressure cooker. My MIL had sent them from Goa just last week.

I have not seen Tirphal anywhere else. Is it available anywhere in Bangalore?

[DerAlte]

Raw (green) jackfruit curry: This is one of those heirloom dishes one would never find in restaurants. Preparation is a bit messy - old timers who have made it would know the hassle of oiling hands and knife to get the usable part out of the green fruit replete with fluid white resin.

1. Make a paste of ginger, cumin seeds and green chillies

2. Dice potatoes and fry them till golden

3. Sputter a few crushed green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, cumin seeds and a bay leaf in oil

4. Put in the chopped jackfruit and fry till the aroma comes out. Add the potatoes

5. Put in the ginger-cumin paste and a pinch of asafoetida, turmeric, salt and a teaspoon of sugar and fry a bit. Pour water enough to cover

6. Though slow simmer works best, one can cook in a pressure cooker (4-5 whistles) to save time

Best eaten with rice.

My mother said Kashmiris make the same, but with a slight difference: instead of ginger-cumin paste at the time of frying, they add beaten curds and powdered saunf (fennel seeds) and sonth (dry ginger) just before taking the pot off the fire.

[traveloholic]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

This is one of those heirloom dishes one would never find in restaurants.

+10000000 on that. These dishes aren't or would never be found on any of the menu's in the restaurants. My Mom makes Kathal Biryani (Raw Jackfruit Biryani) and many more curries using Jackfruit. Very few people use Kathal to make some curries or biryani. A4Anurag is going to handover 2 Raw Jackfruits to me soon, so it would be a fiesta at home soon.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by traveloholic

... My Mom makes Kathal Biryani (Raw Jackfruit Biryani) and many more curries using Jackfruit. ...

Recipes please!!!

Normally regional cuisine is differentiated by simple characteristics (and I am talking of macro region, = state; e.g. hot or mild, lot of oil / minimal oil, etc.). At the micro-regional (district) level, the differences usually turn up in -
* Use of specific ingredients, like Kathal, Sooran, Banana flowers, Banana plant stem etc.. Other districts may not touch it either because of non-availability, or some mythical story saying why you shouldn't eat it!!!
* Use of souring agent (what, how much, if at all)
* How often are those dishes made - festival or Sundays or any day

[DerAlte]

This was an extremely simple, yet delicious dish. This was a recipe I had seen ages back in a TV program, and was waiting for the serendipity of an orange AND fish in the house.



1. I used Basa - but one can use any fish with white flesh but no strong odor of it's own

2. Take out the zest of 1 orange, before taking out the juice

3. Chop a green chilly, 1" piece of fresh ginger and the orange zest finely

3. Mix the orange juice with 3 tsp. of light soya sauce (only 1 tsp. if you are using dark or the normal Indian soya sauce), the chopped spices and 1 star anise

4. Marinate the fish pieces in this marinade for 30 mins.

5. Drain the marinade, and sieve the spices out. Heat a non-stick pan, put in the marinade and bring it to a boil. Put in the fish pieces

6. Bring the heat down and simmer the fish till almost done (8-10 minutes), and then add the sieved-out spices back to the liquid, simmer for a minute more

7. If you want the sauce to be thick, add a tsp of cornflower mixed in a little water. Finish with half a tsp of gingelly (til) oil

Simple yet melt-in-the-mouth delicate and aromatic fish. The orange aroma really makes one feel fresh.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by alpha1

So is it that the meat can be "cooked" for long time at temperature below the boiling point, but if you raise the temp to boiling point (100 for normal cooking and about 120 for pressure cooking) it loses water and becomes chewy?
Perhaps.

I will try doing this

As is my wont I tried doing this.


Took a fairly young lamb entire single leg piece (chopped). Pressure cooked for 1 HOUR!.
To be honest, it was pretty moist and delicate in spite of overcooking 2-3 times longer duration (usual lamb/mutton gets done in 15-30 minute under pressure).

The only issue which I faced is that meat became so tender that it fell apart while stirring, resulting in a mishmash.
However, as a side result: the bones and joints had released their flavors and had become delicately chew worthy!

Need to carry out this experiment once again to get concurrent results.



Also need to check with the low temperature cooking to compare the results!

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Raw (green) jackfruit curry: This is one of those heirloom dishes one would never find in restaurants.
1. Make a paste of ginger, cumin seeds and green chillies
2. Dice potatoes and fry them till golden
3. Sputter a few crushed green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, cumin seeds and a bay leaf in oil
4. Put in the chopped jackfruit and fry till the aroma comes out. Add the potatoes
5. Put in the ginger-cumin paste and a pinch of asafoetida, turmeric, salt and a teaspoon of sugar and fry a bit. Pour water enough to cover
6. Though slow simmer works best, one can cook in a pressure cooker (4-5 whistles) to save time

Best eaten with rice.

My mother said Kashmiris make the same, but with a slight difference: instead of ginger-cumin paste at the time of frying, they add beaten curds and powdered saunf (fennel seeds) and sonth (dry ginger) just before taking the pot off the fire.

Why don't we get jack fruit in restaurants?
x(

[carboy]

What kind of oils can be used for making achar/pickles. Can oils other seasame or mustard oil be used?

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by carboy

What kind of oils can be used for making achar/pickles. Can oils other seasame or mustard oil be used?

Never heard of any oils being used, other than raw or refined groundnut oil (where the recipe calls for it). Not heard of sesame oil being used either, because 'everyone' says it has / causes 'heat'!

Is that because the other oils get rancid very soon?

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by alpha1

... Also need to check with the low temperature cooking to compare the results! ...

Are you trying 'sous vide'?

Originally Posted by alpha1

... Why don't we get jack fruit in restaurants?

a. Cutting and chopping it is an extremely messy affair

b. It is not amenable for cooking with the usual masala varieties like other veggies, nor the fast cooking with high heat

One would expect such stuff like jackfruit, breadfruit etc. only in some food festivals or region-themed buffets. I have seen these served as a part of the elaborate south Indian wedding lunches served on banana leaf, usually cooked with mustard and coriander seed paste with tamarind, red chillies and grated coconut. Pity they serve only a teaspoon at a time, and my wife gives me a nasty stare if I wish for more!

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Are you trying 'sous vide'?

Not sous vide.
It will be a very crude method of not letting the temperature go to 100 deg C



As soon as the bubbles start, switch off the gas. As soon as visible vapors reduce, switch on the gas at the lowest flame.


Actually I had tried something low temperature a few weeks back. Chicken baked/roasted in a basic electric oven - temperature 120 deg C for 2-3 hours. (Which means the meat temperature must've been considerably lower).

The surface had just started to turn a bit tan. The meat was bursting with fat and moisture and "salty-ish" taste (perhaps this what is known as the umami (?!))

There was hardly any dripping in the tray below. The meat was firm but tender. Absolutely in contrast to the run of the mill "tandoori chicken with chat masala" which is stringy and dry and charred, and you can taste only the chat masala which lingers. Next time I will try with 100 deg C oven setting and longer duration.


*gah* too many experiments, too little time

[carboy]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Never heard of any oils being used, other than raw or refined groundnut oil (where the recipe calls for it).

Google for achar recipes. Almost everyone of them will use either mustard (if it's a North Indian recipe) or sesame oil (if it's a south Indian recipe).

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by carboy

... Almost everyone of them will use either ...

Oopsie, I didn't realize that I missed writing 'other' as in 'Never heard of any other oils being used'.

I have been making pickles using mustard oil for the last 30+ years now, the usual north Indian stuff. Got into it because of need - I prefer not to buy pickles from outside basically because I hate the excess salt they put in. My friend's mother had taught me making Andhra mango (with the thick blood-red masala) and tomato pickles, but she used groundnut oil instead of til / gingelly oil (for the reason I wrote earlier). Nowadays I skip the usual mango lemon ones (bored), preferring cauliflower, carrot, turnip, karonda, garlic, bitter gourd etc.

[fine69]

Now I know that a real foodie wouldn't like to substitute their high on fat mayo with anything else at all but if one was to make a low fat mayo equivalent, what would the recipe look like.

I've tried using eggs, salt, sugar, vinegar and olive oil in the past but the output was just about ok. Any pointer from the master cooks here to make it better?

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by fine69

I've tried using eggs, salt, sugar, vinegar and olive oil in the past but the output was just about ok. Any pointer from the master cooks here to make it better?

Till the time the master cooks answer this, I report that I tried using yoghurt and whipped it a bit with grated cucumber. It worked for me. It does need to perfectly done yoghurt, not too sour, not too sweet, not too runny
Also, it tastes best when fresh. I havent found a way to store it. Or perhaps a way to leave enough to be stored!