The Café Spice Cookbook: 84 Quick and Easy Indian Recipes for Everyday Meals (19 page)

Serves
4

Prep time:
15 minutes

Cook time:
30 minutes

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1¼ teaspoons cumin seeds

½ teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon peeled minced ginger

1 tablespoon peeled minced garlic

1 fresh green chili pepper, minced

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

½ lb (250 g) spinach leaves, washed and tough stalks stems and chopped

8 oz (250 g) red Swiss chard, washed and chopped, tough stalks removed

Salt, to taste

½ teaspoon sugar

½ cup (10 g) fresh coriander leaves (cilantro), including soft stems, chopped

¼ teaspoon Café Spice Garam Masala (page
22
)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add the cumin and fennel seeds; they should sizzle on contact with the hot oil. Quickly add the ginger, garlic, green chili peppers, and ground turmeric and cook, stirring, about 2 minutes.

Add the spinach and swiss chard leaves and salt, cover the pan, and cook, stirring as needed, over medium-high heat for 2–3 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the chard is tender, about 5 minutes.

Mix in the fresh coriander leaves. Transfer to a serving bowl, sprinkle the Garam Masala on top, and serve.

Paneer Cheese

Paneer
, which is also known as Indian cottage cheese, is made by curdling milk with something acid, lemon juice or vinegar, and then separating the curds from the whey. This soft, spongy cheese, with its sweet and milky aroma is preservative-free, has no artificial additives, and can be made with low-fat or whole milk. Paneer does not need to be used only in Indian dishes.
Note
: The paneer recipes in this chapter require twice the amount of paneer that this recipe makes. If you have a pot large enough to hold two gallons of milk, with sufficient headroom, I recommend that you make a double batch. Otherwise, simply make the recipe twice.

Prep time:
10 minutes

Cook time:
30 minutes

Makes
½ lb (250 g)

1 gallon (3.75 liters) low-fat or whole milk

1 cup (250 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice (4–6 lemons) or white vinegar

1 square piece of fine muslin, 3-foot (1-meter) or 4 layers of cheesecloth

VARIATION: FLAVORED PANEER CHEESE—

Paneer cheese can also be made with about 1 cup (200 g) chopped, fresh herbs like basil, tarragon, or mint. Or, you may add about 2 tablespoons of toasted cumin seeds or toasted fennel seeds to the above recipe to give it a different texture and flavor. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator 4–5 days or freeze up to 4 months.

Place the milk in a large, heavy saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, over medium-high heat. As soon as the milk comes to a boil, add the lemon juice and lower the heat to medium. Continue to stir until the milk curdles and separates into curds, which resemble cottage cheese, and whey, 1–2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Let it sit for 5 minutes.

Drape the muslin or cheesecloth over a large pan and pour the curdled milk over it. As you do this, the whey drains through the cloth into the pan, and curdled paneer cheese remains in the cloth. Tie the ends of the cloth together and hang over a sink to drain. Allow to drain 3–5 minutes.

Twist the cloth around the cheese, and then place the cheese between two plates. Place a large pan of water or a heavy saucepan on the top plate and let the cheese drain further, 10–20 minutes.

Remove the weight off the cheese (which, by now, should have compressed into a chunk), cut into desired shapes and sizes, and use as needed. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator 4–5 days or freeze up to 4 months.

Paneer with Creamed Spinach
Palak Paneer

Anyone who has been to an Indian restaurant has probably tasted
palak
or
saag paneer
. The two words describe a popular combination of spinach, cubed fresh cheese, and curry spices that is commonly eaten with flat bread or rice. With the addition of cream or milk to temper spicy seasonings,
saag paneer makes for a well-balanced contrast of textures and flavors that magically masks the individual spices contained in this curry. (You may not able to identify each flavor, but your taste buds will love how they combine.) Paneer is easily and affordably made at home in reasonable time (Paneer Cheese, page
76
). Started in the morning, your non-melting fresh cheese becomes a softer, blander counterpoint to the heat of the curry blend. For a homestyle effect, use the spinach chopped, instead of puréeing it. This recipe calls for puréed spinach to duplicate the presentation of your favorite restaurant-style saag paneer.

Serves
4

Prep time:
40 minutes

Cook time:
40 minutes

2½ lbs (1 kg) spinach, washed and tough stems removed

½ cup (50 g) dried fenugreek leaves, chopped (optional)

3½ tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

½ cup (125 ml) tomato purée

½ teaspoon Asian red chili powder or cayenne pepper

¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1 cup (250 ml) water

1 cup (250 ml) cream

½ teaspoon Café Spice Garam Masala (page
22
)

2 teaspoons dried fenugreek leaves (
kasoori methi
), crushed (optional)

1 lb (500 g) Paneer Cheese (page
76
) diced

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Place the spinach and fenugreek leaves in the boiling water and cook until just done, about 3 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water. Purée the spinach and fenugreek in a blender or a food processor until smooth, adding a little water if necessary. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds, until slightly brown. Add the spinach purée and cook, while stirring, for about 2 minutes. Add the tomato purée, Asian red chili powder or cayenne pepper, turmeric, coriander, salt, and water. Cook for about 5 minutes. Stir in the cream, Garam Masala, and dried fenugreek leaves. And the diced Paneer Cheese and let simmer for about 3–5 minutes, gently stirring from time to time. Remove from the heat. Serve hot.

Chapter 6
FISH AND SEAFOOD

Seafood is very popular in India and a staple of coastal India. It is often eaten by some communities in which people call themselves “vegetarian!” Like any other ingredient, fish is cooked in thousands of different ways.

In the north, it is dipped in batters and fried or cooked in a tandoor oven. In the south it is prepared with tamarind, curry leaves, and fenugreek. From the east there’s
doi maach
(Bengali Fish Curry, page
88
) or fish cooked with yogurt. From the west there are delicious coconut-based curries (Goan-Style Mackerel, page
89
). For a country with a vast coastline, fish and seafood are a rather natural choice for inhabitants along the coast. In fact, fishing is quite an important occupation among the rural settlers along Indian coastlines. India is also spotted with several fresh-water lakes, ponds, and rivers, which yield sweeter fish because of the naturally lower saline content in the water.

Fish is truly good for you; low in calories and high in protein. Easy to digest and naturally tender, fish cooks quickly no matter which method you use. The most common method of cooking and serving fish and seafood in Indian homes is as a curry—usually accompanied by rice. Other popular techniques are pan-frying and deep-frying. When fish or seafood is pan-fried, it is coated with spices (Pan-Fried Crispy Fish, page
90
). When deep-fried, it is coated with a batter or a crust. Baking and grilling is not done very often in homes in India. In restaurants, in addition to the traditional homestyle cooking methods, fish may be baked in a tandoor oven to create tandoori-style fish dishes, or grilled (Grilled Tandoori Fish, page
85
).

The majority of the seafood that is available in your local grocery will take well to Indian flavors. Most Indian recipes can be made with varieties of fish that are easy to find in the West, such as sea bass, halibut, salmon, snapper, halibut, haddock, cod, or even swordfish.

Bombay Green Fish
Parsi Machhi

This recipe is inspired by Latha’s cooking. From the first time that I shared this dish with the family, in the Malhotra residence, I have wanted to recreate it. This version is as close as I can get to the recipe. You can substitute cream of coconut or coconut milk for the grated coconut. A couple helpful tips: Grind the spices and cashew nuts together and add ¾ cup (185 ml) of coconut cream or milk with ¾ cup (185 ml) of water after adding the fresh cilantro leaf mixture. You can use this recipe to make a vegetarian version using 1 lb (500 g) diced mixed vegetables, in which case add 2 cups (500 ml) of water at the end and cook the vegetables until done.

Serves
4

Prep time:
15 minutes

Cook time:
15 minutes

Juice of 1 lime

¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

2 teaspoons salt

1½ lbs (750 g) fish fillets or steaks (pomfret, cod, kingfish, mackerel, or snapper)

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1 cup (100 g) shredded unsweetened coconut, fresh or frozen

5 fresh green chili peppers

1 onion (about 4 oz/125 g) chopped

3 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons chopped cashew nuts

1 green cardamom pod

¼ teaspoon ground mace

¼ teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1½ cups (60 g) packed fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves and stalks

½ cup (20 g) packed fresh mint leaves

⅓ cup (80 ml) oil