It is becoming increasingly difficult to think of something to cook for dinner everyday. As I am trying to cut down on meat consumption (my goal is to alternate-2 days of veggie, one day of meat) it is even harder to come up with vegetarian dishes/meals. Of course, there are plenty of dishes out of there, but very few I can actually cook with limited culinary skills, especially after my few 'fails' for the past couple I am treading the water carefully. 

Over the weekend as I was deciding what to make, I Googled "veggie dishes" and came across suggestions to make patties. I did not have all the ingredients to "follow" a specific recipe, therefore I made own version of veggie patties. 

These were simple and easy to make, there was no fuss involved. These veggie patties would make great appetizers (smaller portion) or afternoon snacks. 

Ingredients: (makes 12 patties)

15 oz of Garbanzo beans
4.5 cups of mixed veggies
3 eggs
breadcrumbs
1 tsp ginger & garlic paste
1 1/3 garam masala tbsp
1/3 cup cilantro
1/2 tsp black pepper 
Salt
Oil Olive

Method

First, boil veggies (add the garbanzo beans when the water starts boiling). After straining, move the veggie in a large bowl and roughly mash. Add the ingredients:1 lightly beaten egg, 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs, ginger garlic, garam masala, cilantro, and salt. Mix well and let it sit for few minutes.

Form the mixture into patties.  Whisk 2 eggs in a bowl, and in a separate plate pour a layer of breadcrumbs. Dip the patties in eggs, covering both sides, and then coat both sides with breadcrumbs, and fry until golden brown.

Veggie

9:30:00 PM

Over the last couple of weeks I have made several items. However, it turns out that I have a heavy hand when it comes to spices, especially salt. Couple days ago I made minced beef curry, and it was so so salty that even when I made second batch without a pinch of salt it still would not offset the salt when combined. It is safe to say it was not a pleasant dinner.

I need to learn balance between the spices and rice/curry. I think at this stage I need to follow recipes to the tee, and hopefully in the near future I will be able to deviate, and tweak the recipe here and there. Fingers-crossed.

Fail(s)

9:56:00 PM

After spices, ginger-garlic paste is the second most used ingredient in Indian cooking. The paste is a staple in almost all of the Indian household refrigerator. It is super easy to make and the batch can last up to 5 months in the refrigerator. 

Ingredients:

Ginger 1 cup
Garlic  2 cups

Method:

Peel the ginger, and garlic. Coarsely chop ginger into pieces approximately the size of garlic.  

Blend the ginger and garlic together in a food processor. That's it, no need to add water it will blend on its own into a smooth paste.

Transfer the paste in a glass jar with lid and store it in the refrigerator. When handling the paste always use clean, dry spoon. 

*Depending on the amount of paste you want to make just remember the ratio is 1:2 ginger to garlic.


*you can add salt to the paste when blending, but just remember to reduce the amount of salt when cooking.

Basics

12:55:00 PM

One of my main aversions for cooking was the time it takes to cook a meal. Growing up it seemed my mom spent her whole day in the kitchen. She was always dashing in and out of the kitchen, and I remember thinking how laborious it must be and I decided this is something I want to avoid, I had better things to with my time. But it turns out she likes to cook in stages. First she will make rice, then couple of hours later she would make the curry, and then maybe take another break, and finally go back in to make something else.

To get into the momentum for my first dish, I wanted to cook something simple, fuss free, and quick. A week earlier I had checked out from my local library Hari Nayak's My Indian Kitchen, and as I was browsing through the book, I came across the recipe "Chicken curry in a hurry", a perfect title and my first dish!

I must say, for my first dish it turned out pretty well. It didn't require any "techniques", and it was was simple enough to make. 

I served the curry with rice but I think it would have been better served with naan (Indian flat bread).

Prep time: 10 minutes (if you know your way around the kitchen it will be considerably less)

Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

600g skinless chicken thighs (you can use chicken breasts as well)

1 large onion

1 green chili pepper (or to taste)

¼ tsp turmeric

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp garam masala

1 ½ tsp garlic-ginger paste (or use fresh ginger and garlic)
2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp salt (or to taste)

4 tbsp oil
(?) water

Chopped cilantro for garnish

Method:

Peel, then coarsely chop the onion and place it in a blender. Add green chili pepper, turmeric, cumin seeds, ginger-garlic paste, and process. Add a tiny bit of water to make into a smooth paste.

Heat the oil in a sauce pan over high heat. Add the chicken, and salt; stir frequently until the chicken is golden brown (approx 10 minutes). Remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside.

Now, over  low heat, add the spice paste to the pan used to cook the chicken. Cook it for about 2-3 minutes (until it becomes fragrant). Then add the chicken, tomato paste, and the garam masala. Gently stir for about another 4 minutes.

Add 1/2 a cup of water, increase the heat to medium, and cover the pan. Mr. Nayak's recipe says to simmer for about 15 minutes, but I had to let it simmer close to 30 minutes until my chicken was thoroughly cooked.

Garnish with cilantro.

chicken

9:27:00 PM

Before jumping in and starting to cook, I think it is important to learn the basics. One of the most important and often a mysterious aspect of Indian food is understanding the use of spices. Simply put spices, or masala (blend of spices), equals flavor, and fragrance. Almost all the dishes involve some combination of spices. For people like my mom, nanima (grandmother), and aunt it almost a second nature knowing which spices to use in combination or in a particular dish. But for right now I will stick to the basics. Below are some of the most common spices used in everyday Indian cooking, and are readily available in Indian grocery stores. 

1) Clove (lavang)
2) Cumin (jeera)
3) Turmeric (haldi)
4) Garam masala 
5) Fenugreek seeds (meethi)
6) Salt (namak)
7) Black pepper (mari)
8) Cinnamon stick (taaj)
9) Cardamom pods (ilachi)
10) Mustard Seeds (raai)

Basics

10:18:00 PM