Entice With Spice. Shubhra Ramineni
the blanched almonds, carefully use a paring knife and thinly slice the almonds lengthwise. The almonds will split apart as you sliver them. My mother tells me eating almonds improves your memory and that it is good to eat a few daily.
Freezing, Refrigerating and Reheating Methods
Once you get the hang of cooking Indian food, you can quickly prepare many of the appetizers, main dishes and desserts days, or even a month, in advance! Yes, a month! The trick is either freezing or refrigerating the food and then reheating it so it will taste just like it was freshly made. Some foods, like rice, reheat great in the microwave without altering taste or texture. Reheating food is a great way to save time and reduce stress on a hectic day or simply during the busy work week. My mom usually does most of the week’s cooking on Sunday and refrigerates the food so dinner simply needs to be heated up after she comes home from work. It also works great when you are having a party or a get-together. On the day your guests arrive, all you have to do is reheat the food you already cooked days in advance and you can spend more time getting yourself ready for the party! For each recipe, I have indicated whether it can be made in advance, refrigerated or frozen along with tips on how to reheat the food. I have also indicated when prep work such as boiling a potato or making dough for breads can be done in advance, which leaves you more time to get straight to the cooking and eating part when ready.
REFRIGERATING AND REHEATING
Most of the dishes in this book will stay fresh in the refrigerator for at least up to three days. However, there are some dishes that taste best when cooked and served immediately and are not recommended for reheating. When you’re ready to refrigerate a dish, allow the freshly cooked food to cool to room temperature and then place in a covered container in the refrigerator. When you are ready to eat the refrigerated food, you can heat up the food in a saucepan or skillet on the stovetop over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally until the food is warmed up. You can also use a microwave to reheat food but I find it alters the taste and texture for certain foods such as meat, fish, seafood and egg dishes so I prefer the stovetop for these. For recipes that suggest reheating in an oven, you can use a toaster oven to reheat small quantities of food to save energy. However for some rice and vegetable dishes, the microwave is actually the best and easiest way to reheat the food without altering the taste and I will specify that in those recipes. You may notice that some of the curried dishes once refrigerated become thicker than when they were first cooked and still hot. Usually curried food will thicken when chilled but when reheated, it will return to its original consistency. If the food is still thicker after being reheated, simply add some water to thin it out. When reheating the drier sautéed (versus curry style) dishes or rice, it’s best to sprinkle a few drops of water on the food before reheating it so it does not dry out.
FREEZING AND REHEATING
With the exception of fish and seafood, freezing works great for most dishes. For each recipe, I will specify whether it is okay to freeze it. When you’re ready to freeze a dish, make sure the hot food has cooled down to room temperature, especially before putting them in plastic containers or in freezer-safe plastic bags, and then place in the freezer for up to a month. Make sure the container is well covered or airtight so that ice crystals won’t form on the food. The easiest way to reheat frozen food is to first thaw it by placing it in the refrigerator. For example, if it is Monday morning and you know after a long day at work you will want to enjoy the Chicken Tikka Masala (page 95) and Creamed Spinach with Paneer Cheese (page 124) that are in your freezer, place the frozen dishes in your refrigerator before heading off to work to thaw. Then, when you come home, you can quickly warm up the thawed food and some rice or Mexican wheat tortillas (the latter is a great substitute for chapati, the daily homemade bread eaten in Indian homes). If you have some plain yogurt to enjoy along with the meal—you are all set! Some rice dishes freeze well so you can freeze them into individual or family size containers or plastic bags and let them thaw in the refrigerator while you are away. If you forget to thaw the food during the day, you can use a microwave to defrost it and then finish reheating it on the stovetop, in the microwave, or in the oven depending on how the dish reheats best without altering its taste and texture. I specify in each recipe the ideal way to reheat food. You may also reheat the frozen food directly without thawing by heating it in a saucepan or skillet on the stovetop over medium–low heat. Stir occasionally until the food is thawed and warmed up. Normally food will thicken when chilled but when reheated, it will return to its original consistency. If the food is still thicker after being reheated, simply add some water to thin it out.
Indian Ingredients Explained
In this section, I explain the basics of the frequently used ingredients in this book—how and where to buy items, how to store them and more. I have made every effort to use easy-to-find spices and ingredients so that you do not have to make special trips to ethnic markets. However, there are a few ingredients such as fresh curry leaves and the different varieties of Indian lentils that might be hard to find at your local grocery store. Start by checking the international section in your grocery store for a greater selection and better prices. Natural food stores and gourmet grocery stores can also be good places to look for Indian ingredients. You can even purchase items online or from Indian stores that will ship to your door. (See Resource Guide, page 142, for a listing of such stores.) If you’re lucky enough to have an Indian market nearby, shop there for one-stop economical shopping.
Basmati rice (Basmati chawal) Basmati rice is long grained, fragrant rice used in Indian cooking. It is now commonly available in most grocery stores in small packages or you can buy big burlap sacks of Basmati rice at ethnic stores, which is more economical if you cook rice often. Rice can be stored in a jar, plastic bag or in the burlap bag it came in for at least six months in your pantry. It is a good idea to thoroughly wash the rice before cooking it to clean it and remove any starchy residue so that the final result is less sticky. In general, the rule of thumb to cook Basmati rice is to use twice the amount of water to rice. One cup of uncooked rice yields about three cups of cooked rice.
Bay leaf (tej patta) Bay leaves come fresh or dried but it is common to use dried bay leaves in Indian cooking especially if one does not cook with them too often. I use the dried leaf to add a sweet and woody scent to rice dishes such as Vegetable Rice Pilaf (page 75) and Chicken Biryani Rice (page 72). When cooking, the leaf is added to heated oil or butter to release its aromas. You may leave the bay leaf in your dish for presentation purposes, but with its sharp dried edges, it is best to avoid eating it.
Black pepper (ground and whole peppercorns) (kali mirch) Pepper is a berry that grows in grape-like clusters on the pepper plant. The berries can become green, black or white peppercorns, depending on how ripe the berry is when it is plucked and how it is processed. Black peppercorns arise when the almost ripe berry is picked and then dried until it shrivels and turns black. White peppercorns arise when the fully ripe berry is picked, its skin removed, and then dried. Black peppercorns have the strongest flavor whereas the white ones are milder and are used when you do not want the black pepper to show in food, such as white sauces. The green berries are unripe when plucked and are commonly preserved in brine or pickled for a fresh taste. It is common in India to buy whole black peppercorns and then to crush them using a mortar and pestle. For everyday cooking, I use the finely ground black pepper that comes in a tin but for some dishes like Vegetable Rice Pilaf (page 75), I prefer to use whole black peppercorns for stronger flavor. If you prefer to use freshly ground whole peppercorns rather than the pre-ground pepper, you can do this throughout the book whenever ground black pepper is called for.
Cardamoms (elaichi) Cardamom pods are the aromatic fruit of the cardamom plant and they are plucked when they are still unripe and then dried. Cardamom are available in small green pods with intensely flavored small back seeds inside, which is what I use. There