Butter Turkey

In my previous life, I lived in Chicago. I lived about 2 miles north of Devon Avenue. Now that may not mean anything to you. It didn't mean a whole lot to me except that I lived fairly close to some really delicious Indian food and I saw stunningly beautiful Saris and Salwar Chemises in the store fronts. Then one day I was talking to my beautiful sister in law (who happens to be of Asian Indian ethnicity) and her parents and they got very excited that I lived close to Devon Avenue. Apparently Devon Avenue is known throughout the Indian Community as a shopping mecca. 

My two Salwar Chemises- given to me by my sister in law's mother

I happen to love Indian food. A lot. Last year's New Year's Resolution (which carried into this year) was to cook 2 recipes from each cookbook that I own. This has been a really fun informative journey. So last year I cooked from books I had that I had never cooked from before. And I cooked from the time tested all purpose cookbooks.The cookbooks I have left fall into 4 separate categories: Cookbooks that held some appeal at one time and now I don't know what I wanted to cook out of them, cookbooks that I just didn't get to, but I'm sure I'll find something interesting in them (like the Cooking Light yearbooks), cookbooks that are just exotic enough so that I wonder when it would be appropriate to cook from (a whole cookbook on cheesecake? 3 separate fondue cookbooks?) and finally cookbooks that I have pretty much cooked the entire cookbook and now I have to find 2 more recipes from it. Betty Crocker's Indian Home Cooking by Raghavan Iyer falls into the last category. 

Seriously I love this cookbook. I can tell you my copy is well worn and has some nice splatters on it even though I try to keep my cookbooks un-splattered. The Egg Tomato Curry is an old standby for me. As is the Mutter Kheema. They are comfort food. I've also blogged the Sag Paneer. I've also really enjoyed about 10 other recipes in this book! Raghavan Iyer has also written the cookbook 660 Curries which is on my shelf and I have blogged about a recipe out of it here and here and here. I swear I'm not some crazy stalker of Mr Iyer. He just makes Indian food accessible and his recipes always turn out.

When I used to dine on Devon Avenue, the Butter Chicken was my favorite. In all it's heady deliciousness. It's a little spicy and it has a hard to describe flavor. It is the flavor of Methi leaves, or as they are also known Fenugreek leaves. I can not find Methi leaves here in rural northern Ohio. I did find them in NYC while visiting Super G. I'm sure that I could find them in any major metropolis that has an Indian grocery store. I know they exist on Devon Avenue! I can't describe the smell except to say that it's a sweet smell. A good sweet smell, not a sickly sweet smell. I can also tell you that when I opened the package I thought to myself that I should have made this a long long long time ago (like when I first visited Super G and picked them up!) On the internet I read that they have a maple syrup aroma and flavor. I think that's hooey. But I don't think I could describe it any better.

Cold outside? Second coming of the Polar Vortex? This curry will warm you up!

Our little family doesn't eat a whole lot of chicken. We buy turkeys at the fair. So we have turkeys in the freezer. It seems pointless to buy chicken when we have turkeys. So I made Butter Turkey. I cut down on the cayenne a little and I used olive oil instead of ghee. The picture looks a little dry because I had an overtired toddler hanging on my leg while I was making it. And then said toddler had to go down for nappy before I could take the picture (and eat it). This is the second time I've made it and the Brain also seems to be a pretty big fan. I served it with Yogurt with Fresh Mint (Pudhina Raita). I didn't alter that at all, so you'll have to buy the book for that super delicious condiment! Seriously, you should go buy the book for all the other recipes in there. Every single one that I've made is absolutely delicious.

Butter Turkey
adapted a little from Betty Crocker's Indian Home Cooking

1 pound turkey breast pieces cut into 1/2 inch strips
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp finely chopped ginger (I used the convenient squeeze tube that you can get at the grocery)
5 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
heaping 1/8 tsp cayenne
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 Tbsp dried Methi (Fenugreek) leaves - crumbled

Mix all the ingredients except the oil, tomato sauce and methi leaves together. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
Heat the oil in a medium skillet. Add the turkey mixture and tomato sauce and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. 
Stir in the methi leaves and reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the turkey is cooked through.

This is really good with rice or naan, and a generous scoop or two of raita!

Narangi Keema

This month the Brain and I celebrated 6 years of togetherness. Well celebrated is a little strong of a word. We noted the passing of time. See we're not shmoopy traditionally romantic people. I can honestly say I've never gazed into the Brain's eyes for any long period of time, despite the fact that he has the most beautiful blue eyes and really long lashes. We don't hold hands very often and if we do it tends to be something of a silly moment. That's just how we are.

(3 weeks after we met)

Don't get me wrong. We are very compatible and live a life full of love and laughter, but we're not traditional. Did I ever tell you we met on the Internet? Indeed. I met his requirement of being a Catholic without any children and he met my requirement of being bald. Yes. I like bald men. A lot.

This is us about 8 months later (when I already knew there was no going back.) Aren't we cute? That's one fine looking bald man...

So yeah, sometimes I like things a little different than the next person. For example, I have always had a certain soft spot for a bald man. I think I get it from my mother who thinks Danny DeVito is a wildly sexy man. I'm not even making that up.

Given some ground lamb and a craving for Indian food most people make Ground Lamb with Peas (or Mutter Kheema). It's delicious. But I had just gone to the library and checked out From Curries to Kebabs, recipes from the Indian Spice Train by Madhur Jaffrey. In this very interesting cookbook is a recipe called Narangi Keema, which is short for Hyderabadi Ground Lamb with Orange. It's a really unusual, really delicious dish. I didn't alter it too much from the original recipe. The only difference is that at the end of the recipe she says to add the garam masala, but doesn't include it in the ingredients list. and the unit of measurement is missing from the coriander leaves. It just says 1. 1 what? 1 bushel? 1 tsp? 1 cup? Yes, it's the standard how to annoy a math geek moment. But anyway, this was really different and tasty way to try a new Indian ground lamb recipe.

Narangi Keema
from From Curries to Kebabs with alterations previously noted.

1 large orange
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt

3 Tbsp peanut oil
2 medium onions, sliced into fine half rings
2 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp ground coriander
2 Tbsp peeled and grated fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic, crushed to a pulp
4 Tbsp plain yogurt
2 pounds ground lamb
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 1/2 tsp salt

3 serrano peppers, sliced into very fine rounds
1 cup lightly packed cilantro, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp garam masala

To prepare the orange, peel off the orange rind, making sure to leave the white pith behind. Cut the rind into very fine, 1 inch long julienne strips. Combine the turmeric and salt with 6 cups of water in a pan and bring to a boil. Pour half into a measuring cup and reserve. Add the rind to the boiling liquid in the pan and boil rapidly for 1 minute. Empty the pan through a sieve set over a sink. Pour the reserved turmeric water back into the pan and bring back to a boil. Put the rind back into the pan and boil again for 1 minute, then strain again through a sieve set over the sink. Rinse the rind under cold running water and set aside.

To prepare the lamb, pour the oil into a large, nonstick, lidded pan set over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, stir in the onions and cook for 6 to 7 minutes, or until a dark caramel color. Add the cumin and coriander and stir for 30 seconds. Add the ginger and garlic. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in the yogurt 1 tablespoon at a time, waiting for the previous tablespoon to be absorbed before adding another. Put in the lamb, turmeric, and cayenne. Stir and cook for 5 minutes, breaking up all the lumps in the meat. Add the orange juice, rind, and salt. Stir and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer gently for 40 minutes. Add the chilies, cilantro, mint, and garam masala. Stir to combine. Cover and continue to cook for 10 more minutes. Serve.

Pyaaz Waale Sabud Masoor

Also known as Brown Lentils with Chunky Onion and Chiles.

So remember how I was saying the Queen Geek came to visit this weekend. Well yeah. And we had a fabulous time. And she stopped before coming down here at the Bombay Grocers in Ann Arbor. Queen Geek had never been in an Indian grocery store before. I think she was surprised at the tremendous deals she found there. So she picked me up some legumes.

From bottom to top she brought me: urid dal, red lentils, brown lentils, mung beans, and Horse gram. I am completely unfamiliar with Horse gram and mung beans. And urid dal. But I'm excited that she brought them to me. (with some Nigella seeds. Yay!) Because don't forget that I still have that 660 Curries excellent cookbook. And so I added all these legumes to the massive pile of dried legumes in my cupboard and an idea struck me.

Well so did a couple bags of dried beans.

I will be having a legume project. Legumes are ridiculously healthy. They provide loads of dietary fiber, and protein. And they don't have any fat. And most of the worlds cultures have bean dishes. And they're pretty damn cheap. Cheap is really good when the cost of food and gasoline are skyrocketing. SO, once a week, I'm liking Wednesdays, I'll be making a legume dish. Don't worry, they won't all be dals. (Although I do like various dals and will make more.) I also can't promise that they'll all be vegetarian, but I think most of them will be. I can promise there will be no soybeans. Curse those soybeans and my inability to digest them.

For the inaugural legume dish, we travel to India for Pyaaz Waale Sabud Masoor. And no I don't really know how to pronounce it. It's a lovely, hearty dish of brown lentils with big chunks of onions and slices of chiles. It has a very chewy texture and the sweetness of the onions is really surprising. And even though I put 3 Serrano peppers in it, it doesn't overwhelm with spiciness. Served with some Trader Joe's Tandoori Naan it was pretty tasty!

Pyaaz Waale Sabud Masoor

From 660 Curries (also known as Brown Lentils with Chunky Onion and Chiles

1 cup whole brown lentils (sabud masoor) picked over to remove stones

1 medium sized onion cut in half lengthwise, and then cut into 1 inch chunks

2 Tbsp Ghee or canola oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

2 Tbsp tomato paste

2 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp turmeric

3 to 5 fresh green Thai, cayenne, or Serrano chiles, to taste, stems removed, cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick slices (do not remove seeds)

Place the lentils in a medium size bowl. Fill the bowl halfway with water and rinse the lentils by rubbing them between your fingertips. The water will become slightly cloudy. Drain this water. Repeat three or four times, until the water remains relatively clear; drain. Now fill the bowl halfway with hot water and let it sit on the counter, covered with plastic wrap, until the lentils soften, at least 8 hours or as long as overnight.

Drain the lentils and transfer them to a medium size saucepan. Add the onion and 4 cups water, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Skim off and discard any foam that rises to the surface. Lower the heat to medium, cover partially, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes.

While the lentils are cooking, heat the ghee (canola oil) in a small skillet over medium high heat. Add the mustard seeds, cover the skillet, and cook until the seeds have stopped popping(not unlike popcorn), about 30 seconds. Stir in all the remaining ingredients and lower the heat to medium (to prevent excess spattering when the tomato paste hits the hot ghee/oil). Simmer, uncovered stirring occasionally, until some of the ghee starts to separate around the edges, about 2 minutes.

Scrape the lush red sauce into the cooked lentils. Transfer a spoonful of the dal to the skillet and stir it around to get every bit of flavor; pour this back into the saucepan. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the lentils have absorbed the seasonings, about 5 minutes. Then serve.

Aadrak Lasoon Masoor Ki Dal

What? Yeah that means Gingered Red Lentils. Really fantastically good Gingered Red Lentils. They were on one hand soothing comfort food and on the other hand knocked my taste buds for a loop. Kind of like if you broke up with a boyfriend they would pat you on the head and tell you everything would be okay and then go and kick said ex-boyfriend's behind. They're really good.

I received this cookbook, 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer. Yeah, he's the same guy from the Betty Crocker Indian Home Cooking cookbook, which I have and also love. And he was recently featured in Cooking Light Magazine. (Yikes, now I'm sounding like a groupie!) I have to say, this cookbook was seriously intimidating for me. First, there were hardly any pictures so I didn't really know what things were supposed to look like. This really isn't too big of a problem, it just made picking the first recipe a little difficult for me. 660 is a lot of curries and it took a long time to single one out. Secondly, there are many ingredients that are hard to find in the middle of Nowhere, Ohio.

That said, I do highly recommend this cookbook. There's something for everyone really. It has many of the familiar Indian dishes, so you could ease into the Indian cooking experience. Mr. Iyer has clear and easy to follow directions, so even though there are no pictures you are able to tell that your dish came out looking correctly. Thirdly, there is a glossary of ingredients in the back, so that if you are like me and live far from the nearest Indian family, much less Indian grocery store you can figure out exactly what you need. And finally after the glossary in back, there is a list of online sources for spices and legumes as well as this link to finding an Indian grocery near you. Oh yeah, and he even has a website to discuss his cookbook with you.

Unfortunately there isn't an Indian grocery anywhere close to me (less than 50 miles anyway). So while I was at my mom's I went to a terrific Indian/Pakistani grocery store in Troy, MI called Subzi Mandi. The people were very friendly and helpful and I stocked up on loads of spices. The only minor glitch was I ended up with this bag of Takmaria (aka Tukmaria, aka Basil seeds) when I was hoping for Nigella seeds. They didn't know what Nigella seeds were. Consulting Mr. Iyer's cookbook, I found out that Nigella seeds are also known as black cumin seeds despite not really being cumin. If anyone knows what to do with Takmaria/Tukmaria seeds besides plant them and hope for basil please let me know!

Yeah, I am not sure if red lentils are hard to find out here because I got them in Michigan too. But I can tell you that I'm on the lookout for them here. I have enough to make this only one more time and I'm going to want to make it again and again. This is also my contribution to the annual Vegetables, Beautiful Vegetables 2008 event hosted by Eat The Right Stuff. This is a fun event celebrating National Vegetarian Week in the U.K. (May 19th through 25th) and even though I'm not a vegetarian this dish was tasty enough for me to stuff myself with completely on it's own last night and I'm sure vegetarians, especially British vegetarians will love it too. Incidentally, there are loads of vegetarian and vegan recipes in 660 curries, and I noticed at least one meat curry that gave the option of substitutions to make it vegetarian.

Gingered Red Lentils (Aadrak Lasoon Masoor Ki Dal)

Copied directly from 660 Curries

1 cup skinned split brown lentils (salmon-colored in this form, masoor dal), picked over for stones

1 small red onion, coarsely chopped (I used 1/2 a medium yellow onion)

4 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

4 lengthwise slices fresh ginger (each 2 inches long, 1 inch wide, and 1/8 inch thick), coarsely chopped

2 fresh green Thai, cayenne, or Serrano chiles, stems removed

2 tablespoons Ghee or canola oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 dried red Thai or cayenne chiles, stems removed

1 medium sized tomato, cored and finely chopped

1 teaspoon coarse kosher or sea salt

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems

1. Place the lentils in a medium size saucepan. Fill the pan halfway with water, and rinse the lentils by rubbing them between your fingertips. The water will become cloudy. Drain this water. Repeat three or four times, until the water remains relatively clear; drain. Now add 3 cups water and bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium heat. Skim off and discard any foam that forms on the surface. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover the pan, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentil are tender, 18 to 20 minutes.

2. While the lentils are cooking, combine the onion, garlic, and fresh chiles in a food processor. Mince the ingredients, using the puling action. (Letting the blades run constantly will yield a watery blend.)

3. Heat the ghee in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cumin seeds and dried chiles, and cook until the chiles blacken and the seeds turn reddish brown, and smell nutty, 5 to 10 seconds. Immediately add the onion blend, reduce the heat to medium and stir fry until the mixture is light brown around the edges, 3 to 5 minutes.

4. Stir in the tomato, salt, and turmeric. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the tomato softens and the ghee starts to separate around the edges of the sauce, 3 to 6 minutes. Stir in the cilantro.

5. Stir the sauce into the cooked lentils. Ladle some of the lentil mixture into the skillet and stir it around to wash it out; add this to the lentils.

6. Cover the pan and simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the flavors mingle, about 5 minutes. Then serve.

Mutter Kheema

Also known as Ground Lamb with Peas.

I really like Indian food. Indian food seems to have just the right amount of spice and complexity and heat to make being stuck inside (for various reasons) on a day that the snow is piling up outside. And Indian food is a lot like American food in that each region is vastly different in the spices and flavorings used.

One of my favorite Indian cookbooks, is interestingly enough the Betty Crocker's Indian Home Cooking cookbook with recipes by Raghavan Iyer. Although Betty Crocker seems an odd choice for an Indian cookbook, but there's all sorts of interesting comments in it, as well as a discussion of the spices and regions of India.

For example, about this recipe, Mr. Iyer says "Mutton, which can be either mature lamb or goat in India, is a delicacy, not only in the North, but also in the south-central city of Hyderbad where many Muslims dwell alongside their Hindu neighbors. The have retained their Moghul influences, as is evidenced by the city's architectural wonders and their spices of choice: cinnamon, cloves and garlic. Along with these seasonings, they have incorporated such quintessential South Indian elements as popping mustard seed and using fresh karhi leaves to create an altogether unique culinary style."

One thing that comes to mind is that you should avoid inhaling a great amount of the vapors from popping the mustard seeds and then when adding the onions, Serrano peppers, and garlic. I still can't smell anything but a scorching burning smell inside my nose. And I think there may be a cloud of mustard gas in my kitchen. Well maybe not mustard gas, but my nose is a running. Other than that this is one tasty dish. I followed Mr. Iyer's subsititutions and used bay leaves instead of the karhi leaves.

And where did I find ground lamb? At that lovely grocery store by my mom's house. There's loads of ground lamb up there.

Ground Lamb with Peas (Mutter Kheema)

from Better Crocker's Indian Home Cooking

6 servings

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp black or yellow mustard seeds

2 three-inch cinnamon sticks

1 cup finely chopped onion

5 medium cloves of garlic finely chopped

2 Serrano peppers finely chopped

3 dried bay leaves (or 10 to 12 fresh kahri leaves)

1 pound ground lamb

1 cup frozen peas

1 medium tomato finely chopped (3/4 cup)
1 tsp salt

1 tsp Garam Masaala

1/2 cup plain yogurt (regular or fat free)

2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat oil and mustard seed in wok or deep 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat. Once seed begins to pop, cover and wait until popping stops.

2. Add cinnamon sticks, onion, garlic, chilies and bay leaves; stir-fry 2 to 4 minutes or until onion is brown.

3. Stir in lamb and peas. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lamb is brown.

4. Stir in remaining ingredients except cilantro. Cook 1 to 2 minutes stirring occasionally, just until tomato and yogurt are warm. Remove bay leaves and discard. Sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with cinnamon sticks left in, but do not eat them.

1 Serving: Calories 205 (Calories from Fat 115); Fat 13g (Saturated 5g); Cholesterol 50mg; Sodium 460mg; Carbohydrate 9g (Dietary Fiber 2g); Protein15g