Tag Archives: cardamon

Hariyali aloo – Cilantro & mint potato curry

Cilantro. Either you love it or you hate it. I’m from the loving side and I tend to add some fresh cilantro leaves to just any type of food. Sadly, in the Israeli kitchen cilantro is kind of left out and parsley gets all the fame. The Thai cooking trend saved the situation a bit but still it is one of the most underrated greens.

In Indian cooking its quite the opposite, both cilantro leaves and coriander seeds are central to lots of dishes and spice mixes. This curry is called in Hindi “Hariyali Aloo” which practically means green potato. This curry is based on lots of cilantro and mint which are blended together with spices and cooked with potato cubes. The potato cubes in this recipe can be replaced with paneer cubes or chicken breast pieces.

The end result is slightly sour and has a special taste. It is served with rice or some Indian bread and is a great side-dish in a Thali.

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Paneer Makhani – Paneer Butter Masala

One of the dishes that drawn me to Indian food is the curry. Rich and creamy curry, full of spices and little sweet that is cooked with paneer cheese or chicken – this dish is definitely high on my most loved foods list. However, for years I tried over and over to recreate those restaurant style curry dishes and failed miserably. Something in the texture and spice balance just didn’t work.

Lately something clicked and I suddenly got it right! The curry magic started happening in my very own kitchen 🙂 Apparently the amount of cashews plays a big role, the quality of the blander is also critical and surprisingly the curry is better with bought tomato puree instead of fresh tomatoes.

This recipe is for a curry dish called “Panir Makhani” or “Paneer Butter Masala” and it is practically a reach, buttery, spicy and sweet sauce to which you add paneer cubes or chicken pieces (or even tofu – details below). It is served with white rice or Indian bread like Nan or Roti. In the original version you’ll find much more butter but after some trial and error I arrived at the conclusion that it is completely unnecessary and it is tastier when you just add more cashew nuts (or almonds).

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Gulab Jamun

The most well known dessert of Indian cuisine is called Gulab Jamun. The word “Gulab” means rose water while “Jamun” is some Indian fruit that has a shape similar to the Gulab Jamun balls. But why rose water? the sugar syrup in which the balls or soaked includes rose water and gives the Gulab Jamuns their unique flavor.

Like many other Indian desserts Gulab Jamun is based mainly on milk. Milk?! yep, apparently there is a tedious procedure in which you place milk in a pot and cook it while stirring for eternity and a little more and at the end the milk suddenly solidifies and turns into a dough. This weird but tasty dough is called Khoya (or Khoa) and it’s a great base for various sweets. In India you can buy Khoya in any supermarket and maybe you can find it in Indian grocery shops outside of India. However, if you can’t buy it you can make it at home, but in my opinion this is only for brave cooks since you really have to keep stirring milk for a very long time.

Sounds complicated? don’t worry! There is a simple and fun alternative 🙂 A very common and quick version for Gulab Jamun is one that is based on “milk powder”. This product is practically milk that is dried and than processed to a powder. You can buy it in Indian grocery shops but it can also be founds in other ethnic kitchens (Arab, Russian and more) so it is pretty easy to come across. Although the Khoya version is the best version for Gulab Jamun the powder milk version is really good – the balls turn out a little more dense and smoother outside and they require longer soaking time in the sugar syrup.

In both versions the end result is very sweet, soft with roses and cardamon aroma. This is a great desert that you eat in small doses and it fits beautifully with a cup of tea or black coffee. Think of Baklava but Indian and special.

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Paalaada – Indian pancake

The lovely smell of cardamon immediately reminds me of Indian food. Cardamon is one of my favorite spices, it has strong smell and flavor while somehow it is also delicate and a little sweet.

Paalaada is a thin and soft pancake that is usually served unsweetened accompanying curry dishes. It originates in the Islamic community of Tamil Nadu (country in south India) and is based on white rice, coconut and egg. Traditionally the rice is being soaked and grinded with fresh coconut and then mixed with the other ingredients. However there is a lazier option in which you use rice flour and store bought coconut milk. This option is just as good so no need to trouble yourselves with soaking rice. In this post I present the sweet version for this pancake (Mutta Paalaada) with sugar and cardamon. In the unsweetened and more common version the sugar and cardamon are removed and replaced with a pinch of salt.

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