A Passage to India

Hello all.  GetFresh here, subbing in again for the temporary New Yorker WMM.  Thank you for stopping by on Saucy Sunday.  (Nope, you don’t have to have seen the David Lean movie or read the E.M. Forester novel to make it to the end of this epic – although both certainly have their charms.)

If your home is anything like mine, on any given evening it can feel like there are 1,001 things standing in between you and the dinner table, whether it’s bumper-to-bumper cars, a dog begging to be walked, a lost homework assignment sheet (in my case, when on sitter duty), or just the Walking Brain Dead faced with the yawning maw of a close to empty refrigerator.

To beat take-out, the grumps, tossed produce and too many cereal dinners, we try to set aside time every Sunday – early morning or late afternoon – or whenever one of us is struck with an unlikely chunk of empty schedule, to prep some eats for the coming, usually crazy week.   .

Some of our favourite make-ahead staples are inspired by Indian cooking.  (At this point, if Tabitha from

Bourbon & Pearls lived in audio range, I’d try to make her laugh by doing a badly accented Essex gal riff on Jamie Oliver’s “Pukka tucker!” catchphrase.  BTW, pukka is a Hindi-Urdu superlative that means authentic, first class, well cooked.)

The great thing about learning a few Indian (or Thai) sauces and condiments is that you can prep then refrigerate or freeze them in appropriate serving sizes and give new, customized meaning to the words “Curry in a hurry” even when you’ve totally run out of steam.

 

N.B. Before you hit the kitchen, I strongly suggest that you do like

DaniBP and pop on an apron, or at least an old, “who cares” tee.  Spices like turmeric, curry powder and chilies are easy to get to grips with, but they can stain.

Lentil Sauce 101
Prep 15 min.| Cooking time 45 min. with an occasional stir | 6 servings as a sauce or 4-5 as a main dish
1-1/2 c. dried red lentils, rinsed
1 large tomato or 2-3 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
Approx. 1” piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and grated or very finely minced
2 to 3 cloves garlic, grated or minced
(you can also throw the ginger and garlic in a mini food processor together)
¾ tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. cumin seeds, finely ground in a mortar and pestle OR 3/4  tsp. ground cumin
Large pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt
Fresh lemon juice to taste
Chopped fresh cilantro, green onions or flat leaf parsley, optional
1. Combine the lentils, 6 cups water, the tomato, ginger, garlic, turmeric, cumin and cayenne in a saucepan over medium high heat.
2. Bring to a steady simmer and cook uncovered, whisking or stirring vigorously once in a while, until the lentils break down and the mixture is thick, about 45 minutes.
3. Season generously with salt and lemon juice to taste.  Sprinkle with cilantro etc. when serving, if desired.
Serve with a simple, oven-roasted piece of white fish or salmon, over rice or bulgur wheat, with steamed or oven-roasted veggies (potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, peppers, zucchini, eggplant), reheated with canned (drained and rinsed) chickpeas, or thinned out with vegetable or chicken stock as a soup.  You can also add diced carrots, onions and/ or red pepper at the start of cooking.
It’s traditional to dry skillet roast Indian spices before cooking, but in this subtle dish you can easily skip it.  If some of your table doesn’t like spice, skip the garlic and cayenne in the sauce.  Individual diners can then flavor their dishes with thinly sliced garlic sautéed in a bit of butter or olive oil, and a few drops of hot sauce.

TODAY’S DYK: Tumeric, a minimally flavoured but bright yellow spice powder first used as a natural fabric dye over 2,500 years ago, is reputed to be one of nature’s most powerful healers for its anti-inflammatory, metabolic and detoxifying properties.

Spinach-Tomato Curry Sauce
(adapted from Madhur Jaffrey’s Quick & Easy Indian Cooking)
Prep 15 min. | Cooking time 25 min. | 4 main course servings
1 tsp. each ground turmeric, cumin and coriander
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. grainy mustard (Pommery, Moutarde de Meaux, Country Dijon)
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely minced or grated
½” piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced or grated
¼ c. canned diced tomatoes, lightly drained
4 oz. (2-3 handfuls) fresh spinach, sliced into fine strips
½ c. canned (unsweetened) coconut milk, “light” versions are fine

1. Combine the turmeric, cumin, coriander, cayenne, salt, black pepper, mustard and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl, stirring to combine well.  Put the oil in a large non-stick frying pan or wok and set over high heat.  When the oil is hot add the garlic and ginger.  Stir and fry until the seasonings begin to soften and just turn light brown.  Add the spice paste and cook for 15 seconds.
2. Add the tomatoes and spinach and continue cooking for another couple of minutes.  Add 1 cup water and bring to a simmer.  Simmer uncovered on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Add the coconut milk (light table cream can be substituted) when re-heating.  Shrimp can be cooked directly in the re-heated sauce just until opaque.  Or add cooked potato chunks, stir-fried chicken breast or thigh chunks, or pan-seared scallops.

Often, while I am in the kitchen, I have fashion time-outs, either thinking about what I saw in the blogosphere, planning some sort of closet intervention (strictly my own) or catching up on WNTW, Project Runway and other telly the DH does not appreciate.   Today’s T-0 got me thinking about bangles (which originated around Bangalore, snap) and bracelets, particularly in layered looks.

I admire the arm festivals created by

Ina in Wonderland (I’ve snaffled one of her recent ones to feature here – danke viemals), Atlantic Pacific and lots of others online, especially those snapped by Tommy Ton on the streets of NYC (hmm wonder where WMM is sightseeing today?) Ditto some that I see daily on what we call the TTC (transit).

DISH, PLEASE: While I start out stacked and encircled, the jingle, jangle, tap, click clack always gets me at my desk.  This is only the past weeks’ worth of abandoned costume bracelets (J. Crew, Hayden-Harnett, Tory Burch, Club Monaco, Mum’s and one genuine Bollywood film bangle).  All ditched in the saucer by 10:00 a.m.  Do you have any styles or baubles you love, but have to cut loose long before the day is over? Come on, confess.  As ajc says, it wouldn’t be any fun without you.  Do you still like an occasional replay of The Bangles too?

What have you got cooking in the week ahead?  Stand tall and stay safe…