If there is one thing I have come to appreciate about Indian cuisine is the amazing spices and spice combinations that are used and the aromas that now radiate from my spice drawer.
We are going Kebab Krazy at I Heart Cooking Clubs. I've been scarce at IHCC lately but when I saw what this week's theme was I new I could find a kebab recipe I would like.
I love lamb. Lovey doesn't like lamb. When I read this Madhur Jaffrey recipe I thought it would make for great lunches at work this coming week. Since I knew Lovey wouldn't be eating any of these I didn't hold back on the spices called for; primarily the cayenne that I usually have to leave out of recipes because Lovey is not a fan of heat either.
The recipe can be started the night before; in fact I would think it best so the lamb has some real personal time with the marinade; which is what we start with. First order of business is allowing the yogurt to drain in a cloth-lined strainer.
While the yogurt is draining make a paste of the garlic cloves. I mince the cloves very fine and then begin scraping the garlic back and forth with the edge of the knife blade at a slight angle.
These photos aren't very good and it's hard to take photos performing a technique that I use both hands. Anyway, keep scraping back and forth until your garlic looks somewhat like a paste.
Here are all of the ingredients that are whisked together for the marinade. The drained yogurt, grated fresh ginger, cayenne, garam masala, garlic paste and salt.
Since I was making this recipe for myself I halved it (but I did not half the marinade). I purchased a little over one pound of boneless leg of lamb.
Once trimming up the lamb it was cut into one-inch cubes. Although, let it be said there is no way to get every piece all the same size so please don't stress over the size of your pieces of meat. Sorry for that little globulin of blood attached to one of the pieces of meat; that's not very appealing is it?
Whew! Speak of not a very appealing photo! But don't let it fool you. This marinade is so aromatic I can only imagine at this point how it will flavor the lamb. Now, cover your bowl and stick in the refrigerator. Mine marinated for about 24 hours.
About 30 minutes before you plan to broil the kebabs, soak your skewers. The recipe did not mention this but anytime I use bamboo skewers for broiling or grilling I soak them first; for about 30 minutes.
Once you are ready to load up your skewers, lay them out on a towel.
Push meat cubes onto the skewers; I got about 7 cubes per skewer. I ended up with 7 skewers with a little over one pound of meat. The recipe stated that it served 4 to 6 people (using 2-1/2 pounds). The recipe also mentioned using 4 skewers for the cubes of meat. In my opinion, there is no way 2-1/2 pounds of meat would fit on 4 skewers. I used 7 skewers for 1 pound of meat, so determine for yourself if 2-1/2 pounds of meat is really necessary.
Before placing them under the broiler brush both sides of each kebab with melted butter.
Broiling should be at least 5 inches from the heat source. My broiler is very hot (500°F) so I placed my broiler pan a little further away, in the middle of the oven.
Broil for about 7 minutes on each side.
You know, some say that the smell of cookies baking in the oven will serve as an aide when trying to sell your house; I think you should broil a batch of these kebabs.
Punjabi Lamb Kebabs
Adapted from a recipe by Madhur Jaffrey
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients:
8 ounces whole-milk yogurt (preferably Greek)
6 Tbsp. mustard oil or extra virgin olive oil
1-1/4 tsp. Kosher salt
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 cloves garlic
2-inch piece of fresh ginger root
2 tsp. garam masala (or store bought)
1 pound boneless lamb from the leg
3 Tbsp. butter
Mise en place:
- put yogurt in a cloth-lined strainer or colander and set in sink
- mince garlic and crush to a paste
- peel piece of ginger by scraping with a spoon and grate
- measure out the oil, salt, cayenne and garam masala and place in large bowl
- add yogurt, garlic and ginger to the bowl
- cut lamb into 1 inch pieces
Method:
Whisk all of the marinade ingredients in the bowl. Add the lamb pieces. Cover bowl and refrigerate overnight or 24 hours.
Thirty minutes prior to broiling, soak skewers in water. Remove skewers from water and lace meat cubes on each skewer. Place each skewer on a broiler pan. Melt the butter and brush both side of each skewer with the melted butter.
Preheat your oven to the broiler setting. Place the tray about 5 inches from the source of heat. Broil 5-7 minutes on the first side and another 5-7 minutes on the opposite or until the kebabs are done to your taste.
I'm sharing this recipe at IHCC.
An aromatic spice blend used in many Indian dishes, it's said that there are as many recipes for Garam Masala as there are dishes that it goes in.
It's pot luck week at I Heart Cooking Clubs and I'm taking an easy path by preparing a small batch of this popular spice blend.
This simple recipe is by Madhur Jaffrey. Her recipe makes about 3 Tablespoons, which is a nice small amount to keep on hand. Its name translates literally as "warm spice mix."
I didn't have cardamom seeds on hand so I had to crack the pods I had in the spice drawer. If you can't buy the seeds then buy cardamom pods and shell them yourself. A bit tedious but by fingers smelled great afterwards.
I keep a small coffee grinder dedicated for spices alone.
Garam Masala
A recipe by Madhur Jaffrey
Yields approximately 3 Tbsp.
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp cardamom seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp black cumin seeds (you can use regular cumin seeds if black aren't available)
1 tsp whole cloves
1/3 of a whole nutmeg (you can break a whole nutmeg by placing it on a cloth and bashing it with a meat mallet or rolling pin)
a medium sick of cinnamon, about 2 - 3 inches, broken up into 3/4 pieces.
Method:
Put all the ingredients in a clean coffee grinder or other spice grinder and grind as finely as possible.
Store in a tightly lidded jar, away from heat and sunlight and use as needed.
I'm sharing this recipe at IHCC
I was a little hesitant in making this side dish. Primarily because Lovey is so used to his brown rice cooked in broth and lightly buttered. That's how he likes his rice, plain and simple.
I wanted to try this because I am trying to broaden my appreciation for Indian food. I Heart Cooking Clubs is providing a good outlet for me to try things and this week it's all about rice.
I planned on baked chicken breasts with Moroccan preserved lemons so I thought this recipe of Madhur Jaffrey's would pair well.
Basmati rice naturally has a wonderful aromatic flavor to it. This recipe provides even more flavor with the addition of bay leaf, cinnamon stick, whole cloves, cardamom pods, garlic, salt and, or course, turmeric.
These spices were what had me concerned about whether Lovey would like it. My gut feeling would be that his reaction would be something to the tune of "Hey, what's this in my rice?".
Before the rice and liquid are added to the pan, the spices and garlic are tossed into extremely hot vegetable oil. I wish I knew how to describe the aroma that came from flash cooking them like that. I wasn't even able to take time to snap a photo of it I had to move so quickly.
After 20 minutes a fluffy, aromatic and wonderfully flavored rice emerged from the pot. The turmeric gave it a slight yellow tint.
My husband has been surprising me a lot lately. I held my breath when he began to eat and the first thing he said, after thank you, was how much he really, really liked the rice!! I believe 'fantastic' was the word he used. He may be expecting this more and more! Which is just fine with me.
Turmeric Rice
A recipe by Madhur Jaffrey
Serves 4 - 6
Ingredients:
2 cups long grain basmati rice
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
4 cardamom pods
1" piece of cinnamon bark
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
1 tsp. salt
22 ounces water
chopped chives as garnish (optional)
Mise en place
- put rice in a bowl and wash in several changes of water. Drain & leave in a strainer set over a bowl.
- place the cloves, bay leaf cardamom and cinnamon bark in a small prep bowl
- peel & finely chop the garlic and set aside in a small prep bowl
- measure turmeric & salt into a small prep bowl and set aside
- measure out water
Method:
Put the oil in a heavy based saucepan and set over a medium high heat. When the oil is hot and beginning to bubble, put in the cloves, bay leaf, cardamom pods and cinnamon. Stir once or twice and add the garlic.
As soon as the garlic turns medium brown put in the rice, turmeric and salt. Stir gently for a minute. Now add the water and bring to a boil.
Cover tightly, turn the heat down to very, very low and cook for 20 minutes. Stir the rice with a fork to separate the grains and serve garnished with chives.
I'm sharing this recipe at IHCC. Go check out the other Madhur Jaffrey rice dishes people are sharing.
It has taken me several weeks to get off high center about I Heart Cooking Clubs' selection for chef and cookbook author being highlighted for the next 6 months. Quite frankly I am not a big fan of Indian cuisine. Chalk that up to eating a lot of really bad Indian food in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Some has been disgusting and other, though it may taste OK, has been extremely visually unappealing.
But....if I really want to learn something about Indian cooking Madhur Jaffrey is the one person I would want to learn from; like gravitating to Marcella Hazan for Italian, Rick Bayless for Mexican or Julia Child for French.
So, off the couch I come to cook outside my normal realm of comfort. This week's theme is yogurt and I selected a fish dish baked in a yogurt sauce; a recipe from Indian Cooking.
Everything was easily combined in a baking dish, covered and baked.
sliced onions
fish - I used cod instead of the suggested haddock. Halibut was another suggestion that would work here.
Topped off with a yogurt sauce flavored with ginger, cumin and coriander. The sauce was a little bland but only due to the fact that I left out the cayenne and garam masala (which is a blend of cardamom seeds, cinnamon stick, cumin seeds, cloves, peppercorns and nutmeg).
The fish turned out delightfully light and healthy. We served it with brown rice and sliced tomatoes. The recipe halved well and surprised me as being the first Indian food that I actually liked. Lovey was too! But I didn't tell him what I was making him until he ate it.
Let's go see what they have for us to do next week (now that I have my feet wet).
Cod Baked in a Yogurt Sauce or Dahi wali macchi
Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking (as Haddock Baked in a Yogurt Sauce)
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients:
2 medium onion, peeled
2 pounds (900 g) 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick fresh cod fillets (or haddock or halibut)
2 cups (450 ml) plain yogurt
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
1-1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
2 tsp ground cumin
2 Tbsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/2 to 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp peeled, finely grated fresh ginger
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 Tbsp unsalted cold butter, cut into pieces
Mise en place:
- rinse and dry fish fillets; cut the fillets into 3 inch (7.5 cm) pieces and set aside to dry
- slice onions 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick slices and line a large baking dish with them.
- place the dried, cut fillets onto the onions in a single layer
- pour yogurt into small mixing bowl
- squeeze lemon juice and grate the ginger and add to yogurt
- measure out the spices and add to yogurt
- measure vegetable oil and add to yogurt mixture
- cut cold butter in small pieces and hold in the refrigerator until ready to use
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350°F /190°C
With a whisk mix the yogurt mixture and pour over the fish, making sure some of the sauce goes under the pieces of fish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the upper third of the oven for 30 minutes or until the fish is just done.
Remove fish to a plate and keep covered in warm oven. Meanwhile, pour all of the liquids from the baking dish into a small saucepan. It will seem very thin and separated. Bring the sauce to a boil and boil rapidly until there is about 1-1/2 cups (350 ml) of the sauce left, about 5 minutes Take the saucepan off the heat. Put in the cold butter and beat in with a fork or small whisk. As soon as it has melted, pour the sauce over the fish and serve.
NOTE: you may also serve the dish cold, after it has been refrigerated overnight, with a green salad.
I'm sharing this post at IHCC - go on over and see if there's anything you like
