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You need to familiarise yourself with a few of the most popular basic ingredients used in Indian cooking that you may not be familiar with before you get started with the recipes.
Coconut Milk
Yield: 1 cup thick coconut milk
Coconut water and coconut milk are two separate things. This may be made from scratch or purchased in a shop. This is how:
Ingredients:
1 cup hot water
1½ cups grated fresh coconut meat
Directions:
Pulse the coconut and 1/2 cup of the water in a food processor or blender until completely smooth. For around 30 minutes, let the processed coconut soak in this water. The next step is to put everything through a strainer or food grinder with fine mesh.
Recycle the coconut that is left over in your food processor. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of water, process, and filter once more. Add the first coconut milk to the mixture. Water should be added until the required consistency is reached. Use right away, or refrigerate for about 4 days, or freeze for no more than 60 days.
Crispy Chickpea Batter Drops
Yield: Approximately 1½ cups
These are available pre-made at Indian shops, but you may also make your own. These are delicious with yogurt.
Ingredients:
¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
½ cup water, or as required
⅔ cup chickpea flour, sifted
1 cup peanut oil for deep frying
A scant pinch of baking soda
Directions:
Combine the chickpea flour, salt, and baking soda in a container. To create a creamy and smooth batter, add the water and stir. Ten to fifteen minutes later, whisk once more.
Take a small wok, saucepan, or kadhai, add oil to it, and heat it over a moderately high flame until the oil reaches 325°F to 350°F on a frying thermometer or until a drop of batter nearly immediately rises to the surface.
While shaking and tapping the spatula to make sure the batter falls as drops into the heated oil, hold a circular spatula with holes above the oil and gradually pour the batter through the holes. When the wok looks to have enough droplets, stop pouring.
Fry the first batch for about 40 to 50 seconds or until it becomes golden, then transfer the droplets with a second slotted spatula to a tray covered with paper towels before beginning the second batch. Continue until all of the batter has been consumed. After allowing it cool, keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about three months or in the freezer for about six months.
Crispy Fried Fresh Ginger
Yield: Approximately 1 cup
Ginger is a great garnish and a flavour booster
Ingredients:
½ pound fresh ginger peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
1½ cups peanut oil or melted ghee for deep-frying
Directions:
In a large wok or saucepan, heat the oil over moderate to high heat until a frying thermometer registers 325°F to 350°F. (Drop a little piece of fresh ginger into the boiling oil. The oil is heated enough to continue with the frying if it takes between 15 and 20 seconds for it to rise to the top.) Ginger should be added in 1 or 2 batches and fried for 3 to 5 minutes for each batch, stirring often and lowering the heat as needed until it turns a deep gold colour.
As you remove the ginger with a slotted spoon, stir it with salt, and let it rest until crispy and cold, try to leave behind as much oil as you can in the wok. Transfer to an airtight container and store in your refrigerator for up to 60 days.
Crispy Fried Onions
Yield: Approximately 3 cups
These are great for garnish, and a great addition to the curries.
Ingredients:
1½ cups peanut oil for deep frying
6 to 8 small onions, cut in half along the length and thinly
chopped
Directions:
In a large wok or saucepan, heat the oil over moderate to high heat until a frying thermometer registers 325°F to 350°F. (Drop a little piece of onion into the already-heated oil.
The oil is heated enough to continue with the frying if it takes between 15 and 20 seconds for it to rise to the top.) One or two batches of onions should be added, and they should be fried until deep brown, turning occasionally and decreasing heat as needed, about five to seven minutes for each batch.
As you remove the onions with a slotted spoon to paper towels and let them rest until crispy and cool, try to leave behind as much oil as you can in the pan. Transfer to an airtight container and store in your refrigerator for up to 60 days.
Homemade Yogurt
Yield: Approximately 4 cups
You don’t realize what you’re missing out on if you just purchase yogurt from stores. Fresh homemade yogurt tastes incredible, is healthier, has no preservatives, and the act of making it gives you a pleasant sensation. To understand what I’m talking about, you just need to try it once. You only need milk and a starter to produce it. Yogurt from a previous batch of homemade yogurt or store-bought yogurt containing live cultures can be used as the starter. You may select any type of milk as well, based on your preferences and dietary constraints.
Ingredients:
1 or 2 large, thick kitchen towels
1 pot holder
2 tablespoons plain yogurt, non-fat or any kind, with active
culture
4 cups milk
Directions:
To prevent the milk from burning, bring it to a boil while stirring often with a metal spatula in a heavy aluminium saucepan. You may also use a microwave for this.
Move the milk to a yogurt pot (preferably ceramic, though any container will serve), and allow it to cool until the thermometer reads between 118°F and 120°F.
Mix in the yogurt starter and cover loosely using a loosely
fitting lid.
Put a pot holder on a kitchen cabinet shelf. Place the yoghurt pot on top of the pot holder and cover it completely on all sides with folded towels. This insulates the pot and aids in preserving the ideal temperature needed for the yoghurt bacteria to flourish. By utilizing a tiny pilot light and a deactivated gas oven, you may achieve the same outcome by putting the yoghurt pot inside.
Let the milk rest without interruption for three to eight hours.
Check to see if the yoghurt is firm—almost like gelatin—after removing the cover. Let the yoghurt alone for the time being if you notice a coating of water on top. After cooling, you can remove it. Put the yoghurt in the fridge as soon as it has set. Yoghurt will get sour if left at room temperature for an extended period of time.
Indian Clarified Butter
A kind of clarified butter known as ghee was first produced in ancient India. It is frequently utilized in Southeast Asian food, Middle Eastern cuisine, Indian subcontinent cuisine, traditional medicine, and religious ceremonies. Red chilli powder that has been sautéed in ghee releases a flavour that is unmatched. Give it a go! Use in moderation as it is pure fat while being tasty. You can readily get it at grocery shops and online, but you may also manufacture your own. This is how:
Yield: Approximately 2 cups
Ingredients:
1 pound unsalted butter
One 1-foot-square piece of fine muslin or 4 layers of
cheesecloth
Directions:
In a heavy, medium-sized saucepan over moderate to low heat, add the butter. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the milk solids become brown and settle to the bottom of the pan. The butter will first begin to foam, but as it simmers, the foaming will subside. After that, strain the mixture through cheesecloth or a fine-mesh strainer into a sterile container.
Don’t discard the remaining milk solids. They last about two days at room temperature or about six months in the refrigerator. Additionally, you may flavour soups, rice, and steamed vegetables by mixing it with whole-wheat flour to produce paranthas (griddle-fried flatbread).
To change the flavour of the ghee, feel free to use any or all of the following components.
¼ cup minced fresh mint leaves
½ cup minced fresh curry leaves plus ¼ teaspoon ground
asafoetida
1 tablespoon crudely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon black peppercorns and 1 teaspoon ajwain
seeds
1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves
2 tablespoons peeled and minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, 2 black cardamom pods,
crushed lightly to break the skin, and 2 (1-inch) sticks
cinnamon
Cheese/Paneer
Yield: 8 ounces or approximately 30 1¼-inch pieces
This is basically Indian cottage cheese. It is one of the best ingredients vegetarians can enjoy and is readily available in Indian markets. This is simple to prepare at home. How to do it:
Ingredients:
½ gallon low fat or whole milk
1 (2-foot-square) piece of fine muslin or 4 layers of
cheesecloth
2 cups plain yogurt, non-fat or any kind, whisked until the
desired smoothness is achieved, or ¼ cup fresh lemon
juice, or a mixture of both
Directions:
In a large, heavy saucepan over high heat, add the milk and bring to a boil while stirring slowly. Add the yoghurt or lemon juice and stir until the milk curdles and separates into curds and whey, about a minute or two, before the milk boils and the bubbles burst. Cut the heat off.
Put the curdled milk on top of a large pan that has been covered with cheesecloth or muslin. Curdled paneer cheese is left in the cloth while the whey drains through it and into the pan.
Pick up the cloth from the pan with the paneer cheese still inside, and attach the fabric’s ends around the kitchen tap to drain, making sure that the cheese is a few inches above the bottom of the sink. Drain for three to five minutes.
Remove the cheese from the tap, carefully twist the cloth around it, and set it between two salad-size plates (or any other flat surfaces) with the tied fabric edges tucked away to one side. The cheese should continue to drain for about ten to twelve minutes after you place a large pan of water on the top plate.
Cut the paneer cheese into the desired shapes and sizes and use as needed. Store for no more than four to five days in the refrigerator or four months in the freezer in an airtight container.
CHEESE FROM YOGURT
Yield: Approximately 2 cups
In essence, yogurt cheese is extremely condensed yogurt that almost tastes like cheese. This is what we do:
Ingredients:
1 (2-foot-square) piece of fine muslin or 4 layers of
cheesecloth
1 (32-ounce) vessel of non-fat plain yogurt
Directions:
Place the yoghurt in the muslin or cheesecloth, carefully coil the fabric over the cheese and tie the ends of the cloth around the kitchen tap, making sure that the yoghurt is a few inches above the bottom of the sink. Allow to drain for 4 to 6 hours.
The cheese is now prepared for use.
Alternately, place a big colander or fine-mesh strainer inside a large container (to capture the whey), line it with muslin or four layers of cheesecloth, and then fill it with the mixture. Place the strainer over the yoghurt, cover, and place in the refrigerator to drain for four to six hours.
