Mindy Carlson

In an effort to cram in as much as I could into my last month I took an Indian curry cooking class!

Basel has a fairly large Indian community. There are a number of specialty food shops and quite a few curry restaurants around. I have always loved curry and I was excited to be able to find one of my favorite cuisines so readily available.

My friend Sunrita is the chef behind Curry in a Hurry and SpiceitUpp (@SpiceitUpp on Twitter). As part of her blog she also offers cooking classes! She will host you and your friends in her home or she will come to you.

In this case, she held a class with me and several other people I’d never met before. Sunrita is great at keeping the atmosphere light and friendly and warm. In no time we were all friends.

Sunrita also keeps a hands-off policy for herself. We do the cooking while she talks about spices and the “whys” of the recipes.  There were 4 of us and we were cooking 4 dishes so we each picked one to cook with Sunrita.

We chopped onion, sliced carrots, and cut up chicken. We did everything.

And Sunrita gave us an education on the different spices that flavor Indian food. From hot and spicy to fragrant and heady.  While she encourages you to play around, she also makes it clear that you don’t need that many spices for many of these recipes.

 

The first thing we made was Potato, Spinach, and Pea Cakes. They were absolutely delicious. In fact, I have a school event to go to this weekend and I am now thinking of making this instead of cookies.  Sunrita also says these are perfect for lunch boxes. The small patty size makes it great for toddlers and younger children.

The next thing we made was a classic: Tandoori Butter Chicken!

Tandoori isn’t a spice so much as a style of cooking. A tandoor is a special clay oven that can get super hot – about 500F. You don’t need to have one to make tandoori chicken, though. A modern oven will do the trick.

There are spices associated with the taste of a tandoori chicken, however. You can buy a tandoori spice mix or use the same Garam Masala powder you used in the potato, spinach, and pea cakes above. The tell-tale red color of a tandoori chicken comes from the Kashmiri red chili powder. The red powder in the bowl of stuff that is about to become a marinade is that nice Kashmiri red chili powder. It’s so vivid!

You can find this in specialty stores or you can order them from Sunrita’s online shop, http://www.curryinahurry.tictail.com.

Here is the full recipe!

Tandoori Butter Chicken

 

Then we cooked a dish I’d never had or heard of before.  South Indian Fish Curry! It’s almost like a stew, but with the refreshing touch of coconut milk that some southern Indian curries have. This is also a quick dish for dinner as it takes only 35 minutes from start to finish. Just get your rice cooking first and start on the fish!

South Indian Fish Curry

Marinade for fish

• 3/4 pounds of a firm white fish like tilapia, cod, haddock, or snapper
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• pinch of salt

Curry Sauce

• 1 tsp of Ground curry (or, if you can find them 15-20 curry leaves)
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1 Onion, medium sized, finely chopped
• 3 T Tomato paste
• 1 tsp Ginger, finely chopped (or you can use paste if you have some)
• 1 tsp Garlic, finely chopped (or you can use paste if you have some)
• 9 ounces Coconut milk
• Salt to taste (probably around 1/2 tsp)
• 4 T Vegetable oil
• 1 T Coriander leaves, chopped

Using the same oil used for frying the fish, add the mustard seeds and fry until they start to pop. (If you have curry leaves add them with the mustard seeds.)

Add the onion and saute will it become translucent and soft. About 5 minutes. Then add garlic and ginger paste and cook on a medium heat for another 5 – 6 minutes.

Stir in the curry paste you made above and add the tomato paste.  Now add the curry powder (if you didn’t use curry leaves). Saute till the oil starts to leave the sides of the pan.

Finally add the coconut milk and season with salt. You can also add water if the coconut milk is too thick. Get it simmering and then reduce the heat slightly.

Then add the fish to the curry. Cover and cook bringing it to a boil for 5 – 7 minutes until the fish is fully cooked and sauce reduced.

Serve sprinkled with chopped coriander leaves, with basmati rice.

(In case you were wondering cilantro and coriander leaves are the same thing. Cilantro is the more popular name in the US whereas you find it labeled coriander in Europe.)

 

As our final dish we prepared vegetable biryani. Biryani looks very similar to Chinese fried rice, but it could not be more different. The rice is not fried and the vegetables are more like cauliflower, green beans, carrots, and the like. Many families add meat to this, but it is a delicious vegetarian entree or accompaniment to the other dishes above.  Plus, if you are looking for dishes kids can help out with, they can chop the vegetables.

Biryani calls for lots of spices, but don’t be intimidated. As they cook they meld together to form a completely new flavor, so if you think you’ve tasted all variations of curry think again.

Vegetable Biryani

For the Rice

• 1 & 1/2 cups Basmati rice, soaked in water for 30 minutes
• 2 Green cardamom pods
• 5 Cloves
• 1/2 inch Cinnamon stick
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 Black cardamom pod
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Lemon juice
• 1 tsp Vegetable oil

For the Vegetable Mixture

• 2 medium Onions, sliced
• 2 medium Carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 20 Green beans, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 15 Cauliflower florets
• 6 Green cardamom pods, smashed
• 10 Cloves
• 1, 1-inch stick Cinnamon
• 1 & 1/2 T Ginger-Garlic paste (3/4 tsp each)
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 2 tsp Red chili powder
• 2 T Biryani masala powder (you can find this in Indian specialty stores)
• 1/2 cup Yogurt
• 1/2 bunch Fresh coriander leaves, chopped
• 1/2 bunch Fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 2 T Vegetable oil
• 2 T Butter
• 2 tsp Sugar
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 c Fried onions (optional – take 1/2 cup sliced onions and fry in a skillet with 1 T butter until dark brown)

To make the biriyani paste mix, take a small bowl and blend together the yogurt, biriyani powder, and red chili powder. Set aside for later.

Next, make the rice:

Get 4 cups of salted water boiling in a large pot. Drain the soaked rice and then add it to the boiling water. To that add all the ingredients listed under “For the Rice.” The cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon – all of it.

Boil until the rice is about 3/4 done – very al dente.  Use a fine mesh colander and drain the water. Pick out the cinnamon and the other spice pods. Set aside.

As the rice is boiling get to work on sauteing the vegetables.

In a large, deep pan (you want a big one, this is going to be a lot of food) heat the oil and the butter together. Once hot add the bay leaves, cardamoms, cinnamon stick, and the cloves. Cook for about 40 seconds or until fragrant.

Then add the sliced onions. Cook until they become translucent. Then add all the prepped vegetables. Cover with a lid and cook for 3 or 4 minutes.

Now add the ginger-garlic paste and continue to saute for another 3 minutes. Then add the biryani yogurt mixture to the vegetables. Give them a good stir and get all those veggies coated with the yogurt. If it seems too thick add a touch of water to loosen up the sauce. Cook for another 2 – 3 minutes.

While the veggies are still crunchy, stir in the salt and sugar and give the whole thing a good stir. Add the fresh mint and coriander leaves. Now add 1 cup of water to the pot and bring it to a boil.

Once the water is boiling go find that 3/4 cooked rice and add it to the pot with all the veggies. Gently stir it together to get the vegetables evenly distributed through the rice. Sprinkle the fried onions on top and cover. Cook on very low heat until the rice and vegetables are cooked. The vegetables should be somewhat soft and the rice should be cooked through and soft.

Serve and enjoy hot!

Sunrita did mention that if we wanted to use broccoli or red peppers that would be great, but add them a bit later in the cooking process – maybe when we add the rice or a little before – or we would end up with mush!

I highly, highly recommend taking a cooking class with Sunrita if you are in the Basel, Switzerland area. At the end you are seated at a marvelous feast! Complete with great food, good company, and refreshing wine. She even holds classes for kids! (But without the wine.)

She will also answer all of your cooking questions via her FaceBook page, https://www.facebook.com/lazywomenscurry.

I hope you try all the recipes that I’ve posted here. They are fun and easy forays into the world of Indian cooking.