I'm doing Indian week. Sort of.

[Flamingoose]

I am feeling a bit fed up with the usual meals. Decided to have a 'themed' week. Approximately Indian, though not at all authentic I know.
I work full time and the kids all have very busy schedules so nothing too time consuming. Did a bit of prep over the weekend.

Monday: Chana dal (v quick in the pressure cooker) and baingan bharta (eggplant curry) with rice and roti. I already flame roasted the eggplants, so just 20 mins prep time and 35ish cooking.
Tuesday: Moong dal (pressure cooker again) and a made-up Sri-Lankan (ish) potato and green bean curry. Rice and roti again.
Weds: Quite a busy day for us, so just a kidney bean dish with rice (rajma chawal).
Thurs: Besan Chilla (gram flour pancakes) with mixed veg.
Friday: Leftovers!

We're vegetarian, so no meat recipes. It has been quite a cheap week to shop for, which is nice.

Besan chilla is v similar to farinata, which is an Italian chickpea flour pancake. Quicker to make though.

We have one gluten free and one dairy free in my family so over the years I've found and grabbed hold of recipes like this.

Everything canned is cooked. That's why it will last years, any bacteria is killed by the cooking process.

'Canning' in glass jars is a centuries old way of preserving food, you put the food in a glass jar, seal and 'cook' in boiling water.

I think it was the Victorians that started using tin cans.

Sorry to butt in OP but can any of the Indian/Pakistani cooks on the thread share any shortcuts? For eg, in a masala is it okay to use pre-caramelised onions, adding them to the toasted spices and warming through before adding the toms etc- or is it essential that the onions caramelise in the spices, from raw? I am recently vegan and cooking quite a lot of Indian-ish food at the moment - and I really need to get the kind of shortcuts going that I used pre-vegan!

I've discovered frozen crushed garlic and ginger which has been a revelation...

I suppose I mean pre-prep and bulk cooking tips rather than shortcuts actually...

@WinterDeWinter , that sounds fine. Most Indians in the UK are not purists. We tend to buy big bags of spices and I don’t know anyone who roasts their spices and grinds them as needed.

Most Indian curries and daals have start with heating oil, adding a pinch asafoetida and some mustard seeds then add cumin seeds. This can be a bit messy as the mustard seeds start popping out of the pan and is also quite a strong smell. I make a large batch of this and store in a jar. And use as required with a little extra oil.

I know people who also add onions to this and cook the onions through then freeze the mix in ice cube trays. I struggle with using pressure cookers - they always make a huge mess when I tried so invested in an instant pot and find cooking Indian food like daals and pav bhaji a breeze in the instant pot.

Great thread. I cook Vegan Indian several times a week. My top tips are
these and I usually make a salady salsa type side dish of cucumber tomatoes mint coriander a pinch of sat and jeera seeds.

@Nydj Ah fantastic - I will definitely do the mustard/cumin seed thing, thank you! I'm pondering an Instant Pot but I have form for buying gadgets and using once... 😁

Sorry, I forgot to respond. I cook all the usual N Indian things you may know of- palak paneer, rajma, chole masala, baingan bhurta, various daals and a lot of sabzis ( dry veggies) but I also cook a lot of S Indian veggie food. Dosas, idlis, poha, rasam, avial, sambhar, vegetable poriyals, akuri ( egg dish), lemon rice, tomato rice, tamarind rice.... These have a different flavour to the usual N Indian foods and use coconut, tamarind, curry leaves and mustard seeds for flavour rather than onion, garlic and ginger. I wish I could recommend a particular cookbook but I cook from memory and what my mom taught me. But any good one should do or you can use the internet and figure it out via trial and error. If you lay in some spices, they will last for ever.

Dosa and idli batter is a pain to grind but Indian stores have readymade batter. I am all about shortcuts and am not a purist! Whatever works for you. In response to the pp who asked about caramelizing onions ahead of time, I must admit I do not do that. But I do freeze a lot, use readymade masalas, and use ready chopped garlic and ginger sometimes. The fact is my mother and grandmom did not work and had more help than I do, so I just do what it takes to get done. My MIL would shudder at the thought of eating a frozen daal or sabzi but who cares what she thinks! Happy exploring!

@Flamingoose Just read your message re not soaking your kidney beans. I use this method of doing pulses now, it takes out all the time and has worked every time I have used it

www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/soaking-salting-dried-bean-myths-article

Your week of Indian food sounded really good

@JanisMoplin ready-made masalas you say?! This sounds like the answer to my prayers, where do you get such a thing and/or can you recommend a brand?

I mean ready made garam masala or ground spices, like this. www.amazon.co.uk/Everest-Masala-Garam-100g-India/dp/B00NR8CVL8 My MIL would have ground her own but I am too tired!

I don't mean Patak's curry paste and such, which I don't enjoy very much and also tend to be very greasy.

Ah I seeeee - I thought perhaps there was a massive shortcut I'd missed! Never mind - I'm going to do the onion-freezing as at least that gets me 20 mins further down the line!

This thread has been very inspiring, thanks for starting it @Flamingoose