Skip to main content

Mom’s Cooking, with Love

If you haven’t noticed too much north Indian food on these pages so far, it’s not because I don't cook any of it. On the contrary, the dishes I grew up with form the biggest part of my daily food. Commonplace yes, because I know it so well, but also very, very special to me. So what better way to start writing about the dishes of my childhood than a trip back home and a favorite from mom.

Because wheat based flatbreads are the staple of north India, we eat rice infrequently. Peas Pulao is a lazy winter dish, quick to make, and cooked when you don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen.

Start by shelling some peas and chopping an onion & a potato lengthwise. At the same time, soak 1 cup basmati rice in water. Saute the vegetables in some ghee, then add salt and garam masala. Add the soaked rice, toss for a minute to coat with ghee, then add 2 cups water and simmer until the water evaporates completely and the rice is done.



The pulao tastes best with plain curd. And like any dish made hundreds of time, there are plenty of variations we’ve tried over the years. This one has potatoes because I love them. I also love whole peppercorns, but not any other spice. My mom’s favorite will leave potatoes out, but add cauliflower florets instead. All whole spices – peppercorns, cardamom, cumin, cloves – add a nice delicate flavor. Experiment and find what works best for you. This is something you are going to make many times anyway.


Labels:

Comments

Laura said…
Holy Moly I cannot remember the last time I found so many good choices in my Taste & Create partner blog. Fantastic! I wanted to invite you to participate in my Grandma's Recipes event after reading what you had to say in this post--I am hoping you might have some fabulous Indian granny recipes. :)

http://thespicedlife.blogspot.com/2009/03/announcing-blog-event-grandmas-recipes.html
March 21, 2009 at 6:52 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kadhi Chawal

I just can't think of what to write today. That's what my absolute favorite meal does to me, I just want to stop talking and dig right in. So I won't ramble and go straight on the recipe for kadhi. First, make the pakoras that would go in the kadhi. Slice an onion lengthwise. Make a batter with 1/2 cup chickpea flour (besan), salt, red chilli powder and water. Dip onions in this batter and deep fry until crisp. Keep aside. Now blend 1 cup yogurt and 1/3 cup besan into a paste. Add 3-4 cups water to make a very thin blend. Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan. Add a tsp each of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, ajwain (carom seeds) and methre (fenugreek seeds). Let splutter for a few seconds. Now add a large onion, cut lengthwise into thin slices and cook until browned lightly. Pour in the yogurt/besan mix and add 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp red chilli powder. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and let simmer for at least half an hour. You have to stir this occasio...
17 comments
Read more

Potato Naan

I know what you see up there is a naan. But let's pretend for a moment we are making bread. For I had bookmarked this recipe for potato bread a zillion years ago. And that's what I set to make. Chopped and boiled 100 gms potatoes until they are soft. Mashed them along with 3/4 cup of water they were boiled in. While the potatoes were boiling, I added a tsp of sugar to 1/4 cup warm water, then sprinkled a tsp of yeast and let it proof for 10 minutes. To the potato/water mix, I added a cup each of whole wheat flour and plain flour, 1/2 tsp salt as well as the yeast. Once everything was mixed well, I put the dough on a flour-dusted surface and kneaded it for 10 minutes or so. It was a fairly wet dough, but got it to get smooth. Oiled a large bowl and put the dough in it to rise to double it's size. By the time the first rise ended after an hour or so, I didn't want the bread. I wanted a naan instead. And if someone deserves to throw a tantrum after days of sniv...
16 comments
Read more

Dukkah

Talk about myths busted. I went to Dubai planning to buy zat'ar, the fragrant herb and spice mix. And Dukkah, the interesting blend of nuts and spices. Not sumac, because I still have a pack left in my fridge. So zat'ar was easy - every Carrefour supermarket had that one. But no one had dukkah and I was like, how can they not have dukkah? It's a middle eastern thing, right! But well, they don't sell dukkah in Dubai, so I came back and armed with recipes from 10-odd blogs (all roughly the same), I set to make my own. The key to making dukkah is : line up all your ingredients, toast each of them separately in a heavy non-stick pan till they are fragrant and lightly roasted, then put everything in a blender and grind coarsely. This is your dukkah. Now dip your bread in olive oil, then dip it in dukkah and indulge. A final word of warning: this can be highly addictive. And finally, my list of ingredients: 1/4 cup almonds 2 tbsp coriander seeds 1 1/2 tbsp sesame...
14 comments
Read more