The Indian Vegan Kitchen (3 page)

If you’re a gadget fan and love each gadget’s unique feature, by all means enjoy them. You might find the three small appliances listed below helpful in preparing the recipes in this book, of which a blender is the only essential appliance.

Blender:
A good powerful blender helps grind all kinds of masala (spice blends), beans, and chutneys effortlessly. In earlier days, people used different types of stones (a similar concept to mortar and pestle) for grinding.

Food Processor:
Although not essential, I find a food processor very convenient for grinding dals (beans), grating or chopping a large quantity of vegetables, and making dough for flatbreads.

Coffee Grinder:
For coffee drinkers, please don’t grind spices in your coffee grinder unless you like spicy coffee! Buy a separate coffee grinder for spices, as it is the most-effective way of grinding whole spices. It grinds them finer than a blender, although a blender can be used followed by a sieve. Wipe the coffee grinder clean before storing.

If you’re experienced in cooking Indian food, you can skip this section and go straight to the recipes. But for novice cooks, it will help you understand some basic methods of Indian cooking. All you need is the willingness to learn and a little practice. You don’t have to master each technique to prepare great-tasting Indian meals at home.

By now you may already know that Indian cooking is more than curry, and definitely takes more than curry powder. Getting the right texture, color, and consistency can depend on using the right technique.

Don’t let these methods of cooking intimidate you; they are just new to you. Once you prepare a few of these dishes, you will see a pattern and find Indian cooking a breeze. It’s like cooking pasta—one pasta and five sauces equals five dishes.

Remember, if something does not come out perfect or to your liking the first time, hopefully it’ll still be good. Make notes in your recipes as to what you might do differently next time.

Preparing Food for Cooking:
This may seem like common knowledge, but the way you prepare ingredients has a direct impact on flavor of the finished dish. Whether the onion is finely chopped, coarsely chopped, or ground will all affect the consistency of the curry sauce. Follow the instructions as given.

Measuring Ingredients:
Even novice cooks know that a slight variation in quantity can make a difference between a good product and an okay product. Although Indian cooking is very forgiving (unlike baking), measuring and using the ingredients as listed in recipes is imperative to the end results. For all practical purposes, measure to a level cup or spoon.

To reduce the guesswork in quantity, even ingredients such as onion are listed in a measuring cup versus a medium or small onion. These days, the sizes of onions can be one inch or four inches.

Substituting Ingredients:
If you do not have an ingredient—especially spices—and are not sure about the substitution, leave it out. You are more likely to get an acceptable product without the ingredient than with an alternate. Spices are potent; a little bit goes a long way and more is not better.

The Cooking Temperature:
Since Indian cooking uses the stovetop 99 percent of the time, mastering the heat is fundamental to great cooking. From start to finish, you may need to adjust the cooking temperature of your dish. You may start out heating the pan on high heat for seasoning, then reducing the heat to simmer, and then bumping up the heat again to reduce the sauce to a desired consistency.

Whether you cook with gas or electric doesn’t matter; electric stoves just take longer to heat up and cool down. You need to understand and accommodate to your stove.

Seasoning (Chounk):
Yes, you’ve heard it before—Indian cooking is all about spices. But more than that, it’s about how you season it.
Chounk
is the most common way to season Indian food. Oil or ghee is heated until it is very hot and a slight film develops over the oil, near smoking point. Spices like cumin or mustard seeds are dropped into the hot oil and cooked for only a few seconds until the seeds begin to brown, pop, or change color. This seasoned oil is the
chounk
. One may add the hot, seasoned oil to the food or add the food to the seasoned oil. The
chounk
enhances the flavor of the spices and the food.

Roasting (Bhun-na):
Roasting or browning of spices and food brings out the taste and flavor of the dish. The food or spices may be dry-roasted or roasted in hot oil. Roasting can affect the finished dish’s taste and texture. I remember my mother saying the more you
bhuno
it, the better the flavor.

Simmering:
Simmering means cooking food in a liquid that cooks on low heat. In Indian cooking, food is often simmered, closer to a low boil, on medium or low heat, and it may or may not have much liquid in it. For example, vegetables may be cooked on low heat, simmering in its own juices.

Preparing Sauce (Rasa):
Most Indian sauces are thickened and flavored by spices, garlic, onion, yogurt (if using), or tomatoes. If the sauce is too thin, remove the lid of the pan, increase the heat, and allow the liquid to evaporate to the desired consistency. Thickening also concentrates the flavor and enhances the taste of the dish.

Deep-Fat Frying:
Indian food may be stir-fried in oil, sautéed with spices, or fried. Deep-fat frying as a medium for cooking is probably as popular in Indian cooking as baking is in Western cooking. People associate frying with high fat and calories, but it doesn’t have to be. Properly cooked fried foods absorb less fat, and can have less fat and calories than foods that have been stir-fried or pan-fried. They may even have less fat than baked pastries. The most important factor in deep-fat frying is to maintain the right temperature for the food. For example,
puri
(fried bread) fried on high heat will soak up less fat than if they were fried on medium heat. Foods can be fried in any type of container. The most common is the wok-like
karahi
(page 8). Nutritionally speaking, you should limit the use of fried foods overall.

Quest for spices has been as adventurous and lucrative as gold, and India has been at the epicenter of the spice trade for hundreds of years. In the free market today, spices are readily available around the world.

I was very pleased to hear that today’s average American eats twice the amount of spices as twenty years ago. Availability of spices has changed dramatically. I remember when cumin seeds, the most basic Indian spice, were hard to find and considered exotic. And now, I can find garam masala (an Indian spice blend) in my local grocery store.

Most of the spices listed below are probably available at your local supermarket. Every year, the number of stores that cater to Indian spices and ingredients is increasing. Whole-foods, cooperatives, or health food stores carry an increasing number of Indian spices, dried beans, and other ingredients. Large metropolitan areas such as Chicago or New York have had access to Indian grocery stores for a long time, but now even small- to midsize towns have an Asian (or Indian) store that carries a large selection of Indian ingredients. For convenience, if you still need to order by mail or online, see ordering information on page 29.

Spices are used in all different forms: whole, crushed, ground, roasted, or fried. Each type adds a different texture, taste, and intensity to the dish. Buy whole spices whenever possible, as they have a long shelf life. Fresh-ground spices offer the best flavor.

Spices get their flavor from essential “volatile” oils. Buy ground spices in small quantities, as they lose some of their flavor over time. For best results, once the vacuum seal on a spice jar is broken, use within six months. Mark the date of purchase or the date opened to help you keep track.