Indian Food for Ten

When you start to plan a mean there are a few things to consider.  The quantity of food is of course important but there are textures, flavors, colors and of course nutrition.  A lot of the traditional food combinations you find in cook have had centuries to develop these combinations; so once I decided to make Indian food for dinner this week I already had a good idea of the courses:

Rice
Dhal Soup
Yellow Curry
Pita Bread

and since I like to have a bit more green in my meals this menu augmented with a Kale Salad.

Having only two hours to cook a meal for ten people used to stress me out but after cooking in cooperatives for a few years you learn  few tricks about the order in which things cook.
1) The dhal soup just gets better the longer it simmers so starting this first makes sense
2) The yellow curry takes more prep and about 45 minutes to simmer flavors together
3) The Kale salad needs about 30 minutes to marinate
4) The rice (since it is a long grain white) only takes 15 minutes to cook
5) The pita cooks quick as long as you do the prep work earlier in the day (or get a friend to do it like I did)


Dhal Soup

Perhaps one of the most important steps in preparing a good Dhal is spicing it correctly and one of my favorite things in indian food is tempering spice:

3 Tbs of canola oil

2tsp mustard seed (brown or yellow)

1tsp coriander seed

5 seeds of fenugreek 

1/2 tsp asafetida

1/2 onion Diced

After the oil heats up on high toss in all of the seeds and let them simmer ( i like to wait until the mustard seeds start to pop, it adds an extra smoky flavor) and then toss in the onions and asafetida with the heat turn down to medium.  In about 3-5 minutes the onions should be soft and starting to brown.

6 C red lentils

2-5 cloves garlic

2 C tomato puree

8-12 C vegetable broth

I used red lentils in tonight dinner instead of yellow because the store where I shop does not have organic yellows, but either will work.  Toss the lentils and garlic in with the hot oil and spices making sure to keep string for a minute or two until the vegetable broth is added.  

The wide range in vegetable broth amount is because I am terrible at measuring and it really depends on how thick you like Dhal, I like it a bit thinner so I go closer to 12 C of broth.  Add the tomato puree after the broth.

The time from heating the oil to adding the tomato puree ( of which i sued the Muir Glenn organic fire roasted tomatoes) now should be on the order of 5 or 10 minutes leaving over 90 minutes for the soup to simmer and the lentils to fall apart.  At this point you can more or less leave the Dhal alone giving it a good stir every 15 minutes or so.  

After an hour you want to check the soup, salt and pepper to taste adding extra garlic and vegetable broth as needed to get the flavor you like (it helps to have someone taste with you to double check your taste buds)

Yellow Curry with potatoes and Carrots

The vegetable combination to make a good curry is not that hard, most of the focus of flavor is in the sauce so the focus for vegetable combination is on texture and color. 

10 medium red potatoes

4 large carrots

1/2 head purple cabbage

1 bag frozen peas

1/2 onion

The potato and carrot base makes for a good amount of bulk and subtle taste underneath the curry, I like to leave both in large chunks.  A bag of frozen peas adds a nice pop to the texture and just a hint of color that catches the eye.  Purple cabbage i am in love with, rich color, soft texture, packed with nutrients and does not do much to shift the flavor, i toss in half a head sliced into ribbons just for fun, leaving it out is totally acceptable as well.

3 Tbs of coconut oil

2tsp mustard seed (brown or yellow)

1tsp coriander seed

5 seeds of fenugreek 

1/2 onion diced

3-5 cloves of garlic

1 C tomato puree

1 C coconut milk

2-3 C water

3 Tbs yellow curry powder

1 Tbs turmeric

1 Tbs agave nectar (optional) 

The curry uses tempering spices again but I like to use coconut oil for the extra flavor, you just have to more careful with the heat (keeping it lower) to keep the oil from smoking.  So toss in the mustard seed, fenugreek, and coriander, until the mustard pops then in go the onions for 5-10 minutes  until tender and browning.  The Garlic, Potatoes and Carrots go into the hot oil and simmer together for 2 minutes or so.

the base for the curry is a combination of coconut milk and the tomato puree, the extra water  is to make sure the carrots and potatoes are covered to boil in this delicious combination for 20-30 minutes.  

The turmeric and curry powder go in right at the same time as the water but dont add the peas and cabbage until after the 20 minutes or they will cook to mush while the potatoes are still under cooked.  I also like to sneak in 1 or 2 Tbs of agave nectar here, the little bit of sweetness helps to cut the bitter flavor from the extra turmeric without upsetting the spicy earthy flavor.

Saffron Rice

The rice is one place where I actually get out my measuring cups, having the right proportions makes all the difference between soggy rice, crunchy rice and the perfect fluffy rice you always want.  

4 C jasmine rice (or basmati, or any long grain white)

6 C vegetable broth

1 Tbs canola oil

6 stems saffron

1 tsp tumeric

in truth less than a tbs of oil is fine . . .you just want enough to coat the rice while it is being simmered with the saffron and turmeric (which is more for color than for flavor in this case).   

after only a minute of constant stirring at medium high heat add the hot broth.  It is important that the broth is hot or in addition to the extra cook time to heat it the rice may end up soaking too long and get a bit more soggy than desired.  the most important part here is waiting, bring the water to a boil turn the heat down to a low flame, cover the rice and just leave it alone! 

White rices cook pretty quickly, I usually give 15 minutes with a check at 10 minutes to make sure I dont burn it.  This time when i cooked the rice it only took about 10 minutes but I also forgot to add the vegetable stock (using just water) and had to fix it post cooking.  A sprinkle of powdered vegetable bouillon and a pinch of salt  added when fluffing the rice after the cooking.  

You will have to come back to get the pita and the kale salad but put it all together to make a balanced meal

and enjoy with friends!