Warm up with Indian Curry

By Sidonie Maroon, The Food Co-op Culinary Educator, abluedotkitchen.com

Follow Sidonie on The Food Co-op’s Facebook group Cooking with the Co-op

Recipes include: Chana Masala, Spiced Oven Ghee, Spiced Paneer, Tomato Chutney

Rhizomes Rock

I’ve got two juicy rhizomes on my cutting board. You’d recognize the ginger, but did you know fresh turmeric is also locally available? It’s a treat to cook with these ingredients, because they add so much mouthwatering flavor to our food.

Ginger and turmeric are the perfect pair. Use them fresh, grind into a paste and store in the freezer, or preserve them in vinegar.

Are you wondering what fresh turmeric looks, smells and tastes like? Under the peel, it’s bright orange, with a slight camphor aroma. It’s hard to use too much, because fresh turmeric is mild without a gingery heat. It’s nothing like the dried version and is full of health benefits.

I like to grind ginger and turmeric into a paste with garlic and oven roast with dry masala (spices) and onions. This makes an incomparable base for whole bean Indian Dals — chili like bean stews.

Masala is a mixture of ground spices made into a powder or paste and used in Indian and South Asian cooking. Spices are the heart of Indian food and are a crucial flavor builder. It’s best to begin with whole spices, because they lose flavor as their oils dissipate. They only take moments to grind, and their aroma is an instant payback for the effort. Pre ground spices are expensive, and you’re buying a product with less potency. Whole spices are the better investment, especially bought in bulk, and will last a year or longer.

The Best Spice Grinder Ever

Good kitchen tools are important, and owning a Secura electric coffee and spice grinder is an upgrade. I love mine and use it daily! It has two stainless steel removable bowls, one for grinding dry spices and the other for chopping herbs and making wet pastes. There are two blades in the dry bowl to break down whole spices, or grind seeds and nuts. The wet bowl has four blades that will grind ginger and garlic into a paste. You can make salad dressings, pesto for one, or wet Thai curries. Because the bowls are removable, cleaning is easy. This spice grinder is for you if masala and flavor pastes are important to your cooking style,

Instant Pot

I’ve cooked Indian food for years, but the Instant Pot allows me to make it part of our regular meals instead of a special occasion adventure. “The Indian Instant Pot Cookbook” by Urvashi Pitre was my gateway cookbook. It has so many yummy accessible recipes. She’s the real deal and has put in the work to translate classic Indian dishes to the Instant Pot. The book has recipes for kitchen staples like paneer, yogurt, spice mixes, and chutneys. There are sections on rice and dals, vegetables; fish, chicken and meat; drinks and desserts. Pitre is famous for her Murgh Makhani (Butter Chicken).

Whole spices are the art and soul of cooking.

I hope you’re inspired to cook Indian food—it’s easy with the convenience of a good spice grinder and an Instant Pot. May your winter kitchen smell wonderful!

Chana Masala

Curried Chickpeas with Instant Pot and Oven

Makes 2 ½ quarts

This is my version of the classic Indian dish and is a guest favorite. It’s a delicious main dish chili, full of flavor with a sour-sweet pop. Serve it hot with naan and a side salad.

Ingredients

Instant Pot

2 cup raw chickpeas

6 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

1 dried ancho chile

1 dried pasilla chile

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, ground into a paste

1 teaspoon turmeric powder or 1 tablespoon fresh turmeric paste

Oven

2 large onions, chopped

8 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup olive oil or ghee

Oven spice mix

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoons black peppercorns

¼ teaspoon decorticated cardamom or 5 whole green cardamom pods

5 whole cloves

1 tablespoon whole cumin seed

1 tablespoon whole coriander seed

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon sea salt

To Finish

2 tablespoons tamarind paste

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, or 2 ½ cups fresh tomatoes

Directions

1. Add unsoaked chickpeas, salt, chilies, ginger, turmeric and water to the Instant Pot. Set it to the bean cycle, or for 45 minutes at high pressure with a natural release. You may also use the stove top using the conventional method for cooking chickpeas.

2. Preheat the oven to 425 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. As the chickpeas cook, prep the oven ingredients: Using a spice grinder, reduce the spices to a rough powder. Mix the onions, garlic, oil or ghee and spices together on the baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes and stir. Continue to roast for another 15 minutes or until the onions are sweet.

3. When the chickpeas have finished, put the cooked chilies, with tops removed, into a blender jar with the chickpea liquid, the oven ingredients and tamarind paste. Blend until smooth and stir the sauce into the chickpeas. Add the tomatoes and serve hot.

Spiced Oven Ghee

Makes 1 quart

1 ½ hours

This is the easiest way to make a large quantity of ghee. Ghee and clarified butter are essentially the same, except that ghee cooks longer.

Ingredients

2 lbs unsalted butter

Spices of choice

A few options:

Cumin ghee: 2 tablespoons whole cumin seeds

Ginger ghee: 2-inch piece of ginger root sliced

Cardamom/GInger/Garlic: 6 cardamom pods, 2-inch piece of ginger, 4 cloves garlic crushed

Special Equipment

Cheese cloth, or fine-mesh strainer

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 300 F. Lay 8 cubes of unsalted butter, 2 lbs. in the bottom of a large casserole or other heavy-bottomed pan. Add spice choice.

2) Allow the butter to melt, uncovered and undisturbed, until there is a layer of solid foam on the top, the foam will look crusty around the edges and even darker than the center, clear amber colored ghee will be in the middle and lumps of golden solids on the bottom. This will take approx. 1 hour, maybe longer.

3) Skim off the foam with a slotted spoon and then pour the remaining ghee through cheesecloth set over a strainer over a bowl, you can strain it twice if it’s cloudy.

4) Pour into a quart jar and store in the refrigerator.

Tomato Chutney

Makes 4 cups

Ingredients

3 cups chopped tomatoes

1 bunch scallions, sliced

1 cup cilantro, chopped

½ cup mint, chopped

1 cup parsley, chopped

2 teaspoons pickled jalapenos

1 clove garlic, mashed

1 tablespoon candied ginger, finely minced

Juice and zest of one lime

Juice and zest of one lemon

1 teaspoon sea salt or to taste

Directions

Combine the ingredients in a food processor and pulse.

Masala Paneer

Makes 3 cups

35 minutes plus 2 hours draining time

Ingredients

Cheese

½ gallon whole milk

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Masala

Sea salt

1 teaspoon toasted and ground cumin seed

¼ teaspoon red chili flakes

¼ cup chopped cilantro

Directions

1) Add the milk and vinegar to the inner cooking pot. Lock the lid in place.

2) Select manual pressure and adjust to low. Cook at low pressure for 4 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then quickly release any remaining pressure. The milk will have separated into curds and whey.

3) Line a sieve with cheesecloth over a mixing bowl (the bowl will collect the whey which can be saved for other recipes). Pour the paneer into the sieve and sprinkle with the salt. Gather up the cheesecloth over the top, put a heavy weight on top, and let it drain for 1 to 2 hours. The paneer will form as a solid form. You could also drain it in a cheese or tofu mold.

4) Use right away or refrigerate for up to 3 days.