******************************************************************************** Black Caradamon: Indian name: kali elaichi, bigillachi The pods should be crunched a little before usage. Most people won't like to eat them as a whole, so you should just crunch them a little, so that the pod opens, but does not get divided in several chunks. The robust aroma of black cardamom can improve nearly any heavily-spiced dish. I consider in more suitable for meat dishes, but it is also *very* good for rice. There are a lot of people that do not like the smoky flavour. I can't help them .... :-) Beef Curry (Masala Gosht) Make a purre of 2 tomato(e)s (I am *no* vice president, however, I'm not sure how to write them), 8 cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh ginger and 150 g Yoghurt. Cut 1 kg of beef (to my taste, pork is also good; but don't mix it!) in about 3 cm cubes and fry it with little (3 tablespoons of) oil (You know, heat the oil and when very hot, add the meat). When it is brown on the surface, remove it from the pan and put it aside. Add more oil (3 tablespoons again) in the pan and fry 3 chopped onions until transparent. Then add the following spices: 8 pods of black cardamom, 8 cloves, 2 teaspoons turmeric and red chilly powder to taste (I would suggest about half a tablespoon for a mild dish or the double amount to make it tasty, if you have an average-heated chilly). After one minute (stirring!) add 1 tablespoon of salt and the youghurt-tomatoe-purree. Heat for about 5 minutes; the sauce will become thick in that time and will possibly spit around. Pour that sauce over the meat and bake all in an oven (about 160 degree [of cource celsius, I'm from Europe...], pre-heat the oven so that it is hot when you enter the meet) for about one or two hours. The dish is ready when the sauce has got a very thick texture and the meat is not red inside. This dish becomes better on waiting; let it rest for several hours at room temperature [which is 20 degree in my case] or at least overnight in the refrigerator (sp?). Before serving, add some garam masala or roasted powdered cumin. ******************************************************************************** Nigella seeds Indian name: kalonji (some orthographic variations possible) Do not mix it up with Black Cumin, an entirely different plant, which is not really black, but only dark brown. Though they taste slightly bitter if you try them pure, no one ever has made any bad comment about it in a dish. The aroma becomes stronger if the seeds are roasted (like mustard seed, cumin, coriander, fenugreek). Nigella seeds have a fine aroma that is easily lost in spicy dishes. I use it mainly for vegetables. This recipe required paneer (chenna), the so-called Indian cheese. You can prepare it easily by adding some acid (e.g., vinegar) to boiling milk. The white precipitate is filtered, washed und dried (you have to place it somewhere so that the water can drop off). If this seems too complicated, you can also use cottage cheese or ricotta. Stuffed Aubergines (Bhara Paneer Baigan): (Amounts are for one aubergine) Cut the aubergine in 2 parts (in meridional direction, not aequatorially) and hollow them out. Chop the pulp. Fry one chopped onion for three minutes in 2 tablespoons of oil. Add one tablespoon finely chopped ginger and two teaspoons of nigella seeds. Fry for 2 minutes. Add red chilly powder to taste (the dish should not be hot, so take not more that 1 teaspoon, perhaps less) and two teaspoons of ground coriander seeds. After a few seconds, add the pulp of the aubergine. Reduce heat and cook for ca. 7 min. Add one chopped tomatoe and ca. 120 g paneer, cook for a minute, switch off the heat and add 1 teaspoon of salt and one tablespoon of lemon juice. Fill the aubergine halves with that mixture, place them in a pot (?), cover with aluminium foil and heaat in the (preheated) oven at 190 degree for 30 min. Remove aluminium foil and heat for 15 min. These aubergines are a perfect appetizer, but go also well as main dish. Serve them immediately or at room temperature; do not re-heat them. ******************************************************************************** Asa fetida Indian name: heeng This spice polarizes people: Some love it and some hate it. The following recipe has a subtle taste if properly done, but, it can become a problem to use the right amount of asa fetida. The problems with dosage arise from the fact that it is available in two different forms, very different in their spicing power. Asa fetida is in principle a gum. It's the resin of a fennel-like plant growing from Persia to India. It is smooth and elastic, so you cannot grind it. Some vendors mix it with flour to produce a powder which can be easily used; normal amount of usage is one teaspoon, or slightly less, but of course it varies widely in strength, depending on the amount of flour added. I suggest three quarters of a teaspoon for the recipe below. But the pure resin is much more concentrated, and it tastes much better. Maybe you can get it in a pharmaceutical shop ("asa foetida in massa"). Be *very* careful when using it, for you can most easily overpower any taste in your dish! A pea-sized amount is very *LARGE* and is enough to flavour several kilograms of food! For the present recipe, I use about 10 to 20 cubic millimeters, this is not even 0.05 grams! There is a fine method of dosage: Store your asa fetida in a cup together with pine nuts, and use the pine nuts as a spice. Asa fetida should always be fried. No you should not add it to a boling aquous dish, but fry it in little oil for a few seconds. This procedure will improve the taste of the powdered product; it is absolutely nessecary for the resin, because it dissolves only in hot fat. Most books say that asa fetida is never to be combined with onion or garlic. It is used for vegetaric as well as for meat dishes. Like all Indian rice dishes, the following will taste best with basmati rice. If you cannot get it, any long grained rice will be acceptable, but never use round-grained, gluey (?) rice. The fresh curry leaves are not always easily available. Substuting by fresh basil leaves goes well, at least better than using dried curry leaves, which do not have any taste at all. Lemon rice (Elumbuchupayam Shaadam) Soak a third cup of yellow half peas in water, for at least 2 hours. They will increase in volume, so cover them with enough water. Remove the water and dry the peas with a paper towel or something like that. Fry the peas in 4 tablespoons of hot oil until they become a little brown (not black!). Add dried red chillies to taste; the dish should have some sting, so I think 5 to 10 chillies should be a fair amount (not, if you use habaneros, of course). Fry for a minute (nothing should turn really black!), and then add asa fetida, 1 teaspoon of turmeric and 1.5 tablespoons of chopped ginger. Fry ans stir for 20 seconds (if you use asa fetida resin, make sure that is dissolves completely). Add one third of a cup of lemon juice and 8-10 curry leaves. Wait until everything is warm and add two cups of cooked rice. Add salt to taste. Bring to boil and let then rest for 10 minutes. Before serving, add one half cup of cashew nuts (roastes and broken in small pieces). This fresh-tasting, sour pilaw is a fine dish in summer, together with a yoghurt salad. ******************************************************************************** Ajwain, often confused with lovage, but different! Indian name: ajwain Ajwain is related to fennel, caraway, cumin etc., but it is much smaller than these. The seed has a similar size and shape like celery seeds. The taste is strong and reminds to thyme. Usage is mainly for potatoes and lentils. However, I personally think that it is also very good for fish. The following recipe is normally prepared with clarified butter (ghee). For those hysteric on cholesterol, vegatable oil is certainly possible, but will give a much less tasty product. Usage of ordinary butter is possible, but you have to be extremely careful for it turns black and bitter very fast. Lentile Curry (Masar Dal) Cook 500 g of red lentiles with a half teaspoon of turmeric powder in as little water as possible. Normally, this is the equal volume, but if you have spent much time on washing the lentiles, use less water for cooking. It is always possible to add more water during cooking; when they loose their raw taste, they should not have lost their shape completely, and no water should be left. Melt the ghee in a pan and let it become very hot. Add one teaspoon of black mustard seeds. They will pop up and jump through the kitchen, so cover the pan and wait for a minute. Then remove from heat; the ghee should now be hot enough for the further frying of spices. Wait until the jumping ends and add one teaspoon of cumin seeds. Stir, wait until the cumin has become a little bit darker and add huge amounts (at least 8 cloves, no upper limit) of garlic. Fry until the smell changes from "raw" to "cooked". Add 1.5 teaspoons of ajwain seeds, stir, and add the cooked lentiles as fast as possible (though ajwain needs a few seconds in the heat, it looses flavour rapidly on longer heating). Wait until everything is warm and serve. Enjoy it! Gernot Katzer ---- katzer@bkfug.kfunigraz.ac.at Dera Captain Steve: Here they are, sorry for the delay. Fresh Pear Tart (From the Moosewood Cookbook) A good nutmeggy recipe. Serves 4-6 1 unbaked 10-inch pie shell Custard: 6 tbsp unbleached white flour 1/2 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated 3/4 cup butter 2/3 cup sugar 3 eggs 1 tsp pure vanilla or almond extract Sift flour and nutmeg. Melt butter. Remove it from heat and add sugar. Whisk in flour-nutmeg mixture. Stir in eggs, one at a time, then extract. At this point custard should be thick and smooth. Cut pears into eighths, lengthwise. Core slices and arrange them in pie shell. Cover with custard. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 mi. until custard is firm and golden. (The pears will rise to the surface during cooking). PINE NUTMEAT WITH HERB STUFFING (From Rose Elliot's Gourmet Vegetarian Cooking, slightly modified) An absolutely delicious recipe, even for non-vegetarians... Serves 6 butter and dried breadcrumbs for lining loaf tin 25g (1oz) butter 1 onion, peeled and chopped 225g (8 oz) pine nuts or a mixture of pine nuts, ground almonds and cashew nuts, grated 4 tbsp milk 125g (4oz) soft, white, breadcrumbs 2 eggs salt and pepper grated nutmeg For the stuffing: 175 (6 oz) soft breadcrumbs, white or brown 125g (4 oz) butter grated rind and juice of 1/2 small lemon 1/2 tsp dried marjoram 1/2 tsp dried thyme 4 heaped tbsp fresh parsley, chopped salt and pepper water To Finish: 2 tbsp pine nuts, lightly roasted parlsey sprigs lemon slices Set the oven to 180 C (350 F), gas mark 4. Line a 450g (1 lb) loaf tin with a long strip of silicon paper to cover the narrow sides and base of the tin; grease very well with butter and sprinkle with dried breadcrumbs. Melt the butter ina medium-sized saucepan and fry the onion for 10 minutes until soft but not browned. Take the saucepan off the heat and mix in the rest of the ingredients, seasoning well with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Next make the stuffing by frying the breadcrumbs in the butter, adding the rest of the ingredients and then adding water until mixture is soft and moist. To assemble the loaf, first spoon half the nut mixture into the prepared tin, then smooth the top of the mixture. Add the stuffing by spoonfuls, smooth the surface, then add the rest of the nut mixture. Smooth the surface, cover with buttered foil and bake for 1 hour. After this, remove the foil and have a look at the nutmeat; if it needs browning on top, put it back in the oven, uncovered, for a further 5-10 minutes. If possible, leave the loaf for 3-4 minutes after you take it out of the oven to 'settle'. Then slip a knife down the sides of the loaf, turn it out of the tin onto a warm serving dish and strip off the piece of silicon paper. Garnish with the roasted nuts, parsley and lemon. Serve in slices. This is delicious served with roast potatoes and a green vegetable or salad. Makes a good vegetarian alternative to turkey at Christmas.