Cooking with Pushpa: Class 1

I have decided that while living in India, I really need to learn something Indian. Why not cooking? Paul and I love to cook and bake--it's our favorite hobby and lately mine since he has been working so much. Mastering Hindi would take me many years, so I have decided to concentrate my efforts on cooking. My maid, Pushpa, loves to cook and since I am paying her to clean, I might as well take some cooking lessons from her as well. Wednesday is the day we have scheduled as cooking class day. Today, Pushpa taught me two of my favorite dishes--chicken masala and cabbage subzi (Maharastrian style, of course). At the end of our lesson, she once again taught me chapati. Terrified to roll out the dough out into the shape of India, I let Pushpa gently show me how to roll the chapati into the perfect circle. She has vowed that next week J and I will have to bring our own chapati boards and make the chapati ourselves. And hey, what better way to learn?

We begin with our first dish, cabbage subzi.

Cabbage Subzi
Ingredients:

• 1 small head green cabbage, shredded
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 2 green chilies, cut lengthwise and chopped fine
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 1 tablespoon jeera, or cumin, seeds
• 3 curry leaves
• 1 tablespoon garlic and ginger paste
• 1/2 half of small tomato, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut, fresh if possible
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves
• A pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Finely shred the cabbage as Pushpa shows below.
2. Add 4 tablespoons of oil to a medium pan and heat. We use sunflower oil when cooking Indian food.
3. Add the jeera (or cumin) seeds, 3 curry leaves, and saute for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add the onion, garlic and ginger paste, and saute for 5 minutes.
5. Add the 1/2 chopped tomato, chilies, and saute for 10 minutes.
6. Add the turmeric powder and saute for 2 minutes. We now have what is called a masala in Indian culinary vocabulary. A photo of the masala is shown below.
7. Now, add the cabbage and a pinch of salt to the masala. Mix the cabbage and masala together over medium heat with a spoon.
8. Add 1/2 of the total amount of freshly chopped coriander and saute for 5 minutes more.
9. Remove from heat and place in serving dish.
10. Add the remaining freshly chopped coriander and shredded coconut as garnish to the dish.

Chicken Masala (Do not expect what you get at Priya, and 10 times more fresh tasting!)

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 tomatoes, boiled whole to remove the skin
• 6-7 curry leaves
• 3 green chilies
• 2 medium red onions, grated
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon of garlic and ginger paste
• 1 tablespoon jeera, or cumin, seeds
• 1/4 fresh coconut, sliced
• 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/2 kilogram (1 pound) chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/4 cup coriander powder
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1/4 cup freshly chopped coriander leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon, rounded, garam masala

Directions:

1. Heat 1/3 cup oil in a medium sized pan over medium heat.
2. Add 3 1/2 whole tomatoes to boiling water, reduce heat to low and simmer, until skin shrivels and will peel easily from flesh.
3. In blender, puree 1 cup of water, 1 tablespoon jeera seeds, sliced coconut, 1/8 teaspoon turmeric powder, 2-3 curry leaves, and 3 green chilies. Keep blender going until noted a few steps below.
4. Break 1 cinnamon stick into small pieces and saute in oil for 1-2 minutes.
5. Add the grated onion and saute for 5 minutes.
6. Add 1 tablespoon of garlic and ginger paste, 4-5 curry leaves, and saute for a few minutes.
7. Now, stop the blender. Add the mixture from the blender to the masala and cook for 20 minutes.
8. Remove tomatoes from water and peel the skin from the flesh.
9. Place tomatoes in blender. Puree the tomatoes, and then add them to the masala.
10. Add the chicken to the masala and cook for 5 minutes.
11. In a bowl, combine 1/4-1/2 turmeric powder, 1/4 cup ground coriander powder, 1 tablespoon curry powder, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, and 1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves. After the chicken has cooked for 5-7 minutes, add this mixture to the masala.
12. Simmer for 20 minutes.
13. Add a rounded 1/2 tablespoon of garam masala to the chicken mixture and saute for 2 minutes, then serve.

Chapati

Ingredients:

• 1 cup atta (whole wheat flour)
• water
• oil

Directions:

1. Slowly add water to the atta in a mixing bowl.
2. Knead flour and water into a ball. Add more water and atta if needed.
3. Drizzle 1/2 cap oil into dough and knead a little more.
4. Pinch off a small ball of the dough.
5. Flour rolling pin and board.
6. Roll dough from center outward toward the edge of the rolling board.
7. Keep moving the dough to obtain a round circle.
8. Drizzle a little oil onto a pan.
9. Place dough in the pan and keep turning to prevent chapati from burning.
10. When browned, the chapati is done.
11. Repeat until you have made enough chapati. This recipe will make about 15 chapati.

After we finished making chapati, Pushpa decided to make Lily a baby chapati. Lily loves chapati. Apparently, chapati and milk are the staples to an Indian dogs diet. Here Lily is after her chapati very content with herself, though she was extremely naughty this morning.


Next week, we will make chana ki daal (lentil stew) and mushroom masala.