Indian in August!

Hi all (3 of you)!  Sorry for the super looong hiatus.  It's pretty much all my fault.  

We did not end up doing the "dining in the dark" theme because none of us could think of particularly good foods to do, but rest assured, now that we have all been exposed to the idea, we will all keep it in the back of our minds, ready to notice the perfect foods when they make themselves known.  

I then changed the theme to be Melon and we were all set to go, and then the day of the event, I ended up with some stomach bug and so we post-poned.

I decided to change the theme yet again because I wasn't particularly ecstatic about the dish I chose, and Melons weren't particularly in season as they were before, AND I finally found a great Chicken Tikka Masala recipe, so I had to do Indian before someone else took it!  Jay and I love Indian food.  We actually went out for Indian on our first date <3

I think everything turned out rather well! The Chicken Tikka Masala may not be exactly authentic, but it tasted great to me, and more similar to the one at Bombay House than any other recipe I've tried.  (and I've tried many...)  It's relatively easy too, and it's great for summer because the chicken is grilled.  I will say, though, that I hate grilling chicken on skewers (it's such a pain to flip them!) so I just cut my chicken into long skinny strips for the grill and then cut them up to bite-sized with my wooden spoon when I added them to the sauce.

I also made my own Naan- it's not actually that hard, the trickiest part being getting the setting on your stove just right so you don't burn them.  I just used regular all-purpose flour.

Lindsay made the Samosas from a recipe I've tried in my Moosewood cookbook.  It is a really awesome vegetarian cookbook, for anyone interested.  It's really old and everything in it is hand-written and hand-drawn.  I always have quite a bit of extra filling when I'm done, but that's fine with me because it's delicious by itself and actually makes great baby food.

Vegetable Samosas
from Moosewood Cookbook pg. 155

1 hour to prepare (before frying)                    4 or 5 servings as main

These are turnovers with a yogurt pastry and a curried vegetable filling.  They are deep fried until golden and crisp, and served immediately.  You can assemble them several hours in advance, storing them in refigeration until frying time.  Serve them with chutney and plenty of raita (both of these in Sauce Chapter) and chunks of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables.

Filling:
    2 lg potatoes, cooked and mashed
    1 c finely-minced onion
    2 med. cloves crushed garlic
    ½ t fresh-grated ginger root
    ½ t mustard seeds
    ½ t ground coriander
    ½ c diced carrots, cooked until just tender
    ½ c cooked green peas (cayenne pepper to taste)
    1 t. salt
    juice from ½ lemon
    2-3 T butter

Heat butter in heavy skillet.  Add garlic, ginger, onion, salt and mustard seeds.  Saute 6-8 min, or until onion is soft and clear.  Combine all ingredients, except peas, and mix well.  Fold in peas last, taking care not to smash them.

Pastry & Procedure:
    2 c white flour
    1 t salt
    4 T melted butter
    ⅓ c yogurt
    water (<= ¼ c)

Sift together flour and salt.  Add melted butter, yogurt, and enough water to make a stiff dough.  Knead until smooth and elastic.  Roll out very thin ( ¼ -inch) on a floured board and cut into 4-inch circles.  Keep rolling and cutting until you’ve used all the dough.  PLace a T of filling (approximately... You might be able to fit more in.) in the center of each circle,leaving edges free.  Brush edges with a little water, fold over, and seal with a fork.

Heat a 3-inch pool of vegetable, safflower or soy oil in a heavy skillet to about 365 degrees.  Make sure the oil is hot enough (it should bounce a drop of water on contact.) Fry samosas until golden.  Drain well and serve.

Melissa made the Lassi's for a kind of dessert (in our experience, Indian desserts aren't that great...)  I've never heard of strawberry lassi's before but it was really good.  Melissa made two batches, the first with cinnamon instead of cardamom, and the second with cardamom.  Surprisingly, I think we all liked it better with cinnamon, though I would never think to put those two together.

All in all, we left stuffed and completely satisfied.