Indian Cooking 101
August 11, 2007 7:20 PM   Subscribe

Hooked On Heat is the two year old foodblog of Meena, daughter of a Malaysian mom & Indian father, with tons of recipes & food stories for those who love spice in their food; her recent series of posts, Indian Cooking 101 is a must read for those who love to eat Indian food and want to try it out at home.
posted by jonson (25 comments total) 69 users marked this as a favorite
 
Very nice! A sensible approach to what has always daunted me: Indian cooking is hard! I'm motivated to follow her recipes. Thanks.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 7:35 PM on August 11, 2007


This is great - I've been on an Indian food kick lately and wanted to try cooking some at home. My favorite: chana masala.
posted by pretzel at 7:42 PM on August 11, 2007 [1 favorite]


Previously
posted by johnny7 at 7:42 PM on August 11, 2007


well... more like "elsewhere" or "additionally" than previously. But yes, johnny7, thanks for pointing out additional resources for those interested.
posted by jonson at 7:47 PM on August 11, 2007 [1 favorite]


This website claims to be for Bachelor Cooking, but he doesn't mention a microwave. He does mention 'deep fry' which tells me he's obviously not a bachelor.

As for spicy food, that's what tabasco is for. My gf is trying to get me to cook for myself. Sounds too much like work. If I can't nuke it or get it from the drive-thru, it ain't edible.
posted by ZachsMind at 7:49 PM on August 11, 2007


sweet! thanks.
posted by janell at 8:38 PM on August 11, 2007


Wow, I can't wait to try some of those Indian recipes.
posted by ORthey at 8:41 PM on August 11, 2007


looks great, thanks!
posted by facetious at 9:03 PM on August 11, 2007


love the list of must have spices. so close, so close.
posted by Max Power at 9:09 PM on August 11, 2007


Why no "Curry" tag?
posted by Poolio at 9:22 PM on August 11, 2007


Oh whoa, this is an amazing blog.
posted by borkingchikapa at 9:58 PM on August 11, 2007


Oooh, excellent. And thanks for the chana masala recipe, pretzel. I love that stuff; time to try making it myself.
posted by infidelpants at 10:16 PM on August 11, 2007


That rice dumpling in the middle of the front page is reminding me of a rasgulla.
posted by hadjiboy at 10:27 PM on August 11, 2007


Great, now I can't stop thinking about rasgullas!
posted by hadjiboy at 10:30 PM on August 11, 2007


That rasgulla looks like galub jamun. Forgive my ignorance, hadjiboy - are they the same dish?
posted by jonson at 10:52 PM on August 11, 2007 [1 favorite]


jonson: despite spanish-sounding handle, I'm East Indian and can answer that...

the answer is no; rasgullas are milk-based and served in syrup where gulab jamun are sort of donutty and are glazed similarly.

or at least that's how my mom does them.
posted by heeeraldo at 12:29 AM on August 12, 2007


A little OT, but here's a similar resource for thai cooking with ingredients and gear available by mail order. Their affiliated store in NYC flies in their basil, kafir lime leaves and - best of all - fresh (not canned) curry pastes weekly. I can say that their recipes compare favorably to those where I studied, the Chaing Mai Cookery School. Now if someone could just find me an idiot-proof way to make South Indian dosa at home, I could die a happy man.
posted by digitalprimate at 5:15 AM on August 12, 2007 [1 favorite]


Oh, sorry, I forgot to add previously. First post, not enough coffee yet.
posted by digitalprimate at 5:19 AM on August 12, 2007


thanks for proving that the internet is NOT for porn, the internet is for RECIPES. Wonderful! Thanks!
posted by nax at 6:28 AM on August 12, 2007


This is good.
posted by fatllama at 7:46 AM on August 12, 2007


Cool jonson. I have been on an Indian cooking kick lately too. If you don't have the time to make from scratch, these maya kaimal sauces are surprisingly good and easy. And easy to doctor up with chutney and toasted coconut and raisins, etc... The vindaloo and classic korma are my faves.
posted by vronsky at 3:05 PM on August 12, 2007 [2 favorites]


As for spicy food, that's what tabasco is for.
Tabasco?? Try some Sriracha.
posted by briareus at 2:41 PM on August 13, 2007


ZachsMind writes "As for spicy food, that's what tabasco is for."

Yeah, if you want all of your spicy food to taste vinegary.
posted by Bugbread at 2:51 PM on August 13, 2007


Slight correction to heeeraldo's answer.

Rasgulla's are made out of something the locals call chena; it is similar to cottage cheese, and is made by addding citrus to milk and harvesting the curds. I am not sure all the magic that happens from that point, but the cheese is made into round spheres and soaked in flavored sugar syrup. It has a spongy texture and is eaten at room temperature or even cold. This generally tends to be bought from outside rather than made at home, at least within my circle.

Gulab jamuns (literal transalation: rose plum) is made out of a mixture of milk solids and a little bit of flour which is shaped into munchkin sized balls and deep fried to a golden brown and then soaked in a sugar syrup flavoured with rose essence. They have a very soft and tender texture that will melt in your mouth; when made properly that is. This is often made from home, and several shortcuts involving milk powder exist.
posted by rasputin98 at 1:35 PM on August 15, 2007


Despite what she says about all the "staple" ingredients being easy to find, finding garam masala at a grocery store has so far stymied my desire to make my own Indian dishes. I don't want to lightly toast the various spices and grind them up in a mortar and pestle - where can I just buy the stuff?

(maybe I should check AskMe, huh?)
posted by yhbc at 1:54 PM on August 15, 2007


« Older Mash-ups that Rock   |   Multiplayer Jellybattle Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments