Comments on: Indian Cooking 101

Indian Cooking 101

jonson — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 19:20:23 -0800

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.

By: Turtles all the way down

Turtles all the way down — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 19:35:13 -0800

Very nice! A sensible approach to what has always daunted me: Indian cooking is hard! I'm motivated to follow her recipes. Thanks.

By: pretzel

pretzel — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 19:42:23 -0800

This is great - I've been on an Indian food kick lately and wanted to try cooking some at home. My favorite: chana masala.

By: johnny7

johnny7 — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 19:42:43 -0800

Previously

By: jonson

jonson — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 19:47:06 -0800

well... more like "elsewhere" or "additionally" than previously. But yes, johnny7, thanks for pointing out additional resources for those interested.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 19:49:56 -0800

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.

By: janell

janell — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 20:38:38 -0800

sweet! thanks.

By: ORthey

ORthey — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 20:41:59 -0800

Wow, I can't wait to try some of those Indian recipes.

By: facetious

facetious — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 21:03:25 -0800

looks great, thanks!

By: Max Power

Max Power — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 21:09:57 -0800

love the list of must have spices. so close, so close.

By: Poolio

Poolio — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 21:22:16 -0800

Why no "Curry" tag?

By: borkingchikapa

borkingchikapa — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 21:58:00 -0800

Oh whoa, this is an amazing blog.

By: infidelpants

infidelpants — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 22:16:11 -0800

Oooh, excellent. And thanks for the chana masala recipe, pretzel. I love that stuff; time to try making it myself.

By: hadjiboy

hadjiboy — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 22:27:52 -0800

That rice dumpling in the middle of the front page is reminding me of a rasgulla.

By: hadjiboy

hadjiboy — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 22:30:25 -0800

Great, now I can't stop thinking about rasgullas!

By: jonson

jonson — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 22:52:12 -0800

That rasgulla looks like galub jamun. Forgive my ignorance, hadjiboy - are they the same dish?

By: heeeraldo

heeeraldo — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 00:29:30 -0800

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.

By: digitalprimate

digitalprimate — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 05:15:39 -0800

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.

By: digitalprimate

digitalprimate — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 05:19:04 -0800

Oh, sorry, I forgot to add previously. First post, not enough coffee yet.

By: nax

nax — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 06:28:56 -0800

thanks for proving that the internet is NOT for porn, the internet is for RECIPES. Wonderful! Thanks!

By: fatllama

fatllama — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 07:46:23 -0800

This is good.

By: vronsky

vronsky — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 15:05:47 -0800

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.

By: briareus

briareus — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:41:03 -0800

As for spicy food, that's what tabasco is for. Tabasco?? Try some Sriracha.

By: Bugbread

Bugbread — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:51:54 -0800

ZachsMind writes "As for spicy food, that's what tabasco is for." Yeah, if you want all of your spicy food to taste vinegary.

By: rasputin98

rasputin98 — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:35:42 -0800

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.

By: yhbc

yhbc — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:54:30 -0800

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?)