Entice With Spice. Shubhra Ramineni

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СКАЧАТЬ The pods are discarded. To shell peas, pry open the pod at the seam with your fingers and remove the peas out of the pod. Wash the peas before using them.

Cutting a Head of Cauliflower

      The first time I prepared fresh cauliflower at home without my mother by my side, I wasn’t sure how to cut it. For those new to using fresh cauliflower, here are instructions for preparing it for use in the recipes in this book.

      1 Pull away the green leaves and discard. Using a small knife, gently scrape away any brown marks on the cauliflower head.

      2 Slice off the stem at the bottom of the cauliflower head and discard. (see Tip)

      3 Turn the head upside down so that is stem-side up. Insert a small knife inside the head to cut off the florets from all around the internal stem (core).

      4 Cut all the loose florets into bite-size pieces.

      5 Place the florets in a colander and wash with cold water.

      TIP If you’re averse to wasting any part of an ingredient, as my mom is, don’t discard the cauliflower stems. If you’re cooking 3 or 4 heads of cauliflower, you can peel, slice and sauté them for a “cauliflower stem” dish. Alternatively, if you’re preparing just one head, you can peel the stem, cube it and cook it along with the cauliflower florets in the same dish. You can even munch on peeled cauliflower stem matchsticks as a raw vegetable crudité. The outside stem, which looks like a thick stump and has thick skin, should be peeled and chopped but the internal stem (core) does not need to be peeled before chopping and eating.

      Peeling and Chopping or Mincing Garlic

      To chop or mince fresh garlic, first pry off a clove with your finger or by carefully using the tip of a small knife. Place the clove on a cutting board and lay the side of a chef’s knife flat on a clove with the blade facing away from you. Then, firmly push down on the knife to smash the clove, which makes it easy to remove the papery white peel. After removing the peel, mince or chop the clove with a chef’s knife. You can also use a garlic press, which is quick (and with some presses you don’t even need to take the peel off!), but the downside is that it is hard to clean since the garlic gets stuck in it. You can also keep the cloves whole and slice into them to help release their flavor (this technique is used in the recipe for Green Lentil Dal Stew (page 89) but it can be used in other recipes as well). My mother actually just coarsely chops the cloves since that is quicker but then you run the risk of biting into a piece of garlic, so I prefer to mince it instead.

      Peeling and Deveining Shrimp

      If the head is not already removed, using your fingers, hold the head in one hand and the body in the other and gently twist off the head and discard.

      1 Remove the shell and legs from the body by grabbing a part of the shell at the bottom side of the body by the head end of the shrimp. Pull up the shell and lift it up and away towards the tail end and discard.

      2 If you are removing the tail, hold the body of the shrimp with one hand and grab the tip of the tail with your fingers and gently squeeze it as you pull it off. Discard the tail shell.

      3 To expose the vein (the digestive tract, which also may have sand and grit in it), using a small knife, make a shallow cut on the topside of the body from the head end to the tail end. The vein will look like a thin dark tube running the length of the body of the shrimp.

      4 Using the tip of a small knife or your fingers, lift out the vein and discard. Make sure to scrape out any remaining parts of the vein if it breaks.

      Peeling and Grating Ginger

      I find grating ginger to be faster than mincing it and it provides fine shreds that evenly disperse flavor in a dish. Using the sharp edge of a small knife or even the edge of a small spoon, scrape off the thin tan skin from the amount you want to grate. Grate it using a Microplane or the small holes on a box grater. Sometimes my mother chops ginger into small pieces instead of grating it but I prefer to always grate it because I do not like to bite into a piece of ginger, although some people may enjoy its strong taste straight up!

      Blanching Almonds

      Blanching almonds is the process of removing their brown skin. To blanch almonds, place them in a small bowl of water and microwave them at medium heat for 30 seconds. Let them cool down and then remove the skin with your fingers (the skin should slip off easily). You can also boil them on the stove-top for 2 minutes. Let them cool down and then peel off the skin. Alternatively, let the almonds sit overnight in small bowl of water. In the morning, the almonds will be puffed up and tender and the skin can easily be removed. To sliver the blanched almonds, carefully use a paring knife and thinly slice the almonds lengthwise. The almonds will split apart as you sliver them. My mother tells me eating almonds improves your memory and that it is good to eat a few daily.

      Freezing, Refrigerating and Reheating Methods

      Once you get the hang of cooking Indian food, you can quickly prepare many of the appetizers, main dishes and desserts days, or even a month, in advance! Yes, a month! The trick is either freezing or refrigerating the food and then reheating it so it will taste just like it was freshly made. Some foods, like rice, reheat great in the microwave without altering taste or texture. Reheating food is a great way to save time and reduce stress on a hectic day or simply during the busy work week. My mom usually does most of the week’s cooking on Sunday and refrigerates the food so dinner simply needs to be heated up after she comes home from work. It also works great when you are having a party or a get-together. On the day your guests arrive, all you have to do is reheat the food you already cooked days in advance and you can spend more time getting yourself ready for the party! For each recipe, I have indicated whether it can be made in advance, refrigerated or frozen along with tips on how to reheat the food. I have also indicated when prep work such as boiling a potato or making dough for breads can be done in advance, which leaves you more time to get straight to the cooking and eating part when ready.

       REFRIGERATING AND REHEATING

      Most of the dishes in this book will stay fresh in the refrigerator for at least up to three days. However, there are some dishes that taste best when cooked and served immediately and are not recommended for reheating. When you’re ready to refrigerate a dish, allow the freshly cooked food to cool to room temperature and then place in a covered container in the refrigerator. When you are ready to eat the refrigerated food, you can heat up the food in a saucepan or skillet on the stovetop over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally until the food is warmed up. You can also use a microwave to reheat food but I find it alters the taste and texture for certain foods such as meat, fish, seafood and egg dishes so I prefer the stovetop for these. For recipes that suggest reheating in an oven, you can use a toaster oven to reheat small quantities of food to save energy. However for some rice and vegetable dishes, the microwave is actually the best and easiest way to reheat the food without altering the taste and I will specify that in those recipes. You may notice that some of the curried dishes once refrigerated become thicker than when they were first cooked and still hot. Usually curried food will thicken when chilled but when reheated, it will return to its original consistency. If the food is still thicker after being reheated, simply add some water to thin it out. When reheating the drier sautéed (versus curry style) dishes or rice, it’s best to sprinkle a few drops of water on the food before reheating it so it does not dry out.

       FREEZING AND REHEATING

      With the exception СКАЧАТЬ