Ghee: A step above clarified butter

If you've never made ghee, you need to, and I'm not just talking about for Indian food.  Yes, you can buy it, but why?  Why!  Once you make this clarified butter on steroids, you'll always want some in your fridge.  Imagine clarified butter that can be used at any temperature that tastes and smells nutty......You can use it for anything, but I simply love to fry eggs in it.  YUM!  And, it's easy!

Ghee
Place one (or more) pound of good quality unsalted  butter in a heavy bottomed pot.  Turn the heat to medium low.  As the butter melts, you will find foam rising to the top.  Skim off as much of this foam from the top as possible and discard (these are the milk solids).  Some will fall to the bottom.  Leave them alone. Over the course of about 45 minutes to 1 hour, you will start to see that these solids on the bottom of the pot have turned golden brown and when you smell the butter, it will smell distinctly nutty.  Besides skimming, you need do nothing until this point.  At this point, strain the butter and put into a storage container with a tight fitting lid, such as a jar.  Enjoy on nearly anything!

Roasted Pork Loin, carmelized onion, and escarole sandwich: Cornhole Extravaganza!

A group of my friends gathered last night to play some cornhole.  It's a weird name for a game, isn't it?  Almost feel dirty saying it.  Anyways, this is a game normally played outside as it involves lofting bean bags about 20 feet in the air and into a hole on a slanted board. Perhaps you've seen it being played. It's loads of fun, but I'm not very good at it.  The weather has been remarkably warm (thanks global climate change), so we decided to break out the boards at Mark's shop, which is in a quansit hut. 

Of course, this was an opportunity for me to cook.  And, as we were going to be in a woodworking shop, I decided to make something that could be eaten over a long period of time without need for heating or refrigeration.  Sandwiches!  Oh, my opportunity was here to make that lovely sandwich I had at Olympic Provisions back in December.  Just thinking about it makes my mouth water!

I made 2 batches of focaccia dough and made just one huge sandwich for folks to cut into hunks as they saw fit.  I actually made two parts to the sandwich.  2/3rds was the roasted pork loin with homemade mayonaise, escarole, and carmelized onions (YUM!), and 1/3 was hummus, feta cheese, calamata olives, cucumbers, red onions and tomatoes, for my vegetarian friends.  I layed the sandwich out on a big cutting board and left a knife there for folks to cut off their own hunks.  It was a huge success.  This sheet pan sized sandwich was enough to feed at least 12 folks. 

Also on our makeshift table was homemade onion dip (thin onion sliced dried out and browned in the oven mixed with 1 pt. sour cream, 1/2 cup homemade mayonaise, 1 t. "Better than Boullion" Vegetable base, salt and pepper),

I have copied parts of this recipe from my previous sandwich recipe in which I used chicken.  Trust me, the pork is where it is at (if you eat pork, that is).  This sandwich was not as good as the one I had in Portland, but was amazing all the same. I am guessing it was the pork I can have access to here in Central Illinois.  The pork in Portland was much more juicy. I hope you will enjoy it.


Focaccia (single recipe)

5 cups bread flour (I like King Arthur unbleached bread flour)
1 t.  salt  (not kosher here, but rather fine grained salt)
2 t. instant yeast
6 T.  olive oil
1 3/4 cups (8 oz.) water, at room temperature
1/4 cup olive oil
1 t. rosemary (dried is fine)

Directions
Using the stand mixer, stir together the flour, salt, and yeast using the paddle attachment.  Add 6T. olive oil and water and stir until combined.  Change over to the dough hook.  Knead on medium low speed for 7 minutes or until you form a smooth, sticky dough that clears the sides of the bowl but sticks to the bottom.

Sprinkle a 6 inch square of flour on your counter.  Place your dough on the square.  Stretch it out to this size.  Lift each side and fold over in thirds, like an envelope.  Walk away for 5 minutes to let the gluten in the dough relax.  

Stretch the dough to be twice its size and fold over as before, in thirds.  Mist with spray oil, sprinkle with flour, cover with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, repeat.

Let the dough ferment for one hour on your counter.  It should swell.  If your counters are stone, and it is winter, and if your house is cold like mine, this may take up to 3 or more hours depending on the temperature.  You will see pockets of bubbles on the surface of the dough when it is ready for the next step.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Drizzle with 2 T. olive oil. Lift the dough and place it on the parchment paper.  Put 2 T. olive oil on top of the rectangular dough.  Use your fingers to stretch it out until it is about 1/2 inch thickness.  Heavily dimple the surface with your fingers.  Sprinkle on the remaining 2 T. olive oil, 1 t. crushed dried rosemary, and 1/2 t. coarse sea salt.  Cover with plastic, or place in a plastic bag and let rest in the refrigerator (or on your cold porch) for at least 8 hours to retard the dough (this makes for a much more complexly flavored dough).  

3 hours before baking (or 6 if your kitchen is cold), redimple your dough and add more oil if desired.  Proof at room temperature for 3 hours or until about 1 inch thick.  Preheat your oven to 500 degrees with the oven in the middle position.  When the oven gets to temperature, put your focaccia in, lowering the temperature to 450 degrees.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Turn the pan 180 degrees and continue to bake until browned, about 5 minutes.

Immediately transfer the dough to a cooling rack.  Allow to cool for 20 minutes before slicing or serving.

Mayonnaise
1 egg
2 t. lemon juice
1/2 t. salt
1 t. white wine vinegar
1 t. Dijon mustard
2 cups canola oil

Directions
For this recipe, you'll need either a food processor, blender, or bowl and whisk.  It is almost foolproof with a food processor, but I've had some difficulty with my mayonnaise breaking when using a blender. I made this last week with the food processor after failing with the blender. It was super easy!  Place your egg and lemon juice in the processor.  Process for 5 seconds.  Add the salt, vinegar and mustard.  Process 5 more seconds.  Next, fill a 2 cup glass measuring cup.  If you have a small hole in the bottom of your plunger mechanism of the food processor, start the processor and begin to pour in the oil into the plunger. It will stream in the oil at the perfect speed.  Do this until all of the oil has been emulsified.  To do this with  the blender or in a bowl, follow the first set of instructions up to when you add the oil.  Then, very slowly, in a very thin stream, whisk or blend in the oil until emulsified. Homemade mayonnaise is amazing.  There is no replacement, particularly in something simple like this sandwich.

Pork Loin
1 t. canola oil
3 lbs. pork loin (whole loin, not tenderloin)
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper (fresh ground)

Directions
Turn your oven on to 300 degrees.  Heat up a roasting pan until it is smoking.  While pan is heating, rub the loin with oil, salt and pepper.  Tie every 1 1/2 inches for even cooking.
Place the loin in the hot pan.  Brown on all sides. Place browned loin in the oven and bake until it reaches 140 degrees internally.  Remove from oven and let it rest for at least 20 minutes.

Sandwich
3 medium onions, sliced to about 1/4 inch thick
2 t. olive oil
pinch of salt
Escarole
Mayonnaise
Focaccia

Directions
Carmelize your onions in the 2 t. olive oil until medium brown. 


Slice the pork into 1/3 inch slices. Shingle the pork onto the sandwich.  Put mayonaise on the bottom of the leftover piece of foccacia.  Put a generous amount of pepper on the meat, and add a sprinkling of good sea salt.  Top the sandwich with the bread and enjoy.

Note:  you can also make this sandwich in individual portions.  Just cut your foccacia into pieces that are about 4 x 5 inches then proceed as listed above. 


Put your foccacia in the oven to crisp it up on the outside (about 5 minutes).  For one huge sandwich, lay one (or 1/2 for a smaller sandwich) flat side up on a board.  Spoon on a nice coating of mayonaise.  Top with a full layer of escarole, carmelized onions.

An Indian Feast

I had the pleasure of planning and cooking an Indian feast for a benefit dinner for a wonderful local foods movement in Champaign called the Flatlander Food Foundry.  I planned on feeding 28 people, 20 of which would be donors and 8 helpers, but ended up only having 22.  It was still lovely.  The food was delicious, and the company gracious.

For the meal, I did copious amounts of research and spent quite a bit of time talking with my 83 year young father who is from Hyderabad, India.  Together we planned the meal to be a taste tour of Bombay and Hyderabad, our family's two landing spots.

For appetizers, on the table when people came in we had samosas and Bombay cashews, both lovely street foods.  For the main course, our primary dish was a chicken biryani, which is a signature dish of Hyderabad--one that you'll be hard pressed to find in the States done well.  It is tremendously time consuming and complicated, but is amazingly subtle in its flavor profile.  To go along side this mild dish we served some very flavorful and HOT dishes.  Included was naan (yes, made on the grill), a saag paneer which included spinach, but also kale and collard greens; murchi ka saalan (which is a mole-like thick curry of chiles, and yes, it's hot!); dahl makhani (a rich, creamy, hot lentil dish); tomato chutney; and to cool things off, a raita.  For dessert we served kheer, which is like an Indian rice pudding.

Overall, the meal was amazing.  Honestly, it took several days to make. On Thursday, I had 9 people helping me and we made all of the spice mixes, the ghee (clarified brown butter), and the yogurt.  I also cooked by myself Friday night for about 5 hours, and again on Saturday morning for another 4.  I had 5 wonderful helpers for 7 hours during the afternoon before the function.  This is not the kind of feast I would be able to put on by myself, but it was a wonderful exploration of my own culture and brought back wonderful memories of cooking with my father.

I will be adding individual recipes to the blog over the course of the next several days.  Though these dishes are complicated, they are delicious. I have made sure the recipes are translated correctly and are accurate to the traditions of India.  I hope you enjoy!

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

SOFIYANI BIRYANI

Adapted from Royal Hyderabadi Cooking

by S. Kapoor & H.S. Sokhi

Serves 6-8

2 lbs.  chicken on bones cut into 2-3 inch pieces (cut through bones), skinned

1-1/2 cups Basmati Rice, rinsed & soaked

12 Green Cardamoms

12 Cloves

4 one-inch stick cinnamon

1 ½  Cup Yogurt , whisked

2 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 Tbs Almond Paste

1 Tbs Ginger paste

1-Tbs Garlic Paste

2 Tbs Grated Khoya/mawa (find this refrigerated or frozen in Indian Market)

4 Green chillies cut into thin strips

   Salt to taste

1 tsp lemon Juice

6 Tbs. ghee

1 Tbs ginger & garlic Paste

1 Cup Milk

I  tsp green cardamom powder

2 Tbs Cream

Directions

Put 6 cardamom, 6 cloves, 2 cinnamon sticks, the yogurt, almond paste, 1 Tablespoon Ginger paste & 1 Tablespoon garlic paste, Khoya, green chillies, salt, lemon juice and 2 Tbs of ghee in a large bowl. Mix well until well combined.  Add the chicken pieces.  Mix to coat the chicken.  Add onions and mix.  Let marinade at least 4 hours, up to 5. 

After marinading, add chicken marinade to a large, heavy bottomed pot. Cover and cook  over low heat till the chicken is just tender, stirring every 10 minutes. (if you want to be fancy, and are using chicken breasts in addition to chicken with bones, remove the breast meat after marinading, then add to pot ten minutes into cooking so as to not overcook the breast meat.) Do not overcook.

In a separate pan, add 5 cups of water, salt, remaining ginger & garlic paste, remaining green cardamoms,

remaining cloves and remaining cinnamons and bring to boil. Add the rice and milk and cook till rice is three-fourths done (still slightly firm, kind of like al dente pasta).  Strain rice, reserving 1 cup of milk mixture. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 Spread a layer of chicken in a heavy bottomed, oven-proof pan with a tight fitting lid. Layer half the rice over the chicken.

Sprinkle half the cardamoms powder eand spread half the cream over the rice. Repeat th layers. Drizzle the remaining ghee around the edges of th pan. Use the handle of a wooden spoon to make a hole in the center of the layers.  Pour in reserved milk mixture.  Cover tightly with foil then the lid and bake for 30 minutes until rice is done.  

Serve hot.

Biryani is accompanied with Churri, a relish made with yogurt containing chopped fresh coriander, mint, green chilies and salt.

Hyderabadi Garam Masala

This is an amazing spice blend.  Like any spice mix, they vary from family to family.  This is the one my family (or at least my father) uses.  You will need a digital scale to make this recipe. Store it in a jar and it will last for a year.

Hyderabadi Garam Masala

100 gm. Coriander seeds

25 gm. Black cardamom seeds, weighed after removing seeds from pods

20 gm. Green Cardamom seeds, weighed after removing seeds from pods

20 gm. Black peppercorns

20 gm. Cloves

20 gm. Cinnamon stick

15 gm. Bay leaves

10 gm. Cassia buds (I couldn't find this so added 10 extra grams of cinnamon)

10 gm. Mace

10 gm. nutmeg

 Directions:

Grate the nutmeg and mace.  Set aside.  Put other spices into a mortar and pestle and break up into alike sized pieces.  Toast until fragrant in a medium hot, heavy bottomed skillet, moving constantly.  Set aside to cool. Grind all spices except for mace and nutmeg in a coffee or spice grinder.  Combine all spices and store in airtight container.

Dahl Makhani: A rich, delicious lentil dish

Dal Makhani

Serves 10-12 as side dish, 8-10 as main dish with rice

1 cups black urad dal (black whole dahl)

1/2 cup rajma or red kidney deans


½ cup channa dahl

½ cup chick peas

1 green cardamom


1 teaspoon cumin seeds


2 green chillie pepper
s

3 tablespoons ghee


1/2 onion, chopped


3 cups Makhani Masala, recipe below

2 or more cups water from the drained beans

3/4 cup cream


salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

Combine the two dahls.  Wash them and soak for at least 8 hours in cold water.  Combine the two beans together, wash and soak in cold water for at least 8 hours.  After soaking, drain, rinse, and cook the two batches separately in enough water to cover two times, until they are soft (times may vary between the two batches).  Keep in cooking water and set aside.

While the beans cook, make the makhani masala (or make in advance--recipe below).

Remove the cardamon seeds from the pods.  Place them in a hot heavy bottomed pan and toast them along with cumin seeds until they release their fragrance (should take just a few seconds).  Finely chop the green chillie peppers. 

In a deep, thick bottomed pot or dutch oven heat the ghee or oil. Add the cardamom, cumin seeds and the slit hot green chili peppers. After 30 seconds, add the onions, and cook them at medium heat until they are clear and soft. Add all of the drained beans (reserving liquid) and salt. Stir them together with the ghee or oil and the spices and cook for about 5 minutes at med-high heat.

Add in the Makhani Masala (recipe below). Stir everything together until the lentils/beans are well-coated with the sauce. Add water from the beans to make a soupy consistency.  Simmer the sauce at medium heat for about 20-40 minutes while stirring once in a while.  You want to cook this until the beans are slightly thickened.

Stir in the cream in the pot. Lower the heat. Cover, and cook for another 15 minutes.  Taste for salt and add as needed.

Makhani Masala/ (yields about 4 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup ginger paste


1/4 cup garlic paste


1 stick of cinnamon


4 black cardamom, seeds removed from pods

2 green cardamom, seeds removed from pods


1 tsp fenugreek or methi seeds


1 Tbsp kasoori/kasuri methi or dried fenugreek leaves


5-6  cups puréed fresh tomatoes (or 1 lg. (28 oz.) and one small can (14 oz.) whole tomatoes pureed in blender)


2 tsp red chili powder (optional)


1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder


Salt to taste


2 hot green peppers slit (optional)


1/4 cup melted butter or ghee

INSTRUCTIONS:

Crush the cinnamon and cardamom together (I used a coffee grinder), and set aside. Make a paste of the ginger and garlic (I use a food processor for this job).

Heat butter, ghee, or olive oil  & add cinnamon, cardamom and fenugreek seeds. Once the seeds start to sizzle, add ginger garlic paste, salt, chillie powder and stir and fry till ghee for 1 minute.

Add tomato purée, green chili, cinnamon powder and kasuri methi.

Cook/simmer and reduce the tomato sauce, till done or when the fat and the spice mix/masala leaves the sides of the pan and the oil separates. Make sure to half-cover the pan as the sauce will bubble and splatter.  Add heavy cream and milk. Boil/simmer for about 10 minutes.

Saag Paneer: Creamy greens with delicious fried cheese

Saag Paneer

Serves 12-15 as a side dish, 6-8 as a main dish

paneer made from 3 quarts whole milk, cut into ½ inch pieces (or you can buy paneer and cube it)

oil for frying cheese

2 lbs. spinach (not baby), washed, trimmed, and chopped

1/2 c. water

2 T. ghee (or olive oil, but really, use ghee)

2 green chiles (can use serranoes), seeded and finely chopped

1 1/2 inch piece ginger, ground to a paste

2 cloves garlic, ground to a paste

2 T. ground coriander

1 t. turmeric

2 t. ground cumin

1 t. ground fenugreek (or methi)

1/2 t. red pepper

2 lbs. other greens (mustard, beet, kale, swiss chard, etc.), stems removed and cut into 1 inch pieces

2 t. garam masala (see Hyderabadi garam masala recipe, or buy some at the Indian Market)

salt to taste

1/2 c. cream

Directions:

To make paneer, bring milk to a boil on medium heat in a heavy gage pan.  Once it begins to boil, add 2 T. white vinegar. The milk should immediately begin to separate. If it does not, add another tablespoon of vinegar.  Cook curds on low for 10 minutes, stirring very gently.  Pour liquid into 3 layers of cheesecloth in a colander.  Let drain for 10 minutes.  Gather sides of cheesecloth and let hang for 1 hour over a bowl.  Press cheese in cloth with a weight to remove more water for 1 hour.  Cut into cubes.  Shallow fry the cubes of cheese until they are lightly golden brown.  Do this on medium heat and turn as needed to fry on at least 2 sides.  Drain and set aside.

Cook spinach in water until slightly limp.  Cool and then puree in a blender.  Set aside.

Saute green chiles in ghee until softened.  Add garlic and ginger and sauté for another minute.  Add spices and cook an additional minute.  Add leftover greens and 1/2 cup water.  Cook until greens are soft, about 20 minutes.  Add the pureed spinach and fried paneer.  Cook for 10 minutes.  Add garam masala and taste for salt.

Raita: A cooling, simple yogurt relish

Raita
Makes 5 cups (enough for 20 people)

1 quart yogurt, drained through a coffee filter for 1 hour

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 English Cucumbers, finely chopped, lightly salted and drained for 1 hour

½  cup chopped cilantro

1 clove garlic, pasted

½ t. red pepper powder

Directions: after having drained the cucumbers, combine all ingredients and refrigerate.

Tomato Chutney: A delicious, spicy, and versatile accompaniment for most anything

This dish is unlike the chutneys you might be used to. It is not sweet, but rather very flavorful and spicy.  Feel free to adjust the amount of red pepper.  This recipe makes a spicy chutney that is an amazing accompaniment to any Indian dish. I also love it on toast with yogurt or just with basmati rice and a good Greek style yogurt or Labna.


Tomato Chutney

4 lbs tomatoes (canned are ok, in which case, 3 large (28 oz.) cans whole peeled tomatoes)

2 lbs. onions, thinly sliced

3 green chiles, finely chopped

2 T. ground ginger

1 ½  T. ground garlic

1 T. black mustard seeds

1 t. cayenne

3 T. ground coriander

1 1/2 T. cumin seeds, ground

¾  t. salt (to taste)

4 T. ghee

Heat oil until nearly smoking.  Add mustard seeds.  When they pop, add thinly sliced onions.  Cook until golden.  Add ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Add spices and cook 2 minutes, stirring.

Add tomatoes.  Cook for a few hours on low, adding water as needed.  Cook until the chutney is thick.  Serve hot or cold.

Murchi Ka Saalan: A very hot and flavorful pepper curry

Mirchi ka Saalan

(Hot Pepper Curry: Hyderabadi Style)

(Adapted From: P. Karan:  Hyderabadi Cuisine)

Serve 10-12 as a side dish 

½ lb. long green chillies (can use serranoes) slit in half, seeds and stems removed

2 red peppers

2 green peppers

6 anaheim peppers

2 onions, medium (10-12 oz), cut into 4-6 pieces each

1” piece (about 1 Tablespoon) ginger

5-6 garlic cloves (about 2 Tablespoons) skinned removed

1 tbs coriander seeds

1 tsp Cumin seeds

3 tbs sesame seeds

¼ cup peanuts

1½ tsp white poppy seeds

2 tbs desiccated unsweetened coconut

¼ tsp fenugreek seeds

¼ tsp turmeric powder

I tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp jaggery (gur or natural cane sugar)

75 gm seedless tamarind or 3 tbs of Concentrated Cooking Tamarind (from Thailand)

6 curry leaves

1 cup oil

Salt to taste

Wash green chillies, cut in half and remove seeds and stems. Cut all peppers (after seeding) into 1-2 inch pieces.

     

Soak seedless tamarind pulp in one cup of warm water. Mash and sieve to get tamarind water. As an alternate use 3tbs of Concentrated Cooking Tamarind dissolved in ½ cup of warm water.

Roast the onions on a griddle till they soften and turn a pale golden brown (or place them in the broiler and broil until lightly charred on all sides).

Dry roast together over medium heat coriander seeds, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, peanuts, poppy seeds, coconut and the fenugreek seeds till they darken lightly and start  emitting aroma.

Grind together the roasted onions and spices along with ginger, garlic, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, and jaggery into a fine paste. Mix with tamarind water.

Heat oil.  Fry all of the chillies in small batches until they have golden brown spots.  Remove to a colander to drain off excess oil.  

After all of the chilles have been fried, remove all oil except for 3 tablespoons (approximately).  Add curry leaves to the oil and after a few seconds add ground spices mixed in with tamarind water. Cook for 10 minutes and then add the fried green chillies. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add little water while cooking, in desired. Cook until the consistency of this dish is slightly on the thick side (about 20 minutes).

Serve this dish by spooning thick sauce over the peppers.