October 17, 2006 – 5:54 am
My mind often wanders while I sit at my filthy work desk, under a paper mountain that doubles up as an incredibly sophisticated filing system. I imagine myself in a cotton kurta, with my hair in a bun. A rolling pin in one hand, I wipe the beads of sweat off my face while diligently shaping the [...]
October 15, 2006 – 11:45 am
As the days go by, I am spurred on to help identify real Indian food from mass produced junk. As a Bengali from Kolkata, I think it’s a good idea to start with a bit on the cuisine from back where I belong.
Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) is the capital of West Bengal, the Indian state to [...]
October 9, 2006 – 3:01 am
Chillies are the life and soul of a hearty Indian meal. You don’t necessarily have to overdo it until smoke comes out of your ears, but without a touch of chilli, dishes seem incomplete. Like latte without a sprinking of chocolate powder or potato wedges without ketchup. You get my drift…
There is a [...]
October 6, 2006 – 12:14 pm
On my way back from work this evening, I picked up a copy of thelondonpaper. I was drawn to the interesting recipe for arroz negro listed in a column titled “fast supper”.
It needed rice, onion, garlic, fish stock (so far so good), lobster (tricky) and squid ink. Squid ink? Quick recipe?
Sometimes I would like a [...]
September 26, 2006 – 1:17 am
Sorry for the slightly cheesy title, but cooking oils are an important part of Indian cooking.
Many people who love Indian food don’t cook it at home because they think it’s fatty. It doesn’t have to be. But you can’t really cook Indian food without oil. This is because most recipes need you to start with [...]
September 25, 2006 – 1:18 am
Normally, I would cook Indian on Sunday evening for dinner, freezing the leftovers for a rainy day. But Sunday night was a write off.
Seven of us ladies met in Soho for a friend’s hen night. It seemed like a good idea to do shots with her before Mr Gay Latin America UK turned up to [...]
September 23, 2006 – 12:30 pm
My first lesson is on changing your views about cooking Indian food.
While the love affair with Indian food grows stronger every day, there is still a real resistance to cooking it at home. People seem to think it’s time-consuming, complicated, unhealthy and unnecessary, especially when the Spice Tandoori House does such a great takeaway.
None of [...]
September 23, 2006 – 3:44 am
I’ve been running my own buzz campaign about quickindiancooking.com. So imagine my suprise when I got interrupted at the pub mid-way though a passionate, high-level discussion about chicken curry with the question “what’s the best way to cook rice”.
There is only one way dear people: use a rice cooker. Life’s too short to watch water [...]
September 23, 2006 – 3:43 am
Masalas or spices are at the heart of Indian cooking. There are literally hundreds but as shelf space is a precious commodity, I’ll introduce you to a few basic masalas and herbs used frequently in my recipes.
The trick with masalas is in the way they are used. There are recipes that use the same spices, [...]
