Yummy Indian Stuff

Lime's recent post of Buljol a la Lime over at her blog got me all inspired to post some recipes of what I cooked on Sunday night. I got this fantastic Indian cookbook which has a lot of Balti recipes, and so far, are all delicious!
For those of you that don't know, Balti is a style of cooking which some say is native to Baltistan. However, "It seems like the Pakistani community in Birmingham and elsewhere have attached a romantic notion that these so called Balti dishes originate from Baltistan, whereas from my knowledge it is more commonly found in Peshawar North West Pakistan, where it is known as 'Karhai'. It's a kind of curry, its ingredients usually assembled and cooked quickly in a manner reminiscent of a stir-fry. If you'd like to clear up this issue about Balti cooking, go here.
Here are the two recipes I tried. They are easy to make in that you can make them in saucepans and frying pans if you dont have a wok or karahi, and the ingredients can mostly all be bought in the grocery store except perhaps for a couple of the spices which can be bought at an Indian grocery store. (Once you get your own stash of Indian spices, you'll be tossing them into everything you cook!)
A word about the chilies and chili powder: If you are a wimp, then maybe you might wanna go easy.....I compromised and left out one chili from each recipe. I really like it hot, but, I didn't wanna melt my family!


Saag Aloo



4 tbsp vegetable oil
8 oz potatoes
1 piece fresh ginger, 1" long crushed
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, coarsely chopped
2 fresh green chilies, chopped
2 dried red chilies, coarsely broken
1 tsp cumin seeds
salt to taste
8oz fresh spinach, chopped


Wash potatoes and cut into quarters, peel if desired. Or, use small, whole, new potatoes. Heat the oil in a skillet and fry the potatoes until brown on all sides. Remove from pan and put aside.

Remove all but 1 tbsp of remaining oil in pan. Fry the ginger, garlic, onion, green chilies, fried chilies and cumin seeds until the onion is golden brown.

Add the potatoes and salt and stir well. Cover the pan and cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a sharp knife.

Add the spinach and stir well. Cook with the pan uncovered until the spinach is tender and and all the excess fluids have evaporated. Serve hot.



Hot Chicken Curry




2 tbsp corn oil
1/4 tsp fennugreek seeds
1/4 tsp onion seeds
2 medium onions, chopped
1/2 tsp garlic pulp
1/2 tsp ginger pulp
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
14 oz canned tomatoes
2 tbsp lemon juice
12 oz chicken, skinned, boned and cubed
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
3 fresh green chilies, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into chunks
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into chunks
fresh coriander sprigs (cilantro)

In a medium saucepan, heat the oil and fry the fenugreek seeds and onion seeds until they turn a shade darker. Add the chopped onions, garlic and ginger and fry for about 5 minutes until the onions turn golden brown. Lower the heat to very low.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix together the ground coriander, chili powder, salt, tomatoes and lemon juice. Pour this mixture into the saucepan and turn up the heat to medium. Stir fry for about 3 minutes.

Add the chicken pieces and stir fry for 5-7 minutes.

Add the fresh coriander, green chilies, and the sliced peppers. Lower the heat, cover the saucepan and let this simmer for about 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked.

Serve hot, garnished with coriander sprigs.