New Indian Basics: 100 Traditional and Modern Recipes from Arvinda's Family Kitchen
288
New Indian Basics: 100 Traditional and Modern Recipes from Arvinda's Family Kitchen
288Hardcover
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Overview
Welcome Arvinda and Preena, the mother-daughter duo behind Arvinda’s premium Indian spice blends, into your kitchen with their decades of experience, vibrant recipes, and cooking wisdom! Learn the basics of both classic and modern Indian cuisine in this timeless book that you will return to again and again.
In New Indian Basics, Preena Chauhan and Arvinda Chauhan—the masters behind Arvinda’s Indian spice blends—present a collection of flavorful, accessible recipes and kitchen wisdom gained from a lifetime of personal and professional experience teaching Indian cooking, where spices take center stage. With their clear instructions and signature warmth, this mother-daughter duo will guide you to flawless renditions of Indian dishes, both traditional and modern, with absolute ease.
Here, you’ll find recipes perfect for all meals and all home cooks, whatever the time of day or level of experience. Chapters like Indian Brunch & Eggs are full of modern dishes like Chai-Spiced Apple Buckwheat Pancakes with Maple Cream or Indian-Style Baked Eggs in a richly spiced tomato sauce. Indian Street Foods & Savory Appetizers will make traditional snacks, like Chaat Papri, your new go-to nibble. And whether you’re looking for vegetarian or meat mains, you’ll find options to excite your palate, from a classic Butter Chicken or Channa Masala to a celebratory Vegetable Biryani with Saffron & Nuts or a Mapled Tandoori Salmon with Mint. There are many accompaniments that go along with a full Indian meal, so there are chapters dedicated to these components such as chutneys, pickles, raitas, and masalas to help you build your pantry, rice dishes, and, of course, flatbreads, like homemade Naan. And don’t forget about dessert! Preena and Arvinda share a full chapter on exquisite mithai, traditional sweets, and modern desserts as well. With this focus on the many expansive regions that make up India’s culinary fabric, you’ll be enticed to learn about beloved specialties and new flavor profiles. No matter the recipe, Preena and Arvinda use their many years as educators to walk you through every step.
In addition to their vibrant recipes, Preena and Arvinda include helpful resources like a spice glossary, a guide to different lentils and beans, a mini workshop on the best way to cook basmati rice, and information on how to serve—and eat—an Indian meal. They even suggest ways to put it all together with their celebratory and seasonal Indian menus. With a wealth of incredible recipes, knowledge, and gorgeous photography, New Indian Basics is sure to become a food bible in your kitchen.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780525611318 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Appetite by Random House |
| Publication date: | 11/01/2022 |
| Pages: | 288 |
| Sales rank: | 1,059,684 |
| Product dimensions: | 8.30(w) x 10.30(h) x 1.00(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Introduction
My first foray into the kitchen was around the age of five. I would help my mother, Arvinda, sort out beans and lentils and do odd jobs for her in the kitchen. I loved to bake and made my first cake at this age—incidentally, this was about the same age as my mother when she first started cooking. Although we have that in common, our circumstances couldn’t be more different.
When Arvinda was seven years old, living with her family in a small village in Kenya, her mother passed away, so she started cooking out of necessity from a small age, helping her grandparents while her father was away studying in Germany and the U.K. Her first cooking experience was making chapatis on a chulha, a coal-heated clay stove, a practice still carried out in rural India today. To care for her four siblings, she learned to grind fresh flour through a heavy grinding stone and pound spices using a large mortar and pestle. What started out as an obligation early on in her childhood later turned into her lifelong passion, as cooking and food became a channel for my mother to express her creative passions.
My parents moved to Canada in the early 1970s, and my mother’s love of cooking continued to grow. Over the years, she developed her skills as an Indian cook, learning to create curries according to traditional family recipes. She gradually understood the intricacies and nuances of spices, using this knowledge to cook delicious curries and dals that quickly became family favorites. She churned out complete Indian meals—savory appetizers with delicious chutneys, traditional Indian flatbreads prepared fresh and piping hot, fragrant jeweled basmati rice, and, of course, delectable Indian sweets for dessert. My mother experimented with international and Indian recipes and treated us to delicious home-cooked meals every single day.
During a Canada Day celebration in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1993 while we were volunteering for a fundraising initiative for a women’s charity, we sold a variety of Indian snack foods like pakoras and dal wadas (lentil fritters) to help raise money. After receiving numerous inquiries asking how to make these savory Indian treats at home, I recall my mother offering ad hoc cooking instruction on the spot, enthusiastically explaining how to make these tasty appetizers with only a few simple ingredients. The adventurous people kept asking if there was somewhere they could go to learn this. It was at that very moment that my mother diskovered how much she loved to teach people how to cook Indian food, so she began setting up a business to start teaching Indian cooking classes that coming fall.
Since the very start of her cooking classes, my mother wanted to demonstrate how to prepare healthy Indian meals at home with easy cooking methods using simple ingredients and fresh spices. She called her cooking classes Healthy Gourmet Indian Cooking, and her approach was always uncomplicated. She taught about spices and how they could be used to cook curries of depth with bold, layered, and delicious flavors. She also added a gourmet flair to traditional Indian foods, presenting them a little differently, more elaborately or upscale. Cooking-class participants delved deeply into spices, the cornerstone of traditional Indian cooking. In her eight-week Indian Beginner’s Cooking course, participants learned about the storied history of spices, how spices are grown and cultivated, how they are used and stored in an Indian kitchen, and, most notably, that quality spices and ingredients are essential for the best-tasting Indian foods. During these classes in the early 1990s, I assisted my mother in her cooking school every step of the way (most of the classes were held on weeknights and weekends at various locations across the Greater Toronto Area), taking in all the cooking knowledge along with the students, who were also eager to learn.
My mother and I travelled to the exotic spice-growing regions of India and Sri Lanka to see and learn firsthand how spices are cultivated, harvested, and brought to market, meeting passionate farmers, traders, and spice merchants along the way. In the mid- to late-2000s, we took our students to India through guided culinary tours. Around this time, our students, noticing the freshness and quality of spices being used in our classes, often asked to purchase these spices directly from us. They also sought advice on how to make Indian cooking even easier, which prompted my mother to mix together a few key spices into a batch of masala (meaning “spice blend”) for her students to try. She started stocking premixed roasted and ground garam masala and chai masala at the request of her students. The masalas became so popular among the students that they requested that we bring them to market.
During this time, I was pursuing my Master in Environmental Studies at York University and received a small amount of funds to start a small business. Inspired by the Food Network’s show Recipe for Success, which profiles entrepreneurs who were successful in bringing a family recipe to market, my brother Paresh and I launched Arvinda’s Indian spice blends. With a slight amount of savings in hand, we started grinding small-batch spice blends in a modest industrial unit in Oakville, Ontario, that we had converted into a food-production facility. We started marketing Arvinda’s masalas at trade shows in Toronto and won over the likes of celebrity chefs, who asked to buy food-service sizes for their acclaimed restaurants in Toronto—an exciting development for us right at the launch of the brand.
In 2005, when the company started, most customers and people in the grocery industry didn’t even know what a masala was, often mistaking the word masala for marsala, the famous Sicilian wine, and making it difficult to gain traction in the market early on. Over the next decade, Paresh and I worked tirelessly to introduce Arvinda’s blends to customers and educate grocery buyers on how to make healthy and easy curries from scratch using spices at countless cooking demonstrations, cooking classes, farmers’ markets, trade and consumer shows, and culinary events across Ontario and in Montreal, Quebec.
Now, with nearly 30 years of teaching others Indian cuisine and learning our craft of spice roasting, grinding, and blending through Arvinda’s Indian spice blends, we share with you all our Indian cooking traditions, knowledge, tips, and techniques in New Indian Basics.
Just as in our cooking classes, our goal is to encourage, inspire, excite, and empower you to venture into the fascinating cuisine of India so you can create your favorite Indian foods or try some brand-new recipes with delicious results for yourself and your family. Many of the recipes in this cookbook are some of our most-loved family recipes taught in our cooking classes, while others are inspired by our travels. There are recipes for all occasions and for everyday Indian meals. Some are rustic and home-style, while others are extravagant, to be enjoyed during the festival time of year and the holidays. There’s a little something for every Indian food lover in this cookbook.
Spices are healing. Spices are powerful. Spices tell a rich story. And spices taste incredible and are what make Indian food so delicious. In this cookbook, we pay homage to Indian spices, using them throughout and encouraging you to embrace them for their mouthwatering flavors, good health, and bold taste.
Cook with spice, happy life!
Preena
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Spice & Ingredients Glossary 5
Cooking with Indian Spices: The Basics 11
The Magic of Masala 15
Cooking with Lentils & Beans 19
Curries, Curries & More Curries! 23
Cooking Rice, the Indian Way: A Mini Workshop 25
The Indian Kitchen 27
How to Serve an Indian Meal 29
How to Eat an Indian Meal 30
Essential Tips for Indian Cooking 31
Recipe Notes Before You Start Cooking 34
1 Making Homemade Dairy Products
Homemade Ghee 39
Creamy Dahi 40
2 Making Masalas at Home
Warming Garam Masala 45
Perfumy Chai Masala 46
Tandoori Marinade Spice Blend 47
Tangy Chaat Masala 48
Panch Phoran 49
3 Chutneys, Pickles, Raita & Salads
Minty Green Cilantro Chutney 53
Sweet & Tangy Tamarind Date Chutney 54
Hot Chili Tomato Chutney 55
South Indian Fresh Coconut Chutney 57
Matchstick Carrot & Green Chilies Achar 59
Basic Cooking Cucumber Raita 60
Sweet Whole Spiced Pear, Plum & Cranberry Murrabo 61
Mango Peach Chutney 62
Basic Indian Salad & Condiments 65
Beet, Carrot & Cabbage Kachumber with Garam Masala Vinaigrette 69
Tandoori-Spiced Chickpea Salad with Cilantro Mint Yogurt Drizzle 70
4 Indian Brunch & Eggs
Indian-Spiced Deviled Eggs 74
Anda Bhurji 77
Mom's Favorite Garam Masala Omelet with Ghee-Fried Toast 78
Besan Pudla 81
Indian-Style Baked Eggs 82
Chai-Spiced Apple Buckwheat Pancakes with Maple Cream 84
5 Indian Street Foods & Savory Appetizers
Homemade Besan Sev 88
Savory Chaat Papri 91
Pav Bhaji 93
Masala Makai 97
Onion Kale Bhajias 99
Flaky Potatao & Peas Baked Samaosas 101
Tandoori-Spiced Fish Pakoras 105
6 Lentils & Beans
Kale & Black-Eyed Peas 108
Instant Pot Masoor Dal Soup with Broccoli 111
South Indian Sambar 113
Instant Pot Whole Massor Dal with Fresh Tomatoes 116
Sprouted Moong Beans 119
Pantry Channa Masala 121
Punjabi Rajma 123
Instant Pot Panch Phoran Channa Dal with Pumpkin 127
Tarka Dal Medley 128
Dal Makhani 131
7 Vegetables
Aloo Methi 134
Kashmiri Dum Aloo 137
Aloo Panch Phoran 138
Baingan Bharta 141
Gujarati-Style Sambharo 142
Traditional Keralan Avial 145
Eggplant Ravaiya 146
Kerala-Style Coconut Thoran 149
Cauliflower & Mixed Vegetables with Crispy Okra 150
8 Paneer
Homemade Fresh Paneer 154
Leafy Greens Saag Paneer 157
Shahi Paneer with Shredded Ginger 159
Tandoori-Spiced Paneer Kebabs with Grilling Vegetables 163
Colorful Bell Pepper Paneer Jalfrezi 164
9 Non-Vegetarian Curries & Mains
Murgh Makhani 169
Goan Pork Vindaloo 171
Chicken Tikka Masala 175
Fragrant South Indian Coconut Shrimp with Curry Leaves 177
Succulent Tandoori Chicken 180
Maachi Masala 183
Lamb Korma 184
Indian-Style Kebabs with Grilling Vegetables 187
Aromatic Garam Masala Murgh Kari 189
Hariyali Chicken on Skewers 193
Mapled Tandoori Salmon with Mint 194
Instant Pot Kashmiri Rogan Josh 197
10 Flatbreads
Everyday Whole Wheat Chapatis 203
Suji Puris 205
Whole Wheat Garlic Sesame Naan 206
Flaky Paranthas 208
Cumin-Scented Papads 211
11 Indian Rice
Basic Boiled Fluffy Rice 214
Mattar Pullao 217
South Indian Uttapams with Red Onion, Green Chili & Cilantro 218
Basic Khichadi 220
Vegetable Biryani with Saffron & Nuts 223
Lemon Coconut Cranberry Pullao 227
12 Mithai, Traditional Indian Sweets & Modern Indian Desserts
Gulab Jamuns 230
Rosewater Nan Katai 233
Decadent Shrikhand 234
Chocolate Orange & Vanilla Cardamom Barfi 237
Ras Malai 239
Caramelized Chai-Spiced Bananas 243
Almond, Coconut & Cranberry Snowball Ladoos 245
Garam Masala Gingerbread Cake with Clementine Toffee Sauce 246
Warm Suji Halwa 249
Exotic Indian-Style Fruit Salad 250
13 Indian-Style Drinks, Hot & Cold
Ginger-Spiced Masala Chai 254
Masala Coffee 257
Kesar Badam Doodh 258
Pineapple Jal Jeera 261
Sparkling Limbu Pani 262
Peachy Sweet Mango Lassi 265
Festive & Seasonal Indian Menus 267
Dried Lentils & Beans Soaking Guide 268
List of Commonly Used Indian Words 269
Acknowledgements 271
Arvinda's Indian Cooking Ethos & Mantras for Life 273
Index 275