<p>Here’s probably a silly question. Where in the grocery store would you find garam masala?</p>
<p>piggle’s mom replying </p>
<p>You can get garam masala in Indian grocery stores. I make mine at home
25 gms cardamom seeds
50 gms cinnamon<br>
50 gms cloves
5 gms powdered nutmeg
100 gms fennel<br>
5 gms mace optional
20 gms star anise optional ( get from asian stores )</p>
<p>Dry roast everything. Grind to fine powder.Will keep for long time if stored in an air tight container .I use it sparingly ( most restaurant use this heavily, hence the classic overpowering curry smell )</p>
<p>^It would be with the rest of the spices. Most grocery stores don’t carry garam masala, though I did see it in our local Fairway. I usually make my own, though we have an Indian grocery in town and I sometimes get spice mixtures there. (Or just common Indian spices like cumin seeds because they cost sooooo much less there.) Here’s an easy recipe for garam masala: [Easy</a> Garam Masala Recipe - Allrecipes.com](<a href=“http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/easy-garam-masala/Detail.aspx]Easy”>http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/easy-garam-masala/Detail.aspx) and this is a more authentic one: [The</a> Magic Spice - Garam Masala](<a href=“http://indianfood.about.com/od/masalarecipes/r/garammasala.htm]The”>DIY Garam Masala Recipe). But there are lots of variations.</p>
<p>Thanks! I guess I’ll try making garam masala (no Indian grocery store in my town) and then I can try to make Chicken Tikka Masala.</p>
<p>Penzey’s has excellent spices you can order. I don’t know about their garam masala, but it’s an option. [Spices</a> at Penzeys Spices Garam Masala](<a href=“http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysgarammasala.html]Spices”>Garam Masala | Penzeys)</p>
<p>I don’t know where you live, but we have garam masala in Giant in McCormick spices. </p>
<p>Ok - so I had the ghee thing backwards. That is so helpful for me to know. I love, love, love the spices in Indian food, but the ghee is just too rich for me. </p>
<p>That reminds me - I have a recipe that I love with cauliflower, red beans, and coconut milk (I use the light variety). I will look it up!</p>
<p>Piggle’s mom, would you mind sharing some of your recipes? I love Indian food of all kinds but the cookbook I have is not to my taste – too much sharp lemony flavors.</p>
<p>A very easy and delicious Thai green curry recipe is found on the little jar of green curry paste from Thai Kitchen. (I’ve found it in regular suburban supermarkets.) In addition to the paste, you need coconut milk (one can), fish sauce, vegetables of your choosing (we like eggplant and peppers), chicken or shrimp, and some fresh basil (optional, but so tasty). It literally cooks up in about 20 minutes and everyone loves it. All you need is some rice and you have a one-pot meal. One word of caution, be conservative with the amount of green curry paste at first until you know how much “hot” your family tolerates. I think I use about a teaspoon.</p>
<p>Piggle’s mom posting</p>
<p>This is a south Indian fish curry with coconut milk- (Syrian Christian specialty)
My daughter’s friends request for this every time they visit. </p>
<p>Fish - 1/2 kg
Onion chopped - 2
Garlic chopped - 2 tsp
Ginger chopped - 2 tsp
Green chilies - 4- 5 half slit( can reduce the number if needed )
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Pepper powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Tomato chopped - 1
Coconut milk 1 can
Oil
Curry leaves or cilantro leaves
Salt to taste</p>
<p>Method
Clean and cut the fish into medium pieces
Marinate it with 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, pepper powder and salt. Keep it for 1 hour in a refrigerator
Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry this fish pieces till they are half cooked
take the fish out In the remaining oil sauté’ chopped onions, Ginger, garlic and green chilies.
When they are soft and add remaining turmeric powder and pepper powder and combine it well and add chopped tomatoes
When tomatoes become soft &mushy ,Add coconut milk and curry leaves add the fried fish pieces and cover it with a lid
Cook it on a medium flame till the fish is done and the gravy is reduced to half and let it stand on a low flame for 3- minutes
Remove from fire and serve hot
I use coconut milk from Asian stores (canned) low fat variety. You can add corn flour to thicken the gravy. You can use any kind of fish- I use pearl spot (Asian stores), mahi mahi or king fish. If you want tangy flavor, you can add lemon juice or dash of vinegar. Goes well with brown rice or plain white rice</p>
<p>Thanks, Piggle’s mom!
A question about curry leaves – is there one kind of curry plant? I saw what looked like several varieties at my local farmer’s market and wondered which would be best. They all smelled aromatic.</p>
<p>Yes.there is only one kind ( as far as I know ). I got one plant from a farmer’s market in orlando - which survived the midwest winters & now growing strong in Texas weather. But I substitute cillantro for curry leaves quite often( my kids’ friends eat dinner regularly at our house. They request cillantro . )</p>
<p>On the same note best cook book ( for south indian cooking ) is by Maya kaimal who has an American mother and Indian father. The receipes are perfect for western tastes & authentic.
You will find that so called Indian restaurants fail to represent the south indian cooking ( most of the times). I have yet to see a good Indian restaurant in US
Thai & caribean restauarants seem to have some authenticity.</p>
<p>piggle, what is “pepper powder?” Is this ground black pepper? Or something else?</p>
<p>Piggle’s mom, are you talking about Maya Kaimal’s Curry Favorites? Do you know anything about the cookbook An Invitation to Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey? My dd has that on her Amazon wishlist.</p>
<p>This is the one I was talking about -Savoring the Spice Coast of India: Fresh Flavors from Kerala .I think other one may have the similar receipes</p>
<p>I am from Kerala . I have tried couple of Madhur Jeffrey’s -but my kids are not big fans of strong curry smell. She has mainly north Indian dishes…
I try to do mainly Gujarati, Kerala, Tamil , Thai, caribean cooking (and occasional cajun).</p>
<p>A great Keralite chef ( who cooked for Queen Elizabeth ) Mrs. K. M Mathew have excellent meat receipes which are out of this world. She has some books & blogs online. I shared her duck roast & meat roast receipes with one of my patients- she loved it.</p>
<p>Oh, I love Thai basil. I don’t know how it differs from regular basil - which I also love - but I go crazy over dishes with Thai basil. I will wake up some mornings and think I have to have some of the vegetarian spring rolls made by a local Vietnamese restaurant. And I think the addiction is the basil. I wonder if I can get DH to get me some right now :)</p>
<p>Sorry for the off topic post. I was just reading about spices and got carried away!</p>
<p>I’m with you worknprogress…LOVE vietmanese foods, yum! This is a great thread! I’m getting hungry! :)</p>
<p>Jaffrey is my least favorite Indian cookbook writer. I think all her stuff tastes the same. I like Indian Cooking for Pleasure by Charmaine Solomon - out of print, but there are used copies on line. (Her Complete Asian Cookbook is still in print and has lots of Indian recipes.) I also like* Moghul Microwave* by Julie Sahni, though sometimes I think it’s easier not to use the microwave. She has recipes I’ve rarely seen other places like uppuma/upma (basically cream of wheat that died and went to heaven.)</p>
<p>Upma is one of our usual breakfast items.Try googling south indian breakfast , you will find different upma / upuma (even with vermicelli-very easy to make ) . I also try upma with viat / chinese rice noodles .
(Put rice noodles in hot water for a minute or so. Then do the regular upma steps.Put some toasted coconut.)</p>
<p>You are right about Jeffrey. I always felt the dishes all tasted same- I thought it was only me.</p>
<p>hey piggle, sorry to ask this again, but i’m thinking you didn’t see my previous post – i was wondering what “pepper powder” is in your recipe. It looks good, and I’d like to try making it, but can’t figure out if pepper powder is ground black pepper, or hot red pepper, or what. thanks!</p>