LEHI — For people who have never been to India and never really even dabbled in Indian food, the notion of cooking it can be daunting.
It seems so intricate, so involved. But it needn't be.
Indian cooking can be tackled like any other food. By getting the right ingredients, your recipes should turn out, well, golden.
But it helps to be guided by the more experienced. Savita and Raj Puri recently team-taught a cooking class on Indian food at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi.
Though they currently reside in Murray, they hail from Delhi, India, and have a rapport that is both comfortable and comedic.
Their recipes are uncomplicated, delicious and not at all intimidating.
They do, however, require time and preparation. The Puris gave a variety of tips that should help along the way, even some that go beyond just Indian cooking.
"Use a little extra oil," Savita Puri said. "If you don't use a little extra oil, it doesn't cook as nice or taste as nice."
This may make the calorie-conscious home chef a little uneasy, but she assured class participants of its necessity countless times, saying that it makes a marked difference in the quality of the food.
She used the more traditional canola oil in the class but said she often uses olive oil at home and that it does not influence the flavor at all.
Many ingredients in Indian food need to be dry-roasted or cooked in oil until they are golden brown. Raj Puri jokingly explained why.
"Everything in India is golden brown," he said. "Why gold? Because Indians love gold."
The Puris emphasized the importance of high-quality spices, even going so far as bringing cards for their favorite Indian food grocer, House of Spices in Taylorsville, and recommending what they called the "best brands": Everest spices and MDH.
They said that although curry powder is a more convenient equivalent to the combination of turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and red chili powder, "it is not the same."
The Puris were adamant that it never be used. They also offered some spice tips, such as adding paprika to make curry more mild and substituting cayenne pepper for chili powder, if desired.
The love that the Puris have for their culture and its food was evident. When Raj Puri was asked by a class attendee what he missed most about India, he didn't miss a beat before saying "the food."
But, thanks to his wife's deft handling of Indian staples such as chicken curry, naan, French beans and potatoes, and basmati rice, it seems that he, and those who try these recipes, will be able to enjoy a little bit of India in the comfort of their own homes.
E-mail: emorgan@desnews.com
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Basic Chicken Curry
½ cup oil
2 sticks cinnamon
10 whole cloves
2 brown cardamom pods
1 bay leaf
3 medium onions, made into a paste (see instructions below)
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 tablespoon garlic paste
4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, washed and cut into 2-inch pieces
½ cup tomato sauce
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1½ teaspoons cumin powder
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon red chili powder
¼ cup cilantro
2-3 cups warm water
1½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garam masala
Heat oil in a deep nonstick pot over medium heat.
Lower the heat and cook the whole spices — cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and bay leaf — for a few seconds.
Add onion paste and, over medium heat, stir until golden brown.
Add ginger paste and garlic paste, cook for one minute.
Add chicken pieces, and increase heat to high and cook, stirring constantly, for five minutes or until the outside of the chicken pieces are white.
Lower heat to medium low, and add tomato sauce, cooking until the oil separates.
Add coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, chili powder and ground black pepper. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
Add 2 tablespoons of the cilantro and warm water, which should cover the chicken, and salt.
Stir well, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.
Remove lid, add garam masala and remaining cilantro, stir well.
Cook uncovered over low heat for five minutes. Cut into the chicken to test whether it is tender and cooked through.
Take off heat and let sit for two minutes.
Skim oil from the top.
Serve the curry hot.
For the onion paste: Peel, wash and chop three medium-size onions. Use food processor or blender to make a paste, adding enough oil to make the onions stick together. Heat the onion in a pan over medium heat until it is golden brown. You can make any quantity and freeze what you don't use.
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Cucumber salad
This yogurt and cucumber relish can be served as a salad in the summer months.
1 cucumber, washed and grated (not peeled)
2½ cups yogurt, plain
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
½ teaspoon red chili powder
Paprika to garnish
Empty the plain yogurt into a bowl, and whisk until smooth. Add a little water if you want it a bit more runny.
Add salt, pepper and sugar. Add additional salt to taste.
Add roasted cumin powder, chili powder and grated cucumber.
Sprinkle paprika on the top, cover and refrigerate.
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Zeera Rice
4 cups basmati rice
2 teaspoons zeera (cumin seeds roasted until they're golden brown)
7 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
Rinse the rice four to five times and then let soak in water for 15 minutes; drain.
Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan, add cumin seeds and cook until they crack.
Add the rice, and cook it all for five minutes until the rice is slightly fried, stirring constantly.
Put the rice and cumin seed mixture in a rice cooker, and add water and salt.
Cook until done.
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Homemade Naan
2?3 cup hot milk
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons dried active yeast
4 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2?3 cup plain yogurt, lightly beaten
Pour milk into a bowl, and add 1 teaspoon sugar and the yeast. Stir to mix, and set aside for 15-20 minutes or until the yeast has dissolved and the mixture is frothy.
Sift flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon sugar, vegetable oil, egg, yogurt and the yeast mixture.
Mix and knead to form a ball of dough.
Place the dough on a clean work surface and knead it for 10 minutes or more, until it is smooth.
Form into a ball. Pour about ¼ teaspoon oil into a large bowl, and roll the ball of dough in it. Cover the bowl with a piece of plastic wrap, and set the bowl aside in a warm, draft-free place for one hour or until it rises to more than twice the size in volume.
When preparing to bake, dust the dough with flour, and transfer to a cutting board. Cut the dough in half and then half again, placing the other pieces of dough back in the bowl, under the plastic wrap.
Shape each piece into a ball. Brush each with melted butter.
Place a ball of dough on your work surface, and press down with your fingertips to make a circular shape. Using a rolling pin, roll dough into a oval 6 to 7 inches in diameter.
Do not turn dough over. Set aside, and repeat process with the other three pieces of the dough. (You'll only want to bake four pieces at a time.)
Place baking rack in the upper third of your oven, and place a baking stone on it. Preheat to 500 degrees. Leave ½ inch or more of space between the oven walls and the baking stone, to allow for better air circulation.
Once the oven has been heated, place a piece of unbleached parchment paper on the stone. The parchment paper should be cut 2 inches smaller than the stone.
Place all four pieces of dough on the stone, making sure they don't overlap.
Bake 3-5 minutes, or until the bread has golden spots on the top. Use long-handled tongs to remove the naan from the oven. When done, the naan should have a golden-bottomed crust and a rippled top surface. If you want an added butter taste, you can brush the naan again with butter. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
To keep the naan warm, stack and then wrap them in cotton cloth.
Serve warm or at room temperature. (The bread will stay warm for about an hour after leaving the oven).
Allow the baking stone to cool before attempting to remove it from the oven. Baking stones should not be immersed in water or cleaned with soap. They should just be wiped clean.
Naan can be frozen.
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French Beans and Potatoes
2 pounds French beans
1 pound red-skinned or white
medium potatoes, cut into 2-
inch cubes
½ cup oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 cup onions, finely chopped
1 2-inch piece of ginger, finely
chopped
3/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1½ teaspoons salt
1½ teaspoons cumin powder
½ teaspoon chili powder, or to
taste
Wash the beans, trim the ends, and cut into ¼-inch pieces.
Parboil the potatoes, and drain.
Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add cumin seeds, and cook until they are golden brown and start to crack.
Add onions, and cook them until they are golden brown.
Add ginger, stir and cook for a few seconds. Add potato pieces, and stir well.
Add ¼ cup water, stir, and cover until potatoes cook and become tender.
Add the turmeric powder, stir well. Add beans, salt, ½ cup water, stir, and cover to cook the beans.
When the dish is almost cooked, add chili powder and cumin powder, and mix well.
Cook for three minutes so that the spices can set.
Finding the best spices
Savita and Raj Puris' preferred spice brands can be found and ordered online. Everest spices can be found at everestspices.com, and MDH can be ordered at salwantrading.com/products.htm
House of Spices: Indian Groceries and Spices is located at 4134 S. Carriage Square in Taylorsville, 801-964-6228. The store carries an easy-to-make frozen naan that the Puris often use, rather than making it from scratch.Indian cooking tips
Here are a few more tips from Savita and Raj Puri to aid you in your Indian-cooking endeavors:
When making zeera rice, add 1/2 teaspoon of zeera (toasted cumin seeds) for every cup of rice.
Buy 5 pounds of onions, chop them, use what you need, and freeze the rest to use later. Chopped onions will last six months in the freezer.
Instead of using 1 tablespoon ginger paste and 1 tablespoon garlic paste in a chicken curry, mix the two pastes in a jar and use 2 tablespoons of the mixture.
Adding lemon juice to the garlic and ginger paste extends its shelf life at least two weeks.
When making a chicken curry, add the meat after you can smell the spices. The pot should be on high heat so that the heat will seal in the juices.
Vegetable curry can be cooked the same way as chicken curry. Just substitute the desired vegetables for the chicken.
In the chicken curry recipe, tomato sauce cannot be substituted with tomato puree, as puree is "no good" for this recipe.
When preparing individual pieces of naan, it is best to lightly oil both your hands and the rolling pin so that it won't stick.
If you would like to make a garlic naan rather than plain, you can grate garlic and put it over the butter before the bread goes into the oven.
You can keep naan dough in the fridge for up to six hours, but let it warm to room temperature before you cook it.