Fancy Pants Foodie

Foodie news, reviews and how-tos from Arkansas and beyond.

An Indian Food Four-Hour Feast

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My finished, overloaded plate with all the goodies.

My finished, overloaded plate with all the goodies.

My sweet friend Meenakshi had a few friends over a few days ago for a cooking party. There was no big theme or reason, just a few hours of kitchen bliss.

No, really, we cooked for like four hours. It was amazing.

Meena, as she lets me call her now, invited me and the kids (although I left the little one at home; you’re welcome). School was just starting, and this would be a welcome distraction for my daughter, who was a little nervous about starting middle school. Plus, she kinda rocks in the kitchen, and this was no different.

Big Kid pouring the chilla, or savory pancakes

My Big Kid pouring out the chilla, or savory pancakes, onto the griddle.

The other guests included Meena’s lovely daughter-in-law, another blogger I hadn’t met, and a new instructor for Pulaski Tech’s newly-expanded culinary school I had only met in passing.

Our new group of friends gathered around to plate up our finished dishes.

Our new group of friends gathered around to plate up our finished dishes.

We were such the diverse group — different nationalities, religious beliefs and cultural traditions — and honestly, that’s what made it so awesome. In a world where people tend to yell to each other what they should be, we were able to cook and eat together, sharing things that were important to us.

For Meena, probably the most important sentiment shared was the food itself. Not only did the food reflect her own heritage, it screamed her own personal ethic:  cook at home. Whether it’s baked chicken or baba ghanoush, make it yourself. Your body will thank you.

And no, it doesn’t usually take four hours. We just enjoyed the process that much!

I’ll share a recipe or two from our dinner soon. For now, feast on the images and let me know in the comments below what a home-cooked meal means to you.

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Indian Spice Heats Up Vegetarian Night at Eggshells (with Recipes)

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Usha Mittal displays her personal stash of amazing Indian spices she used in her dishes at Eggshells.

Usha Mittal displays her personal stash of amazing Indian spices she used in her dishes at Eggshells.

All the foodies in town know, hopefully, that Eggshells Kitchen Co. in the Heights has some of the best cooking classes in Little Rock.

I’ve hated it that I had never made it to a class. You know, two little kids, busy schedule, blah blah blah. Tonight, I finally made it to one, at the suggestion of my friend Meenakshi Budhraja. She assisted her friend, Usha Mittal, in demonstrating vegetarian food from an Indian perspective.

Hours later, my clothes still smell awesome.

My daughter Morgan and I walked into Eggshells and immediately swooned at the smell of toasting cumin (and other things we couldn’t identify). If nothing else, one thing that really sets Indian cooking apart is their use of spices. Usha later showed me her tin of spices, which could be framed as a work of art itself.

Meenakshi Budhraja and Usha Mittal prepare the Indian vegetarian meal for the hungry onlookers.

Meenakshi Budhraja and Usha Mittal prepare the Indian vegetarian meal for the hungry onlookers.

Some of them, like the cumin and cayenne, were familiar, while others were new to me. The ladies tell me that the local Indian food stores (I know of one on Rodney Parham) can supply all the spices I didn’t already have in my arsenal, such as fenugreek and carom. (Here’s a handy chart of Indian spices for reference.)

Usha chatted with another guest about Indian culture: the importance of food and cooking, and how they frequently got together among their own community in central Arkansas. Food is a celebration, and cooking is a joy. The vibrant colors and flavors of the dishes certainly reflected that.

Guests, staff, and even staff of surrounding businesses stopped by for a plate.

Guests, staff, and even staff of surrounding businesses stopped by for a plate.

I promised the good folks at Eggshells (shoutout to Heather and crew!) I’d post the recipes, which turned out to be quite the task when gathering them from two ladies who pretty much cook by feel. Following please find and enjoy the fruit of our collective labor.

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Aaloo Tiki (Potato Cakes)

  • Equal parts red (waxy) and Russet (starchy) potatoes
  • Salt and pepper
  • Cilantro leaves, chopped
  • Fenugreek leaves
  • Breadcrumbs

Boil potatoes whole until soft. Peel and mash with a potato masher. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix in a small handful of cilantro and fenugreek leaves and work in by hand, mashing the mix together.

Heat a small amount of canola oil in a skillet over medium heat. Create small patties of the potato mixture and coat lightly with bread crumbs. (This is optional if you want the cakes to be gluten-free, but helps keep the potato mixture from spreading.) Place patties in the oil and cook until browned on each side. Serve with cilantro chutney.

Cilantro Chutney

  • 1 bunch fresh cilantro
  • 1/2 bunch fresh mint
  • 1/2 onion, roughly chopped
  • 1-2 green chili peppers
  • Juice of one lime
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • Pinch of sugar

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and combine. Add a bit of water if you desire a looser consistency.

Suvir Saran‘s Spicy Indian Slaw
Serves 12 (obviously, cut it in half it you need to, or don’t…it gets better as it sits.)

  • 1 piece of ginger, 1/2-inch, peeled and grated
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice (from about 1 lime)
  • 1 tablespoon citrus vinegar or white wine vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1-1/2 teaspoon chaat masala (a spice mixture)
  • 1/2 teaspoon toasted cumin
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cracked peppercorns
  • 18 scallions, thinly sliced
  • 1 jalapeno, seeded and veined for less heat, finely chopped (optional)
  • 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
  • 1/2 cup cilantro, fresh, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons mint leaves, fresh, finely chopped
  • 1 head green cabbage, halved, cored and finely sliced
  • 1/2 cup peanuts, roasted chopped

My friend Meenakshi started by toasting some whole cumin seeds in a dry skillet. My daughter marveled that she would pat them flat with her bare hand, not touching the hot pan. When the seeds were just fragrant, she then ground them in a mortar and pestle, but a spice grinder would work fine if you have that. (If all that is scaring you off, just start with plain ground cumin, but know that you’re really missing out on some depth of flavor.)

To make the dressing, whisk together the ginger, lime juice, vinegar, sugar, chaat masala, toasted cumin, cayenne pepper, salt and cracked pepper in a bowl large enough to toss the entire slaw. Next, add the scallions, jalapenos, tomatoes, cilantro and mint leaves, tossing them a bit. Add the cabbage and toss with your hands, making sure to coat it thoroughly with the other ingredients. Garnish with the peanuts and maybe some more cilantro leaves.

Note: Suvir Saran is an accomplished Indian-American chef who owns the restaurant Devi in New York City, the only Indian restaurant in the U.S. to receive a Michelin star. Saran appeared on the third season of Bravo network’s Top Chef Masters.

Usha’s Butternut Squash, Indian Style
Serves 4-6

  • 1/2 tsp. dry mustard powder
  • 1/2 tsp. fenugreek powder
  • 1/2 tsp. carom powder
  • 1/2 tsp. cumin powder
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 inch piece of ginger, minced
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1-14oz. can whole tomatoes
  • 1 lb. butternut squash, peeled and diced
  • 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp. coriander powder
  • Cayenne powder to taste

Heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a large skillet. Add the mustard, fenugreek, carom and cumin. When the mustard powder starts to sputter, add the garlic, ginger and onion. Sauté until the onion starts to become translucent. Add the turmeric, coriander and cayenne.

Add the tomatoes, breaking them up a bit, then add the squash. Mix all the ingredients together, then cover over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Stir, check doneness of the squash, and continue to cook if necessary. When the squash is done, garnish with cilantro and serve.

Making Indian Food at the Rockefeller Institute (And a gluten-free naan recipe)

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Lisa Fischer being adorable.

For the record: Lisa Gibson Fischer is adorable.

Though she is mostly known in central Arkansas as the effervescent co-host of B98.5’s morning radio show, Fischer is also an excellent cook, hosting the “Made from Scratch” series entry focusing on Indian cuisine at the Rockefeller Institute in Morrilton earlier this month.

I felt a little strange cheating on my homies over at Pulaski Tech, but this was subject matter I hadn’t learned yet. I had wanted to take International Cuisine this semester, but it didn’t fit into my mommy-schedule. I also wanted to check out the new Rockefeller Institute, a stunning educational and meeting facility seated atop Petit Jean Mountain. With culinary education all the rage these days, they built a lovely teaching kitchen, with a stadium-seating lecture hall alongside a small hands-on lab area.

In the class, we started off with naan bread (a puffy, yeasted flatbread), a chicken coconut curry soup, and a mango lassi (mango puree with yogurt).

Shall I interject: I have been SO good lately with the gluten-free thing. But this day…there was just something about making bread. I hadn’t made yeast bread of any sort since going GF. I. Couldn’t. Resist.

Another participant's lovely naan and coconut soup.

I ate at least one whole naan, maybe more. It was in pieces, to feed my self-deception that I would only eat a bite. So, by the time we’re working on the next dishes, my eyes are puffy, I’m exhausted, and my muscles, which have avoided significant pain for several months now, started to cramp and seize.

Sheesh.

Anywho, it was probably worth it. The naan is DELISH. (See below for my gluten-free version.)

While I sank into glutenized stupor, we made Saag Paneer and Coconut Shrimp Curry, both surprisingly mild and delicious.

Surprise bonus: My seating neighbor and lab partner just so happened to be Dr. Meenakshi Budhraja, a gastroenterologist who is on the cutting edge of all things relating to food and/as medicine. She and I have tried for months to get together to finish a journal article we’re co-writing on the topic, and our schedules haven’t jelled. More on that another day.

I could go on about all the details of the event, but I’ll just say you should sign up for (1) Lisa’s “repeat” coming up at KitchenCo with the same recipes, and (2) anything at the Rockefeller Institute. It’s a stellar facility with a fantastic staff, culinary and otherwise.

Back to the naan. After driving 45 minutes or so home in a glutened haze, I knew I had to come up with a gluten-free version. As of yet, I had only stockpiled GF flours, hoping to one day have the time to play. I made the time when I got home.

Enjoy!
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Gluten Free Naan Bread 
(Inspired by Bread in Five)

  • 160g brown rice flour
  • 110g sorghum flour
  • 255g potato starch
  • 1 T. yeast
  • 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1 T. xanthan gum
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/3 c. lukewarm water
  • 2 T. + 2 tsp veg or olive oil
  • 1 T. honey

Mix the flours, starch, yeast, salt, and xanthan gum REALLY (no, really) well in the bowl of your stand mixer. I am generally against sifting, so I used a whisk to mix things up thoroughly. You could also use the whisk attachment of your mixer. Now place the dough hook on your mixer and proceed.

In a separate, small bowl, break up the eggs a bit with a whisk or fork.

In yet another bowl or largish measuring cup, combine the warm water, oil, and honey.

Pour the eggs into the flour mixture and mix a few seconds. With the mixer on low, slowly add the water/oil mixture until completely emptied.

What’s left in your mixer will slosh around for a few minutes and generally look like a big, sloppy mess. Keep it up.

Depending on your local humidity and altitude, and the questionable accuracy of this, my first gluten-free baking recipe, your dough (like mine) might be a bit soft. This is to be expected, really, as GF doughs tend to come out more like batters. Don’t freak.

The sticky dough of my gluten-free naan.

Cover your dough and let it rise in a warm place for an hour or two. I have a warming drawer now, but I used to just run my dryer for a few minutes and then place the bowl inside. Instant proof box!

Now, to form our naan: If you have a Silpat, now is the time to bust it out. This stuff is sticky. Sprinkle on a fair amount of rice flour, a little more if your dough is intolerably wet and sticky. Pinch off a golf-ball sized piece of dough and place it on top of your heavy dusting of flour. Sprinkle another heavy dusting of rice flour on the top, all over, so it won’t stick to your method of flattening.

Rolling out the GF naan.

This flattening method is variable, depending on what you’ve got to work with. My awesome hubs got me a Silpat rolling pin for Christmas, which was perfect for this. If your hubs isn’t as awesome as mine, you can pat down your naan using a sheet of plastic wrap or a cut storage bag. Either way, get it down to about a 1/8″ thickness.

Use a large spatula to loosen the dough and get it off the mat, then use the mat itself (or the spatula, if it’s holding together well) to transfer your naan to a waiting, hot skillet with some oil or butter inside. Oh, yeah. Get that ready first, will ya?

GF naan all cooked up on one side, and about to flip.

I browned the naan on one side, flipped, and browned on the other, and that was enough to cook it through. If yours is thick in spots or otherwise doesn’t seem to be cooking all the way, you can cover it and let it steam a bit.

The dough is quite forgiving if you tear it on the way to the skillet. I’m certainly not advocating that you actually reach your hands down in a hot skillet to press the dough back together, but I’m just saying, I may have done so, and it may have worked.

I scarfed this stuff down with some homemade rice-noodle soup that night, and it was glorious. Hope it works out for at least one or two of you, too.

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