1.02.2010

Indian Food, etc.



Another fun Christmas break activity was making a yummy Indian meal with Krista. Krista and Kirsten set to making saag paneer, while I worked on a cauliflower-lentil curry. We enjoyed our curries with some homemade white wine and pita from that slightly strange hallal grocery store on Hobson Road. Krista made a super quick and easy and very delicious yogurt dip for the pita...



1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced
1 bunch of mint, chopped
16 oz. plain, non-fat yogurt

combine and scoop up with pita. It's a great way to cool your mouth when eating spicy curries!





Krista made the cheese (paneer) for her curry from scratch, which is beyond cool, if you ask me. It was so simple that of course we had to try it when we returned to our home kitchen. I put a gallon of whole milk on medium-high and stirred until it boiled. Then I added a quarter cup white vinegar, which made it look like this:



When the acid in vinegar or lemon juice is combined with protein-rich milk, the protein coagulates, because the acid is actually "cooking" the protein strands. Curds form:



and when fully drained will become a hunk of cheese. As I type, that bunch of curds above are being squeezed dry. I tied up the cheesecloth to make a block of curds, then placed a glass bowl filled with water onto the curd block. I'll let the liquid drain out of the curd block for a few hours, then slice and fry the cheese for a curry tonight.

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