Cook Authentic Indian Food

Spices and Flavourings

Indian food has been a favourite in the UK for some years now, usually enjoyed in Indian restaurants or takeaways. If you want to cook authentic Indian food at home the first thing you must do is to learn about the spices and flavourings and how they are used to create the wonderful taste and texture of these great dishes.

Cardamom

It’s best to buy it in pod form because as soon as the pod is opened it begins to lose its flavour.

The whole pod is used to flavour rice and meat dishes and discarded after cooking, also the pod can be opened and the seeds are crushed and sprinkled over sweets.

Chilli Powder

Powdered dried red chillies and sometimes other spices such as cayenne, paprika, cumin and garlic.

Chillies Fresh Green

For a less pungent result, discard the seeds.

Cinnamon

Ground or in stick form, if using in stick form discard before serving.

Coconut

This is used in many sweet and savoury dishes mainly in the form of coconut milk. Keep a look out for future posts on how to make your own coconut milk.

Fresh Coriander

Use chopped as a garnish or stir it in at the end of cooking, you can also pure it to make sauces.

Coriander Seeds

Very fragrant when used in ground form. Coriander seeds create a deeper flavour than fresh coriander.

Curry Leaves

Usually used in curry dishes fried along with the chopped onion.

Apparently they aid digestion and help with the break down of food.

Fennel Seeds

This is an aromatic anise flavoured spice and is one of the most important spices in Kashmiri Pandit.

Cumin Seeds

A strong flavoured caraway like seed used as a traditional ingredient in Indian curry.

Garam Masala

Commonly used in roghan josh and various types of pilaf. Look for future posts on how to prepare your own Garum Masala

Ghee (clarified butter)

This is better than ordinary butter for cooking because it can be heated to a higher temperature without burning. You can buy it or you can make your own.

Look out for future posts on how to make your own Ghee

Fresh Ginger

Grated, finely chopped or pureed

Gram Flour

Ground chick peas. Used in place of flour for making batter.

Mustard Seeds

When fried for a few seconds they smell delicious.

Oil

Groundnut oil is the most commonly used in Indian food.

Panir (Indian cheese)

A curd cheese. Look out for future posts on how to make your own Panir

Saffron

This comes powdered or in shreds. The threads are soaked in hot water or milk before using.

It gives the food a lovely yellow colour with a great taste and aroma.

Taramind

Comes in pod form or pulp, both must be soaked in water then squeezed and strained.

Used as a souring agent

Sesame Seeds

A seed with a nutty flavour, use in vegetable dishes and sprinkled on naan.

Yogurt

This is eaten daily all over India, plain, in vegetables or with fruit. Look out for future posts on how to make your own yogurt

Turmeric

Yellow in colour with an earthy taste.

Coming Soon

How to make your own coconut milk

How to prepare your own Garam Masala

How to make your own Ghee (clarified butter)

How to make your own Panir (Indian Cheese)

How to make your own yogurt

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Authentic Chinese Restaurant Sweet & Sour Chicken

This has got to be the most popular Chinese restaurant dish, it is often too sweet for me but this one is just right.

Prep and cooking time 35 – 40 minutes                      Serves 4

You will need:

350 gm chicken breast

Salt & pepper to taste

1 tbs Chinese rice wine

1 beaten egg

2 tbs plain flour

Oil for deep frying

For the sauce

1 tbs seasoned oil

1 small onion, cut into small cubes

½ green pepper, cut into small cubes

1 small carrot, cut into small cubes

1 tbs light soy sauce

2 tbs soft brown sugar

3 tbs rice vinegar

1 tbs tomato ketchup

100 ml stock

1 tbs thin cornflour paste

Cut the chicken into small bite size cubes and marinate in the salt, pepper and wine for 15 – 20 minutes. Coat the meat with the egg and flour and deep fry for about 3 – 4 minutes, stir to separate, remove and drain.

Reheat the oil and re-fry the meat for another minute or two until golden brown. Remove and drain.

To make the sauce, stir fry the vegetables for about a minute then add the seasoning and the stock, bring to the boil and add the cornflour to thicken. Add the chicken blend well so that each piece is coated with the sauce and serve hot.

I had mine tonight with boiled rice, but it goes equally well with fried rice.

One tip I would like to give you about your wok, never wash it in soapy water. Rinse it with plain water and then rub a little oil into it, this will keep it non stick.

ENJOY

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How to make Chinese Crispy Seaweed

Crispy Spring Rolls

How to make Chinese Crispy Seaweed                                                             

You will probably already know that this 
very popular dish is not seaweed but 
fried green cabbage. It is very easy to 
prepare and cook but you must make 
sure that the cabbage leaves are 
completely dry before frying.

Prep and Cooking Time 15 – 20 minutes plus drying time.               

Chinese Chicken Curry

Serves 6 – 8 as a Starter

You will need

450gm green cabbage or spring greens

Oil for deep frying

1tsp Caster sugar

½ tsp Salt

Separate the dark outer leaves (keep the inner heart for other uses) and clean well with a damp cloth – don’t wash in water as they will take too long to dry. Cut off the hard stalks in the centre of each leaf.

Pile the leaves on top of each other and roll into a tight sausage shape then thinly cut into shreds, spread the shreds out and leave to dry for about 30 minutes.

Heat the oil in a wok to about 180 C deep fry the shredded greens stirring to keep them separated. Removed when they are crispy before they start to change from dark green to light brown, with a strainer or sieve. Drain and sprinkle the caster sugar and salt all over evenly.

Serve with or without garnish.

The usual garnish for this dish would be ground fried fish or roasted, flaked and crushed almonds.

For a starter this is a great dish for anyone that does not want to ruin their appetite for the main course, it’s a great appetiser.
Why not also try Chinese Crispy Spring Rolls

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Cutting of various ingredients into different sizes, shapes and thicknesses is a very important part of Chinese cooking.

They cut their food into small neat pieces prior to cooking, because it is easier to serve and to eat with chopsticks. Also they require a shorter cooking time retaining much of their natural flavours and nutritious value.

The size and shape of the cut should be relevant to the particular method of cooking, for example: for quick stir fry cooking the ingredients should be cut into thin slices or shreds.

Tender ingredients can be cut thicker than tougher ones; each ingredient should be uniform to allow for even cooking. Each should be cut into a similar shape, slices matched with slices, shreds with shreds, cubes with cubes and so on.

The standard shapes for Chinese cooking are: slice, strip, shred, chunk, piece, dice, cube, grain and  mince.

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How To Prepare and Cook Authentic Chinese Restuarant Chicken Chow Mein

Rice is the staple food for people in the south of China, whereas people in the north rely more on wheat products.

The Chinese word fan covers all the staple food such as rice, noodles, pancakes and dumplings.

Plain rice boiled or steamed is normally served with everyday meals while noodles and fried rice are served on their own for a light meal or snack.

In this post I am going to show you how to prepare and cook an authentic Chinese restaurant style Chicken Chow Mein.

Keep in mind the principle of cutting all the ingredients into matching shapes and sizes, in this case thin shreds like the noodles themselves.

Prep. and cooking time 30 minutes                               serves 4

You will need:

450gm of fresh or 250gm of dried egg noodles

4-5 tbs seasoned oil

225gm of chicken breast

115gm French beans

115gm fresh bean sprouts

1 tsp salt

½ tsp soft brown sugar

1 tbs Chinese rice wine

2 tbs light soy sauce

2 spring onions finely shredded

A little stock, if necessary

A few drops of sesame oil

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, drain and rinse under cold water the mix with a little of the seasoned oil.

Thinly shred the chicken breast and top and tail the beans.

Heat about 3 tbs of seasoned oil in a wok, stir fry the chicken and vegetables for about 2 minutes, add the salt, sugar, wine, half of the soy sauce and half of the spring onions, blend well and add a little stock if needed.

Place this in a dish and keep warm.

Heat the remaining oil in the wok and stir fry the noodles in the remaining soy sauce for 2-3 minutes. Place on a large serving dish and put the chicken and vegetables on top, garnish with the sesame oil, the remaining spring onions and serve.

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Authentic Chinese Chicken Curry and Egg Fried Rice

Chinese Chicken Curry

Chinese curries are quite different from Indian curries; to get the authentic taste ideally you need to get a special curry powder mixture from a Chinese supermarket. Failing that I have always had good results from a mild curry powder.

For the curry you will need:

440 gm - chicken cut into small cubes

1 teaspoon - soft brown sugar

1 table spoon - light soy sauce

1 table spoon - Chinese rice wine

1 table spoon - corn flour

3 table spoons - seasoned oil

1 - Clove - garlic (chopped)

1 - medium onion, finely chopped

2 table spoons - mild curry powder

300 Ml - Chinese Stock or Chicken stock

1 tsp salt

Marinate the chicken in the sugar, light soy sauce, wine and corn flour for 25-30 minutes.

Heat the oil in a wok or pot, brown the onion and garlic over a medium heat, add the curry powder then mix and allow to brown, add a little stock and mix into a paste. 

Now add the chicken and cook on a high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent it from sticking. 

Add the salt and just enough stock to cover; reduce the heat cover and braise for 25 minutes. 

You can accompany this with anything you like but my favourite is fried rice, I don’t think you can beat a good Chinese curry with anything but Chinese egg fried rice.

To make a good authentic Chinese fried rice the boiled rice that you use has to be cold.

So here we go;

For the egg fried rice you will need

3 - eggs

1 teaspoon -  salt

2-3 table spoons - oil

450 gm - boiled rice

100 gm - peas

Lightly beat the eggs with a pinch of salt, heat the oil in a wok and lightly scramble the eggs. 

Add the rice and stir well making sure that all the grains are separated, then add the remaining salt and peas. Stir well on a high heat for about 5 minutes and serve.

Now you have the perfect authentic Chinese curry, just like you get from the takeaway.

Or maybe a little better.

Why not try some Crispy Spring Rolls as a side dish