Easy Salsa

This is the easiest salsa I have ever made.

Ingredients

1. 4-5 small red or green tomatoes (depending on the color you want)
2. 1 small onion
3. 8-10 stems of cilantro
4. 1 jalopeno pepper or other green pepper (for however much hotness you can handle)
5. salt to taste
6. 1-2 tsp lemon juice
7. 1 tbsp white vinegar

Process:

1. Add ingredients 1-4 in the food processor and chop to a nice consistency. 
2. Add all the other ingredients 5-7 after pouring it in a nice bowl. Mix it all.  
3. Taste to make sure it suits your taste!

I have found that this salsa is best when eaten fresh - within a day or two. Don't forget to refrigerate!

Simple Cauliflower

This is a simple, low spice, north Indian type of cauliflower.

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 tsp - cumin seeds
2. 1/4 or 1/2 tsp - garam masala (1/2 tsp if you can handle more!)
3. 1/2 tsp - turmeric powder
4. salt, red pepper to taste
5. 1-2 tbsp - oil
6. 1 tbsp - fresh ginger - cut into small pieces (optional)
7. 1 medium size cauliflower - cut into small pieces (about 2 in thickness); wash with water and drain.
8. fresh cilantro to garnish - cut into small pieces (optional)

Process:

1. Add the oil to a small frying pan (should have a lid)
2. Add the cumin seeds when oil is hot.
3. When cumin seeds are reddish-brown, add the ginger pieces. Fry them a little bit.
4. Add the cauliflower.
5. Add the spices - salt, pepper and turmeric powder. Mix well and cover the pan.
6. Lower the heat to medium.
7. Stir every few minutes with a spatula or spoon. The cauliflower will cook in its own water. If it sticks to the bottom or starts to burn, add a few teaspoons of water. 
8. Cut or crush the cauliflower with the spatula to see that it is soft and cooked. Cook it to softness preferred. Too soft will make the vegetable too mushy and not tasty.
9. Once almost done, add the garam masala and mix well. This is a good time to cook the cauliflower without the cover so there is no water in it.
10. Garnish with cilantro when ready to serve.

For a change:

- add 2 small tomatoes after frying the ginger and before adding the cauliflower to give it little color and sourness.

- you can also add 1 medium potato (small pieces) and/or a few green peas to make it a nice mix veggie.

Enjoying it: 

You can eat this dish with virtually anything - rice, naan, any form of chapati (roti), paratha, puri, make sandwiches with bread or just eat it as a snack.

Staples of my Cooking

There are a few vegetables that are staple in my kitchen: onion, garlic (minced and paste), ginger (whole and ginger) and green chili peppers.

The garnish for most foods is green fresh cilantro leaves.  In some cases it might be mint or red pepper flakes or roasted cumin seed powder.  It depends on the dish.

I always have fresh yogurt in my fridge. One never knows when one needs it :-)

In terms of fats I keep canola oil and ghee.  Very rarely do I use butter for cooking.

Some other stuff I use a lot: sour cream, salsa and jalopenos.

Common cheeses in my fridge are: ricotta, cheddar, mozarella and cream cheese.  I still have to learn how to use cottage cheese. And of course I keep paneer (Indian home made cheese).

The sauces I keep are: soy sauce, pasta sauce (marinara and alfredo) and tahini.

Pantry is always full.  There are various types of lentils, rice (basmati), wheat flour, white flour, gram flour, beans (garbanzo, kidney and white). Pasta is there too!

Some of the mixes that I keep handy are for dosa, rava idli, dhokla and gulab jamun. These are typically Gits mixes from the Indian store. Once I have these it is easy to make some quick meal without too much trouble.

Spices - An Introduction

Using the correct spices are the key to enjoy Indian cooking.  I get most of my spices from the Indian store. Although a number of spices are available in most grocery stores, there are still some that I have to make the special trip to the Indian store.

Here is a list of the spices I use regularly and keep in my spice rack. Then there are some that I keep handy - not for all dishes but occasionally.

Most common:

• Cumin seeds (Jeera) 
• Coriander seeds and powder (Dhaniya)
• Turmeric powder (Haldi)
• Chili powder (Mirch)
• Dried Mango powder (amchur or khataai)
• Garam masala (a mixture of various spices)
• Fennel seeds (saunf)
• Asafoetida (heeng)
• Mustard seeds (raai)

As much as I don't reference Wikipedia, I must say this is the best list of Indian spices with pictures! Indian Spices.

Some of the less used ones are:

• Fenugreek seeds (methi)
• Carom seed (ajwaain)

The exotic ones are below. I use these ones only once in a while.

• Cinnamon (dalchini)
• Black cardamon (badi elaaichi)
• Green cardamon (choti elaaichi)
• Black pepper (kali mirch)
• Dried ginger (sonth)
• Nutmeg (jaiphal)
• Cloves (long)
• Black salt (kala namak)
• Dried mint (pudeena)
• Saffron (kesar)
• Bay leaf (tej patta)

Then there are some that are premixed for convenience sake. These are named according to what food you use them for:

• channa masaalaa (for chickpeas)
• sambhar powder (for sambhar)
• paav bhaaji masaalaa (for pav bhaaji)....

So best is to have at least the three above for most of the staple dishes. Rest...I get as I need them.  I don't really have a preference for which brand I use: most common are MTR and MDH.

Getting Started

One of my favorite pastimes is cooking. I would not call myself a "chef" by any means.  Neither am I a fancy shmanshy recipe maker. I just cook....I just cook what I know. I cook using the tried and tested home recipes; I cook whatever suits me at that time; and sometimes I experiment. So far I have never really been bored of my cooking. I can always find something interesting to make from my pantry and the fresh produce I get.

My cooking has diversified into some international cooking as I enjoy trying out different cuisines. However it is hard to cook some of the other countries' cuisines because they may need some special spices or sauces which I don't really care to make (or know how to make).

I know there are tons of blogs out there on cooking with step by step photo updates on how dish develops. I admire these bloggers and commend their dedication to their art.  This blog is very much for me keeping a track of my recipes and what I make. Anyone is welcome to try the recipes. I will try and post a picture of the finished product :-) Mine is just plain and simple cooking - no frills.

Over time I have also done several things to make life easy for myself.  Working full time, volunteering during my free time, watching some TV, sleeping - who has time to cook elaborately all the time. So my cooking style is quick and to the point.  My grocery shopping style has also changed over the time.

I call myself and eggitarian (egg eating vegetarian).  So obviously all the recipes here are vegetarian. Luckily I have no allergies or vegetable restrictions (except my own - I don't like mushrooms, olives and karela - bitter gourd); so I stay away from them.  The rest - I will try anything .... at least once.