Scratch Cooking October 20th

So tonight I went out for a really lovely dinner with my friend Nina who is in the wine business. I want her to start writing a blog because she puts these status updates on her facebook page that are so thoughtful and passionate about the food and wine at the retaurants she goes to that I actually sometimes feel like I can taste it!

We were talking about how snarky food writers have become. It's like they think that to be interesting, they have to be negative and clever.

Now I will confess that when Anthony Bourdain said that someone's broccolini tasted like doll hair a few years ago, I laughed, but it didn't make me excited about food. This is a new era and mean is out! Writing about food and wine with appreciation is where it's at! And it's always fun to enjoy a meal with someone who isn't there for the spectacle but because they really know how to enjoy food.

So not much cooking went on tonight or Monday, but Sunday night I did cook some biryani and chana masala, or that is what I will call it. You see, I never really cooked any Indian food until recently and then the only things I ever tried to make were kitchari, which is a pretty simple rice and lentil dish, and Aloo Tikki which is like a chickpea and potato pancake. I always felt a little too intimidated to try to make Indian food because I didn't grow up eating those spices and flavors. But Sunday I decided to play around with some Indian spices and rice and soaked chickpeas and make a dinner out of it. And, actually, it was really, really good!

For the Biryani, I sauteed turmeric, ginger, corriander, cumin, fenugreek, slivered almonds and salt in oil for a few minutes. I would say about a teaspoon of each spice and 1/3 cup of almonds. I added a cup of rice, 2 cups of water and cardamom seeds from about 6 pods.

For the Chana Masala, I soaked about 1 cup of chickpeas in water for 8 hours, drained them and then cooked them in water for about an hour and a half, skimming off the foam along the way. While that was cooking, I sauteed a small chopped onion, 1/2 a chopped jalapeno, 1 clove minced garlic, and about a teaspoon each of turmeric, corriander, cumin, salt and pepper. Once the onions were soft, I added a chopped tomato, 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro and about 2 teaspoons of grated, fresh ginger and cooked for another 15 minutes. Finally I drained the chickpeas and added them in with a cup of water and cooked at high heat for 20 minutes so that the liquid boiled down into a nice sauce. You could use canned or pre-cooked chickpeas, the whole thing would take about 10 minutes of prep and a total of 45 minutes or less to make.

We ate it with some sliced and salted cucumbers, which were perfect to offset some of the spice. It was a lot like making rice and beans, just with Indian spices.

So the lesson is, don't be intimidated!