We are alive (and crave Indian!!)

We are alive! Lots of stuff going on since our last post: weddings, babies, new jobs. Craziness. Let's just get right to the punch.

We haven't been able to get out to our favorite Indian restaurant Ajanta in Berkeley since Cole's arrival. Jim's parents gave us a give certificate that we'll use when they come in May, but when we want Indian, WE WANT INDIAN!! So when Peta's mum was here, we got the Chef Special from Lotus in San Rafael. It ended up being $70 for three that we thought would last all week. Yeah, right. Although they threw in a free riata, the portions were tiny and we'll probably not give them a second chance.

But we've been hankering for even more Indian, so we've been going through the chicken dishes from the Ajanta cookbook. Last week was Methi Murg, the first dish that Peta got from Ajanta. Very tasty as always although we forgot the garam masala on the first round. No use really blogging about it, but we follow the recipe to the letter and the author/owner Lachu Moorjani never disappoints.

Last night, we cooked Murgi Ka Saalan (Chicken Curry) from the Uttar Pradesh region and really wanted Aloo Saag (Spinach and Potatoes), a Punjabi vegetarian dish. We've been very disappointed with the chlorine taste of the el-Cheapo frozen spinach that we bought a while back. Buying in bulk was a bad call this time and we hoped to mask the taste under a barrage of heady spices.

There is no recipe for this dish in the Ajanta cookbook, and we found wildly different versions online. So we picked and chose what we thought would be the appropriate flavors. We won't put down all of the ingredients in each, just the real differences:

Recipe 1:

• 1/2 tsp Coriander Seeds
• 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1/2 tsp Chilli Powder
• 1/2 tsp Ground Coriander
• 2 tsp Fenugreek

Recipe 2:

• 3 green chilies
• ginger
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp of coriander powder
• 1 tsp of garam masala
• 1 tsp turmeric powder

Recipe 3:

• 1 pinch ground asafetida powder (optional)
• 2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Recipe 4:

• 6 fenugreek seeds (methi)
• ¼ tsp nigella seeds (kalonji)
• 2 tblsp cilantro (dhania), chopped
• 4 curry leaves (kari patta)
• 1 1/2 tsp mango (aam) powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 11/2 tsp coriander
• 2 red chilles, sliced
• 10 pieces ginger (adrak), shredded

What to do with all of that?? We ended up frying up:

• 2 tsp Black Mustard Seeds
• 2 inches Ginger
• 1 Tbsp Garlic

Then adding:

• 1 chopped onion
• 2 chapped tomatoes
• 1 tsp Turmeric
• 6 Fenugreek seeds
• 1/2 tsp Cumin
• 1/4 tsp Cayenne
• 1/4 tsp Nigella seeds
• One pinch of asafetida powder
• 1 chopped Serrano chili
• 2 Tbsp chopped Cilantro
  

It came out pretty well, but we might ask Mr. Moorjani's opinion on the matter when we go to the restaurant as to the "essential" spices in Aloo Saag and then update the post.

Cheers,
Jim and Peta