Indian Night

Delicious

So I love Indian food but have never cooked it. Sarah got me a great albeit huge Indian cookbook for my wedding and I was a little daunted at first but decided to try some things out. The first thing I made was curried potatoes with tomatoes. It was good but I wanted to do something more creative, so having a better understanding of the flavors, I made the curried cauliflower and okra with tomatoes below and made a potato and spinach curry from Vegetarian Times also listed below.
Curried Okra and Cauliflower
1/2 head cauliflower
3 or 4 cups okra rinsed with ends trimmed and cut into 1/2 in pieces
1 large or 3-4 small compari tomatoes
1 jalapeno or serrano chile deseeded and finely diced
1TBS vegetable or olive oil
salt to taste
1 TBS coriander
1/2 teaspoon each cumin turmeric paprika
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Saute okra in non stick skillet with out oil until lightly brown. Meanwhile steam or boil cauliflower until tender. Drain cauliflower and add to skillet. Lightly toast cauliflower until it gets a little color. Then add oil, chopped tomatoes, diced chile and cook together for 1-2 min. Add spices and coat veggies. I added a little water because I needed to cook the veggies until softer. when water evaporates add cilantro and serve.

Potato and Baby Spinach Masala from Vegetarian Times April 2009
1 lb potatoes boiled or microwaved until tender cut into cubes/chunks
1-2 TBS canola oil (I used EVOO b/c I always do)
1 yellow onion sliced (I diced a sweet onion)
2-3 cloves garlic
1-2 TBS grated fresh ginger
1 jalepeno diced
1tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 can light coconut milk (I didn't use the whole can)
1 bag baby spinach
1 1/2 tsp garam masala (I can't find this in a regular grocery and I'm too lazy to go to the Indian market-I used some grocery chile powder eek!)

Heat oil on medium. Add onion and cook until golden. Add garlic, ginger, jalepeno and cook for an additional minute. Stir in spices and add potatoes to coat for a minute. Add coconut milk and 1/4 cup water. Season with salt and cook sauce down. Stir in spinach 2-3 minutes before you serve. You can add lime juice and cilantro but I didn't.

The last part of the meal was the best part, because I LOVE naan but was bummed to learn it's made with yogurt so I haven't had it in a LONG time. I saw this technique on the internet but I can not remember where. I used Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough which I thought was great. You can splurge and make it with regular dough but I like the heartyness of whole wheat.
Skillet Naan
Pizza or bread dough
Cast iron skillet or griddle that is well seasoned/or you can use a little pam
Vegan butter (I like Smart Balance)
Garlic and chopped cilantro optional but highly recommended

Take a small amount of dough maybe 2/3 cup and stretch into a circle. Place in pre-heated skillet on medium. Cook until side is brown and grilled looking. Flip and cook on the other side. Spread butter and crushed garlic on bread and sprinkle with cilantro. Use to sop up yummy juices.

So overall this was a successful experiment and we especially like the naan. I want to get some more spices and try some more adventurous stuff in the book, but this was a yummy meal and I can't wait to see what other things I can make!