Saturday, January 5, 2008

Ball Raita



You know when you take a bite of Indian food and your mouth explodes in flames? So you frantically down a glass of water which only makes it worse (and then you really have to pee)? So then you try putting a napkin on your tongue to squash the pain but just end up looking like an idiot? You're crying, your nose is running, your face is beet red, and even worse the waiters are gossiping about you back in the kitchen. "Hey Babu, did you see that Pagal try to eat the napkin? Didn't we serve him enough food? So fat these Americans."

The solution, you silly Americans, is called Raita. It's a yogurt-based sauce that you must always have on hand when eating Indian food. It is your savior, your personal firefighting squad. One spoonful and you can go back to your dinner conversation without the usual hysterics. That's the Indian secret.

Raita has different versions depending on the ingredients added beyond yogurt. This version is our favorite. My mother never knew the Hindi name so we literally call it "Ball Raita" because it has balls in it. Have some balls and make it yourself.

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Ingredients
2 cups of plain, non-fat yogurt
Either 1 cup of Kix cereal or 1 cup of spicy boondi (from Indian grocery)
1 tsp of ground cumin seeds
1/4 tsp of black salt


Steps
1. Thin yogurt with water until it is slightly creamy
2. Add hot peppers. Turn down stove to medium
3. Stir in cumin seeds and black salt
4. Add Kix or boondi
5. Place in fridge to cool until ready to serve
6. Keep in middle of table during meal for easy access in emergencies

Serves 4

Indian Eggs

As a kid Saturday mornings meant watching Looney Tunes cartoons while eating Indian Eggs smothered in ketchup. My mother invented this recipe when my father asked for some "spice" in the morning. Good job, Dad.

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Ingredients
2 eggs but only one yolk
A little milk
1/2 of a small onion, chopped
1/2 little green hot pepper, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh, chopped coriander (cilantro)
Olive oil for pan
1/8 tsp of: ground coriander, ground cumin, curry powder, chili powder
Heinz Ketchup

Steps
1. Fry onions in oil until brown
2. Add hot peppers. Turn down stove to medium.
3. Add spices and stir
4. Add coriander
5. Whip up eggs with milk in a small bowl
6. Add whipped eggs to pan. Turn heat up to medium-high
7. After egg browns slightly, flip over and squish. Eggs are done when slightly browned on both sides
8. Eat with lots of ketchup while watching Speedy Gonzalez run around
9. Hope you never grow up

Serves 1

Hit Me with your Best Chaat



Let's start with an easy treat. Chaat roughly translates into "snack" and usually refers to a mixture of various ingredients on a small plate. The ingredients vary from region to region but often feature crispy chips, chutneys and yogurt. Chaat is a treasured treat throughout India where it is sold in small chaathouses or from street vendors. The popularity of chaat has crossed oceans - numerous chaathouses have recently sprung up around the Bay Area and in NY and they can barely keep up with demand.

My family's perfected (read: easiest and therefore most American) chaat recipe is below. This type of chaat hails from Northern India and is referred to as Papri Chaat. We love it so much we eat is as a meal.

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Ingredients

6 medium-sized red potatoes
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 can drained chickpeas
4 Tbsp chopped onions
4 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander
1 tsp ground cumin seeds, preferably roasted
Plain, non-fat yogurt
Juice from one lemon
Hot chili peppers cut-up, if desired
Salt and pepper to taste

Items needed from Indian grocery store:
1 Tbsp Chaat Masala
Tamarind and coriander chutney
Papadi brand chickpea flour chips (could also just use Stacy's Simply Naked Pita Chips from any grocery)

Steps
1. Mix the chat masala and 1/3 cup cold water in a small bowl
2. Completely submerge potatoes (with skin) in water. Boil (will take approx. 20-30 mins). Drain and peel.

3. Cut potatoes into small cubes. Place in glass bowl. While still warm, pour masala and water mixture over them. Mix potatoes gently and set aside for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, onions, coriander, ground cumin, and lemon juice to the potato mixture. Stir and refrigerate until ready to eat.
5. Thin yogurt with water in a separate bowl until it has a slightly runny consistency. Refrigerate.

6. When ready to eat, assemble one plate per person in the following way: layer plate with chips, then add potato mixture, chickpeas, thinned yogurt, onions, hot peppers, salt, pepper and chutneys (if chutneys seem too thick, thin with water first).
7. Stir and serve!

Serves 4 if you are oinkers like us. Otherwise serves more

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Welcome to Citizen Chutney!



नमस्ते and Hello!

The purpose of this blog is to provide Indian-American fusion recipes - steak with a spicy kick, chaat made with American chips, keema Sloppy Joes...

My father is Indian. My mother was born in America to Maltese immigrants. When they first got married, my young mother spent a good deal of time with my aunts in northern India where they taught her their cooking secrets. Back in the US she applied her knowledge daily, hovering over a pot of bubbling brown chicken, magically creating batches of fluorescent potatoes, whipping up fresh yogurt overnight, and calling us all for chai at 4pm.

Our very non-Indian neighbors would marvel at the weird food we ate. My childhood friends had many questions. "Why are the potatoes glowing? What are those ball things in my yogurt? Why does your house always smell like onions? Why is your old uncle eating with his hands?!?" So my quest to educate Americans about Indian cuisine started early. At first I was embarrassed that the food we ate was different. On more than one occasion I asked my mother, exasperated, why we couldn't just eat pizza and hot dogs like normal people. As I matured, however, I realized how lucky we were to eat such healthy, tasty food every day - Indian food includes many vegetables and when cooked at home can be made with hardly any fat. My mother never forgot her American side, however, and altered dishes (and dish names!) when appropriate. For example, where was she going to find Papri Chips for chaat at the grocery store in Michigan? Better just use Mr. Phipps Tater Crisps instead. What is the name for that specific raita with the balls of dough? Who knows, let's just call it Ball Raita. Attuned to the American way of staying health-conscious, she significantly cut out fat and salt from the traditional recipes. In this way she slowly invented her very own Indian-American cuisine.

Inspired by the sheer deliciousness of these childhood meals, I want to carry on her mixed legacy. On this blog I will include recipes for her past creations as well as new ideas for American food with Indian flair. Look what can happen when you combine a US Citizen with an Indian man who loves chutney...