Cooking Your Mom An Indian Meal - Breakfast or Brunch

They cook for you day in and day out and now it's time to return the favor! Show your Mom how much you love her and appreciate everything she has always done for you. Take over the kitchen this Mother's Day, and cook her a meal she will remember the rest of the year!

Choose Indian cuisine this year. The exotic fragrances, flavors and textures are sure to delight Mom. She will no doubt assume (and her heart will melt), that you spent hours laboring over the meal for her. That you did not actually do that, can be our little secret! No matter how inexperienced or young you may be, there's something here that you can cook.

For Breakfast: Choose one of these simple yet substantial dishes.

Aaloo Paratha (potato paratha): A hot favourite with North Indians, these are best eaten with chilled yogurt and your favorite pickle or chutney.

Want to be naughty? Aaloo Parathas taste delicious with fresh, thick cream or a knob of unsalted, home-made butter!

Upma: Originally from South India, this tasty dish can be eaten for breakfast, brunch or as a snack and is so wholesome you can even make a meal of it!

Poha: From western India, Poha, made from flattened rice, is an easy-to-cook, nutritious snack. It is often eaten for breakfast or brunch. Add extra zing to Poha by serving it with Mint-Coriander Chutney!

Seekh Kabab - Kebabs on Skewers

These delicious, juicy kebabs can be made with any minced meat you like, but I like lamb best. They are a terrific appetizer but also make a nice side dish to the main meal. Serve them with green Mint-Coriander Chutney. This recipe will serve 2 people if served as a side dish and 4 people if served as an appetizer.

INGREDIENTS:
-500 gms lamb mince
-1 medium sized onion chopped very fine
-1 tbsp garlic paste
-1 tbsp ginger paste
-1/2 cup fresh chopped coriander
-Juice of 1/2 lemon/ lime
-2 tbsps yogurt (not sour)
-1 tsp garam masala (see link below for recipe to make your own)
-2-3 green chillies very finely chopped (optional)
-Salt to taste
-Vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cookign oil for basting kebabs while cooking
-1 large onion cut into thin rings (to serve the kebabs on)

PREPARATION:
Put all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
Use your hands or a wooden paddle to mix the ingredients thoroughly till they are well blended.
Cover the bowl with cling film and put into the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Soak bamboo skewers in water to prep for the kebabs.
Remove from fridge and divide the mix into equal portions.

Take each portion and form it into a long sausage-like kebab while pressing on to a skewer. Do this till the mix has firmly adhered to the skewer. Put some oil on your hands to prevent meat from sticking to them. Do this till all the kebab mix is used up.

-Grill the kebabs - grilling on a coal fire gives them a lovely smokey flavor - basting with cooking oil as required, till the meat is done. Turn as often as required.

-Serve piping hot on a bed of onion rings, with Mint-Coriander Chutney!

Chicken Karahi

I was playing around with my spices the other day and this is what I turned out! I have named it Chicken Karahi because I cooked it, stir-fry style, in my wok (karahi)! Serve Chicken Karahi with hot Chapatis or Parathas and a green salad.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 kg chicken (I like to use skinless, boneless chicken, usually thigh fillets) cut into 2" pieces
3 tbsps fresh yogurt (not sour)
2 tbsps Tandoori Masala (see link below for recipe to make your own)
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
Salt to taste
4 tbsps vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil
2 medium-sized onions chopped fine
2 tbsps tomato ketchup
Salt to taste
Chopped fresh coriander to garnish

PREPARATION:

Put the chicken, yogurt, Tandoori Masala, spices and ginger and garlic pastes into a large mixing bowl. Stir to blend all ingredients and coat the chicken completely.

Keep aside to marinate for 1 hour.
After an hour, heat the cooking oil in a wok, on high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and stir fry till soft.

Now add the chicken pieces. Reserve the marinade for a little later. Fry the chicken till sealed and opaque. Now add the marinade and tomato sauce. Stir well and season as and if required. Cook till chicken is done.

Remove from fire and garnish with chopped fresh coriander.

The Italian Food

It is surprising how many people who believe they are familiar with Italian cooking are unaware of the regional differences that exist. Pasta is the first course in a meal for most Italians with the exception of the far north. Here risotto or polenta is the norm. For the most part, meat does not play a regular part of many Italian diets with vegetables, grains and legumes taking center stage in most homes. Olive oil is often seen in its dark green state (from its first pressing) in the south. You will see a more refined, golden oil in the north.

As far as suggesting the best olive oil to use, I must first stress your choice depends upon the use of the oil and your own personal tastes. Many people prefer a fruity, golden oil and for them I would recommend using a product from Lucca. I used to live in Pisa which is near Lucca and consequently we would have Luccan olive oil on the table all the time. It has a delicious fruity, bright green aroma and the taste would often have a pleasant sharpness or bite to it. My oil of choice, though, comes from the rich, dark green olives of Sicily. I grew up with this and find the earthy, heavier, aromatic liquid almost makes me swoon with anticipation. So powerful is the flavor, I find I use much less than when I use the more refined, golden oils.

Although focaccia originates from Genoa, you will see a softer, thicker version in Apulia which is made of potatoes. This is chewy and delicious, especially lightly brushed with that dark green, southern Italian olive oil.

Basically, Italian cuisine is a combination of vegetables, grains, fruits, fish, cheeses and a scattering of meats, fowl and game usually seasoned or cooked with olive oil (with the exception of the far north). The reliance upon what the country can produce has shaped a diet popular for centuries, particularly with the poorer Italian people, and is called la cucina povera.

Italian Eating Customs

As the old adage goes, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do," and when I ate in Italy, I tried to behave like a native. I liked to think that I belonged there, that I didn't stand out like the touristi because I insisted in eating only at the smaller, family-run trattorias. There you can get the best of the region's cooking while blending with the natives as you bask in the flavors and culture of their life. One way to accomplish this is to familiarize yourself with Italian eating customs.

Italians eat only two main meals a day. They generally skip what we and Britons consider breakfast and opt for a cup of cappuccino. Lots of milk in coffee is definitely a morning ritual for Italians.

I'd like to offer some advice for savoring an Italian meal. First, don't be tempted to nibble on that gelato or cannoli during the day if you are planning to enjoy the experience of a full Italian lunch or dinner. This is a memorable occasion for your palate and realize that eating is done with great pleasure and gusto.

Second, if you do decide to dine Italian style, don't rush through your courses: learn the art of slowly savoring your meal over a bottle or two of wine and good conversation. Italians take great pleasure in serving people the food they lovingly prepare, especially foreigners who are learning about their country. If you charge through a meal as if you have a plane to catch you are insulting the restaurant chef and staff and are considered gauche. You will very likely be dealt with accordingly. So, relax and enjoy one of life's greatest pleasures and one of Italy's many great accomplishments!

One more word of advice: Italians usually eat their dinner later than Americans do. Plan on getting to your restaurant (at the earliest) by 7pm. I made the embarrassing mistake of walking into a trattoria solo at 5 pm because I was hungry. I found the restaurant was enjoying its family meal with the staff before beginning the evening's work. Of course they were gracious and charming and hopped up from their dinner table and prepared me my meal but I couldn't help feeling guilty as I ate knowing that I cut short one of the favorite parts of their day.

Chinese Cuisine

The vastness of China's geography and history echoes through the polyphony of Chinese cuisine. To begin, it is best to divide Chinese cuisine, with all the appropriate disclaimers and caveats, into that of four major regions: the northern plains, including Beijing; the fertile east, watered by the Yangtse River; the south, famous for the Cantonese cooking of the Guangdong Province; and the fecund west of Szechwan and Hunan Provinces.

Canton is, perhaps, the most famous of the food areas. Long, warm, wet days throughout the year create the perfect environment for cultivating most everything. The coast provides ample seafood, the groves are filled with fruits. Cooking methods and recipes here are sophisticated and varied. Since the local produce is so gorgeous, the cooking highlights its freshness, relying less on loud sauces and deep-frying.

To the mountainous west, in Szechwan and Hunan provinces, steamy heat and spicy foods fill the restaurants. Rice grows abundantly, as do citrus fruits, bamboo, and mushrooms. The spiciness of the food tells of locally grown chiles and the inclinations of the local palate, though some say the spices are used to mask the taste of foods that rot quickly in the heat.

To the east of Hunan lies "the land of fish and rice." Like the west in latitude, it has the added bonus of lowlands for rice cultivation and a rich ocean's edge for fish.

The northern region of China reaches into the hostile climate of Mongolia -- land of the Gobi Desert and Arctic winter winds. Mongolian influence appears in the prevalence of mutton and lamb -- many in the region are Muslim, so pork is forbidden -- and in the nomadic simplicity of the Mongolian fire pot. The north is not amenable to rice cultivation so, wheat, barley, millet and soybeans are the staples; breads and noodles anchor the meal. The vegetables and fruits -- cabbage, squash, pears, grapes, and apples -- are like those grown in North America. Beijing is the pearl of the region; royal haute cuisine was born and bred inside her walls. However, the centuries and the accumulated wisdom of China's best chefs have conspired to make imperial cuisine an incredible achievement that belongs to all of China.

Indian Spices -Learning to Cook with Spices

Spices are the soul of Indian food. Simple ingredients come alive with the special use of spices and herbs.

1. Many Indian vegetables are made with simple bland spices so the flavor of the main ingredient can stay pure and the spices provide a supporting taste. These are the more bland and delicate spices such as fennel, cumin, mustard seeds and coriander powder and turmeric.

2. Then there are the stronger spices. In India we use strong, pungent spices like garam masala in small amounts. It is safest to use whole spices in garam masala when new to these spices. Use 1 each for 4 servings as a start.

These whole spices are natures very own Bouquet Garni: In India whole spices are used in many recipes and they keep releasing their flavor over time in a dish. This natural use of whole spices is more popular in North Indian cuisines.

3. Fresh herbs like mint, coconut, fresh green chilies are combined with spices to make fragrant concoctions for cooking. Indian cooking involves the use of fresh herbs and it is easy to overlook this important aspect in our cooking with all the fragrance and charm of spices. Fresh herbs help balance spices.

4. In our store you will also find spice blends and ready made pastes and sauces. These are time saving ideas making it even easier for you to enjoy authentic flavors in your own kitchen.