Indian - - Page 7

by BS

Oh Yes, It’s Ladies Night

Editor’s Note: As gansie and I were both M.I.A. for a couple of days there, we’ve of course been bugging our friends for some recipe posts. Loyal ESer Maidelitala came through and then some. Here’s her latest fully-veggie meal plan.

byline: Maidelitala

Recently I had a dinner at my new digs JUST for LADIES: A much needed, and barely-belated fête to welcome two new additions from dear old Macalester to town. Unfortunately the date I picked for the ladies’ dinner conflicted with the premier of this season’s Project Runway, excluding a troop of women friends, and reducing our numbers to a mere gaggle of eight (and not the veritable multitude who I might have otherwise mustered…what? I’m not bragging, I just know a lot of AMAZING women in the District). WELL, apologies to the PR premier crowd, because our dinner was frackin’ fabuloso.

Despite a heart-wrenching snafu with mole-roasted cauliflower (I couldn’t force down more than a bite, so I tossed it before the invitees arrived and were forced to endure my shame), and with spirited contributions from the guests–including a mouth-watering and apropos mango salsa–I executed a tasty, stuff-yourself-into-a-food-coma spread for the ladies.

I served a summery dish of red cabbage and roasted cashew salad, homemade spicy hummus, and a flavorful fresh tofu and vegetable curry over steamed brown rice (the curry was a last minute stand-in for the mess of a mole-roasted cauliflower). As ya’ll will no doubt note, the meal was wholly vegetarian and lactose-free, and by all accounts delicious. Devoted Project Runway fan Gansie even missed the PR premier to sample the goodies. Anyway, the contents of our conversations over copious amounts of wine (provided by some of the guests) is not for public consumption, but the recipes (and amazing photos courtesy of the harrowing efforts of my girl Elenora) are available below for your perusal.

by gansie

Ménage à Bean

From the top clockwise, TexMex black bean salad, Indian kidney bean salad, Italian cannelini bean salad.

So I’m a bit behind on this post, as I promised it back during MemDay weekend.

Anyway, this is a tale of vegetarianism, lactose intolerance and side dishes that spreads across three continents. For the first BBQ (I’m using the term as a party featuring grilled food, as meant in Jersey) of the season, I decided to make something that Maidelitala (veggie/lactard) could actually eat since she was the one who invited me to the birthday party.

The first thing I could think of to cook was a bean dish. I knew she loved beans and although I’m new to liking the genre, I thought this would be a great way to experiment. I spied this cannelini bean recipe over at Cookthink. As it’s well documented that I can’t follow instructions, I messed up a bit on the adding water part (put in way to much) and then I forgot the vinegar and added it after I took it off the pan. To make it my own, I mixed in asparagus and diced red onion and served it at room temperature. My bean salad was surely a hit, especially smashed on a baguette.

But clearly, this is not the end of the story. As you can see pictured above, there were two other competing bean salads. And I shit you not, these three bean salads were the only non-grilled side dishes. It was super embarrassing. Luckily, all of the bean salads were different and delicious. Mine had a more Italian theme. The host’s mom made a TexMex black bean salad and Maidelitala created a stunningly tasty Indian bean salad. Her recipe post jump.

by pinch of minch

The Washington, D.C. Smelliest Takeout Awards

It’s an urban legend among roommate disaster stories. Roommate #1 goes to neighborhood takeout joint. Orders smelliest thing on menu. Brings home, consumes half during Lost marathon, puts in fridge. Roommate #2 comes home, sniffs something rank, assumes rotten meat in fridge, throws out stinky leftovers. Passive aggressive notes ensue. Roommate tension escalates. Both move out. And it all started with a smelly dish.

DC has many choices of incredibly smelly, yet unbelievably tasty takeout. Everyone has come across this fare in some form. It’s the food with the stench that is embedded in your car during the five minute drive from the curry shop to your couch (car fresheners don’t come in Lamb Korma). The meal that when consumed at the desk causes coworkers’ eyes to water. The food that may smell better coming out than going in. But in the battle between taste buds and nose, taste triumphs. Meet the pungent posse of yummy DC takeout food.

Honorable Mention: O Jing A Bukom, Adam Express
This nondescript takeout place in Mt. Pleasant may look like any of the many forgettable Chinese joints that dot the DC landscape (sorry YUMS and Dannys). But one step inside this place and you are greeted with an extensive Korean menu, smiling owners, and the succulent stench of food. While everything in this tasty hole-in-the-wall has an aroma, only the daring need to order the stinkiest of all smelly foods: O Jing A Bukom. Broiled squid and vegetables sautéed in a spicy sauce with an odor more ferocious than the villain in Twenty Thousand Leagues. But man, is it good. The fresh chili spicy sauce is the perfect accompaniment to the perfectly grilled seafood. If the squid isn’t malodorous enough, Adam Express kindly includes a side of Kimchi (pickled cabbage) to raise the smelly stakes.
Adam Express, 3211 Mt Pleasant St NW, Washington, DC 20010, (202) 328-0010

4th Place: Garlic Knots, Valentino’s, Alexandria
New York pizza enthusiasts love Valentino’s for its authentic pies. But look beyond the main course for an appetizer that will surely singe the senses. This adored takeout joint takes pizza dough and bakes it with herbs, spices, olive oil, and Kilimanjaro-size mountain of garlic. Valentino’s creation heads a thousand knots into Garlic Land (Candyland’s much less profitable successor). The flavor is perfectly spiced, fragrant goodness, and the bread is warm and generously greasy, but the fumes give off a garlic sauna. Perfect for John Carpenter or Vampire Weekend fans, or for one of the Coreys in The Lost Boys. Not at all good for first dates.
Valentino’s, 4813 Beauregard St, Alexandria, VA 2232, (703) 354-8383

in Cheese 9 comments

by BS

Guy and Dahls

Photo: 80p, clearly.

Spicy lentil dahl is the overlooked stepchild of any fancy Indian dinner, often lost between the savory samosas and the heat-packing curries. Poor, lonely dahl is even overshadowed by its own dipping vehicle, the wonderfully crisp naan.

But dahl, (also spelled daal, dal or dhal) is quite delicious in its own right, and I recently got to thinking it can’t be too hard to cook at home. Now, as you all know, I’m not really one for careful, planned-out testing of recipes. Usually I just take something tried and true, crush some pine nuts on top, throw in a weird fruit, and proclaim myself a genius. But for my dahl experimentation, I decided to go all Cooks Illustrated on ya’ll and try this baby until I got it perfect.

My online research revealed a wide range of recipes, but general agreement on the basics. Red lentils are the best, and they are boiled up with water, onions, garlic and spices, then covered and steamed just like rice. This epicurious recipe is a pretty typical example.

The main controversy comes over how to break up the lentils. Some say to soak them overnight beforehand; others insist the dahl must be blended in a food processor afterwards. I tried both and found them equally effective. (Obv. the blending is less time consuming.) Although if you prefer your dahl thick and chunky rather than sleek and smooth, neither method is necessary. Pictures of both creamy and chunky varieties coming up…

in Recipe / Veggie 7 comments

by BS

The Kumquats of Wrath

UPDATE: Good idea, Margot…consider this “Lakshmi-Spiegel Green Chutney” entered in AFAM

I never spend much time with dead tree cooking publications. After I get through all the blogs, there’s just no time left. Plus, as you can probably tell, I’m not one for following recipes.

However, as Gansie mentioned previously, every time I go down to D.C., she sends me back on the bus with a pile of Bon Appetites, Gourmets – and if I’m lucky – Cook’s Illustrateds. Because she’s ~~strangely obsessive~~ a truly dedicated co-editor, she even steals little arrow flags from her office and marks every page for me that mentions pine nuts, phyllo or Padma Lakshmi.

It was this way I learned that the December issue of Gourmet featured the famed cookbook author/Top Chef host/2nd runner-up for Eater of the Year, and offered a few of her chutney recipes. The new Gourmet.com doesn’t seem to have this one in their archives, so here it is:

in Pig / Recipe / TV 5 comments

by BS

Dash My Curry Like I’m in a Hurry

Looks like it’s shaping up to be a recipe-heavy day here at endless simmer – on a food blog, who knew?

Edouble recently told us that cooking up a curry ain’t as hard as it sounds, you just have to be willing to cheat a tiny bit and use some of those premade curry sauces. As e-dubs points out, I’m not about to go home after work and grind up some lemongrass, so this is definitely allowed.

I put together this heavy-on-the-staples, light-on-the-liquid curry, based on the random ingredients I found at my new local food co-op (much more on that later). It’s a pretty unorthodox mixture, but I think the flavors all work. Usually Thai curries are reserved for chicken or shrimp, but I see no reason why their sweet, coconut-y goodness can’t be shared with something heavier, in this case, delicious baby sheep.

Plus, I’m not usually one to get all 30-minute-meals on ya’ll, but this is pretty damn quick and easy.

Recipe after the j.

in Red Meat 3 comments

by BS

Bunny Chow

In my recent trek through South Africa, I was in general not too wowed by the food scene. Every meal from breakfast to dinner is served with french fries (def not complaining, but not exactly exotic) and many meals are anchored by a dry, mealy porridge-like substance called pap (I tried to provide you with a pic of this, but learned that google image searching for the word ‘pap’ is not a good idea.)

There is however, one original South African dish that is a must-eat: bunny chow. A specialty of street vendors in Durban, a port city with a huge Indian population, bunny chow is a straight-forward but utterly genuis creation. The insides of a loaf of bread are removed and replaced with spicy veggie curries, and less frequently, lamb or chicken curry. When I first heard about this dish I thought they meant something like a bread roll, but no, they are not kidding around; it’s an entire loaf of sandwich bread filled to the brim. The pic above (not mine) is a half order. The best part is once the curry is gone, the remaining bread crust is soaked full of tasty curry spices.

Bunny chow is so popular in SA that it is even the title of an upcoming movie from the country’s MTV division, which looks pretty amazing so here’s hoping it will be released in the states.

in Uncategorized 4 comments