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Polish Housewife

Polish recipes served up with tidbits of folklore, customs, and history

Indian

Quick and Easy Ginger Chai

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Quick and Easy Ginger Chai

  • Prep Time: 2 mins
  • Cook Time: 5 mins
  • Total Time: 7 mins
  • Yield: 2 cups
  • Category: Beverage
  • Cuisine: Indian
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Description

A quick and easy version of the spicy traditional Indian tea.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 4 (black) tea bags
  • 1/2 cup whole milk (or almond milk)

Instructions

  1. Add the water, sugar, and spices to a saucepan over high heat
  2. Stir or whisk until the sugar dissolves
  3. Bring to a boil, add tea bags and reduce heat to a simmer for two minutes
  4. Add the milk and serve

Notes

There will be spices in the bottom of the tea, you can pour it through a few layers of cheesecloth to strain, but I just leave the cinnamon sludge in the bottom of the pan or the cup.

 

 

Turmeric Milk or Haldi Doodh

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Turmeric Milk or Haldi Doodh

Golden Milk, Turmeric Milk or Haldi Doodh – whatever you call it, this a a tasty way to get some of nature’s most health-filled spices. I’ve known about turmeric’s anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties, but Wed-MD has a much longer list of the benefits. It’s easy to see why I’ve been reading that this beverage is every Indian mother’s go-to remedy (sometimes without any sweetener, ugh). My friend Prethi confirms this, and judging by the expression on her face, it was an unsweetened version that she drank as a child!

We take supplements, but I strongly believe that it’s better to get nutrients as part of your food rather than concentrated if you can. I may have to make this a daily habit to see if it helps my arthritis.

I’m putting what I started with in the recipe. You can add more or less to taste or be adventurous and toss in other spices – kind like chai but without the tea. Exercise caution – the turmeric stains, worse than beets!  

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Turmeric Milk

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
  • Prep Time: 1 min
  • Cook Time: 4 mins
  • Total Time: 5 mins
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Beverage
  • Cuisine: Indian
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Description

A tasty, healthy alternative to coffee, tea, or hot chocolate

Ingredients

  • 2 cups milk, (any milk, I used coconut)
  • 1 heaping tablespoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon ginger

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan
  2. Simmer to heat and combine flavors
  3. If you’ve added some chunky spices, you may want to strain before serving

Notes

Substitute other sweeteners for honey, if desired

I would have grated a 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, rather than using dried, if I’d had some

Optional spice additions: 2-3 whole black peppercorns, 1 star anise, 2-3 cracked cardomon pods, cinnamon stick (or sprinkle with ground cinnamon)

According to Dr. Weil, be sure to add some black pepper to your drink. The pepper will help your body absorb the turmeric!

 

Mango Pickles

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You know from previous posts that I’ve been haning out in the kitchen with my friend from India, Prethi.  I have not only enjoyed learning about Indian foods, but also Indian traditions.  One of the things Prethi has told me about is the food at Indian weddings.

  • The fact that you need at least 11 curries.  The more the better, but it must always be an odd number.
  • The meal is served on a banana leaf.
  • There is prescribed place on the leaf for everything – a place for the salt, a place for the sweets, a place for the pickle.

As Prethi was showing me photos of wedding meals on her iPad, the pickle is what caught my attention because it was a little dab of something red.  What are they pickling that’s red?  It was pickled mango, made with a lot of spices.  When she learned that I’d never had mango pickle, she ran to the pantry and opened a jar for me to sample.

If you like a salty and spicy heat, you might want to try mango pickle.  I found a jar in AZ.  I was either at Whole Foods or Sprouts on a aisle with international foods.  I’ve enjoyed stirring it into rice or quinoa.  That’s what I’ll be doing for breakfast – quinoa with diced avocado, a little oil and vinegar, and a dab of mango pickle.

Dal Fry

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Dal Fry

It’s only a little bit unusual that I went to Poland to learn to cook Indian food. Poznan is such an international city that it isn’t surprising that one of my friends would be from India. Lucky me, that she shared my love of cooking and sharing recipes! When my friend, Prethi, taught me to make dal fry, she said it was a very basic, simple Indian dish.  I can tell you, though, there is nothing simple about the flavor.  This lentil stew or gravy has a rich, complex taste with layers of flavor, finishing with a bit of heat.  I could very happily eat this everyday.

I had dal fry at an Indian restaurant in Houston with my friend, Letha. I didn’t know what it was, but I love it! How nice that I can whip up a batch at home now.

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Dal Fry

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Ingredients

  • 1 cup red lentils
  • 2 tablespoons, clarified butter (for vegan, substitute oil)
  • 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds (small black seeds)
  • 1/4 cup garlic, minced
  • 1 chili sliced
  • 1 cup onion, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seed
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
  • cilantro, finely chopped for garnish

Instructions

  1. Prethi cooked the lentils in a pressure cooker, covering them with just over an inch of water. She had them on high heat until the cooker “rattled” and then simmered for 10 minutes. They were cooked until they were mush-like. I don’t have a pressure cooker, so I will have to boil them until they’re falling apart.
  2. Whisk lentils in cooking liquid and set aside
  3. Add clarified butter and oil to a frying pan over medium-high heat
  4. Add the mustard seeds and cook until the seeds start to pop
  5. Add the garlic and chili, cook 2 minutes, stirring
  6. Add cumin seeds and onion, cook 2 minutes, stirring
  7. Add tomato, cook 3 minutes, continuing to stir
  8. Add salt, cook 5 minutes
  9. Add purred lentils and turmeric
  10. If the texture is thicker than desired (maybe on reheating), just add a little more water
  11. Garnish with cilantro, serve over white rice or peas pulao

 

Peas Pulao

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This is one of the dishes I learned to make during my cake baking session with Prethi. Basmati rice is something new for me. It’s more delicate grain that my usual long grain rice and has a lower glycemic index, 67 vs. 89. Cooked this way, it gets a wonderful dash of color and spice and was the perfect base for dal fry – our next recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups basmati rice
1 heaping tablespoon clarified butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 bay leaves
4 whole cloves
3 cardamon pods, split open
1 cinnamon stick, shredded (the cinnamon was thinner than what I usually find in the US)
1 cup diced onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic*
1 teaspoon minced ginger*
1 cup frozen peas
2 teaspoons salt
3 cups water

* Most Indian dishes involve minced garlic and ginger; Prethi uses them everyday. So she processes equal parts in small food processor, enough for several days, and refrigerates in a covered container.

Directions

  • Add rice to a bowl and cover with a couple inches of water. Let it soak for 30 minutes before beginning to cook; this will remove some of the starch and is supposed to keep the grains of rice from breaking during cooking
  • Add clarified butter and oil to a large saucepan (one with a lid) on medium high heat
  • Add bay leaves, cloves, cardamon, and cinnamon, cook for 2 minutes
  • Add onion, cook 3 minutes, stirring
  • Add garlic and ginger, cook 2 minutes, continuing to stir
  • Drain the rice, add to the saucepan with the peas, salt, and water
  • Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer 12 – 14 minutes, until you see holes from the columns of steam.
  • Remove from heat, stir, cover, and let sit for 5 more minutes

Note: you can make this vegetable pulao by using mixed veg rather than peas.

Chai (Indian Tea)

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I meet weekly with a group of English speaking women for Bible study; people are always coming and going.  Our group has gotten smaller of late, and with many of our American regulars stateside, it has taken on a much more international feel.  I’ve been treated to some wonderful meals as we’ve met in members’ homes – enjoying dishes that I had never even heard of before.  A Swedish cake, Indian breakfast dishes, and chai, which I have tasted before, but not like this.  I hope to be bringing you more of the recipes soon.

I had to get directions from my friend and hostess, Prethi, twice.  I tried making a cup of chai at home and I just knew that it wasn’t exactly the same.  I got more detailed instruction on a second visit and ran into the kitchen when I heard her preparing the ginger.  I think I’ve got it now, and I can’t wait to make this for my daughters.

When Prethi mentioned that she would like to learn to do some baking, cakes in particular, I jumped at the chance.  We made a vanilla cake this week. Prethi baked; her daughter decorated.

I’ll give you the instructions Prethi gave me.  I scaled it down to make just one cup.  The chai is very hot, spicy, and sweet.  The ginger flavor is very strong, which I enjoyed.  It’s a super food, it has to be good for you, right?

Ingredients

3 cups milk
1 cup water
4 spoons black tea powder (or black tea bags)
2  inch piece of ginger, no need to peel, crush with mortar and pestle to release the juices
4 pods cardamon, broken open
sugar to taste (I sweetened with Stevia)

Directions

  • Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan
  • Simmer until a caramel color
  • Strain

serves:4