Anyone experienced with cooking Indian food?

[The empressof all]

I absolutely love Indian food. I've made curry which is simple enough but I'm going to be branching out and trying things I like better. I've been researching recipe's and it doesn't seem to be complicated just unfamiliar.

What's your favorite Indian food to cook at home. Any helpful hints?

[lukasahero]

1. The only drawback I've found

is that alot of it is time consuming to prepare. It isn't complicated but it's not something you necessarily want to start after a full day at work.

We make peanut chicken, chicken tiki masala, chana masala, and even veggie pakoras but they're all usually something you "plan" to make (gotta have the right/fresh ingredients and the time).

Of course, we make papadoms all the time (30 seconds in the microwave and voila!)

A suggestion - seek out a local Indian grocer. They can help identify any of the ingredients you may be unfamiliar with.

[The empressof all]

3. papadoms----microwave?????

Tell me how please.

[lukasahero]

7. The Indian grocery store

sells them pre-made. They keep forever in the pantry and you just toss them in the microwave.

I've never had the patience for breads and baking and these are both so easy and so tasty there's really no reason to make them from scratch.

[yellowdawgdem]

2. easy stuff

I do really simple stuff like frying potatoes/onions with a little turmeric, or doing stir fried veggies and adding some bottled peanut sauce and some yellow curry. I would be really interested, as you are, in finding out some more advanced techniques.

[The empressof all]

5. I use bottled sauces as well sometimes

Trader Joes has an excellent Punjabi Spinach sauce that I combine with chicken. I add an additional box of frozen spinach to it and it is amazingly good.

[yellowdawgdem]

11. Indian cooking

I like the punjabi spinach sauce at Trader Joe's too. I usually get yellow curry from them, it's inexpensive, around $1.50. It might be a good idea to check out a web site for the Indian cooking, to find out about techniques. One thing I am not sure about is, when to add the curry, like should it be stirred into the oil first, or added at the end. I love the smell, and the taste of the Indian spices. 2cool.

[Stepup2]

4. I make naan

but I have found an excellent brand of jarred "sauces" which I add to veggies, chickpeas, etc.

[wiggs]

6. Recipe please!

Especially how you bake or cook the dough....thanks, love naan.

[lukasahero]

8. wiggs beat me to it

I'm sure I have a recipe for naan in one (or several) of our cookbooks but is it difficult to make? (Do you need to have baking skills or is it something a novice can pull off?)

[Stepup2]

9. It is easy, This is my Fav recipe

8 large naan breads
Time 60 minutes
Tools sifter
2 large bowls
electric mixer
wooden spoon
2 baking sheets
plastic wrap
large cast-iron frying pan (12-14 inches)
broiler tray
butter brush
heavy towel

Ingredients 5+ c white flour
1¨ö t baking powder
1 t baking soda
¨ö t salt
1¨ö t sugar
2 T plain yogurt
1 c milk
1 c water
1 egg
1 c plus 1 T melted butter
2 T peanut or canola oil
¨ö t nigella (kalonji)*
2 t sesame seeds

Directions Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In another bowl, combine sugar and yogurt with electric mixer. Beat in milk and water, then gradually beat in 2 c of dry mixture. When thoroughly mixed in, the batter will look a bit pasty. Beat in egg and 1 T butter, then slowly add 2 more c flour. At this point the beater will be moving slowly and the batter will be very elastic.

Remove beater and use wooden spoon to mix in another c or so of flour, until dough is soft and sticky.

Sprinkle flour onto counter and baking sheet, transfer dough to counter, oil your hands, and knead briefly. The dough will be slightly sticky. Divide into 8 balls and space evenly on baking sheet. Oil your hands again and flatten each ball. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for at least 30 minutes, or refrigerate for up to 48 hours before making the bread.

Place frying pan on stove over medium-high heat. Also light broiler and place broiler tray five inches from heat.

Line baking sheet with flour. Place one dough circle on flour, dip hands in melted butter, and press down on / push dough to make a large tear shape, about 5 inches at the narrow end and 9 at the wide end. Sprinkle with ¨û of the seeds, butter fingers again, and stretch the naan to about 7 by 12 inches.

Place on hot frying pan, with the seeds on top. Cook for 30 seconds, move around a bit so it browns evenly, and cook another 45 seconds.

Brush with a little butter and place pan under broiler for one minute, until it gets some reddish spots.

Remove from broiler, brush with more butter, and serve or wrap in towel to keep warm. Repeat with remaining dough and serve or wrap in foil and refrigerate for later. To reheat, place foil-wrapped naan in 350 oven for 15 minutes.

Notes *You can find these pungent black seeds in an Indian grocer; otherwise, just leave them out or subsitute another kind of seed.

Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian

[lukasahero]

10. Wow - sounds easier than I thought

Thanks for the run-down. May have to give this a try this weekend.