Aloo Dum - my new favorite way to have potatoes

So after scouring for my first recipe to try my hand at, I have found another blog of a serious Indian expert:  http://www.sailusfood.com/ .  I assume that I will be testing many a recipe from Sailu.  And I will probably be forever indebted to them for the influence and advice.  So after drooling over a number of recipes that I could try, I decided to go for Aloo Dum (Potato Curry).  Let me tell you....awesome!  I changed it just a tad, to my own liking.  For instance, the recipe calls for 4 green chilis.  I used 3 large serrano peppers (which I assumed would be hotter).  So to balance it off, instead of plain thick yogurt, I decided to use sweetened plain yogurt.  It was a great call.  Sweet at the first taste, and then spicy burn at the end.  Ever the skeptic, it appears that this dish even has influenced a new flavor profile for my husband's ribs.  While Aloo Dum is a vegetarian dish, I wanted to add chicken to add a little more to the meal. So I also pan grilled a couple chicken breasts, cut into chunks with garam masala seasoning and black pepper.  I noticed though in typing this up, that it calls for cumin seeds, but it never actually says what to do with them...I'll have to check into that.

Recipe:
12-15 baby potatoes (washed, boiled, & peeled - I used red salad potatoes)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 onion, finely chopped
3/4 C. thick yogurt (w/ tsp besan, which I skipped)
1 1/2 tbsp. malai (or cream - I used heavy whipping cream)
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
salt (to taste)
1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves (garnish/optional)
2 tbsp oil
1 C. water

Ginger/Chili/Tomato Paste (right):
4 chilis
1" ginger piece
1 small tomato

Cashew Paste: (I skipped this one too)
5-6 cashew nuts, soaked in 2-3 tbsp milk

1. Heat 1/2 tbsp oil, add potatoes & saute until lightly browned.  Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Add remaining oil & add onion.  Saute until translucent.  Add ginger/chili/tomato paste & fry about 4 minutes.  Add chili powder, tumeric, and coriander powder. Combine well.
3. Slowly add beaten yogurt & stir for about 5-6 minutes.  Add potatoes & cook on low-med heat for about 4 minutes.  Reduce heat & add cashew paste & malai.  Cook for a minute.
4. Add water, garam masala & salt.  Cook covered on low flame until desired consistancy.  Serve with rice.

Coconut & Chocolate & and Cake, Oh My!

Alright, I have to admit that this isn't really an Indian dessert, but it was inspired by the coconut milk that I bought for my cooking.  I found this recipe online, and then added a few of my own touches.  They are amazing!  They are not overpowering with coconut, and are very moist and light! Totally worth staying up last night until 11:30 frosting them!  Of course, now that I know how well they turned out, I may consider added a few surprises next time to "spice" them up, if you know what I mean.  The original recipe called for some sort of homemade cream cheese frosting.  I opted to add an easy touch to this and use canned dark chocolate frosting instead. YUM!

Recipe:
3/4 C. unsalted butter, room temp.                     2 1/4 C. flour
1 1/4 C. sugar                                                         1 tsp. kosher salt
3 eggs, room temp.                                                1 tsp. baking powder
1 C. canned coconut milk                                    1/2 - 3/4 C. coconut
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cream butter until light & fluffy.  Add sugar and cream until light & fluffy again, scraping sides half     way through.
3. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat 30 seconds each to ensure mixing.
4. Combine flour, salt & baking powder in a small bowl.
5. In seperate bowl, add well shaken coconut milk and vanilla.
6. Add 1/3 of dry ingredients & mix, then 1/2 of wet ingredients.  Alternate wet & dry, ending with dry.
7. Fold in coconut.
8. Bake 18-22 minutes, rotating after 1st 15 minutes.

P.S. I added a small surprise into some of my cupcakes, a teeny bit of mini chocolate chips in the middle of the batter.  After all the cupcakes were completely cooled, I frosted them, and then dipped half of them into shredded coconut.  Definitely my new favorite!

Coming up....

Cocunut milk cupcakes (slightly modified to suit my recent desire for a Mounds bar.)
Aloo Dum (Potato curry)
Spiced Chickpeas in Cocunut Milk
And something with chicken...to be determined.

For the love of Chai!

Sunday.  Booooo Sunday.  Sadly, I have to work every Sunday, and so what could have been a glorious day cooped up indoors cooking to my heart's content (because that's all I want to do now that I have my fabulous masala dabba) had me scouring the internet this morning for something - anything - that I could make fast this morning before I left, just to feed my addiction.

And it hit me! I don't know why it never occurred to me before - the simplest and most obvious of all things I could do with my Sunday morning - MAKE CHAI!  So, my morning went like this: 

Get up, and search internet.
Wake up husband to watch child. 
Get dressed and run to store for a few things I still needed.
Come home, and spend the last 1.5 hours in the kitchen loving the idea of iced chai going with me to work.

So you ask, how did it turn out? 
To say the least...I'm in love!  I not only had enough for 3, yes THREE glasses of what Starbucks calls a Chai Latte, but I have enough for tomorrow too! (Oh, and P.S.  it was 1000 times better than anything I could ever get from Starbucks, not to mention cheaper). Plus, it was more simple than I ever imagined it would be.  I could totally manage replacing my coffee addiction with this re-acquainted love. 
The downside however, is that it is yummiest when made with whole milk, which means that if I plan on drinking this daily, I really have to kick this whole idea of running 3 times a week into high gear, buy pants 2 sizes bigger than what I'm in, or be satisfied with mediocore chai and 1% milk.  Decisions, decisions....

On a side note...I think I want to name my masala dabba....I'm open to suggestions.

Recipe:
1 tbsp fennel seed
6 green cardamom pods OR approx 12 dried cardamom seeds for each required pod
12 cloves
1/4 tsp whole black peppercorn
1 cinnamon stick
1/4" ginger root, sliced thin
2 bay leaves
7 cups water

1. Add all ingredients. Boil for 5 minutes, then steep for 10 minutes.
2. Add 4 bags (or 2 tbsp loose) black tea or your choice***. 
    Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Strain, and keep in pitcher.  Pour over ice, and add milk/sugar to taste.  (I use about a 50/50 ratio). 

*** I used Tazo Awake tea, because it's always been one of my favorites.