Indian Meal to Complement our study of Ancient India?

[Heather in WI]

We're studying Ancient India this week. I'd like to have an Indian meal on Friday or Saturday to cap off our week. Ideas?

[Farrar]

Indian lunch buffet?

 

Oh... or did you mean you wanted to cook yourself? :D I'm no help there.

[Pam in MA]

There are quite a few tasty cooking sauces at the grocery, especially Trader Joe's, that you just add your own chicken and rice. Get some frozen appetizers also at TJ's, as well as some frozen naan (bread.) Or get Indian take-out if that's available in your area. Or check out an Indian cookbook (I've seen ones geared toward children that have nice simple recipes) and make your own -- definitely the most fun! We also did some Indian peacock feather decorations out of tissue paper, spent the evening giving henna tattoos (if you can find the stuff) and put on an internet Indian music station. Fun, fun!

[lisabees]

You could try Chicken Tikka Masala. A safe bet that everyone would like. Buy some Naan (Indian bread) to complement it. Yum.

 

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Tikka-Masala/Detail.aspx I've never made this particular recipe. Look at the reviews to make changes.

 

My kids love Dal - a lentil soup which is delicious with Naan, of course. My recipe has no measurements (given by a friend) so it's no use posting it here.

 

Hopefully, somebody will post some of their fabulous family recipes here! ;)

[Jenny Piaaree]

Dal (lentil stew) and/or biriyani rice with naan bread would be nice. I love the kheer (rice pudding). Aloo-gobhi is a potato/cauliflower dish that is good. You can find gazillions of recipes online with a google search. Don't forget the chaa (tea)! My Punjabi friend showed me how to make great chaa:

 

For 2 6-oz. cups:

 

1 (6 oz.) cup water

1 heaping teaspoon black tea

2 green cardamon cloves, crushed

1 whole clove

(To this my friend added mint leaves and fennel. Different friends have used cinnamon and/or ginger. You can experiment with what spices you like.)

2 spoons of sugar (or to taste)

1 (6 oz.) cup milk (whole milk works best, but lowfat is fine)

 

Put everything (including the crushed cardamom husks) except milk into a small pot and boil for 2 - 3 minutes, or as long as you like depending on how strong you prefer your tea flavor. Add the milk and bring back to a boil for about 2 minutes. Strain.

[Jennifer3141]

Naan is a flatbread that is super easy to make!

 

And lassi - oh, that is sooooo good! Again, super easy to make. It's a yogurt drink. Mangoes... :tongue_smilie:

 

Chicken tikaa is great too and you can put it on skewers. My kids think anything on skewers is fun. Add some fancy rice, a side beans and you're done! :)

[Crimson Wife]

Check your local library to see if they have a copy of Cooking the Indian Way by Vijay Madavan. The recipes are easy and kid-friendly.

[Laura Corin]

You could try Chicken Tikka Masala. A safe bet that everyone would like.

 

However, it's not terribly authentic.

 

Laura

[ondreeuh]

I cook Indian food about once week. YUM. If you're just cooking once you may not want to invest in all the spices. If you can get a Shan spice mix then you can get just enough for a couple meals (although I don't recommend using the recipe on the box - they are totally crazy about the amount of ghee to use). You could make chicken kabobs and use the Shan mix.

 

If you don't mind getting some spices, this is really yummy: http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/cauliflower-with-sweet-potatoes-recipe/index.html

Edited November 1, 2010 by ondreeuh

[Heather in WI]

Thank you! Yes, I was hoping to cook the meal. {grin}

 

I don't mind buying a few spices. The problem I run into when I google "Indian Meal" is that an overwhelming amount of recipes pop up and I have no idea if they are good. :D

 

I love the idea of some decorations and music, too! I hadn't thought of that!

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

India has many different types of food from the varying regions, just like Chinese food.

 

Dal is a common food and very delicious.

 

We have had dinner many times at Indian friends' house and they usually serve curried vegetables including potatoes, cauliflower, and peas that is delicious.

 

Chapati is good for dipping and wrapping your food.

 

Sounds fun! Let us know what you end up making.

[Truscifi]

Check out Manjula's Kitchen. All her recipes are authentic, and she makes videos to go with them so you can see each step. I have so far made roti and seasoned fried paneer, but I have plans to make palak paneer soon. I have a little trouble understanding her occasionally because of her accent, so I usually watch each video twice.

[Dolphin]

One thing that is fun, and tasty is making ghee or clarified butter. One of my best friends is Indian and she has been teaching me to cook. She would not let me buy ghee as she says the store bought is just not the same. You heat unsalted butter for about 45 min. on the stove. You keep going until it turns to a dark ale color, the pour into a glass jar. This does not have to be refrigerated, I keep mine in a cupboard. Academically you can talk about how this was done as until recently most people did not have refrigerators. When you make this, there is a small amount of sediment you will find in the bottom of the pan. This is really good tossed in pasta with some sage.

 

Along the preserving side, you could also make yogurt. Indians eat a lot of yogurt. Bring milk to a boil, then let it cool to room temp. Then mix about 1/4 cup of any live yogurt into the milk. pour into a jar or Tupperware and put it in the oven. Turn the oven on to 170 and turn it off as soon as it reaches 170. Turn your oven light on and leave at least 3 hours, I leave mine overnight. Put in the fridge and you have yogurt.

 

My kids love helping with both of these.

[gingersmom]

We are also studying India but we are going for the Indian lunch buffet to wrap up our studies.

 

I have made Indian food at home and while I thought it was delicious no one else would eat it.

[scrapbookbuzz]

I have a great recipe for Eastern Indian Chicken with Dried Fruit. I can post it later if you want it. Send me a PM to remind me, please. It's really easy to make and tastes delicious!

[stripe]

Manjula's videos are nice but be aware she is Jain so not only is she a vegetarian, she doesn't eat garlic or onions. As a consequence, she has some different techniques and ingredients (like asafetida).

[ondreeuh]

Bal Arneson does an Indian cooking show on the cooking channel and their website has recipes and videos. http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/spice-goddess/index.html. I'm going to try her egg curry soon.

 

Aloo Gobi (potato & cauliflower curry) is absolutely delicious. If you watch Bend it Like Beckham, there's a video extra showing how to make it. Someone has posted the recipe online here: http://community.livejournal.com/vegetarian/1669494.html. I serve it with rice, but naan is pretty easy to make.

[Laurie4b]

My kids loved coconut macaroons.

Would your kids eat a mild curry?

[Lisa in Jax]

Here's the recipe I use:

 

Cut 2-3 chicken breasts into 1/2"-1" pieces. Toss the chicken with 1/2-1 tsp cayenne pepper and set aside while you make the sauce below.

 

In a large sauce pan, melt 1-2 TBS butter or ghee. Add 1-2 TBS garam masala spice, a small diced onion, 1-2 cloves crushed garlic and a TBS or two of fresh grated ginger. When the onion is softened and translucent, add one large can of diced tomatoes (drained), and 2-3 TBS cream. (I use half and half.)

 

Add the cayenne chicken to the sauce, and simmer over medium heat until the chicken is cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

While the chicken is cooking, make a pot of rice and slice some cucumbers.

 

Serve the butter chicken over the rice and serve the cucumbers on the side.

 

If you want to be more authentic, you could make or buy some roti or naan and eat the butter chicken with the flat bread (break off a piece of flat bread and use it to pick up the chicken and sauce) instead of rice.

 

HIH,

 

Lisa

[Laurie4b]

There are quite a few tasty cooking sauces at the grocery, especially Trader Joe's, that you just add your own chicken and rice. Get some frozen appetizers also at TJ's, as well as some frozen naan (bread.) Or get Indian take-out if that's available in your area. Or check out an Indian cookbook (I've seen ones geared toward children that have nice simple recipes) and make your own -- definitely the most fun! We also did some Indian peacock feather decorations out of tissue paper, spent the evening giving henna tattoos (if you can find the stuff) and put on an internet Indian music station. Fun, fun!

 

Trader Joe's has some Indian entrees as well--single serving frozen dinners, so you could offer a selection. Yogurt is often served as a side dish.

[Annie]

I like Alton Brown's Indian rice pudding recipe. I don't know how authentic it is, but it's delicious. :001_smile:

 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/indian-rice-pudding-recipe/index.html

[stripe]

Most Indian rice pudding type dishes call for about 8 cups of milk to 1/4 c rice -- very different proportions from typical American pudding!

 

Trader Joe's, as well as many Indian groceries, carry foil packs of vegetarian meals for $2-3. (I am not a fan of TJ's as they taste sort of aggressively raw or something to me.)

[OrganicAnn]

If you want something that may have been eaten in ancient India, remember do not include "new world" foods like potatoes, tomatoes, chocolate etc.

[stripe]

Good point. Are there any books about this? I have seen this cookbook (Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World: A Concise History with 174 Recipes) -- wish there were an Indian version.

[Heather in WI]

Thank you, ladies! I feel like a menu is beginning to come together. Ideally, I'd like to make small amounts of a couple of different things to serve buffet style. This is what I've written down:

 

Chaa from Jenny's recipe

 

Dal

 

Cauliflower with Sweet Potatoes

 

Eastern Indian Chicken from scrapbookbuzz? Does this have curry? My husband last night asked for some sort of curried chicken.

 

Rice

 

Naan (trying to buy frozen from TJs or the local Indian grocer)

 

Kheer/Rice Pudding for dessert