A Taste of India - Punjabi Style

Naan (left) and chana masala.

I love having vegetarian friends over for dinner. First, because our vegetarian friends are awesome. Second, because it forces me to think a little outside of the box when I am planning a meal. Indian cuisine is very vegetarian friendly and I had made chana masala with some success in the past, so I decided to build my meal around an Indian theme. The majority of the Indian food that we eat in the U.S. is Punjabi cuisine. Punjab is a very fertile, agricultural state, known as the "Granary of India" or "India's bread-basket". One of the most popular breads is naan. I saw a recipe for naan in Bon Appetit magazine that piqued my interest. So with chana masala and naan on the menu, I chose saag paneer to round things out and provide some greens. 

Naan cooking in my cast iron skillet.

Some notes on the naan first. Leavened breads are always a little intimidating, especially ones that are cooked in a tandoor, but I like a challenge. This recipe is made like typical bread recipe, but only requires one rise. To mimic the clay oven called the tandoor, the recipe recommended using a cast iron skillet. I recommend seasoning your skillet the day before, not while you are trying to make the dough (woops). Luckily, the skillet browned the bread nicely. The bread was soft with a little chew, but I felt like it was a little denser than what you find in restaurants. However, when I made these two days later I cooked them using a pizza stone with better results.

Saag paneer (literally spinach cheese)

The chana masala and the saag paneer utilized many similar ingredients: coriander, cumin, ginger, and chiles. This masala (spice mix) provided similar flavor profiles, but the tomato sauce in the chana masala gave it an acidic spin, whereas the saag paneer utilized paneer (or in this case tofu) and yogurt which mellowed the spice and heat a bit. Both dishes were tasty and I could easily have doubled the chana masala for our dinner party of four. To help with the heat, I made my own raita using whole milk yogurt, cucumber, lemon juice, and mint. 

Happy diners!

Three hours later we served up our Indian feast with a delightful Jarvis Merlot. So maybe my menu was a little ambitious for a weeknight, but it sure was fun! I really enjoyed stepping outside of my comfort zone and trying some new recipes.

The final product. Amanda brought some delicious green beans! 

Chana Masala

Chana Masala - chickpeas in a tomato gravy.

AJ and I love Indian cuisine. We are especially fond of ordering chicken tikka masala, and chickpea masala when dining out. AJ's coworker was gracious enough to send me a recipe for chickpea or chana masala from the popular website, "Manjula's Kitchen". The recipe may require a trip to your local Indian Market to find some of the spices, such as garam masala. You can also make your own spice blend with recipes that can be found on the web.

Chana masala, artichoke, and roti.

I followed the recipe for the most part. I left out the tumeric, and tried to grind up my own coriander powder, but mostly just ended up with split coriander seeds. The seeds did not seem to affect the texture of the dish and I think I ended up with most of the flavor I needed. I also added about 1/2 cup of tomato sauce to add a little more tomato flavor, in addition to a chopped up tomato.

I must say the spices in this dish really give it an amazing flavor. The smells in my kitchen were so evocative of the smells of your favorite Indian restaurant. It reminded me of sitting in my friend Tanvi's kitchen, while her mother prepared us some authentic Indian dishes. I think one of the reasons I love food is its ability to conjure up vivid memories of some of the most special times in our lives - even something as simple as enjoying a meal with friends.

Anyways, give this dish a try, it is worth the extra effort. I served it up with some roti and a freshly boiled artichoke on the side. It would also be great served over rice!

Dining on Newbury Street

I was up in Boston this weekend, and had the opportunity to eat at a couple of different restaurants. There are a plethora of cuisine options in terms of price, type of food, and ambiance.

Hello pistachio goodness.

On Thursday night, AJ, some friends, and I headed to the shopping hot spot that is Newbury Street and walked into Kashmir for some fine Indian dining. This was actually the first restaurant that AJ took me to when I visited Boston for the first time. The interior is decorated with shades of gold, white, and red giving the dining room a palatial feel. Asian artwork adorns the walls.


We decided to kick the night off with some beverages - a pistachio shake, and a couple mango lassis. These refreshing beverages were meant to be enjoyed with spicy food. The beautiful seafoam green beverage was slightly sweet with a wonderful pistachio flavor. The mango lassi was smooth, but not too thick - a tropical delight.


Kashmir offers a variety of seafood, meat, and vegetarian options. Each of us ordered a separate entree, but we ended up sharing a chickpea dish and the chicken tikka masala. I usually opt for the chicken tikka masala, which features chicken in a creamy tomato sauce (a safe 'American' option). This time, I wanted to try something different. I settled on a dish that would pay homage to my love of eggplant, Baigan Bharth

Baigan Bharth

Vegetable Pakora

We ordered some vegetable pakoras to tide us over until our entrees arrived. I am not used to the consultant lifestyle where eating is apparently the last priority (those PLs are such slave drivers). We commenced dinner at 9pm, a far cry from my usual 6:45 dinner time. The vegetable pakoras were crunchy with a slight sweetness that was balanced nicely with some cumin and other spices.

The entrees arrived with fresh, hot naan. Naan is quite possibly my favorite part about eating Indian, and this batch was no disappointment. The naan was warm and chewy, with some nice char marks from the tandoor oven. We also sampled some peshwari naan - which was stuffed with lots of butter and coconut. You can't go wrong with a recipe like that.

The chicken tikka masala was very good, but how badly can you mess up chicken in a tomato sauce? The chickpea dish had a similar sauce, with tomatoes and onions. Nothing was very spicy, even though we had all ordered it "medium". I guess no one trusts that some white kids can handle the heat. The eggplant dish was probably my favorite, it was loaded with garlic, and mashed into a creamy consistency. It had some slight heat from the curry powder.

Chicken tikka masala, cozying up to some warm naan.

All in all a solid meal. Most places on Newbury Street are slightly overpriced. The vegetarian dishes were all $15-16, a little high in my opinion. The flavors were good, and if you're looking for a great location, you can't beat this spot.

2 out of 3 JAMs

Kashmir

279 Newbury St

Boston, MA 02116