A candy store for spice lovers - Kalustyan's

How or why would you pick an isolated spice store, particularly when the store is located in New York City. A city that never sleeps (had to put that in) and has anything a foodie could want. Well, Kalustyan's on Lexington Ave, in the upper 20's is what I call a candy store for spice lovers. The store has the most amazing selection spices, teas, coffee, and cookware that I can think of.

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Two Basic spice mixes

Most weekends I like to make a little of two variations of basic spices, I often find it easier to use up my fresh ginger this way, rather than than storing it again. I tend to use some variation of these to pastes in several weeknight recipes and felt I really should jot them down.











Ginger-Garlic and Green Chili Paste

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Makes about 1/2 cup

Ingredients

1/2 pound piece of ginger root
20-30 pods of garlic
15 green finger chilies

Method of Preparation

1. Peel the ginger carefully and cut into large slices and place in the blender.
2. Add in the garlic and the chillies.
3. Pulse the mixture several times to mix up the ginger and then process till a smooth paste is formed.

Cumin-Coriander Ginger Garlic Paste

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Makes 2/3 cup of spice paste

Ingredients


1/2 pound piece of ginger root
20-30 pods of garlic
15 green finger chilies
1/3 cup coriander seeds
1/3 cup coriander seeds


Method of Preparation

1. Peel the ginger carefully and cut into large slices and place in the blender.
2. Add in the garlic and the chillies.
3. Pulse the mixture several times to mix up the ginger and then process till a smooth paste is formed.
4. Add in the cumin and coriander with a little water if needed and blend into a paste.

These mixtures can be stored in the refrigerator for about a week and used as needed.

Indoor Farmers Market??

Despite my promises to the contrary, I stayed up pretty late tonight. I had this project I have been exhausting myself with, I am finally at I point where I just think, I have so had it, it is about 80% done, I cannot figure out the remaining 20% and it is time someone helped me with it. So it is getting submitted as it.

Now, yesterday I went to check out this indoor farmers market. The idea sounds really strange. Well, it was different, I did pick up some good lamb, chicken, eggs and absolutely out of this world yogurt. The produce was really flimsy... I did get some good mushrooms. So I made this chicken which was amazingly good, nothing like some butter and good simple spices.

Kumbh Murg Karai - Chicken with mushrooms

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

2-3 cloves garlic minced

2 tsp powdered cumin-coriander

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp salt

1 onion coarsely chopped

1/2 cup chopped scallions

1 lb boneless skinned chicken (cut into small pieces)

1 cup musrooms thickly sliced

1 tsp saffron

3-4 tsp chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and butter and add the cumin and garlic.

2. Cook for a minute stirring frequently, add the spices onions, scallions and chicken and cook on medium high heat for 15 minutes till the chicken in well browned.

3. Add in the mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes till the mushrooms are well sauted but not wilted.

4. Mix in the saffron and cilantro. Keep covered for 5 minutes to let the flavors settle together.

5. Serve with orzo or rice.

Thin Noodles - Desi Style

Nothing like ending a usual busy, crazy week with Indian style noodles. In a nutshell, Indian style noodles are pretty simple, toss noodles with your favorite combination of vegetables and eggs and some meat if so desired. Through in any variety of spices, chinese and Indian and there you have it a wonderfully simple and flavorful one dish meal. So ok, you wonder why on earth waste good space on a blog writing about it. Well, you see a lot of these tossed together ingredients have interesting nuances, tonight the combination incoporated a hint of lime and cumin, just amazing how lovely the flavors were.

Garlic-Lime Noodles with Cumin

Serves 4

Ingredients

1.5 cups thin fresh chinese noodles

3 tbsp oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions

1 tsp hot sesame oil

2 pods garlic, grated

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 green chilli, finely minced

3 carrots grated

1/2 bell pepper thinly sliced

2-3 slices ham, julliened

2 tsp soy sauce

1 large lime

2 tbsp cilantro, minced

Method of Preparation

1. Bring the water to a boil and cook the noodles for 4 minutes and drain.

2. Heat 1 tbsp oil and scramble the eggs and set aside.

3. Heat the oil and add the sesame oil and cumin seeds.

4. Add the garlic and saute lightly, mix in the scallions.

5. Add the chili and carrots and bell pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes.

6. Add the ham with the noodles.

7. Add in the soy sauce and stir in the eggs.

8. Squeeze the lime and add the cilantro and mix well.

9. Enjoy!

Ginger-Garlic Cubes

Something that I absolutely must have when cooking something is a ginger garlic paste. I also through in some other things as available, usually green chillies. There you have it 3-G's for the letter G being hosted by One Hot Stove.

This will be a fun event, since, I would love to see what people send for some letters like Y and Z. Anyhow, the other thing I have learnt, is that it really does not take extra time to make a batch of these cubes and freeze them in cubes which I can use later as needed.

So here is what I do. I take 2 large pieces of ginger that I peel, 2 whole bulbs of garlic, that are also peeled and 20 green chillies. I process them in a food processor and fit into an ice cube tray and of course use as needed.

Basil - Pat's Marinara Sauce

I work with Pat who originally
hails from Abruzzi in Italy.
Well, rather, that is where her parents are from. Making marinara sauce is a big deal for them. It is a summertime activity starting with the growing of the tomatoes. She has been extolling the wonders of this sauce for a very long time.
For someone like me, who is used to 20 ingredients in a basic dish, it was dificult to comprehend the beauty and richness of slow cooked tomatoes until I tried it. I have made some tweaks to the recipe since I do not always have tons of fresh tomatoes available, but, I think this marinara is still pretty good. This shall teach me to scoff at the simple beauty of tomatoes and garlic.

This is how I have adaped it. BTW, here is a nice post on making marinara in India

Marinara Sauce

Makes 4 cups

Ingredients

1/3 cup olive oil

1o cloves of garlic minced

1 onion finely chopped

1 large can tomato puree

1 can tomato paste
20 tomatoes blanched and quartered

1 bottle(750 ml) deep red wine (I use about 3/4)

1/2 cup coarsely chopped basil

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the garlic and onions and cook till turning golden.

2. All the tomatoes and bring to a simmer.

3. Cook on low heat for 2 hours stirring occasionally, using small amounts of the wine to thin the sauce.

4. During the last five minutes add the basil.

This sauce is great on simple pasta but can be a wonderful base for anything you can think of. I sometimes break 3-4 eggs over a small casserole of sauce and bake in the oven for 20 minutes and serve topped with black pepper.

The key ingredient here is basil. This is a herb that I love with tomatoes and in pesto. I make a lighter version of pesto, I shall post someday. I have recently learnt to appreciate its subtle sweet taste and use it in rice dishes and of couse Thai dishes.

WHB is being hosted by Anna at morsels and musings. From what I gather she is recently married. Congratulations!