Veg Around the World : India

Hello, and welcome to the premier blog for my show "Veg Around the World" on BATV

In each episode I have tried to make authentic tasting dishes - in a very simple way so anyone can attempt them.

This episode is about Indian food. For a few weeks- I will be posting new videos and recipes every week

You can watch it here- if you are not In Brookline MA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlRnbDtWSRw&list=PL_kXbXA0-Qd57TEK_Df_5ULZrxYfcRgDN

And download the recipes here (the link is at the Bottom)

http://batv.org/content/veg-around-world-india-1

The recipes in this show are

INDIA

Drink

·        Mango Lassi

Appetizer

·        Mango Mint Chutney

·        Chickpea flour pancake

Main Course

·        Chickpea stew

·        Basmati Rice

Dessert

·        Rice Pudding

Now Indian food normally does use a lot of spices .

In my recipes here I have used only Three Indian Spices!! Which is quite scandalous but I wanted to make something someone who is trying to cook Indian for the first time can make easily and without having to buy too many spices and still have it turn out delicious and authentic.

Of course- the more you cook and or the more you eat Indian food you start understanding the different tastes with different spices and then you can experiment.  When I prepare Indian food I use about 10 -15 spices on a regular basis!

So what's interesting about chickpeas is that there are actually two types " Desi" and "kabuli"

India typically had the "Desi" Type which are small and green or black while what we call garbanzo or chickpea is native of the Turkish region. Like many things it has been adopted so well into India that almost all lovers of Indian Food have tried "Chana Masala"

These recipes can be changed very easily to make different dishes- for the Chana masala- if you use Red kidney Beans of Black Eyed peas- that tastes good too.

Enjoy!