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applestar
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Re: Favorite or go to dishes you make?
Are you going to try growing the turmeric? Or did you mean powdered? (Sorry about jumping in OT )
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HoneyBerry
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HoneyBerry
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pepperhead212
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Yes, still following HoneyBerry!
Those packaged lentils are expensive! Some of the others aren't too bad, for a health food store. The ones I get in Indian stores are about half that price, but that is buying 8 lb bags, and they aren't organic.
Those "zero-tannin" lentils, from what I remember, are bred to get a thinner seed coat, as well as one that stores better - some of the compounds that get rancid are not there. When you read some of the info about it, it sounds like GMO food, but it's not - they are just trying to breed certain recessive genes into them, so that they will stay. Here is one link you may find helpful; though it eventually gets complicated, in the beginning it tells the general reasoning behind it all:
https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceed ... 2-279.html
I gave up trying to grow turmeric and galangal. The season is just way too long, thus it has to be done in a pot, , and I still didn't get enough to make it worth it; I can get it locally now, so I grow other things I use more. Malaysian cooking uses a lot of fresh turmeric, and this was the cuisine that got me growing curry leaves! It was only later, that I started up on Indian, figuring that I had so much of those leaves, I had to do something with them! lol
Your mention of your preference for sour and bitter made me remember when I was first dabbling in the Indian cooking, and was surprised at all of the dishes that were sour or bitter, with little sweet. In Chinese, and SE Asian, there was always a generous amount of sweet, to balance it, but it wasn't really missed here - maybe it was something to do with the spices. And there are a number of sour ingredients - amchur (powdered green mango), kokum, dried pomegranate seeds, and tamarind. I have never been a fan of a strong vinegar flavor in dishes - the reason that I am not crazy about the hot cuisine of the Philippines. I have often used tamarind to increase the sour in something, to avoid adding more vinegar.
Today I did something that I always do about when fall gets here - I re-stocked my ground spices, since this is the time of year I use them more, and many haven't been touched for months. Most of my spices are whole, but I always have a few ground ones, though I only keep a smaller amount of most of them. Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, allspice, and countless peppers and paprikas. Most I have in vacuum packs in a box in the freezer, which I took out last night, to come to room temp., and I just refill the small jars, and re-seal the bags, with the Foodsaver. The spices keep forever this way, and it's amazing how much more aromatic they are, when I refill them! I also dumped out the last tsp or so of several masalas, and made new batches - the ones I use all the time, and have made recently, are still there, but the rest were either replaced, or I won't be making them again.
Those packaged lentils are expensive! Some of the others aren't too bad, for a health food store. The ones I get in Indian stores are about half that price, but that is buying 8 lb bags, and they aren't organic.
Those "zero-tannin" lentils, from what I remember, are bred to get a thinner seed coat, as well as one that stores better - some of the compounds that get rancid are not there. When you read some of the info about it, it sounds like GMO food, but it's not - they are just trying to breed certain recessive genes into them, so that they will stay. Here is one link you may find helpful; though it eventually gets complicated, in the beginning it tells the general reasoning behind it all:
https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceed ... 2-279.html
I gave up trying to grow turmeric and galangal. The season is just way too long, thus it has to be done in a pot, , and I still didn't get enough to make it worth it; I can get it locally now, so I grow other things I use more. Malaysian cooking uses a lot of fresh turmeric, and this was the cuisine that got me growing curry leaves! It was only later, that I started up on Indian, figuring that I had so much of those leaves, I had to do something with them! lol
Your mention of your preference for sour and bitter made me remember when I was first dabbling in the Indian cooking, and was surprised at all of the dishes that were sour or bitter, with little sweet. In Chinese, and SE Asian, there was always a generous amount of sweet, to balance it, but it wasn't really missed here - maybe it was something to do with the spices. And there are a number of sour ingredients - amchur (powdered green mango), kokum, dried pomegranate seeds, and tamarind. I have never been a fan of a strong vinegar flavor in dishes - the reason that I am not crazy about the hot cuisine of the Philippines. I have often used tamarind to increase the sour in something, to avoid adding more vinegar.
Today I did something that I always do about when fall gets here - I re-stocked my ground spices, since this is the time of year I use them more, and many haven't been touched for months. Most of my spices are whole, but I always have a few ground ones, though I only keep a smaller amount of most of them. Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, allspice, and countless peppers and paprikas. Most I have in vacuum packs in a box in the freezer, which I took out last night, to come to room temp., and I just refill the small jars, and re-seal the bags, with the Foodsaver. The spices keep forever this way, and it's amazing how much more aromatic they are, when I refill them! I also dumped out the last tsp or so of several masalas, and made new batches - the ones I use all the time, and have made recently, are still there, but the rest were either replaced, or I won't be making them again.
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rainbowgardener
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Alternatively, you can just bring them in for the winter.HoneyBerry wrote:Thank you for the link Applestar. A great thread on growing tumeric. I think I would need a greenhouse to grow tumeric or ginger. They are so tropical.
I might build a small greenhouse. I've been considering that for a while.
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HoneyBerry
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Thank you Rainbow. That is a good idea.
There is an Indian store not too far away from where I live. I used to go there to buy Vicco toothepaste. They have a variety of boxed Indian convenience meals. The spices are all ready to go, you just add a few things. I was tempted to try them but I haven't because I can't read the instructions on the packages. I prefer cooking from scratch anyway. The store owner wears a turban and speaks with a strong Indian accent. He talked me into buying some tumeric face cream and some incense. He said that tumeric is very good for the skin. Anti-inflammatory tumeric is healthy in many ways.
Yesterday I bought a jar of Mesa de Vida Creole cooking sauce at the health food store. I will use it to make gumbo or jambalaya sometime. Ingredients: onions, green bell pepper, tomato paste, vinegar, celery, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, spices. The spices are not listed individually.
There is an Indian store not too far away from where I live. I used to go there to buy Vicco toothepaste. They have a variety of boxed Indian convenience meals. The spices are all ready to go, you just add a few things. I was tempted to try them but I haven't because I can't read the instructions on the packages. I prefer cooking from scratch anyway. The store owner wears a turban and speaks with a strong Indian accent. He talked me into buying some tumeric face cream and some incense. He said that tumeric is very good for the skin. Anti-inflammatory tumeric is healthy in many ways.
Yesterday I bought a jar of Mesa de Vida Creole cooking sauce at the health food store. I will use it to make gumbo or jambalaya sometime. Ingredients: onions, green bell pepper, tomato paste, vinegar, celery, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, spices. The spices are not listed individually.
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HoneyBerry
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pepperhead212 wrote:
"Most of my spices are whole, but I always have a few ground ones, though I only keep a smaller amount of most of them. Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, allspice, and countless peppers and paprikas. Most I have in vacuum packs in a box in the freezer, which I took out last night, to come to room temp., and I just refill the small jars, and re-seal the bags, with the Foodsaver."
I like this idea. I have a small freezer that I use alot. I don't have a Foodsaver. I have a mortar & pestel somewhere, for whole spices. That's about as fresh as you can get with spices.
That word fresh reminded me of this woman that I know. She runs the smoothie stand at the farmer's market.
Sometimes she sets up her smoothie table outside right in the middle of a garden. I got a kick out of that. Not sure how she washes the produces. Hose perhaps.
"Most of my spices are whole, but I always have a few ground ones, though I only keep a smaller amount of most of them. Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, allspice, and countless peppers and paprikas. Most I have in vacuum packs in a box in the freezer, which I took out last night, to come to room temp., and I just refill the small jars, and re-seal the bags, with the Foodsaver."
I like this idea. I have a small freezer that I use alot. I don't have a Foodsaver. I have a mortar & pestel somewhere, for whole spices. That's about as fresh as you can get with spices.
That word fresh reminded me of this woman that I know. She runs the smoothie stand at the farmer's market.
Sometimes she sets up her smoothie table outside right in the middle of a garden. I got a kick out of that. Not sure how she washes the produces. Hose perhaps.