Comments on: recipes from a cumin junkie

By: sarah

sarah — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:57:37 +0000

FYI, the lentils freeze beautifully – even the cabbage keeps its integrity well enough. I made a double batch now we’ve got several lentils-for-two dinners waiting in the freezer for days when cooking isn’t feasible.

By: Beth

Beth — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:18:19 +0000

I’ve been lurking for a while, but haven’t commented yet. I must comment on this, though! I made this menu for dinner tonight, and WOW, it was fantastic! Every other Indian dish I’ve attempted has come out tasting like an American trying to make Indian food. This was the first Indian meal I’ve made that came out tasting authentic – my husband is extremely picky, and he pronounced it delicious. Thank you so much, Deb! (I only made it because I took my 3 year old grocery shopping, and somehow managed to come home with three heads of cauliflower).

You wouldn’t happen to have a good chicken tikka masala recipe, would you? I’d imagine it would be a bit of a pain, but it’s so yummy when done well!

By: Kelly

Kelly — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 23:33:41 +0000

I made the lentils with cabbage, but I wound up ladling off an extra cup or cup and a half of the cooking liquid before adding the tomatoes and ginger as it seemed that is would essentially be a soup. In the picture, the texture seems thicker. Now I’m wondering what I did wrong. In the end it was delicious, but is it possible I used the wrong lentils. Or does is start out soupy and then tighten up with time?

By: Rebekah

Rebekah — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 23:26:04 +0000

I love this so much!

Just used a big old head of cauliflower without the potatoes, kept everything else the same. I didn’t have whole cumin seeds so used ground instead… not as good I know, but delicious all the same.

I’ve made it with peas added at the end, also good!

By: Becky

Becky — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 02:40:10 +0000

This recipe was fantastic! Just what I was looking for. I even blogged about it: http://preparingforpeanut.com/spicing-things-up%E2%80%94our-indian-feast/

By: emma

emma — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 05:13:54 +0000

I loved the cauliflower and potatoes! It was perfect- the baking caramelized the cauliflower adding the perfect flavour (I left them in longer than suggested). A definite repeat! Thanks!

By: toucan

toucan — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:57:39 +0000

The lentils with cabbage was really good. The chana masala was good, but still not as good as when I go to the restaurant. Still searching for the right way to prepare this.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 06:44:53 +0000

I’ve been on a subcontinental rampage for the past couple of weeks (launched by your Chana Masala…I used too much lemon, but I think next time I’ll also add some bay leaf and cilantro…it wasn’t quite to my taste). I LOVE Indian, and I’m fortunate enough to live in Berkeley, CA so I have access to great restaurants and super-fresh, cheap spices (organic ground cumin, for example, is 80 cents an ounce).

I’m very interested in finding good Indian recipes I can convert to vegan (and work with as little salt as possible). I can’t tolerate dairy the way I used to, but a little almond butter goes a long way towards making sauces creamy. I’m addicted to creamy, so it’s fantastic to find non-creamy Indian recipes I can get into, thank you.

I (sort of) made the lentil and cabbage dish, and I’ve eaten almost half the pot all by myself. I did a few critical things differently:
1) I didn’t have red lentils, and I needed to use up about a quart of chickpeas which were about to get opinionated, so I reboiled them with the turmeric and pureed them with enough water to fake it. I’m looking forward to trying it with real lentils, BUT this worked just fine for comparable texture and can probably be done out of cans in a pinch.
2) I didn’t use any salt whatsoever. I got hooked on the white stuff back in the 80s; sometimes I salt my own bowl, but I never salt the pot because I am not to be trusted. This recipe is fabulous either way, and I intend to abuse it.
3) I used 2 frozen Roma tomatoes. They thaw pretty quickly when buried in boiling goo, but they do require a little hunt-and-smash. I try to buy organic, so I buy sacksfull of tomatoes when they’re on sale and stick them directly in the freezer (saves time, skins keep them sealed from freezer burn). IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not drop on toes. That was an even worse idea than the time I wore an elastic waistband around a toddler who was trying to get my attention.

By: foodisgood

foodisgood — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 02:02:38 +0000

If you want the same cucumber raita to have a smoky flavor, dry roast a tsp or so of cumin seeds (they’ll crackle and pop, which is fun, but turn off your smoke alarm), crush with a flat wooden spoon and sprinkle on top as a garnish. Alternately, you can heat a tsp of safflower oil, toss the cumin seeds in for a few seconds, and add the sizzling mixture to your raita. And you know what else can be really good as a garnish? Pomegranate (which my mother does all the time)! The colors will be gorgeous. One last thing: if you’re from the Tamil region of south India, there is no yogurt without rice. Mix in some cooked rice into your raita (red or black rice would be fun options) and make a meal of it on a warm summer day.

By: Ella

Ella — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:17:15 +0000

Hi Deb,
Any suggestions for an Indian spinach dish? I have a favorite chicken tikka masala recipe that I do, and I always feel the need to make a complimentary Indian dish that involves greens. I’ve tried a couple random saag paneer recipes in the past but they are always turn out on the blah side. Maybe you know of a good one? Thanks!