The
Healthy Cuisine of India
A
Jerry’s
Diner Revue
“The
Healthy Cuisine of India” is specifically about the cuisine
of the Bengal region of India. This, according to author
Bharti Kirchner, means an abundance of fish, kalonji seeds,
a special Bengali five-spice, and black mustard seeds.
Bengali
cooking uses many spices that are unknown or rare in the
West. Besides the kalonji seed, you’ll find frequent reference
to black salt, silver leaf, mustard oil, tamarind, and
mango powder. These recipes also use a significant amount
of ginger, cilantro, cumin, and turmeric. Kirchner devotes
one chapter to explaining the use of these spices, as
well as how to recognize and find some of the less well
known items. She also explains how to prepare eggplant
for cooking
The
first chapter of recipes is devoted to dal. Dal
means legumes: lentils, peas, and beans. The highlights
here are “Onion Fragrant Red Lentils” (Musurir Dal) and
“Green Split Peas in Zesty Mustard Sauce” (Matar Dal Shorshe
Diyea). Chickpeas (Chholar Dal) are common here also and
form the base for aromatic and spicy dishes.
Vegetarianism
is common in Bengal, and the next chapter describes a
number of vegetarian recipes. “Spicy Home Fries” (Siddha
Alur Bhaja) is a mainstay and easy to prepare. Potatoes
and eggplants make up the main part of many of these recipes.
“Rich Roasted Eggplant” (Begun Pora), with kalonji seeds,
green chili, ginger, onions, and tomatoes, is one of my
favorites. Squashes and pumpkins, and then greens fill
out the end of the chapter.
The
next chapter describes many wonderful ways to make rice!
From Saak Bhate (greens, chili, and coconut over rice)
to lemon-laced rice and shrimp pullao, you can hardly
go wrong with any of them. “Ginger-Scented Yogurt Rice”
(Doi Bhat), with asafetida powder, ginger, chili, and
cilantro is a festival of exotic flavors and one of the
simplest to prepare as well. I love it!
There
is also a chapter on flatbreads, with puffed breads and
filled breads. And fish and seafood, with chili-mustard
sauce, cashew-pistachio sauce, ginger-raisin sauce. Prawns,
shrimp, crab, scallops, clams, and mussels join the fish
at your table.
Poultry
and meat are combined as one chapter. Chicken in rich
ginger-poppyseed sauce and beef in rich cashew sauce are
the high points of this relatively small chapter. But
from there it goes on to the chutneys and raitas. We have
mango chutney, tomato chutney, tamarind chutney, coconut
chutney and plum chutney, and many more. I find the “Splendid
Cilantro Chutney” (Dhane Patar Chatney) to be a splendidly
tart way to use up leftover cilantro when recipes call
for only a few tablespoons.
The
final chapters detail drinks, including lassis and teas,
as well as ‘teatime’ dishes; and then sweets. “Milk balls”
in rose syrup, or in saffron cream sauce. Milk puffs in
cardamom syrup. Golden mango cream. Amazingly simple,
although I’m not sure how “healthy” some of these are.
The
final chapter is titled “Dishes for the Adventurous”.
These are not unusual by Bengali standards, nor are they
particularly strange. They simply use ingredients that
are not often found in the West: bitter melon, banana
blossom, green papaya, and jackfruit. I’m afraid I haven’t
tried any of these, but they do look like they would be
worth searching out the ingredients.
I
found “The Healthy Cuisine of India” to be a great introductory
cookbook to Indian (or at least Bengali) cuisine. Everything
unfamiliar is explained simply, and the recipes are extremely
tasty--though you do have to like chili and spices. I
strongly recommend this book for your kitchen.
Sample:
Lebur Lassi
3/4
cup plain yogurt, 1/2 cup water, 3 ice cubes,
2 tsp sugar, 2 tblsp fresh lime juice, 1/4 tsp
salt, dash nutmeg.
Puree
yogurt, water, ice sugar, lime, and salt in a
blender until smooth and bubbly and the ice cubes
crushed. Pour into chilled glass, sprinkle mutmeg
on top, serve. |
| I
Paid: $5.95 |
Rating:
Wonderful |
Publisher:
Lowell House |
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