Indian | Sybaritica

I had a rather large zucchini leftover from a bunch I bought for other purposes and, being left home alone for the past few weeks while my wife is away, I decided to play around a little. A first, I thought I might do a pickle of some sort based on a minted vinegar (and I still plan to do so sometime), but then I decided to do something spicy in a vaguely Indian type of preparation that could be used as a side condiment, or even a ‘bread and butter’ type accompaniment.

Now, I will say at the outset that, though the result of this experiment was pretty, I did find that some tweaking is necessary. Accordingly, if you are inclined to play around with the basic idea yourselves, you may wish to read my notes at the end of this post…  Read more

My wife included a small crop of Fenugreek in her greenhouse this summer. There wasn’t a lot to play around with and one of the dishes I used it in was this spicy Indian potato side- dish made with the Bengali spice blend Panch Phoron…  Read more

Today’s recipe uses a batch of my Basic Kofta in a very spicy sauce. It isn’t supposed to be any specific dish in particular but it definitely reflects the flavorings of India…  Read more

Ground meat preparations are ubiquitous and occur in virtually every culinary tradition. However, there is one particular sort of meatball or patty whose range extends from India, where they are known as ‘Kofta’, through Iran, where they grace the table as ‘Kufteh’, and thence on to Turkey where cooks prepare yet another variety called ‘Köfte’. Elsewhere, from the Balkans, the Middle East, and North Africa, they occur as qofte, ćufta, kefta and kifta, and, although there are innumerable regional and national variations, it is clear the origin is the same. Today, I am preparing a variety that is almost as basic as you can get… It represents no actual variety in particular, but, with very few changes or substitutions, could stand in for just about any of the classic forms… Read more

Date of Visit: April 24, 2014

There are several Indian Restaurants in downtown Montreal that I have wanted to try. On my most recent visit to the city I made plans to visit one on Peel Street but it was closed when I wanted to dine and so I ended up going to Devi instead. Happily, my initial disappointment at missing the first choice was assuaged by a very pleasant experience… Read more

Today’s production is very Indian in character and features chicken roasted in a green spice blend, or masala, whose central ingredient is dried Fenugreek leaf (known in India as ‘Methi’). In my post on the fresh Fenugreek Leaf, I noted that, whereas the fresh article is useful as a vegetable, when dried, the flavor becomes very concentrated and, as a culinary herb, lends dishes a very warm, almost maple-like flavor that is quite unique… Read more

Most everyone with even a passing acquaintance with Indian cuisine will be familiar with the very popular Vindaloo style curry, and regular readers will recall the loose interpretation of the basic dish I made with my Gomanchala Pork Curry some time ago.

The commercial Vindaloo spice powder you see pictured above was a gift from a visitor this past summer. I have not come across the Dunya brand before (they are an Indian company) but I note that their packaging is very similar to that of Sharwood’s, whose Tandoori Masala I reviewed last year. In any event, I thought that the best way to test this product would be to try out the recipe the manufacturers thoughtfully provide on the label of the container…  Read more

Not long ago, a visitor from down south brought my wife a ‘care package’ of various Indian food products which included the commercial Tandoori spice blend you see pictured above. I have not come across this particular brand before and I thought I might test it with a very simple Tandoori Chicken preparation on my barbecue… Read more

I had some humongous giant prawns that needed to be used up before getting freezer-burned and, since my wife needed an accompaniment to a batch of her signature dal, I decided to uses them in spicy Indian-style preparation using spinach, chili and a little Bengali Panch Phoron… Read more

Date of Visit: July 9, 2013

I had made a note of two Indian restaurants I wished to try on my most recent visit to Ottawa, both of which of which lie within a block of each other on Rideau Street. Unfortunately, the first of these, Passage to India, appeared to be closed for good when I checked it out but, undaunted, I proceeded on to Mukut instead… Read more