Indian month so far...

I can't believe Indian month is already almost half over! Twelve days in (officially started 20 Feb via Facebook announcement) and I feel like I could easily go for another month...or ten ("Of course you could Betty! They do it all year round in India," you might say, and you would be right. Maybe I should move to India).

Ever since Indian Thanksgiving 2009 I've been wanting to try out more recipes from Classic Indian Cooking by Julie Sahni. I've finally had the chance and definitely have not been disappointed. Part of what inspired Indian month was the fact that the first recipe I made was so delicious I had to try more! I came across Pure & Simple Homemade Indian Vegetarian Cuisine by Vidhu Mittal looking at top rated Indian cookbooks on Amazon. It has not disappointed either. The next book I'm going to be trying is Lord Krishna's Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Yamuna Devi which also has many positives reviews.

I haven't taken any pictures of anything we've made for a couple of reasons but mostly that I'm lazy. Hopefully sometime before the end of the month I will. Here's what we've eaten so far in more or less chronological order. I can tell you EVERYTHING has been outrageously delicious and that the smell of asafoetida (or hing) (which I found repulsive a week ago) is really growing on me. Also, unless otherwise specified nothing came from a package.

We are twelve days in, but there aren't twelve meals listed here, that's because we did have some repeats and leftovers. I also didn't put rice in there, because it seemed silly but assume that we ate rice more often than not]

We kicked off with Mr. and Mrs. Hapley:
Safaid Channe/Chickpeas in Ginger Sauce (Classic Indian Cooking by Julie Sahni)
Palak Raita/Spinach and Yogurt Salad (Classic Indian Cooking)

Gujrati Dal Mixed Lentils and Vegetable Stew (Classic Indian Cooking)

We ate this meal last Thursday night with the "Big House" crew, Courtney and Quinn, Logan, Kate and Soren. I was so proud of the "moveable feast" I carefully packed and loaded into my granny grocery cart that Max and I lugged across town via 69 bus. It was awesome.
Vegetable Vindaloo South Indian Hot and Pungent curry (I modified a recipe from Classic Indian cooking and merged it with one I found on the internet, everything else in this menu was from Sahni's book)
Chukandar ki Sabzi Glazed Beets with Black Mustard Seeds
Beans Kari Green Beans with Coconut and Black Mustard Seeds
Koosmali Shredded carrot and mustard seed relish
Badaam Kheer Saffron Almond Pudding (I added cashew cream to my soymilk to raise the fat content - an excellent decision if I must say. I probably could have added more because it just didn't thicken enough on it's own, I had to add a little arrowroot starch)

Matar Paneer Peas with cheese in tomato sauce - my version subs pressed tofu for paneer, I fried some of it this time with excellent results (A friend's recipe I've been using for a few years)

Trader Joe's Masala burgers with curry mayo (Thanks Wangsgards! We loved these, and had them two days, once for dinner and once for lunch)

Masala Dal Spice and herb-laced split peas (Classic Indian Cooking)
Bhindi Sabzi Stir fried okra (Classic Indian Cooking)


Paratha Whole Wheat Flaky Bread (Pure & Simple Homemade Indian Vegetarian Cuisine)
Aloo Gobi (twice) (Pure & Simple Homemade Indian Vegetarian Cuisine)

Aloo Samosas savory pastries with spicy potato filling and Indian Candy one of which Dan Hadley said tasted like orange chicken without the chicken the other of which Max has taken to calling "birdseed balls" - the latter is much better. We were eating soul food on Thursday night so we had to eat SOMETHING Indian. Max stopped at a new Indian shop next to Market Basket and picked up samosas for lunch.

Lobhia Taridar Black-eyed Peas in Gravy (Pure & Simple Homemade Indian Vegetarian Cuisine)
Paratha with spices and vegetables (bought them at Shalimar)

If this looks delicious to you maybe we can make a date to have you over for dinner sometime in the next eighteen days.