cooking indian

Indian restaurants in Metro Detroit leave something to be desired, ranging from bad (Passage to India in Berkley) to mediocre (Star of India in Ferndale) to good but sort of pricey (Priya in Troy). Indian food's better made at home anyway. And the leftovers always taste better than the first time around. Dinner tonight...

Peppery chickpeas, one of my all-time favorites. Onion, lemon, cayenne, coriander, turmeric, and lots of black pepper. In the pan until the peas start to pop. Usually I garnish this dish with cilantro, but the parsley outside's going wild, so I made a substitute. Not bad.



The chicken marinates in a masala of cumin, coriander, turmeric, garlic, and ginger. Later, sauteed with coconut milk, lemon, and a couple chiles. Garnished with cashews.







Cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and a couple dried chiles hang out in some olive oil until the smell of the seeds fills the kitchen. This is the base for the veggies (today I added carrots, cabbage, and potatoes), pictured below...








You could substitute most any kinds of veggies in this dish.







Spices at the ready in the handy masala dabba. L-R, starting at top: turmeric, coriander, cayenne, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and ground cumin. Ground ginger in the middle. All available on the cheap down in Dearborn.






Dosas on the griddle. This is the first time I've made these. Nicole loves them. Basically a pancake made of several kinds of flour and ground up cumin and sesame seeds.

Here's everything on the table: