Grilled Garam Masala Corn by Oscar Michel

My good friend Oscar came to visit from Oakland and he brought with him the most amazing grilled corn recipe using garam masala, a North Indian spice mixture that you can get at the Indian store or make at home like this.  I seriously have never had corn this flavorful before and was blown away at how simple his recipe was and so perfect for summer.  Don't get me wrong, I love Mexican grilled cotija/mayo on corn, but if you're looking for a lighter and more refreshing alternative, this is it. Ironically, Oscar is Mexican but makes a mean Indian corn;)

Oscar and our friend Sahar were cooking really inventive Mexican and Middle Eastern brunches at Dona Tomas in Oakland that I kept hearing about so I was so excited to try some of Oscar's creations.  He did not disappoint. To top it off after making this most amazing corn, Oscar performed on a rooftop in Brooklyn. 'Twas awesome!  

And if you live in the Bay Area, be on the lookout because this corn may be coming to a food truck near you;) Thanks for sharing your recipe Oscar xo.

Oscar's Grilled Garam Masala Corn

Ingredients

10 corn cobs

6 tablespoons garam masala (can buy store bought or make it from scratch)

6 tablespoons part olive oil (or butter or ghee)

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 curry leaves (optional)

fistful of cilantro with stems
sea salt and black pepper to taste
minced cilantro (for garnish)

lime juice

Method

To make paste, combine into a food processor:e qual parts garam masala spice mixture (I bought mine at Viks) and equal parts olive oil (or any oil of your choice for that matter) or melted butter or ghee, handful of cilantro with stems, cloves of garlic (the more the merrier), a couple fresh curry leaves, sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste.  Vary amounts depending on how many corns you are making.  P.S. In the future I will experiment with different herbs, ginger, etc....

Puree until it becomes a nice paste. Set mixture aside for finishing the corn.  

Soak corn with husk in a bucket of water for at least 30 minutes.  This helps steam the corn while you are bbqing it. 

Place corn, in husk, on a hot grill and cook to desired done-ness, about 15-20 minutes. 

When corn is done, peel back husk, but do not remove it (this will be your handle).  Brush garam masala paste generously on the corn and place back on HOT grill to finish.  



If you don't have a brush, you can also place mixture on a plate and roll corn on it.

Grill the marinated corn until the spices are toasted and aromatic. I usually sprinkle more fresh, finely minced cilantro at this point.  Serve with a wedge of lime and sprinkle with more sea salt if necessary. You can put the minced cilantro on at this point or put it on with the fresh lime and salt at the end.

photo credit: Oscar Michel and Sahar Azi 

My Review of Ganesh Temple Canteen in City Spoonful

Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting the Ganesh Temple canteen with Anne Noyes Saini, Founder and Editor of City Spoonful, an online publication on food and culture in New York City.  Although a temple in Flushing Queens may be the last place you'd look to dine out, their cafeteria actually serves up some of the best South Indian cooking I've tasted in the city.  You can read my complete review of the canteen at City Spoonful.  

Skillshare Culinary Semester in Partnership w/Yelp

I'm so excited to be part of Skillshare's Culinary Semester in partnership with Yelp.  I'll be teaching how to make a healthy North Indian home cooked meal.  Sign up here.

Skillshare is offering a number of culinary classes during the semester which you can check out here and Yelp is offering up to $1000 worth of scholarships for students to take part in the Culinary Semester classes.  To read more about how that works, you can go here.

My First Kitchensurfing Lunch

A couple weeks back, I was invited by Kitchensurfing to host a lunch.  Kitchensurfing is a startup that aims to connect chefs like me with people that have space and want to try out new types of foods that they may not be able to find at a restaurant.

I prepared a traditional South Indian meal using all local ingredients from the farmer's market.  I had a really great time cooking and meeting some new people.  You can read more about the event on the Kitchensurfing blog here.

Photo credit: Nhi Ma

The Spice Route: Veena Prasad on Curry Leaves

I'm very excited to introduce Veena Prasad, Founder of Veena's Market on this segment of the Spice Route, not only because I love the concept behind her store of Indian spice kits and reading her recipe blog, but also because she wanted to cover one of my favorite ingredients, curry leaves.  I know curry leaves are not technically a spice, but they play a huge roll in flavoring dishes from South India, where Veena grew up.  In teaching cooking classes, I find that many people automatically think "curry" comes from curry leaves so I was happy to have Veena write about them and dispel this myth!  She has also shared a beautiful recipe using curry leaves below that I can't wait to try out.

Name: Veena Prasad

Where do you live? Seattle, WA

What do you love to do? Anything to do with food – creating new recipes, photographing food, cooking, eating, and definitely sharing. I love taking classic Indian recipes and reinventing and adapting them to local and seasonal produce. One of my biggest joys with what I do on veenasmarket.com and through cooking lessons is when people realize that they too can cook Indian food. Often, they go on to trying new recipes on their own!

What’s your spice? Curry leaves

What do you know about it? Its name has caused some confusion to many a novice to the Indian cuisine! Curry powder is *not* made from curry leaves though curry leaves could be one of the many ingredients in some spice blends in South India. And curries, even those that include curry leaves as ingredients get their flavor from many spices and herbs.

Curry leaves exude a heavenly aroma, reminiscent of fresh herbs and citrus when fried in oil. You will typically only find this herb in Indian or Asian grocery stores. If you live in a warm area or have a long enough summer and have a backyard, you can plant a curry leaf tree. There are many online sources in the US for seedlings.

Fresh curry leaves are the best obviously but they only last up to a week in the fridge. I always buy extra packets of curry leaves since the Indian grocery store is far away. Once I rinse them, I lay them out to air dry on paper towels. After 2-3 days, I store them in airtight containers. When I need to use curry leaves, I take a few and crush them slightly in the palm of my hand before adding to the oil.

What’s your favorite vegetarian recipe using it? Curry leaves and other spices with coconut milk makes for an aromatic, flavorful and easy curry base for many different vegetables and proteins! The recipe below is inspired by Sri Lankan and South Indian cuisines and uses cauliflower. I would recommend including tofu or paneer as well. You can really use many different vegetables or proteins or mix and match. I use chicken or fish as my protein in this curry since I’m allergic to both dairy and soy.



Cauliflower in a Curry Leaf and Coconut Milk Curry by Veena Prasad
serves 4 to 6


Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower*, cubed
2 green chilies, cut in half lengthwise
½ yellow, white or red onion, thinly sliced
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
¾ teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons coconut or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
2 inch piece of cinnamon
3 cardamom pods, optional
15 curry leaves
1 (15 Oz) can coconut milk
Handful cashews, roasted (optional)

Method

Mix the cubed cauliflower pieces with turmeric, garam masala, salt and lime. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. When you see ripples on the surface of the oil, see if it is hot enough by throwing in a mustard seed. If the oil is hot enough, the mustard seed will sizzle. Fry the whole spices and curry leaves for just 15 seconds or till the mustard seeds pop and you can smell the rich aroma of curry leaves and cinnamon. Be careful as the oil may splatter. I like to use a large lid as a shield.

Sauté the onions and green chilies for 3 minutes or till the onion is translucent. Add the cauliflower and most of the cilantro (reserve the rest for garnish) and stir well. Once all the cauliflower is coated with oil and sautéed for 3 minutes, add the coconut milk and turn heat to low. Cover and let simmer for 12 minutes or till the cauliflower has softened to your liking. Add salt to taste.

Garnish with cashews and cilantro. Serve with rice.

*You can substitute paneer or tofu for half the head of cauliflower.

Kadai Paneer @ NY Indian Film Festival

I was very excited to be asked to prepare appetizers a couple weeks back for the NY Indian Film Festival party to celebrate the world premiere of Rituparno Ghosh's film, Chitrangada.  The event was hosted by SAY WE (South Asian Young Women Entrepreneurs).

For the event, I made a kadai paneer (recipe below).  Kadai means wok in Hindi and this dish is essentially a paneer dry stir fry, curried with tomato paste, onion, ginger and garlic.  You can either buy paneer at the Indian store (I like to buy it unfried if I do this and in blocks) or make it homemade like this.  I like using this San Marzano tomato paste a lot in cooking because it's delicious and great in a pinch, but it also provides the perfect consistency for this dish:



At the last minute, we decided to put the paneer into these funny cocktail cups topped with my cilantro coconut chutney, which went over really well!

I also served these tea sandwiches on Balthazar bread with apple tamarind chutney and fresh local cream cheese that I purchased from Anne Saxelby's cheese shop in Essex Market.

This was my first time attending the film festival.  I was very impressed with the film selection, including one called Kumare by Vikram Gandhi.  Kumare is kind of a documentary/farse starring the filmmaker himself as he transforms into a guru that actually attracts a following, in of all places, Arizona.  But, ultimately he has to come clean with his disciples about his true identity. What transpires in the film is truly fascinating and a commentary I think on the power of belief.

At the end, the catering staff got really creative and started using my chutney as a dressing. Definitely stealing that idea:)

Kadai Paneer

Ingredients
2 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil
14 oz cubed paneer, lightly fried
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 small red onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 inch ginger piece, shredded
1 teaspoon cumin seed
pinch of asafetida (hing)
1/2 tablespoon coriander powder
1/3 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
salt to taste
fresh cilantro

Method
Heat ghee or vegetable oil under medium heat in a wok.  Add in cumin seed and asafetida and shake up in the pan.  When the cumin seed starts to brown, add in the onions.  When they are starting to get translucent, mix in the garlic and ginger and fry for 30 seconds.

Add in the tomato paste and stir well.  Mix in the coriander powder, turmeric, garam masala, chili powder and salt.  If the pan is starting to get dry, add a touch of water to loosen it up.  You don't want this to get saucy, more of a coating for the paneer so keep that in mind.  Fry this all up until the spices get fragrant.

Mix in the paneer gently, until it is coated with the tomato mixture.   Turn off heat and garnish with cilantro.

Serve with rice, roti or as an appetizer with chutney.