Butternut Squash and Lentil Soup

The Indian spices in the soup really make it. I saw the recipe on NYTimes.com and thought it looked great. I tweaked it slightly, but it's a really nice, flavorful soup. Stirring in the buttery toasted mustard and cumin seeds at the end gives it a great bit of textured crunch. Next time, I might add some shallots and another chile, but it's still great as is. Feel free to use chicken broth instead of water if you prefer. 

Serves 4 (probably more)

Garam Masala Skirt Steak

After thinking of making Indian corn, I wanted some meat to go with it. Skirt steak is perfect for weeknights because you can quickly marinate it after work and it cooks so quickly. The mixture of garlic and the fragrant garam masala and dukkah was really great and unusual and went nicely with the corn. The steak was tender and tasty. 

Ingredients:

1 skirt steak

1 clove of garlic (more for a bigger piece)

1 tbsp garam masala

1 tsp dukkah

1 tsp kosher salt

olive oil

Directions:

Mash the garlic into a paste. In a small bowl, mix the garlic paste, remaining salt, spices and enough olive oil to form a loose paste. Smear it all over the steak on both sides. 

Curry Corn

This is amazing! Make this ASAP! I would eat this all summer. Wow. I don't know why I never thought of curry and corn before. The sweet corn and the spicy fragrant curry make a great mix. I cleaned out my cabinets this week and reorganized all my spices and when I saw all my curry and Indian spices, I thought I'd try them with summer food. I finished off the corn with a smattering of nigella seeds (an Indian spice that tastes a bit like toasted onion) but don't worry if you don't have any - it'll still be great. 

Fish Masala

This is another incredible Indian recipe from the talented Nimmy in Cochin. She made this for me and Jamie on our honeymoon and it was the best meal we had the whole trip. I decided to make it myself this weekend, and wow, it's amazing! I'm sure Nimmy's version is a little more practiced, but it's her recipe and it's fabulous. My friend Chelsea and I ate it up. It's such a unique recipe because you really don't see Indian style fish that often. There are wonderful spices and a secret ingredient that's such a funny surprise, but upon eating it you'd never guess it was there. I'm going to make it again tomorrow!

(Serves 2)
Ingredients:
2  1/2lb fish filets (1 lb total, any firm white fish)
1/2 tsp Chili Powder (Indian Chili Powder if you can get it)
1 tbsp fruit vinegar (I used apple cider)
1/2 cup sliced red onion
1" ginger, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 green chilis split lengthwise
1 sprig curry leaves (okay to leave out if you can't find them)
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil
1 tbsp ketchup (secret ingredient)

Chicken Tikka

Jamie and I had some incredible tandoori chicken in Udaipur and even though we've only been back in the states since Saturday, we're both already craving more Indian food. Chicken Tikka/Tandoori Chicken is a simple weeknight meal and is SO tasty! The chicken is tender and flavorful, and cooks in 25 minutes and it's a nice cheap dinner if you buy chicken legs. If we were serving more people, I would buy a whole chicken and cut it into pieces and remove the skin. One secret is cutting little slashes in the chicken and rubbing the mixture in there. If you don't have tandoori spice, it's kind of a mix of chili powder, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, ginger etc. Mmm. Jamie said he never wants to eat any other chicken every again, so needless to say, it was a hit! I served it with Green Bean Thoren, courtesy of Nimmy.

Back!

We got back from India early Saturday morning after a looong flight. What an incredible trip! After 16 days, we never got sick of the food and I now love Indian food even more than before. It was so fun to try all of the new dishes and the difference between north and south was huge. Heavy curries in the north and lots of fresh, grilled seafood and coconut in the south. Yum!

We took a cooking class in Kerala with this great woman, Nimmy, so I will definitely be making some of those dishes soon!

Meanwhile, here are some pictures of food just to make everyone jealous and hungry...

 Fish mongers in Cochin

Restaurant that cooks the fish across from the fish mongers, so good!!