Tandoori and Masala
Thank you Paula at LakeSchooling for the simple reminder of something so wonderful!
What is Tandoori? Besides – FAAABULOUS – tandoori recipes and cooking comes from the name of the cylindrical clay oven used in southern and central Asia.
There aren’t many of these types of stoves used in cooking in the United States. Fire regulations make them impossible, or impractical, and cooking in them is an art. An art I SO don’t have — but the process of using the tandoor lead to an entire realm of cooking called Tandoori. Traditional naan bread is made this way — can you imagine the art of getting the dough just right to stick to the sides and being dextrous enough to handle the pats of naan as they cook! Only in my dreams.
But – and I have a really big but – I LOVE the flavors of Tandoori masala, the mix of spices traditionally used in a Tandoori masala.
Making the masala is really simple. All you need are the spices and a coffee grinder. Acquiring the spices can be a ton of fun, but if you don’t shop around it can get really expensive. Thankfully there are a couple of really good online options. If price is not a problem, I love Penzeys (thank you kitchen goddess Ellen Woodhouse). They have everything and it is top-notch stuff. Plus their photos give good references for what it is you are actually identifying. For example – I had NO idea what an actual nutmeg nut looked like before I started making Tandoori masala.
Here is what you will need (generally) to make a traditional garam masala used inmost Tandoori cooking:
- coriander seeds (4 parts)
- peppercorns (2 parts)
- caraway seeds (2 parts)
- cardamom seeds w/o husk (1 part)
- cumin seeds (1 part)
- cloves (1 part)
- cinnamon stick (1 part)
- nutmeg nuts (1 part): 1 oz bag should be about $3 and will last you a VERY long time (3 whole nuts)
- mace blades (1 part)
- star anise or regular anise* same pricing as nutmeg – very potent spice won’t need much!
- fennel seeds *
- marati moggu*: this is pricey
- bay leaves*
Here’s what stuff looks like.
* These spices are in the family of masala spices. I generally do not use them in my grinds. This is just personal taste and because I am a cheap skate!
The recipe above is done in parts. This means you control how big a part is – based on how big of a batch you want to make. The parts above if blended together will be enough to make an enormous bowl of mixed veg or rub 2 whole chickens.
The best part of making masala is the prep. Put the parts you have collected above into the oven and warm on low until you can smell them in the house. Let yourself take in the aroma — it is MESMERIZING!! When the spices and seeds are toasty warm then set to blending them in the coffee grinder — make sure you have cleaned your grinder!! I have a coffee grinder I use only for spices. You don’t want coffee grounds in your masala.
Now you have your masala. Put it into any spice jar, like you would any other spice. When you want to use the masala you can rub onto meats directly, or mix with an olive oil to brush on vegetables, or some mix the masala with plain yogurt and bake with fish. Taste as you go adding cayenne to dry rubs or chile sauce to oil or yogurt preparations. There are no hard and fast rules — experiment and make your own discoveries!
A very cool Tandoor site that explains a lot more about the actual original type of tandoor stove and how to make and use them: Click Here.
Also, there is an old movie with Denzel Washington in it named Mississippi Masala that talks about what a masala is – good flick to get on Netflix or Red Box.
The Seven Layer Ship Wreck
This recipe has a great story behind it. I’d love to lay claim to it — alas, I found the story (and photo) on Jamie Oliver’s website and altered the recipe to be vegetarian and home-grown. The story though – is cool. Newfoundlanders from long ago were exposed to brutally harsh winters. The winters some years were so long that they had very short growing seasons. As such, food was scarce some years. When the cupboards became bare, the old salts would call this being shipwrecked because all the empty cupboards laying open were like being shipwrecked with no food. Like with the American tradition of Soul Food, the Newfoundlanders had to make do with what they could find. This recipe, and there are many, many versions of this, was a testament to their ingenuity. Since this is a layered recipe — take liberty and try your own layers with what you love to eat. If you stumble on something good — report back!!
INGREDIENTS
4 yellow squash (sliced about 1/4 thick)
4 carrots (sliced thinly longways or shredded)
2 lg onions (sliced thin) + several cloves chopped garlic
1 cup uncooked brown rice
2 cups picked peas or 1 – 16 oz frozen package
3 large tomatoes, sliced about 1/4 thick
1 16 oz container of non-fat Ricotta cheese
1 medium-sized butternut
couple tablespoons of oil
couple tablespoons of whole wheat flour
salt & pepper to taste
fennel and caraway seeds
- Slice the butternut in half longways and bake in a shallow baking dish, face-down, with about 1/2 of water in the pan. When the outside skin is pliable to your finger remove from oven. Allow to cool until you can handle and then scoop out the butternut meat into a bowl. Set aside.
- In a medium saute pan, saute the onions and garlic until tender and lightly brown. Remove from heat.
- Oil up a good-sized casserole pan.
- Slice carrots and squash into 1/8 inch thick slices. Place in medium bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and stir until slices are coated. Toss with enough flour to coat the slices. Place the carrots and then the squash into the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper. 1st and 2nd layer.
- Cover the vegetables with the onions and garlic. 2nd layer.
- Sprinkle the cup of uncooked brown rice over the onion mix. 3rd layer.
- Spread the peas over the rice and add the caraway seeds (about a tablespoon). 4th layer. (Substitute basil if not a fan of caraway).
- Spread the butternut over the peas and rice. If yours is not cooked enough to spread you can slice and arrange over the top…don’t worry. Add the fennel seeds with the butternut. 5th layer. (Season with salt and pepper).
- Spread the Ricotta cheese over the top of the butternut. 6th layer.
Bake in an oven for 50 – 60 minutes with tin foil over the top. There should be enough liquid in the casserole to bubble up around the edges of the Ricotta. Remove the tin foil and bake until the Ricotta turns lightly brown.
This is a good, comfort food meal that is good for the heart and soul.
A Farm Report 