White Monkey said:P.S.--noticing your handle, can you recommend some
recipes that exploit black salt? I have a ton of
black salt rocks here, and a salt grinder, and have
been using it in various curries and whatnots, but
have heard that there are good recipes out there that
really rely on it.
It is used in raita....good tangy yogurt watered down
alittle and mixed well it, say, blacksalt, pepper, a touch
of regular salt and shreded cucumber or onion that has been
soaked in water awhile to mellow it. It is also used in
Chaat recipes, the snacks based on a platter with fried
channa flour chips (or twists), some spiced yogurt and some
tamarind sauce flavoured with blacksalt. Try googling chaat.
And here is a post of days past with pakora and dips, one
with blacksalt, and making a pretty good sauce for chaat:
<begin paste>: Vegetable Pakoras (we always double it for
parties) 1 1/2 C chickpea flour or besan (can get at Indian
groc. or in bulk sections of many of the larger grocery
stores, or in co-ops)
3/4 teas salt
4/2 teas baking soda
5/4 teas (generous) of turmeric (this helps you decide when
it's done)
6/2 teap ground cumin
7/2 teas ground coriander (for these two, I added a teas +
of my garam masala...which has a healthy bit of both of
these as a base)
8/4 teas whole ajwain or cumin. (We always use the
ajwain...it gives an unusual undertone, and is a cheap
seed that stores well...available at Penzey's)
9/4 teas ground black pepper (we do this coarsely)
10/4 teas cayenne....(we add 1/2 or MORE...very important
says tall TJ) She says sift, but we don't, just break up
the clumps of besan and mix well with a fork. It travels
very well in this form, and water can be added at the
party. Beat in 1 1/4 C water until you have a smooth,
thin batter. Heat oil (we use peanut and do it in a small
flat bottomed Peking-style wok, but a big wok or a kardhi
or a cast iron skillet (deep) would do fine) between 350F
and 375F (We usually guess...should fry the stuff without
exploding when the food goes in) Cut a potato into 1/8
inch rounds, an onion ditto,
11/2 a sweet potato ditto, trim 16 string beans (oh these
are good), 16 cauliflower florets, and some New Mexican
chilis, or hot Italian. We also did zucchini strips,
whole garlic cloves (peeled) and slices of turnip. Dip in
batter and fry about 7 minutes until they get a dark
golden. Drain and eat. The little tiny blobs of batter
that drip into the oil can be drained and put into raita
or into kardi (the chickpea 'soup'😉.
Now for the chutneys, the red one, the brown one and the
green one. Usha's Hot and Spicy Hyderabadi Tomato Chutney
(M. Jaffrey say that this perky relish can be kept in the
fridge to brighten up almost any meal...I can taste it
on eggs) A pound of ripe toms peeled and chopped
(About 1 3/4 C) 1 teaspoon grated ginger 1 teas mashed
garlic pulp
1/2 teas turmeric
2/4 teas cayenne Put this in a bowl and reserve
Heat 4 T oil (I used Mustard and only 2 T) Add 4 whole,
peeled cloves of garlic and brown lightly. Add 1 teas
cumin seed
3/2 teas balck mustard seed
4/4 teas whole fenugreek seed stir once and then add 2
whole dried hot red peppers (I used one big tein tsin)
HAVE THE FAN ON When the peppers have darkened and puffed
up, add the reserved mixture above and don't breath the
blast of steam. Cook, stirring a bit 10+ minutes until
the mixture is 'dry' but not panting. Add 1/2 teas or so
salt (ours needed 1 teas) and serve warm or chilled.
Tamarind-mint Chutney This I make exactly how she says: 1
heaping T EACH of chopped cilantro and chopped mint 2 T
chopped GUR (or brown sugar) (again, this is a cheap
ingredient that keeps, and will make your Indian food more,
well, 'Indian'.)
5/4 " peice of ginger minced
6/4 teas kala namak (black salt...very cheap and
keeps well)
7/3 cup tamarind paste (I use the compressed bricks...break
off about a cup of the brick and soak in enough warm
water to cover and then some. Break the material up into
small peices in the water and let soak at least 15
minutes. Rub the muck into a strainer with the back of a
spoon, being sure to scrape a spoon on the bottom of the
mesh to capture the thick muck.)
8/8 teas ground pepper, fine this time
9/8-1/4 teas cayenne 1 teas ground roasted cumin...place
raw cumin seeds in a fry pan and heat over medium,
shaking now and then (use no oil) until they darken and
smell toasty. Grind in a mortar or under a rolling pin.
Place all of the above in a blender and puree (I use the one
cup attachment on the Oster Blender).
Mint Chutney (the green one) Although Jaffrey has a recipe,
we've never added the yougurt.
10/4 C cilantro chopped and firmly packed
11/2 C mint chopped and firmly packed -2 seranno chiles (I
do seed these for fine texture) minced 1 T of lemon juice
12/2 teas salt (half of this if you use no chile I would
gamble) Puree in blender as above. She add 3/4 C of
yougurt which would make a significantly different dish
The three chutney's above can be made well ahead, and the
three colours, I think everyone will admit, were very
nice together.
