All the More For Me; Indian Simplicity

The foods of India have become a second nature to me. So much that I cook it once or twice a week. If I were to post about every Indian inspired meal I create, I would flood my blog so I keep it at a minimum with foods that I find truly delicious, errorless, and I’ll admit, a little bit flashy. By that I mean not a simple dal or traditional vegetable curry, but something that pops out and states post me!

Phillip isn’t a chutney fan; he doesn’t like the sweet-sour-spicy combination of flavors and that’s okay. He’s not a bean fan either minus black beans and I think he said he enjoyed chickpeas. I have to try him out again along with dal, in general, and lentils. That’s okay, because when I fix him something else to eat, I’ll make Indian food! The protein part, however, he would like because Phillip is a fan of fish in general. So, aside from his dislikes of pumpkin, I could make a different thoran as well.

Thoran is a dry Keralite dish made of any chopped vegetables and the spices of coconut, mustard seed, curry leaves, and turmeric. Its very simple, very basic, but ungodly good. ‘Vindaloo’ is an Indian dish with word origins deriving from the Portuguese dish called Carne de Vinha d’ Alhos which eventually became shortened to vindallo. This dish happened to be brought over to Goa from Portugal and, thus, became adapted and known as vindaloo. The misconception of this dish is that there is no potatoes or ‘aloo’ in vindaloo. It’s not a common dish in India as a whole but it gained popularity in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and can be found occasionally dotting the menus in Canadian and American Indian restaurants.

Typically, the protein source is pork but I settled for catfish, whose typically fishy taste became masked by the pungent spices. Catfish, having a moderate oil content, melded with the broth to become smooth and silky - an absolute treat with a mountain of rice or instead of the rice, have some gluten free naan or roti (which I will get around to making hopefully) to soak up all the juices and chutney.

Oh, and this was the first time I didn’t have to drive 2 hours to Whole Foods and find rapini - haha! That made my day.

Catfish Vindaloo with Pumpkin Rabe Thoran and Black Cherry Chutney

Catfish Vindaloo
1 4 - 6 oz catfish filet, cubed
½ small onion, minced
½ cup water

½ tbsp mustard seed
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp ground chili powder

Fresh coriander

Dry toast the coriander, cumin, chili powder, and mustard seeds until fragrant. Add the onions and sauté until soft. Add ½ cup water to deglaze then add the catfish and stir in the fenugreek seeds. Turn the heat to medium low, cover, and let the liquid evaporate until a thick gravy forms and the catfish becomes flaky. This is about 5 to 10 minutes.

Spoon the minute over piping hot fluffy rice and garnish with fresh cilantro.

Pumpkin Rabe Thoran
½ cup diced pumpkin
1 small bunch rapini/rabe, chopped
½ onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
½ cup water

Palm full of shredded coconut
½ tbsp mustard seed
2-3 curry leaves
2 dried Chilis, crushed
Dehydrated garlic flakes
Ground cumin
Ground turmeric

Dry toast the cumin, turmeric, and mustard seeds until fragrant. Add the onions and cook until just soft, add the pumpkin, rabe, garlic, and chilis.

Add ½ cup water, cover and let that cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the lid then stir in the vinegar and coconut and let the remaining liquid evaporate.

Transfer to serving bowl.

Black Cherry Chutney (3-4 servings)
1 can dark pitted cherries preserved in water or
1 bag frozen dark pitted cherries (12 to 16 oz)
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp freshly minced ginger
¼ cup dried dates
2-3 crushed chilis
2 packets of stevia
½ cup vinegar
1 ½ cup

Chutneys are relatively simple to throw together but I’d suggest to prepare them a day ahead of time to allow them to fully intensify in flavor.

In a large pot - I’d say 4 quarts - add all the ingredients to the pot and bring it to a boil. Once the contents reached a boil, reduce it to a simmer. Let it simmer for 30 minutes to an hour or until the great majority of the liquid has evaporated.