north indian

Indian Night

As soon as my kids got wind that I was making Indian (again) they asked: are you going to make the same things again?

Are you kidding me??

There is a whole country of food to make!

But, it does seem, at least to kids before they tasted it, that indeed, Mom did make the same things again: legumes, potatoes and rice. It was only after they tasted it that the light bulb went off - this is totally different than last week's Indian.

It was either my cooking skills or South Indian's penchant for sour, because they enjoyed the tonight's North Indian more. 

Tonight I made a split red lentil (masoor dal) Dal with spinach and tomatoes, Chana Masala, chickpeas with gravy - one of the only vegan items on an Indian restaurant menu, and Alu Matar, a potato and peas dish. 

The Alu Matar recipe I got out of Flavors Of India by Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff. I met this lady in San Francisco where she has an Indian shop. Her cookbook is excellent and the recipes are easy. This is the book I have used before and while it does not have all the recipes that one can drool over in a restaurant, it is a great place to start. If you are looking for a good, simple Indian cookbook, look no further.

The chickpeas in the dish above need to be cooked fresh since the cooking broth is important in the preparation. Believe me, I've tried making Chana Masala on more than a few occasions since it is Cat's favorite dish, with little success until tonight.

Cost Breakdown:

onion, garlic: $1

spices, herbs: $1

tomatoes, peppers: $3.50

potatoes: $1.50

peas, lentil, chickpea: $3

spinach: $1

rice: $.50

Total to feed a family of 6:

$11.50

Chana Masala Recipe

DAL WITH SPINACH PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE