Welcome back! Now on to a cuisine that I always thought was quite difficult and intimidating to copy due to its rich use of various flavors and combinations but I am so thankful for the Indian recipe sites for virtually taking my hand and showing me how to prepare them step by step.
Suffice to say, as long as you have the ingredients and a bit of knowledge what to do in the kitchen, it actually turned out pretty well!
As for the cook day itself:
Figuring it out
In this instance, having a friend from England with Indian ancestry really helped (shout-out Oscar) because I prepared my list of dishes I wanted to make – including roti and rice and some main dishes to be had alongside, as well as a chutney, and the first thing I heard is “Where’s the yogurt?” which – as it turns out – is a central part of an Indian dinner and I would not have had cucumber raita at the table without him.
I did also make a kachumber salad – and forgot it in the fridge as I was serving everything else! I was so mad. So if you’re missing a fresh element on the table, yep I had prepared it and put it aside. Only to forget to put it on the table. š©
To my dear readers, if you find dishes that are absolutely necessary to have or combinations I made that are not at all representative for your country, please let me know in the comments. I can only go off of what I can find and I am definitely still learning a lot! And who knows, I might re-visit some of the more offensive ones at a later date. š
This week’s menu (2025/07/27)
The Dishes:
Turmeric Rice
Tasty, buttery, spiced rice. A perfect accompaniment to everything above.
Roti
An absolute classic. The recipe said to brush them with butter to keep them soft and flaky so I cheekily decided to melt some grated garlic and salt into the butter.
Chana Masala
A chickpea curry that you can either make thick and creamy or light and soupy just by blending some of the ingredients.
Aloo Gobi
My favorite dish of the evening! The potato and cauliflower, pan-fried with spices and tomato, were insanely delicious. I saw that the veggies are often deep-fried, I made the version according to the author without the deep-fry.
Cucumber Raita
A side that almost didn’t make it on the table! Good thing it did, it definitely added a nice contrast.
Kachumber Salad
Sadly didn’t make it into the photos but super tasty! I had it for lunch today haha.
Cilantro Mint Chutney
Goes well with the other things – I would recommend skipping the black salt. The sulfuric taste can be overpowering.
Nimbu Pani Lemonade
Mint lemonade – simple, refreshing, perfect.
Jalebi
So sweet and sticky! A good end to the meal but it’s easy to take too much.
I must say, my first Indian cook-night was a great success! Here’s to several more, I did split it into multiple sections due to the country’s size.
Cook Time: 3-4 hours, Budget: about 30 Euros!, Research Time: 4-5 hours
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