Indian recipes - The world at your doorstep via CouchSurfing

Now and again it is nice to meet different people. The variety of our social interactions seems to be determined by many factors (like level of education, age, nationality, languages you speak, social strata or circles you move in) and as you get older the opportunity to meet different people seems to narrow. CouchSurfing is a way of adding some variety to your social interactions. The idea is simple: there are travelers who can benefit from meeting locals and there are locals who may find it interesting to host travelers: enjoy the cultural exchange and perhaps get something out of some the "pay-it-forward" or "gift economy": Both of us have experienced random acts of kindness by "strangers" that have made our life much richer - they may not need repayment but we can help others to get the same experience and make the world a little better.

Last week, we hosted an Indian couple in our home and we had a really good time: cultural exchange, good conversations and amazing food (we were eating Indian food all week!).  Overall, it felt like India had come into our home (without any jetlag for us!). They made us 3 recipes which we have put below with a photo guide. (They were also kind enough with our not-so-trained-for-hot-spice taste buds)

Master chefs T and R :o)

The feast

Eating with the hands like proper Indians (probably with less style and technique but we tried hard!)

 

Luchi bread which is typical of Bengali cuisine and it is also known as Indian Puff Bread:

The ingredients are very simple: flour, water and oil. Below is the photo guide to the recipe.

Flour and oil

Mix with some water

Knead

Keep kneading well

 Break into small pieces

Ready to roll

Rolling the dough

Ready for frying

Frying Luchi (make sure the oil is hot hot hot)

Luchi - A puffy indian bread

Getting rid of excess oil

A full basket of Luchis!

The second dish was a cabbage curry:

Ingredients:

one cabbage

1 tbsp of whole cumin seeds

4 tbsp of vegetable oil

salt to taste

1/2 tbsp of turmeric powder

1/2 tbsp of paprika

1/2 tbsp of cumin powder

 

Instructions (see also photos)

Chop cabbage finely.

Heat oil and add cumin seeds.

Wait till it crackles.

Add cabbage and salt. stir.

Add turmeric, paprika and cumin powder.

Mix well.

Cover the pan and simmer the flame.

Let it cook in its own steam and water till done.

 

Stir fry the cabbage

Spice and continue stirring

The third dish was a spicy potato curry (popularly known as Alu r dam in Calcutta and has quite a few variations)

 

Ingredients:

4 potatoes

1 big onion

2 medium tomatoes

4 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp turmeric powder

1/2 tbsp paprika

salt to taste

coriander leaves

 

Instructions (see photos)
Cut potatoes in pieces (approximately 8 out of one potato) and boil.

Prepare a paste of onion and tomato using a mixer.

Heat oil in a pan. Add onion-tomato paste. Stir occasionally till oil separates.

Add turmeric and paprika and mix well.

Add potatoes and salt and stir.

Cover the pan and simmer the flame till potatoes are cooked well, stirring occasionally.

Garnish with coriander leaves while serving. 

 

Onion and tomato paste

 

Potatoes boiling

 

Spicy tomato sauce

 

Spicy potatoes