An Afternoon in India

This past weekend, my very good friend, and new mom Jessica and me, threw an Indian themed bridal shower for our dear friend Sonali, who is tying the knot this March.

Sonali is East Indian and will be having a traditional East Indian wedding. It is tradition for the bride to wear red, so she has incorporated red with a beautiful curry-yellow into her wedding colors. Jessica and I decided we would stick with the theme and create complementary bridal shower invitations, AND challenge ourselves to attempt cooking Indian cuisine.

We kept this a secret, so needless to say, when Sonali walked into the pungent aroma of curry, she knew we were up to something special for her.

We started off with something simple and familiar - chicken salad with curry. Jessica took this one on, and turned out delicious. She served the salad on pita triangles and in bibb lettuce cups.

Ingredients include:
1/2 pound cooked chicken

1 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup Dijon mustard

1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder

1/2 tablespoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup yellow raisins

S&P

1/2 cup cashews

Jessica also prepared a cool Grilled Red Onion & Cucumber Salad, courtesy of our favorite Food Network hunk, Bobby Flay.

Ingredients include:

2 red onions, peeled and sliced 1/2-inch thick, crosswise - then grilled

Olive oil Salt and pepper

3 cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/2-inch thick

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Yogurt-Mint Dressing:

1 cup plain yogurt, drained in fine sieve about 30 minutes

2 tablespoons tahini

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 cup mint chiffonade

Salt and freshly ground pepper

I decided to stick with what I know - Chicken Skewers! I am infamous for these somehow...

I served them with a Coconut Curry Sauce, provided by Williams Sonoma (if I havent mentioned it before, my mom works there :)). I was almost going to attempt a homemade sauce, but even I felt a little intimidated by how many ingredients the recipe called for.

This next recipe we found from Rachel Ray. It even has a clever name only RR could come up with - Naan-Chos, based on its main ingredient Naan bread, and the nacho-esc way it is served.

Ingredients Include:

1/2 cup-extra-virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, cracked

4 slices Tandoori Naan Bread

1 cup grated Parmesan

1 teaspoon poppy seeds

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/3 handful chopped parsley leaves

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar

1 can chick peas, drained

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper or 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Salt

Hummus:

In a food processor, combine chick peas, lemon, cumin, cayenne and remaining garlic and oil. Season spread with salt, to your taste.

Salsa:

1/3 seedless cucumber, skinned and chopped

1 vine ripe red tomato, seeded and chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

3 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, from 5 or 6 sprigs, chopped

1 lime, juiced

1 teaspoon coarse salt

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400 degrees F and cook bread with cheeses until melted (about 15-20 min.). Then top with hummus spread and salsa, and serve! In the words of RR, it was super YUMO and a big surprise hit with the ladies.

I also took on the challenge of creating an Indian desert. It was far from simple and took me about 3 hours to make (perhaps a slight exaggeration).

This little cake-that-could, required every type of sweet spice ever brought over by Columbus, including ground mace, which I later discoverd is a complicated term for PEPPER! Good grief. Along with a dozen eggs....individually seperated. I am the world's WORST egg cracker so that was interesting!

It would take me entirely too long to explain how exactly I created this cake, so I included the link if anyone is intersted. http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_19914,00.html

It was great fun to make, and turned out very good, despite my intial reservations. I would compare it to a very dense, layerd crepe. I served it with some cinnamon dolce ice cream, and topped with confectioners sugar (layman's terms: powdered sugar).

Laslty, the MOH (Mother of the bride) brought a lovely and savory addition to the spread, the bride's favorite, Samosas. There is no way I could explain these either, but here is a link that can! http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_19508,00.html

Cooking Ethnic Rating:

Complicated? YES

Tasty? YES

Ingredients? Some hard to find, but well worth the search if you have the time.

Crowd Pleaser? I would say 95%.

Here's to trying new things!