Cooking Indian Food

I have been trying to cook good Indian food for a couple of years and have nailed a couple of dishes.  Mostly because of a couple of good friends Swami, who is best cook I have met yet, and Krishna, my neighbors in Cooperstown.  They were nice enough to put up with my questions and taste the crap I cooked to tell me what was wrong.  I recently have been using Vah Chef and Manjula’s Kitchen from YouTube.  You can follow their steps on the videos and make unbelievable meals.  If you aren't a fan of Indian food because it’s too spicy than you need to raise your tolerance or just add less chilies to the recipes.  

Indian food is easy on the budget as well, using mostly dal, rice, spices and a few vegetables.  A trip to your local International Grocery or Coop is essential to pick up the ingredients.  

Starter Kit List

Dals                                                 Rice

Toor Dal                                          Basmati              

Chana Dal (small bag)                     Jasmine

Urad split Dal                                   Brown Rice

Moong Dal Split

Spices

Dried Whole Red Chilies

Curry Leaves (harder to find but awesome to use)

Bay Leaves

Whole Cloves

Cardamom Pods

Turmeric

Mustard Seeds

Cumin Seeds

Cinnamon Sticks

Cumin Powder

Coriander Powder

Tamarind
Its easy to go crazy at the International Grocery just make sure you have enough room to store it all.  I have a three year old bag of Coriander that I will be using for the next decade.

Here are two Videos that are great to start with and friggin’ delicious.

Awesome Rice Dishes, I just add whatever veggies I like to the recipes like cauliflower, green beans, peas, carrots, or whatever.

Tomato Rice

Lemon Rice

Both of these dishes are great with yogurt on top or Rita (yogurt sauce)
Just look up the dish you like to eat at a restaurant and try to cook it. It really isn't too difficult.