SPRING 2006 ETHNIC COOKING NOTES

Second Meeting Indian Cooking

Foods Proposed to be Cooked

• Bread dough needs to be started wet, let knead a little while, then add flour to make workable.
• Black mustard seed is fried in oil for use.
• Whatever aromatics you use, don't use the same one in all the dishes if you want them to be noticed.
• Indians like some of the individual dishes to be way out of balance by themselves, like the mixed pickle and some of the chutneys, so the flavors of the other dishes can be pushed around. For Americans, it might be more popular to take a small amount of the extreme dishes and mix it into the more normal dishes. But this defeats the purpose and drama of the meal. Sometimes the unexpected bite of a chili is like the glimpse of a tiger in the jungle. Petting a pussycat is not the same thing.
• Great meals need at least a few dishes that not everyone likes.
• Coconut shreds are combed out of the coconut halves, not gouged, for the smoothest, featheriest shreds.

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