You know how your desi mom totes around lal mirch in her purse because everything’s just too damn bland? And how embarrassing it is when she whips it out at restaurants, hunched over like it was a bottle of Night Train? This is just like that, but classier because, um, you’re epicurious: here’s my favorite Indian food hack from my bachelor kitchen.
At most grocery stores, you can buy tortelloni or ravioli stuffed with fillings such as sun-dried tomatoes and cheese. Try boiling the tortelloni for five minutes, ladling on spaghetti sauce and adding the secret topping: generous scoops of chutney powder, a.k.a. idli masala. It’s a yellow-orange spice mix that morphs the flavor of ravioli into something as delicious as dum aloo. It’s easier than fixing a sandwich, and it is absolutely sabroso. I’ve eaten it for six months and I’m still not sick of it.
And I’m not the only Marco Pulao running around. The desi pizza joints of Jersey City and Jackson Heights, and my own family, are famous for their Indian reimagining of hot pie. Dumpling Man, who makes fresh, thin-skinned Chinese dumplings, offers a spaghetti sauce option. I pitched him a chutney powder topping in a note scribbled on the back of a business card; when I left, I think he was laughing.
Here’s an older, non-Italian favorite which I eventually wore out: toasted onion rolls with spicy hummus, pepperjack cheese and the secret ingredient: mango achar. Please, for the love of Bacchus, share your own favorite food hack here in the comments.
Must be a common thing because my pops used to carry a small ziplock back of spices with him when we started going to American restuarants like TGIFridays or Bennigans. Of course he also had those small bottles of the fine Johnnie Walker from the airplanes to spike his drink (because he claimed that the bartender skimped on the alcohol).
I’v even lazier than you. I usually eat non-Indian dinners that my wife and I (okay, my wife )prepares and i have my bottle of Siracha handy – http://www.huyfong.com/frames/fr_sriracha.htm – mmmm, mmm. Good eatins!
Q: What do you call Sriracha and rice?
A: Dinner for a buck. Also, the only vegetarian option at some Vietnamese restaurants.
Nothin like a good Night Train reference. That stuff is rancid.
take a look at these good eats… i’m a freshman in college, not bad for a bachelor kitchen eh? (the curry in a few of the pictures was made with a korean spice packet… wasn’t brown, but did the trick)
Oh dude. I am your mother; for my birthday present freshman year, my friends stole three massive containers of crushed laal mirch from the cafeteria. My khala carried Tabasco around with her for three weeks in Italy, dousing everything from buffalo mozzarella to canneloni in it; my favourite, though, was getting those frozen French fries from a grocery store and liberally sprinkingly chaat masala all over them. It was awesome.
Weellll… my fav is just ramen noodles… cooked desi style (common enough…I guess)
first boil exactly one mug (coffee mug ) of water, add a few frozen veggies… a bit of salt…. Now the fun part… add some garam masala.. idly masala… sambhar masala.. arre any darned masala that you like. A little bit of turmeric for good measure and a wee li’l chilli powder. Add the noodles (not the masala it comes with). Let said water boil till the water’s 3/4th evaporated. Add a wee bit of oil to make the noodles smooooth. Let rest of water evaporate. Sprinkle some freshly ground pepper on top. Serve with a cool drink;)
Haahahaha
-Fob
My favorite combo is tamarind chutney, mint chutney, and kasoori methi. The chutneys you can buy in jars and are quite tasty. Methi (fenugreek) is basically dried leaves, incredibly pungent, and they add an amazing flavor to anything. Try all of the above in an omelette or scrambled eggs. For a final kicker, top it off with white pepper powder for that indian-style chinese taste.
for a variation on the desi-tized ramen noodles for all you non-vegetarians out there…do exactly what mohan said above but also add leftover beef curry chopped up in tiny pieces…it’s seriously one of my FAVORITE meals…tho i can cook an 8 course meal w/ both hands tied behind my back, there are times when i LONG for the ramen treat.
🙂
I have little to contribute, except to say Patak’s sauce… not so good. I’m now obsessed with perfecting a proper CTM recipe. If you know of one, let me know!
I’ve been on a similar kick recently, and it’s driving me absolutely mad. I’ve tried a number of recipes, and numerous “hacks” of those, but haven’t come close to an ideal creation. Sometimes it was my fault (i.e. forgetting to pluck the feathers off of the chicken), and sometimes the recipe was so mind-f–kingly complicated, that I couldn’t even find all the right ingredients. If anyone has a good recipe, please share, as I would like to include it on the menu when I one day open the country’s first strip club/Indian buffet.
Has anyone tried the Trader Joe’s curry in a jar mixes? It’s not exactly authentic, but it gets the job done when you’re craving chicken or beef curry. The jar says to just add your meat and simmer, but I brown onions, garlic (sometimes ginger) and add chili powder. Once cooked, serve over rice and top with cilantro. It’s quick, cheap and almost tastes like the real thing. Ok, not really…but what do you expect out of a bottle?
Speaking of Trader Joes, lets not forget Tasty Bites, those aluminum pouches that deliver up some fine curry in a manner of minutes. Particularly good are the Madras Lentils. Also a good option for backpacking trips, and I suppose…trips to the moon.
If you like Sriracha…you’ll love the green sauce that you get at Peruvian rotisserie places. I don’t even know what it’s called, but I hoard it when I can get it. Spicy! Bagels, sandwiches, you name it – yum!
-D
Is this what you’re talking about?
I tried Patak’s hot vindaloo paste (cumin and tomatoes) and it wasnt that bad. Its around $3 though so its not too cheap. I am curious as to whether desis prefer chicken or turkey in desi food. Turkey has more flavor and is less chewy. Chicken is more commonly used though. I personally prefer goat, but its a little difficult to get and is not almost never available in chain grocery stores. Lamb is a good substitute for goat though.
Manish:
YES! Aji. That’s it (I think.) Must now find closest Peruvian market.
-D
Wow! I thought I was the only one who did the ramen noodles thing:) I have mine with garam masala, chilli powder and left over chicken or beef or lamb curry!! Yummy!!
i put the coconut chutney powder(do only mallus have this?) on my chicken parmesan and any other sandwiches/burgers if i can. i think it would taste great with a big mac, buy i havent saved money on soda and brought it home to eat in a while, now. raitha is good on domino’s pizza. maybe its the crunchy onions and green chilis in the tangy yogurt… i meant curd. my sister puts ketchup on pizza, but thats only brown by association. i’ll put ketchup on a bagel with cream cheese.
Dude… ketchup and cream cheese? shivers That sounds downright nasty.
But I’ll let it slide cause the other suggestions sounded alright 🙂
Try making spaghetti with prego/ragi sauce and lots of maggi hot and sweet sauce..boil spaghetti in water with salt and then add prego spaghetti sauce and maggi hot and sweet sauce…it totally indianises spaghetti and all my friends who hate spaghetti love my spaghetti with maggi sauce.
Maggi hot and sweet sauce goes well even with cheese quesadillas I make at home,flour tortillas,apiece of cheese between two tortillas,maggi hot and sweet sauce and some black beans,microwave for a minute..spicy and yummy.
I also put maggi hot and sweet sauce when I made ramen noodles..recently I tried tomatoes, onions,frozen mixed vegetables,maggi sauce in noodles and it came out well.
Boil oil add some mustard seeds ,karipatta and green chillies, let them fry a lil bit and then add it to yogurt with salt and mirchi . Spread this spicy yogurt on beagle or inbetween two slices of bread or bun..tastes good..
I had spicy paneer pizza in india,yummy..indianised pizza..
My friends and I at Naughty Curry have no shame when it comes to spice dilly-dally. Seriously, we have come up with some crazy-but-good! concoctions…. Our most popular post is ‘Easy Masala Mac n’ Cheese’ ~ out of the box.
My friends always tease me about my need to adultrate every dish that comes my way…my fave. quick “fix” is any of Nandos’ sauces. They need to sell the big bottles for people like me 🙂
We cannot keep enough of these sauces around….wife has to block the sauce aisle when we go shopping. So I need to order this “aji” sauce on-line…can anyone post a link or something ? Last week, my nephew , who has in the past has shown no interest in indian food or anything that is not nugget-like, casually opens the fridge and ask’s ” hey do you guys have any of the red sauce ????” Obviously , I went into a fit and tore a slice of him with the usual ” Do you want to end up like me ? ” ” Do you want to put hot stuff on everything for the rest of your life ????” He was taken aback and settled for the ketchup…but he knows and I know that he is only a step away from the great indian tradition of “saucing it up “
Butter, cucumber, and pudina chutney sandwiches anyone?
And you know what makes a great dip for chips or crudite? Pudina (mint) chutney mixed in with sour cream… DOPE.
there’s amazing things to be done with ramen. you heard it here first
I’ve also added a tiny bit of mayo to pudina chutney and used it as a sandwich spread. I also eat dalmot in my PB &J sandwiches, though I get teased for it.
did you guys ever have those sandwiches (toasted triangles/”spoon” sandwiches) filled with samosa filling (the kind with peas and potatoes and carrots)? or other random desi sabzis?
mmmmmmmmmmmmmm
leftovers sandwiches? hell yeah. I could go for one right now, with some maggi hot & sweet 🙂
All you foodie perverts, with your kinky hybrid combinations. “Unnatural” practices, every single one. It’s Sodom & Gomorrah in the kitchen all over again.
Okay, I’m just kidding. I’m assuming everyone here’s secretly stumbled across the fact that you can use tortillas as roti/chapati substitutes…..
to give anything a little kick.. sprinkle some chaat masala on it.. cant go wrong!! Plain old Lays chips never tasted so good!!