New Year, new recipes
The same thing happens to me every January: I get bored with my usual recipes and my kids complain, “Mom, we have the same food all the time.” I think my cooking doldrums are due partly to a lack of fresh ingredients, and partly to the fact that I just need new recipes.
This year, I decided that to expand my recipe repertoire, I had to look beyond my usual sources: FoodNetwork.com and The Joy of Cooking, one of my oldest and most referenced cookbooks. I needed new inspiration, not to mention an excuse to go out, and decided to look for it at local ethnic restaurants.
My 4-year-old daughter, Lucie, and I made our first stop at the Taste of India in St. Louis Park. We went for lunch so we could taste a little of everything in the lunch buffet and ask for recipes when we were finished.
Lucie ordered her favorite beverage, a mango lassi, which is a sweet yogurt-mango shake. Then we headed to the buffet table for the taste test.
After our sampling, we decided on our favorites: chicken tikka masala (chicken cooked in tomatoes, green peppers, and onions), naan (unleavened bread baked in a tandoori oven), cucumber raita (cold yogurt salad), and kheer (a creamy rice pudding). We asked our server, Singh, to explain the recipes to us, so we could decide whether we could make them at home. I explained that I wanted to make something with my kids and he said, “Perfect, you can make lassis and raitas.”
Lucie was excited to make a lassi for her older brother as an after-school snack. She decided that the raita seemed very similar to an American-ish salad dressing, like ranch, so she dipped all of her food in it (at our house, this is called dippin’ sauce). As her mom, I was excited about that!
This January, I think I have a new side dish for my family, vegetables and raita (dippin’ sauce). Oh, and a fun, tasty drink, the mango lassi!
Bridget O’Boyle teaches adults and kids how to cook at Cooks of Crocus Hill
Mango lassi
Adapted from Taste of India
Serves 4–6
3 cups plain yogurt
1 cup canned mango pulp (sold at Indian grocery stores*)
½ cold water
¼ cup sugar
20 ice cubes (optional)
Combine all the ingredients in a blender and process until the mix is frothy (if using ice, it should be crushed into small pieces). Taste the mix to see if it needs more sugar.
When making the lassi with young chefs, let them measure and pour the ingredients into the blender, then let them push the buttons. I think my kids will think this is fun forever! Serve in fancy glasses if you have them. We use old-fashioned sundae glasses.
* For Indian groceries, my friends (and great cooks) Ahndi and Satish recommend TBS Mart, at 7836 Portland Ave. S., in Bloomington, 952-881-0496.
Cucumber raita
Adapted from Indian Home Cooking Suvir Suran
Serves 4–6
2 ¼ cups plain yogurt
1 large cucumber, peeled and shredded
1 large carrot, peeled and shredded
¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
Black pepper to taste
Carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, celery, or any vegetable your family likes to eat, cleaned and sliced
1 tomato, diced very small (optional)
Whisk the yogurt in a bowl until smooth and lightened. Add the shredded carrot and cucumber (and tomato, if using). Chill well and stir in the salt and pepper just before serving.
This is a great recipe for young chefs since they can do most of it themselves. Use a large bowl for the raita, so they whisk and stir without spilling. Have them practice peeling the carrot and cucumber, then use a box cheese grater to shred the vegetables. Put the measured salt and pepper in a small bowl so the young chefs can add it themselves. When it is completely mixed together, have them taste it with different vegetables (or anything else you are having for dinner).
