The Magical Masala Box

When I was in India I bought two masala dabba boxes, one for me and one for Allison, my kitchen table friend!

A masala box is a stainless steel tiffin with little bowls inside for holding your Indian cooking spices. One lid covers the whole spice box, so the aromas of the spices begin to mingle without actually mixing the spices together.

This is the box I got for Allison. We stocked it at the fab little spice shop All Spice when I visited her in Des Moines a few weeks ago. Click here for a photo from our visit.

Spices are (from top right): Fenugreek, mustard seeds, black peppercorns, ground turmeric, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and fennel seeds (in the center). This is how I learned to fill a spice box from my cooking class with Anu in Mysore, India back in February.

What to do with a masala dabba spice box? The Indian ladies keep it next to the pot and toss their spices in while the food is cooking. I'm not quite so adept at mixing spices in properly, so I like to blend spice mixtures together to use in my cooking.


Below are a few of my favorite spice blends. These are all inspired by Ayurveda, the ancient Indian science of health and healing through the use of food, oils and spices.


Directions:

For all of the mixtures listed below, blend them together with a spice grinder or clean coffee grinder. Store in a small jar with a tight fitting lid. Spice mixtures lose their potency after about 30 days, so grind only as much as you need.


Homemade Curry Powder

1 tsp whole coriander seeds
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 tsp whole fennel seeds
1 tsp whole mustard seeds
1 tsp whole fenugreek seeds
1 tsp whole cardamom seeds
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cloves

This is a favorite homemade curry powder recipe from the Ayurvedic cookbook Eat, Taste Heal. I like to mix it into dahls and rice dishes, and spontaneous stir fries with coconut milk and veggies.


Vata Seasoning

2 tsp whole fennel seeds
1 tsp whole coriander seeds
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp dried basil
3/4 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/3 tsp asafoetida (also known as hing)

This one is also from Eat, Taste, Heal. Its an easy kitchen staple for flavoring Eastern dishes. Its called Vata seasoning because it helps to balance excess Vata in the body. It's also delicious!

If you have no idea what I'm talking about (Vata what?) you can read up on the Ayurvedic dosha types at Joyful Belly. Or you can ask me questions here on the blog



Summer Spice Mix

1 tsp whole coriander seed
1 tsp whole fennel seed
1 tsp cumin seed
1 tsp cardamom seed
1 tsp ground turmeric

This one comes from my Ayurvedic teacher, Kate O'Donnell. Mix it into into quinoa salads with fresh summer vegetables, olive oil and lemon juice.



I hope you enjoy. And I'd love to hear how you like to use your spice blends!

Kitchen Table Friends: Cooking Together

Cooking Together

Cooking and food has been a large part of our friendship for many years.  We are delighted to share this sentimental blog post that epitomizes the feeling of and the reason for Kitchen Table Friends.

When Cara and I graduated college and started living on our own, we would visit one another wherever we happened to be living at the time and we'd always find ourselves cooking together.  In the early days of our twenties cooking meant browning ground beef and adding it to a jar of spaghetti sauce. A process, that in a tiny kitchen, involved multiple pans and heating things up on the stove. We were learning how to be grown ups and but in the kitchen we pretty much stuck to the familiar.  Since then, we have evolved, to extensive  kitchen repertoires that reflect not just what we know how to make but who we are and what we want to learn.  Now we roast vegetables, experiment with flavors from around the world, we zest citrus, toast and grind whole spices but no matter what we make we have fun together.

The past couple of days as we spent time together, we talked about why cooking was so meaningful to our friendship.  Cara remarked about what it meant to know where things were in a friends' kitchen, to know the little quirks about being in someone else's space.  Knowing and moving freely in the space of a close friend, is a mark of familiarity and of comfort. Living so far apart, this familiarity means a lot to the both of us. We compared the days when were friends in high school, and would hang out in each other's bedrooms, eating handfuls of M&Ms and telling all our secrets... to the time we spend together now.  We hang out in our kitchens, snacking and talking about what we're making as the conversation drifts in and out of other conversations about everything and nothing. As Cara would say, it's bliss.  

This is what we made:

mixed grain salad with roasted beets and cumin lime vinaigrette

ingredients: 
1 C mixed grains (we used 1/2 pearl barley, 1/2 bulgur)
3 C water
1-2  beets, cubed
2 C spinach, washed
1 green onion, minced
salt and pepper
olive oil
a handful of pepitas

toss beet with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 425 for approximately 30 minutes, test with fork for doneness.

I recommend donning an apron when chopping beets so you don't stain your cardigan.

rinse the grains with sieve, add to pot with water and bring to a boil. reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. you may want to add a drop of olive oil to the grains to prevent sticking.

set grains and beets aside until ready to assemble salad.


for the lime-cumin vinaigrette (adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone Deborah Madison):

1 clove garlic
salt
zest of 2 limes
2-3 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 Tablespoon green onions, minded
1 small jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/3 C olive oil
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

mince garlic and make into a paste with 1/8 teaspoon of the salt.

zest and juice the limes.
add garlic and lime zest and juice to bowl with scallion and jalapeno. 



toast the spices in a small dry skillet over medium until fragrant (this doesn't take long) and immediately remove them to a plate to cool. 

grind them to a powder (if you do not have whole, just use the powders, toasted as you would the seeds). add to the bowl.

whisk in the olive oil. 

let stand for 15 minutes.


top with fresh cilantro, just before using.



                                                                                 

slowly combine your grains with the vinaigrette and salt and pepper to taste. 
arrange spinach in a bowl and top with the grain mixture.  top with beets, pepitas, cilantro and green onions.  serve at room temperature and share with a friend. 

Notes on a recipe

Last week, I made the Indian spiced corn and chicken soup Cara posted at the beginning of winter. 

Here's what I did differently:

Added potatoes.  I love potatoes and they are nearly a requirement for any soup I make that doesn't have beans.   One small potato added a nice texture. Plus, potatoes and leeks seem to be best buddies (in soup, frittatas, on pizza, etc.).

Experimented with spices.  I added 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin seeds and mustard seeds to the oil while it was heating in the pan.  And I added 1 teaspoon cumin. Added a few dried red chiles to turn up the heat a little. 

Used less of some ingredients. Cream (3/4 Cup).  Curry powder (1 teaspoon).

Just a few changes while keeping the main idea of the soup intact.  The results were so delicious!!  So much so that it made it back to the menu this week. I'm glad I took notes.  It's important to take notes while you're experimenting with a recipe, or while you are still eating it.  That way you can be sure your memory is fresh!    I like to use adorable kitchen sticky notes like these....

I use the little page flags for flagging recipes in my food magazines!  With an extra piece of clear tape or two, these make great little labels for my glass containers in the pantry too. 

Thanks Cara and Anu!

Hello! Inspired by Cara's post about her cooking class, I couldn't wait to make Anu's lentil recipe.  It went perfectly with the yogurt marinated chicken I had planned.  On a cold night, it was prefect to crank up the oven to 500 to roast the chicken and make something a little spicy.

 I had all of the ingredients on hand!  Even curry leaves (they can be found at Namaste Indian grocery here in Des Moines.)! They were required for a round of Indian cooking Ryan and I did a few months ago, and upon reading that this recipe called for them, I remembered we stored the extra in the freezer.   I used split red lentils and a 16 oz can of tomato sauce instead of fresh tomatoes. I can't wait to try this when we have some fresh garden tomatoes!

 

The yogurt marinade on this chicken makes it super tender and juicy.  I usually half the recipe, but use the full amount of yogurt and double the amount of spice (1 tsp. each coriander and cumin).  

Staying Organized.

It snowed all day Saturday so I took some time to reorganize the spice cabinet.

BEFORE.

It's not easy to keep things organized in this cabinet because I use them all the time. I have three shelves and two spinners.  I try to keep the spinners alphabetized.  The first shelf is the most often used spices... salt, pepper, bay leaves, cumin, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, chili powder, etc.
The second shelf is less often used spices... cloves, fennel seeds, ground mustard, etc.
The top shelf is a mix of jars for items that came in bags or other odd containers and other less often used spices such as coriander seeds, star anise, a big refill size box of kosher salt, and black peppercorns. 

I  have so many spices, and like to be able to see everything, so I use the spinners, but they do take up a lot of space.  Someday Ryan may build some organizing gadget for me to keep the spices in... but for now this will have to do.  I just have to keep on top of the organization, which can be tough when things get crazy in the kitchen, or I have new spices to work into the mix. 

AFTER.