Dinga Dinga Dinga Dinga……….

So last night I made my first attempt at Indian food OTHER than Trini Curry. It was actually pretty good! I surprised myself. It was pretty easy once I got the hang of it. I made Chicken Tikka Masala, Channa Masala, and Cilantro Rice. Not too shabby. *shrug* My Bubbies, of course, LOVED it. lol. He sat in his high chair whining because I apparently was not shoveling his spoon in his mouth fast enough.

I’m pretty surprised how much my son LOVES ethnic food. He loves really exotic flavors. I think his favorite dish is this Thai Ground Beef recipe I found. He’ll usually eat about 2-3 bowls of that. It has red curry paste and coconut milk and oyster sauce in it lol. Go figure!

So I shall repost these recipes as they turned out well for me!

Channa Masala

SERVES 6 -8

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions (peeled and minced)
• 1 clove garlic (peeled and minced)
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 6 tablespoons chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup water
• 4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15 ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 2 teaspoons ground roasted cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon amchoor powder
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 lemon (juiced)
• 1 fresh, hot green chili pepper (, , minced)
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1. Heat oil in a large skillet.
2. Add onions and garlic and sauté over a medium heat until browned (3-5 minutes).
3. Turn heat to medium-low.
4. Add the coriander, cumin (not the roasted cumin), cayenne and turmeric.
5. Stir for a few seconds.
6. Add the tomatoes.
7. Cook the tomatoes until browned lightly.
8. Add chickpeas and a cup of water and stir.
9. Add the roasted cumin, amchoor, paprika, garam masala, salt and lemon juice.
10. Cook covered for 10 minutes.
11. Remove the cover add the minced chili and ginger.
12. Stir and cook uncovered for 30 seconds.

Chicken Tikka Masala

SERVES 4

• 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, cut in 1 inch cubes

Marinade

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground red pepper
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 piece minced ginger (1-inchinch” long)
• 6 bamboo skewers (6-inchinch”)

Sauce

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 jalapeno, minced
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon garam masala (buy in Indian market)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Soak bamboo skewers in water.
2. For sauce, melt butter on medium heat.
3. Add garlic& jalapeno; cook 1 minute.
4. Stir in coriander, cumin, paprika, garam masala& salt.
5. Stir in tomato sauce.
6. Simmer 15 minutes.
7. Stir in cream; simmer to thicken- about 5 minutes.
8. Thread chicken on skewers, and marinate (in the refrigerator) for an hour or so.
9. Discard marinade.
10. Grill or broil chicken, turning occasionally, to cook through- about 8 minutes.
11. Remove chicken from skewers; add to sauce.
12. Simmer 5 minutes.

Cilantro Rice -is my recipe so the measurements are not exact

-white rice washed uncooked

-lime juice

-handful of chopped cilantro

-1/2 chicken buillion cube

1) add a small amount of oil to a pan and add the rice

2) fry until rice is dry and sticking together when you stir it

3) add lime juice about 1-2 tbs, depending on how much rice you use

4) add water, enough to cover the rice about 1-2 inches

5) add buillion

5) cover rice and cook, occasionally stirring until 90% of the water is gone and all of the buillion is evenly distributed

6) turn off flame and let sit until all water is absorbed and rice is sticky

7) add cilantro and stir

8) serve

Hope it is as nice of a dinner as it was for me! Stay tuned for tonights review~ stuffed cabbage rolls and Cabbage Noodles lolll.

Some money saving tips:

So….I got paid yay…*sigh. I feel like as soon as I get paid the money is already spent on bills and necessities. I’m a bookkeeper so obviously I have a pretty intricate budget spread sheet, so technically the paychecks are spent MONTHS in advance lol. (I can help anyone that is interested in having their income budgeted to help save)

But in doing so I have also made another spread sheet which lists all of the dishes (main and side) that I cook. I plan out paycheck period to paycheck period and plan out my menu until the next paycheck. Then create the grocery list based on that menu. So then I”m never over buying and food is never going to waste. (I can also help anyone set up a menu and grocery list)

It helps me save time. So instead of shoveling through my refrigerator and the cupboards, I know what to cook as soon as I get home. Hopefully the meat is already defrosting…..probably not tho. lol.

Another tip that I have started doing. I buy my meat in family packs. As soon as I get home from the store I seperate the meat into ziplock bags. One bag being one meal. Then I season the meat according to what meal it is supposed to be for. Most of the time, if I dont feel like it I just use Grean Seasoning.

Green Seasoning is a Trini Seasoning that they use on EVERYTHING.

Ingredients
1 bunch fresh scallions or chives
1 bunch fresh flat leaf Italian parsley or leaf celery
2 sprigs cilantro
4 garlic cloves
4 tablespoons lime juice, lemon juice or white vinegar
1 bunch fresh oregano or 5 leaves Cuban oregano

This way while the meat defrosts, it also marinates. You really can taste a difference. I know it seems a little time consuming, but believe me I save SOOO much time during the week. I can come home and cook right away and then play with the baby. Hope this helps those in need of some saved money and time!

Kimchi and Pelau

So this is my first ever blog….I wasnt sure what to write about, not really being sure anyone would care to read. But then I figured that if nobody really reads it, what do I have to loose, right?

So to start out…My name is AJ. I am 28, living in Queens, NY. I am from Western NY.  I have a 14 mth old son and a wonderful partner. I am a bookkeeper by day, Master Chef at night (yea right). 🙂

So I started this blog because finding my roots and passing on important things to my son has been something that I have been trying to work through since I found out I was pregnant. I am Korean, I am adopted. My family is Italian. My boyfriend is from Trinidad. I always had this horrible thought of my son being lost and not knowing who he was, much like I did.

My mother tells my I never had much interest in learing more about my heritage growing up. The Korean Camps and books didn’t do it for me. I was too consumed with Ballet and Piano *ironically the stereotypical asian child lolll*

So somehow, I made it through 18 yrs of barely thinking about being Korean. However, never really feeling like I fit.  Then college hit. There was a huge Asian population that intrigued me and intimidated me all at once. So then comes the storm of racial identity crisis! lol I’ve been told that I assimilated well and made the transition smoothly. I’ll take my friend’s word for it lol.

And then…….I fell in love with this beautiful Trini boy. *sigh* haha.  And with it came more insecurity about being a fake asian. lol. The Trinidadian culture is so rich…and I dont really have a culture of my own. I have strong Italian influences from my family. Spanish and Indian influences from my friends. But really I am just a hot mess lol.

And then comes my son. He is gorgeous and adorable and everything any Gap-Baby-Ad-Worthy child is. *I’m not partial at alllll*. But in having a child comes the constant anxiety about EVERYTHING…i mean EVERRYYYYTHING. And on top of it comes my anxiety about his roots and feeling connected.

So to me the root of any heart is the stomach. So to learn to cook from all of these different influences in my life is to pass on culture to my son. I want him to embrace the taste of kimchi and pelau. I want him to KNOW who he is and to KNOW who his family is.

So………this is my culinary journey. Traveling through different worlds to bring all the parts of my life into my son’s world.