Indian cuisine and its traditions is largely dictated by the traditions of Hinduism, the main religions of India. Vegetarianism, a variety of dairy products, extensive use of vegetables and legumes - are the main distinguishing features of Indian cuisine. She has a lot to do with kitchens and neighboring countries - Thailand, China, Nepal. It is primarily active use in cooking spices.

Prepare a meal in the Indian style can even be one of those products that normally have on hand at each hostess. Indian recipes are not complicated, but often consist of many ingredients.

Spicy vegetable soup, assorted

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ liter of water
• ½ cup crushed peas
• ½ cup of mung beans (mung dal)
• ½ cup long-grain rice
• 2 carrots
• ½ cauliflower
• 2 tbsp. l. ghee (butter) butter
• 6 pcs. red radish

Set of spices:

• Cumin (cumin) - 1 tbsp
• Ground coriander - 1 tablespoon
• Garam masala - 1 tsp
• Turmeric - ½ tsp
• Ground black pepper - ½ tsp
• Green chili pepper - ½ pod
• Ginger root - 1½ cm
• Cilantro chopped - 2 tbsp
• Asafoetida - a pinch.

Preparation:

Cook this soup, preferably in a pressure cooker. Peas and mung bean, you must first, exhausting and rinsing, soak at least 1 hour.

Pour water into the pressure cooker, put the soaked peas and mung bean, rice, ginger, oil, turmeric, chilli and asafoetida and shredded vegetables. Cover and boil for 20 minutes under pressure.

If you do not have a pressure cooker, you can cook everything in a normal saucepan, however, at this time will take longer.

Next you need to mash the ingredients half cooked. To do this, pass them in a blender and grind, adding a little broth. If you are prepared in a pressure cooker, to shift the remaining vegetables and legumes in an ordinary pot, pour broth. Add the vegetable puree, stir. If the fluid in your opinion, is not enough, you can add a couple of glasses of water to desired consistency of soup. Put the cumin and coriander, garam masala,. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring a few minutes. Before serving, add pepper, salt and cilantro.

Indian cuisine is famous for his love of spices in particular - to the cilantro, coriander, cumin, turmeric. It is believed that these spices aid digestion, improve absorption of nutrients throughout the gastrointestinal tract. So do not be afraid of so many different seasonings. If any of you have not found, it can be eliminated from the recipe as possible and reduce the amount of hot spices. Although their use is justified in this soup, as is sometimes hard to digest beans and chili peppers and black pepper, according to the Vedic tradition, it is a good way to improve the digestive process.

Potato balls with horseradish and spices

Indian cuisine offers recipes from "native" us potatoes. However, sometimes in non-standard pitch.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 large potatoes
• 4-5 tsp butter
• 2-3 tsp freshly grated horseradish
• 6-7 slices of lemon
• 1 tsp salt
• Black or white pepper - a pinch
• Chili pepper (cayenne) - Pinch

Preparation:

Potato bake or boil "in uniform". Cool, peel, grind into a puree. Add butter, grated horseradish, pepper and salt. Hands, grease, form small balls of mashed potatoes (with walnuts). Sprinkle with red pepper. Serve with lemon.

Baked bananas with almonds

Traditional Indian cuisine - is the maximum benefit, even in such dubious in terms of diet dishes like desserts.

Ingredients:

• 4 dense strong banana
• ¼ cup orange juice (better Frechet)
• 2 tbsp butter (melted)
• 2 tbsp almond chips (flakes)
• 2 tbsp unrefined sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• ¼ tsp On ground nutmeg and cardamom

Preparation:

Mix the lemon and orange juice, add the spices. Bananas are peeled, cut lengthwise into two parts. Baking tray greased with oil and put it on the bananas cut up. Pour juice bananas, sprinkle them with melted butter, sprinkle with sugar.

Place the pan in the preheated oven (180C) for a few minutes until the sugar on the surface of caramelized bananas are not and do not boil. Open the oven, remove the baking sheet and place on banana almond flakes. Bake the bananas for a few minutes under the grill until the almonds are golden brown will be. Serve hot dessert.

As you can see, the Indian cuisine - is not just curry and rice dishes. And we have much to learn from the Indians in terms of cooking vegetables and the use of spices.

Contents:

• Dry porcini mushrooms in the oven
• Selection of mushrooms for drying
• Preparation of dried mushrooms

Mushrooms - a versatile and popular product. They can cook almost all meals: excellent appetizer, salad, in which the mushrooms are well combined with other products. Liquid food due to fungi become an unforgettable pleasant aroma. And the main dishes are delicious. A good hostess always have in stock a few recipes of dishes with mushrooms, which will decorate the table for the holiday, and will be invaluable to normal weekday. In connection with our weather conditions, this protein product all year round can be found in the forest or in the garden, so the masters canned, dried and pickled mushrooms. In order to preserve their flavor and aroma, cooking enthusiasts are ready for everything.

The main method of storing this valuable product - drying.

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Dry porcini mushrooms in the oven

This process does not take a lot of time and effort. One need only follow the instructions.

• Choose only pure, whole mushrooms. They should not have flaws (rotten, spoiled worms are not suitable).
• White mushrooms good wash and clean the debris from the forest (sand, leaves, twigs). But in any case not soaked in water.
• Remove them with a mushroom wrap and pat rag kitchen towel, allowing the water to come out. Wet dried porcini mushrooms for longer.
• The bottom of the leg to remove.

Then proceed to the process of drying. Home is well suited oven, t. To. It is at all and dries quickly. So, slice the mushrooms (as shown in Figure 1) and place them on a baking sheet. Place in a preheated oven (temperature should be 60-70 ° C). The oven should be slightly open for air circulation. When drying your house will smell like mushrooms. On this scent, you will define the end of cooking. The product will look dry.

Yet there is one way. Cleaned mushrooms strung on a long string and hung up on the grid in the oven. An example is shown in Fig. 2. Further, all as in the previous embodiment. In preheated oven mesh placed with the door open and dried product.

When drying the mass of the product changes. He reduced (from 10 kg of fresh mushrooms get 1-2 kg of dried), but if it enters the water swells. After drying, the fungus becomes plastic if crumbles or breaks - then dry up.

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Selection of mushrooms for drying

To dry fit is not all mushrooms. When collecting pay attention only edible. Remember that there are false mushrooms, white and others. If you are an experienced master in this case, the only use for drying tube. It is white, chanterelles, boletus, aspen, mushrooms. They give a good moisture and absorb it when cooking dishes. In addition, other fungi during drying become bitter aftertaste and suitable only for seasoning.

It is best suited for this task, porcini mushrooms. They have a meaty texture. Some dishes can completely replace meat. With a pleasant fragrance, suitable for a variety of culinary purposes: from salads to individual dishes. In addition, they are easy to dry, for that will and oven, which is in every house, and special equipment (dryers).

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Preparation of dried mushrooms

With dried mushrooms, there are many recipes, you can use them in soups and cakes as stuffing. Before the main cooking soak them to swell and fungi increased to its original size. Use hot water for quick otmokaniya. And then boil them. First, it is desirable to drain the water, and the next you can prepare the broth of mushroom soup. When cooking aroma spreads throughout the house and like the smell of the forest, which were collected by these fungi.

For self-cooking spices and seasonings used mushroom powder, and make it because of dried white fungus. For the production of a coffee grinder to grind on the required amount of mushrooms. When grinding broken solid crust, which can spoil the dish and poorly absorbed by the body. The powder is mixed with fine salt (5-10% by weight of the powder) and spices to your taste (black, red pepper, parsley, dill and so on. D.). Salt is required. It prevents the emergence of pests and prevent caking.

Your house will be filled with a pleasant smell delicious cooked food with the addition of natural spices. Bon Appetit!