Goan-Style Meatball Curry

Goa is a small state on the southern half of India's western coast. It's capital city is Panaji. The Goan region was a colony of Portugal for more than 450 years, ending only in 1961 with annexation to India. The main language is Konkani, an Indo European language; and thus, a relative of English, although further down the family tree. Up until more recent decades, varying degrees of Portuguese was known by some segment of the population. Hinduism is the majority religion in Goa, but about a quarter of the state's population is Christian, a result of Portuguese involvement for such a long time, and Muslims are about 8 to 9%. To give some perspective, Christianity is only about two and one half percent of India's overall population. The influences of the Portuguese, and of Christianity and Islam, show up in Goa's cuisine, as beef is not uncommon in Goa (practicing Hindus do not eat beef).

 

 

Ingredients (3 to 5 servings): 

1 1/4 pounds ground lamb

2/3 teaspoon ground cumin 

2/3 teaspoon ground turmeric

2/3 teaspoon ground pepper

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 finely chopped onion

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 green chili pepper (serrano is good for this), chopped

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/4 cup chopped coriander (also called cilantro)

2 eggs

1/2 cup bread crumbs (fine not panko) 

 

Put all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix them together well. Form the mixture into meatballs about the size of pingpong balls.

For the curry sauce:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup chopped onion (small chop)

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 whole cloves

10 to 12 curry leaves

2 cardamom pods, slit 

1 1/2 inch piece of cinnamon stick

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric 

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon Kashmiri chili powder (or 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper and 2 teaspoons sweet paprika)

1 or 2 green chilies, left whole, but slit, or chopped up (your choice)   

1 cup water

1 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup crushed tomato

3/4 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon salt (more or less by your preference)

(optional) 1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/3 cup chopped coriander (cilantro) 

In a large skillet (or pan), add the oil over medium heat, then add the onion and saute for 90 seconds, then add the garlic, cloves, curry leaves, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick; saute 1 minute. Add the ground turmeric, ground cumin, ground coriander, Kashmiri chili powder (or cayenne pepper and paprika), crushed tomatoes and the green chilies; mix everything around; then, add 1 cup of water and mix thoroughly. Allow the sauce to come to a light boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a nice gentle simmer and let cook for 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk and allow the sauce to return to a gentle simmer, then stir in the garam masala, salt and sugar. Now carefully add the meatballs to the sauce and cover the skillet/pan with a lid or foil. Let cook for 5 minutes, then remove the lid/foil and turn each meatball, cover the pan again, reduce the heat to low and cook another 8 minutes. Remove the lid and sprinkle the chopped coriander over the curry. Use a fork to mix about half of the chopped coriander into the sauce. Remove the curry from the heat and let sit just a minute or two before serving with rice on the side and/or naan or chapati flatbread. (Note: If you'd like to make your own chapati flatbread, here is the recipe: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2018/10/easy-flatbread-of-indian-subcontinent.html    

 

WORD HISTORY:

Clad-This word was actually the past tense and past participle (now archaic) of "(to) clothe," used adjectivally; thus, "clad" means "clothed, covered." In the Middle Ages, the adjective form was "cladde" (the ending 'e' pronounced 'eh'), then "clad."

For the verb "clothe," here is the link to that article: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2012/11/its-about-coalitions-not-purity-part_22.html?m=1

Indian (Goan) Pork Vindaloo

What a great dish! First, it is best to plan on preparing the base of this dish the day before you actually will be cooking and serving it, as you'll need to let the meat and seasoning paste sit in the refrigerator for 8 to 12, or even 15 hours. 

 

"Vindaloo" is the Indian rendering of Portuguese "vinha d'alhos;" that is, "wine and garlic," a dish the Portuguese took to India when they had colonial holdings there from the 1500s until 1961. I've simplified the seasonings for this dish by using already ground spices. But, if you want to make your own seasoning paste totally from scratch, to a food processor, add 10 dried Kashmiri chilies (seeded), 2 inch piece of peeled fresh ginger, 6 medium garlic cloves (peeled), 4 teaspoons whole cumin seeds, 8 black peppercorns, 10 green cardamom pods, a 2 to 2 1/2 inch cinnamon stick, 4 whole cloves, 2 teaspoons black, brown or yellow mustard seeds. Process these ingredients together with the red wine vinegar, salt and brown sugar, until smooth, then continue with the instructions below.  

Naturally there are some variations in recipes for Vindaloo, but I've not found many huge differences in recipes among people from the Indian Subcontinent; although I've seen a small number of recipes that use tomatoes or tomato paste, which, from my understanding, is not typical of Vindaloo in India. Also, the Goan rendering of this Portuguese-based dish uses "aloo" at the end, and that is the word (in various transliterated spellings) on much of the Subcontinent for "potato," and so some Indian recipes use potatoes in the recipe; although in this case, the ending does not mean "potato." Just from what I've heard and read at times, Vindaloo was taken back to Britain in the days when much of the Subcontinent was a British colony (but the Portuguese still had Goa as a colony there). People in Britain seemingly expected the dish to be spicy hot, and so when people in the UK made their interpretations of Vindaloo, they made it hot, a reputation that the British-style Vindaloo served in Indian or Indian-themed restaurants still carries to this day. Remember, people of the Subcontinent eat spicy hot food on a regular basis, so some of the things people from elsewhere might call "hot," may not cause so much as a twitch in a native of the Subcontinent. 

Ingredients (4 to 6 servings):

 

2 pounds fresh pork shoulder, cut into bite-size pieces 

(optional) 2 whole dried red chilies

2 inch piece ginger, peeled and grated

6 medium garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons Kashmiri chili powder, if you have it,* or substitute 1 tablespoon ground red pepper (cayenne) + 2 tablespoons sweet paprika

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper 

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

2 teaspoons dry mustard  

2 teaspoons salt

1 red onion (baseball size), peeled and finely chopped 

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon brown sugar (light or dark)

4 tablespoons oil (vegetable, canola, sunflower or peanut are good)

1 cup water (more, if needed)

 

Make sure to cut the pork into bite-size pieces of about the same size, so that the meat cooks evenly. Put the grated ginger and the minced garlic into a bowl. Mash the ginger and garlic into a combined paste (a mortar and pestle is great for this). Into a bowl, add the ginger/garlic paste, Kashmiri chili powder (or the cayenne/sweet paprika substitute), ground cumin, ground black pepper, ground cardamom, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground mustard, salt, red wine vinegar and brown sugar; mix it all together very well into a kind of paste. Into another large dish (non-reactive), add the pork pieces and the seasoning paste. Mix to coat all of the pork pieces with the paste, cover and put it into the refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours. Remove the meat from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you begin cooking. To a heavy-bottomed pan or skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and saute for about five minutes (it's okay for the onions to get lightly browned, don't let them get dark), then add the paste coated meat to the pan/skillet, the whole dried chilies (if using), along with one cup of water (add it carefully, the oil in the pan will spatter), stir minimally, and let it come to a simmer, and stir a bit. Turn the heat to low (it should gently simmer) and cover. Check occasionally and stir, add a little more water, if the dish is too thick (2 or 3 tablespoons at a time, up to 1/3 cup, but you don't want the sauce to be watery). Let simmer and continue to stir occasionally until the meat is very tender. Serve with rice, and don't forget the naan bread to sop up the wonderful sauce, usually called "gravy" by people of the Subcontinent. 

* If you go to Indian/Pakistani restaurants and you see dishes that are more than a little red in color, it is likely from the use of Kashmiri chili powder, as it gives dishes their very red color; but in spite of its fiery red color, Kashmiri chili powder is not terribly hot like regular Indian chili powder, which is like cayenne pepper.

 

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Ail (ailment)-"Ail" is apparently related to "awe" (thus also to awful and awesome),^ but the actual origin of "ail" is shaky, although it certainly seems to be a Germanic word, and it might have eventually come from a couple of Germanic words with "shaded" meanings, perhaps with the same Germanic source, but then consolidated into what is now "ail." "Ail" goes back to Indo European "agh," and its suffixed form "aghlo/eghlo," which meant, "to be afraid, to be distraught, to be unsettled." This gave Old Germanic "aglijanan," meaning "to cause pain (of living things), to damage (of inanimate things)," and this gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "eglan" meaning "to cause pain, to afflict, to trouble," and this then became "eilen," and "ailen," before the modern form. "Ail" has always carried not only the sense of physical pain, but also of mental anguish; thus, "What ails him," can just as well be in reference to what's bothering or troubling him in a mental anguish sense, as something that's physically wrong. The noun ailment was derived from the verb, in the 1600s or 1700s (? sources conflict). German has "ekeln," a verb meaning "to be disgusted, to feel disgust (about or toward)," but it seems to have been taken on from Low German, which has had various forms over the years like: "eglen," "ekelen," "eichelen," meaning "to be irritated/angered, to feel displeasure, to be disgusted" (German and Low German also have the noun "Ekel," meaning "disgust").

^ "Awe" is a Germanic-based word, but it was borrowed by English from Old Norse.

Indian Rice Pudding: Chawal Ki Kheer

Long grain rice, like basmati rice, is commonly used for this dessert dish. Unlike the rice pudding we generally make in the U.S., which is firmed up; that is, "set," the Indian-style is more fluid, but not totally so, and it is usually served while still warm. I checked probably about 25 recipes for this dessert, and all of them used almonds, while some also used pistachios or cashews, and a couple used both pistachios and cashews. I like raisins, and the Indian recipes all kind of skimp on raisins, in my opinion, so I add a little more to my own recipe, but you can always tailor things to your own taste. 

 

You can use store bought ground cardamom or grind you own cardamom (I use a mortar and pestle). 

Rosewater is available in supermarkets or spice shops. It isn't really expensive.

 

Ingredients (4 to 6 servings):

 

1/2 cup basmati rice, rinsed, then soaked in water for 30 minutes

12 ounces (1 1/2 cups) evaporated milk; that is, 1 can (NOT sweetened condensed canned milk)

2 1/2 cups regular whole milk

5 tablespoons sugar

8 to 10 saffron threads

3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

2 tablespoons slivered almonds

1 tablespoon chopped cashews

1 tablespoon chopped pistachio nuts

2 tablespoons golden raisins

(optional) 1 or 2 teaspoons rosewater

 

Soak the basmati rice for 30 minutes. Heat milk in a heavy bottom pan over low heat, stirring often, until the milk boils. In a small cup or dish, add 2 tablespoons hot milk and the saffron threads and set it aside to steep. Drain the rice and add the rice to the hot milk, stir well. Keep the heat low and let the rice cook. After 10 minutes, add the sugar and ground cardamom and stir well to mix; continue cooking, stirring occasionally. After another 4 to 5 minutes, add the chopped nuts and golden raisins, stir well again, then add the saffron/milk mixture and mix well again. Cook until the rice is very tender, by which time the dish should be fairly thick and creamy. Stir in the rosewater (if using) and remove from the heat. Let sit for a few minutes, stir and serve warm; refrigerate unused portion.  

 

 

  

WORD HISTORY:

Tally-This word, used as both a noun and as a verb, is related to "tailor," "detail," "retail" and "entail," all words of Latin-derivation and borrowed by English via French. "Tally" is of unknown origin, and its history is somewhat difficult, but Latin had the noun "talea," meaning "a narrow or slender piece of wood;" thus, "a stick, a twig, a rod," which passed to Latin-based Old French as "taille" meaning "a stick with marks cut into it to show an amount or amounts (usually for debts, including taxes;" thus, 'an account')." (Note: The idea of cutting marks into sticks, or even into bones, was long used by humans as a way of keeping accounts, until it eventually began to be replaced by written records.) Old French "taille" eventually was often, but not always, rendered as "tallie" in the French that had been carried to England by the Normans. English borrowed the word in the mid 1400s with the same meaning. Over time, other meanings were added like, "a recording of points/goals in sporting events" (mid 1800s), and also "a point or a goal in some competition." The verb also came about in the 1500s, "seemingly" from the Latin verb "talliare," one of the meanings of which was "to tax;" thus, initially the verb "tally" meant "to keep an accounting of taxes owed and paid," with the meaning then broadening beyond keeping tax records to simply keeping records. The verb followed the noun in the mid 1800s with the sports/competition usage "to record points/goals," and with the actual "to achieve a point or goal in a competition."     

Kashmiri Potatoes with Yogurt Gravy: Kashmiri Dum Aloo

Unlike many regions of India, in Kashmir, rather than fresh ginger, they use ground ginger (also known to some as ginger powder) in many recipes.

 

There are some distinct recipes for Dum Aloo (a potato dish); that is, the recipes aren't just slight variations of one another, but rather quite different. This Kashmiri version is a bit tart and somewhat spicy, but generally it is less spicy hot than many dishes from the Indian Subcontinent, as it uses Kashmiri chili powder, which isn't nearly as hot as regular Indian chili powder. I included some optional sugar for the recipe, which is based upon my own lukewarm reception for sour/tart tastes in food. Use small potatoes no bigger than a golf ball, and as you can see in the photos below, the dish actually looks like meatballs. You can use regular plain yogurt or Greek yogurt or Indian yogurt (called "curd" by people from the Indian Subcontinent). It is the yogurt that gives the Kashmiri Dum Aloo its tart flavor. Serve with naan or rice or both

 

 

Ingredients (3 to 4 servings): 

1 1/2 pounds small white or golden potatoes

1/4 cup vegetable oil + 2 tablespoons (if needed)

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard + 1 pinch

3/4 cup plain yogurt

1 tablespoon Kashmiri chili powder (or 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper and 2 teaspoons sweet paprika)

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (store bought or freshly ground)

(optional) pinch of asafoetida*

1 teaspoon ground fennel

2/3 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups water (in divided use, if needed)

(optional) up to 1/2 teaspoon sugar

green chilies, chopped, for garnish

Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water; cook them only until they are just cooked through, they should not be mushy at all. Drain the potatoes and allow them to cool to room temperature. Peel the potatoes and use a fork to poke some holes in the potatoes, then set them aside briefly. In a cup, add the Kashmiri chili powder (or the cayenne/paprika substitute), the pinch of asafoetida (if using), the ground fennel, the ground ginger, the salt and 3 tablespoons water; mix together very well, set it aside for a little while. In a bowl, add the yogurt and stir it (best to actually whisk it), until it is smooth; then, add the spice mixture to the yogurt and mix it all together well, set it aside. Add a quarter cup of oil to a skillet over medium heat, then stir in the dry mustard. When the oil is hot, add the potatoes and fry them, turning them often, until they are lightly browned (a bit of a crust around the outside). Remove the potatoes to a plate covered with paper towels to drain excess oil. There should still be a couple of tablespoons of oil in the skillet (add more oil if needed). Add the spice/yogurt mixture and lower heat to low. Stir constantly (again, a whisk is good) and add 1/4 cup water, and after that water is incorporated, add 1/2 cup water and continue stirring/whisking. Add the little potatoes into the skillet and now use a spoon to move and turn the potatoes in the gravy. (Add the sugar, if using) Cover the skillet with a lid or aluminum foil and keep the heat low or even very low. Let the potatoes cook for 5 to 6 minutes. If the gravy is too thick, definitely add more water, up to 1/2 cup, and stir with a spoon to mix it in; let cook another 2 to 3 minutes. If when you remove the lid the first time, the gravy is the consistency you want, remove the skillet from the heat. Serve with rice or naan bread, or both.

 

* Asafoetida is a powdered spice pretty common to the cooking of the Indian Subcontinent and other parts of southern Asia. It is "typically" available in a jar with an opening in the lid to dispense the spice, and there is an airtight lid that closes off the opening to contain the smell. It is also called "hing." Asafoetida is known for its bad smell, but its mellow taste when cooked. When I was a kid, some people still used what were called "asafidity bags" to protect their children from various illnesses, mainly colds and influenza. The bag was worn on a string around the neck, and it contained various foul smelling ingredients, including garlic and asafoetida, which was available from drugstores in those times. It was all superstition from the Middle Ages, and my family didn't believe in it. My people believed an eye of a newt and the toe of a frog would cure you; otherwise, your days were numbered. Ah, or was that your days were numbered because of the eye of a newt and the toe of a frog? Hm...

 

 

Kashmiri Dum Aloo with green chili garnish and rice and naan bread in first two photos  

WORD HISTORY:

Knife-This word's ancient ancestor, Indo European "gen," meant ''pinch, press together, compact;'' thus, it is related to words like "knead," "knot" and "knuckle," all words from the Germanic roots of English, and to "nip" ("a small amount of something," from the idea of "a pinch or something pinched off"), another word from Germanic, but a word English likely borrowed from its close cousin Low German. Indo European "gen" produced the extended form "gneibh/gnaibh," which meant "to pinch." The Indo European form spawned "knibaz" (pinched or pressed together) in its Old Germanic offspring. This then gave Old Norse "knifr" meaning "dagger, knife, short sword," perhaps developed from the idea of "folding knives," what in modern times we call "pocketknives" or "penknives," but such knives have been around dating back to BCE times; after all, they could be easily and safely carried by individuals, or perhaps from the idea of "pressing a blade into wood to make a handle." Obviously, the meaning expanded to be a general word for knives. English borrowed the word from Old Norse (circa 1000?) as "cnif," which then became "knif, before the modern form. The verb form came from the noun in the mid 1800s. Exactly when the 'k' became silent isn't really known; after all, there are no audio recordings from long ago, but it likely took a little time to become common and it "probably" took place beginning in the 1400s and extending well into the 1500s, and perhaps even into the early part of the 1600s. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has the noun "Kneipe," meaning "pub, tavern." It was seemingly taken into standard German from "student lingo" of the 1700s (in dialect from Saxony?^), from the idea of "people gathering together in close proximity to drink and socialize," and dialectal "Kneip" (shoemaker's knife), and "Knifte," originally "long bladed knife," but also, "a slice of bread;" that is, "something that is cut with a knife." German has the verb "kneifen," meaning "to pinch," but also "to shirk, evade or back out of a duty or some action,"^^ but "kneifen" is a borrowing from Middle Low German "knipen," which initially was taken by German as "kneipen," then subsequently given the High German replacement of "p" with "f." Low German has the verb "kniepen" (yes, the modern form is spelled with 'ie'), meaning "to pinch, to squeeze," and also a noun "Knief" (knife), which is seemingly now a secondary word, West Frisian has the verb "knipe" (to pinch, to squeeze) and the noun "knyp," "a pinch," perhaps a bit old fashioned nowadays, Dutch has "knijf," originally as "cnif" and meaning "long bladed knife," but in modern usage seemingly confined to dialect as "pocketknife," Icelandic has "hnifur" (knife), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish "kniv" (all mean 'knife'). Note: French has "canif," which was originally "knif" in Old French, a word absorbed from Germanic Frankish "knif." French also has the related word "canivet" (originally as "kenif") meaning "dagger, short knife," from the same Frankish source, but perhaps with reinforcement from Norse and English (the term seems to have come from Normandy, and the Normans were originally Norse speakers who settled there. 

 

^ Saxony is one of the German states in the eastern part of Germany bordering on the Czech Republic. Its capital is Leipzig. A few hundred years ago, the dialect there, which was also spoken in what is now the separate German state of "Saxon-Anhalt," and which is closely related to the dialect of Thuringia, a neighboring state, had major influences on what became standard German, with one of the major  reasons being that Martin Luther was from that region, and he used much of this general dialect to translate the Bible into German. 

 

^^ This meaning comes from the idea of "being fast and able to escape from a tight or pressing situation." In English we often express it as "I got out of a jam."

South Indian Eggplant Curry: Kattirikkay Kari

This dish is a great way to use eggplant, but it is a tad oily, as eggplant is known for sopping up oil, but I tried to limit the oil, and I've seen recipes for this dish that use far more oil. Serve this dish with rice and flatbread.

 

Ingredients:  

2 medium eggplants, well rinsed and stem area cut off

1 teaspoon ground turmeric, divided use

2 teaspoons salt, divided use

6 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided use

2 teaspoons black mustard seeds

2 cups sliced or chopped red onion

5 cloves of garlic, minced

2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

2 medium green chili peppers (or 4 small), chopped

4 small tomatoes (or 2 medium), chopped

12 to 15 curry leaves*

2 teaspoons ground red pepper (cayenne or other hot ground red pepper)

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 1/2 cups water 

2/3 cup coconut milk

chopped coriander (also known as cilantro) for garnish

 

Wash and dry the eggplant, cut it into 1 to 2 inch pieces. Add 3 tablespoons oil to a pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the eggplant pieces, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric. Stir the eggplant around and turn it as it fries until it is browned (add 1 more tablespoon of oil during the frying); then, remove the eggplant to a plate or a bowl. (I empty the oil from the skillet, but you can leave it if you'd like.) I then add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan and add the black mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the the sliced red onion and saute until the onion softens, then add the tomatoes, the chopped green chilies, minced garlic and grated ginger; let cook about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring and breaking up the tomatoes as they cook. Then add the other 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons red chili pepper, 2 teaspoons ground coriander, 2 teaspoons ground cumin and the curry leaves (or grated lime peel and torn basil leaves); stir well, then add water and stir well again. After 3 minutes add the browned eggplant, stir, cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the lid, stir, then stir in the coconut milk; cook a further 3 minutes uncovered. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves, also known to many as cilantro. Serve with rice.

 

* Curry leaves are a common addition to southern Indian cooking. Just a few years ago, your chances of finding curry leaves outside of the Indian Subcontinent were likely not very good, but now curry leaves are much more available, including here in the United States, where they are sometimes frozen, but also they can be found fresh in a clear packet (they are not expensive and they keep well in the refrigerator). If you don't have access to curry leaves, you can substitute 1 tablespoon grated lime peel and about 6 basil leaves torn into smaller pieces. Understand, "curry leaves" have nothing to do with "curry powder," nor with "curries," the types of spiced dishes, except that on occasion the leaves are used in some curries.          

 

 

South Indian Eggplant Curry with a piece of methi thepla flatbread ...("methi thepla" is a flatbread made from whole wheat and fenugreek leaves, and it is popular in Gujarat, an Indian state in western India with a coastline on the Arabian Sea region of the Indian Ocean.  

 

WORD HISTORY:

Crater-This word is related to "grail" (cup), a word from Latin and borrowed by English via French; however, where Latin got the word is in question. "Crater" goes back to Indo European "kerh/kere," with the meaning "to mix;" thus also figuratively "to confuse." This gave transliterated Ancient Greek the noun "krater" meaning "bowl" ("a dish used to mix ingredients"),^ and this was borrowed by Latin as "crater," meaning "basin," with the later additional meaning of "opening at the top of a volcano;" that is, "a basin shaped opening." English borrowed the word in the early part of the 1600s with the "top opening of a volcano" meaning and the meanings then expanded to "depressions in the ground made by meteors and by the explosion of artillery shells (later by bombs dropped from airplanes). The verb form is from the noun in the mid 1800s, initially meaning "to make a crater," as in, "The bomb cratered just a short distance from our house," but the figurative sense became common in usage; that is, "to fall from a high position," as in, "After winning 3 games in a row, our team cratered in the standings by losing 9 of 10 games." 

  

^ Some feel that the ultimate Indo European source is the same Indo European source as for modern English "horn;" that is, "k(h)er," which had the notion "top of the body, head;" thus, "animal horn." Now, some animal horns were used as vessels for drinks, and wine and water were often mixed together in them.  

Indian Tomato Raita (Tomato/Yogurt Salad)

"Raita" is pronounced as if, "rite-ah." Raita is often served in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal to "cool" the palate and stomach after spicy dishes have been eaten.

 

Make sure to use finely chopped ingredients.

 

Ingredients:

 

1 cup plain yogurt, stirred or whisked so that's it's smooth

1/2 cup finely chopped tomatoes (seeds removed)

1 heaping tablespoon finely chopped onion

1 teaspoon finely chopped green chili (serrano chili pepper is good, or unripened cayenne pepper)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons finely chopped mint

1/2 teaspoon salt 

Put the yogurt into a bowl and stir or whisk it so that it's smooth. (Optional) You can preheat a small dry skillet over medium heat and add the ground cumin for just like 10 seconds (shaking the skillet), and remove from the heat and let it cool down before adding it to the other ingredients; or, you can just add the ground cumin to the raita without toasting it. Add all of the ingredients to the bowl and mix everything together well.   

WORD HISTORY:

Tank-This word has an uncertain origin, and there are at least a couple lines of thought on its ancient history, but to me, the best history is the idea that "tank" was a word borrowed by Portuguese, as "tanque," from a language in India in the early 1600s, perhaps from transliterated Gujarati "tankh" (I also found it as "tanki" and "tanku"), with meanings like "cistern, pool, reservoir." Some believe this goes back to Sanskrit^ "tadaga" meaning "pond or lake."^^ Portuguese took the word back to the Iberian Peninsula from India and it passed into Spanish also as "tanque," and into English (circa 1609-10). I don't necessarily dispute the English borrowing, but both the Portuguese and the English were heavily involved in India in those times; so, in theory, English could have borrowed the word right in India, or it could have at least reinforced a borrowing from Portuguese in English. The meaning in English at the time was "a pool used as a water supply," obviously closely tied to the Gujarati meaning of "cistern, pool, reservoir." From this, the meaning "container" developed. Now ... during World War One, "a vehicle of armor with a mounted machine gun moving on caterpillar tracks" was dubbed "a tank" purely for deception purposes, but the name stuck when the British first used "tanks" in action in the autumn of 1916. This meaning was borrowed by Portuguese, proving "what goes around, comes around." The verb form "tank" came from the noun and had the meaning "to put something into a tank," with that meaning seemingly used to give a figurative meaning "to fail, to lose badly, to give up on achieving something;" which came about in the 20th Century, but exactly when, is tough to pin down, although the late 1960's tennis world is a possibility.

 

^ Sanskrit is an ancient language from the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo European; thus, it is related to English, although much further down the family tree. It is still in use to some degree, especially in India, with ancient texts of religious significance to Hindus and Buddhists.   

 

^^ One source says the Sanskrit form "tadaga goes back to Dravidian, but without any way to connect the word to that language family. Dravidian is a family of languages spoken primarily in southern India, but also to some extent in Pakistan and on the island of Sri Lanka.    

Indian Kidney Bean Curry: Rajma Masala

There are various recipes for kidney bean curries in the northern part of the Indian Subcontinent, with red kidney beans commonly used, including in Nepal and Bangladesh (light or dark red type), but brown type pinto beans are used in some places. In the Kashmir region, onion and garlic are not always used by everyone, and they also use Kashmiri ground red pepper, which is very red, but not as hot as regular Indian ground red chili powder. This regular hot Indian red chili powder is generally used elsewhere in India (it is very much like cayenne pepper). If you don't have Kashmiri chili powder, you can use 2/3 teaspoon sweet paprika (not the smoked type common in Spain) and 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper as a substitute, but then still add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or other hot red pepper) in the recipe. I know some folks don't like much heat, but actually this isn't a red hot dish that will cause smoke to billow out of your mouth. A fairly common connection in the various recipes is that the beans are cooked and then some are mashed to varying degrees, and this helps to thicken the curry without any other ingredients being added. 

  

The kidney bean curry is almost always served with a nice portion of rice next to it, and then it is referred to as "Rajma Chawal" (kidney beans and rice), but pickled red onions are another good accompaniment.*  

 

By the way, I've found that this is one of those dishes that improves when the leftovers are put in the refrigerator until the next day; so, the curry is great to serve then too.

 

 

Ingredients (4 to 6 servings):

 

2 cans of kidney beans (14.5 to 16 ounces), rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or other neutral oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 inch piece ginger, peeled and grated or finely chopped

1 small to medium green chili (a jalapeno chili is fine), chopped

1 1/2 cups chopped red onion

1 1/2 cups tomato puree

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder (or 2/3 teaspoon sweet paprika + 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper)

1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or regular Indian chili powder)

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon fenugreek leaves

2 teaspoons salt 

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (also known to some as 'coriander') 

1 cup warm water

 

Add 2 tablespoons oil to a pan or skillet (I use a 10 inch diameter skillet) over medium heat; add the chopped red onion and saute until the onions just start to brown a bit. Add the garlic, ginger and green chili, saute a further 1 or 2 minutes (the onion should be softened and with some brown color to it). Add the tomato puree, ground turmeric, chili powders (Kashmiri or the substitute + cayenne pepper), ground coriander, ground cumin, fenugreek leaves and salt; stir to mix everything together well and cook for about 4 or 5 minutes; then add the water and mix everything together well. Add the kidney beans, stirring well. Let the curry come to a boil, then adjust the heat to maintain a nice steady simmer; cook for 8 to 10 minutes, then use a fork or potato masher and mash the mixture, so that about a third to a half of the beans are mashed to some degree (they don't have to be totally mashed), then mix all together well. Add the chopped cilantro (fresh coriander) and mix in and cook another 1 to 2 minutes. Serve with either rice, pickled onions or naan bread (or chapati/roti bread), or go for it and serve with rice, pickled onions and one of the bread types. 

    

* For how to make easy pickled red onions, here is the link: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2023/03/indian-style-pickled-red-onions.html

  

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Soufflé (also souffle)-The main part of this word is related to "bladder" and to "blow" (to move air), both from the Germanic roots of English, and to "inflate," a word English borrowed directly from Latin. "Souffle" is formed of two parts, with the first part going back to Indo European "upo," meaning "up, up from beneath, up from under." The main part goes back to Indo European "bhle(h)," meaning "to blow." This gave Old Italic "flao" meaning "to blow" (with the  'b' of Indo European rendered as 'f' in Italic), and this gave Latin "flare" with the meanings "to blow, to breathe." These forms gave Latin "sufflare" meaning "to blow up with air, to inflate," and this passed into Old French as "souffler" (initially 'sofler?') meaning "to blow up, to inflate, to blow out (exhale);" thus, the figurative "to whisper." This gave French the noun "soufflé" from the participle form of "souffler" and essentially meaning "that which is puffed up," and used as a culinary term for "a dish with beaten egg whites that are folded into other ingredients, and which then make the dish 'puff up' when baked." English borrowed the word from French, circa 1815.

Indian Style Pickled Red Onions

Pickled fruits and vegetables are quite common among the various nationality groups of the Indian Subcontinent, and these "pickled red onions" are a frequent accompaniment to foods there. Chili peppers are also a big part of the food cultures of the Indian Subcontinent, and they are added to pickled onions, but they don't typically add mouth numbing heat to the onions. Red onions are the usual choice for pickling on the Indian Subcontinent, and some people there use small red onions, simply peeled and perhaps with a cut or two into the onion to allow the brine to enter, but larger red onions are also used, and they need to be sliced about a quarter of an inch wide so that the pickling brine can do its work. 

 

 

Ingredients:

  

1 large (baseball size) red onion, peeled

1 to 1 1/2 cups water

2 teaspoons white vinegar

1 to 3 teaspoons sugar (depending upon desired tartness/sweetness)

1 teaspoon salt

8 black peppercorns, cracked (not obliterated)

1 inch piece of grated ginger 

1 to 3 small chilies, slit (or use dried chilies, they will re-hydrate in the brine)

3 to 4 beet slices (not pickled)

Add the water, white vinegar, sugar, salt, cracked peppercorns, grated ginger and chilies to a pan over high heat. Stir to mix the ingredients around, Let the brine come to a boil for 20 to 30 seconds, then turn off the heat. Let the brine sit while you peel the onion and slice it into rounds about 1/4 inch thick, and then halve the rounds. Separate the onion half rings. Put the half rings into a bowl or jar (remember: non reactive), then pour the somewhat cooled brine over the onions. Cover (with a lid for the jar or a plate for a bowl) and let sit about 30 minutes, by which time the mixture should be cooled down and ready to be placed into the refrigerator. Leave the onions in the frig for 12 to 36 hours before serving. It's best to use the pickled onions within a week.  

 

WORD HISTORY:

Crowd-This word goes back to Indo European "greud/grewt," which had the idea of "to press, to push (against)." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "krudanan," with the same meaning, which gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "crudan" meaning "to press or drive forward or against." This then became "cruden," "crouden," "croudyn," before the modern version. The 1300s saw the noun form develop with the meaning, "the act of pressing or driving forward or against," and by the mid 1500s came the meaning "a large number of people closely collected together in the same area (with the density of people implying that they were pressing and shoving against each other)." As time passed, this meaning lost the notion of "pressing and shoving," and it simply took the meaning of "a group of people assembled in a particular area, often for some type of entertainment or common purpose," and this meaning was unique to English, as none of the other Germanic languages developed this exact sense. German once had "kroten" (press), Lowe German once had "kruden" (pressing, pushing, shoving), Dutch once had "kruien/cruien" (pressing, pushing, overrunning), Frisian once had "kruie/krude."

Indian Spiced Tomato Soup: Tamatar Shorba

For the tomatoes, you can use fresh tomatoes or canned, or a mixture of the two, and if you don't get all of the seeds removed, don't have a panic attack, because it won't end civilization. This recipe does not give you an intensely spicy hot soup, but if you like spicy hot foods, you can add a chili pepper or two to the tomatoes before putting them into the blender or processor; and, you can add another teaspoon or two of Indian chili powder (cayenne paper) to the soup, too. You can also add a teaspoon or two of sugar to take some of the edge off of the acidic tomatoes. And it is not totally uncommon for some Indians to add some cream to the soup for a cream of tomato soup.  

 

Ingredients (4 servings):

 

3 cups roughly chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned), seeds removed

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons grated ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon Indian chili powder or cayenne pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups vegetable stock

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons chopped coriander (aka cilantro)

(optional) 1/3 cup heavy cream  

 

Add the chopped tomatoes to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. In a pan/pot over medium heat, heat the oil, then add the grated ginger and minced garlic; cook, stirring it around, for about one minute. Add all the other ingredients, except the chopped coriander (cilantro), stir well and bring the mixture to a boil. Adjust heat to maintain a steady simmer for about 12 minutes. Stir in the chopped cilantro and heavy cream (if using), and simmer for just another 1 to 2 minutes. 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Steward (Stewardess)-The first part of this compound is related to "sty" (pen for animals), a word from the Germanic roots of English, and the second part is related to quite a number of words, including: "aware," "beware," "ware" (commonly in the plural, "wares," goods, merchandise), "wary," all from the Germanic roots of English, and to "guard" (verb), a word borrowed from French, which had it from Germanic Frankish (the noun of the same spelling is also from French, and it was formed in French from the verb). The "ste" part of the word goes back to Old English "stig," which later became "sti," and meant "animal pen, pig pen, house, hall," ( hall with its meaning of "room," as in "dining hall, dance hall, beer hall"). The "ward" part goes back to the Old English noun "weard," meaning "guard, watchman." The two parts gave Old English "stigweard," roughly meaning "keeper of a household," often of the Anglo-Saxon nobility, and this then became "stiward," which then became "steward." The Anglo-Norman nobility used the term with similar meaning, but often for "a manager of an entire estate for a noble." The 1400s saw the term also used for "an officer in charge of food and drink on a ship," a meaning that later transferred to trains and airplanes, although now usually replaced in American English with "flight attendant." The family name spelled with an ending 't' is from Scotland, where the royal house was "Stewart," which later Mary, Queen of Scots changed to the French spelling "Stuart" in the 1500s, apparently because her mother was from a French-speaking area of Lorraine, in those times still a part of the Old German Empire. The feminine form "stewardess" (initially "stewardesse?) is from the 1630s simply formed by the suffix "ess(e)" from French, which had it from Latin "issa," from transliterated Greek "issa" (perhaps related to the Old English female denoting suffix "icge" and Dutch "egge." The verb "steward" came from the noun in the first quarter of the 1600s with the meaning "to carry out the duties of a steward." Apparently only Icelandic has a related form of "steward" in the other Germanic languages, "stívarður" (meaning "steward").  

Indian Vegetarian Burgers

Vegetarian substitutes for meat have been gaining in popularity over the years, and even many of the fast food places entered into the market for such foods. Somewhere around a third of India's population is vegetarian, and that figure "could" even be higher.  

 

As I'm sure many of you know, the foods of India are often "spicy," and you can certainly adjust the heat level of these "burgers." Scrub the potatoes well and you can leave the skins on, if you'd like. There are lots of chili pepper varieties used on the Indian Subcontinent, and many of the specific types are not available all over the world, but "generally," you can substitute other types of chilies; as for instance, you can use jalapeño chilies in place of the various green chilies used on the Indian Subcontinent. As I've mentioned in some other articles, I've had jalapeño chilies that really had no heat; I mean, they were like green bell peppers; but on the other hand, I've had jalapeño chilies that could bring smoke billowing from your nostrils. So, use the number of chilies to accommodate your desired level of heat, but remember, chilies also provide a degree of flavor. 

Ground coriander is not the same as fresh coriander, which is better known as cilantro in many parts of the world. Ground coriander is the spice made from the seeds. As for cardamom, you can buy ground cardamon in a jar (some say bottle), or you can buy, or you might already have, whole green cardamon pods, and you can grind them yourself (I often use a mortar and pestle, and sometimes a spice/coffee grinder). You might find ground fennel in some supermarkets or spice shops, but certainly not in all. Or you can use a spice or coffee grinder, or a mortar and pestle and grind about 6 or 8 fennel seeds for this recipe.

 

You don't have to be precise in how you chop or cut the veggies, because they will be mashed or processed after cooking. You don't want the veggies, lentils and peas to be mushy, and you don't want them dripping with moisture, so drain them super well. The lentils and split peas will be processed too, so they don't have to be cooked until totally tender, as if you were making soup or curry, but you don't want them to be hard either. By the way, if you don't have red lentils, or if you can't find them easily, use brown lentils; the earth won't shift because of it.  

I know the list of ingredients looks long, and there's a reason for that ... IT IS! But it includes the spices often used in Indian cooking. Generally speaking, I'm not a real big fan of commercial Indian spice blends like garam masala or curry powder (and there are others). Many people of India, and from the overall Subcontinent, as well, make their own spice blends at home; so, they are not "standard." I keep a couple of commercial spice blends for occasional convenience, but I often prefer to add individual spices to recipes myself; thus, that's another reason for the list of spices here. The long list doesn't mean any of this is complicated, because it isn't. All you're doing is measuring out various spices and adding them to the recipe.

Serve with fried potato wedges

 

Ingredients (4 to 6 burgers):

 

2 1/2 cups chopped potatoes

1 1/2 cups chopped carrot

1/2 cup green beans

1/3 cup red lentils (or brown lentils)

1/4 cup split green peas

1 onion (tennis ball size), peeled and quartered

1 1/2 inch piece ginger, peeled

4 cloves garlic

1 to 3 chilies (depending up desired heat level)

1/4 cup fresh coriander, known to many as cilantro

2 teaspoons ground coriander (NOT the same as ground up fresh coriander, ground coriander is a spice made from coriander seeds)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground cardamon 

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground fennel 

1/2 teaspoon ground mace

about 1/3 cup breadcrumbs (more if needed, I prefer fine breadcrumbs for this, not panko)

1/4 cup flour + 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper + 3 to 4 tablespoons water

1/2 to 3/4 cup of breadcrumbs (separate from amount above)

oil for frying 

hamburger buns, lightly dry toasted, then buttered

lettuce leaves

tomato slices

onion slices

1/2 cup mayonnaise + 1 clove minced garlic + 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper + 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Use a pan that can hold the potatoes, carrots and green beans. First, cook the potatoes and carrots in lightly salted boiling water, but keep them rather firm, NOT mushy, then add the green beans for just a couple of minutes before removing the vegetables from the heat, as the beans shouldn't take long to cook. DRAIN WELL!

Cook the lentils and split peas in lightly salted simmering water until softened, but again, NOT mushy ("about" 15 minutes) ... DRAIN WELL

Mash about a third of the vegetables, lentils and split peas to a coarse mixture in a large bowl (this will provide some texture to the burgers). Process the rest of the vegetables, lentils and split peas, along with the onion, ginger, garlic, chilies and fresh coriander until just finely chopped; add to the bowl with the coarsely mashed ingredients; add the spices (ground coriander, cumin, ground cardamom, ground turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper, cloves, ground fennel, mace) and the 2/3 cup breadcrumbs; mix together very well (remember, this mixture needs to be able to hold together as a "burger-type" patty, so if it needs more breadcrumbs, don't hesitate to add them). 

Roll the mixture into rounds (golf ball to tennis ball size), then press them to make patties (I make them about 1/2 inch thick). Mix together the flour, pepper and water in a shallow bowl (it should be thick, but not really a paste). Put the breadcrumbs onto a plate or into a shallow dish. Dip the patties into the flour mixture, then into the breadcrumbs to coat.

Fry the patties in oil over medium heat until browned on both sides  

For the mayonnaise, mix the ingredients together well. Serve with any or all of the toppings.

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Oblige (Obligation)-"Oblige" is related to "ligament," a word borrowed by English from Latin, and to "liaison," a Latin-based word borrowed from French, and to "league" (the noun meaning "confederation, alliance, association"), another Latin-based word borrowed via French, which had it from Italian. The prefix "ob" goes back to Indo European "ep(i)," which meant "toward, near, against, to." The main body of the word "oblige" goes back to Indo European "leig," which had the meaning, "to bind." This gave Latin "ligare," with essentially the same meaning, "to tie, to bind." The combination gave Latin "obligare," meaning "to tie to, to fasten;" thus also, "to bind to responsibility, indebtedness, liability." This passed to Latin-based Old French as "obligier" meaning "to commit to something, to pledge oneself to something," and then became "obliger," and English borrowed the word circa 1300 as "obligen" meaning "to commit/pledge oneself to something (sometimes involving an oath), to feel compelled to do or behave in a particular way,"^ later also, "to be indebted (or to feel indebted) to someone." The noun "obligation" goes back to Latin "obligationem," the accusative form of the verb "obligare" (see above). This passed into Old French as "obligacion" meaning "legal or perceived responsibility or duty, a pledge, commitment or contract to do something (often to pay indebtedness)." English borrowed the word in the early 1300s, initially as "obligacioun," from French, but with influence from Latin. 

 

^ Verb forms ending in "en" was how English indicated the infinitive form in those times, and how its cousin, German, still does. As such, English speakers didn't have to insert "to" into sentences, as the "en" signified that same meaning; thus, "obligen" meant "to oblige." English later changed its way of conjugating verbs by dropping the "en," but usually adding "to" to statements like, "I have to go;" whereas, German still just uses the "en" form; thus, "Ich muss gehen," meaning "I have to go," but it also means, "I must go," it can be translated either way (notice English doesn't have to use "to" when we say, "I must go," with "must" being an auxiliary verb).    

Indian Watermelon Drink: Tarbooz ka Sharbat

"Tarbooz" in Hindi means "watermelon," Hindi "sharbat" means like "sugar sweetened drink, syrupy drink," a word that was apparently borrowed from Persian. 

 

This drink has relatively small amounts of two kinds of salt. Remember, salt is an important element, especially in hot climates such as in much of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The black salt used in this drink is also called "Indian black salt" by some, but "Himalayan black salt" is another term used. It has a sulfurous smell and taste, and don't let the name fool you, as Indian black salt tends to be more of a pink color, especially when it's ground, usually into a fine powder for use in drink or food recipes. Nowadays, it is often available in supermarkets and spice shops, but keep in mind, there are other black salts, and not all have the sulfurous taste; so, make sure you get the Indian black salt with the sulfurous taste (the amount used in the drink will not give the drink an overwhelming taste of sulfur).   

You should try to get seedless watermelon (although they usually have some small, soft white seeds). If the watermelon you buy is sweet, you'll want to watch how much sugar you use to further sweeten the drink, and accordingly, I've given a wide variance in the amount of sugar as an option in the recipe below. 

 

Ingredients (2 servings for tall glasses, 3 or 4 servings for smaller glasses):

 

4 cups watermelon, cut into pieces

2 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice

2 teaspoons up to 2 tablespoons white sugar (depending upon sweetness preference)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black salt (kala namak)

watermelon wedges for garnish

ice

2 tall glasses (10 to 12 ounce each)

Add the watermelon pieces, lemon juice, salt and black salt to a blender or food processor, briefly blend/process these ingredients, then use a spoon to give the mixture a taste so that you can determine how much sugar you may need. I suggest adding a couple of teaspoons of sugar to start, blend the ingredients again, then taste it again, and then go from there to either leave the drink as is (usually my preference), or to add more sugar and blend again. Add some ice to the glasses and pour the drink over the ice, stir slightly and enjoy. 

WORD HISTORY:

Spurt-This word is related to "sprout," "spit," "spew" and "spread," all words from the Germanic roots of English, and to "spray" meaning "droplets of liquid dispersed through the air," both verb and noun, another Germanic-derived word, but borrowed by English from Dutch (seemingly not related to "spray" meaning "a branch or bunch of flowers"). "Spurt" goes back to Indo European "sper/spre," which had the notion "strew, toss about;" thus also, "sow" (long 'o,' for "strew seeds for planting"); however, exactly how the word developed in the Germanic languages is unclear; that is, whether it came from its own Old Germanic form, or whether it developed as a variant form from what are now its relatives, but it certainly seems to have come from the basic meaning of "something projecting outward," like its relatives "sprout" ("a new plant projecting upward or outward"), "spit" ("to project liquid outward from the mouth," with figurative use such as, "the burning log spit sparks all around the campfire"), "spew" ("release liquid of some type with force outward from the mouth," although figurative use, "to release words, usually nastily and derogatorily"), etc. The Old English form was "spryttan," which meant "to spring out, to sprout," and this then became "sprytten," then "sprutten," then "spirt," where the 'r' and vowel changed places, called metathesis, which was used by some, but also "sprit," the logical continuation of the older forms. By this time it had also taken on the additional meaning "to squirt out from," but also still with the meaning "to sprout." Then (mid 1500s) the spelling became "spurt," with much more emphasis on the meaning "to squirt out from," "perhaps" influenced in both meaning and spelling/pronunciation by its German relative of the time "spürzen," meaning "to spew out, to spit." The word later also took on figurative uses as in, "The marathon runner had a final spurt of energy to make it to the finish line." German has "spritzen" (verb: "to squirt, to spurt, to splash, to inject a 'squirt' of vaccine or medication with a needle;" " noun: Spritze: "a squirt, an injection (commonly 'a shot')"). The other Germanic languages have words that are really close relatives of some of the other English words I've listed above as being relatives of "spurt;" for instance, Low German has "sprütten," meaning "to spray," but it's also likely a close relative of "spurt."

Indian/Pakistani Braised Lamb in Gravy: Lamb Korma

The word "korma" means "braise" in Indian/Pakistani cooking. "Korma" recipes in northern India and in Pakistan generally vary from those in southern India, where coconut milk, and often ground cashews or almonds, are used, but the specific recipes, regardless of region, have numerous variations and preparation methods. Regular readers might recall that I love sauces and gravies, and I chose to do a "korma" with "gravy," but not every "korma" has gravy. What the people of the Indian Subcontinent call "gravy," Americans would call a "sauce," so don't let the terminology fool you into thinking this dish has some deep dark lamb gravy. Indians, both northern and southern, and Pakistanis tend to use meat cut into pieces still on the bones and the meat is likely to be "mutton;" that is, meat from a sheep that is in excess of one year in age, not the younger lamb that is now overwhelmingly common in the U.S (lamb is meat from a sheep a year or less in age). I understand the idea of cooking the meat on the bones, but I'm not much into then having to pick the meat off the bones when eating; so, I use lamb chunks and some separate lamb bones that can be cooked with the meat, but then easily taken out and discarded. There is a good deal of onion in this dish, but it is supposed to be that way, and part of the onion is sliced and part is finely chopped (in India and Pakistan, some smash or blend the onion into a paste, often with some other ingredients included). 

 

As I often mention about recipes from the Indian Subcontinent, the list of ingredient for this dish may seem intimidating, but if you cook such recipes anywhere near regularly, you will have most of the spices and other ingredients on hand. If you want to learn to cook recipes from the Indian Subcontinent, then the reality is, you are going to need to have these various spices and herbs anyway. Likely two of the less common spices to Americans are green and black cardamom. In more recent times, the small green cardamom pods have become more familiar to some Americans, but the far larger black cardamom pods are likely unknown to the overwhelming percentage of Americans. Sometimes cardamom is ground, but often it is used by cracking, crushing or slitting the pods to allow the cardamom to easily flavor the dish.  

 

Ingredients (4 servings):

 

1 to 1 1/4 pound boneless lamb meat, cut into bite size pieces (or use mutton)

couple lamb bones

1 cup plain yogurt

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 heaping tablespoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground red pepper (like cayenne)

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 tablespoons butter & 1 tablespoon oil (or 3 tablespoons clarified butter, aka ghee)

1 onion, halved and then sliced

2 inch piece cinnamon stick

4 whole cloves

2 black cardamon, cracked 

5 green cardamon, cracked or crushed somewhat

6 peppercorns, cracked

1 or 2 dried red chilies, whole 

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated 

1 cup finely chopped onion (white or red)

1/2 teaspoon ground mace

1 cup heated water (a little more if needed)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (also known to some as fresh coriander)  

In a bowl or cup (I use my measuring cup), mix together the yogurt, salt, ground coriander, ground red pepper and turmeric. In a larger non reactive bowl, add the lamb pieces and then the yogurt mixture. Mix to coat the lamb pieces well, cover with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours (or even overnight). In a skillet, add the butter and oil over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and saute until the onion starts to soften and shows some brown color (do not blacken the onions), then add the cinnamon stick, whole cloves, black cardamon, green cardamon, peppercorns and dried red chili. Saute for 90 seconds, then add the garlic, ginger and finely chopped onion, then add 1 cup heated water, stir well and bring to a simmer; adjust the heat so that the mixture just barely simmers; cover the skillet with a lid or foil. Let the meat slowly braise, stirring it occasionally. If you feel the dish needs a little more water, add a quarter cup of hot water, and mix it in well. When the meat is tender, you can add the cilantro and the mace and stir them into the lamb, or top the finished dish with the cilantro. I've generally found the lamb needs to cook for about 75 minutes, but I've also let it cook for 90 minutes on occasion. Serve with rice ...    

 

 

Lamb Korma with some turmeric and saffron rice ...

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Myrtle-This word "perhaps" is related to "myrrh," a word borrowed from Latin, which had it from Greek which had it from Semitic, where it meant "bitterness." The ultimate origins of "myrtle" are uncertain, although it "could" be from the same source as "myrrh."^ Transliterated Persian "murt/murd," meaning "myrtle," a type of evergreen tree or bush with fragrant flowers,"^^ and some other Indo European languages in that general greater Middle East area/Caucasus region have similar words, but where all of these words are from is uncertain, but naturally Semitic is a definite possibility, as it was/is right there by some Indo European languages/dialects. Whatever the origin, Ancient Greek had transliterated "myrtos" (myrtle, the tree/bush, but also seemingly for a twig or branch of the tree) and Latin borrowed the word as "myrtus" (myrtle, the tree), and this gave Latin-based Old French "myrte," and English seems to have borrowed the word as "myrt," but then was further influenced in pronunciation and, thus, spelling by French "myrtille," from Latin "myrtillus," the diminutive of Latin "myrtus" (see above), but which meant "blueberry" and "bilberry" (similar berries in appearance, but not taste), but this moved the borrowing in English to be "myrtle." (Exactly why the word for blueberry and bilberry had such an influence on a word for a tree or bush is a bit of a mystery to me, unless they were thought to be related?)  

 

^ While "myrtle" and "myrrh" are similar words, "myrtle" is a tree/bush/shrub, and "myrrh" is a resin from some plants, but not from myrtle, although people a couple of thousand years ago may not have seen that difference in the same way (just my opinion). 

 

^^ Persian is an Indo European language from the Indo-Iranian branch; thus, it is related to English, which is from the Germanic branch.