Reconnecting With My Indian Roots, Through Food

 Hey everybody,  I wanted to dedicate my last blog post to summing up my thoughts over the course of these past few weeks. At the beginning of my "culinary journey," I was hesitant to explore Indian cooking. Food is such an important facet of Indian culture, and I was afraid to mess it up, and somehow disappoint not only my parents but myself. To get a bit more personal, I've experienced times when I've made an effort to reconnect with my roots and been met with laughter at my expense (most notably, with regard to my "Americanized" accent when trying to speak Hindi). Thus, a part of me was afraid that something similar would happen if I tried my hand at Indian food, and failed.  In hindsight, I'm glad that I took on this challenge. I wouldn't go as far as to say that it was "transformative," but I enjoyed trying out new recipes and getting a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into the foods I've grown up eating. Likewise, as I usually ...

 Hello everybody,  I had the chance to make the palak paneer over the weekend, and honestly, it wasn't too shabby. I think it's a great meal to sneak in your vegetables, and it's super tasty too. I began by sauteeing some green chilies, cashews (I've begun to sense a pattern with the cashews-- they're in so many recipes), and spinach in a pan with some oil. This was an extremely fast process as spinach doesn't take a long time to cook. And anyone who has cooked with spinach before knows that almost immediately it reduces down to nothing. I then added this mixture to a blender with some water and blended until it made a thick and smooth puree.  Next, I made a tadka. For those of you who do not remember, making a tadka is simply the process of frying various spices in some oil, to bring out all of the flavors. I made a tadka using whole cardamom, cinnamon, clove, and cumin, after which I added chopped red onion, ginger-garlic paste, and chopped tomatoes.  The fina...

 So... I have a confession to make. I actually didn't  get the chance to make anything this week. I know, I'm sorry. I've officially let everyone down. But , on the bright side, this gives me a chance to do something different with the blog. This week, I'll share my thoughts about a dish before I make it, and then edit the blog with my thoughts after. This will be interesting (not only for me but for you as readers) to understand my thought process before and after making a dish.  This week (hopefully over the weekend), I plan to make Palak Paneer and Naan. Paneer is a commonly used ingredient in Indian cooking. About a quarter of the population identifies as vegetarian, and thus, paneer is somewhat like a meat alternative. Paneer has the textural properties of tofu, but the taste of cottage cheese. It looks something like this:  Palak, on the other hand, translates to spinach. And so, Palak Paneer is a dish consisting of paneer in a thick paste made from puréed...