I recommend you Google fermenting in the sun. There is no good reason to do so and a few bad ones.
The Indian pickling methods are faster than what you have in colder climes.
I just made 2 batches of sweet and spicy mango pickle, it is a local Gujarati variety called Gor-Keri, meaning mango in jaggery (crude sugar solids, more or less molasses).
Method:
Buy mangoes, get them chopped (service available at market for a fee).
Soak overnight in brine with turmeric added.
Dry in shade till done (takes experience), about 3 to 4 days.
Add the spice mix, which is a ready spice mix to which jaggery is chopped up and added, and put in jar.
Heat oil till smoking hot (to sterilize and remove moisture), add next day.
Use clean glass or porcelain jars.
Can consume after a couple of days, can store for two years.
My mother used to sun dry mangoes, and after adding spices and boiled mustard oil, put them in a porcelain jar, and leave in the sun until done, with the lid slightly loose to allow gas to escape.
Then tighten lid, again life would be about two years at room temperature.
Process time about 5 days, ready to eat after a month.
Important things are absolute cleanliness of all vessels (wash and sun sterilize two days), and hands, spoons etc. Dry atmosphere, and absolutely no moisture anywhere except the pickling item.
And some ladies (gents do this rarely) had 'bad hands', their pickle would spoil, so they were exempt from this work...possibly nail fungus, I can only speculate.
Gor Keri uses a variety of mangoes called 'Rajapuri', which are available after the first rains, so it is a bit iffy if they do not dry properly, my mother used the first raw mangoes (different variety), in spring, though the temperature would be 35+ even then, and quite dry, we used to live in Jaipur at that time, before that in Bihar.
Here only the cheap pickles use vinegar as a preservative, to reduce the cost (oil is expensive in comparison), it also speeds up the fermentation and break down of the pickled item.
I just made 2 batches of sweet and spicy mango pickle, it is a local Gujarati variety called Gor-Keri, meaning mango in jaggery (crude sugar solids, more or less molasses).
Method:
Buy mangoes, get them chopped (service available at market for a fee).
Soak overnight in brine with turmeric added.
Dry in shade till done (takes experience), about 3 to 4 days.
Add the spice mix, which is a ready spice mix to which jaggery is chopped up and added, and put in jar.
Heat oil till smoking hot (to sterilize and remove moisture), add next day.
Use clean glass or porcelain jars.
Can consume after a couple of days, can store for two years.
My mother used to sun dry mangoes, and after adding spices and boiled mustard oil, put them in a porcelain jar, and leave in the sun until done, with the lid slightly loose to allow gas to escape.
Then tighten lid, again life would be about two years at room temperature.
Process time about 5 days, ready to eat after a month.
Important things are absolute cleanliness of all vessels (wash and sun sterilize two days), and hands, spoons etc. Dry atmosphere, and absolutely no moisture anywhere except the pickling item.
And some ladies (gents do this rarely) had 'bad hands', their pickle would spoil, so they were exempt from this work...possibly nail fungus, I can only speculate.
Gor Keri uses a variety of mangoes called 'Rajapuri', which are available after the first rains, so it is a bit iffy if they do not dry properly, my mother used the first raw mangoes (different variety), in spring, though the temperature would be 35+ even then, and quite dry, we used to live in Jaipur at that time, before that in Bihar.
Here only the cheap pickles use vinegar as a preservative, to reduce the cost (oil is expensive in comparison), it also speeds up the fermentation and break down of the pickled item.
Just adding to the pickle/chutney confusion in the UK we go through huge quantities of Branston pickle, which is the ONLY thing to put in a cheese sandwich. it's not really a pickle, more a chutney which is very confusing.
Found a wikipedia page that made me laugh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Indian_cuisine especially the comment 'eaten only by the British' 🙂
Found a wikipedia page that made me laugh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Indian_cuisine especially the comment 'eaten only by the British' 🙂
Bill is in the UK, and in the middle of what they say is a heat wave, but 30 C is a pretty mild day here in most of India.
If you get up above 35C (max 40 C), things happen a lot faster.
Second, the solar cooker may reduce the humidity, so better result.
In India, solar cookers can go to 80+ C if kept in summer sun, which is 40+ here from March till May, and again in October in my city.
There is a bit of a joke going on, 26 C was a mildly hot British day a few years ago, now for some reason they are saying heat wave at the same temperature!
If you get up above 35C (max 40 C), things happen a lot faster.
Second, the solar cooker may reduce the humidity, so better result.
In India, solar cookers can go to 80+ C if kept in summer sun, which is 40+ here from March till May, and again in October in my city.
There is a bit of a joke going on, 26 C was a mildly hot British day a few years ago, now for some reason they are saying heat wave at the same temperature!
That Anglo Indian cuisine article was stupid...by a person who has never visited India, or talked to a person with some knowledge of the cuisine, or researched on line.
The distance from Peshawar to Dacca is 2134 km, about the same as London to Belarus.
So, a Bangladeshi restaurant owner claiming authentic North West Frontier cuisine is like a cook from Belarus saying he / she makes authentic Cockney fish and chips or another typical British dish.
Impossible, but the British found it different, and the restaurants became popular.
Kadhi, corrupted to curry, is usually made in either a thick base (curd, flour, potatoes and others), or slow cooked after a garnish of oil based spices (if meat based, mostly), many varieties exist, at least 20 main varieties are common, with sub variants depending on the cook's ethnicity and locally available ingredients.
Khichdi is a slurry type dish made by cooking rice and lentils together, the British 'kedgeree' with fish is a corrupted version.
Mulga Thanni is the original Tamil dish for a spicy soup, again corrupted to Mulligatawny.
We have three kinds of accompaniments, one is a chutney, all fresh ingredients made into a paste, then short term pickles like kanji (life is max. two weeks), and pickles like above.
There are also cooked chutney pastes, used as accompaniments, one South Indian variety is ginger, jaggery, roasted red chillies, salt, and roated lentil powder cooked together, sometimes with roasted peanuts added...but lasts months in the fridge.
We have like three hundred cuisines, summing them up as Indian, or worse Anglo Indian, is really insulting.
There is also some politics and blinkered vision, the country's size seems much smaller on maps but in reality UK is about the size of a medium sized Indian state, and the population is tiny, our largest state is 250 million, the UK is in the 60-70 million range.
Of that people fond of Indian cuisine...I don't think so many...
We have South Indian food served here in Baroda, only one of fifty odd places is really authentic, the rest have changed the recipes to suit local preferences, so I cannot really blame the business owners for keeping their customers happy...
And there is a small ethnic group called Anglo Indian, mostly young Tommies got involved with local girls, and shotgun wedding after proof of relations. More details in the book 'Bhowani Junction' by John Masters, and others on line.
Many of them shifted to the UK, Australia, NZ, Canada etc., because they could get British passports based on their paternity.
Their cuisine is based on the local girls' ethnicity, and well a Bengali is going to cook quite different from a Tamilian....
The distance from Peshawar to Dacca is 2134 km, about the same as London to Belarus.
So, a Bangladeshi restaurant owner claiming authentic North West Frontier cuisine is like a cook from Belarus saying he / she makes authentic Cockney fish and chips or another typical British dish.
Impossible, but the British found it different, and the restaurants became popular.
Kadhi, corrupted to curry, is usually made in either a thick base (curd, flour, potatoes and others), or slow cooked after a garnish of oil based spices (if meat based, mostly), many varieties exist, at least 20 main varieties are common, with sub variants depending on the cook's ethnicity and locally available ingredients.
Khichdi is a slurry type dish made by cooking rice and lentils together, the British 'kedgeree' with fish is a corrupted version.
Mulga Thanni is the original Tamil dish for a spicy soup, again corrupted to Mulligatawny.
We have three kinds of accompaniments, one is a chutney, all fresh ingredients made into a paste, then short term pickles like kanji (life is max. two weeks), and pickles like above.
There are also cooked chutney pastes, used as accompaniments, one South Indian variety is ginger, jaggery, roasted red chillies, salt, and roated lentil powder cooked together, sometimes with roasted peanuts added...but lasts months in the fridge.
We have like three hundred cuisines, summing them up as Indian, or worse Anglo Indian, is really insulting.
There is also some politics and blinkered vision, the country's size seems much smaller on maps but in reality UK is about the size of a medium sized Indian state, and the population is tiny, our largest state is 250 million, the UK is in the 60-70 million range.
Of that people fond of Indian cuisine...I don't think so many...
We have South Indian food served here in Baroda, only one of fifty odd places is really authentic, the rest have changed the recipes to suit local preferences, so I cannot really blame the business owners for keeping their customers happy...
And there is a small ethnic group called Anglo Indian, mostly young Tommies got involved with local girls, and shotgun wedding after proof of relations. More details in the book 'Bhowani Junction' by John Masters, and others on line.
Many of them shifted to the UK, Australia, NZ, Canada etc., because they could get British passports based on their paternity.
Their cuisine is based on the local girls' ethnicity, and well a Bengali is going to cook quite different from a Tamilian....
^ "We have like three hundred cuisines, summing them up as Indian, or worse Anglo Indian, is really insulting."
The cuisines in India are jaw dropping. Wife and I absolutely love them. We've tried making some of it ourselves and there's quite a few restaurants in Southern California.
The food goes fantastic with a cold beer.
We got friends and coworkers from India... North, Central, South.. you name it... amazing cooking. I used to work with this guy, British-Indian, dad was a British Civil Servant in Sudan. He had a hard accent -heavyly British- until you got used to him... but he did a fantastic take on Winston Churchill. I always asked him why didn't he talk like that all the time.
Love the lentils and garbanzos. An old coworker ( from Delhi ) taught me how to use spices ( Fry them to release the fragrance ).
Then I worked with these Sikhs and we used to go to some local restaurants.... awesome food.
There's also quite a few folks from Bangalore... different food, equally awesome.
Then you got Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.... absolutely brilliant physicist.
The cuisines in India are jaw dropping. Wife and I absolutely love them. We've tried making some of it ourselves and there's quite a few restaurants in Southern California.
The food goes fantastic with a cold beer.
We got friends and coworkers from India... North, Central, South.. you name it... amazing cooking. I used to work with this guy, British-Indian, dad was a British Civil Servant in Sudan. He had a hard accent -heavyly British- until you got used to him... but he did a fantastic take on Winston Churchill. I always asked him why didn't he talk like that all the time.
Love the lentils and garbanzos. An old coworker ( from Delhi ) taught me how to use spices ( Fry them to release the fragrance ).
Then I worked with these Sikhs and we used to go to some local restaurants.... awesome food.
There's also quite a few folks from Bangalore... different food, equally awesome.
Then you got Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.... absolutely brilliant physicist.
Tony, find someone from India who will tell you how to make bamboo shoots, oyster mushrooms, and maybe dried wild boar (last one is from Coorg / Kodagu, and quite a rare delicacy there).
You may like them....Bamboo shoots are used in Coorg, and in the North-East states like Nagaland.
They also have fermented fish dishes in the North East, an acquired taste really.
There is also Chicken 65, stir fried chicken in a heavy ginger. curry leaf , green chili base, a signature dish of Hyderabad, other places somehow fall short.
You may like them....Bamboo shoots are used in Coorg, and in the North-East states like Nagaland.
They also have fermented fish dishes in the North East, an acquired taste really.
There is also Chicken 65, stir fried chicken in a heavy ginger. curry leaf , green chili base, a signature dish of Hyderabad, other places somehow fall short.
Bamboo shoots and oyster mushrooms are quite common in China and Japan.
Wild boar... my uncles used to hunt those, particularly the old, big males, up in the Pyrenees. My aunt tried to braise them several times... for loooong cooking times... they were tough. Inedible really.
Fried chicken in curry with ginger.... Hmm... I've tried the East Asian versions. I like the idea of the green chili... I'll look it up, thanks.
Fermented fish dishes... yikes... I've had enough Filipino fermented fish dishes to stop a train...
Wild boar... my uncles used to hunt those, particularly the old, big males, up in the Pyrenees. My aunt tried to braise them several times... for loooong cooking times... they were tough. Inedible really.
Fried chicken in curry with ginger.... Hmm... I've tried the East Asian versions. I like the idea of the green chili... I'll look it up, thanks.
Fermented fish dishes... yikes... I've had enough Filipino fermented fish dishes to stop a train...
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...oQFnoECCQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2qj0RKmoGUU8UzjJn4CN1f
Curry leaf (sweet neem) is a garnish leaf, usually fried lightly then added to food.
The Chicken 65 is a semi dry dish with a coating of honey consistency gravy.
We like it with shredded ginger.
Did not read the recipe, the person who posts those is pretty good, no ties.
Check this out, may give you some ideas:
https://www.coorgtourisminfo.com/recipie/mrs-kitty-bellliapas-dry-pork-recipes-by-shalini-nanda/
No ties, seems authentic, I have friends from that area, eaten dried pork a few times.
Curry leaf (sweet neem) is a garnish leaf, usually fried lightly then added to food.
The Chicken 65 is a semi dry dish with a coating of honey consistency gravy.
We like it with shredded ginger.
Did not read the recipe, the person who posts those is pretty good, no ties.
Check this out, may give you some ideas:
https://www.coorgtourisminfo.com/recipie/mrs-kitty-bellliapas-dry-pork-recipes-by-shalini-nanda/
No ties, seems authentic, I have friends from that area, eaten dried pork a few times.
The wild boar meat is smoked over a wood fire, stable for up to a year at room temperature less than 25C, similar to beef jerky (?).
That is then used in curries, also pan fried and served as a snack.
Slightly more common than coffee plant honey, which is rarely offered except to honored guests.
That is then used in curries, also pan fried and served as a snack.
Slightly more common than coffee plant honey, which is rarely offered except to honored guests.
I have heard they have a real problem with the Boar population in France as the younger generation are not hunting them that much and, since man shot all the apex predators nothing to control numbers. And if you believe some strories the wolves that are now spreading in the mountains prefer mutton. In Scotland we have the problem that some hybrid feral pigs are running around that are HUGE and apparantly will kill and eat sheep.
Currently have a whole chicken in the BBQ smoker.. low and slow.. then I'll increase the heat later. It's 34degC today here in the UK so cooking outside keeps the house cool.
I've been grilling with my home built parrilla for a few weeks now. Still learning, but improving a lot.
This weekend we had a nice Angus assado de tira — a relatively thin rib cut. I think it’s called flanken-style short ribs or cross-cut ribs in English (please blame ChatGPT for this translation 😂). On the side, we had onions and garlic bread.
This weekend we had a nice Angus assado de tira — a relatively thin rib cut. I think it’s called flanken-style short ribs or cross-cut ribs in English (please blame ChatGPT for this translation 😂). On the side, we had onions and garlic bread.
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Those are short ribs in the US.
The Koreans use it for their Korean BBQ.
Excellent cut on the BBQ/Parilla anyway you make it. We got a smallish propane burner with a round BBQ grill that we use to cooke Korean BBQ at the table. Normally we do it outside and then we cut the meat with scissors into "one bone" pieces... traditional Korean BBQ ribs.
We also use that burner for sukiyaki and shabu shabu... but that's a different story.
Anyhow, just to show you that we do have some civilization in the Northern Hemisphere of the New World...
I give you.... Paella with seafood... Go ahead, drool, it was fantastic. This time I worked at getting the socarrat. It came out perfect! The picture was taken about 10 minutes before serving... the shrimp steamed to perfection as the rice settled down.
BTW.. normally I make the paella with this larger paellera ( about 18" across ) on a large outdoor propane stove (*) but this time I made it indoor ( our burners are about 5" accross. As it turns out we got a wok attachment that I used this time... it held the paellera perfectly without any rocking.
Fusion cooking... Wok meets Paellera. ;-)
(*) Yeah, we got a propane BBQ (actually this one is on the smallish size), a couple of small propane stoves, a large two burner propane stove, a six burner indoor NG stove... a portable induction place, etc... what would you expect from someone with more than 40 audio amps? ;-)
The Koreans use it for their Korean BBQ.
Excellent cut on the BBQ/Parilla anyway you make it. We got a smallish propane burner with a round BBQ grill that we use to cooke Korean BBQ at the table. Normally we do it outside and then we cut the meat with scissors into "one bone" pieces... traditional Korean BBQ ribs.
We also use that burner for sukiyaki and shabu shabu... but that's a different story.
Anyhow, just to show you that we do have some civilization in the Northern Hemisphere of the New World...
I give you.... Paella with seafood... Go ahead, drool, it was fantastic. This time I worked at getting the socarrat. It came out perfect! The picture was taken about 10 minutes before serving... the shrimp steamed to perfection as the rice settled down.
BTW.. normally I make the paella with this larger paellera ( about 18" across ) on a large outdoor propane stove (*) but this time I made it indoor ( our burners are about 5" accross. As it turns out we got a wok attachment that I used this time... it held the paellera perfectly without any rocking.
Fusion cooking... Wok meets Paellera. ;-)
(*) Yeah, we got a propane BBQ (actually this one is on the smallish size), a couple of small propane stoves, a large two burner propane stove, a six burner indoor NG stove... a portable induction place, etc... what would you expect from someone with more than 40 audio amps? ;-)
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What a coincidence! This weekend my family will be here and I'll be making a Paella Marinera as well!
My recipe is a little different than the original. I use ony seafood (clam, shrimp, squid, octopus and fish), no peas or string beans, and the herbs are a little different then the usual (I like to use coriander and a little bit of thyme). This time, the process will be a little different from what I’m used to: I will grill the seafood on the parrilla over hot embers from a mix of wood charcoal and orange wood, instead of pan-sautéing it before adding the vegetables and rice. Then it will be added to the paellera only after the rice is al-dente to avoid overcooking.
And, as always, the paellera will be put over a bed of wood charcoal to ensure perfect heat distribution and therefore even cooking.
I expect this process to add a nice light smoky flavour to the paella.
A Mom and Pop* ice cream shop in Portland called Salt and Straw, is gradually expanding to a small chain of stores in the US. There's now a couple of them in Silicon Valley, and boy are they great. So I purchased their cookbooks and made two of their recipes for vanilla ice cream: (i) with no eggs; (ii) French vanilla with egg custard. Both turned out to be excellent, when made by humble self using bottom of the line (equipment).
*actually, a pair of twenty-something cousins
recipes attached below.
*actually, a pair of twenty-something cousins
recipes attached below.
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