Ethnic Cuisine Class: Indian Food

Ethnic Cuisine Class: Indian Food

Indian food isn’t always on the radar screen when you’re thinking of what to make for dinner. Maybe it’s because we assume ethnic cuisines are best eaten out. Unfamiliar ingredients and techniques can scare away the best of us, but sometimes creating an unusual and unexpected dinner at home can be just as wonderful. Making Indian food is one of those “sometimes”.

Indian cuisine is generally characterized by the use of a wide variety of spices, vegetables, herbs and even though meals can easily be vegetarian, the use of dairy and ghee makes many recipes non-vegan. Vegan Indian food is simple to make and learning some basic principles can actually help you in meal planning for other cuisines.

Up in the “judgment-free kitchen” at Catskill Animal Sanctuary, we recently held a cooking class to show folks just how simple and sumptuous vegan Indian cooking can be. Kathy Stevens, founder and director of Catskill Animal Sanctuary snuck in at the end to join us for the meal. A big fan of Indian food, she remarked on how delicious, light and clean everything tasted as compared to eating Indian food out. Now that’s not to say that there aren’t a ton of delightful Indian restaurants to dine in that can rock your world with a good dal, but one of the benefits of cooking for yourself is that you can control the fat, the spiciness and the taste-emphasis of your different dishes. Don’t take it from me…or even from Kathy. Try these recipes for yourself and see what you think.

Chapati Bread

Chola Tikki (Chickpea Patties) with Tamarind Date Chutney

Garlic-Ginger Asparagus

Fragrant Basmati Rice Pilaf

Cashew Cream Raita