Tag Archives: Indian

Patel Food Market

Posted on November 15, 2011 by alonna| Comments Off

One of 8 Indian groceries of the same name, Patel Food Market is the only Pennsylvania location.  The rest are in New Jersey and one in New York.

This is a very large, well organized store with everything you need for Indian cooking and a large variety of frozen prepared foods.

The produce is very fresh and it is an education just to walk the aisles and see mysterious vegetables.

They carry very conceivable kind of rice:

And flours:

And grains:

And lots of pickle (achar), sauces, pastes, and spices.

I have found the staff to be quite helpful when I am trying to choose between their many options. My husband is a achar fiend and was very happy with the recommended choice I brought home.  For information about Indian cooking click through to an earlier post here.

The Details:

They accept credit cards and have a small parking lot that gets VERY crowded on the weekend.

705 B Bethlethem Pike, Route 309
Montgomeryville, PA  18936
(215) 855-5520
Hours:  10:00 am to 8:30 pm daily


Posted in Ethnic Groceries

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Weeknight Cooking — A Quick Indian Meal

Posted on November 7, 2011 by alonna| 1 Comment

Sometime you need that tasty, quick, healthy meal in under 20 minutes.  The following dish meets that criteria and  if you have rice or a grain (millet, couscous, etc.) that is ready to go, it can be done in under 10.   Trader Joes carries brown or white rice that is either frozen or shelf stable that is more than acceptable and makes for an important freezer or pantry item.

Here is what you do:  find the Jyoti brand Buttermilk Dumplings either at Whole Foods, Weavers Way Co-op in Mt. Airy, or an Indian grocery.  Another pantry must in our house.

I started using this product when my husband was doing the Atkins diet years ago.  The carbs and calories are amazingly low and the flavor and satisfaction is very high.  If you eat half the can yourself, you are only taking in 130 calories and 13 carbohydrates!

Open can; dump contents in a pot.  Scour frig for leftover meat and veggies.  Or go to the freezer for the must have frozen peas; throw in the mix.

As you can see I had some leftover chicken and sauteed zucchini.  A note to the spice wimps out there (me), taste for spice level.  I inevitably need to add some plain yogurt to tone down the heat.  Buttermilk, sour cream, crème fraiche,  or plain milk will also work.

Other additions that would be delicious:  shredded cabbage, cooked cubed potatoes, cooked carrots, and any other meat or vegetable that you and your family loves.   This would also be perfect as a vegetarian meal.

Depending on the appetites of the people being served and the amount of your additions, this serves 3 to 4 people.    Enjoy!

 More information:

If you love cooking Indian food, pop over to my post on the subject.  You’ll find sources for ingredients, recommended cookbooks and recipes online.

 

 

Posted in Indian Cooking, Weeknight cooking

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Cooking Indian Food

Posted on October 24, 2011 by alonna| Comments Off

Oh, if you haven’t tried your hand at Indian cooking, it is time to get cracking!  One of my revelations in the kitchen was how easy it was to make delicious Indian food.  There are few basic cooking techniques to master and a hand full of spices to gather, but there are plenty of dishes that are easy to make.  And you’ll be pretty pleased with yourself.

In addition to the Indian grocery stories mainly scattered throughout the suburbs, we have Penzey’s Spices in Chestnut Hill, Tiffin on Girard carries spices for sale, and Whole Foods has the basics. One of my favorite sources, however, is Patel Food Market in Montgomerville, 215.855.5520. The one extra piece of cooking equipment I recommend you invest in as a coffee grinder for spices.

My recommendation for a starter cookbook:

“At Home With Madhur Jaffrey,” Madhur Jaffrey (Knopf, 2010)

Local cooking classes:

If you feel you need a little hand holding to get started, Haneeda Raiz of Haneeda’s Kitchen has a line up of cooking classes that might just be the ticket. The contact information:

Hanedda’s Kitchen
67 Station Road
Glen Mills, PA 19342
609.712.0150
http://www.haneedaskitchen.com

The In the Kitchen Cooking School classes fill up quickly:

In the Kitchen Cooking School
10 Mechanic Street
Haddonfield, NJ  08033
856-489-1682
http://www.inthekitchencookingschool.com

Main Line School Night often includes an Indian cooking class:

Main School Night
Various locations on the Main Line
610.687.0460
http://www.mainlineschoolnight.org/

Mt. Airy Learning Tree in Northwest Philadelphia often offers several classes:

Mt. Airy Learning Tree
6601 Greene Street
Philadelphia, PA 19119
215.843.6333
http://mtairylearningtree.org/concrete/

Online resources:

For learning about Indian spices.

For hundreds of authentic Indian recipes representing all the differenct regional styles.

Special ingredients:

Growing your very own curry plant is fun and you’ll never have to scurry around looking for curry leaves again.

My recipes:

Indian Lemon Rice

Weeknight Indian Meal

 

 

 

 

Posted in Cooking, Indian Cooking

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Curry Plant

Posted on September 22, 2011 by alonna| 2 Comments

I had a new baby delivered yesterday!

A curry plant keeping my orchid company on the windowsill

I love Indian food and one of my favorite rice dishes is a simple Indian Lemon Rice. It has mustard and cumin seeds and some curry leaves for aroma and flavor. Curry leaves are most often used in South Indian cooking where they are also called “sweet neem leaves.”

Precious little gardening gets done around here but after a shortage of curry leaves, I decided to grow my own. As you can see, it is as cute as a button. If you are interested in having a curry plant of your very own, you can mail order if from Seeds of India in New Jersey.

 

Posted in Gardening

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