Eat Like a Rock Star: Phil Ajjarapu Edition
The second time Eliza Rickman played my living room she stayed over for an extra day and I fed her dinner. When Phil Ajjarapu played my living room in July he also stayed over for an extra day, and I fed him dinner.
As it happens, before Phil was certain he'd be staying an extra day I'd invited my attorney zoethe over for dinner to discuss some stuff she was doing for me. I had planned to make something from the 660 Curries cookbook, so now I was committed to making Indian food for an Indian-American man who can cook up a storm, and whose mother is a pretty ridiculously good cook. No pressure, right? Fortunately, this one came out just fine.
Green Beans with Tomato
As featured in 660 Curries
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp yellow mustard seed
1 tsp cumin seeds, whole
2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cumin seeds, ground
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp white granulated sugar
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp asafetida
1 pound green beans, cut into 1/2 inch lengths
1 cup water
1 medium size tomato, cored and cubed
2 tsp freshly chopped cilantro
Asafetida is a rather difficult to find spice with an incredibly pungent flavor. The bottle I bought is roughly the size of a small bottle of aspirin and seals pretty well. However, when I came down the next morning the room still smelled like asafetida, so I put the bottle inside a zip loc bag. When I came down stairs the next day after that, the room still smelled like asafetida, so I then put the bag inside a plastic container. That did the trick. So yeah, asafetida is pungent.
1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. Add the mustard seeds and cook until the seeds have stopped popping, like 30 seconds. Yes, like popcorn.
3. Sprinkle in the cumin seeds, which will immediately turn reddish brown.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and add the coriander, salt, ground cumin, cayenne, sugar, turmeric and safetida. The oil should be hot enough to cook the spices without burning them.
5. Add the beans to the pan and return to the heat. Stir to coat the beans with the spice mix.
6. Pour in 1 cup water and add the tomato.
7. Heat the curry to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
8. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.
I need not have feared; the meal rose to the test and everybody enjoyed it greatly.
You might also wonder what zoethe and Phil did while I was prepping dinner. Molly the dog was heavily involved. You can watch here:
As it happens, before Phil was certain he'd be staying an extra day I'd invited my attorney zoethe over for dinner to discuss some stuff she was doing for me. I had planned to make something from the 660 Curries cookbook, so now I was committed to making Indian food for an Indian-American man who can cook up a storm, and whose mother is a pretty ridiculously good cook. No pressure, right? Fortunately, this one came out just fine.
Green Beans with Tomato
As featured in 660 Curries
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp yellow mustard seed
1 tsp cumin seeds, whole
2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cumin seeds, ground
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp white granulated sugar
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp asafetida
1 pound green beans, cut into 1/2 inch lengths
1 cup water
1 medium size tomato, cored and cubed
2 tsp freshly chopped cilantro
Asafetida is a rather difficult to find spice with an incredibly pungent flavor. The bottle I bought is roughly the size of a small bottle of aspirin and seals pretty well. However, when I came down the next morning the room still smelled like asafetida, so I put the bottle inside a zip loc bag. When I came down stairs the next day after that, the room still smelled like asafetida, so I then put the bag inside a plastic container. That did the trick. So yeah, asafetida is pungent.
1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. Add the mustard seeds and cook until the seeds have stopped popping, like 30 seconds. Yes, like popcorn.
3. Sprinkle in the cumin seeds, which will immediately turn reddish brown.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and add the coriander, salt, ground cumin, cayenne, sugar, turmeric and safetida. The oil should be hot enough to cook the spices without burning them.
5. Add the beans to the pan and return to the heat. Stir to coat the beans with the spice mix.
6. Pour in 1 cup water and add the tomato.
7. Heat the curry to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
8. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.
I need not have feared; the meal rose to the test and everybody enjoyed it greatly.
You might also wonder what zoethe and Phil did while I was prepping dinner. Molly the dog was heavily involved. You can watch here:
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