Arvinda's North Meets South - cooking class
From Federal Burro of Information
April 23 2016 took a cooking class at Nella Cusina - Arvinda's North Meets South
We learned how to make 6 recipes.
Sounth Indian Vindaloo
North Indian Biryani
Garlice Cilantro Naan
Carrot and Cabbage Sambar
Aromatic Carrot Halwa with Chai Spiced Ice Cream
Overview and Notes
- Run by mother daughter team.
- They were really great
- Very knowledgeable, friendly, good clear speakers, lively and not boring.
- Very approachable , easy to ask questions.
- One down-side , was that I felt we were really pressed for time.
- The class was 3 hours from 12noon until 3 and were busy busy busy.
- they did make a point of getting the first dish done quickly so that we could snack quickly on it. ( Sambar )
- Notes on chillies and heat
- Fresh is hotter than dried
- Chillie powder is ground up chillies with the seeds
- with seeds is hoter than without.
- Do not use mexican or spanish chillies as that will not be the correct indian flavour.
- Note that our instructors didn't make it clear what variety of chillie should be used. I'm sure for them it's jsut chillies. But there are more types : thai chillie, green chillie,
- google it but; http://www.saveur.com/article/kitchen/types-of-indian-chiles
- On Tumeric
- Related to ginger
- A rhyzome
- easy to work with the fresh produce, found a BJ's Supermarket (1449 Gerrard St E, Toronto, ON M4L 1Z9)
- Stains fingers yellow.
- I'm not a big fan of tumeric, getting the right amount is key. None is not enough.
- On Curry leaves
- Removed some uncertainty about curry leaves. Increased my confidence shopping. I could see what a curry leaf was, and how to use it in a dish.
- We fried curry leaves in oil breifly and then poured that over the vindaloo as the last step.
- Very fragrant and pleasing to the nose and mouth.
- Also known as limbri
- On sourcing ingredients
- After a long lecture on how important good ingredients were to the final product, I asked our instructors where do you get you ingredients from. They mentioned that they had just been to india to meet with their suppliers. D'uh! That doesn't help me, so I asked: where should I get my ingredients from. The answer: Little India. Bing!, that's easy enough. After the Class I went straight to BJ's supermarket. Knowing what I was looking for helped imensly in finding it.
- On Cinnamon
- use the bark not the curled sticks as the bark has a less sweet flavour.
- You can find the bark at BJ's.
North Versus South
- in the south
- the temperatures are hotter
- seafood is more common.
- coconut is more common.
- the temperature levels ( spiciness of the food ) is greater.
