Indian and Pakistani Culinary Ingredients

Besides the all-important spices, there are a few ingredients used in Indian and Pakistani cooking that may be unfamiliar but that are readily available or, if not, can be made at home.

Panir - Home-made cream cheese. Bring milk to the boil, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin forming on top. As the milk starts to rise in the pan, stir in lemon juice in the proportion of 1 tablespoon to 2 1/2 cups milk. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes, by which time firm curds will have formed. Strain through muslin. Let it hang for at least 30 minutes, then press to remove as much moisture as possible. If it has to be very firm, weight it down and leave for some hours in a cool place. This is necessary when it is cut into cubes and cooked with vegetables dishes. It may be added to any of the vegetable preparations for extra nutrition.

Khoa - Unsweetened condensed milk made by boiling milk quickly in a shallow pan (such as a large, heavy frying pan) to allow for as much surface evaporation as possible. It must be stirred constantly. When ready, khoa has a consistency of uncooked pastry. Four cups of milk yield about 90 g of khoa. It is an ingredient in Indian sweetmeats.

Malai - Thick cream. This is not the separated cream sold commercially, but is collected from the top of the milk. The milk is kept boiling steadily in a wide pan, usually with a fan blowing on the surface to cool the top of the milk and hasten formation of the skin. When cool, the skin is removed and the process is repeated. It is possible to buy this type of cream from Lebanese shops, where it is called ashtar.

Panch Phora - 'Panch" means five in Hindi, and panch phora is a combination of five different aromatic seeds. These are used whole and, when added to the cooking oil, impart a flavor typical of certain Indian dishes. Combine 2 tablespoons each of black mustard seed, cumin seed and black cumin seed, 1 tablespoon each of fenugreek seed and fennel seed. Put into a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake before use to ensure even distribution. No substitute.

Oils for cooking - Different oils used in various parts of India give the cookery of each region its distinctive flavor. Til (sesame) seed oil and coconut oil are much used in southern India, and in Bengal, the favorite cooking medium is mustard oil. It is up to your personal taste what type of oil you use, but olive oil is not used in Indian cooking. A tasteless oil such as maize or sunflower oil is best, and may be flavored with ghee.

Ghee - Clarified butter or pure butterfat. It is what gives the rich, distinctive flavor to north Indian cooking. Having no milk solids it can be heated to much higher temperatures than butter without burning. It is sold in cans, packets or tubs. If you find it difficult to buy ghee, make your own by heating butter in a saucepan until it melts and froths. Spoon off foam from the top and pour the melted butter into a heatproof glass bowl, discarding the milk solids in the pan. Leave to cool to room temperature, then chill until set. Spoon off the fat from the top, leaving the residue. Heat the fat again, then strain through fine muslin to remove any remaining solids. This will keep for three or four months without refrigeration.

Yoghurt - In India, this is called dahi or curd and is always unflavored. Natural yoghurt should be used, and if possible choose one with a definite sour flavor. Goat-milk yoghurt or Greek yoghurt is most suitable.

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Know Your Onions

This indispensable bulb, used all over the world, varies from country to country and from season to season. Onions range from tiny red onions of pickling size to those as large as grapefruit. As a result, when a large onion is stipulated, it could mean different things to different people.

To introduce some uniformity in judging the size of onions, here is a guide. A large onion is one that weights over 250g (8 oz); a medium onion is about 125g (4 oz); a small onion weights in around 60g (2 oz). Weigh some onions to get an idea of the sizes and it will save you much deliberation.

Flavor and pungency also vary tremendously, but your discretion and judgment as a cook to tell you when to increase or decrease the quantity is expected. The small purple shallots so widely used in Asian countries are not easily available in Australia, so recipes have been tested using the common white or brown onion. If you do get hold of some shallots, use them by all means, but in a smaller quantity than onion, and be sure to cook them very carefully and not let them burn.

Spring onions are also useful in Oriental food and usually both white and green parts go into the recipe unless otherwise stated. Strangely, in Australia the spring onion is called a shallot; spring onions are also known as green onions or scallions in the United States. Those best for the purpose are straight, without a large, well developed bulb.

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Leaveners in Baking and Pastry

Leaveners produce a desirable texture by introducing a gas which is carbon dioxide, into the batter or dough by one of the three means - chemical, organic or physical.

Chemical Leaveners

Baking soda and baking powder are the primary chemical leaveners. In these leaveners, an alkaline ingredient (baking soda or baking powder) interacts with an acid (already present in baking powder, or an ingredient such as buttermilk, sour cream, yogurt, or chocolate). The alkalis and acids produce a gas, which is carbon dioxide, when combined in the batter. As the item is baked, this gas expands, giving the baked goods their characteristic texture, known as "crumb". This process of expansion happens rapidly; hence, many items prepared with chemical leaveners are called "quick breads".

Double-acting baking powder got its name because a first action occurs in the presence of moisture in the batter and a second action is initiated by the presence of heat. That is, it reacts once when it is mixed with the batter's liquids and again when the batter is placed in a hot oven.

Organic Leaveners

Organic leaveners, are living organisms that feed on sugars present in flours or as added sweeteners, producing alcohol and carbon dioxide. Unlike chemical leaveners, organic leaveners take a substantial amount of time to do their job. They have to grow and reproduce sufficiently to fill the dough with air pockets.

Yeast and sourdoughs are organic leaveners, which means that they must be "alive" in order to be effective. Organic leaveners can be killed by overly high temperatures and, conversely, cold temperatures can inhibit their action. The temperature of the dough and its environment must be controlled carefully. Yeast will not function well below approximately 65 to 70^oF (18 to 21^oC) , and above 110^oF (43^oC) yeast is destroyed.

Two types of yeast are used in the professional bakery. The dry (or granulated) yeast and fresh (compressed) yeast. Dry yeast, in bulk or packets, should be refrigerated. It will keep for several months, which makes it suitable for kitchens that only occasionally make their own bread. Fresh yeast, on the other hand, is quite perishable and can be held under refrigeration for only 7 to 10 days. It may be frozen for longer storage but should be allowed to return to room temperature before it is used.

Physical Leaveners

The basic physical leavener is steam, which is produced when liquids in a batter or dough are heated. This causes the air pockets to expand. Steam leavening is critical in sponge cakes and souffles. It also plays a vital role in the production of puff pastry, croissant and Danish. In these products, the steam is trapped, causing the layers to separate and rise.

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