This cooking project has been really incredible. Largely, because giving away food has made me so many friends! Not just for the obvious reasons, but because I really think good food has a way of just bringing people together..people with varied interests and people with varied backgrounds.
I only started to give away food because I knew I'd have a ton to spare creating a crock pot cookbook, and I didn't want any of it to go to waste. What I've learned is that I've also been able to help feed those of you that normally are too busy to eat. Or too busy to even think about eating healthy...I've also been able to help some of you save some time as you scramble right now in this down economy. I've also been able to help a lot of us get back to our Desi roots in an easy and accessible way.
Many of you ask how I started cooking like this? (i.e. Indian in a crock pot). My mom taught me when I was a college student. I took her recipes on hand-written index cards with me to college...then to Washington D.C. as an aide on Capitol Hill...then as a graduate fellow at the East West Center in Hawaii and then to Chicago as a TV reporter/wife and mom.
I've been cooking this way for a long long time. But, this book has helped me to think beyond the original recipes. My publisher asked me to come up with 45 recipes. I was really nervous at first. Of course all he heard from me was, "Of course! That's easy!"
I actually sweated it out for days. Even Sandeep wondered how I'd come up with so many. But, I did it. By thinking outside the box and along with the traditional and tried tapping into my creative side.
That's what mock Keema is all about. I've always loved the idea of Keema. After all ground lamb cooked in grease and Indian spices is for South Asians total comfort food. But, I'm not a big meat eater and I wondered how to make it a recipe that all of us could eat. Granted, my book will have traditional Keema in it, but it will also have a recipe for mock Keema.
If you want me to send you a copy of this recipe, just comment on this post and I will. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. And I hope it helps you to also think outside the box (or masala daba) from time to time...
-Anupy
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Anonymous
September 23, 2009
Anupy sorry it has taken me so long to post, I had one hectic weekend and spent monday and tuesday in bed not feeling well. But I have recovered!!
The mock keema was fantastic!! I still can't believe it isn't real meat. I used the mock keema to stuff mushroom caps and I treated it as an hor d'oeurve. I tore the stems out of buttom mushrooms and stuffed the cap full of keema baked it for 15 minutes (I think) on 350 degrees and they were fabulous little munchies.
With the Aloo Gobi I again ate it cold as a salad. I put it with some spinach leaves and ate it as it was. This time the Aloo Gobi was a little spicier than I previously remembered. I enjoyed it none the less. As a side to my little salad I ate the dried dal warm. Another round of fabulous dishes.