Introducing "The Chaunk", Our Store is Live, And Our Indian Spice Kit Now Available Online.

                                            photo by Phil Jimcosky                                                                                               
   When I served an Indian lunch last fall to Steve Sando, Paula Wolfert, and Alice Medrich  at our house in Sonoma, the last thing Alan and I ever expected was to get into the Indian spice business. We earn our living as screenwriters and most of the spice involved with that has been trying to keep things on a PG13 level (most but not all ) of the time.

   I started my journey into the world of Indian food 26 years ago, when I was diagnosed with cancer. I was a vegetarian at the time (yeah, I know) and while having chemo I decided to up the game to macrobiotics. What I actually did was cut out most of the vegetables that I loved following very strict rules. It was getting harder and harder to find something that made me want to eat, since it's tough taking an Italian away from the "deadly nightshades" aka, tomatoes, eggplants  etc. When my oncologist at Cedars Sinai asked me why I wasn't eating, I went into this long explanation about chemo, macro food, and the evils of deadly nightshades. I finally admitted I hated what I was eating, I was starving for something tasty.

   He said,"Well, why not eat a more ayurvedic diet"

   "Huh, what's that????"

   "Indian food. Do you like Indian food? That's a good healthy food"

   "I love Indian food... but cook it myself??? Can I do that???" That quickly became "Why not cook it myself?" " I can do that!".
 
   I started the learning process. It helped that Alan had traveled and stayed with friends in India quite a bit, and that his big sister, my sis-in-law is an Indologist and had worked and lived in India and studied Indian cooking.  She came out from NY, helped get me set up and I was off to the races. I began to seek out Indian markets in Los Angeles. One in particular, where at the time I was the only non-Indian shopper. Remember, this was 26 years ago. The Indian ladies I met there I think were amused that I was poking around, asking questions, and into everything. When I kept coming back, buying more stuff, asking more questions, they finally started talking to me, showing me things, making suggestions, giving me things to taste. I became a regular. I wanted to try doing and making everything I could.

   I cooked every day and over the course of 3 years basically cooked my way through Lord Krishnas Cuisine the bible (for me at least) of Indian vegetarian cooking. Alan always says that for those 3 years he had something different practically every day....all from the same cookbook. It was sort of a Julie and Julia experience... only Indian. As I cooked I expanded my repertoire to include non vegetarian food. I started canning my own chutney, grinding my own spices. In short I turned our Santa Monica house into a mini-Indian restaurant. I cooked for friends, and word got out and I started get asked to cook for others. You can read my bio to see who some of my diners have been.
 
   Healthy Indian food became a passion, something I loved to share with anyone interested. When we moved to Sonoma aka Foodie Heaven, I started growing a lot of my own produce. In 2009 I started this blog as a way of sharing the food that captured my heart. Alan started photographing the food and cooking process in order to show how to proceed. In the midst of our writing work it's always been my passion project. The thing that relaxes me, and gives me instant gratification. I learned that if I want to be happy, I have to make people laugh, and I also have to feed them. That's what The Chaunk is all about, passing along the adventure of Indian food and giving people the tools to start cooking it themselves.

   So when Paula, and Alice told me I needed to do something with my Indian cooking and Steve Sando suggested perhaps spices would be a good way to start, we put together this spice kit. This box contains all the hard to find "stuff" that makes first time Indian cooks tempted to chuck it all and just order out. These are the spices you won't find in your common garden variety  Supermarket which are found in nearly all Indian dishes.

   The recipe cards are simple, and easy to follow. In this case they're  vegetarian dishes that have been popular at our house with family and friends. They're quick to prepare without a lot of fussing and they can be served as part of a more ambitious Indian meal or will also work well on a plate with any meat, fish, or rice. There's nothing too difficult to master. This is one of the recipes: Peanut stuffed Chilies.

Here's an excerpt about TheChaunk.com from the current issue of  Craft By Under My Host :
by Erin Jimcosky

     If there is one thing that Kathy Gori, blogger behind The Colors Of Indian Cooking knows, it is her way around an Indian kitchen. So when she and her husband (and food photographer) Alan Berger decided to start a spice company, American foodies cried "Huzzah". One of the biggest difficulties people find when trying to learn to cook Indian food is simply in finding the ingredients. The Chaunk has turned a daunting task into a breeze. The kit comes with eight ridiculously fresh and fragrant spices and recipes to help you use them. I love the adorable spice containers that are pretty enough to reuse, and as it happens they sell refills, so you’ll be sure to keep them in use.  Follow along on Instagram as I cook and share recipes from The Chaunk. To find out more about The Chaunk and the diversity of Indian spices, look for my Indian Spice Lexicon in this issue. The spices included in the kit are as follows: garam masala, black mustard seed, kalonji, kashmiri chili powder, methi leaves, amchur powder, cinnamon sticks and dried red chiles.

   There are more products and a cookbook in the works, but "The Chaunk" seemed a great place for us to start. So, pay us a visit at our online shop TheChaunk.com and follow us on Twitter @TheChaunk check out the Instagram pictures at thechaunk and when you start cooking Indian food, visit us at Pinterest  and  share your pictures with us.  I hope you'll join me in exploring the world of Indian Cuisine, even after 26 years for me there is still so much to learn.

Simple, Fast, and Made For Clean Eating: Butternut Squash Risotto.

   Over the last couple of months I've posted quite a few pictures of my incredible butternut squash crop this season. I love this particular vegetable and I've used it in a lot of my Indian recipes over the years.  However, butternut squash is loved by all cuisines, and as I've said before, when the holidays come round and I'm doing entertaining for my Italian family, my mind turns to pastas and risottos, traditional Italian comfort foods.

   My friend Judy Witts Francini aka Divina Cucina is another local Bay Area girl, a San Francisco pastry chef who has been cooking, living, and teaching cooking in Italy for the last 30 years. If you're going to Italy, Judy's the person to get in touch with for classes, culinary tours, and  anything you might want in food and wine. Very often late at night California time and early morning back in Florence, Judy and I text each other and talk food, and Italy. She happens to live in a village outside of Florence and buys her olive oil from Mrs. Gori of  Villa Il Pozzo  one of the Gori ancestral homes.

   Judy always gives me flashbacks of family cooking since I've spent the last 26 years mainly cooking Indian food. When I want a taste of "home cooking" she's always there with a recipe. Judy has given me recipes for things that I haven't seen outside the dining room of my grandparent's old Victorian house on Sacramento Street in San Francisco. Today I'm sharing a risotto recipe that I got from her. It's a quick, easy, recipe that's perfect for weeknight dinners as it can be on the table in about 20 minutes. After all the frantic holiday action we've had around here that's definitely a really good thing. So, without further ado, Butternut Squash Risotto.

Butternut Squash Risotto

 

 Here's What You Need:
1 Butternut squash
1 shallot, or 1 garlic clove thinly sliced
1 small piece of ginger, peeled and minced
1 cup of peeled and cubed  Butternut squash
1 tsp toasted crumbled saffron
1 cup arborio rice
2 cups water
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
salt
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
balsamic vinegar

Here's What To Do:
Cut the butternut squash into cubes and set it aside.

Thinly slice one shallot, or if you prefer, 1 garlic clove.

Peel and slice a 1 inch piece of ginger and chop it finely.

Set all of it aside.

Measure out 1 cup of arborio rice and a tsp of saffron.
Heat 1 Tbs of olive oil in a pot, swirl it around so that the bottom of the pot is coated in the oil.

When the oil is hot, toss in the ginger and shallot or garlic.

Stir everything around until the shallot or garlic is translucent, and starting to brown.

Add in the toasted crumbled saffron.

Add in the cubed butternut squash.

Stir it around so that it is coated with saffron, ginger, and shallot or garlic.
Add in the arborio rice and stir it around until it is hot to the touch.

Pour 2 cups of water into the mixture in the pot.

Bring it to a boil, then cover the pot, and turn down the heat.

Let everything cook for about 14 minutes. The water should be absorbed by then.
Stir the rice for the first time, then add in about 1/2 cup grated Parmesan...

...and another 1/2 cup of water and start stirring for real. The stirring will give the risotto a creamy texture without actually adding any cream.
Check for salt and add what you feel it needs.
Place it into individual bowls.
And get ready for the balsamic vinegar.

I always use Barrel Aged Balsamic from Sonoma Harvest.
Shave a bit of aged Parmesan over each serving.

Then drizzle a bit of aged balsamic over that.

Serve it up, and Florentine dinner is on the table.

   My ancestors couldn't have enjoyed anything better. Poking around in a bunch of family documents I read about a dinner given by one of the Goris and among the guests was The Sforza Duchess, and some Medicis. I don't know if this was on the table, but it should have been. Coming up next, a return to Indian food, I meet the champagne of Basmati Rice, and more clean eating for a clean New Year! Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

Straight From Tuscany, Light and Delicious Chestnut Cake With Chocolate Ganache.

   It's the week after Christmas and as we enter the run up to New Years Eve and New Years Day and all that entails, there's been a whole lot of baking going on at our house. Part of the reason for that is the work that I've been doing for the new CocoaPlanet Cafe which will be opening here in Sonoma in the new year. All of the Pastries, and pastas are going to be gluten free so every week involves baking, and cooking, and every Saturday night for the last month or so, recipe testing and tasting. One of the naturally gluten free flours I have enjoyed using is an old standby from my childhood, Chestnut flour.
  
   Chestnut flour has long been part of Cucina Povera, or the Kitchen of the Poor, aka peasant food. It's a method of cooking using what is found and easily and cheaply accessible. Chestnuts and chestnut flour are one of those pantry staples that fits the bill. My family on both sides comes originally from Tuscany and the Piedmont region in Northern Italy and chestnut delicacies were often found on the family table at holidays. One of those delicacies is this light and delicious Chestnut Cake.

  I have a lot of gluten free friends and have cooked for them for years. Working with Indian food, leaving out gluten is pretty dang easy. Because of that, I always think the best gluten free food is stuff that is not a deliberate recreation of gluten laden foods, made gluten free, but recipes that were never made containing gluten. That way everybody wins. So if you get some chestnut flour (I found it easily on Amazon) a whole world of naturally gluten free baking opens up. Hello chestnut cake.

Chestnut Cake With Chocolate Ganache 

CAKE:

Here's What You Need: 
1 cup plus 1 Tbs chestnut flour
3/4 cup plus 1 Tbs sugar
7 Tbs salted butter at room temperature
3 Tbs milk
1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder

Here's What To Do:
Preheat the oven to 320 degrees.
Take an 8 inch cake pan and grease it well.

Cut a piece of parchment paper and place it in the bottom of the cake pan.

Cut it to size.

Grease the paper too.

Set it aside.
Run the chestnut flour through a sieve or wire mesh basket to get out any lumps.

 Put all the ingredients for the cake in a large bowl and mix until the batter is smooth.

Pour the batter into the well greased cake pan.

Place it in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. You'll know it's done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let it cool in the pan on a wire rack.
Then run a knife around the outside of the cake.

Place a plate over the top of the cake and upend it. Removing the cake from the pan. The bottom of the cake is now the top.
Remove the greased parchment paper from the top of the cake.
Prepare your ganache icing.


GANACHE ICING:

Here's What You Need:
 Five rounds (about 5 oz) of Cocoaplanet Deep Dark Truffle Chocolate
2 Tbs unsalted butter
1/2 cup whipping cream

Here's What To Do:
Gently melt the chocolate in a pan.

add in 2 Tbs unsalted butter.
Stir well.
Add in about 1/2 cup of whipping cream.

Mix everything together well. When the ganache is shiny and smooth set it aside to cool a bit.

When it has cooled sufficiently, start to ice your cake.

Pour the cooled ganache over the top and using a frosting knife smooth it around the sides.
Let the ganache set and when it has firmed up. Serve it up!

   There it is, a Tuscan treat. "Poor mans cake" made luxurious with chocolate.
Coming up next a quick and easy way to make Butternut Squash Risotto courtesy of my Friend Judy of Divina Cucina. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

Easy, Fast, Make Ahead, Take Away, Vegan Potato Salad. Sookhe Aloo.

   When I was a kid growing up in San Francisco there wasn't a party, a cookout, or a picnic that didn't involve a trip to Herman's Delicatessen on Geary Blvd. for some of their self proclaimed "World Famous Potato Salad!"  If you grew up in San Francisco as I did, your family likely turned up at Herman's at one time or another. The place was famous. I am a 5th generation San Franciscan, and so my family had been patronizing Herman's since forever. Herman's was my first introduction to the world of exotic cheeses. My grandparents took me there at the age of five and I was hooked. Now Herman's is long gone; the beautiful tile work in the doorway now leads one into The Gap. There are no exotic cheeses at the Gap, and certainly no World Famous Potato Salad.

   Herman's potato salad recipe can be found online here for those who remember and miss it. I don't think I ever really ate potato salad again once Herman's was gone. For one thing nothing compared, and for another I spent many years eating a vegan diet and all the dairy involved was out the window. However, once I started cooking Indian food 25 years ago, my love for potato salad was satisfied. It turns out Herman's wasn't the only place with a killer potato salad recipe. Indian cuisine features a whole array of them, a great many of them vegan. I was back in business.

   A couple of weeks ago I made my return to cooking and entertaining and one of the dishes I served was one of my favorite Indian potato salads, Sookhe Aloo. This is a spicy potato salad that is easily made ahead. One of a number of Indian potato salad recipes that I make, this one can be served warm or at room temperature which makes it a great dish to take to potlucks, or any sort of cookout. I particularly love make ahead dishes as it makes the preparation of a multi-dish Indian feast a whole lot easier, less to do on the day of the event!  Since 4th of July is coming up fast I'm passing this traditional recipe along, I'll be serving it, you might want to also.

Indian Potato Salad (serves 6)

Here's What You Need:
3 Tbs coconut or other vegetable oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/3 tsp cumin seed
1/3 tsp ground turmeric
1 Tbs serrano chile, seeded and finely chopped
2 cups of finely chopped onion
5 cups of boiled and peeled potatoes (use only new red  or white potatoes. No Yukon Gold or Russets as the texture will be wrong)
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili or cayenne (optional)
1/2 Tbs fresh lemon juice.

Here's What To Do:
Put a large pot of salted water on the stove, and bring it to a boil.
When the water boils add the unpeeled whole potatoes to it and cook them until they are fork tender.
Drain the potatoes and run cold water over them to stop the cooking process.
When the potatoes are thoroughly cooled peel them.

Slice them...

...and cube them.

When you have 5 cups of cubed cooked potatoes, set them aside.

Chop and mince the onions.

Chop the chili and set it aside.

 In a skillet or kadhai heat the vegetable oil. When the oil is hot add in the mustard seeds.

Once they start to sizzle and pop stir in the turmeric...

...Serrano chili and onion.

Stir fry the onions until they are translucent, then add in your potatoes.

Fry the potatoes for about 2 minutes, until they start to brown a bit.

Then add the garam masala, sugar salt and Kashmiri chili or cayenne (if you're using it).

Turn down the heat a bit, and put a lid on things. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
Take off the lid and add in the lemon juice.

Take the pan off the heat and stir everything together until it's well mixed.
Just before serving, get some cilantro. I got to use some of the stuff from my own garden.

Chop up a handful, and sprinkle it over the potato salad.

Serve it up!

   There it is, very tasty and fresh with a slight kick from the chili. This can easily be doubled if you're feeding a crowd. It's vegan and gluten free.  I've served this for years whenever I'm looking for an easy crowd pleaser, especially for people who are new to Indian food since it can served with anything from burgers and dogs, to a traditional Indian meal. It ain't Herman's, but it's damn good! Coming up next. Fire roasting an eggplant for a tasty side dish. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori