Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Women Who Stare At (and cook) Goats Pt 2



When I set out to prepare a goat biryani feast for my husbands' combo birthday party/New Years dinner, I decided to try a few things I don't usually serve with a biryani.

A biryani is a meal in itself and needs very little embellishment, however I wanted to serve a variety of dishes from all over the Indian map so that those who didn't want goat would have other choices.
Usually I do either a vegetarian menu or a meat menu with vegetarian options. For this particular meal I wanted all the options. I wanted this dinner fully loaded. So I prepared a Kerala shrimp dish in coconut milk, hot and spicy.







I decided to do pureed vegetables cooked with a bit of dal Punjabi style, a dish I've made frequently to serve with biryani.


I opened a jar of homemade mango chutney...


and also served a cauliflower cooked with a braised tomato sauce.


I knew I needed a raita to cool things down, so I made one North Indian style, got festive and tossed in some boondi (delicious little fried chick pea batter balls). Boondi are the gram flour equivalent of champagne bubbles when it comes to raita and I figured that my raita just wouldn't be appropriately festive without them.


I also served a South Indian Cabbage poriyal with coconut...


a raw Gujarati carrot salad...

and of course there were chapatti. Can't have a meal without chapatti.


As I stood at the sink shelling and de-veining shrimp I thought "am I nuts??"
Would all of this get eaten? Well, it did. There was a bit of leftovers for Alan and me the next day but by that time we weren't up for eating all that much anyway. Having thoroughly stuffed ourselves the night before, we decided to take a stroll with The Wolf.


Is that a Goat I see??? Is it for me?
When there didn't seem to be any loose goats for raw biryani up on our hill, we decided to go to town and hit my favorite cookware spots.

Patsy loves to go with me to Robins Nest Cookware here in Sonoma.


I go there for all the great supplies and equipment she goes there for slightly different reasons.


Patsy doesn't care about cooking equipment, she cares about the product that results from cooking equipment, and that might land on the floor near her if she's having a really really good day.
Perhaps a Goose Vindaloo next time? Are they edible?

And since there were lots of tourists in town over the Holiday, there were the expected meet and greets. The Wolf is a one dog welcoming committee.

So now that the holidays are over I can get back to my usual cooking. As to New Years 'Resolutions I'd like to try a Green Jackfruit curry, collect more clay pots,and hopefully make it over to India by years end. The Wolf is making her own New Years Resolution. She wants me to drop more things on the floor for her.

22 comments :

  1. What a feast! I love your chappati -- so thin and perfectly cooked. I may have to fight Patsy over those leftovers!

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  2. wow...every dish looks great to me. That's such a feast you prepare...yum!

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  3. all the pictures are magnificant and I love the gorgeous dogs as well very nice well done Kathy love this!

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  4. can i come over for the next one? what a spectacular feast! so impressed and delighted by this meal, looks like i'm going to have to get out my paneer-making cheesecloth and do a mini-indian feast later this week...

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  5. Wow, what an awesome feast! I'm loving all the dishes here!

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  6. That is truly a feast. Your home must be filled with lovely aromatics from the spices.

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  7. @linda,
    thanks...you look as though you had quite the New Years event also..Vegas babayyy! I'm loving that Madmen party you threw.

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  8. @penny...
    yes, it usually is. it's amazing how the spices can evoke memories

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  9. @pegasuslegend,
    yes, patsy loves making new doggie friends everytime she goes to town.

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  10. Your emails are not a blog, they are an adventure. I love it.
    Keep cooking!
    PT

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  11. Beautiful spread. It's amazing how you can tell when someone is a genuinely committed and talented cook... genuinely committed and talented cooks casually toss off statements like, "tossed in some boondi" or "then I opened a jar of homemade mango chutney." Like, meh, no sweat!

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  12. Like your shrimp dish...and what a feast :-)

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  13. Wow, this feast is epic!! Very impressive. Honestly though, I am a bit distracted by your absolutely stunning dog. I wish she could meet my Pete, I am certain they would be instant friends! He's a white shepherd/lab mix, and so they must have a lot to talk (sniff) about.

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  14. @tastytrix,
    i am sure he would be just her cup of tea. she turns into an instant hussy around any large fluffy male dogs. currently she is unsuccessfully pursuing a certain Husky named "Lobo" who doesn't seem to have the slightest interest in her no matter how hard she throws herself at him. Pete might be just what she needs, but of course you know girls they always want the bad boys.

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  15. First time here, and I am zapped...what a feast...that too all asian cooking...can't imagine you have made excellent effort to cook all the different kinds of dishes....that too all together..hats off!!!!

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  16. Kathy,
    I am speechless! You done a great job with that feast. Truly a labour of love! Did you add a little chilli powder in the boondi raita?

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  17. @shirley,
    thanks so much..yes I did..I usually use kashmiri chili. And it was a labor of love..we had our 30th anniversary just two weeks ago

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  18. Wow, you must be exhausted from all of that. Everything looked fantastic.

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  19. That was a grand feast.. The kerala shrimp dish looks spicy and yummy...

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  20. Looks amazing!!!! /I look forward to your feedback /thanks for this man it was very helpful.




    Cooking Equipment

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