Indian Cooking Class: Rice Pilaf, Curried Mushrooms, Bhindi (okra), Palak Tamatar (Pureed Spinach and Tomato), Heirloom Tomato Salad (and more)

We started class a half hour early today at the request of a student so that we could see tonight's Vice Presidential debate. I continue to be amazed at this group - not only do they make it so easy to get food on the table early, but they work calmly and confidently without seeming hurried and, most importantly, the dishes come out great. Tonight may have been the best Indian night of any class I've taught.

They cooked a rice pilaf with cashews, a pureed spinach-tomato dish (palak tamatar), curried mushrooms, bhindi (okra), and a tomato salad with freshly ground cumin seed that was a favorite of my Nanaji's (maternal Grandfather) and made especially good with a mixture of heirloom tomatoes. I brought a pack of spinach and another of puff onion frozen paratha breads, which the briefly pan cooked, some of my Mom's homemade lemon pickle as well as some commercially available mango pickle, and typical packaged spicy snacks for them to nibble on as they cooked. They also made chai with hemp milk and chocolate tofu pies with mixed berry preserves. We had a little coconut milk-based yogurt with the rice. It was a great meal - they did a particularly good job with the mushrooms and salad, I thought.