Channa

I chose to make channa for my soup because I'm trying to learn more about home style Indian cuisine. I had a really good time making this soup because I was learning to make it from my mom,

Ingredients:
1 lb dry white chick peas (soaked over night)
3 L water
200 ml vegetable oil
1 tbs cumin
2 1/2 heads of garlic roughly chopped
3 white onions diced
3 tbs finely diced ginger
5 small tomatoes
6 green chilies finely chopped
salt to taste
1 1/2 tsp red chilly powder
1 1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp gram masala
1/4 bunch fresh Coriander

Method: Start by rinsing soaked chickpeas and placing in 3 liters of water in a pressure cooker and approx 2 tsp of salt. while chickpeas are cooking make the tharka. Heat oil in a deep wok (kadhi) add cumin and toast for approx 1 min or until fragrant. Add in garlic and fry for approx 2 minutes or until very lightly browned, add in onions and saute for approx 8-10 mins or until golden brown. Stir frequently to avoid burning. Once onions are golden brown add in ginger and cook until onions have browned completely. Add in tomatoes and fresh chilies, and approx 1 1/2 tsp of salt to break down tomatoes. Continue to stir, cook on medium high heat for approx 7-10 mins or until tomatoes have broken down. Add in spices and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Once chickpeas have fully cooked add tharka into the chickpeas (do not throw away cooking liquid from chickpeas). Continue to cook together  for 15 minutes on low, adjust consistency by adding water. season to taste and garnish with fresh coriander once completely cooked. Serve with roti.

Before cooking 

Frying garlic

Sauteing onions and garlic with cumin

Add in ginger at this point

Fully browned onions

Adding tomatoes and chilies

Fully cooked tharka

Adding tharka to cooked chickpeas

Done

Served with roti

I was really happy with the way this came out considering it was my first time making it. The smell from it was amazing after adding the fresh coriander it had turmeric coriander smell. It was nice golden reddish colour with speck of green through out. The taste was slightly spicy with hints of ginger and coriander but it could have used a bit more salt according to my father. Texture wise the broth of it was quite runny and the chickpeas were cooked but not mushy.

The biggest challenge for me was getting the chickpeas fully cooked, after i opened the pressure cooker they were still raw so i had to continue to cook them for 20 minutes. Overall it was a success, but if i had to do something differently I would soak the chickpeas overnight. My family liked it, but my brother said it could use a bit more spice and my dad said it could have used some more salt.

I definitely feel more confident making Indian food, making dall has a similar processor to this, I believe I will be able to make many types of dall now

Fermentation

I've chosen to do an Indian style plain yogurt also known dhai. I started with 500 ml of whole milk, I then brought 250 ml of the milk to a boil and poured it back into the remaining cold milk. I then got about 5 ml of yogurt with live cultures and and mixed it with equal parts water and about half a gram of sugar, after stirring  the sugar water yogurt mixture I poured it into the milk and gently mixed it. I then covered it and let it ferment over night, the next morning I placed it in the fridge and it this point it was ready to consume. This is my dads recipe so all credit goes to him. I think this was a very successful attempt the texture was nice and smooth, the taste was just slightly sweet but not over powering, it smelt like every other dhai I've ever had and it was nice and white in color just as intended. I wouldn't do anything differently but I might try and add some flavor to it next time, maybe some honey or maple syrup.

Cold milk

Boiling the milk

final product with fresh strawberries and honey

Sugar water and live cultures mix

Red Wine Tasting

This week in class I had the opportunity to taste red wine for the the first time to be more specific it was a Chateau Ducla Bordeaux Superieur, France.

When i first took a sip of the wine all i could think of was how bitter it tasted and nothing else, but once I got over the overwhelming first sip and started to think about the flavors that were really there, I was presently surprised. The first thing that I noticed was the sweetness of the wine, it wasn't overly sweet but sweet enough to balance out the bitterness of it. I didn't really get any salty flavors and only a bit of sourness right at the end. Going in to it i had smelt it before drinking it and it had quite a earthy aroma and tasted how i envisioned it when I smelt it. As for the appearance it was a beautiful dark red almost purple colour, When I smelled it it kind of reminded me of a damp wood smell. I really liked the taste of it and the only thing that I could really compare it to is organic grape juice witch makes a lot of sense considering it is just fermented grape juice. The mouth feel of it was pretty neat, it made my mouth feel sort of dry and a slightly numb feeling. I wouldn't go as far as saying it was very unique flavor, but for me it was the first time I had red wine so it was a unique experience.

I will defiantly be drinking more red wine in the future, I really enjoyed the intensity of the flavors. I learned that I shouldn't judge on the first taste (pun not intended) and I should try and think about the flavours  of the food and drink instead of just eating and drinking to fill my stomach.

  

About Me

Hi everybody!

My name is Rajat Ram and I'm currently enrolled in the culinary management program (H116). The reason I chose to go to culinary school and become a chef is because it has been my life long dream to one day become the owner and head chef of a restaurant. My passion for food started when I was very young, I loved watching the food network, my favorite shows were the ones that showed not only the food but the culture of the people who cooked it as well. My dad has been a professional chef for over 30 years now, he has had multiple restaurants and worked in many kitchens across the globe, I like to think that one day I could travel and cook my way around the wold as he has done. I worked for my dad at his restaurant for a couple of years and this past summer I worked for Christine Bib Catering as a prep cook. I am not currently working but I still cook a lot at home, I love to try and make foods from around the world but I mainly cook Indian food because that's what my family likes to eat. Food is love. That is my personal food philosophy, I love the way food can bring people together, I love how many different styles there are, I love the way it can instantly make you feel better, I just love every thing about it and there is no other way I can describe it FOOD IS LOVE. I think by sharing our food blogs with each other we can really start to understand each others food personality's.      

"The chef that grew up with the grandma who cooks tends to always beat the chef that went to the culinary institute. It's in the blood."

Gary Vaynerchuk

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