Indian Food, CSA Style

Can you pronounce the word kohlrabi?

Can you pronounce the word kohlrabi in a super authentic sounding Indian accent? Me neither. But I can use my CSA vegetables to make Indian food. Either way, I'll probably be the hit of the next party I'm not invited to.

I've never made Indian food before, and to be completely honest, I was pretty sure I'd hate everything about it, but I was wrong--which is funny, because generally speaking, my husband's the one who's wrong.

Anyway, I made Vegetable Biryani, and aside from the fact that it was spicy enough to peel the paint off the hood of my car, it was really, really great.

Here's a pic:

And guess what? With a little cheat in the form of a $1.29 spice packet from Kitchens of India, this meal was totally easy to make. And I should note, if I can find the ingredients for vegetable biryani in Maine--where the only Indian person I've ever kind of met is Kelly from The Office--then you can find the stuff in your grocery store, too.

So here's how it went...

I marinated 1 CSA summer squash, 1 CSA white onion, 1 cup of frozen CSA green beans, 2 cloves of sliced CSA garlic, 1 regular potato, some CSA cilantro and and CSA green onion in the Kitchens of India spice packet.

I heated 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat, and added the marinated veggies and 1 cup of water to the pan. I simmered it over low heat for thirty minutes, added .5 cups of chick peas and .5 cups of raw cashews, and turned it back to high heat for five minutes at the end.

Meanwhile, I cooked 1.5 cups of basmati rice in 2.5 cups of water and .5 tsp of salt. When the rice was finished, I added a handful of CSA cilantro.

Like I said before, this meal was super, super spicy. And this is coming from a girl who appreciates spice--at the kitchen table of course. By the end of the meal my nose was running all over the place and I was crying a steady stream of ginormous cow tears. But really, I was happy.

My 10 month old? She was not. Poor thing, I made her eat a green bean. I was like, "If the kids in India can do it, then so can you!!!!" I swear I'll never be an overbearing soccer mom. Really.

If you haven't tried Indian Food CSA style, you should go for it--it's kind of awesome to see your husband cry like a little girl.