It's India Timeeeeee

When you google "India Time" two things come up, first the current time in India and second THE BEST INDIAN RESTAURANT IN NEWMARKET (my hometown). So when I'm here in Montreal, away from the wonderful place, I go into India Time withdrawal. Symptoms of India Time withdrawal are particularly intense whenever one walks by a Samosa sale on campus and indulges. So, last Friday, as we feasted on Samosas we decided to make our own India Time. It. Was. Awesome.

Dish 1: Garam Masala-ish thing that I honestly totally made up. But it worked. So hah. 

I used...

-2 tbsp vegetable oil

-1 onion

-1 15 oz. can chick peas

-1/4 c water

-2 tomatoes

-1/2 c frozen peas

-about 5 tbsp garam masala (but really all spices to taste)

-1 tbsp cumin 

-1 tbsp cayenne pepper (SO SPICY, just to warn you)

-2 tsp tumeric

-2 tsp ginger powder

-1 tbsp garlic

-1 tsp salt

-juice of 1 lemon

K, so basically, I heated the oil in a pan, and sautéed the onions. I added the garam masala, cumin, and cayenne, and stirred it in for about 2 minutes. After that I added chickpeas along with 1/4 cup of water, and then the tomatoes. I then added the peas and remaining spices, and brought it to a boil, then let it simmer. After about 5-10 minutes of cooking, I turned it way down and mixed in the lemon juice. It was delicious and SO SO spicy, just the way we like it (but actually for your own safety get the Brita on the table NOW, or if you're not vegan, milk for sure).

Next up: Potatoes!

Seeing as we didn't prepare I just took the vegetables I had on hand (potatoes, carrots and spinach) and googled a way to cook them Indian-style. The recipe I got really didn't make sense, anyone who has ever cooked potatoes before knows that stir-frying them doesn't exactly work so I modified it a bit. This recipe turned out yummy, not amazing, but still good.

Ingredients
About 1-2 cups of chopped and peeled carrots
2 big potatoes unpeeled and cubed
1 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons ginger
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoons red chilli powder
2 tablespoons margarine
2 tablespoons coriander
1 cup vegetable broth (or more)

1 cup baby spinach

1. Heat the margarine in a wok or large pan at medium heat. Add cumin and ginger.

2. Add potatoes, carrots, broth and the rest of the spices. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Let simmer for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through. Make sure to keep checking there is enough liquid in the pan so nothing burns to the bottom.

3. Add spinach for the last few minutes. Serve and enjoy.

So after this, we basically crawled to my room and went into an India food coma for a little while. This is an integral part of the India time experience.