If you start cooking Pakistani food somewhere in your teens, out of compulsion more than passion, then at some point it is starts feeling mundane. Like you’re running through the motions to achieve a certain result, but none of it excites you. Maybe you’re cooler than I, but I have definitely been in that rut a little lately. Now I am happily, safely, and deliciously out of it thanks to My Indian Cookbook by Amandip Uppal.
Pakistani cooking puritans will be aghast at my blatant undying love for an Indian recipe book. Three words: Get over yourselves. While I will freely admit that over time differences have developed in cuisine especially by region it is one of the great joys of my life to eat food that uses familiar spices to such deliciously different results. South Indian food specifically holds a special place in my heart and thankfully my friends who are spectacular cooks are there to indulge me. When I read a cookbook for the first time I use little slips of paper to mark recipes I am interested in and by the time I was done going through this one it seemed like every other page was marked. So far I have made 4-6 dishes from it, adapting a little according to taste, and I have been so happy every time. Instagram followers will remember this salad with a light tempering. Just goes to show that there are more desi salads than kachumbar alone. This Shallots with Coconut & Tamarind recipe is one that I made for my husband to have with daal chawal. He really enjoys condiments. And onions. I will freely admit, much to the dismay of most desis, that I am not big on onions in their raw form. But these charred tender shallots in their tangy sauce reminiscent of Mirchon ka Salan had me digging in with a fork. That extra little crunch from crispy curry leaves and the flavor boost from the Nigella Seeds really make this dish sing. While I made some adjustments to quantity and ingredients, but the bulk of the recipe for Shallots with Coconut & Tamarind is as written in the book.
