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Have you ever eaten at an Indian restaurant and walked away thinking “Wow! I wish I could make that at home,” only to find yourself standing in the aisles of your local supermarket trying to figure what to buy to make zesty Indian food? The most challenging part of cooking Indian food at home can be shopping for the right ingredients.

Because of the tremendous variety of deceptively similar products carried by Indian grocery stores, novice Indian food cooks sometimes become overwhelmed by the wide selection of products and either buy too much of the wrong ingredients or do not buy anything at all. Contrary to popular belief, with the exception of a few ingredients, you can find almost everything you need to make amazing Indian food at your local supermarket.

For a successful ingredient shopping trip, review your recipes and make a shopping list of the required Indian food ingredients.

Grains
To make authentic an Indian meal, you need rice and flour. Basmati rice, a staple food in India, can be purchased in grocery stores across the United States and in bulk at mega stores like Sam’s Club and Costco. Many U.S. supermarkets sell fresh, decent quality Indian basmati rice. However, if you are a rice connoisseur, you might want to shop for rice at Indian grocery store just to gain more knowledge about aged rice and different grain lengths.   Additionally, Indians use flour to make flat bread such as nan, roti and chapati.  A mixture of regular baking-aisle white flour and bread flour makes the best Indian flat bread. Shop Indian grocery stores for gram, lentil and rice flours when you are ready to make fried snacks like pakora and bonda.

Spices
Indian spice shopping can be tricky. Depending on the diversity of the area where you live, your local supermarket may carry basic Indian spices on an ethnic food aisle. To make tasty Indian dishes, you need curry powder. Curry powder, a spice mix, contains coriander, cumin, fenugreek and hot pepper and gets its yellowish color from turmeric. However simplistic this may sound, and especially if you decide to go spice shopping at an Indian grocery store, to avoid purchasing the wrong ingredient, only purchase packages that read “Curry Powder.” Other essential Indian spices available regular supermarkets include peppercorns, bay leaves, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, cardamom and cloves.

Vegetables, Legumes and Nuts
Indian culture has a rich tradition of vegetarianism that dates back thousands of years. The cuisine uses simple vegetables and legumes that pack a flavor punch such as tomatoes, eggplants, green peas, potatoes, spinach, green beans, onions, garlic, carrots and the list goes on. Because Indian cuisine is versatile, you can make authentic-tasting dishes out of just about any vegetable. You can also purchase Indian food staples like chickpeas, sometimes called garbanzo beans, lentils, cashew nuts and almonds at your neighborhood supermarket.

Meats
Generally speaking, Indian grocery stores in the United States do not sell meat. One reason could be that large numbers of Indian grocery store patrons happen to be vegetarians. Another reason could be that selling meat requires cost-prohibitive special licensing and equipment. Whatever the reason, organic chicken and beef, available are regular supermarkets and specialty grocery stores, make the best curries, soups and other Indian dishes.

Ingredients Best Purchased at Indian Grocery Stores
You might have eaten various sweet, hot and sour condiments the last time you went out for Indian food. Indian grocery stores are truly the best places to shop for condiments like pickles and chutneys—lemon and mango pickles in particular. A word of advice, well-stocked Indian grocery stores sell numerous types of condiments. Purchase the exact condiment you want and purchase one more you’ve never tried just to expand your knowledge and culinary palette. Products such as paneer cheese, commonly used in spinach dishes and soups, can only be purchased at Indian grocery stores.

Lois Guchu, a freelance food writer and culinary arts student, has been cooking Indian food for more than twenty years. She writes the blog ingredientstreet.blogspot.com and her chef profile can be found on Kitchen Monki as Lois G.

It has been alot of fun and honestly a lot of work when it’s come to having a box of vegetables come to you directly from the farm each week. I’m a big believer in Community Supported Agriculture and feel fortunate that I was able to discover this way of obtaining produce of an unbelievably high standard.

However, it has been a constant battle of “what do I do with this?” The first 5 weeks were much easier it seems. Luckily, Angelic Organics was kind enough to send us a copy of Farmer John’s Cook Book. It’s such a super book because it gives you the background story about how John started the farm and what his vision was. Along with recipes, it houses an dictionary with pictures. It’s been a necessity when trying to identify the different herbs that come every week.

The quality has been outstanding and the freshness comes out in the taste of the vegetables. For instance, the carrots we started getting were packed with so much flavor, it was almost too strong to eat on its own! Talk about the benefits of organic farming, eh? Now, after eating organically grown vegetables for the past 10 weeks, I believe I’m hooked on getting my produce from the farm.   Next year, I’m going to sign up for fruit as well!

Check out these Veggies! (Click pics for a closer view of freshness)

Week 6

What’s in the Box: Carrots, Cilantro, Basil, Sweet Onions, Garlic, Lettuce, Cucumber, Sweet Corn, Eggplant, and Chard.

Week 7

What’s in the Box: Beets, Carrots, Mizuna/Baby Chard salad mix, Sweet Onions, Garlic, Cucumbers, Zucchini/Summer Squash, Sweet Corn, Parsley, Dill, and Cilantro.

Week 8

What’s in the Box: Leeks, Summer Savory, Anise Hyssop, Chard, Arugula, Lettuce, Peppers, Hot Peppers (Jalapeno and Hot Banana), Cucumbers, Eggplant, Sweet Corn, Tomatoes, Watermelon.

Week 9

What’s in the Box: Basil, Onions, Kale, Bok Choy, Cucumbers, Zucchini/Summer Squash, Tomatoes, Sweet Peppers, Sweet Corn, and Melon.

Week 10

What’s in the Box: Onions, Lemon Balm, Carrots, Lettuce, Sweet Peppers, Tomatoes, Muskmelons, Hot Peppers, Sweet Corn, Celery.

If you are interested in getting a box of organically grown vegetables each week, find your local CSA at LocalHarvest.org

Monki Bread is excited to have Amy from Super Healthy Kids as our guest blogger today! Her blog is a fantastic resource to learn about healthy and fun family living, from nutritious recipes to kid friendly meal plans. Welcome Amy!

You’ve heard the hype: Meal planning helps save money, helps you eat better, and will put hair on your chest. The truth is, meal planning really can be beneficial for so many reasons (maybe not the hair on your chest, but others), so you should be planning meals the right way, to maximize benefits.

We all know a good balanced meal includes fruits and vegetables. When planning your dinner’s for the week, do you write, “Hamburgers on Monday, Spaghetti on Tuesday?” Are you forgetting that the primary focus for every meal should be fruits and vegetables? So, why do we forget to add that to our meal plan? When we fail to plan to eat fruits and vegetables, oftentimes they don’t get eaten, or a bag of frozen peas are taken from the freezer to compliment the meal.
No matter your dietary preferences (low fat, low carb, gluten free, etc), almost everyone can agree on one thing, Fruits and vegetables have tremendous health benefits. These include

· Lowering blood pressure

· Reducing risk for cancer

· Improving digestion

· Supplying essential vitamins, nutrients, phytochemicals, and antioxidants.


So, plan to get fruits and vegetables in every meal!

· Stock your fridge with seasonal produce.

· Check what you have and plan meals around those. If you have tons of lettuce, plan what kind of salad you want, and then whatever entrée you like that compliments your salad. Or if you have an eggplant that needs to get eaten, plan to add it to your lasagna for that week.

· Prepare your produce by chopping and washing when you bring it home.

· Always use your produce! Don’t let it get bad. EAT IT UP!

If you can add fruits and vegetables to your meals every single day, your kids will get accustomed to eating this way and everyone will be healthier and happier!

Amy Roskelley

www.superhealthykids.com
www.twitter.com/healthykids
www.facebook.com/superhealthykids

For more great recipes from Amy, check out her blog and Kitchen Monki Blogger Profile

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