Mmmmmalai Kofta

That was yesterday's dinner. Mmmmmm. Take a look!

I've never made malai kofta on my own, it's always been with Fi at his place, where I usually do the koftas and he does the curry. So, yesterday, when I tried it out, I was trying my own recipe for the very first time ever. I wish I was the type who walked around sniffing the kitchen and going "I'm the best!", because, if I did, this was a good time to do that. We had an unexpected friend, M, over for dinner. He used to be my littlest roommate's friend, but he gels so well with the rest of us, that now he's acquired the distinction of being the first (and still the only) "family friend" visiting our home.

Anyway, M apparently liked the dish a lot - he ate it with tandoori rotis, and then with rice (no, I didn't make the tandoori rotis, that would've been too much inspiration for one evening in Chicago), and he eventually wound up asking me for the recipe. So, I started enumerating the ingredients and writing the recipe down, at the same time offering alternate suggestions for some of the ingredients and processes. And that's where I did a "Summer", i.e., something weird. About halfway through the documentation, I realized I could do with a copy of the recipe myself, so I said, "Damn, I want a copy for me, too!" Then, I quickly went on, "I can copy it for myself..." when he asked me to just hang on to it. So, here I am, writing down my version of Malai Kofta and hoping you'll enjoy it as much as my friends and I did. And yes, I am going to send him the recipe on email - it's not a state secret, and none of you need sign a statement to the effect that none of this 'intellectual property' goes out of my lab, ...er, kitchen.

Keep in mind that in the US the size of produce is much larger than in India, so accordingly proportions vary if you're making it in India. Also, I've tried to use ingredients that are easily available in the regular or Indian grocery stores here, so I've tried to provide US names or alternates as well. And, finally, the main reason to put this here is so that I can send it to M as well, so pardon me if I've put in instructions that are unnecessary to most of you that are good with Indian food.


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RECIPE for MALAI KOFTA
(Makes about 20 koftas, i.e. 4-5 servings)

INGREDIENTS:

For the koftas:
3 large potatoes
3 slices of bread
cumin powder (jeera), 2 tsp
coriander powder (dhania), 1 tsp
red chilli powder, according to taste
lemon juice, 3-4 tsps, or better still, amchur, 1-2 tsp (I used amchur, that's dry raw mango powder, it has a very distinctive sour flavor and I prefer it over lemon juice in this dish)
sooji (wheatlets), to cover the koftas before frying - you can also use bread-crumbs
oil, to fry in
salt

Paneer and unsweetened raisins are optional, if you wish to make your koftas more "shahi", i.e., rich. I had used them when we made this dish to celebrate Fi and Ananymous' birthday this year.

For the curry:
3 large tomatoes
2-3 small onions, depending on your taste (I'm usually a low-onion person, but I used three little ones yesterday and had no trouble with the taste at all)
finger hot peppers (green chillis), according to taste --- I use 3-4
ginger root, according to taste --- I use about 2 tbsp when cut fine
sour cream, I used the fat-free version, so I could put in between 8 and 12 oz. I'm guessing the regular version is creamier so you can get by with less.
cashew nuts, if you want
turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp
red chilli powder, according to taste
dry fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi), 3-4 tsp.
cumin seeds, 2 tsp
salt
cilantro/coriander, for garnish


PREPARATION:

For the curry:
*** Cut tomatoes and onions into large pieces, put into the grinder and grind until fairly smooth paste is formed.
*** Take about 2 tbsp of oil in a cooking vessel, heat. Put cumin seeds in till they sizzle... but don't wait until they're black (which happens fairly fast, so watch out).
*** Cut ginger and peppers into little pieces; put about half the ginger and half the pepper into the oil, let it sizzle.
*** Crush cashewnuts (if you want them) into suitably sized pieces and add into the oil. Stir continuously till the cashews turn light brown.
Add the onion and tomato paste. Stir occasionally. Watch till it boils. Put the flame on lower setting and wait till it thickens to about 2/3rds of its original volume. Add salt and turmeric powder.
*** Add sour cream, and the remaining cut peppers and ginger. Wait till it boils, stirring continuously. Taste for salt and spice, adjust with green peppers or red chilli powder, as needed.
*** I forgot to add this yesterday, but I usually add in some dry fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi) in the end, too. They vary the taste a little and I enjoy the light 'bitter' taste.

For the koftas:
*** Boil potatoes. Mash. Add salt, cumin, coriander and red chilli powders, and lemon or amchur.
*** Soak a few drops of water into the bread. The bread is used to bind the potatoes so that the koftas don't break during frying, so don't put in too much water or you'll have soggy soup on your hands.
*** Mash the bread or break into as small pieces as you can.
*** Mix the bread with the potatoes. Create balls of this paste. For Fi's birthday earlier, I had added a raisin inside a 'ball' of lightly seasoned paneer, and finally wrapped this with the potato-bread binding. I don't need to say this here, but be creative! :-)
*** Use sooji or breadcrumbs to cover the balls.
*** Heat oil in a pan and lightly fry the balls.

SERVING:
*** Put the balls (koftas) in the curry.
*** Garnish with finely-cut cilantro/coriander.

Eat until Stuffed!

P.S. We were too busy trying not to eat straight off the vessel to take good pictures! So, what you're looking at is Malai Kofta in all its glory AND my kitchen in all its messiness!

Atlantis

"We never had to take any of it seriously, did we?" she whispered.

"No, we never had to."

-Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.

=====================


So this is how it feels, waking up with a smile on one's face. This is how it feels, looking forward to the day ahead, not wanting to waste any of it. This is how it feels not thinking, "Well, I just have to wake up and 'be done with it' ." of one's day. It's your day!!! It's so many hours of opportunity to use your intellect, your talent, your intuition. It's your day - simply breathing under the sole of another person's shoe is not living, it's merely existing. I wish I'd decided this earlier so I could've felt the joy I feel at the simple act of just waking up.

It's my day, and now I have a purpose. I'm off to start conquering those worlds I can see. Now.

Breaking News

So here's the big decision at my end:

I Terminated Things With My PhD Advisor.

I've put up with a whole bunch of verbal abuse and mental harassment from him in the last three years. He has demoralized me enough for me to not seek alternative solutions earlier, all on the mistaken premise that it's my fault so I deserve it. He has never allowed me to grow as I ought and has pushed me down any time I try to rise. Because of him, I have suffered from clinical depression for years, and several more tangible illnesses (like migraines, etc.) as a result. He has upset me by consistently walking into the Womens' Restroom when I'm inside and has made me work much harder just because I have not received any form of financial aid from him even though I've been working for really long with him... so I've had to find other means of financial survival in order to work with him. (For the record, he has an active $1.5 million grant.)

I was supposed to give my proposal defense sometime next month and contacted the HoD (who is on my Committee) for it on Monday. I had a really successful meeting with him and got back to the lab, expecting, if not to be lauded, at least not to be harassed. I was wrong. I was worried for four hours continuously by my advisor. I was ordered to start and finish writing a paper in the next two days, my flash drive was checked on the allegation that I had breached security code by talking to the HoD about research related to the lab, I was demeaned and told that he 'was considering making (me) leave the lab' for breaching lab security. I was pressured to sign a statement which, in effect, said that none of the scientific property in the lab belongs to me and I cannot use it at my discretion and need his permission for pretty much everything.

So, the next day, I spoke to the HoD about everything. He has promised me his full support and advised me strongly to terminate things with this individual. He has suggested several other people I can work with and has promised to recommend me to them and make sure I'm comfortable in my new environment. I spoke my parents, my little lawyer-sister Piggie, and Fi, and to some colleagues in the University to help me decide. I have made sure that everything at my end is legal. At the same time, this afternoon, I also sent a polite email to my advisor terminating my work with him, stating no reason; and copied it to the HoD and to the Director of Graduate Studies in the Department. He, on the contrary, seems to be getting nervous about what I might say. He has called me seven times in the last 36 hours to reconcile. He is trying to get to talk to me, but I have been told by Everyone that any communication I make should be with witnesses and written only, so I have not taken any of his calls. His voicemails have been far too polite and 'concerned-parent'-ish. He now wants to "separate appropriately", which is weird, considering that nothing he ever did in the course of our relationship was "appropriate". Green with worry, guilty conscience - call it what you will, his very change in attitude proves that the step I have taken was the right one.

And I have just won my freedom, and my life. I have asked several people (prior to taking this decision) what its consequences will be, in terms of time and my career. All the people I spoke to are actually agreed on the fact that, if I choose well this time (and given that this is the worst person most of them know, any choice is better than him), there is every chance that my PhD takes shorter from now than it would have taken with him. I do feel silly about not taking this step earlier, but it is a step involving some legal issues at this point, and as an international student, this is the biggest gamble I am taking with my life here. I am very aware of it, but I'm also very aware of the decline in my quality of life since I moved to Chicago, and, for the last two days since I have taken this decision, I am very aware of the positive attitude and self-confidence that have, once more, become a part of my life. For all those of you Atlas Shrugged fans, I just shrugged. I'm on my way to Atlantis now.

"... I'd rather die standing than live on my knees... "
-Shania Twain, Black Eyes, Blue Tears