>>7231 Lovely. I had meaning to make this thread myself for a while. If you don't have a kitchen yet, just get an electric kettle and a rice cooker. You can make lot of things in it. Cooking myself was good for me. It gave me a break from my family's bad eating habits and take better control of my life.

>>7239 that looks delicious! is that paneer lababdar alongwith some sort of bread(looks like a thicker utappam)?

>>7239 NRI?

>>7246 Yeah. Garlic stuffed Naan and paneer. Came out pretty good. >>7250 Yep

>>7231 there is this indian store near me i bought chicken biryani i thought the indian food thing was a joke but i got literally instant diarhea that was fiery after my secon helping it tasted AMAZING but i didn't know the human body could shit so fast! My favourite indian food so far is soan papdi i want to try the pistachio icecream i've seen i feel like americans eat it too but not as like a main staple indians and indian grocery stores have this odd odor to them i can't put my finger on it i think it must be some kind of spice or a mixture of spices that purveys the whole shop

>>7262 You white? >instant diarhea Was it prepackaged/frozen? Ideally it shouldn't have anything to give you diarrhea especially if it's mild and not oily. Then again I've never had mexican food so can't tell you whether it's a reaction from your body. If it was made fresh I think your food safety inspection dudes would have caught upto it by now. >pistachio icecream You're probably talking about kulfi, like pricrel.

https://youtu.be/N7t0NZNYsYk Lovely masala from the western coasts. Makes for excellent chakna food.

Most Indians don't drain tofu and wonder why it tastes not right. https://youtu.be/PVelgp4QTTE It is good alternative protein if you know how to prepare it well. And don't start with meat vs plant. Eat whatever your digestion can handle well and turn into nutrients.

>>7262 If you have diarrhea, there can be few causes 1. You don't eat enough fibre and sudden fibre intake caused this. 2. Your stomach is not used to spices 3. Your stomach is not used to pathogens from Indian subcontinent. This only happens if you eat fresh food in India and not packaged goyslop.. > Packaged goysplop ? These packs are too oily, their ingredients are low quality compared to what you can find in the streets of India for less than a $. If your store owner is Indian, ask him if he runs a tiffin service. And ask him for a sample tiffin. Most probably it will be cheaper than fast food and better tasting than the store variety.

https://youtu.be/PaOuBX9RnB4 I miss this so much ! It's not even funny. Paid a guy equivalent of 1500 Rs, to import me some. Hopefully it comes soon.

Preparation time: 30 minutes • Cooking time: 1 hour • To serve: 6—8 persons. ½ kg. Potatoes large 250 gms. Mustard oil for frying potatoes 9 gms. Salt 6 gms. Red chillies powdered and roasted dry 6 gms. Coriander seeds powdered and roasted dry 6 gms. Cumin seeds powdered and roasted dry 25 gms. Sesame seeds (White til), roasted and ground dry 6 gms. Dried green mango powdered or 15 mls. (1 oz.) Lime juice 50 gms. Mustard oil for masala A grain of Asafoetida of the size of a pepper com whole. Wash and peel the potatoes. Cut lengthwise into big pieces. Heat the oil in a kadhai. When smoking hot,remove from fire and cool a bit. Put back on fire. Fry potatoes on medium fire to a golden brown and crisp. Remove and cool a bit. Mix salt, red chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, sesame seeds,and mango powder,add potatoes, and mix well. Add mustard oil. Give dhungar, method No. 2 of asafoetida. Ideal for travelling. Can be preserved for about a week.

Servings: 2-3 Ingredients: 1 large cucumber, peeled and grated 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 4-5 garlic cloves, minced 1 tablespoon white vinegar 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 2 cups plain Greek yogurt Handful of chopped fresh dill or mint (optional) 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper Warm pita bread for serving Sliced vegetables for serving Instructions: Drain excess water from cucumber: Use a box grater or a small food processor to grate the cucumber. Toss with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Spoon the grated cucumber into a cheese cloth or a double thickness napkin and squeeze dry. (There will be a lot of liquid.) Combine garlic, vinegar, and olive oil: In one large mixing bowl, place the garlic with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, white vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil. Mix to combine. Add cucumber and yogurt: Add the drained cucumber to the bowl with the garlic mixture. Stir in the yogurt, and a pinch of white or black pepper, and the fresh herbs (if using). Stir to combine well. Refrigerate and serve: Cover and refrigerate for a bit (anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple hours before serving). This will help thicken the sauce and give it the best texture, while allowing the flavors to meld. When ready to serve, stir the tzatziki sauce to refresh and transfer to serving bowl, drizzle with more extra virgin olive oil, if you like. Serve with warm pita bread, sliced vegetables, or as a dip for your favorite snacks.

>>7469 This with paapad is too good. You can have with chips too, or with pizza slices.

>>7469 The day I saw tzatziki dip, I fell in love even before trying it. It's just make you hungry from looking at it. Perfect Raita alternative

Made an AI generated pasta slop once. Ngl it was not as bad as I thought it would be. I gave it ingredients like soy sauce, lemon, mangoes, tomatoes, vinegar etc. AI gave me a hybrid salsa - fusilli recipe.

>>7308 Just plant them in some loamy/sandy soil. Just don't keep them in direct sun for more then 4 hours they'll get sunburn, after that indirect sunlight for 6 hours. They grow by themselves near mango trees in my house where tree protect them from long exposure

>>7478 Your food looks good ! It is my Indian senibilities, but I don't like the sabzi to pasta ratio. There is lot of pasta, not enough sauce. I hate this. But even in India, if you order manchurian noodles, they do the same. Same with sambhar dosai etc. I love making mushroom pasta. Will share pic next time I make it. If you have an air firer or oven, roast some veggies (meat optional) and have it pasta as a salad. Pretty good. >>7479 Doable in summer for sure. I will get a big pot for my apartment and try doing this indoors.

>>7485 I literally had one pan and I was living with my brother back then who still gets wages so low idek how he still alive >The sauce ratio is effect of being poor >Excess veggies to increase daily fiber, viz only thing we can't take through cheap supplements My brother hates packaged sauces, but he has to use it until he's paid enough to make his own sauce from scratch and refrigerate it.

>>7515 I had a single rice cooker for the longest time in which I used to make everything. good times, I didn't mind. Surviving on low salaries is possible in Tier 2 and 3 but can be bad long term. It is fine for 2-3 years but beyond that can be damaging. Food prep is economical if you have enough tiffins and a means to store them. Then you can cook up a bunch of stuff in advance. I do that personally, but mainly to save time. I hate eating out in most places. The quality of food is consistently bad in most places.

>>7516 Did you made your own bechamel sauce? Also storing food without refrigeration isn't possible here due to warm-humid waether. Food spoils instantly here

>>7530 Yes I did. Though you can just buy sour cream if available and use that too. Add some pepper for taste

>>7531 I don't think I'll get an opportunity to cook now unless war starts. Currently at home, enjoying homegrown veggies. After that it's back to college that doesn't allow cooking. Fuck that, atleast you can rent room and cook in regional colleges, you have to a fucking permission to even think about leaving hostel. Literally 1984

>>7551 Electric kettle + noodles and or dried foods. Not ideal but gets you quiet far. Millets khichdi tho not good is quiet good. The rest you can fill up on fruits and milk bought the same day. Hostel food is mostly shit even in tier 1 collages. I too lived through hostel bullshit except my final year. So I got my with the electric kettle. It inspires lot of creativity actually.

>>7551 These are for reference. Once you go down the rabbit hole, you will find many options. If your hostel mates are animals, they will try to steal these from you. So keep them safe. Use pickles for taste variation or buy fresh youghurt the day you want to eat.

>>7565 It's a tier 1 college. I've been their before, the food is actually pretty good if I'm being honest. I've seen these prepackaged freeze dried food. Do they only need boiled water? Kettles are only allowed in the common room so there's gonna be few people, who will be lurking around for a bite.

>>7574 Keep a kettle hidden under your bed. Common room is also fine if your hostel mates aren't animals. Mine were who used to beat up people for food. Good times.

>>7576 > who beat up people for food Reminds me of my Diploma hostel days lol. It was my first time seeing feral kids. Tbf I could easily correlate their unhingeness to lack of father /parents in their life.

>>7574 > Do they only need boiled water? Yes

I make a lot of khichdi. Usually I like it with veggies, but on weekends when the weekely veggies are finished, I just throw it in the cooker.

>>7681 >cooker I consider myself pretty good in the kitchen but i still haven't figured out how to correctly use pressure cooker and make gol rotis

>>7682 made 2 much rice 2day... y dose r🧊 puff up so much now I will g8 fat...

>>7698 NICE ! Store excess rice as rice balls. Or make Biryani/pulaao from it it later. >>7682 Pressure cookers are excellent for speed cooking lentils and rice that need time. But other than that very overrated. I would like to buy an expensive slow cooker with timer, so I can leave the food at home. >Gol roti I don't see the point, I could before. Now im good with triangular style. I fill sabzi, folder corners and it becomes kind of a samosa. I can fridge it and air fry/microwave it when needed. Not trad, but good for meal preppting.

Made a barbeque to prepare Brinjals with roast some garlic. Now will make bhajiya from it.

>>7699 fried it with some eggs added ghee + butter tastes gud but might get hungry in the night

>>7682 making rotis is a low/no skill job despite needing skill, also called dead-end/pointless delegate it to a w*man, or outsource it and buy those from somewhere.

>>7699 >Pressure cookers A relative recently had an accident with pressure cooker. The cooker exploded while cooking daal, it hit the ceiling fell on the stove and broke it. What's crazy is it worked fine for the first whistle, but then somehow the pressure wasn't getting released. I'll have to look more into how that can happen.

>>7844 Faulty construction Trying to cool it too fast Not cleaning it well A lot can go wrong. What you get in return with a pressure cooker is fast cooking. Personally I prefer the steel ones over aluminium. ALU one has some ALU compounds used in its construction that are terrible for you. Steel one can also be used as a pan

What do you guys put in your Khichdi? Prob gonna be making it daily now, the mix of carbs is great for maintaining energy for long periods. Right now I'm doing the most basic - Hing Salt Haldi Kashmiri mirch Masoor dal Rice I think I will add potatoes for a mix of all three glycemic categories (fast, medium, and slow burning) but I want to increase protein.

>>7863 for me, Potato and Carrot. The carrot adds some sweetness. Some grain now as well to reduce the amount of rice. Good shit. It is my staple. I eat with some curd mostly except when it is REALLY cold here

>>7869 Do you add the dahi directly to the khichdi or have it on the side?

ate boiled eggs for first time from a hawker, they tasted awful and yellow part was dry but i will be gymmaxxing, its not like i havent eaten eggs, i have eaten them in chicken rolls and omelletes but boiled eggs was a bad experience.

>>7872 Side. >>7873 Add chilli powder/maggi Masala etc.

>>7877 will try

>>7873 Boiled eggs never directly worked for me. Matter of fact I don't like eggs generally Best thing that worked for for me was to use any type of acidic flavor. Especially tomato or soybean sauce. Shakshuka is one of the best egg recipe I've ever tasted. The balance of eggs and acid is perfect.

I tried Buldak 2x spicy noodles, my ass is in so much pain. I thought I could handle it, I thought wrong. It's a weird spice too, not even really tasty and just on the lips and front of the tongue. Indian spice is so much better.

>>7891 I usually don't have the 2X spicy, I even only have the red/black one when I need to release cough or nasal congestion. Fav is the pink carbonara one. Though with age, I like it less now. For fellow anons in India who don't want to waste 500 Rs or are curious because some stupid desi female made a short about eating it , as if it is BTS members poop. IT is overrated. Worth trying once. Nothing more. We eat it here , because spicy food is rare. This is basically my sick food.

>>7897 2x is pretty overrated. Other flavours are quite nice, I enjoy the Kimchi one. Going to start making Dahi Chawal as well. Really tasty. Anyone else have really simple go to Indian recipes?

>>7950 If you get canned beans, then Rajma chawal is dead simple and nutritious.

>>7950 You also need to specify, what cookingware/appliances you have.

Lentil lasagnea is pretty nice I got a barbeque. Making baigan bharta with grilled baigan is dope. I leave baigan and tomato in a foil and let it all cook. Should add boiled potatoes there as well. The smokey flavour is just too good

>>7956 Stove, pots, pans. Have a cooker but it must be cleaned. >>7955 Canned beans give me ungodly bloat.

>>7961 Just soak your dal's for a long time if you want to avoid cooker. Add some veggies to your dal for extra nutrients. Simplest recipie, works with rice , bread, roti etc. For variation , there is always pickle, yoghurt, gunpowder etc. If you get chole, then it is very to make spicy chole. Instead of Bhatura/Kulcha you can use rice or bread or wraps. Pav Bhaji is also easy, I suspect you will enjoy that too. If you have a cooker and you get frozen veggies in your local supermarket. If you cooking basics are good, then palak paneer is also very easy, especially if you get frozen spianch. Upma, Poha , khichdi are easy as well. They don't really appeal to me personally. Sambhar is easy if you don't mind using the powder. Dosa, Idli on the other hand requires prep. If the batter is not fermented, then it is just bad in my opinion. You can substitute rice flour for other more healthy grains. Living alone, I usually use to make 2-3 meals at one go, tiffin the rest and fridge it (or keep it outside window in winters). Meat, egg curries etc go bad very fast, if you eat them when they are even slightly bad, you are fucked hard. So not worth risking. Plus the meat in western countries is also bad unless you buy directly from farm.

Seitan is a great source of protein and works well with non Indian dishes. Used it as meat substitute in Bolognese and the end result was good. Works well for asian cooking too

>>8289 hoping this will be me shortly

>>8291 How is your progress ?

>>8335 Alot better. I don't think I'm a good cook but I pick up things fast and am autistic about perfection. It help no one here can fucking cook. My Indian food is terrible though.

>>8391 Get the basics down. Cooking rice, egg etc to perfection. The rest takes time, but if you do the basics well, it all sounds good. Tim Ferris's book, 4 hour chef is excellent. For Indian cooking, this is an important differentiator. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/kitchen-notes/chhonk-the-indian-spice-infusion-that-enlivens-most-anything

https://youtu.be/eiCLHO-vbNE?si=_WgIPdoU7SQOefTv Made Chicken au four which was actually very tasty with only a few ingredients. Recommend it to anyone with a good source of chicken. Meat quality is awful here and getting worse, but the chicken still ended up tasting okay.

>>8458 Wrong video link.

>>8461 Nah, it was unrelated tea video I liked. https://youtu.be/k_04qb_65l0?si=3wZUl17QlWOC4AH_