indian dinner night

once a week a group of women get together to cook fabulous dinners, complete with desert and drink that suit the theme. my dear friend rose started it all when she stayed with us for a few days and then decided as a thank you to cook us dinner. what evolved was a weekly dinner night, alternating responsibility for coming up with a dinner theme. so last week it was my turn and i invited my other dear friend suzanne to help.

i love indian food, and can't find a good place anywhere near here without driving all the way to tuscon. suzanne, though, has actually traveled to india and knows all the special sauces and spices. she was in charge of :
- cilantro and coconut chutney
- some kind of sauteed green bean dish with a very high temp
- riata, which is a cold cucumber, coriander, yogurt sauce

suzanne, indian food goddess

 me, the leek chopper

i made a curry filo tart to go with the green beans that ended up being more like a pot pie. 

 the final spread

also, being the desert baker that i am, i went for a traditional sweet rice desert called Kheer. a basic sweetened, milk, rice, pistachio and cardamom dish. so simple, anyone can do it

Kesar Kheer
1/2 c. rice
4 c. milk
8 T sugar
6 cardamoms (i didn't have have whole cardamoms to grind, but 1 teaspoon of already ground cardamom seemed to be the right amount)
1/2 t saffron
1/4 c. pistachios

-soak pistachios in water for 3 hours (this is only if you're using raw nuts. i bought roasted unshelled pistachios and didn't have to soak them, but of course shelled them).
- cook rice in 2 cups of milk until soft
- add saffron, cardamom, sugar, and remaining 2 cups of milk
- simmer 10 minutes or until thick ( i simmered for about 25 minutes, but i'm also at a higher altitude. just as long as it isn't super watery and it seems thicker, you're good to go)

to accompany the kheer i also made:
Cardamom Butter Cookies from the chopra center cookbook
1/2 c. cold butter, cubes
1/2 c. turbinado sugar
1 3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t cardamom
2 T lemon juice

- in mixer combine butter and sugar until creamy
- in separate bowl combine flour, salt, nutmeg and cardamom
- slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture 1/2 cup at a time (for some reason, this is very important. do not just dump in all the flour)
- continue mixing at low speed and slowly add lemon juice until a stiff dough forms
- make quarter round sized dough balls and place on cookie sheet covered with parchment about 1 inch apart. press your thumb on each dough ball to flattened out a bit
- bake 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown at 350 degrees

rose has an insatiable sweet tooth, and when she took her first bite of kheer she confessed her undying love for my food stating that i've never made something she didn't like. thanks rose!! also, thanks for all the pictures!