The Spice Lab does Samosas

The Spice Lab does Samosas
Originally uploaded by rhubarbqueen

Northern England isn't exactly a culinary hot bed for much beyond good stodgy comfort food (breads and pastries) except for food from the Indian sub-continent. Boy, Indian food was one of the favorite picks for a meal out, but the idea of actually cooking indian food has never really been in the cards for me. Like most ideas about cooking I have, it never gets beyond the purchase of a pretty cookbook. I have Madhur Jaffrey's Far Eastern Cookery book, and have even cracked it open, but never actually cooked from it. It always looks a little daunting. However, stick me in a situation where I'm desperate for adult interaction and offer food and babysitting and I'm there.

One of the fellow mums, an American expat, who attends the playgroup hosted by Firenzemoms4moms at St.James church, has a couple of chef's degrees and has a business teaching cooking classes and honestly, she is bloody good at it. I now know how to make paneer (have to find a good saag paneer recipe now) which is really bloody easy and vegetable korma. This week we cooked vegetable and beef samosas and made a yummy apricot chutney. All easy peasey. Apparently, one of the big deals is the use of fresh ground spices. Not the stuff we get that has been pre-mixed and sat on a shelf for months or years. So next class I go to I'm going to learn how to grind spices myself and when back in Tucson you'll have to come over and make samosas.

Before I sign off for this evening I'd just like to say Happy Mother's Day and thank you for all those who supported the TucsonMama Mother's Day Diaper Drive. There was the equivalent of 1500 diapers donated. Very cool.