Swad

Swad

This week's review takes us to one of my new favorite places for Indian food- Swad Restaurant. Swad is located on the north end of town, in the area of Lamar Blvd and Rundberg Lane. They serve up some the best vegetarian and vegan food in town. What, no meat, you ask. That's right, no meat whatsoever and you will not miss it. Like a couple of other places in town Swad serves food that is commonly associated with the street food sold in India, as opposed to the more traditional restaurant fare that most of us may be acquainted with. The result is food that is not only delicious, but that is rather easy on the wallet as well. Here is some of what we have sampled thus far at Swad-

Samosas, the gold standard of just about any Indian/Pakistani restaurant are their samosas. Samosas consist of a pastry filled with (in most cases anyway) spiced potatoes, onions, and peas. The filling can be either spicy or mild and is wrapped inside of the pastry and then deep fried in vegetable oil until golden brown. The result is a crunchy exterior and spicy, flavorful and soft interior. How does Swad measure up to this standard? Their Samosas are some of the best in town and come served with a sweet and spicy tamarind mint chutney. I usually recommend this to dish anyone not familiar with Indian food. All of the ingredients are familiar to most of us, but the flavor profile is just exotic enough to provide a new experience.

Next we tried the aloo tiki. One important thing to know here is that the word aloo is the word for potato. So any dish that uses this word will contain potatoes. In the case of aloo tiki, you are served two potato patties smothered in a curry (curry is the word for gravy) made with tomato and garbanzo beans and finished off with parsley. The overall flavor reminds me a bit of chili with the garbanzos substituting for the usual pintos or red beans. This dish also comes served with a sweet chutney and fresh onions on the side.

Finally, we tried the Mysore Dosa. A dosa is a type of crepe made with rice and lentil flour. The dosa itself is huge, it has to be a good 12 inches across when folded. This particular crepe is also spiced with ginger. The result is a very tart and aromatic crepe, which complements the spiced potatoes perfectly. The potatoes are mixed with sauteed onion and spiced with turmeric and other spices. Also included is a cup of sambhar, a type of traditional vegetable soup made with lentils and a tomato broth. It is a bit on the spicy side so be careful if you have a sensitive tongue.

Swad is certainly one of the better Indian/Pakistani restaurants in town and comes highly recommended.


AFJ rating: 4 Lone Star Points

Website 
Map
Address:
9515 N. Lamar Blvd
Austin, TX 78753
512-997-7923

Recipe Time- Indian Stir Fry

Hey everyone,

I thought I'd share a quick, easy and healthy stir-fry recipe I've been messing with. First, a bit of full disclosure about this recipe: it's something I picked up online in an interview with Suvir Saran. In fact I made what was essentially his version of this recipe plus some extra mixed vegetables (as well as Chicken Tika) for a dinner party not too long ago, and everyone enjoyed it. They enjoyed it so much so that there wasn't any left at the end of the evening. Since then I have had the chance to tinker around with the recipe a bit; here's what I came up with:

• 2 tsp whole cumin
• 1 tbsp whole brown mustard seed
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp turmeric powder (sometimes spelled tumeric)
• 6-12 curry leaves, crushed or torn to release their oils.
• Salt (to taste)
• 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
• 1 large garlic clove, diced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 or 3 medium-large zucchini, cubed or sliced into medallions
• vegetable oil - enough to coat the bottom of the pan

1. Add the oil to your pan and turn your heat to medium.

2. As the oil is heating add the cumin, mustard seed, and curry leaves
and stir-fry them in the pan for a minute or two. Take care not to burn the
spices. 

 
3. Next, add the turmeric and allow it to cook for another minute or so, continuing to stir. Cooking the turmeric is an important step because raw turmeric is rather bitter and cooking helps to cut the
bitterness almost completely.

4. Add the ginger, garlic and onions and allow them to cook in the oil,
stirring often, until the the onions start to get soft.

5. Add the zucchini and any other vegetables you may like and add salt
to taste. Increase the heat to high.

6. Stir Fry until the zucchini starts to get soft.

7. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

 

You may find that you have plenty of oil left over. Oil with lots of flavor, to be more specific. So what to do with the left over oil? You might try cubing some chicken and frying it the remaining oil, or possibly fish or even some hard tofu. But if you go for the tofu I'd recommend pressing it out before frying to remove any excess liquid. You'll get better results that way. Tofu can be dried by simply wrapping a block in paper towels and placing it on a plate. Next place another plate on top of the block and on top of the plate try adding a 16 oz can. Let it sit for 10-20 minutes and enough of the liquid should have drained out to allow for proper frying.


Spices:
It is important that you use whole spices rather than ground. Why is it important? One word: texture. The problem is that ground spices will make for a very gritty and unpleasant texture whereas the whole spices will actually add a bit of crunch to the dish. Not to mention that whole spices have a lot more flavor than ground spices. Another thing to remember about whole seeds is that they will pop like popcorn if the heat gets too high. Then you'll have a bunch of seeds coated in boiling oil spreading all over your kitchen. And forearms. And clothing......So be careful.

Turmeric:
Turmeric is a yellow powder often used as a type of pigment. In fact it is what gives yellow mustard it's bright yellow color. This being the case, please keep in mind that it will stain anything and everything it touches (including your pans!) although it will eventually fade. With this in mind you may want to invest in an apron or just wear clothing that you don't mind getting yellow pigment on.

Curry leaves:
These can be a bit tricky to find, as most neighborhood grocery stores do not carry them. I'd recommend going to your local Indian or Pakistani grocery store to get them. And don't worry if you can't find them. The dish will be fine without them. But seriously, buy the curry leaves if you can. The have an aroma approaching a fresh roasted pepper and add a great dimension to this dish. Very, very nice.

Not sure where the nearest Indian store is? Here's couple on the northwest side of Austin:

Apna Bazaar
STE 133-B 8650 Spicewood Springs Rd.
Austin, TX 78759
(512) 249-0202

KP Indian Grocery
1212 West Parmer Lane,
Austin, TX 78727
(512) 833-6222

Culinary Article of the Week: Curry or Masala?

Greetings, Matt here!

In addition to our weekly reviews we will also feature articles that will deal with various topics from the culinary world. I thought for this first post we should talk briefly about a couple of commonly misunderstood and as a result, commonly misused culinary words- curry and masala

Up until a few years ago I felt pretty certain that I knew what curry was. I believed, as almost every westerner believes, that curry is that yellow powder used in Indian food. Masala, on the other hand, I thought was, umm.... some kind of Indian food, maybe? And then it happened. I was perusing the spices at a specialty store, and I saw packages of masala powder next to the curry powder. But they look the same, I thought. Upon closer inspection I saw that they contained very similar ingredients and even had a somewhat similar aroma. I decided right then and there that I had to know more. So after I got back home I immediately fired up my computer and got online to try and find some answers. Today I will share what I found.

You can find any number of recipes that are called 'curry this' or 'masala that,' but nobody ever really defines these terms. So what exactly do these two mysterious words mean? We will start with the simpler of the two - masala. The word masala comes from the Hindi and Urdu languages and can mean spices or ingredients. In modern culinary terms it refers to any number of spice mixes commonly used in the cuisines of the South Asian subcontinent. While all masalas contain at least three different spices, the types and amounts of the spices vary widely depending on the type of masala. This also goes for any western style spice mix or spice rub.

That was simple enough. Now what about curry? Well, this is where things get a bit fuzzy because not only is the word used to refer to curry powder, but it’s also used to refer to Indian food in general. I saw an interview with the preeminent Indian chef, Suvir Saran, in which he discussed what curry means to Indian chefs. It can refer to the leaves of the curry plant, sauces (the word curry is derived from the Tamil word kari which means sauce), or as Chef Saran put it, “that awful powder created by the English that no self-respecting Indian would ever go out buying.” Nicely said Chef, nicely said.

That’s right! Curry powder (which technically is a type of masala) is not only not of Indian origin, it is not even used in traditional Indian cookery. It was simply an attempt by the British to imitate the cuisine of the subcontinent, and who can blame them? So what exactly is curry? The most accurate definitions are probably the leaves of the curry plant and the Tamil word kari, or sauce. These are sauces whose base flavors come from various masalas. Now how about that yellow British powder? Well if you like it, I say keep using it. You’re not hurting anyone if you use it. Just understand that it is not used in true Indian cooking. Ever. For the real thing you’ll have use an authentic masala. I’d recommend starting with Garam Masala. It's one of the more commonly used and commonly available masalas.

Where can you find a good Garam Masala? While many of the larger grocery stores do stock it, your best bet is to find a good Indian store. If you happen to be on the N.W. side of Austin, Apna Bazaar is great place to visit. You are guaranteed to find all manner of masalas, spices and other ingredients there; including the ingredients to make your very own garam masala. Here's their address-

8650 Spicewood Springs Rd
Austin, TX 78759
512-249-0202

Interested in trying your hand at Indian cooking? Here is a good basic recipe for garam masala:

Garam Masala Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons cardamom seeds
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon brown mustard seeds
• 2 tablespoons black peppercorns
• 20 cloves (about a teaspoon)
• 1 dried arbol chile stemmed, seeded and crumbled
• 1 (2 1/2-inch) cinnamon stick, broken in 1/2
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Combine all of the seeds, peppercorns, cloves, chile and cinnamon in an 8-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Heat, moving the pan constantly, until you smell the cumin toasting, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the mixture to a plate and spread out to cool for 5 minutes. Once cool, add the toasted mixture and nutmeg into a spice grinder. Process until a fine powder is formed, approximately 1 minute. Use immediately or store in an airtight container for up to 1 month. It looks like a lot of work - but it is worth it, especially if you just like doing things the hard way, as I do. For a more detailed discussion of this masala I recommend the Good Eats episode “The Curious Case of Curry.” That’s where I got the above recipe, which is used to make Lamb Tikka. It’s also where I learned how to make a basic Tandoor. Alton Brown is my culinary hero.

Here are a couple of links you may be interested in:

Alton Brown's Lamb Tikka

Interview with Suvir Saran
Indian Food Made Easy - A good site for easy Indian recipes.