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Tandoori fearless
Glenview chef simplifies the art of East Indian cookery
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July 16, 2009
by VERONICA HINKE Contributor

If you're hotter than a tandoori oven for Indian food, but panicky about cooking with exotic spices at home, fear not. Just get used to the spices. "The trend has been absolutely drastic," said Shirish Sanghavi, CEO and president of Indian Groceries & Spices, a wholesale store in Skokie. "More restaurants, both Indian and non-Indian, are ordering Indian spices from me," he said. He's noticed his spice sales, especially of turmeric, have increased 40 percent in the past two years.

Glenview resident Shoba Havalad teaches home cooks about Indian spices during cooking classes in her own kitchen. "People who have never cooked Indian food are surprised that it's not as complicated as they thought it was going to be," Havalad said.
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Glenview personal chef Shoba Havalad makes chicken the center of several of her Indian Cooking 101 classes, such as Chicken Makhani, front, and Tandoori Chicken, back. Classes, hosted by Bill Lavery of Cooking with the Best Chefs at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen in Arlington Heights, continue on July 28 and Aug. 25. Visit bestchefs.com.
(Rob Hart/Staff Photographer)

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Tandoori Chicken prepared by Glenview personal chef Shoba Havalad is just one of the recipes included in Indian Cooking 101 hosted by Bill Lavery of Cooking with the Best Chefs at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen in Arlington Heights. Upcoming classes are July 28 and Aug. 25. Visit bestchefs.com.
(Rob Hart/Staff Photographer)

» Click to enlarge image
Glenview personal chef Shoba Havalad stirs up her curry chicken dish in a yogurt and sour cream sauce during Indian Cooking 101 hosted by Bill Lavery of Cooking with the Best Chefs at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen in Arlington Heights.
(Rob Hart/Staff Photographer)

That's what students discovered at her community class at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen in Arlington Heights. The first of a three-part series, which is being presented by Cooking With the Best Chefs culinary club, featured simple recipes for lentil soup, chicken curry, potato stir fry and cucumber yogurt salad. Upcoming classes, on July 28 and Aug. 25, will feature more specialties of Havalad's hometown in Southern India. She will cover foods such as homemade yogurt, cauliflower stir fry and Chicken Biriyani, a creamy chicken curry. "The recipes will be a bit more challenging, but still within reach of home cooks," Havalad said.

For most of her dishes, Havalad gently folded ingredients together, stir-frying them in olive oil in a pan on a stovetop. She roasted mustard seeds, and listened for them to pop, a sound signaling that the seed had broken, exposing oils that emit flavor. She continued to stir fry, lightly scattering golden yellow turmeric, earthy brown cumin or sandy brown coriander powder into the food.

"People who try Indian food for the first time say it isn't necessarily spicy, but rather that they notice a blend of spices," said Nidhi Trikha, co-owner of Spicy Bites, an Indian cafe she opened with her husband last September in Vernon Hills. They also own Spice Bazaar, a Vernon Hills grocery store that sells Indian food and ingredients.

Havalad has taken the guesswork out of finding spices, too. She makes and sells spice boxes, seven spices arranged in tiny silver bowls on a round silver tray. The spice boxes usually include garam masala, a blend of cardamom, cloves, mace, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, fennel, black peppercorns and fenugreek.

She uses "hung yogurt" in many of her recipes, so named because it has been wrapped in muslin cloth and hung to reduce liquid. She said Greek yogurt is a suitable replacement.

And if you're afraid you'll need a monstrous tandoori oven, a clay oven traditionally used to cook Indian food at up to 700 degrees, Havalad suggested a feasible alternative. "It's difficult to get a tandoori into a kitchen," she said with a laugh. Cook food such as chicken or lamb in a traditional kitchen stove, at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Use a broiler pan to catch liquids, as the intense heat will render a significant amount of fats and water out of the meat.

To learn more about Havalad's spices or classes, visit: blog.shobasindiancooking.com.
Shoba Havalad's Chicken Curry

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken, cubed
1 C yogurt
1/2 cup sour cream
6-7 cashews, pounded to a powder consistency
4 cloves
1-inch piece cinnamon
1/4 tsp. turmeric
2 tsp. chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. coriander powder
1 tsp. garam masala
1/2 tsp. garlic paste
1/2 tsp. ginger paste
2 tomatoes, cut in small wedges
1 medium onion, chopped
Salt, to taste
1/2 C cilantro, chopped
2 T olive oil

Heat a large frying pan and add olive oil. Add cloves and cinnamon. Add chopped onions and fry for 5 minutes. Combine garlic and ginger and make into a paste. Add to onions and saute for 3 minutes. Add chicken and stir fry until chicken turns white. Add turmeric, chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala and salt. Add chopped tomatoes, cashew powder, and cover. Simmer for 10 minutes and mix well. Cook another 15-20 minutes or until chicken is completely cooked. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot over rice with naan bread.
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