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Join me for Indian Cooking Classes in February and March

Published on January 25, 2011 in Events, Indian Culture and Recipes. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , .
A little known fact about Kasa is that, before there ever was a Kasa, I started out teaching cooking classes out of our little flat in the Mission. Suresh would post them on Craigslist, and we had a blast made new friends.  The classes stopped once we opened Kasa, but I’ve had an increasing number of requests to teach Indian cooking classes.
So despite being insanely busy with our Kati Roller food truck launch, I’ve set aside some time to teach a couple new classes in February and March:
  • Saturday mornings in March at Kasa Castro from 9.30 to 11.30am. I am jointly teaching this with my friend Carley, founder of Intuitive Wellness — for more info, visit the event page, email info@intuitivelywell.com or call her at 415.971.7556.
  • Sunday, Feb 6th and 27th at Real Foods on Fillmore Street in the Marina.  We’ll have details on how to sign up shortly, but you can call Real Foods and ask for Stephanie or Ana in the meanwhile.
With these classes, I’ll  take Kasa’s homestyle cooking focus a couple of levels deeper to teach you how to cook simple, nutritious Indian food at home.  I’ll teach you more about different kinds of spices, their health benefits, how to use them as well as how India’s different regions, religions, climates and social statuses all factor into the many disparate cuisines available throughout India.
Some of the dishes will be:
  • Gobi Aloo (cauliflower and potato, vegan)
  • Aloo Matar Paneer (pees, potatoes and Indian farmers cheese)
  • Daal (lentils)
  • Pillau (rice cooked in a seasoned broth)
  • Tandoori chicken
  • Salads
  • Different types of Raita (yogurt)
  • Kachumbars  (finely chopped, crunchy vegatables)
  • Rotis (fresh made bread)
I hope to see some of you at these classes!  Email me at cookingclasses@kasaindian.com if you have any questions.
Anamika

Ek Cup of Kasa Chai

Published on December 13, 2010 in Indian Culture, Kasa Behind The Scenes and Recipes. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

I’m not one to boast (much), but I’ve heard customers refer to Kasa’s chai as The Best Chai In The City, and I have to agree.

What makes our chai special is that it is REAL chai.

The kind you’d find on a train between Delhi and Agra.

Our chai is brewed slowly with loose leaf tea from Assam, whole milk, freshly ground whole spices and roots and then generously sweetened with sugar.  It’s like a cross between a Oaxacan hot chocolate and an English tea.  No offense to Starbucks, but I have no idea what their chai actually is!

Indian people are obsessed with chai, kind of like San Francisco is obsessed with the perfect cup of coffee.

I deliberately avoided learning how to make
chai (or ‘cha’ as we say in Punjabi) or to drink cha for a couple of reasons:

1) If you make a good cup of chai, it’s all over for you.

Literally everyone in your family, throughout the day, will be using this phrase:  ’Ek cup cha banale please’, or ‘Please make me a cup of tea’.  It is  always said with a look of pleading in their eyes, and a healthy dose of guilt tripping in case you were thinking of refusing to feed their caffeine addiction.

As much as I love feeding people, I had to draw boundaries somewhere or I’d be permanently in the kitchen.  So I would purposely make a mediocre cup so I’d never be asked again!

Not to mention, people are demanding when it comes to their chai.  More milky, less milky, stronger, sweeter, less sweeter, hotter…it’s an endless list of demands to get their chai, just as they like it!

My grandma (who was permanently on a diet) would request 1/2 spoon of sugar, and ALWAYS say it wasn’t sweet enough and then add another half a spoon!

2) I really don’t enjoy being a slave to addictions, and so do not partake in soda, caffeine or tobacco, as a strict principle of life.

Suresh, on the other hand, hardly spends ANY time in the kitchen but is the ultimate chai maker and is extremely critical about a good cup.  All credit for Kasa’s chai goes to Suresh and the Kasa crew for perfecting the art of brewing the chai.

I must admit that Kasa’s chai is slowly sucking me in.  I find myself some days thinking how a delicious cup of
Kasa Chai would make my day so much better!  For now I’m limiting myself to Sunday evenings only.

I do apologize to some of our customers who love our chai but wish we’d offer soy, or sugar free, or low fat, or caffeine free or some combo of  the above.  We try to keep things at Kasa simple and authentic and how we know best.  This is a very authentic cup of chai, just like chai vendors in India where there’s only way to order it.

And if you’ve already gotten the Kasa Chai bug, we also sell hot boxes of Chai for your next event!  Just call the catering line at 415-341-7345.

Any other places in San Francisco or around the world where you’ve had an AMAZING cup of chai?

Anamika

Make Mine Spicy! Introducing The Hot Sauce, by Kasa

Published on October 3, 2010 in Recipes. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , .

There are certain basic human needs which, if not met,  can lead to dire consequences.

No Food / Water / Sleep = Death
No Love / Family / Friends / Sex =  Deep Seated Psychological Problems

(Wait this post is heading into the pits of despair!!)

There’s a different category of needs which, if not met, lead one to getting Really F’ing Annoyed!

For me, eating GOOD food well flavoured with herbs, spices and green chilly falls into this category.  I literally need the SPICE of life, or else I’m just pissed.   But I’m not a fan of over-spicing or abusing the use of the green chilly.  I cherish my ability to enjoy simple pure tastes.  I have the utmost respect for this beautiful, slender, powerful little pepper.

But there’s a rather large contingent of Kasa fans who have some seriously Hot Needs.  You can spot them by the devilish look in their eyes as they ask, ‘Do you have any HOT SAUCE???’  For the past two years, I’ve been sending them straight to the source of the heat by throwing in cut up green chillies in their rolls and letting them knock themselves out.  I watch them sweating, smiling and looking at me with real gratitude, as though I just put crack into their rolls.

Recently I decided to show honor my fiery-hot chilly fiends and work on that much requested HOT SAUCE.   To my surprise, I’ve created a truly impressive gem.   It’s a green chilly emulsion, simply named ‘The Hot Sauce’ for now.  It really is amazing and hot, hot, hot. And it has super powers that I wasn’t expecting!

Whilst creating the sauce, I had to keep tasting it along the way and I’ve finally seen the light.  I see where all the chilly freaks are coming from now.  Me and all the Kasa crew are on a serious ‘Hot Sauce’ addiction.  Just a little of this fiery, zingy, garlicky sauce on my lamb curry and rice, and I’m awake, buzzing, happy and ready to move.  I definitely feel the rush!!

Surprised by this intense euphoric reaction of my body and mood (and being the dork I can be), I researched the biological science behind my reaction to the Birds Eye Chilly.  It turns out the capsicum in the chilly reacts with the body’s pain receptors.  My body then tells me that I’m being burned, and the result is that I feel pain.

A little sadistic?  Yes.  But why are billions of people addicted to this taste bud torture?

It’s the pleasure that follows soon after, the rush you receive as the body releases endorphines in response to the pain.  Endorphines are natural morphine like compounds that are just about the strongest drugs you can do without doing drugs.  AND they are not addictive (although I wonder), don’t incapacitate you or dull your senses.

To add to my increased admiration of the green chilly, I also learned that it is a micro miracle worker.  It’s loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, calcium and heck, it even boosts your metabolic rate.

To all of you who have ‘Hot’ needs, next time you are in, just ask for the Hot Sauce in your Kati Roll or Thali.  But be careful, it’s hot! And for those who are not yet ready to go there, we still have all our dishes appropriately spiced :)

Anamika

Debuting Chilly Paneer at Street Food Festival This Weekend!

Published on August 19, 2010 in Recipes and Specials. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Kasa’s kitchen is buzzing as I write this in preparation for the second annual San Francisco Street Food Festival this Saturday in the Mission.

The festival is a quintessential San Francisco event.  From 11am to 7pm, you’ll be able to sample some of the most wonderful food this city has to offer from fine dining restaurants, taqueria style restaurants, trucks and even carts.  (I’m pretty sure Mr. Creme Brulee Cart is beating egg yolks like crazy right now!)

The general format is that each booth has three bites to offer — a large bite for $5 to $8, a small bite for $3 and a beverage for $3.  The organizers have added a lot more space for the event this year (they expect 30,000 people) to allow for maximum eating!

On the menu from Kasa, we’ll be doing Gobi Aloo and Chicken Tikka kati rolls for $5.  Even if you’ve had our Chicken Tikka rolls before, it’s a mind-blowing experience to eat that lovely marinated chicken straight off a charcoal grill!

For our small bite, I’m going off menu and cooking up a personal favourite of mine: ”Chilly Paneer”.  It’s an Indo/Chinese creation found in hundreds of street side vendors that usually have a sign up saying  ”Indian/Chinese/Mughlai/South Indian”, and for the Chinese section they have two dishes: Chilly Paneer and Hakka noodles.

I LOVE chilly paneer!  It’s a delicious, craveable, spicy,  fried cheese dish in a chilly sauce, served over rice. Mmmmm…even as I write this, I can’t wait to start cooking it tomorrow.

And for our beverage, a cooling Mango Lassi!

Well, I have to run and juice a case of limes.  I hope to see you all tomorrow and in case you want to try the recipe at home…here it is:

Paneer – 1 packet – sliced
Red Bell Pepper – 1 – sliced
Green Chillis, finely chopped – 4
Soy Sauce – 2 tbsp
Vinegar – 1 tbsp
Plain flour – 2 tbsps
Cornstarch – 3 tbsps
Black Pepper, freshly ground – 1 teaspoon
Green Onions, finely chopped – 2 bunches
Garlic, finely chopped – 2 tbsp
Ginger, finely chopped – 2 tbsp
Sugar – pinch
Oil to fry
Salt to taste

1. Mix the paneer with the plain flour, 2 tbsp cornstarch, black pepper, ginger and soy sauce.
2. Fry the paneer pieces in hot oil and drain.
3. For the sauce, heat a little oil in a pan, add most of the spring onions, bell pepper and garlic pieces and fry until light brown. Make a paste with remaining cornstarch and a little water and keep aside.
4. Add about 2 cups to the pan. Once it starts boiling, add cornflour paste and stir to thicken.  At this point, add the vinegar, sugar and salt to taste.  Add the paneer and cook for a few minutes.
5.Garnish with the remaining green onions

**Recipe adapted from the famous Tarla Dalal.

Let me know how it goes or have any questions!

Anamika

anamika@kasaindian.com