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Here is one I prepared earlier! |
Introduction
I started grad school about a year ago and moved into my own apartment, It was the first time in my life that I could not rely on meals prepared by my mom or the cafeteria. Initially I ate out every day but my measly research associate pay could not sustain that for long. I therefore decided to learn how to cook and with the help of my mom, my cell phone and cheap international calling a year later I am a reasonably good chef. However the process was not easy, there were many disasters along the way caused by statements like "add Paprika according to taste" or "place in the oven preheated to 400 C and leave for 20 minutes. Make sure to grease the oven tray." (I read the second sentence after leaving in oven for 20 minutes). I plan to write a set of recipes which can be followed step by step, assume no culinary knowledge and hopefully result in great tasting food. First on the menu is a very simple Southeast Asian (Indian if you prefer although that is not entirely accurate) dish called Qeema Shimla Mirch (Ground Beef with Bell Peppers). Its one of the easiest things I cook that invariably tastes great.#Typedef
Before starting with the recipe I would like to define some of the measurement metrics I will be using in the article.
Tea Spoon
The smaller of the two standard spoon sizes it is normally used to measure spices. Be warned that things that are measured in tea spoons tend to have a very high taste to volume ratio therefore the margin of error is not that great.
 |
| Acceptable |
 |
A bit too much |
Table Spoon
The larger of the two standard spoon sizes often used to measure liquids such as cooking oil and lemon juice. Has a slightly higher margin of error.
Cup
Generally accepted to be equal to 250 milliliters of liquid or 250 grams of solids (usually powder). However do not worry if you do not have a measuring cup most items measured in cups have a fairly high margin of error. As a rule of thumb, a small glass full, or half of a coffee mug is normally equivalent to a "Cup".
#Include
This section lists all the tools needed for cooking the the dish, if you are missing any you can defer reading the rest of this document until you have acquired the complete set. This is part of my effort to avoid any surprises if you are following this guide step-by-step as you are cooking.Non-Stick Pan
A non-stick pan is essential for all novice cooks because it is much harder to burn stuff in such pans. It is also more healthy as you can use much less cooking oil. These pans are identified by the slippery black (Teflon) coating on their inside surface. Important warning Never use metal utensils with non-stick pans. The coating gets scratched off really easily and is toxic if ingested.Large Wooden Spoon
Essential for all cooking is our trusty large spoon, it must not be metal as per my earlier warning about non-stick pans. Plastic spoons are acceptable but don' t look as cool also make sure the plastic is heat proof.
Chef's Knife
| Speed Chopping Tutorial |
One of my first cooking related purchases was a good Chef's knife. If you are not sure what a chef's knife looks like, it's the weapon of choice for any discerning slasher movie villain as well as the knife that the hot girl grabs out of the kitchen drawer before being brutally murdered. Wikipedia describes it as having a blade which is 20 cm long and 4 cm wide at widest point (near the handle) which tapers of to a sharp point. There is a pronounced curve near the tip of the blade which is often used as a pivot for rocking the knife to achieve spectacular speed chopping action (See video).
Good Chopping Board
Mom's have perfected the art of using the minimum number of utensils while cooking to reduce workload of cleaning up and therefore often use a smaller knife without a chopping board. However to practice speed chopping and (avoid getting blood in your food) you really need a good chopping board, again plastic will suffice but wood looks so much more professional.
ingredients[8] = {...};
- Ground Beef: 200 grams per serving (1/2 pounds if you prefer the imperial system). If you get regular as opposed to lean then you can avoid the use of cooking oil altogether.
- Bell Pepper: 1 per 2 servings. Although the red and orange bell peppers look more impressive simple green bell peppers invariably taste better.
- Ginger & Garlic Paste: 1 Tea each spoon per serving, if you get a single paste that has both then just use 2 tea spoons.
- Paprika: 1 tea spoon per serving for mild, 2 tea spoons per serving for moderately hot and 3+ for really hot (Warning: I am South Asian so my definition of moderately hot might be fairly hot for the western palette).
- Lemon Juice: 2 table spoons per serving.
- Hot Peppers: 2 to 4 per serving use Jalapeno or habanero if you like spicy food. This can be omitted altogether if you are faint of heart. These peppers will not make the dish generally hot but if you get a piece of pepper then you will feel the burn.
- Salt: Can be omitted if you are trying to reduce the sodium content of your food.
- Cooking Oil: I prefer olive oil but some people dislike the taste so you can use any one you like. As I said earlier if you have regular ground beef as opposed to lean you can omit the oil. The meat will release enough fat to cook in.
int main()
{chopped_peppers = init_peppers(Bell Peppers, Hot Peppers, Knife, Chopping Board);
defrosted_ meat = init_meat(Ground Beef);
cook(defrosted_ meat, chopped_peppers, other ingredients, non-stick pan and wooden spoon);
return 0;
}
init_peppers(...)
{
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Bell Peppers |
Place bell pepper upright on the chopping board and remove the core of the pepper by cutting perpendicularly down at line segments shown in the figure.
Discard the core
Slice each of the segments into three or four pieces such that each piece is roughly a 1 x 1 inch square.
chopped_peppers += square pieces of bell pepper;
if(adding hot peppers)
{
Discard the core
Slice each of the segments into three or four pieces such that each piece is roughly a 1 x 1 inch square.
chopped_peppers += square pieces of bell pepper;
 |
| Jalapeno Peppers |
if(adding hot peppers)
{
Remove top portion (Stalk)
Cut into small circular pieces (Bottom right corner of picture)
chopped_peppers += circular cut jalapeno pepers
}
return chopped_peppers;
return chopped_peppers;
}
init_meat(...)
{
if(you are reading this in well in advance of cooking)
{
else if(you have an hour or two spare )
{
}
else
{
if(you are reading this in well in advance of cooking)
{
Take the beef out and leave it to defrost in the kitchen sink
A good idea is to do this before you go to work or school and when you get back in the evening the meat should be ready for cooking.
return defrosted_meat;
}else if(you have an hour or two spare )
{
Put ground beef in a pot half filled with water and leave on stove on medium heat for about an hour.
Drain water.
return defrosted_meat;
}
else
{
Put ground beef in a pot with 2 cups of water per serving
Put pot on stove at maximum heat setting
Keep turning frozen meat so that the side resting on pot base is not over cooked
Scrape off thawed ground meat from the chunk using the wooden spoon. (The thawed parts are identified by the change in color from red to brown)
This process should take 10 minutes
Do not drain the remaining water
return defrosted_meat;
}Put pot on stove at maximum heat setting
Keep turning frozen meat so that the side resting on pot base is not over cooked
Scrape off thawed ground meat from the chunk using the wooden spoon. (The thawed parts are identified by the change in color from red to brown)
This process should take 10 minutes
Do not drain the remaining water
return defrosted_meat;
}
Cook(...)
{
Place meat in the non-stick pan and spread evenly on base.
Add water until meat is submerged
Add one table spoon of ginger paste and one of garlic paste
Add two table spoons of lemon juice
Add half tea spoon of salt (omit if you prefer)
Add one table spoon of cooking oil (omit if using non-lean beef)
Place on stove on high heat
Stir with wooden spoon to mix ingredient
wait(10-15 minutes);
while( water_level >= 0)
{
stir meat rapidly to avoid burning
}
Once water is gone you should be able to hear the meat sizzle
Add paprika (1/2/3 tea spoons per serving based on required hotness) Stir-fry for 2 minutes
Add Hot peppers stir-fry for 2 more minutes
Add Bell peppers stir-fry for 2 more minutes
Turn down heat to minimum
Add 50 milliliters of water per serving
Leave to simmer for 10 minutes
Add water until meat is submerged
Add one table spoon of ginger paste and one of garlic paste
Add two table spoons of lemon juice
Add half tea spoon of salt (omit if you prefer)
Add one table spoon of cooking oil (omit if using non-lean beef)
Place on stove on high heat
Stir with wooden spoon to mix ingredient
wait(10-15 minutes);
while( water_level >= 0)
{
stir meat rapidly to avoid burning
}
Once water is gone you should be able to hear the meat sizzle
Add paprika (1/2/3 tea spoons per serving based on required hotness) Stir-fry for 2 minutes
Add Hot peppers stir-fry for 2 more minutes
Add Bell peppers stir-fry for 2 more minutes
Turn down heat to minimum
Add 50 milliliters of water per serving
Leave to simmer for 10 minutes
}
Serving Instruction
This dish is traditionally served with flat bread (Nan) but can also be used in wraps or with steamed rice.
Variations
One of the reasons I like this dish so much (other then the awesome taste and ease of preparation) is the number of variations available which all taste great. Instead of bell peppers you use peas, mixed vegetables, sweet corn, lady fingers and a host of other vegetables with the exact same procedure.
Acknowledgments
The recipe was original created by my mom it has recreated here with permission
Photographs (Bell Peppers & Jalapeno Peppers) courtesy of Wikipedia.
Photograph of finished dish is original content.
Nevin Liber
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Untitled
Sorry, couldn't resist...
Tyr
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some feedback
One little thing that bugged be was
(water != all evaporated)
wouldn't it be better as
(water > 0)
or
(water > 10ml)
as not all the water is gone.
Also I think the ifs are really good.
init_meat and init_peppers are a good mix of C++ and readability.
The #Typedef is also well implemented.
Thank you, I hope for more foods soon. I think that being able to reuse things like init_meat is useful.
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