mongo_jones

where are the byadgi chillies, loser?

it's plenty of time to use up the small ziplock bag of curry leaves sold at indian groceries. if you're not cooking south indian food often enough to do that then delete your account.

curry leaves properly stored will last at least 2 weeks in optimal condition.

but why don't you always have a huge bunch of cilantro in your fridge? that's the real question.

sneak, i don't understand why you've raised the spectre of "authenticity" when what you're really asking about is how faithfully people follow recipes when cooking at home.

i am a home cook. i don't try to do anything the way restaurant kitchens do it. no matter what cuisine i am cooking, if an ingredient is not to hand and it isn't crucial, i leave it out. if there's a reasonable substitute, i use it. if it's crucial and i don't have it and there's no decent substitute, i make something else. when ingredients are very easy to locate i purchase them and use them. when i have a lot of time i make more painstaking dishes in painstaking ways. usually, i make things in the most convenient possible way. what any of this has to do with authenticity, i'm not sure.

sorry, joe--i wasn't referring directly to you everywhere in all these responses; i should have been clearer. i'm responding mostly to voyager and sneak who brought up authenticity.

i can't believe we're about to have this conversation on mouthfuls in 2020.

i don't cook whole red lentils but the standard approach would do very well: cook 1 cup lentils with 4-5 cups of water with a pinch of turmeric till at the consistency you like. then prepare a tadka: oil/ghee + cumin seeds till they split + a bit of sliced onion and/or garlic + optional chopped or sliced green chillies + optional chopped tomato (1/2 cup?) + salt. add to dal, mix in and simmer for another minute or two. (if using tomato, cook the tadka down till the tomatoes have completely given up the ghost.) garnish with a bit of cilantro if you like.

yes, dried curry leaves are no substitute for fresh. again, fresh curry leaves are probably available very close to you. but by all means do lime zest and basil... the reason this line of conversation amuses me is that adept cooks like those on mouthfuls are usually very particular about ingredients when they cook the cuisines they are most used to (for evidence, see joethefoodie's spice drawer). but if someone suggests that a particular ingredient for indian cooking might be optimal the authenticity police are immediately invoked.

you are of course free to cook my recipes how you want--how could i stop you anyway? if you like what you end up making, more power to you. but that doesn't mean i'm going to tell you that all ingredients are substitutable and no distinctions matter.

when did i say anything about authenticity? i'm just amused that people who go to the trouble of stocking multiple kinds of saffron throw their hands up at the thought of perhaps purchasing some indian ingredients available right where they live.

yeah, there's very little of use in indian cooking in that spice drawer. even the wrong mustard seeds.

here's a recipe i posted yesterday for a simple dish of potatoes and peppers that you'll be able to make without going hunting for anything esoteric (assuming of course that you're not so uncivilized as to not have turmeric powder at hand at all times). keep in mind that the recipes i post are predominantly for home-style food. you're unlikely to come across anything very complicated.