Feel the burn
November 14, 2009 4:52 PM Subscribe
How can I make this delicious Indian food a little less spicy?
My awesome Indian neighbor just stopped by my house and gave me a bowl of food. It's chopped angelhair noodles mixed with peas and a very spicy brown/yellow condiment - tastes like chilli to me, not the kind of tomatoey flavors you get in restaurants. I'm liking it a lot but it's *really* hot - I can actually see large chunks of what looks like chilli paste.
How can I tone it down a bit for my Anglo palate? I'm eating it with Greek yoghurt but even that is not enough!
My awesome Indian neighbor just stopped by my house and gave me a bowl of food. It's chopped angelhair noodles mixed with peas and a very spicy brown/yellow condiment - tastes like chilli to me, not the kind of tomatoey flavors you get in restaurants. I'm liking it a lot but it's *really* hot - I can actually see large chunks of what looks like chilli paste.
How can I tone it down a bit for my Anglo palate? I'm eating it with Greek yoghurt but even that is not enough!
Forgot to mention, coconut milk is also good for diluting hot flavors.
posted by oneirodynia at 5:14 PM on November 14, 2009
posted by oneirodynia at 5:14 PM on November 14, 2009
+1 dairy.
posted by jeffamaphone at 5:14 PM on November 14, 2009
posted by jeffamaphone at 5:14 PM on November 14, 2009
Cook more angel hair noodles and mix them in.
posted by Juliet Banana at 5:24 PM on November 14, 2009
posted by Juliet Banana at 5:24 PM on November 14, 2009
Peanut butter or tahini also helps with cutting the heat from a spicy food, though of course it only works with certain dishes for certain tastes.
posted by idiopath at 5:28 PM on November 14, 2009
posted by idiopath at 5:28 PM on November 14, 2009
The best you can do is drink milk with it, really. Nothing else is going to work, says science!
posted by InsanePenguin at 7:09 PM on November 14, 2009
posted by InsanePenguin at 7:09 PM on November 14, 2009
Seconding drinking milk / adding dairy
Also try having a side dish of sliced cucumber with it
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 8:20 PM on November 14, 2009
Also try having a side dish of sliced cucumber with it
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 8:20 PM on November 14, 2009
Take your yoghurt, get a cucumber and some mint, and make raita.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:52 PM on November 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:52 PM on November 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
The yogurt suggestions are good. I suspect the chunks you see are what I grew up calling "pickle" which is a very spicy condiment. Unless it's mixed in evenly (which it usually isn't), you should be able to eat a bite with pickle and then some bites without, which is a good way to damp it down. I haven't had this particular dish before, so I don't know if it would be weird with the noodles, but one of the ways to make hot Indian dishes very bearable is to eat them with flat bread: nan, chippati, roti. Don't use a fork. Tear off a piece of bread, wrap your bite in it with your fingers and pop it into your mouth. It damps down the spice quite a bit. Otherwise, the adding more noodles suggestion is also a good one.
posted by carmen at 6:33 AM on November 15, 2009
posted by carmen at 6:33 AM on November 15, 2009
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posted by oneirodynia at 5:12 PM on November 14, 2009