Externship week eight

A typical menu for a day

Indian food the continuation...

That was the second week of my externship at the Indian reastaurant at Google. This week was slightly easier. It seems for me there work load was less than the week before. That in turn allowed me to pay more attention on what was going around, to ask more questions. Also I was able to finish my project at this place, to re-write recipes for one day menu in the CIA standard and then to cost all these recipes.


Monday

This is the prepared onions
There is about 100 pounds

Was day of preparation work. I had to make paste and chop garlic, ginger, and serrano chillies. Then onion - peel and slice on the machine (still crying). Then garlic - slice on the machine (we've got already peeled garlic, so life if easy:-) The big task was to deep fry paneer (Indian cheese). The chef was pleased how I did it.

Actual cooking!

Tuesday
That day I decided to get an easy job for myself. So I chose spices. I toasted cumin seeds and coriander seeds. Also I made a blend mix for Garam Masala as per recipe given and toasted the mixture as well. When spices cooled down I had to grind them. We do not have a grinder so I used a mixer and a food processor. Coriander and Garam Masala were not difficult, bit cumin was a pain in the ass. First I had to toast it again as it was not toasted enough. Then I tried food processor with no success as the powder was too coarse. After that I switched to a blender. It was a long process to have cumin seeds grounded. The good thing is that I know a recipe for Garam Masala mix.



Wednesday

Fish fried for testing

It was a day when I work for the front of the house (FOH). I got t-shirt and worked as a waiter in the restaurant serving Indian food. T-shirt I was asked to return, but anyway it was a bit small for me (medium size). That was a great experience. Couple times I mixed up people at a table and gave non-vegetarian food to a vegetarian. At Google people are friendly (also they are not paying for lunch), so there were no issues, changed plate, apologized and everyone was happy. Before and after the service I worked in the kitchen prepping some vegetables for the next day.

Thursday

Menu for the day

Was not able to escape onions. I told that I have an allergy for onions, but the lead cook did not buy the story, so I had to cry a bit during the time I sliced onions on the machine. Also I worked with some other vegetables - squash and cucumbers. After the lunch I started preparation for the Friday's test. Right at the beginning of my two weeks I was told that there will be a test, to see what I have learned during my work at this cafe. I had to prepare three dishes: chicken dish (I guessed that it would be chicken or lamb based on the menu), vegetable dish, and daal (lentil dish). I decided to cook chicken Tikka Masala, Vegetable curry, and daal with cabbage. So I cleaned chicken thighs from fat, cut them in bite size pieces and marinated them with coriander, cumin, garam masala, salt, chilli powder, and lemon juice. Originally I thought to marinate in yogurt, but the other extern used yogurt so I choose lemon juice. For the vegetable curry I took cauliflower florets, potatoes (bite size) and steamed them about 75% done. After that I seasoned vegetables with some turmeric, coriander, and salt. Also I used butternut squash. I peeled it, cut into bite size pieces seasoned with turmeric, coriander, salt, and oil and roasted it.

Friday

My dishes for test. Really happy 

It was the test day. In the morning I worked on preparation and after morning break (11 am) we were allowed to start cooking our dishes. In the morning there were butternut squash to peel and dice. Also there were green papayas to peel, deseed, and shred. All my thoughts were about test. There was no fear about it, only anxiety to show that I can cook. Also I decided not to stick to recipes (which was dangerous with Indian cuisine). I had to gather all my spices and cut some vegetables (onion, garlic, ginger). Indeed they generously gave us 2.5 hours to cook three dishes. I started with chicken - place on the roasting rack, roast in the oven 15 min at 425. Then started with sauce for the chicken. At this point I realized that there was no oil in the house (great!), but I found ghee (clarified butter). Saute onion in ghee, add garlic and ginger, then spice mixture (coriander, chilli, paprika, Garam Masala, whole chillies, and cardamom), add tomato puree, and diced tomatoes (from a can). Simmer for about 30 minutes, then put into blender and puree to get texture you want. Then return to pan, add chicken and bring to a simmer. Simmer to heat chicken through, then check seasoning and flavor of the sauce, adjust if necessary and add yogurt. Mix well, add chopped cilantro, and serve.
For the vegetable curry. Saute sliced onion, add garlic and ginger. Add spices (turmeric, coriander, chilli, garam masala) and saute for 1-2 minutes till spices are fragrant. Add coconut milk, bring to simmer and reduce heat a very low simmer. Simmer for 15-20 minutes to allow milk infuse with spices. Add bell pepper and vegetables prepared the day before. Bring to simmer and simmer for 5-7 minutes until vegetables are heated through and completely cooked. To finish curry, temper black mustard seeds, curry leaves, and dry chillies in oil. Add to curry. Serve hot.
Daal dish was not particularly good, so I think can skip boring details about it.
To my surprise chicken and curry dishes received really good reviews and indeed they were good, quite balances flavours with a very mild level of heat. What surprised me the most is that the lead cook wants to see my vegetable curry on the menu. I promised to share my recipe.
Sous chef was quite impressed when 15 minutes before testing I said that I am going to take my 10 minutes break:-) She did not expect this.
At the end of the day we had my performance review. She gave me her e-mail and that was it for the two weeks in an Indian restaurant.