It has been a few weeks since I last posted, but I had a good reason:  my husband and I purchased and moved into our first home!  The past few weeks were stressful and busy, but buying your first home is such an exciting time, especially when you've spent the last 12 years in a dorm room or apartment.  My wonderful parents were nice enough to come help us set up and organize.  They also guided us through the Hindu ritual of blessing a new home, called grah pravesh.  As part of this ritual,one needs to make something sweet, and most Indian sweets require the use of ghee, or clarified butter.

The benefit to making your own ghee is that you can make as much as you would realistically use before it goes bad.  When you buy it at the store, it comes in a large jar and is typically more than I could ever use in 1 year.  When I make it at home, I only end up with about 6 ounces (three-fourths of a cup).  In my opinion, ghee gets a little bit of a bad rap.  Yes, some people use entirely too much ghee in their cooking, but when used sparingly ghee has some nice benefits, such as its high smoke point and its ability to last for months without refrigeration.

Making your own ghee is easier than you think:  all you need is high quality unsalted grass-fed butter.  You can easily find this in any grocery store.  The other tools you will need are a metal mesh strainer, a few pieces of cheesecloth, and an air-tight container in which to store the ghee.

Pickled onions are one of my favorite "condiments" to accompany Indian food.  They are crispy, tangy, and slightly sweet, and pair well with almost any Indian dish.  Actually, they also taste amazing with non-Indian foods:  I often eat them with Mexican food, barbecued meat, or even stir-fry.

One of my Mom's best friend's is an excellent cook, and the first time I tried quick pickled red onions was at a dinner party at her home.  I was reminded of how much I loved them when she brought them to my Mom's birthday dinner party last spring, and having them again inspired me to try my hand at making them.  They are very easy to make:  you only need 4 ingredients and 1 hour of time.

Chutney is a general word used in Indian cuisine for a condiment made with some mixture of spices, herbs, and vegetables or fruit.  Chutneys may be sweet, sour, spicy, or a combination of all three.  Chutneys are used frequently in Indian dishes to add flavor or heat to food.

Indian grocery stores all sell a variety of pre-made chutneys, and when you are a jam they are great.  If you have a little bit of time, however, nothing tastes as good as homemade chutney, which you can tailor to your tastes.  Another big plus, as always, is that you know the ingredients you are putting in your homemade chutney and there are not artificial ingredients or preservatives!

This dipping sauce is actually a Thai recipe; but there is no reason it cannot be used with Indian food!  It is an easy way to add additional spice to your dishes.  In Thailand, it is traditionally served with chicken satay.

The recipe for this dipping sauce essentially involves quick-pickling cucumbers.  The pickling liquid becomes infused with the other ingredients in the recipe, and these flavors transfer to the pickled cucumbers.  The cucumbers retain a nice crunch because the dipping sauce is prepared right before serving!

When I was a child, my parents almost always made raita and served it with dinner.  "Raita" is a condiment made with yogurt, spices, and herbs.  My parents served it with dinner because it is a way to add more raw vegetables into a meal, and because it nicely balances a hot and spicy dish.

There are many varieties of raita--the yogurt may be mixed with vegetables, fruits, or other items.  If you are familiar with Greek food, raita is very similar to tzatziki sauce.  This is my recipe for a very simple vegetable raita; but feel free to try your own combinations and variations!