Drink In Life

When enjoying a cheesy fondue it is customary to stir in a figure eight pattern and make sure not to double dip. Swiss tradition also says if a man drops his nugget of bread into the pot, he buys the next round, and if it’s a women, she must kiss the man on her left. 

Today is National Fondue Day so what better way to celebrate than taking a classic cheese fondue and adding a spicy Indian twist and pairing it with a refreshing Indian spice infused cocktail.

The decadent and rich Fondue was popularized in the 1930s as a Swiss national dish by the Swiss Cheese Union as a way of increasing cheese consumption. For this reason I feel that any fondue recipe must include at least one cheese from Switzerland.

Before we get to the actual Indian Fondue recipe, I wanted to share some of the Indian spiced bits that I made to dip into the Fondue.

Khara Bread (Indian Spiced Baked Bread)

One of the most used small appliances in my kitchen is a bread machine. Although I never use the bread machine to bake bread, I use it multiple times a week to prepare my bread and pizza dough. There is nothing quite like the irresistible aroma of fresh baked bread. For hours, my house was filled with an enticing scent from this spiced bread. I couldn’t wait for it to cool down so that I could slice it and enjoy. If you are looking for an amazing burst of flavors, you can’t do much better than this homemade Khara Bread.

Masala (spice blend):
1 tablespoon garlic olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 small onion, finely chopped
Dry Sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
2/3 cup packed cilantro, finely chopped
1 cup fresh dill, finely chopped or 1 tbsp dried dill
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (I used a spice infused sea salt)
Dough:
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons coconut sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour Instructions:

To prepare the masala blend, heat the garlic olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. When hot, add the onion, sun-dried tomato and cumin seeds and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chopped cilantro and dill and sauté for another minute. Remove from heat and let cool.

For the dough, combine all the ingredients into the bread machine pan and add masala blend. Set on dough cycle and wait.

When the dough cycle is complete, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead for about three to five minutes until the dough is soft and smooth and not sticky. Add more flour during the kneading process as needed.

Shape the dough into a round and transfer to a baking sheet or shape for a bread pan. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let sit in a warm space until doubled in volume. This should take about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, depending on how warm it is in your kitchen.

Preheat an oven to 375°. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the bread is golden on top and it sounds hollow when tapped. Let the loaf sit in the pan for 5 minutes. Gently run a knife along the edges of the bread and carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and cubing for the fondue.
Makes one standard size loaf

Khara Bread is amazing, so full of texture and flavor.

Along with the Khara Bread, I also made a vegetarian Cauliflower and Brown Rice bite, and a Turkey Indian Spiced Meatball to complete the Fondue dinner.

Turkey Indian Spiced Meatball

Ingredients:
1 small onion, finely minced
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely minced
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp turmeric and garam masala
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp salt
small handful of fresh cilantro
1 lb ground turkey
Instructions
Saute onion, garlic and fresh ginger in small frying pan until tender, add all ground spices and remove from heat.
Add the onion mixture into a large bowl with the ground turkey (for additional texture add 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs and 1 egg) and fresh cilantro. Use you hands to mix everything together.
Scoop out a small ball of mixture and form into a meatball.
To cook, bake in 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

Cauliflower Brown Rice Spiced Bite

Ingredients:
1 large cauliflower, cut into florets, sprinkled with 1 tsp of garlic powder and 1 tsp onion powder, steamed until fork tender (should yield about three cups)
3 cups cooked brown rice, cooled (toast 1 cup brown rice in garlic olive oil with 1/2 tsp smoked paprika add 2 1/2 cups water and a vegetable bouillon, simmer while covered for 20-25 minutes).
¾ cups panko crumbs
3 large eggs
1 tbsp fresh cilantro
1 tsp spicy infused sea salt
1 tablespoon fresh chives
1 tsp sea salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper

• INSTRUCTIONS
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a large baking sheet by coating it with a good amount of non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
• In a food processor, puree the cauliflower and brown rice together, add a small amount of water if needed. Puree until the mixture is the consistency of hummus. Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl.
• Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix well. Place bowl in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to let mixture bind.
• Use a small scoop to portion the mixture. Roll into balls using your hands. Place the balls onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Carefully turn the meatballs over and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Serve immediately or store for later! These freeze well also!

These two delicious morsels are ready to dip into your Indian Spiced Fondue and can be kept warm in the oven while you prepare your Fondue.

Indian Spiced Fondue

The combination of Le Gruyère cheese, white cheddar cheese, a good quality wine, fresh cilantro, curry powder, smoked paprika, cumin and onion powder is all that is needed to make this delectable Fondue.

• Ingredients:
• 1 cup white wine (I used Chardonnay but any white is fine)
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 8 oz White Cheddar cheese
• 8 oz Le Gruyère cheese
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp onion powder

1. Prepare the fondue pot by slicing a fresh garlic clove in half, then rubbing the sides and base of the pot with the cut side of the garlic.
2. Pour wine and cornstarch into a saucepan on the stove. Whisk over medium low heat until the cornstarch fully dissolves into the liquid.
3. Begin adding the shredded cheese to the pot gradually, one handful at a time. Whisk the cheese continuously as it melts.
4. Let each handful of cheese melt before adding the next handful. Do not raise the heat or let the cheese come to a boil.
5. When all of the cheese is melted, check the texture. If it seems too thick or lumpy, add a little more wine and whisk until the texture is smooth and right for dipping
6. Whisk in the cilantro and spices until well blended.
7. Transfer the melted cheese mixture to your fondue pot. Turn the pot on or light the heat source; keep the heat very low so the cheese stays soft, but doesn’t boil.

Cocktail Time: A Mumbai Mule

For the spiced ginger syrup:
(Makes enough for 8 drinks)
2 teaspoons coriander seed
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
seeds from 5 green cardamom pods
a big pinch of saffron threads
3/4 cup raw sugar
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup sliced fresh ginger root

Make the spiced ginger syrup:
In a small, heavy skillet, combine the coriander, cumin, and cardamom seeds and saffron. Heat over a medium flame, shuffling the pan frequently, to toast the spices until they are fragrant and start to pop, 30 seconds once the pan is hot. Meanwhile, stir together the sugar with the boiling water until dissolved. Put the toasted spices into a small blender and blend until spices are broken up. Add the sliced ginger and the spices to the simple syrup and let sit for up to an hour. Strain the syrup through a very fine mesh strainer, pressing on the solids to extract the good stuff.

Per mule:
2 ounces vodka
1 ounce spiced ginger syrup
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
ice
ginger ale
mint sprig and blackberries for garnish

Make the mules:
In a shaker or jar, stir together the vodka, ginger syrup, and lemon juice for 30 seconds. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice, top off with ginger ale, and top with a mint sprig and blackberries.

Cheers to a delicious Indian spice infused cocktail to enjoy with the Spicy Indian Fondue.

For more information about ROCO© wine visit http://rocowinery.com/ and for the Potato Vodka from Blair & Boyd© visit https://boydandblair.com/

Images are copyrighted by Drink In Nature Photography and Drink In Life Blog.