Chicken Curry

NOTE: Allow chicken to marinate overnight for better flavor. 


Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, quartered
• 3 or 4 garlic cloves, peeled (you can substitute 2 tsp. garlic paste)
• 1 inch of ginger, peeled (you can substitute 2 tsp. of ginger paste)
• 3 green chilis (thai)
• 1.5 cups of yogurt
• 1 tsp. of turmeric
• 3 tsp. of curry powder (see my family's recipe)
• 1 whole chicken, skinless and broken down. (bones are fine, but you can do the boneless variety, too.)
• 2 medium or 1 large tomatoes, diced
• 1 tsp. of tomato paste.
• 3 cups of water (or chicken broth for extra flavor)
• At least 1 tsp. of salt, rest to taste
• 1 tsp. of sugar
• 1/4 cup of cilantro, cleaned and chopped. 
• the juice of 1/2 lemon 
• 2 tsp. vegetable or grapeseed or canola oil.

Directions: 

1. In a blender or food processor, add onions, ginger and garlic. Blend or process until it's a thick paste-like substance (you can add 1 or 2 tsp. of water if needed). Add salt, lemon, turmeric and yogurt to the blender and continue to mix. If you want this chicken to be spicy, blend in two of the chilis, without stems. For medium spice, blend in 1 chili; for mild don't blend in chilis.  The mixture is the marinade for the chicken. 
2. Once all is combined, allow chicken to marinate overnight. 
3. Next day, in a large pot -- add the oil and heat. 
4. When the oil starts smoking slightly, add diced tomatoes and allow to "fry" in the oil for one minute. 
5. Add curry powder and allow the spices to bloom for another minute. 
6. Then add chicken to pot with it's marinade. The chicken will begin to cook in the marinade, which now will act as the based for the sauce. [Note the marinade will be heated and any possible contamination from the poultry won't exist anymore. However, if you can't imagine using the marinade as the sauce, repeat Step 1 and make a "fresh" marinade to use with the chicken. Pull the chicken out of marinade and sear off, adding marinade as the base to the sauce.
7. Once you see the chicken is starting to cook, add in the tomato paste, sugar and water or broth to the pot. Add the remaining chili to the pot to add more flavor.
8. Bring to a boil. Cover then cook on low for 30 minutes; stirring occasionally.
9. After 30 minutes, check for seasoning; add salt to taste or more spice if necessary. [Fans of sriracha, this is a good place to add at least 1 tsp.)
10. Turn heat off. Add cilantro and stir in. Cover pot until you serve it. 
11. Serve with rice.

Tandoori Tostadas

So last weekend in honor of my last weekend at my apartment I threw a dinner party -- with apps and wine.

I'm a huge fan of Mexican food and often find huge similarities between Mexican and Indian food.

So I decided to make tandoori tostadas. Yes, I said it -- tandoori.

It actually tastes great and most of the components can be made ahead of time and then compiled together.

First, make the tandoori chicken. You can substitute chick peas (2 cans) or paneer (2 packs) if you're vegetarian, but then omit the yogurt.

Basic marinade recipe:
1/2 cup of yogurt, 1 tbsp of curry paste, 2 tsp of tandoori powder, 2 tsp of lemon juice. Mix ingredients in a large bowl until combined.

1. Take two bone-in chicken breasts and season with salt and pepper. 
2. Place the chicken in the marinade and leave in fridge overnight or at least for two hours (but then cut slices into chicken breast so marinade can get into the meat.) 
3. Roast chicken (with all of the marinade) for 45 minutes covered with foil in the oven -- 375 to 385. Remove foil and cook another 30 minutes at the same temperature. 
4. Shred chicken and combine with cooking juices. Set aside. 
5. Prepare tostadas by toasting corn tortillas, or buy prepared tostadas. 
6. Combine salsa ingredients: 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro, chop a 1/2 of a large red onion, dice two tomatoes, dice 1 red bell pepper, the juice of a lime, 1/2 tsp of salt and more to taste.
7. Combine 1 cup of sour cream with 1 heaping tablespoon of cilantro chutney. Place the mixture in a squeeze bottle. 
8. Choose a green - can be sprouts, spinach or lettuce. 
9. Place tostada on plate, add greens, chicken, salsa and squeeze cilantro-sour cream mixture on top, repeat. 

Will make 12 tostadas, serves 3 to 4 people. 

Tandoori Chicken

Tandoori Chicken is one of the more popular dishes non-Indians love to order and eat when they are out in Indian restaurants.

So why not grill some up while you're at home, outdoors on the grill?

Here's a super easy recipe - although I'll say you should probably marinate overnight, for the best flavor.

Also I prefer dark meat chicken because it seems to soak up the flavor better than white meat.


Ingredients:

• 4 skinless thighs
• 1 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste
• 1 tsp. of salt
• 4 tbsp of yogurt
• 1/2 lime
• 1/2 tsp of pepper
• 1/2 tsp of chili powder
• 1/2 tsp of fenugreek powder
• 1 tsp of garam masala
• 1/2 tsp of coriander
• 1/2 tsp of cumin
• 1/2 tsp of turmeric
• red food coloring, optional.
• 2 tbsp of oil.

Directions:

Marinade - for at least 4 hours, overnight for best results.

1. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the chicken
2. Add yogurt, spices, oil, lime juice and food coloring in a bowl. Blend well with hands. Add chicken and make sure all chicken is covered in marinade. 
3. Grill the tandoori chicken as you would normally cook chicken, or if you're cooking it in an oven, then cook the chicken for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Cover for 30 minutes, then uncover for remaining 10 minutes.

Chicken Tikka Masala and Onion Relish

So on Saturday night after prodding from some classmates - I decided to throw an Indian dinner party, showcases some of the recipes from the blog.

The great thing about it was that I got to test the written recipe versions of the ones I wrote on this blog and make sure they came out the same way each time. There was a slight difference in the saag paneer recipe but I attribute it to the adjustment I made for the headcount. Instead of using two bags of spinach i used three, and so the cream addition should have been only a half more, and I think I might have doubled it... but it didn't affect the flavor. What did though, was forgetting to add the spices prior to blending the spinach. So the flavor wasn't cooked out of the spices and instead I added the spices in afterwards and it was sorta raw.

Anyway, Sara, my roommate, tested out a Chicken Tikka Masala recipe, I was hoping to try and eventually place on this blog. It turned out amazing! I was so proud of her. What was better was we had some of my classmates come by, some who are Indian, and they said they enjoyed it as well - which is a huge compliment!

So here's how you make it. It's take a bit of time, but it's worth it. We ended up adding some more red chili powder, maybe a little too much, but it gave it a great kick. Also some sugar helps to balance out the flavors - and if you let it sit for a bit, the flavors blend even more.

Chicken Tikka Masala

serves 6, marinade: at least an hour, prep: 30 min., cook: 1 hour.

Ingredients:
* need various amounts of spices, so keep them handy...

• coriander powder
• cumin seeds
• ginger paste
• garlic paste
• chili powder
• turmeric
• fenugreek leaves, ground
• garam masala
• cashew nuts
• salt
• lime
• cream
• 1 cup of yogurt
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, cubed
• 2 bell peppers (two different colors), cubed
• 2 tbsp of oil
• a bunch of cilantro
• 3 chicken breasts, cubed.

Directions:

1. Marinade the chicken, bell peppers and 1 tomato in yogurt and spices. Recipe below.

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Marinade:

• ½ tsp. of chili powder
• ½ tsp. of coriander powder
• ½ tsp. of turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. of ginger paste
• 1 tsp. of garlic paste
• ½ tsp. of fenugreek leaves, ground
• ¼ tsp. of salt      
• ½ of the juice of a lime
• 1 tbsp of oil
• 1 cup of yogurt

1. Take the other tomato and add to blender or food processor and 1 tbsp. of cashews and create a puree.
2. In a medium pot, add a tbsp of oil. Once hot – add 1 tsp. of garam masala, chopped onions, 1 tbsp. of cumin seeds, 1 tsp. of turmeric, 1 tbsp. of coriander, 1 tsp. of chili powder – and cook it the spices for a bit. Add ½ a cup of water and allow it blend with the spices. Then add the tomato puree. Add 2 cups of cream. Add another tsp. of fenugreek powder and cover the pot and allow to boil until combined.
3. Taste and add salt to taste.
4. On a grill or in a non stick or cast iron pan grill vegetables and chicken. Sear outside of chicken and cook through.
5. The add in chicken and vegetables and allow the masala to simmer.
6. Add cilantro to the dish and serve over rice.

In addition to the dishes of chana masala, dal, and lamb keema - she made onion relish, the type you get with pappadum at Indian restaurants as sort of an appetizer.

We found a basic recipe online, but had to make adjustments. 

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Fiery Onion Relish

• 1 cup minced onion
• 4 tsp fresh lemon or lime juice
• 1/2 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or red chili powder)
• 1 tsp of white vinegar
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 1 tbsp of tomato puree
•   Salt to taste

* if you don't have tomato paste available, cut out the sugar, vinegar and salt - add 1.5 tbsp of ketchup instead.

Directions:

1.      If you prefer your onion to be less pungent, soak it in salted water to cover for about 30 minutes, then drain and rinse it.

2.      Combine all ingredients and set them aside for about 30 minutes while the flavors blend.

3.      This relish should be spicy hot, so add as much cayenne as you dare! Refrigerated, this will keep for several days.

An Indian-American Holiday

So Christmas is a big deal in my family, even though we're Hindus. My mom and i both went to Catholic schools growing up and grew up in an environment where Christmas was a big deal, so we've carried on this tradition.

Plus as a family we're pretty open-minded religiously, so we don't mind celebrating the birthday of someone who brings so many people joy. And - on top of that my aunt is Jewish, so we're open to anything, we'd do Hanukkah too if we had a chance.

Anyway, like any family gathering we have a mixture of American and Indian cuisines.

This year the menu was extra special - my Wednesdays of planning and preparing International foods with my roommate, Sara, paid off, and I decided to cook some of those recipes. Most of my family enjoyed all of the food, although I will admit, the brussel sprouts may not have been their favorite. But it's never a bad thing to open your family's culinary palate.

Because these recipes come from other Web sites - I will link to those sites, but I have made adjustments to some of the recipes. Most Indians don't eat pork products, so bacon is a no no. I also adjusted any vegetarian recipes so they didn't include chicken stock and used veggie stock instead.

Maple-Roasted Chickens with Sage Butter
Instead of using turkey as Tyler Florence's recipe calls for, I used two chickens and roasted them side-by-side in the oven. I did not stuff the chickens with stuffing because I personally think that is gross, plus vegetarians then can no longer eat the stuffing.
Another trick - cook chicken breast side down for 30 min per chicken first and then flip over a cook normally according to directions that come with the package.

Southern Cornbread Stuffing
Again unlike Paula Deen, I did not use chicken stock. I substituted with veggie stock. I also did not add poultry seasoning. You can use a store bought italian seasoning, or just add salt and pepper.

Balsamic Braised Brussel Sprouts
so this recipe, courtesy of Smitten Kitchen, another food blog, uses pancetta. I cut that out and the flavor didn't change.

Butternut Squash Risotto
This recipe was delicious - even about 3 or 4 days later. Just make sure you have a lot of stock on hand, because the rice take s along time to cook. Ina Garten uses chicken stock and pancetta, which I again replace with veggie stock. Still tastes amazing.

As for the Indian dishes:

My grandmother made fried rice. I will test out a recipe soon and add it as a separate entry.
My mom made my chick pea masala recipe from this blog. My mom's friend, Sonai, brought two very traditional Indian dishes - Dhokar Dalna and a fish dish, I'll figure out what it's called later and add a recipe to the blog. This recipe was a adapted from Ahaar, another blog about Bengali cuisine.

Dhokar Dalna, a lentil cake in sauce.
serves 6 to 8, Prep: 30 min., Cook: 45 min.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cholar dal (chana dal/Bengal gram)
• 2 medium tomato, chopped
  
• 2 large Idaho potatoes, chopped into cubes.
  
• 1 tsp ginger, grated
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin seed powder
• pinch of asafoetida
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 green chillis
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp ghee
• 2-3 tbsp oil
• salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash and soak Bengal gram lentils in water for 4-6 hours. Drain water and grind the dal to a paste in a mixer.
2. Heat 1 tsp oil and temper it with 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, asafoetida, 1/2 tsp ginger paste, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and salt. 
3. Pour the ground dal and cook till the mixture is soft and sticky, but not completely dry.
4. Smear little oil in a dish. Pour the cooked dal and spread evenly on the dish. Press lightly with your spoon so that it sets properly. Cool and cut the dhoka into square or diamond shapes. 
5. Heat two tbsp oil and fry the dhokas to light brown. Remove and keep aside. 
6. Then heat the rest of remaining oil in a deep bottomed pan and temper it with the 1/2 tsp remaining cumin seeds. Fry for a minute till it stops sputtering. 
7. Add cubed potatoes and brown. They will become more tender as they stew in the pot with other ingredients.
   
8. In the meantime, puree the tomatoes, ginger and green chillies together. 
9. Add the pureed mixture with turmeric, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin seeds powder and saute for 3-4 minutes on low heat.
10. Then, add about two small cups of of water and salt and let it simmer for 4-5 minutes. 
11. Add the fried dhokas, and bring the curry to a boil. 
12. Reduce heat and simmer for another 4-5 minutes till the dhoka starts to soak up part of the curry.
13. Put ghee and garam masala and take it off the heat. It should be the last thing added. just before the dish is taken off the heat. 

Serve with warm rice. 

Chicken Malai Curry

My family loves our chicken curry dishes. 

This is a recipe from Thanksgiving dinner, which my uncle prepared. It's similar to chicken makhani but the preparation and some ingredients are different. It's not too spicy, although you can add chilies if you want.

Chicken Malai Curry
serves 6, Prep: 25 min., Cook: 35 min.


Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of chicken breast cuts in cubes
• 2 cans of tomato paste
• 2 cups of plain yogurt
• 3 table spoon of ginger root paste
• 5 gloves of garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoon of turmeric powder
• 3 tablespoon of cumin powder
• 3 tablespoon of coriander powder
• 2 tablespoon of anisette seeds
• 4 bay leaves
• 4/5 green cardamoms finely crushed in blender with shells and seeds.
• ¼ gallon of light cream
• Salt
• Sugar
• 2 Cups of Cashew nuts
• Cooking oil

Directions:

1. In a large container, place the chicken cubes, add yogurt, little salt and turmeric powder. Mix them well and marinate overnight or 6 to 8 hours.
   
2. Soak the cashew nuts in water for 3 to 4 hours.
3. Heat oil in a large heavy based saucepan on high heat first. Add marinated chicken to the heated oil and start stirring.  Turn down the heat, cover the pan and let it simmer for a while for about 25 to 35 minutes stirring occasionally.
   
4. In a blender, blend rest of the ingredients, except sugar, cream, bay leaves and cardamoms powder. Add the blended mixture to the chicken in the saucepan and stir thoroughly. After a while add the cream and bay leaves and mixes all the ingredients together by stirring.  Cook on slow heat for a while until the chicken pieces get tender. Add salt and sugar as required and add half of blended cardamoms powder. Place the cooked chicken in a serving dish and sprinkle rest of the blended cardamoms powder for garnishing.

A real Indian Thanksgiving

So Thanksgiving like most holidays in my family are fusion feasts. Well, fusion may not be the correct term - but we serve both Indian and American cuisines. It makes sense for us, because almost all the children in my family are American born and some of our family has married into other cultures. So some people only eat Indian food, some eat both types, and some only American. (when I mean American, I mean not Indian or spicy, but Italian, etc. counts)

So anyway each year, we end up at my uncle and aunt's in New Jersey for Thanksgiving, where on top of the regular Thanksgiving feast, we have fried rice, and Indian dishes and desserts.

This year my uncle made Chicken Malai Curry and Paneer Kabliwala, which is a mixture of veggies, cheese and curries.

Paneer Kabilwala

serves 6, Prep: 30 min, Cook: 35 min.
*created by my uncle, Dibyendu.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. of paneer, cut in small cube
• 2 8 oz. cans of chick peas, drained
  
• 1.5 tbsp Fresh Ginger, crushed
• 1.5 tbsp Fresh garlic cloves, crushed,
• 2 medium white/yellow onions, chopped
  
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
  
• 10 to 12 button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 2 tsp. cumin powder
• 1.5 tsp. coriander powder
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 to 2 tsp. Vindaloo paste (it's spicy so, make sure you add it in small amounts and taste)
  
• 1 tsp. salt (to taste)
  
• 2 tbsp. cooking oil (olive oil will be good)

PREPARATION:

1. In a container place the paneer cubes and sprinkle some 1/2 of turmeric powder and 1/4 of salt salt and mix.
2. Place a frying on stove top on medium heat and add 1 tbsp. oil. Start frying the paneer cubes few at a time till they lightly brown. Place all the fried paneer cubes in separate container.
3. Place a fairly large pot on stove top on medium heat and add 1 tbsp. oil. (coat bottom of pot, add more if necessary)
   
4. Add onions, crushed ginger and garlic and start stirring. 
5. Once the onion gets tender, add mushrooms, tomatoes, red peppers and green peppers. Lower the heat.
6. Add cumin powder, coriander powder and the rest of the turmeric powder as to your taste. Continue stirring. 
7. When the vegetable start getting tender, add drained chick peas and continue stirring for ten minutes. 
8. Add paneer cubes and stir.
9. Once all the ingredients are all thoroughly mixed, add Vindaloo paste and salt to your taste. After stirring occasionally for 10 minutes on low heat the dish will be ready for serving.

NOTE: This dish can be served with plain rice, Nan bread or chapattis.

Chicken recipe to follow in upcoming post.

Chicken Makhani (Butter Chicken)

My roommate and I started International Wednesdays - which means we're going to try and make an international cuisine each week.

The first week - I decided to make some Indian food - cause hey, I'm learning right - and practice makes perfect. But really I had a craving for Chicken Makhani, which is also known as Butter Chicken or Chicken Makhanwala (if you go to Indian restaurants). It's a similar texture and look to Chicken Tikha Masala, but in this dish the chicken used is not marinated in Tandoori seasoning.
Tanduri:
Indian term for food cooked in a clay oven (tandoor). The meat is marinated with aromatic herbs and spices before cooking. (source: Answers.com)

Instead the chicken in chicken makhani is marinated in yogurt and light spices so that it's super tender and buttery.
Then a tomato and cream based sauce is added to the cooked chicken with spices such as cumin, corriander and onions and garlic.

This time - I was being a bit lazy and decided to buy the sauce ready made, but marinated the chicken myself and added tomatoes and onions for better texture. I also marinated the chicken in yogurt, oil, salt, pepper and yes tandoori seasoning, cause i wanted to have a bit more flavor.

So here's my recipe for Semi-Homemade Chicken Makhani;
serves 4, Prep: 20 min, Cook: 25 min.

• 2 or 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (If large stick with two)
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. pepper
• 2 tsp. of tandoori seasoning (you can find this in most grocery stores, buy powder if possible, but paste will do (just use less)
• 1 small yellow onion
• 1 regular tomato
• 1 cup of plain yogurt
• 3 tbsp. of oil
• 1 jar of Patak's Butter Chicken Cooking Sauce
•  cilantro for taste
•   sliced almonds

1. Marinate chicken: cut raw chicken into 1/2 inch cubes and throw in a Ziploc freezer bag. Add salt, pepper, tandoori seasoning, 2 tbsp.oil and yogurt. Close bag. Using hands mix marinade on all pieces of chicken.
2. Try to marinate overnight or atleast 1 hour.
3. 
4. Dice tomatoes and onions. Add to a pot with 1 tbsp. of oil. Saute until onions are translucent over medium heat. Add chicken and all of the marinade into the pot and cook until chicken gets brown over medium heat.
5. Add the jar of Patak's Butter Chicken Cooking Sauce and get the liquid to start boiling. Place temp. on low and cover. Allow to simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until chicken is tender.
6. When finished place in a bowl and garnish with almond slices and cilantro.

Serve with Basmati rice or Naan (A flat, leavened bread of northwest India, made of white flour and baked in a tandoor.)


Serves 4 to 6.