Recipe #272: Chicken Makhani

This goes with #271, perfectly!  This is from food.com, with my changes in red.  Crazy delicious!!!  I bet the house will still smell this good tomorrow morning... hearty, a little spicy, fun to make.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1/4 white onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste (I couldn't find this, so I used 1/2tbs powdered ginger and 1/2tbs garlic powder)
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup tomato puree
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, to taste
1 pinch salt
1 pinch black pepper
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Directions:

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat.

Saute shallot and onion until soft and translucent.

Stir in butter, lemon juice, ginger garlic paste, 1 teaspoon garam masala, chili powder, cumin and bay leaf.

Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Add tomato puree and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Stir in half-and-half and yogurt.

Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Season with salt, pepper and cayenne.

Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.

Cook chicken until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

Reduce heat and season with 1 teaspoon garam masala and cayenne.

Stir in about 1/3 of the sauce and simmer until liquid has reduced and chicken is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.

Pour the rest of the sauce into the chicken. (Instead, I put the chicken mixture back into the first pot- there was much more room.)

Mix together cornstarch and water, then stir into the sauce.

Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until thickened.

Recipe #271: Naan (Indian flatbread)

I made this!  *giddy!*  With minimal flour messes!  The recipe calls for a cast iron skillet, which I don't have, so I used the griddle insert for my stove (for the first time!) and adjusted the times to make sure the bubbles formed by cooking the first side were blackened during the cooking of the second side.  Don't skip the butter and sea salt- SO delicious!  Perfect for swabbing up sauces (stay tuned for the next post, which was pair with this).  This is from foodnetwork.com, with my notes in red.

Ingredients
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kalonji (nigella seeds), optional (I skipped this since it wasn't authentic)
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, optional (I skipped this because it wasn't authentic)
Melted butter for slathering on the finished naans
Coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Directions
In a large glass, dissolve the dry yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar with 3/4 cup warm water (about 100 degrees F). Let it sit on your counter until it's frothy, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, sift the flour, salt, remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar and baking powder into a large, deep bowl.

Once the yeast is frothy, add the yogurt and the olive oil into the glass, and stir to combine. Pour the yogurt mixture into the dry ingredients and add the kalonji and fennel seeds, if using, and gently mix the ingredients together with a fork. When the dough is about to come together, use your hands to mix. It will feel like there isn't enough flour at first, but keep going until it transforms into a soft, slightly sticky and pliable dough. As soon as it comes together, stop kneading. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let it sit in a warm, draft-free place for 2 to 4 hours.

                   

When you're ready to roll, make sure you have two bowls on your counter: one with extra flour in it, and one with water. The dough will be extremely soft and sticky-this is good! Separate the dough into 6 equal portions and lightly roll each one in the bowl of extra flour to keep them from sticking to each other.

Shape the naan. Using a rolling pin, roll each piece of dough into a teardrop shape, narrower at the top than at the bottom. It should be 8 to 9-inches long, 4-inches wide at its widest point and about 1/4-inch thick. Once you've formed the general shape, you can also pick it up by one end and wiggle it; the dough's own weight will stretch it out a little. Repeat this method with the rest of the dough. (If you're making the gluten-free version, you'll have better luck pressing the dough out with your fingertips, than rolling.)

Warm a large cast-iron skillet over high heat until it's nearly smoking. Make sure you have a lid large enough to fit the skillet and have a bowl of melted butter at the ready.

Dampen your hands in the bowl of water and pick up one of your naans, flip-flopping it from one hand to the other to lightly dampen it. Gently lay it in the skillet and set your timer for 1 minute. The dough should start to bubble.

After about 1 minute, flip the naan. It should be blistered and somewhat blackened, don't worry - that's typical of traditional naan! Cover the skillet with the lid and cook 30 seconds to 1 minute more.

Remove the naan from the skillet, brush with a bit of butter and sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt. Place the naan in a tea towel-lined dish. Repeat with the rest of the naans and serve.

Recipe #214: Easy Indian Curried Lamb

Oh how I love lamb.  Here's another recipe.  The flavor is rich and delicious!  If you want it to be saucier, add water or broth to it as it cooks.  I also used minced garlic instead of crushed cloves.

Copied from my favorite site, allrecipes.com:

INGREDIENTS:

3 tablespoons canola oil 1 onion, finely chopped 4 cloves garlic, crushed 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, or to taste 1 pound lamb stew meat, cubed 3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 teaspoons ground coriander 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste 2 teaspoons garam masala 1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric 1 teaspoon red chile powder, or to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.

Heat canola oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir onion, garlic, and cumin seeds in the hot oil until onion is browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Add lamb, tomato paste, coriander, salt, garam masala, turmeric, and red chile powder; stir to coat. Cover saucepan and simmer until meat is tender and no longer pink in the center, about 1 hour.

Recipe #31: Curry-Kissed Chicken

After working out, Nick and I wanted something light and easy to make for dinner. This recipe is adapted from one of my many cookbooks, and it came together in 10 minutes. Definitely a keeper for those nights I need to make something quick.

Simply season chicken breasts, chicken tenders, or thin sliced chicken breasts with black pepper and curry powder. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, and place the chicken in the hot oil, cooking each side for as long as necessary until cooked through. I used thinly sliced chicken breasts, so it was only a couple minutes per side.

For the sauce, heat some globs (half a small jar or so, maybe less) of apricot preserves and a little water in a small sauce pan until the preserves melt. Add a heaping tablespoon of sour cream, or a small amount of heavy cream, to the preserves and melt and mix thoroughly.

Serve the chicken over rice. I used jasmine rice from one of the Uncle Ben's 90 Second Rice packs. (90 seconds in the microwave is great, and no burnt rice!) Top the chicken with the apricot sauce, and sprinkle some sliced green onion on top.

The result is a flavorful quick meal that's sweet with a little bit of heat.