Indian food is near the top of my list of favorite types of ethnic cuisine. It's warm, saucy, comforting, and always has depth and dimension. Many people have a misunderstanding about Indian food, that it's too spicy, too smelly, too unusual and weird. They couldn't be more wrong! Indian food does not have to be spicy, just incredibly full of flavor. Indian food is often quite smelly, but it's a smell I can't get enough of. Indian food is not weird, but is a cuisine that has deep roots in a culture that is rich with beauty and history.
It seems I had my own misunderstandings about making Indian food at home. I had always gone out to eat for Indian (my fave place: Kashish in Belmont Center, MA), and was under the impression that Indian food was complicated to make at home. I always thought it involved specialty ingredients that would be difficult to find. Turns out, I was wrong!
I used two recipes: chicken tikka masala (SeriousEats.com) and aloo gobi (RecipeZaar.com), with some minor modifications.
This chicken tikka masala recipe is much faster and easier than other recipes I've found. The chicken marinates for a relatively short period of time (15 minutes or so, versus overnight for some other recipes).
The "specialty" ingredients I so feared are actually just spices, which I found at my local Whole Foods. The great thing about Whole Foods is I can buy spices in bulk, which means I can buy just a couple tablespoons for less than a dollar! That way, I spend less on spices that I would likely not use frequently anyway. Also, I used non-fat plain yogurt in lieu of heavy cream to keep it on the healthier side. The only strange thing about this dish was it did NOT look like the picture on SeriousEats.com, nor did it look like any chicken tikka masala I've had in a restaurant. Mine was kind of yellowish, while most others I've had are red. I don't know where I went wrong?
As for the aloo gobi, it was easy and straightforward. However, I'd like to note that cauliflower cooks much faster than potatoes! Once the potatoes were done cooking, the cauliflower had basically cooked down to a mush. It tasted good nonetheless, but it would have looked nicer if you could actually see the cauliflower.
My apartment still smells like curry, so beware that the smell is quite potent and will take some time to dissipate. But you won't regret it!
Chicken Tikka Masala
serves 4
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts, cut into 0.5 - 1" pieces
2" piece of fresh ginger, peeled
2 cloves garlic
S&P to taste
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1 lemon
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 red onion, roughly chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground turmeric
3/4 cups plain nonfat yogurt, plus 1 tsp flour
2 tsp tomato paste
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, grate half the ginger, and the zest of the lemon. Then add the garlic, cilantro, 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil, half the lemon's juice, a Tbsp of yogurt, S&P. Stir, add the chicken, and set aside to marinate.
2. While the chicken is marinating, heat the remaining oil in a heavy, large skillet over LOW heat. Roughly chop the remaining giner and add it to the oil with the onion. Cook gently for 10-15 minutes until almost caramelized. Add the spices and stir well to combine. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Season with salt, then scrape this onion/spice mixture into a bowl. Set it aside.
3. Increase the heat to medium-high and add the chicken that has been marinating. Cook until brown and cooked through. Add the onion/spice mixture back to the pan with the chicken and stir. Add the flour, then the yogurt. Stir in the tomato paste. Simmer for 10 minutes or so.
Aloo Gobi
serves a lot!
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, separated into stalk and leaves, and chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1 large head cauliflower, cut into pieces
3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1.5-2" pieces
1 large, or 2 small, cans of diced tomatoes
2" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
2 tsp garam masala
Directions:
1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan/pot. Add the chopped onion and ground cumin. Cook until the onions become translucent.
2. Add the chopped cilantro stalks, turmeric, salt, chili powder, tomatoes (drained), ginger, and garlic. Mix thoroughly.
3. Add the potatoes and cauliflower, plus some water (maybe 1/2 cup). Stir to ensure the vegetables are covered in the curry sauce.
4. Cover, simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked (pierce them with a knife easily).
5. Add the garam masala and stir. Garnish with cilantro leaves.
Serve both with basmati rice and/or naan (Trader Joe's sells frozen naan that you heat in your oven. It's pretty good!). Enjoy your delicious creations!
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