A peachy take on chicken..

While we are more than self-sufficient in summer with our vegetables, but we do not grown enough fruit to meet all our needs, which is just as well. This allows me the joy of being able to go the farmers markets. Well a few weeks back, I came home with these lovely beautiful and ripe peaches. We ate a lot of them and I made a nice peach crisp and I actually used them for a marinade. I though the chicken turned out really nice, deep dense and flavorful! I actually also through in some lemon tyme, which were in my opinion a nice and delicate substitute for carom seeds, I have played with thyme and oregano before as a substitute for carom or ajowain.

Here is how this worked

Peach, Cumin Butter and Lemon Thyme Chicken

Prep Time: 24 hours (to marindade)

Cook Time: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup lowfat yogurt

2-3 inch piece coarsely chopped peeled ginger

2 pods garlic

3-4 green chilies

3 peaches, peeled and stones

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 teapoon fennel seeds

2 teaspoons agave nectar

1 tablespoons lemon tyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon carmon seeds

2 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into pieces

To baste and finish

2 tablespoons ghee or butter, melted

1 tablespoon freshly ground cumin

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

1 teaspoon salt

Method of Preparation

1. Place the yogurt, ginger, garlic, chilies, peaches, salt, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, agave nectar, lemon thyme or ajowain in blender and blend for a good 5 minutes till the mixture is smooth and dense like a good smoothie.

2. Place the chicken and the marinade in a large ziplock bag and keep in the refridgerator overnight. (note on a milder day you can do this outside for about 5-6 hours)

3. Mix the butter or ghee, ground cumin, red chili pepper and salt.

4. Thread the chicken onto skewers.

5. Place on the grill, and brush well with remaining marinade and the butter spice mixture. Cook for 5-6 minutes, turn baste and repeat. By this point the chicken should be moist tender and crisped.

6. Garnish with lemon thyme and serve.

Note: If you do not want to grill, the chicken can be broiled on skewers, drizzled generously with the cumin butter topping. Also, good olive oil would work as a baster.

Creamy Lemon Chicken Curry

A rotisserie chicken can be a pretty useful thing to bring home on a weeknight. The kids like the chicken as is, for us I need to do a little more, but nonetheless gets dinner done real quick. There are several things that I have done to dress the chicken up. This recipe is one example and I shall in time talk about others. The sauce for this chicken is simple and rich. It can be used to cook shrimp or tofu if you wish.

Creamy Lemon Chicken Curry

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4 people

Ingredients

2-3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 onion, cut into a dice
1 tablespoon of finely grated ginger
1 tablespoon grated fresh garlic
1 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
1 teaspoon powdered cumin
1 teaspoon powdered coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 large tomato, coarsely chopped
1 cup water
1 lemon
1-2 pods cardamom
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 cup of frozen green peas
1.5 cup cooked chicken, cut into small pieces
1-2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Lots of freshly ground black pepper

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the onions, garlic and ginger and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the mixture is very fragrant, and the onions soften start turning golden on the edges.
2. Add in the red chili pepper flakes, cumin, coriander, salt and tomato and cook stirring occasionally for another 5 minutes, until the tomato is soft and mushy.
3. Place the mixtur in a blender with the water and blend until nice and smooth.
4. Return the sauce into the cooking pot. Cut the lemon and squeeze in the juice.
5. Add in the cardamoms, cream, bell peppers, peas and the chicken and simmer the mixture on low for 10 minutes.
6. Remove from the heat, stir in the cilantro and place in a serving bowl.
7. Add freshly ground black pepper and serve with rice.

Spice and Herb Roast Chicken

There is fairly a deep love of the unusual, certainly when it comes to food - a love that has certainly enhanced my love and appreciation for many a unique food destination or item. But, then again lately a lot of the differences seem so strange - possibly after 10 years of marriage we are at the point where the quirks are not so cute..

Ok! Ok! we passed that during the 5 year mark, but Anshul still patienly does loads of dishes when I do my stress cooking, and well I put up with his episodes of not shaving for 2-3 days at a stretch. One of the joys of modern living is that most days we tend to be way too busy to realize...

Anyhow, all of this is about the fact that my husband does not really like roast chicken, not really his cup of tea. Anyhow, this particular variation works for most people that I know.

Desi Roast Chicken - Spice and Herb Roasted Chicken

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2.5 hours (almost all inactive)

Ingredients

3/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped parsely
2-3 green chillies
1 large piece of peeled ginger
2-3 pods garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons of salt
Juice of 2 fresh limes (save the squeezed fruit)
1 tablespoon grated jaggery
3-4 pound chicken
2-3 tablespoons of ghee

Method of preapartion

1. Place the cilantro, parseley, chillies, ginger, garlic, ground cumin, salt and lime juice in a blender and grind to a paste.
2. Stir in the jaggery.
3. Rub this mixture all over the chicken, taking care to enter all the cracks and crevices and well under the skin. Stiff the leftover limes into the stomach cavity.
4. Lightly spread the ghee.
5. Heat the oven to 350 degees.
6. Place the chicken in a deep baking dish and bake for about 2.5-3 hours, until the chicken is well browned, and very soft.
7. Turn off the heat and let the chicken sit for 20 minutes.
8. Slice into pieces and serve.

Note: Please save the carcass for flavorful broth.

Gongura Chicken - Chicken cooked in sorrel leaves!

There is always this quandry, particularly if you like to take food pictures between what looks good and tastes good...

Now in winter, I am doing what most people who conserved during summer do - I am reclaiming my refridgerator! Lots of frozen herbs, frozen chopped tomatoes, frozen tomato paste and such. The tomatoes are an interesting story, we probably had beginers luck this year, but Anshul had to do a lot of work to make sure we did not waste this years bounty! So the debate of the year (well, we still have 6 months to resolve this, is whether to plant fewer plants this year!). So among everything were these sorrel leaves called Gogura leaves - lovely bold lemony leaves. I guess I had picked them up and frozen some.

This is what I made, a nicely spiced chicken recipe that we enjoyed over saffron rice.

Gongura Chicken - Spicy Chicken in sorrel leaves

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 cornish hen, skinned and jointed (1.5 lbs)

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon red chili powder

3-4 tablespoons oil

1 onion, very thinly sliced

1-2 cloved garlic, chopped

2-3 pods cardamom

1 stick cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 cup chopped gongura or sorrell leaves

Chopped cilantro leaves to garnish

Method of Preparation

1. Rub the chicken with the salt, turmeric and chili powder and set aside.

2. Heat the oil and add the onion and cook for about 5-7 minutes, the onions, wilt soften and then turn golden brown.

3. Add the chicken, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin and coriander powder and cook stirring occasionally for 5-7 minutes.

4. Add the tomatoes and cook for another 10 minutes, until the chicken is fairly soft.

5. Add in the gongura leaves, cover and cook on low for 10 minutes, until the chicken is soft and dry and covered with cooked gongura leaves.

6. Serve with rice or chapatis!

Green Tomato Chicken

I don't know if like us you have a plethora of green and semi ripe tomatoes, but we have had loads and loads of these semi-ripe orange and crisp hard green gems. I have been playing around with the green ones like there is no tomorrow.

Surely, I thought there is more one can do with green tomatoes than jam and fried green tomatoes. I did make both, I have to confess I was not super thrilled about my results with the fried version.

Well, this chicken was really nice... Spicy, tangy and just perfect for a cool, crisp fall day!

So, here is how I did it.

Green Tomato Chicken

Prep Time: 1 hour (mostly marinating)

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

For the marinade

2 lbs chicken on the bone, skinned and cut into pieces (I used 2 cornish hens)

1 teaspoon red chili pepper

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 lemon, sliced

For the gravy

3-4 pods garlic

2 green tomatoes

1 firm red tomato

1 -inch piece ginger

2 green chilies

3 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 onion, thinly sliced

8-10 curry leaves

2-3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Place the chicken in a large container. Rub evenly with the dry spices, squeeze the lemon juice and set aside for an hour.

2. Heat the oil and add the cumin and mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds begin to pop, add in the onion and saute for 2-3 minutes.

2. Grind the tomatoes, garlic, ginger and chillies to a paste.

3. Add in the tomato mixture and the chicken and now continue cooking this on medium heat for a good 20 minutes. The spices meld and soften, the tomatoes become a nice thick gravy with shards of carmelized onions.

4. Add in the curry leaves and cook for 5-6 minutes.

5. Stir in the cilantro and serve and enjoy as appropriate.

Rich and slow cooked chicken curry

This chicken curry is a little on the fussy side for a weeknight dinner, but yet all it took to produce a nice intense flavor is a little extra cooking time, some additional stirring and just a little more oil. Sometimes, I realize that time and a little extra patience is what makes good food memorable.

I did not make any luchis (puffed Indian bread), but this is what I would have liked with this curry, but did make some light lemon basmati rice. We had our friend Anju over and we enjoyed this with the rice and simple lentil creation that I shall share later. We were up late, drinking good wine, talking about good times. I did pay for this later through mugs of bad coffee at work, but sometimes we all need a break from the mundane.

Rich and Slow Cooked Chicken Curry

Prep Time: 7 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Serves: 4-6 people

Ingredients

2-3 cloves garlic

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled

1 medium onion, peeled and coarsely chopped

2-3 green serrano chillies

2 tomatoes

1 bunch (about 1 cup) cilantro leaves and tender stems

2-3 cardamoms

3-4 cloves

1 large piece cinnamon

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 dried red chili

4-5 tablespoons oil

1 cup chicken stock

2 lbs skinned chicken (I would recommend dark meat on the bone)

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon garam masala powder

Extra cilantro for garnishing

Method of Preparation

1. Grind the garlic, ginger, onion, green chillies, tomato and cilantro into a relative smooth puree.

2. Dry grind the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, cumin and red chili and set aside.

3. Heat the oil and add spice mixture and cook lightly. Add in the tomato puree and cook for a good 15 minutes, stirring as needed until the mixture is fairly dry and begining to get fried.

4. Add the stock if needed to let the mixture get well browned but not burnt.

5. Add in the chicken and salt and continue cooking on medium heat for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The chicken should be brown and well coated with the spice mixture.

6. Stir in the remaining stock and simmer the chicken for about 10 minutes. The chicken should be nice and soft and there should be a good thick sauce.

7. Garnish with the cilantro and garam masala and serve.

Lemon Rice

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 teaspoon oil or ghee

2-3 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup basmati rice

1 teaspoon salt

1 lime

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil or ghee and add in the bay leaves and turmeric and cook for a few seconds.

2. Quickly add in the garlic and cook till the garlic is fragrant.

3. Add in the rice and the salt with 1 and 3/4 cups of water and bring the water to a simmer.

4. Squeeze in the lime juice. Cover and cook for 18 minutes at this point the rice should be a pale yellow mixture and the water should be absorbed.

5. Turn off the heat and leave the rice undistured for at least 5 minutes.

6. Remove the cover, fluff and serve.

Dad Tested Kid Approved - Apricot Glazed Chicken

Well, this recipe is really simple if the apricot glaze is made ahead. The apricot glaze is really a low sugar chutney. I would normally not puree this, however, let me tell you, most evenings as you other mothers can relate my culinary skills are tested by two very particular food critics. When, I am happy about a recipe, it meets several criteria - it is relatively pain free to make (by my standards and we all have our own!), it is not completely wreaking havoc on the planet, and it make the food critics and their dad happy. Now in research terms I could pretty much tell you that there is a strong positive correlation between standard two and standard three.

I tend to use a lot of apricots in cooking, again it appeals to my love of sweet and tangy flavors! This glaze would work well with fish and tofu as well! Also, I have used drumsticks (this is Aadi's new thing, he likes to hold the chicken and eat it) but it would be very nice on both a whole roast chicken or even duck or turkey!

Apricot Glazed Chicken

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes (including the glaze)

Ingredients

6-8 chicken drumsticks (skinned)

1 tablespoon very finely chopped mint

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

Salt to taste

1/2 cup apricot glaze

Method of Preparation

1. Pre-heat an oven to 400 degrees.

2. Combine all the ingredients for the chicken and place in a baking dish.

3. Roast the chicken for 25 minutes and serve.

Apricot Glaze

(makes 1 cup)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

1 teaspoon freshly ground cinnamon

6-8 fresh apricots, coarsely chopped and seeded

1/3 cup brown sugar or honey

Juice of 2 lemons

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds and cook for 20-30 seconds until they pop.

2. Add in the ginger and the apricots with the remaining ingredients.

3. Cook for 10 minutes on medium heat.

4. Cool slightly and grind into a paste in a food processor.

5. Use as needed

Murg Makhani au Vin

It has been a week of sorts at both personal and global levels. I spent a fair amount of time at the doctors office dealing with a procedure of sorts. That is always annoying to me. My cousin and uncle are supposed to visit this weekend, but they are flipflopping between tomorrow and Sunday, well...

The whole Iran election has touched an unknown chord with me. Not sure why?

Added to that the Michael Jackson new has also saddened me in an unexpected way. If you are in the vicinity of the 40 number, you have grown up to his music, and it really troubles me to head of someone dying so alone. I wanted to do something to feel a little better and had to cook something company worthy as they say. I could not help remembering this New York Magazine article that I husband had pointed out. It was about this Indian guy in Paris with an Indo-French recipe. I liked the article but thought it was especially thoughtful of my husband (non-cook him) to save the recipe for me. Well, the thought of the recipe lingered although I had no article. I came up with something along the lines. I have to tell you if I have something along the lines of a signature spice, it is tandoori masala. So I came up with this chicken dish, which I have to tell you was pretty good.

Murg Makhani au Vin

Serves 8

Ingredients

1 -inch piece peeled ginger

4 pods peeled garlic

4 fresh green seranno chilies

3 lbs chicken on the bone, (skinned and cut into small pieces)

2 tablespoons tandoor masala (a commercial blend works fine)

1 teaspoon salt

1 large lemon

1/4 cup butter

2 onions, sliced into 3/4 cm rounds

3 pieces star anise

2 cups chardonay

1 cup sliced mushrooms

3/4 cup sliced grape tomatoes

For the garnish

2-3 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

Method of Preparation

1. Grind the ginger, garlic and green chillies into a paste.

2. Mix into the chicken with the tandoori masala and salt.

3. Squeeze the lemon juice and set aside for 30 minutes.

4. Heat the butter and add the onions and star anise and cook for 3-4 minutes.

5. Add the chicken and cook till the water is evaporated and the butter resurfaces. This takes a good 15 minutes. Stir the chicken for another 3-4 minutes, until lightly browned.

6. Add in the wine and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and tomatoes and cook for another 15 minutes. By now a thick sauce should and formed and the chicken should be very soft.

7. Turn off the heat and stir in the cilantro and black pepper.

While this was cooking I did take some time to scope out the original article that inspired this dish. Ok so I did not even use the right wine, but this was a nice article and I think you will like my chicken.

Chicken Cutlets - trying home ground chicken

I was pretty excited to find the pack of salad greens in the local store and was feeling rather please with myself. The husband pointed out that they were not organic, etc, etc. Well they tasted pretty good and I did wash them several time.

No one in the house like any meat other than chicken, there a lot of ground meat recipes that I think are quite convienient and actually like with something like ground lamb, unfortunately they do not turn out right with ground chicken. Well, I tried something simple just to see how this would turn out - grinding the chicken at home. I used skinless chicken thighs and actually the chicken was nice and moist. I made these flavorful chicken cutlets and served them with a side of salad and a Trader Joe raspberry dressing.

Generally happy, I shall be making chicken meatballs and spagetti this week.

Chicken Cutlets

Prep Time - 45 minutes

Cook Time - 25 minutes

Makes 10 medium sized cutlets

Ingredients

3/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (excess fat trimmed)

1 large piece peeled ginger (about 1 - inch)

3 green chillies (seranno or jalepenos)

3-4 pods garlic

1 red onion, peeled and cut into 4 pieces

2 teaspoons cumin-coriander powder

1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1 egg

3/4 plain breadcrumbs

Oil for shallow frying

Method of Preparation

1. Place the chicken, ginger, chillies, garlic, onion, cumin-coriander into the bowl of a large food processore and process for 5 minutes, until the mixture in a ground coarse puree. The mixture I made retained some texture but was still fine enough to qualify as ground.

2. Remove the mixture into a mixing bowl and chop the cilantro and mix in.

3. Beat the egg and mix into the chicken. Shape into oval cutlets.

4. Cover lightly with breadcrumbs and place in the freezer for 20 minutes.

5. Heat the oil in a skillet and fry the cutlets till golden brown on one side (takes about 5-6 minutes) and turn and cook till browned.

6. Drain and serve.

Chicken Tikka - Tandoori Spice Marinated Chicken

Ever had one of those mornings when you just did not want to get out of bed, or actually you get out of bed but then want to kind of progress about doing everything else in this super slow and lazy manner. Maybe it's the rainy weather we have been blessed with most of spring, (I am one of those few people who actually do not mind the rain, although I love the spring sunshine, too!), or maybe it's just keeping up with the early mornings that I end up with keeping tandem with my son.

Speaking of my son, his new favorite recipe is what he calls red lemon chicken - this is nothing other than the bright red tandoori chicken one finds in Indian restaurants our neck of the woods. I make this at home with my own mixture, the color is unfortunately not quite as bright as he would like however he is usually happy since I usually make chicken tikka ( boneless tandoori chicken) and he gets extra-lime that he gets to squeeze himself. While the kids does not share our late sleeping habbits, he does inherit our love for garlic and lime/lemon.

Here is how I do this,

Chicken Tikka

Serves 4-6

Prep Time - 4 hours

Cook Time - 25 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup low-fat yogurt

1 large piece (about 1 inch piece peeled)

3 cloves of garlic

2-3 green chillies

1 tomato

1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) (optional)

4 tablespoons tandoori masala (see recipe)

2 teaspoons salt

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Cooking oil or spray

To garnish

Sliced onions

Sumac

Lemon or Lime Wedges

Method of Preparation

1. Place the yogurt, ginger, garlic, chillies, tomato, fenugreek, tandoori masala and salt in a blender and grind into a paste.

2. Mix with the chicken and tandoori marinade prepared above and set aside for 2-3 hours to marinade (the flavors improves with longer marination).

3. Skewer the chicken onto bamboo skewers.

4. Place a grill pan on the the stove (this is what I use on weeknights, a regular grill or broiling works well as well) and spray evenly with the cooking spray.

5. Place the chicken on the pan and cook for 7-8 minutes and turn (the chicken should have golden brown spots across the chicken.

6. Cook for another 5-7 minutes.

7. Add in the sliced onions and toss for 2-3 minutes till the onions are slightly sauteed.

8. Sprinkle with sumac and serve with lemon or lime

Here is how I do it,

Tandoori Masala

Makes 3/4 cup

Ingredients

3 tablespoons coriander seeds

3 tablespoons cumin seeds

4 dried red chillies (optional)

2 tablespoons sweet paprika

1 teaspoon carom seeds

2-3 sticks cinnamon

10 cloves

10 cardamoms

Method of Preparation

1. Lightly toast the spices for 2 minutes.

2. Grind to a powder in the spice mill or coffee grinder.

3. Use as needed.

Maple Basil Wings

There has been a lot going on, but in general this has been a good cooking week. I played around with a whole bunch of flavors. I had been shopping at Stews and was totally drawn to the herb section, they have a good selection of fresh herbs there, the only problem is that the amounts are a lot for most homes for a week of cooking, which is usually how long I feel fresh herbs stay "fresh" in my house. I sometimes feel that this is a general problem with a lot of things we buy, our packages tend to be supersized. I realized I have a yet to try anything that seems interesting ending up with hit or miss results, but still I so often wish there were smaller sizes of most things. Anyhow, last week I came home with this large bunch of this amazingly fragrant fresh basil. I used them in a somewhat different different combinaton, this turned out pretty good and the bonus was that my son LOVED it!

Note: This can be done with other chicken pieces as well.

This is my submission for the Blogger Aid children's cookbook project.

Saag Chicken on a winter's day

This is what the backyard looked like for most of this weekend. The kids went out and built a snow man, I pretty much lay low for most of the weekend. Last night I made some sinfully indulgent and good saag chicken and jeera (cumin rice). I actually used some pre-roasted chicken, I had roasted two cornish hens earlier this week and one was left over. The cornish hens

were interesting I shall post about them later, so I skinned and chopped up one of them. I cooked the chicken with a mixture of spinach and kale (frozen).



Saag Chicken a la simple

For the sauce

1 tbsp oil
1 tsp grated ginger
1 onion finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
A couple of cloves and cardamom and a small stick of cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
2 cups fresh spinach (or 1.5 cups frozen chopped)
1 cup chopped fresh kale or 3/4 cups frozen
1 small can chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup broth

For the Chicken

1 tbsp oil
1 onion finely chopped
1 tomato diced
1 tsp salt
1 lbs cooked chicken on the bone (store roasted should work well)
1/2 cup cream
1 tsp garam masala
3 tbsp chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the ginger, onion and cumin seeds and cook for 5 minutes.
2. Add the cloves, cardamom and cinamon and stir through.
3. Add in the green with the salt and turmeric and mix well till wilted.
4. Add in the tomatoes and broth and cook the mixture till heated through.
5. Cool slightly and blend well in a strong blender.
6. While this is cooling heat the oil and the onion and cook for 5-7 minutes and add in the tomatoes with the chicken and coat with the mixture.
7. Add in the spinach mixture with half the cream and let it simmer for 8 minutes.
8. Mix in the garam masala and the remaining cream and cilantro and cook through.
9. Serve with jeera rice and some good wine.

Indoor Farmers Market??

Despite my promises to the contrary, I stayed up pretty late tonight. I had this project I have been exhausting myself with, I am finally at I point where I just think, I have so had it, it is about 80% done, I cannot figure out the remaining 20% and it is time someone helped me with it. So it is getting submitted as it.

Now, yesterday I went to check out this indoor farmers market. The idea sounds really strange. Well, it was different, I did pick up some good lamb, chicken, eggs and absolutely out of this world yogurt. The produce was really flimsy... I did get some good mushrooms. So I made this chicken which was amazingly good, nothing like some butter and good simple spices.

Kumbh Murg Karai - Chicken with mushrooms

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

2-3 cloves garlic minced

2 tsp powdered cumin-coriander

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp salt

1 onion coarsely chopped

1/2 cup chopped scallions

1 lb boneless skinned chicken (cut into small pieces)

1 cup musrooms thickly sliced

1 tsp saffron

3-4 tsp chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and butter and add the cumin and garlic.

2. Cook for a minute stirring frequently, add the spices onions, scallions and chicken and cook on medium high heat for 15 minutes till the chicken in well browned.

3. Add in the mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes till the mushrooms are well sauted but not wilted.

4. Mix in the saffron and cilantro. Keep covered for 5 minutes to let the flavors settle together.

5. Serve with orzo or rice.

My quick chicken curry.

You know, I keep dreaming of this very organized household, where in the evening everything is all set, we are all sitting and eating our evening meal and discussing the environment, my daughters day in school as opposed to...

Me rushing out of the office to make it in time without major chaos, getting there on the periphery of my very, very slow daughter (this kid makes a career out of eating her meals), getting ready to be turned towards the wall, where she finally eats out of sheer boredom and my son ready for action. In the midst of this chaos, between getting food into their mouths I manage to through together out meal. Last night I had some chicken sitting in a soy-chili garlic sauce marinade that I converted into a curry powered by a food processor revitalized by the pressure cooker, the results were pretty impressive for a 30 minute exercise (minus the marinading time)

Tamatar Hariyali Murg - Tomato Capsicum Chicken

Serves 4

For the chicken marinade

1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp chili garlic sauce (such as sriracha)
3 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp fresh ginger
1 lbs boneless chicken, (cut into bite-sized pieces)

For the curry base

3/4 cup canned diced tomatoes
2 green chillies
1 green pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 small piece of peeled ginger
A few fresh mint leaves
3-4 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
A few curry leaves
2 tbsp chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Blend the ingredients for the marinade and soak the chicken in this marinade for several hours. This can be done way ahead of time.

2. Place the tomato, chillies, pepper, ginger and garlic in a food processor and process into a puree.

3. Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in the base of a pressure cooker and add this puree and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes till the mixture is begining to brown.

4. Add the chicken and the marinade and stir through, in a separate pan heat the oil and add the cumin and mustard seeds. When this pops add the curry leaves and add to the chicken.

5. Cover and cook under pressure for 5 minutes (you essentially wait till the pressure builds up and it begins to release steam).

6. Turn off the heat and let the pressure come down. Remove the cover garnish with cilantro and serve.

Roasted Corn and Spicy Chicken Stew

The farmers markets are still going strong at least in in Pleasantville.

This summer one of the events that I had gotten interest in was a local contest called, "locally grown." Possibly my greatest delight was actually that through this and other general awareness, I have gotten increasingly aware of how nice and relatively simple it is to work with local produce. In general I get a break from the mundane when I shop for things that clearly look much nicer than most supermarkets.

The past week, I picked up tomatillos, jallepenos, chicken, onions, parsely and cilantro among other things. I made this a mid-week stew in a flash in the pressure cooker.

Shrikhand and Chicken for Jane

Photo Source - Wiki

Asking me to make Indian food, is nothing out of the way. It happens all the time, I am more than happy to indulge. Jane is my new boss's wife, who has never visited India but loves India in a deep, to the roots wonderful kind of way. She senses the deep simplicity of India, unfortunately, however there are so many layers and versions to India. I understand and feel the warmth she percieves from India, but, have to temper this my telling her the India that features on the business week covers every week, well close enough is different.

Well, we asked them to join us at our house a couple of weekends back and among other things, I made an interestingly simple coconut chicken recipe and mango Shrikhand. The Shrikhand, was made from fresh mangoes, something that you can get pretty good ones this time of the year at our local Indian store.

By the way, one of the good things about making curry on a weeknight dinner, is that this can actually be made ahead of time, and the flavors actually improve.

Chicken Curry with Coconut and Curry Leaves

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1/3 cup oil
A few cloves, cardamom, cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
2-3 green chillies
1 onion finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely grated
1 whole chicken, skinned and cut into small pieces
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp cumin-coriander powder
1 can coconut milk
1 sprig of curry leaves
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the whole spices, onion and ginger.

2. Saute this briefly and add the chicken, salt, pepper, cumin-coriander.

3. Cook on high heat, stirring frequently, until the chicken is well browned and the oil begins to surface.

4. Add the coconut milk, curry leaves and 1 cup water and simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice.

Now, for an exceedingly simple, delicate dessert from Gujarat.

Shrikhand

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 carton whole milk yogurt

3-4 fresh mangoes

1/3 cup powdered almonds

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp crushed cardamoms

Method of Preparation

1. Hang the yougurt for 6-8 hours to drain the water, this should be a nice solid cheese-like mass.

2. In the meantime, peel and puree the mangoes.

3. Mix with all the ingredients and chill and serve.

A tymely touch of novelty

This dish is somewhere between Indian and middle-eastern. I cannot help wondering whether that actually makes it a moghlai dish. I know it is nothing like the food that we know as moghlai, but think about it. The mughals in India were of Persian (middle-eastern) decent and then they came to India and adopted some knowledge of the spices and this became known as Moghlai cuisine - no make that the amazingly popular defination of Indian food moghlai food.

Ok, so you say, not quite...

I will concede, this is a great dish anyway.

Citrus - Thyme Chicken

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

3 oranges

1 lime or lemon

1 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp sumac

1.5 tsp dried thyme

1/2 inch piece fresh ginger

2-3 cloves garlic

2 green chillies

1 tsp salt

10 chicken drumsticks, skinned

For the garnish

1 fresh orange

Extra thyme or cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Squeeze the orange and lime juice into a blender.

2. Add all the remaining ingredients except the chicken into the blender and grind to a puree.

3. Marinate the chicken in this mixture for 2-4 hours.

4. Pre-heat the oven to 400 F. Arrange the chicken on a baking dish and bake for 25 minutes.

5. In the meantime, slice the orange for the garnish.

6. Remove the chicken from the oven, turn, and place each slice on the oven and return to the oven.

7. Remove and garnish with the remaining fresh herbs (thyme and cilantro).

Serve with a salad and decide whether this just might qualify as moghlai.

And this entry goes, to up a the host of this week's weekend herb blogging. Yes, I am wrapping this up ahead of mother's day but might be cooking a special brunch entry for a mom I know (not my mom, I wish she was close enough) but just another person who has shared this journey

that we call motherhood.

A nice dark beauty!

I had been meaning to try this dish out for a while, when I saw this recipe, I was even further encouraged. Well this was an amazingly luscious sauce, but it takes a lot of time. Well, Katie said she tinkered with the recipe, I tinkered some more, but generally was pretty good, by my standards. This is how I did it.

Ingredients
To marinate
1 whole chicken skinned and jointed ( I just cannot use skin other than with roast chicken)
1 tsp rosemary
3 carrots thickly sliced
2 tsp salt
1 bottle wine (I used a modest burgundy)
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped parsely
6 cloves garlic
A few bay leaves

For the finishing sauce
3 tbsp butter
6 shallots thickly sliced
10 oz button mushrooms thickly sliced
2 zuchinis thickly sliced with the skin (Hey, that's pretty french)
1.5 tbsp cocoa
1 tbsp cornstarch

Method of preparation
1. Soak the chicken in the marinade overnight in the refrigerator.
2. Cook for 1 hour on a simmer the next day.
3. Cool, slightly and remove the chicken.
4.Strain the sauce.
5. Put a half cup aside and disolve the cocoa and cornstarch.
6. Melt the butter, add the shallots and cook till turning golden (this takes about 15 minutes.)
7. Add the mushrooms and zucchini and cook for another 5 minutes.
8. Add the strained sauce and bring to a boil, mix in the cocoa mixture and add the chicken.
9. Cook for 7 minutes till thickened.
10. Serve with anything that will absorb this wonderful sauce.

Well, since this is the result of patrolling other blogs and is from France at some point of time, I am sending this off for an interesting event being hosted by Coffee who actually is encoraging folks to blog partrol.
This is an incredible busy time and since my doctor has ordered "off the feet for a few more days" I am double dipping and sending this off to David Lebovitz for Sugar High Friday. I used Ghiradelli. I actually am not much of a chocolate person, I do white chocolate, I do not think that really counts, but I did read David's chocolate book, since I like reading cookbooks.

Chettinaad Chicken

This recipe with its generous doses of black pepper is certainly one for the spice lovers. In the good old days my husband loved spicy food, ever since our little ones have taken over my cooking regime there is not that much space left for fiery spices. Anyhow, I cooked this today and hope writing this up will in some very small measure help the little ones who do not have enough to eat.

Chettinaad Chicken

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 small cornish hen skinned and cut into pieces (1.5 lbs)

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp salt

1 lime

6 pods garlic minced

2.5 tbsp whole blackpeppercorns

3 tbsp oil

2 onions chopped

1 tbsp ginger grated

4-6 green cardamoms

3-4 cloves

1 tbsp cumin-coriander powder

3/4 tsp red chilli powder

2 tomatoes chopped

10 curry leaves

2 tsp chopped cilantro

Method of preparation

1. Marinate the chicken in the salt, lime juice, turmeric and garlic.

2. Coarsely crush all but 1tsp of the peppercorns and add to the mixture.

3. Heat the oil and add the onions and ginger and cook for 7-10 minutes.

4. Add in the chicken with cardamoms, cloves, cumin-coriander and chilli powder.

5. Mix well and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

6. Add in the tomatoes and curry leaves and cook till the tomatoes are soft.

7. Add one cup water and simmer for 20 minutes. The chicken should be soft and the mixture fairly dry.

If you want more gravy you can add upto one more cup water.

8. Remove from heat, garnish with cilantro and serve.

Chicken Tikka Masala - Chicken in a creamy tomato sauce

Chicken Tikka Masala (Serves 6)

INGREDIENTS:
For the Chicken Tikka

Ingredients
1 cup yogurt
Juice of one lime
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tbs tandoori masala
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
Salt to taste
2 lbs cut into bite-size pieces

Preparation
Mix the yogurt and spices to form a smooth paste.
Marinade the chicken in the above ingredients for 8-10 hrs.
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Put the chicken on a baking tray sprinkle with oil.
Bake the chicken for 15 min and broil till lightly brown (5-7min)

Sauce.
Ingredients
Remaining marinade (very important)
½ cup yogurt
3-4 tbs butter
2-3 tbs oil
1 onion finely chopped
2 tbs dried fenugreek
2 tsp garlic, minced
2 green chilies finely chopped
½ green pepper finely chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
3 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1 tsp Garam Masala
3 tomatoes finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat oil in a pan and add onion and garlic.
2. Add the cumin, paprika, fenugreek and salt.
3. Cook for 5 minutes and add the tomatoes. Cook till the tomatoes soften to a pulp.
4. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
5. Blend the sauce with the cream.
6. Return to heat and add the chicken. Cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes.
7. Add the butter and cook till melted
8. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with fresh cilantro and garam masala.