Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Green Curry Chicken

Blend in the food processor: cilantro, red onion, mint, garlic, 1/2 cup of white cooking wine, ginger, 2 tsps cumin, 1/2 tsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp turmeric, salt and pepper. Cook onion or shallots with olive oil in an iron skillet. Brown the chicken in the same skillet. Add the mixture from the food processor to the skillet. Add more cooking wine if it starts to dry out as you will now be simmering it until the chicken is done. When the chicken is done add about 1/4 cup of plain yogurt.
If you don't want to use cooking with use more chicken broth.

Beef Vindaloo

Cook onion and garlic in olive oil. Then add: grated ginger, 1 tsp cumin, 1 and 1/2 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp turmeric, chili powder, black pepper, green chili peppers, salt and a cup of broth. Cook until the beef is tender. Maybe about 45 minutes to an hour. Serve with white rice to offset the heat of this dish.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Lemon Rice Indian Style

Got your glass of wine? Got your music going?
Have you watched Today's Special?
Cook one cup of rice. I always put a bit of olive oil in the rice I am cooking.
In a small skittle add olive oil and spices. I do this to make a paste. Be careful not to overdo the spices, this will make your rice taste somewhat grainy. Plus, these spices carry a big punch. 
Spices to add: red chili powder or achar masala (how much depends on how much heat you want to your rice), curry (1/8th to 1/4 tsp - I'm still playing with this amount myself - just don't overdo), a pinch of turmeric, maybe a titch of garam masala.
Add this to the rice with the juice of 1/2 to a full lemon.
You can also add peanuts or roasted and salted pumpkin seeds. I just happened to have those left over from the last dish!

Prepare For Indian Cooking

Indian cooking can be difficult simply because we don't have the spices on hand. My first suggestion to you is to watch the movie Today's Special. This will get you in the creative mood of Indian cooking. The next thing to do is to supply your closet with the spices. Go to an Indian market or Whole Foods. Buy:
turmeric powder, garam masala,red chili powder, achar masala, cumin seeds, coriander powder, and curry powder. This will get you started and possibly be all you will need to get on with it.