A weeknight Indian dish -- at last!

Indian food, if properly prepared, has such a rich, complex flavor that I can't get enough of. I've taken several classes at The Cooks Warehouse on North Indian cooking, and all that I've tried at home has been delicious, BUT it takes a lot of prep work and a lot of cook time -- not ideal for a weeknight after a long day at work. So, I was very pleased when I found the following recipe for Sindhi Chicken Curry. It has all the complexity of a slow-cooked, time-consuming Indian chicken dish without the hour of prep work, three hours of marinating, two hours of slow cooking, etc. In fact, the whole thing took a little under an hour to prepare. Check it out:

Sindhi Chicken Curry

Ingredients:
1 cup plain yogurt -- room temp, stirred to a creamy consistency
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 Tablespoons oil (I used olive oil)
2 cups finely chopped onions
1 Tablespoon ginger root, peeled and minced
1 Tablespoon garlic, minced
4 teaspoons minced serrano chilies
12 large chicken thighs
1 Tablespoon coriander powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin powder
3/4 teaspoon turmeric
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
28 oz diced tomatoes in liquid
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
1/4 cup cilantro chopped

*NOTE: I know this is a long ingredient list, however, once you have all of the spices in your spice cabinet it isn't too bad. I buy mine in bulk at the Dekalb Farmer's Market.

1. Stir yogurt and cornstarch together until smooth. Set aside.

2. In a large saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute until beginning to color, 6 to 8 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and saute onions until dark golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes longer.

The onions should look like this when you start:


They should look like this after caramelizing:


3. Stir in ginger, garlic, and chilies. Saute for two minutes. Increase heat to medium-high. Add chicken and brown well, 6 to 8 minutes.



My pan was a little crowded, but I managed to get all the chicken thighs in!



Here they're starting to brown.



4. Reduce heat to medium. Sprinkle coriander, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne pepper over top of chicken. Mix well, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

The spices before they are added:


And the chicken after they've been stirred in:



5. Add tomatoes, yogurt mixture, 1/2 cup cilantro, and salt. Mix well. Cover and bring to a boil.



6. Reduce heat to low and simmer until chicken is no longer pink inside, about 25 minutes.

7. Turn off heat. Stir in garam masala and 3 Tablespoons cilantro (or more to taste).



8. Garnish with remaining cilantro before serving. Serve with rice or any Indian bread.



As you can see, I served it atop basmati rice. I was very pleased with the result. It had a little heat, but that was cut by the yogurt. A few cashews or slivered almonds on top might liven up the texture, but it was very good as it was. AND totally do-able on a weeknight! (That's my favorite part -- can you tell?)

And now, a couple of notes:

It is important that the yogurt be at room temperature. If it is cold it has a better chance of curdling when it hits the hot pan. Just pull it out of the fridge when you start making the dish, and it should be ready by the time you need to add it. Removing it from the yogurt container and placing it near the warm stove should help speed up the process.

If you double the recipe, do not double the turmeric. It will make the dish too bitter if any more is added. (As a general rule, the amount of turmeric used should never be increased when doubling recipes.)

I enjoy eating the chicken thighs with the bone in, but some people find this to be too messy. There's no reason why you can't use boneless chicken thighs (or even chicken breasts, though they won't have the same depth of flavor) if you want a more fork-ready dinner.

Get ready for leftovers! This recipe makes a ton of food!

The Secret Ingredient

Chicken salad has never really been my thing, but Charlie loves it.  So, I've been making a point to make it for him.   I usually make a very traditional version with pickles, eggs, onion, mayo, and mustard, but last week I thought I'd try a curried chicken salad.  (It seems that I'm on a real curry kick right now.  Maybe it's the weather?)  I pulled out a recipe from an old magazine and checked the fridge.  I had most of the ingredients so I decided to go ahead and cook it, making some omissions and substitutions.  Here is the recipe with my modifications.

Curried Chicken Salad

ingredients:

1 whole chicken

6 Tablespoons vanilla yogurt

1 Tablespoon mayonnaise

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 teaspoons curry powder

2 teaspoons thinly sliced scallions

1 Tablespoon coarsely chopped cilantro leaves

1 small Granny Smith apple, cored and cut into 1/2-inch chunks

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

freshly ground pepper

Put the chicken in a medium stock pot and add enough water to cover the chicken.  Bring the water to a boil then turn down the heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes.  Remove the chicken from the pot and let cool.  (Save your stock for something else!)  When the chicken is cool enough to handle shred it into bite-sized pieces.

Stir together the yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, curry powder, scallions, cilantro, apple and salt.  Season with pepper.  Add the chicken and stir to fully coat.  

Did you spot the secret ingredient?  It's the vanilla yogurt.  The original recipe called for plain Greek yogurt, which would be very good I'm sure, but I didn't have that in my refrigerator.  I did have vanilla yogurt on hand so I substituted that and ended up with a lovely and unexpected flavor.  I think it's great, and I'm going to make it that way from now on!

It's not the most beautiful thing I've ever made, but here's a photo anyway.

A very tasty curry

I recently purchased a cookbook called Curry Cuisine: Fragrant dishes from India, Thailand, Vietmnam, and Indonesia. It's a collection of curries from a number of contributors, and I've been itching to try a few of them. I started with Green Shrimp Curry with Fresh Dill (Gang Keo Goung), but I modified it considerably. The results were terrific, and I changed it up enough that I feel I can call it my own.

This is a wonderful spring dish, and the curry tastes surprisingly complex considering how simple it is. If you try it out yourself, please let me know what you think!

Shrimp Curry with Fresh Dill

ingredients:
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
5 Tbsp red Thai curry paste
1 Tbsp sugar
2 cups coconut milk
2 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade)
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 - 2 Tbsps fish sauce, or to taste
2 large yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut in 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 lb raw tiger shrimp, peeled
1 bunch dill
basmati rice, as an accompaniment

Heat the oil in a pan over moderately high heat and stir-fry the curry paste for about 2 minutes or until just golden and fragrant. Add the sugar and stir fry for 1 minutes or until fragrant. Reduce the heat and add the coconut milk, chicken stock, lime zest, and fish sauce. Add the potatoes, cover the pot, and cook for 20 minutes.



Add the shrimp and stir well, then cover again and cook for about 5 minutes or until they turn pink. Serve hot, garnished with fresh dill.
This is best served over basmati rice.



If you've never tried a curry, this is a good place to start. It's simple, and the results are very satisfying. I can hardly wait to try out a few other recipes from the cookbook. I may have a lot of curry dishes ahead of me this spring!

Warm fuzzies and curry

Right now Charlie and I are snuggled up on the couch eating cold chicken curry out of Gladware, watching 30 Rock, and pretending it isn't an hour later than it ought to be (oh, daylight saving time, you're such a bother sometimes). I've gotta tell ya, it doesn't get much better than this.

So, I'm suddenly inspired to post one of my favorite chicken curry recipes. It also happens to be a quick and easy meal. The first time I made this I misread the recipe and accidentally doubled the amount of butter called for. Unfortunately, it's better with the extra butter! Just the same, I'll print it with the amount called for and leave that indulgence up to you.

Thai Chicken Curry

ingredients

3 lbs boneless chicken breasts, skinned and cubed

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 cup butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon minced ginger

1 Tablespoon curry powder

1 12 oz can coconut milk

1 Tablespoon thai fish sauce

2 small zucchini, diced

1/2 cup mint leaves

4 green onions

1 Tablespoon crushed red pepper

Coat chicken with cornstarch. In a large skillet or wok, melt butter and saute onions and garlic until soft. Add chicken, curry powder, and ginger and stir-fry for 4 minutes. Add coconut milk, fish sauce, an zucchini and simmer for 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for one minute. Serve over basmati rice.

*I love the amount of heat in this curry, but some people may find it a bit too spicy. If spice isn't your thing feel free to put a bit less crushed red pepper.

This dish is best served warm, but also it's pretty good straight out of the fridge.