I think I was 17 when, as a burgeoning foodnik, I thought I would, rather SHOULD, try Indian food. I was all about expanding my palate, and I'd heard people rave about vindaloo, and naan, and samosas, and lassi, and I was not going to be left out.
So as I walked into my first Indian restaurant in Huntington Beach (the name escapes me now) and the first waves of those heady, earthy, fragrant and altogether foreign aromas hit my nose, *THOUGHT* became the operative word of the day. All those smells smelled like they belonged somewhere, just not on food. They overwhelmed me at the time, and with the second whiff, I was out the door.
But time has a way of changing things - your life, your luck, your perspective, your palate - and years later, when I was schlepping away at my first and worst corporate job ever, I was invited to lunch at an Indian buffet with some co-workers. That first foray into Indian food wasn't exactly love at first bite, but as I tasted a little of that curry, a piece of this chicken, a bite of spinach, and a spoonful of raita, I realized a well orchestrated Indian meal, aromatic from here, heat from there, creamy from another place, mild sweet and tang from yet another, had the potential to be delicious to my palate.
Since then, I haven't delved quite as deeply into Indian cuisine as I have some others, but I continue to find that when I eat Indian food in spite of my usual inclinations, it is surprisingly delicious to me. And this meal of tandoori chicken, curried rice, roasted zucchini and raita has all the complementing and contrasting notes I look for in a good meal from any cuisine.
CHICKEN TANDOORI
Serves 5-6
Prep time: 15 mins.
Cook time: 1 hour.
 |
| w/o sauce |
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| with |
This recipe works best when the chicken can marinate at least an hour. 2 or 3 hours is even better, and you could marinate overnight if you’d like, but it’s not necessary.
- 3 lbs. bone-in chicken (about 10 pieces of chicken – large breast pieces
should be cut in half)
For the marinade…
- 1 ½ cups yogurt
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 ½ tsp granulated onion
- ½ tsp granulated garlic
- 2 tsp cayenne
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp garam masala*
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp oil (canola or vegetable)
- chopped cilantro for garnish
* Garam masala is an Indian spice blend that contains a buttload of spices you probably don’t have on hand. Here’s a substitution of spices you’re more likely to have and use again.
- ¼ tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp coriander
1) Remove skin from chicken (unless you like the skin, which I do, but I find the yogurt tenderizes the meat so much I don’t really need it).
2) Combine all the marinade ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir until all ingredients are incorporated, i.e., until the salt and sugar are dissolved. A good way to tell is if you don’t find any salt or sugar granules when you look closely at a spoonful of marinade from the bottom of the bowl.
3) Add chicken and stir until all pieces are thoroughly coated in marinade and let the chicken marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour (2 or 3 is even better), redistributing the chicken 2 or 3 times to make sure the pieces get evenly marinated. Just about everything cooks better at room temperature, so try to remember to take the chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes in the oven.
4) About 15 minutes before cooking the chicken, preheat the oven to BROIL and line the broiler pan with foil.
5) Place chicken pieces on the lined broiler pan, about 1 to 1.5 inches apart, shaking off a little of the excess marinade. If you like extra sauce, keep the excess marinade for Step 7.
6) Cook chicken under the broiler until it gets a nice, brown char, about 8 minutes each side. Turn the oven down to 400 and continue to bake the chicken another 35 - 40 minutes. If your broiler is under the oven, move the chicken to the main oven.
7) For sauce, place 1 tablespoon of oil in a small pot or saucepan with the excess marinade plus 3 tablespoons of water or UNSALTED chicken stock and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Once it reaches a gentle boil – the sauce will make about 3 bubbles a second from the heat – turn the heat to low and simmer another 3 minutes or so. Pour over the chicken before serving.
8) Remove chicken to a serving platter, pour sauce over if desired, and sprinkle with chopped cilantro before serving.
CUCUMBER, JALAPENO & CILANTRO RAITA (RYE-tah)
Raitas are yogurt sauces that provide a nice, tangy contrast to the meal and also cool the heat from all them spices! Mint is also commonly used in raita and would make a yummy substitution for cilantro if cilantro doesn’t float your boat.
- 1 C yogurt
¼ C finely chopped cucumber (seeds removed)
1 finely chopped jalapeno (more or less to taste)
1 tbsp minced garlic (about 1 clove)
3 tbsp finely chopped cilantro (about 10 stalks)
1 tbsp oil (canola or vegetable)
½ tsp sugar
¾ tsp salt
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until sugar and salt are dissolved. Refrigerate before serving.
CURRIED RICE
Indian food is traditionally served with Basmati rice, and I like Basmati well enough, but not well enough to keep it as a pantry staple, so I used Jasmine instead. Jasmine rice usually takes about 1.5 cups liquid to 1 cup of rice. Basmati requires a little more.
- 2 cups onion, finely chopped (about 1 medium onion)
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp oil
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 2 C jasmine rice
- 2 C unsalted chicken stock
- 1 ¼ C water
- 1 ½ tsp salt
1) Add oil and butter to a Dutch oven or other large pot and melt butter over medium heat.
2) Cook onions over medium heat until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes, and stir in curry powder until evenly distributed.
3) Add rice and stir to coat the grains with the oil/butter mixture.
4) Add all liquid (water and chicken stock) and salt, and give the rice a couple of stirs to make sure all the grains are moistened.
5) Leaving pot uncovered, increase heat to medium high and bring rice to a medium boil (about 4 to 5 bubbles a second).
6) Once it reaches a medium boil, reduce heat to low, and cook the rice, COVERED, until all liquid is absorbed and rice grains no longer have an opaque appearance.
7) Fluff rice immediately after it’s cooked. If you let it cool without fluffing, you’ll have one big rice clump. :)
Roasted Lemon Garlic Zucchini
Serves 6
Prep: 5 – 10 minutes
Cook: 12 + 3 minutes – for roasting and tossing
- 3 pounds zucchini (about six 6” – 7” zucchini)
- 2 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp oil (canola, veg or light olive)
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest (optional)
1) Preheat oven to 425.
2) Cut zucchini into ¾” diagonal pieces and toss in 2 tablespoons oil to coat evenly.
3) Spread zucchini in one layer on a baking sheet, leaving as much space between pieces as possible.
4) Roast 6 minutes on one side then flip each piece and roast another 6 minutes.
5) Remove from baking sheet to a large mixing bowl.
6) While zucchini is still hot, add in salt, sugar, minced garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest and 1 tablespoon oil and toss to dress, making sure all the seasonings get evenly distributed. Sprinkling the salt and sugar over the entire area of the zucchini rather than in one spot will help ensure the seasoning is even.
Sequential pics of this menu can be seen in my Facebook album.
Lemme know if you got any questions. :)
shinae
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