Showing posts with label curry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label curry. Show all posts

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Easy Indian Chicken Curry

MMMMMMMMMMMM! Wowza!

Literally the words I have to express myself right now as I lick my lips, polishing off the last bits of flavor from the awesome curry dish I made tonight. MMMMMMMMMMMM. Wowza.

So you ask, "Erin, just what was in this dish?"

Lots of spice and everything that's nice.

And, the best part? It was completely made up as I went along.

I started with a lovely Curry Sauce from http://www.curryrecipes.org/, with no real idea on where I was going to go next. (full recipe below) As I stirred and smelled the aromas and admired the completed sauce, I looked at it and decided that it wasn't enough on its own, and that it needed more. Not as a sauce, but as a dish. Sadly, I got NO pictures of the finished product, and the in progress dishes do little justice, so no pictures until the next time I make it. But, please enjoy.

MMMM.

Easy Indian Chicken Curry

1 recipe Curry Sauce (see below)

1 cup water
1 large potato, cubed

Add cup of water to the prepared curry sauce along with potato, and cover, allowing to simmer while working on rest of the dish.

1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 large onion, diced
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
1 tsp curry powder
2 tbsp wine
1 chicken breast, cubed
1 tsp cinammon
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
yogurt for serving
*note, next time, I would add 1 cup heavy cream at the same time of adding in the potato/curry mixture.

In olive oil, saute garlic and onions until he onions are translucent, then add in the cumin, coriander, curry powder and wine. Add in the chicken and allow to cook until white all around outside. Next, add in potato and curry sauce mixture. (here is where I'd add the cream). Allow to simmer until potato soft, but not mushy.

Serve over basmati rice with a dollop of yogurt and garlic naan. As we didn't have any garlic naan, I took some thin sandwich rounds, pasted with a mixture of melted butter and garlic powder and broiled at 500 degrees for 2-3 minutes.

Curry Sauce (from curryrecipes.org)
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons of onions, finely chopped
3 tablespoons of white wine
1 cup of low-fat chicken broth
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of flour
¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons of yellow curry powder mild
2 teaspoons of orange peel, grated
Fresh cilantro, chopped

Allow garlic and onions to "sweat" in wine for 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile mix butter, cayenne and flour in a small bowl. Add the chicken broth to the garlic and onions, and then add in the butter, cayenne and flour mixture. Once well mixed in, bring to a boil and let thicken until sauce is glossy (yes! glossy). Reduce heat and add in the cilantro, curry powder and orange peel.

This is linked to
Dr. Laura's Tasty Tuesday
Hearth & Soul @ Girlichef
Foodie Friday @ Designs for Gollum
Friday Potluck -- right here @ EKat's Kitchen.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Madras Curry Lentils

I love curry. I love lentils. I love madras curry. I love madras lentils.


I'm so happy that the lentil and winter soup season is upon us. 

My favorite lentil recipe just isn't great for the heat because it's got heat of its own. In droves!

To learn more about madras curry, check out this page, which describes a little bit more about the ingredients and common recipes. To learn more about my love of madras lentil curry, check out my first post on this lovely dish.

My original post on lentils madras was one of my first, and I didn't know as much about the power of beautiful photos, I wanted to revisit this tasty recipe and show you what it's all about.

Before I start showing you too many pretty photos though, please enter my giveaway here. (Don't worry, it opens in a new window.) You too can win $35. to spend at CSN Stores.

Curries move FAST once you get them going, so it's best to have all of your ingredients prepped and ready to go, if for nothing else than sanity's sake. I hold sanity in high regard.


I didn't really change anything this time, except I used two cans of tomatoes and I used 3 tablespoons of madras curry instead of two. I like it spicy.


First, saute the olive oil, ginger and garlic for several minutes.

Next, add the red pepper for several minutes.


Then add your cauliflower, potatoes, lentils, madras curry, cumin and coriander. Stir for several minutes until well coated. Add in water, tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes, or until your lentils are softened.

Add some frozen green peas and cook till warmed throughout.


Serve! 
*serve with some low fat plain yogurt to help offset the spice! It's worth it!


I'm linking this up to these blog hops this week!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

spice of life

I've been exploring spice lately, and in my quest to cook as much as possible, I've learned that I find cooking to be cathartic and almost therapeutic. I've made homemade mac and cheese (first time in my adult life), made my own alfredo sauce from scratch (this DOES actually require heavy cream -- not milk and cornstarch, which although they taste fine has a really bizarre, lumpy and goopy look), and have been experimenting with spice. I found an awesome spice shop called Savory. They have an online shop and stores in Colorado, and she has a show on the Food Network -- Spice and Easy, which although I haven't seen it yet, have set to record with DVR. I love love love love love the shop, and could very easily spend tons of money in there, but everything is totally affordable - they have curries that I of course zeroed in on, but also all variety of mushrooms and baking spices... and much more. I actually fell in love with their honey powder, which I have been putting on my popcorn.

Awesome foods that I've made in the last week:
  • Betty Crocker's Homemade Macaroni & Cheese
  • Thai Red Chicken Curry (I cheated here and used a spice packet from an Asian food store), ate one serving and froze
  • Thai Green Chicken & Eggplant Curry - Savory's recipe. Awesome. Didn't make enough of the sauce, so I made another batch of just the juice, coconut milk, curry paste plus added Chinese red peppers, bamboo shoots, and cilantro sprigs. Again froze most of it.
  • Pasta Alfredo with breaded and pan fried eggplant (left over from the Green curry). For the alfredo I tried using milk and cornstarch first, but got a lumpy white sauce. Then I forgot to add the cheese, so stirred it into the pasta white sauce mix, with ugly but tasty results. Night two, I made more pasta, and bought heavy whipping cream, and did the sauce right (including mixing the cheese correctly) and added everything together for a very tasty result.
  • AMAZING Guacamole. I realized that with all of the amazing cooking I've been doing I had everything I needed to make a great guac and was just missing the chips.
    • Mix two ripe avocados, one diced Roma tomato, four diced green onions, about a dozen diced cilantro sprigs, one diced jalapeno, and a tablespoon of lime juice. Mash all together and serve for a tasty, all natural, all fresh guac. Super easy AND super tasty.
I've learned that cilantro may be my favorite herb and flavor and I love the way it smells and tastes. I especially love how my hands smell after chopping. Hopefully I can perfect all of these awesome recipes in the next few weeks. I cannot wait to make for Klark!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

chicken tikka masala

My entire house is alive with the aroma of Indian spice and my fingers smell of fresh cilantro. I almost wish I were about to walk in the door for dinner... it's amazing in here. My latest experiment, chicken tikka masala, is bubbling away on the stove, imparting scents of cinnamon, cumin and other spice while freshly chopped cilantro floats through the now-heavy air. I can't wait to eat. It's 9:30 and I misjudged time... and must go to bed soon, but I have to try at least a small helping. My sauce and rice have a few more minutes though, so I wanted to start writing first, before my hunger consumes me and my brain goes entirely to food!

The first time I experienced this mean was in New Zealand, and while I don't have naan, I think it's an awesome first attempt for cooking from scratch instead of a pre-made sauce... that said I haven't taken a bite yet. Oh well. I've gone to Indian restaurants several times, which has only served to further enamor me of this awesome meal. So I decided to google the recipe and settled on a 4.5/5 star rated option from allrecipes.com.  The recipe is below and I'll talk some about my substitutions.

Okay, enough waxing poetic about this awesome food. I loaded up a small dish, and took a few pictures, then dug in. Little explosions went off in my mouth -- man this has some good kick to it; I might do with a little less jalapeno next time, but this is killer. Filling and good. I made a few substitutions to the recipe below; shortly after declaring that I had all the ingredients I realized that I forgot to buy heavy cream, but I substituted with evaporated milk and it turned out just fine. The yogurt mix that coats the chicken is really thick, so given how much I hate the idea of cleaning the grill (another chore for Klark), I placed my kebob skewers (there were actually 8 - I used four chicken breasts instead of three) on a tin foil on the grill. Also, both places that call for salt, I used one teaspoon of Nu-Salt instead of 3 of salt... and it works just fine to enhance the flavor, just like salt does. So although All Recipes says this is a dish very high in sodium (also using GINORMOUS servings, by removing the salt, using no-salt-added tomato sauce, and all fresh other ingredients, I have actually made it into a reasonable amount of sodium and an amazingly tasty dish. Amazingly tasty, delicious recipe that will become a keeper!! Highly recommend you all try it (if anyone is actually reading).

Ingredients

  • 1 cup yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
  • 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
  • 4 teaspoons salt, or to taste
  • 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 4 long skewers
  •  
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 3 teaspoons salt, or to taste
  • 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and 4 teaspoons salt. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  2. Preheat a grill for high heat.
  3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken onto skewers, and discard marinade. Grill until juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side.
  4. Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute. Season with 2 teaspoons cumin, paprika, and 3 teaspoons salt. Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with fresh cilantro.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

lentils madras...

Ok. Lots of lentil posts today — no, strike that. Lots of posts today in general. But, lots of catching up to be done, and lots of recipes to include that have been great! Lentils madras have long been one of my favorites and I usually buy the Tasty Bite boxed meal, but lots of sodium there, and they get pricey. I decided to make my own, this dish from The Daily Green turned out really well, and I served it with basmati rice cooked with a TBSP of unsalted butter. Really tasty, although not much like Tasty Bite's creation, this is a keeper and I'll definitely add it to the repertoire. Their four servings are more like 6-8 and this could be easily halved; I froze about 1/3 and divided the rest into three containers with what I've deemed to be two servings each. YUMMY.

Madras Lentils
The word "Madras" in this recipe refers to the type of curry powder used to create a unique spice blend of curry leaves, turmeric, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, chile pepper, bay leaves, fenugreek, allspice, and black pepper.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil 

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger 

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 

1 small cauliflower (2 pounds) cut into florets 

3/4 pound all-purpose potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks

2 tablespoons curry powder, preferably Madras 

1 teaspoon ground cumin 

1 teaspoon ground coriander 

2 1/2 cups canned tomatoes, chopped, with their juice

3/4 teaspoon salt 
(I just ground a little bit of sea salt in, not 3/4 tsp though)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt, for serving (optional)

1 cup lentils, picked over and rinsed

PREPARATION

  1. In 5-quart Dutch oven or large saucepan with lid, heat oil over low heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring frequently, 1 minute or until garlic is tender. Stir in bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently 5 minutes or until tender.
  2. Stir in cauliflower, potatoes, lentils, curry powder, cumin, coriander, and cook 2 minutes or until well coated.
  3. Add tomatoes, salt, black pepper, and 1 3/4 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook 30 minutes, or until lentils are cooked through and vegetables are tender.
  4. Stir in peas and cook 1 minute, or until heated through. Divide curry evenly among plates and top each serving with yogurt if desired.

Read more: http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/recipes/431#ixzz0kXAmF7op
Lentils on FoodistaLentils

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