Miraculous Curry

Monday night marked a hugely momentus occassion--Salmaan and I made Indian food that didn't suck. In fact, it was really darn good. And the recipe we used (and tweaked slightly) came out of the Joy of Cooking--10th edition--a decidely not-so-asian cookbook. I also made homemade naan (ummm, YUM), with a recipe out of the same cookbook. Hope you enjoy it has much as we did!
You'll need:

• 3 1/2-4 1/2 lbs. chicken parts (I used one package of thighs, and one package of legs).
• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (or more if you please)
• 2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger (or more if you please)
• 1 1/2 tsps garam masala (or more if you please)
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 cup low fat plain yogurt
• 1 cup fat free chicken broth (or water)
• 2 tbs chopped cilantro (we put in a ton more than that)
• 2 jalapeno peppers, quartered lengthwise (or less, depending on your tolerance for heat)
• 1 green bell pepper, cut into thing strips
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• basmati rice

For starts, skins the chicken parts, and place to the side.

Heat the oil in a large pot or skillet over medium high heat, and add the onion, cooking it until it's browned. Then, add the garlic, ginger, garam masala, and turmeric. Stir well.

Add the chicken, in batches, an dcook, turning once, until golden, 2-3 minutes on each side. Be sure that you lower the heat a bit when you're doing this--the onion and especially the garlic can burn quickly if you don't watch it.

Once the chicken is browned, add all of the chicken back to the pot.

At this point, add the yogurt, and stir occassionally until the yogurt has reduced and thickened adn the oil separates into pools, 3-4 minutes. Stir in the broth/water, cilantro, peppers, and salt.

Simmer, covered, and cook until the thigh releases clear juices when pierced with a fork--30-40 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the basmati, with Salmaan's super-secret recipe:

1. Place 1 cup of basmati rice in a cereal sized bowl.  Run cold water from the tap over the rice and run your fingers through the rice, sifting, rinsing the rice 4-5 times. 
2. Fill the bowl with cold water until it is about ¾ - 1 inch above the top of the rice line, and let soak for at least one hour (all the way up to 24 hours is possible, even more so if necessary). 
3. Put two cups of cold water into a saucepan, drain the rice, and add the wet rice to the saucepan.  Add one to two teaspoons of butter or margarine.  No salt!
4. Heat on high to bring to a boil.  Stir once with a wooden spoon to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Once you can hear the water boiling (not when you see it, when you hear it), immediately turn the heat down to low, cover fully, and ignore it for exactly 20 minutes.  No stirring, no pot watching, nothin’.   

Remove the chicken to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm. If the sauce is thin (as ours was), you can boil it over high heat to reduce and thicken it.

Serve the chicken and sauce over the rice you've prepared, and serve with tasty homemade naan bread, cooked up on the grill.

Super tasty. With three pieces of chicken a serving, this recipe made 4 servings. I think it could have made 6, but I was feeling piggy. So make some miraculous curry folks, and enjoy!

Comments

[Salmaan]

It wasn't just desi food. It was uber desi food.