Smoke-Chem BBQ
Smoking Fanatic
My wife and I have been learning to make authentic Indian food. Admittedly, this was easier when we still lived in NJ, in an area with 3 very good Indian supermarkets close by, but we can find a lot of what we need here, and we load up on the hard-to-find spices during our annual trips back east.
Anyway, the Diwali (Hindu Festival of Lights) celebration ends today, which is a good excuse to cook an Indian meal. We went with chicken makhani (butter chicken) and red dal with spinach, plus garlic naan and mint and tamarind chutneys.
The chicken breast cubes were marinated in yogurt and spices (garam masala, turmeric, cumin, red chili powder, garlic) then cooked in a ghee and cream-based crushed tomato sauce with a lot of the same spices, plus ginger, coriander, and fenugreek leaves. The dal started with red lentils, adding sautéed onion, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric, red chili flake, garam masala, lemon juice, cilantro, and baby spinach.
Naan was from Trader Joes, chutneys ordered from Amazon. We've made both garlic and jalapeño naan from scratch before--traditionally naan is cooked by slapping it on the wall of a tandoori oven--but a hot cast iron skillet makes a fine substitute. But it's a time-consuming process, and commercial frozen naan is pretty dang good, and not too hard to find.
What was new to me in learning Indian cooking is that the order in which the spices are added, and how long each one cooks in the dish is important. I used to just dump all of the spices in at the same time. Also, most of the spices are first 'bloomed', either in hot oil, or in a dry skillet. But it's worth the effort!
Anyway, the Diwali (Hindu Festival of Lights) celebration ends today, which is a good excuse to cook an Indian meal. We went with chicken makhani (butter chicken) and red dal with spinach, plus garlic naan and mint and tamarind chutneys.
The chicken breast cubes were marinated in yogurt and spices (garam masala, turmeric, cumin, red chili powder, garlic) then cooked in a ghee and cream-based crushed tomato sauce with a lot of the same spices, plus ginger, coriander, and fenugreek leaves. The dal started with red lentils, adding sautéed onion, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric, red chili flake, garam masala, lemon juice, cilantro, and baby spinach.
Naan was from Trader Joes, chutneys ordered from Amazon. We've made both garlic and jalapeño naan from scratch before--traditionally naan is cooked by slapping it on the wall of a tandoori oven--but a hot cast iron skillet makes a fine substitute. But it's a time-consuming process, and commercial frozen naan is pretty dang good, and not too hard to find.
What was new to me in learning Indian cooking is that the order in which the spices are added, and how long each one cooks in the dish is important. I used to just dump all of the spices in at the same time. Also, most of the spices are first 'bloomed', either in hot oil, or in a dry skillet. But it's worth the effort!
