FeDish: Indian Edition

I was at Trader Joe's today with Rajiv and Sujoy when Sujoy asked if we had any limes at the house. I told him we did and he informed me that he will be cooking Chicken curry at my house today. Lucky me.

And so, without further ado, I am proud to present to you, for your Indian cooking pleasure: Sujoy's Chicken Curry.



According to the boys, the key to Indian cooking is patience. For example, it took them about 45 minutes to make chai tea this morning.

First, truss your chicken. This was quite the process and I must say, I enjoyed sitting back and watching the boys do all the dirty work for once.

truss that chicken, dude

Sujoy marinates his chicken in lime, yoghurt, chili powder, ginger, garlic paste, s+p, chicken masala for about an hour before he cooks it.



Doesn't it remind you of that Indian color holiday, when they run around in the streets and throw colored powder on each other? .......Anyone?
Well, it's pretty nonetheless.



Our roommate Rajiv doesn't cook a whole lot, but he has all of these indian spices and ingredients in the cupboards. Today I am finally learning what they all are and what they are used for.

It also should be said that Sujoy cooks a lot like I do, in that he doesn't measure. He said that if any Indians read this, they will probably laugh at him because he just tastes as he goes and doesn't follow any recipe.



While the chicken is marinating, Pour some vegetable oil, ~1T of cumin seeds and some Garam masala in a large pan. Throw about 1 1/2 chopped red onions in the pot. A teaspoon or so of sugar helps the vegetables caramelize nicely. He also added a few cloves of chopped garlic and some ginger paste (1 1/2 spoonfuls). (Normally he would use a ginger-garlic paste)





Side note: Garam masala is a powder blend of cumin, black pepper, coriander, cardamom seeds, nutmeg, cinnamon, dried ginger, caraway, mace and bay leaf. The main ingredient are cinnamon and cardamom. It smells incredible. No really, it is the best thing I have ever smelled.

Once the onions brown, add 1 chopped red bell pepper and 2 chopped tomatoes. The idea is to cook all of this until it melts together in a thick paste.

Once things start happening, add some coriander powder, chili powder and chicken curry powder. The main difference between American cooking and Indian cooking, as you may have noticed, is fresh herbs vs dried powdered spices.

Now it's time to add your marinated chicken to the onion-tomato mixture. Stir in some peas and adjust spices to your liking.

Let simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve over rice. Or, eat it as is, standing over the stove because it smells too good to wait for rice to cook, or to sit in a chair. Just don't forget the cilantro! It adds so much to the dish.

beautiful

I'm hoping that there's some left when the guys get back from the party that we took it to this afternoon. I could really go for some leftover chicken curry for lunch tomorrow.

Thanks for teaching me Sujoy! I will definitely be replicating this one in the future.

m