Indian Cooking

is another foreign cuisine to me. The shear number of ingredients that go into a standard curry is staggering. I'm also relatively unfamiliar with a lot of Indian spices - tumeric, cassis, caraway, mace, amomum, fenugreek. Whaaa?!?!

On April Fools Day '09, my close friend, Swati, was kind enough to demystify all of this for me and introduced me to the big secret in cooking Indian food at home...

Pre-blended Spice Mixes!!

Yeah, we cheated a bit, but I wasn't about to invest in 15 different spices when I only know how to use them in a single dish. And give me some credit - I could have wimped out completely and bought the jarred, just-add-meat, sauce, but then I might as well have just ordered delivery.

So our first stop was the local Indian market. We visited three that are conveniently located in an area known as Curry Hill.

Little India Stores 128 E. 28th St. (at Lex)
Kalustyan's 123 E. 28th St. (at Lex)
Curry in a Hurry 119 Lexington (at 28th St.) - For Indian sweets

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On the menu:

Butter Chicken Curry - Based on Swati's mother's recipe, this tomato and yogurt based curry is fragrant and mildly spicy.



Vegetable Curry - A tasty mix of cauliflower, potatoes and carrots that perfectly complimented our main dish.


Masala Chai - This literally translates to "Spice Tea" and is a sweetly perfumed, up-all-night tea. Seriously, neither of us could sleep a wink that evening. It's better than redbull, though probably not as tasty with vodka.

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Butter Chicken

Ingredients
10 Chicken thighs, skin removed, deboned, and cut into large cubes

Marinade
1 clove garlic, chopped and smashed
1 tsp fresh ginger, chopped and smashed
3/4 cup tomato puree
1/2 cup yogurt
2 tblsp Butter Chicken spice mix
1 tblsp Garam Masala spice mix
1 tsp salt

To finish
1 tblsp vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped and smashed
1 tblsp cumin powder
1 tblsp tumeric powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 small green chili with seeds, chopped fine
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tblsp lime juice
Salt

Procedure

1. Mix marinade ingredients in a bowl and add chicken. Mix until chicken is well coated and cover. Allow to marinate overnight.
2. In a heavy-bottomed cast enameled pot, heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Add onions and allow to brown. 2-3 mins.
3. Add garlic, ginger, cumin, tumeric and chili powder. Mix and cook 1-2 mins.
4. Add green chili, tomato, chicken stock, lime and some of the marinade liquid. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and cover. Let simmer 5-10 mins to allow flavors to blend and form a paste.
5. Mix in chicken, bring to boil and turn down to a simmer and cover. Cook 10-15 mins until chicken is cooked.
6. Uncover and season to taste. If liquid is too thick, add more chicken stock. If too thin, allow to simmer uncovered to reduce.
7. Serve hot over jasmine or basmati rice cooked with salt, oil and chopped onions.
8. Accompaniments include yogurt, mint chutney, mango chutney and nan bread.

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Masala Chai

Ingredients
3 cups water
4 whole cloves
4 whole cardamom pods, split open
1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
1/4 inch piece fresh ginger
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 cups milk
2 tblsp white sugar
2 tblsp loose Darjeeling tea leaves

Procedure

1. Mix water and spices in a saucepan, bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer. Allow to cook 5 mins.
2. Add milk, return to a boil and turn down to a simmer.
3. Add sugar and tea leaves. Mix well. Simmer for another 5-10 mins until nicely brown. Note: The longer the tea is steeped, the stronger it will taste.
   
4. Strain and serve hot with Indian sweets (Laddoo, Jalebi, Peda, Gaajar ka Halwa).
   

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Another great culinary learning experience with a ridiculous amount of giggling.

Thanks Swati! - But one last question, no butter in Butter Chicken?!

the mystery continues...