Great dinner tonight. Butter chicken with tandoori cauliflower. A little naan to sop up, though you could surely do rice also.
Indian Butter Chicken, from American Test Kitchens:
Ingredients
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces and chilled, divided
1 onion, chopped fine
5 garlic cloves, minced
4 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 serrano chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons table salt, divided
1 cup heavy cream
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, divided
Directions
If you prefer a spicier dish, reserve, mince, and add the ribs and seeds from the chile. Serve with basmati rice and/or warm naan.
INSTRUCTIONS
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, ginger, and serrano and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is softened and onion begins to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garam masala, coriander, cumin, and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add water and tomato paste and whisk until no lumps of tomato paste remain. Add sugar and 1 teaspoon salt and bring to boil. Off heat, stir in cream. Using immersion blender or blender, process until smooth, 30 to 60 seconds. Return sauce to simmer over medium heat and whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Remove saucepan from heat and cover to keep warm. (Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 4 days; gently reheat sauce before adding hot chicken.)
Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Combine chicken, yogurt, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt in bowl and toss well to coat. Using tongs, transfer chicken to wire rack set in aluminum foil—lined rimmed baking sheet. Broil until chicken is evenly charred on both sides and registers 175 degrees, 16 to 20 minutes, flipping chicken halfway through broiling.
Let chicken rest for 5 minutes. While chicken rests, warm sauce over medium-low heat. Cut chicken into ¾-inch chunks and stir into sauce. Stir in 2 tablespoons cilantro and season with salt to taste. Transfer to serving dish, sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon cilantro, and serve.
I actually cooked the chicken on a grill pan.
Link for the cauliflower. I used powdered garlic and ginger.
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I don't have a lot of Indian recipes, never found a great chef to follow, but the curries are delicious. I'm going to make a leg of lamb shortly, and save the leftovers for a lamb curry, probably a saag, with spinach
I looked up coconut yuca. Not sure if it's a dessert or a savory dish. What was yours?
If you haven't tried it yet, do it.
Between Lehja and Peter Chang’s we are getting spoiled with Asian cuisine
Can’t say she got me hooked but her love for it definitely got me to enjoy it and occasionally crave it
But since she doesn’t cook the stuff, we usually only have it at restaurants or some Indian event that I occasionally get bamboozled to
Since I do most of the cooking, the only real ethnic thing we eat is Italian (since thats what I was brought up in)
No issue for her. She loves it as much as Indian
Mango chicken curry, lamb vindaloo, garlic naan, her family makes a good roti and of course a nice bowl of dal
Good thing about Indian, the longer it sits in the fridge, just keeps getting richer, more flavorful as all those spices ripen.
You might find this article interesting.
Best Indian Food in the U.S. - ( New Window )
I messed around and added a smokey element to the dish by smoking a spatchcock chicken with a Curry BBQ Rub.. Came out delicious
Link - ( New Window )
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Was in NJ in '17 or '18. Cousins took me to Edison...man, we had some great Indian food there. & I'm usually not a huge fan of that food...but damn. So good.
I don't have a lot of Indian recipes, never found a great chef to follow, but the curries are delicious. I'm going to make a leg of lamb shortly, and save the leftovers for a lamb curry, probably a saag, with spinach
I'd love your leg of lamb recipe!
Thanks Joe, will give it a shot
London is the perfect Indian food place for me. They have a large India population and know how to make great food, plus their meat dishes are much better (like Tandori Chicken).
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I don't have a lot of Indian recipes, never found a great chef to follow, but the curries are delicious. I'm going to make a leg of lamb shortly, and save the leftovers for a lamb curry, probably a saag, with spinach
I'd love your leg of lamb recipe!
The only one I've done was from Ina Garten, some years back, and I didn't love it. I've got a few to pick from, but basically it's a matter of picking which spice blend and sauce. Basically, they are all just rub and roast. I'll post how it goes.
For me, key to deep, robust flavor in any dish that calls for onions to be 'browned' is to continue to sauté until they are a rich, deep brown, seems to go on forever. Some edges invariably will burn a bit.
Yeah, they take time, but the majority of things I cook take time. They actually have less dicing/chopping than a lot of recipes with more veggies. Hell, an Italian chopped salad is more prep work, :) I also buy jars of garlic and ginger paste at the Asian market. If that's sacrilege, don't tell anyone. And if there's just 2 of you, you can easily get 2 meals out them. The second one has almost no prep and cleanup. My biggest mess yesterday was from the f'in immersion blender.
Don't have any, not looking for any :) I wouldn't rule out trying it in a restaurant, tho
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Goat?
Don't have any, not looking for any :) I wouldn't rule out trying it in a restaurant, tho
Aldi sells pretty good Naan, too. Wrap in foil and warm in oven. Easy weeknight delicious meal. Hard to screw up, honestly.
I don't like following long recipes with a bunch of ingredients, more than necessary.
I won't use jarred sauces for Thai (I do that from scratch), but do for Indian.
I was never really impressed, but I also never went home hungry lol.
Then a couple years ago a colleague of mine took me to a place called amarind in Tribeca (NYC) and it was definitely a whole different level.
She was great at picking things for me to eat (for the whole group of us who didn't have much experience with Indian food) and she said there are not a ton of high end Indian places and she felt that place was among the best she'd been to in the US.
Lamb Vindaloo was delicious, I had a lot of other food too (I forget what it was).
Still among my least favorite food types, but I don't avoid it like I used to - work meals is really the only time I eat it - but working in tech for so long I work with and am friends with many Indians.
When I was in Turkey a number of years ago we ate for dinner Doner Kebabs ( Similar to a Gyro but better and different bread) from 3 different places for a solid month. I always liked the taste of this one place over the others and it wasn't until the end I found out that he made his with goat and the others beef.
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But man it is labor-intensive making it on your own
Roger that (er, rajah that), montana, not to mention the clean-up, but results are so damn worth it.
For me, key to deep, robust flavor in any dish that calls for onions to be 'browned' is to continue to sauté until they are a rich, deep brown, seems to go on forever. Some edges invariably will burn a bit.
CHP, one thing about Indian food that is very similar to Italian food is they put a ton of love into it.
We own a small breakfast and lunch bistro in our small town and she does burgers on Fridays. She has been doing her version of smash burgers which involves deeply browned onions. So good!
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But man it is labor-intensive making it on your own
Yeah, they take time, but the majority of things I cook take time. They actually have less dicing/chopping than a lot of recipes with more veggies. Hell, an Italian chopped salad is more prep work, :) I also buy jars of garlic and ginger paste at the Asian market. If that's sacrilege, don't tell anyone. And if there's just 2 of you, you can easily get 2 meals out them. The second one has almost no prep and cleanup. My biggest mess yesterday was from the f'in immersion blender.
The other problem I have where I live now is the availability of some of the spices. I'm 50 miles from Rochester MN and 90 from Minneapolis. Rochester is hit or miss on the more exotic stuff so anything involving spices that are more ethnic related requires a trip to Minneapolis which is usually when I am using their airport
Mehak in South Riding is my probably my current favorite that's close to me. I also enjoy Haandi in Falls Church too.
I was never really impressed, but I also never went home hungry lol.
Then a couple years ago a colleague of mine took me to a place called amarind in Tribeca (NYC) and it was definitely a whole different level.
She was great at picking things for me to eat (for the whole group of us who didn't have much experience with Indian food) and she said there are not a ton of high end Indian places and she felt that place was among the best she'd been to in the US.
Lamb Vindaloo was delicious, I had a lot of other food too (I forget what it was).
Still among my least favorite food types, but I don't avoid it like I used to - work meals is really the only time I eat it - but working in tech for so long I work with and am friends with many Indians.
Tamarind is jewel. Very expensive but if you have the means it is indeed a must try.
The app dishes are almost better than any main course. We would just get a big table, everybody order a favorite or two and share it all. Fabulous...
CHP, one thing about Indian food that is very similar to Italian food is they put a ton of love into it.
Lower price point than a Tamarind and a bit more casual but solid...
This is different from Little India, Lex. and the 20s, where there are numerous Indian grocers and delis, good to get your spices, mango chutney, flours, etc.
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In comment 15321833 montanagiant said:
CHP, one thing about Indian food that is very similar to Italian food is they put a ton of love into it.
The love, for sure, and an element that sets them apart is the sautéeing of aromatics over high heat that sets the stage for browning lamb, chicken, etc. in that spice laden oil. The aromas that waft above the dutch oven fill the kitchen, excitement!
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We own a small breakfast and lunch bistro in our small town and she does burgers on Fridays. She has been doing her version of smash burgers which involves deeply browned onions. So good!
That is very cool. What is its name and who is 'she'? I love breakfast places, esp. if they have good home fries, those onions...yum
It's called Bean & Bistro
Dammit, now I'm hungry.
"OMG you guys!! I made the tastiest ______ ever! It's soooo good. LET'S DO THIS!!
Here's a little bit of backstory for ya. I used to live in blah blah blah and had OMG THE BEST ____ ever there! But since then I've been dying to recreate it! blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
She lets me do the grilling and smoking and occasional try at a gourmet dinner. She handles the Italian and other stuff
"OMG you guys!! I made the tastiest ______ ever! It's soooo good. LET'S DO THIS!!
Here's a little bit of backstory for ya. I used to live in blah blah blah and had OMG THE BEST ____ ever there! But since then I've been dying to recreate it! blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
PREACH, BROTHER!
5 minutes of scrolling later, you find a link to THE ACTUAL FUCKING RECIPE in small font.
But it is one of my favorite cuisines for eating out. We have a cool buffet up here that does poori chaat which is kind of cool. Not a big tikka masala fan; I swear it's the Indian version of General Tso's (not really Indian) but I don't know that for sure. Either way, it's a bit too sweet for me. I prefer vinadoloos and chettinads, except for the former I always overestimate my spice tolerance by a fair amount. But wanted to op in and say that I have a weakness for gulab jamun which are these fried dough or milk balls drowning in honeyed rose water.
But it is one of my favorite cuisines for eating out. We have a cool buffet up here that does poori chaat which is kind of cool. Not a big tikka masala fan; I swear it's the Indian version of General Tso's (not really Indian) but I don't know that for sure. Either way, it's a bit too sweet for me. I prefer vinadoloos and chettinads, except for the former I always overestimate my spice tolerance by a fair amount. But wanted to op in and say that I have a weakness for gulab jamun which are these fried dough or milk balls drowning in honeyed rose water.
Why would you want to get that smell out of your house?
I've only made butter chicken this year. My go to has always been chicken tikka. The recipes are not very different.
I’ve had authentic home cooked that blows a lot of restaurants away If you can handle the spice.
I’ve started trying the curry guys British Indian food recipes. It’s nice as you make the base and then adapt it for the dish you want. Making bigger batches Of the base and freezing cuts the time needed dramatically
The curry guy - ( New Window )
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Butter chicken is in my top 3 all time favorite foods. I miss going to an Indian buffet. I never would've tried things like coconut seasoned yuca otherwise.
I looked up coconut yuca. Not sure if it's a dessert or a savory dish. What was yours?
It was savory, and fairly dry, not saucy. I treated it like a side dish for the Currys.