Chicken, navy and green bean curry 白インゲン豆、サヤインゲン入りのチキンカレー

This is my wife’s curry project. This chicken curry is based on the recipe in Madhur Jaffrey’s “Quick and Easy Indian Cooking”. The original recipe is called “Chicken, Red lentils and Green beans in one pot” (or “ek handi ka murgh aur masoor”). Of course due to the ingredients we did not have, this recipe was modified to “Chicken, navy beans and green beans”. We thought this was a quite good curry. We served it over rice with the side of cold cucumber buttermilk soup whch went extremely well.

I added blanched green beans (haricot verts) just before serving (so that they would not become “grey” beans instead of green beans). The navy beans mostly melted into the sauce and made it nicely smooth and thick.

As usual, I will ask my wife to continue. I have to say the numbers of different spices and herbs are quite impressive.

Ingredients:
6 tbs vegetable oil
3 bay leaves
5 whole cloves
1 tsp ground cardamon
2 inch stick of cinnamon
3 onions, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
1 1/2 tbs lemon juice
generous pinch of asafetida
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
14 oz can of navy beans
24 oz can of whole plum tomato, stem end removed and crushed
6 chicken thighs (we put them in a pan whole without skinning or deboning. After they are cooked and cooled down we removed the bones)
(Juice from the plum tomatoes reserved to provide added liquid later as the dish cooks)

The picture below shows the line-up of spices and herbs; from left to right are whole cloves, bay leaves, ground cardamon, sticks of cinnamon, turmeric, salt, gram masala, asafetida, cumin seeds, ground cumin, ground coriander, and cayenne pepper.

Among the spices, was garam masala (we use an authentic Indian brand). The asafetida is a little unusual (at least for us). It comes from the rhizome of the ferula plant (or giant fennel plant). It is used in Indian cooking as a flavor enhancer. It is supposed to add a smooth flavor reminiscent of leeks and onions (although we are not sure we could identify what it added to the dish.)

Directions:
Put the oil in a pan and when it is shimmering add the bay leaves through cinnamon and bloom them until the bay leaves turn slightly brown and the smell becomes fragrant. Remove the cloves (so no one eats them by accident.) (The bay leaves and cinnamon stick are large enough it is not likely someone would eat them if left in the sauce). Add the onions and fry until translucent and slightly browned. Add the garlic and cook until it becomes fragrant (but not burnt). Add the spices ground turmeric through cayenne pepper. Bloom the spices until fragrant. Add the beans and tomatoes and stir until blended. Add the chicken, skin side down and cover with the sauce. Cook on low simmer for 1/2 hour. Turn the chicken over and cook for another 1/2 hour. Add the reserved tomato juice as needed to keep the sauce from scorching.

This is another really good curry. All the spices blend and meld together making for a complex dimension of flavor. It is not hot but the cayenne pepper gives it a pleasant slight “buzz”. The beans basically melted into the sauce making it very rich and creamy. The spices infused the chicken meat which was very tender and basically fell off the bone. 

Cabbage curry salad (or rescued caramelized cabbage) カレー味のキャベツのサラダ

Making good on her threat to rescue the somewhat less than successful “skillet caramelized cabbage” my wife transformed it into curry flavored cabbage. Getting a cue from coleslaw, she added carrots and raisins. Then she further transformed it by turning it into a salad using mayo and strained (Greek) yogurt as a dressing. I think this dish may have been inspired by a recipe in her favorite Indian cookbook by Madhur Jaffrey’s called “Quick and Easy Indian Cooking”. Even so, I am certain, the recipe would not have called for the use of failed skillet caramelized cabbage. Nonetheless this was much better than the original.

Ingredients:
1/2 head of cabbage (about 1 1/2 lbs.) (I used the previously made caramelized cabbage)
3/4 tsp. Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. Fennel seeds
1 tsp. Sesame seeds
1 cup raisins.
1 medium or large onion diced
2 to 3 carrots julienne
1 tsp. Salt
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbs. Lemon juice (I used sushi vinegar)
1/2 tsp. Garam masala

Directions.
Put some oil in a frying pan on medium high heat. When the oil gets hot add the cumin, fennel and sesame seeds to bloom the spices. When the sesame seeds begin to pop quickly add the raisins. They will essentially fry puffing up and turning light brown. Then add the onions and sauté until they have browned a bit. Add the carrots and cook until they soften somewhat. Add the cabbage. Stir and cook until blended and the cabbage has become soft. Add the salt and cayenne. Then at the very end add the lemon juice (or sushi vinegar) and the garam masala.

This was a major improvement over the sorry caramelized cabbage dish. The spices had depth of flavor and some zing but were not too hot. The raisins gave it sweetness that contrasted well with the tangy note added by the vinegar. The garam masala gave it a bright spark at the end of the bite. I would almost go so far as to call it a coleslaw curry. It tasted great both hot or cold. Although this can be eaten hot or cold, we further morphed it to salad.

I served this dish with sweet potato croquet, French fries made from sweet potato. I think this was a small dish that went with a drink in the evening.

This was a lunch over the weekend. I served the cabbage curry dressed with the mayo greek yogurt combo. The plate included a curry flavored chicken salad, cantelope and grapes (chicken was leftover breast meat from the whole chicken we cooked on the Weber grill) and Angel biscuit.  Both salads were curry flavored but tasted quite different.

I think my wife was indeed successful rescuing the cabbage from the original dish. 

Curry filled pocket カレー入りパイポケット

I stopped making a Japanese curry (from a package of curry roux) for some time because my wife took an interest in making more authentic Indian style curries. But, one weekend, I just had a hankering for the taste of classic Japanese curry.  So I made some using a package of "medium hot" curry roux and added chicken thighs, potatoes, carrots and onions, the usual suspects used in a Japanese curry. We ate a few curry dinners but we had some leftovers curry but not enough for another dinner. I mentioned in passing to my wife that another Japanese favorite is a fried bread stuffed with curry or カレーパン. She immediately came up with the idea of stuffing her "baked pocket" with the leftover curry. Here is the end results. The shell is made of a pie crust and baked.

You can't see much but it is filled with curry (she mashed the vegetables, particularly the potatoes to make it thicker in consistency and cut the chicken into smaller pieces so they would fit).

The original curry was made in the classic Japanese way with chicken thigh meat, sauteed onion, potato and carrot with a Japanese medium hot curry roux. She shredded the chicken and mashed vegetables to make more homogenous and thicker sauce (#1).  Using her pocket making gadget, she cut the rounds of pie crust (frozen packaged, thawed and rolled) and filled with the curry stuffinfg using a medium size ice cream scoop (#2). The edges were painted with a mixture of flour and water (sort of edible glue) and the pocket maker closed and pressed (#3) making perfect stuffed pie pockets (#4).

She baked this in a preheated 350F oven for 15 minutes. 

This is a great snack for weekdays when we came back from work and needed something to fill the holes in your stomach quickly. It heats up well in a toaster oven. Although it was a bit spicy, it was very satisfying almost like a comfort food. It also went well with a glass of cab.

Cauliflower Rice with Safran カリフラワーライス

I saw this interesting recipe in the food section of the WashingtonPost. Since I had a package of Iranian saffran (the second picture upper left) from one of my friends, I thought this is the dish I must try.  I served it with my wife's indian style lamb curry and homemade naan.



Ingredients: (for 2-3 servings)

Cauliflower, medium
Saffron, generous pinch
Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
Olive oil 1/2 tbs
Salt to taste

Using a box grater (coarsest side), I grated the cauliflower by holding the stem end. I only grated the florets.

I added the saffron threads to a small bowl with a small amount of hot water (below, right upper).  I added the olive oil to a frying pan on medium high flame and added the cumin seeds. I sautéed it for one minute until fragrant and added the grated cauliflower (below, lower left) and cooked for 2 minutes. I then added the saffron and the water it soaked in and salt. I sautéed for 1 more minute (below, right lower).



When I read the recipe, the combination of cumin seeds and saffran sounded good but we did not particularly like this flavor profile. I may change the seasonings in the future.

Samosa with pork 豚肉入りサモサ

On a recent weekend we had dinner guests and my wife decide to serve two different Indian-style curries with rice. As an appetizer, in keeping with the “curry” theme, I proposed making samosa. Including pork is not traditional, but I had left over baked pork tenderloin so I minced it up and added it to the filling. Instead of making the skin from scratch we took a “short cut” and used store bought "egg roll" wraps which worked well.



Here are the samosa hot out of the oil but when we served them to our guests we re-heated them in the toaster oven, which actually made the skin crispier and better.



Ingredients: (this made about 30 samosas with a fair amount of stuffing leftover.)
Potato: white potato, 4 large mashed, boiled whole until done, skin removed while hot.
Onion: 1 medium, finely chopped.
Spices:
Ginger, 1 Tbs. finely chopped fresh
Jalapeno pepper, one,  finely chopped
3 tbs finely chopped cilantro
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masara,
1 tsp ground roasted cumin seeds
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbs lemon juice
Pork:
I had previously cooked the pork tenderloin. I used a dry rub of smoked Spanish paprika, cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper and salt, and baked it at 350F for 30 minutes). I just chopped one tenderloin (#1 below). This is totally optional.
Egg roll skin (one package) (see #5 below).

My wife first sautéed the onion in vegetable oil (1 tbs) until the edges got slightly brown and the added the spice mixture to bloom (#2), The minced pork was added and further sautéed (#3), If using uncooked ground meat, it may have to be cook in a separate frying pan and then combined with the spices. #3 The meat/spice mixture was mixed into the mashed potatoes. I tasted the mixture and it was highly spiced and seasoned (#4).




as a wrapper, I used egg roll wraps (skin) as seen in #5 above. This is almost square but one end is slightly longer (#6). I cut this in half (I layered several of them) using a sharp long knife. I then removed the narrower strips from each halves so that resulting sheets have a proportion of 1:4 (#7).

The diagram on the left is from http://masalanmagic.blogspot.com/2012/02/patti-samosa-folding-techniques.html. There are many YouTube videos you can watch as well.

We made about 30 of these with the loose ends of the egg roll wraps secured by painting them with a "glue" made of water and potato starch or flour (#8).

I deep fried them in 320-340F vegetable oil for several minutes per side until golden (#9). I drained them first on a metal cooling rack #9 with a cookie sheet underneath) and then on sheets of paper towel (#10).

These reheated very well in the toaster oven (turning once during the reheating), we used the highest "toast" mode. They were actually more crisp after the reheating.

As you know "fried" starch tastes good. The egg roll wraps worked very well and after reheating they tasted even better than when they just came out of the oil. The stuffing was very hot (temperature) and flavorful but not too "hot" (spicy). This was great hit among our guests.

Indian-style Lamb curry インド風ラムカレー

We bought butter flied lamb leg last weekend to be barbecued but the weather was not co-operative and we could not cook it outside in our Weber grill. We were planning a dinner party so we had to cook it somehow. My wife suggested we make an Indian-style lamb curry. This is more like ragout than a saucy curry but it was very good.



I was a sous chef and did all the prepping and my wife made the dish.

Ingredients:
Lamb, butterflied leg of lamb (about 3lb), sliver skin, visible fat removed and cubed (#1).
Garlic (3 fat cloves, finely chopped),
Jalapeno pepper (two, seeded and deveined and finely chopped),
Ginger root, half inch, skin removed and finely chopped (#2)
Spices; (#4)
Curry leaves, dried,15 (#3).
2 tsp garam masala,
1 tsp ground cumin.
1/4 tsp ground turmeric.
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper.
1/2 tsp salt (#4).
2 tsp sushi vinegar (original recipe calls for lemon juice but I used the vinegar



My wife first sautéed or bloomed all the spices (#2, #3 and $4) in vegetable oil (3 tbs). Once the spices became fragrant, she added the lamb (Our philosophy is that "searing" the meat before adding is not important or necessary) (#5). She put the lid on and simmered it for an hour. Although, my wife did not add any liquid, enough liquid came out of the meat that the dish looked like a soup. She removed the lid and reduced the liquid until it just formed a thick coating of  'sauce" on the meat (#6). We reheated this before serving to our guests by adding a small amount of liquid (we used chicken broth but water would have done it).

This was a great hit. We served it “family style” with rice so the quests could take what they wanted. The meat was tender, very flavorful and a bit "spicy". When served with rice, it was just right. We provided yogurt as a condiment. In addition of tasting good with the meat the yogurt also calmed the spiciness for anyone who felt it was still a bit too much for them. (One of our guests did that but the rest of us were OK with the spiciness). This dish did not stay around long enough to get cold.

Indian-style chicken curry with onsen egg and homemade naan 温泉卵いりインド風カレーと自家製ナーン

This dish was made from left over Indian-style chicken curry with tomato and cream that my wife made several days ago. The curry was mostly sauce with only a small amount of chicken left so I decided to supplement the protein with slices of barbecued pork and onsen eggs 温泉卵. I also served Japanese-style sweet pickles I made.



I should have garnished with something green before taking the picture. As you can see, the egg white is not completely congealed in the onsen egg but the yolk was cooked with nice creamy texture.



We pondered how best to warm up the home-made naan. We tried three different ways; in a toaster oven, in a cast iron skillet (with additional melted butter applied), and in the microwave. It turned out that the microwave (in a silicon microwave container, covered) is most convenient with a good result.

This somewhat eclectic supper was pretty good. Having home-made and frozen naan in the freezer is very convenient and went well with this Indian-style curry.

Indian-style Chicken curry with cream

This is another one of my wife's Indian-style curry. This is chicken curry with tomato and cream. I really like this one. We like to make this on the weekend and then quickly heat it up after coming home from a hectic day at work. Its nice to have such a hearty and flavorful dish waiting for us.


We needed something green for the photo.



Ingredients:
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 Tsp cumin seeds
3 bay leaves
3 Tbs fresh ginger diced
3 garlic cloves diced
2 onions diced
1 tbs ground coriander
1 tbs ground cumin
1 large can  plum tomatoes (reserve the juice)
4 chicken thighs deboned, skinned and cut into large cubes
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp salt
light cream (to taste). 

Several red potatoes (optional)

Take the first 5 ingredients and let them “bloom” in several tbs of hot oil (I use peanut oil). When they become fragrant add the chopped onions and sauté until they become translucent. Add the garlic and ginger continue sautéing careful not to burn the garlic. Once they have “bloomed” add the coriander, cumin, pepper and salt and allow them to “bloom”. Add the tomatoes and cook for a few moments. Then add the reserved tomato juice from the can. (If using the potatoes add them to the sauce and cook until they become a bit tender. Finally add the chicken. Make sure all the pieces are submerged in the sauce. Simmer gently until the chicken is tender (about 30 to 45 minutes). Just before serving add light cream to taste stirring it into the sauce.

This is one of our favorite curries. It uses almost all the spices on the shelf but the resulting layers of flavor make it worth while. The cream really evens everything out adding a mellowness. The chicken meat picks up all the flavors and is very tender—one of the best ways to cook chicken thighs which can be pretty chewy. We eat this with white rice.

Indian-style Pork "Vindaloo" curry インド風マスタードポークカレー

Although I started cooking again, here is another installment of my wife's Indian-style dishes made while I was out of commission. This one is a bit spicier than her usual but we liked it very much. We garnished it with sautéed half tomato (skinned and seasoned with salt and pepper) and fresh young cilantro which we are growing on the window sill.

She made a few of her own modification; such as the addition of dry roasted mustard seeds and instead of using coconut milk as suggested in the original recipe, she substituted yogurt. This is not because we do not have an easy access to coconut milk but we like the taste of yogurt in this dish. Coconut milk, at least to our taste, adds a sweetness and distinctive "coconut" flavor (I am sure that must be the whole purpose of using coconuts milk). Besides, yogurt is a bit healthier (we hope).

The addition of cilantro leaves (not in the original recipe) really added to the flavor dimensions. My wife added a bit more yogurt to adjust the heat just before serving.


Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs. grainy (grey poupon) mustard
• 2 Tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 1/2 Tsp. ground cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 Tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 Tsp. salt
• 2 Tsp. sushi vinegar (the recipe calls for red wine vinegar but sushi vinegar is what we have on hand and I really like its mild taste in dishes.)
• 3 Tbs. vegetable oil
• 2 onions cut into half rings
• 2 cloves garlic finely cut
• 1 1/2 lb. pork shoulder cut into large cubes
• 1 cup Greek yogurt (the recipe calls for coconut milk but we find it makes the dish too sweet and besides we like to think the yogurt is better for us.)

Put the mustard seeds into a dry frying pan and roast until they turn a slight grey color and start popping. Remove from heat a set aside (#2 in the picture above). Mix the mustard, cumin, turmeric, pepper, salt, and sushi vinegar together in a little dish and set aside (#2). Put the oil in a pan and sauté the onions until they are translucent (#1) and add the garlic (#2) and continue for a few more minutes. Then add the mustard mixture (#2) letting the spices bloom in the hot pan. (they will start to stick to the bottom but don’t panic). Then add the mustard seeds. Turn down the heat and whisk in the yogurt taking up any of the spices that have stuck to the bottom of the pan. Once everything is incorporated add the meat (#3) and simmer for about 70 minutes or until the meat is fork tender (#4, we do not brown the meat since it does not add much in this type of curry dish).

This appears to be one of my husband’s favorite curries. He asks for it frequently. I thought it would bring him some comfort while his hand healed. This is a nicely assertive curry. The processed mustard fortified with the additional mustard seed and vinegar provides a pleasant contrast to cut the richness of the pork.

Indian-style potato soup with green peas インド風グリーンピーズとジャガイモのスープ

This is another one of my wife's Indian-style cooking but she added green peas deviating from the original recipe. The below is when we served this cold with small slices of Jalapeño pepper and freshly cracked black pepper. This is very nice soup either warm or cold. Once it is cold, the spices get muted but still a very nice soup for summer. I asked my wife to take over.


Ingredients:
4 potatoes peeled and cubed
2 medium onions chopped
Chicken stock to cover potatoes and onions
¾ inch slice of ginger
1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
5 tbs. chopped cilantro
1/2 fresh jalapeno
Bag of frozen Hanover petite peas
¾ tsp salt
1 tbs. lemon juice

I sautéed the onions until they became translucent. I added the coriander and cumin and heated them until they became fragrant (i.e. until the flavors bloomed—this is my favorite part of Indian cooking the lovely smell of the spices as they come alive). Then I added the potatoes, ginger, and chicken juice. I simmered until the potatoes became soft. I took out the slice of ginger and discarded it. I put the soup mixture in a blender and added the cilantro and jalapeño and whirred until mixture became smooth. I then put the pureed mixture back into the sauce pan and added the frozen peas and heated until they thawed. I added the lemon juice at the end and thinned the mixture with milk to taste. (the original recipe adds the peas and blends them along with the onions and potatoes. I decided the put the peas in whole after pureeing the potato onion mixture to retain texture.)

This was a very flavorful and satisfying soup. The peas added a nice crunch with a little burst of sweetness.

Indian-style chicken in a cilantro, spinach, and mustard sauce インド風鶏肉のマスタードソース

This is another one of my wife’s Indian-inspired chicken dishes. The recipe came from Madhur Jaffrey’s “Quick & Easy Indian Cooking”. We made some modifications especially instead of using whole spices such as whole cardamom pods, and sticks of cinnamon, we used the spices ground. The original recipe states that the whole spices are not to be eaten but once they are incorporated in the dish, they essentially disappear and we were a bit leery of swallowing them or chipping a tooth by crunching into them by mistake. In other recipes, we removed the whole spices after frying in oil but using the ground counter parts appear easier. We are sure this will be frowned upon. I asked my wife to take over from here.
Ingredients:
Chicken: We used thigh, 4 (about 2 and half lb) deboned, skinned and cut into large bit size.
Vegetable oil,  1/4 cup
3 bay leaves
Ground cardamom, 1/4 tsp
Ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp
Ground cloves, 1/4 tsp
Red pepper flakes, to taste
(Ground cayenne pepper, black pepper in original recipe, but we did not add these because we thought it would make the dish too hot).
Salt, 1 tsp
Whole grain Dijon Mustard, 3 tbs
Yogurt, 6 tbs
Jalapeno pepper, 2, seeded and deveined (or leave them for hotter taste), finely chopped
Ginger, 2 tbs finly chopped
Raisin, 1/4 cup
Cilantro, fresh leaves, chopped, 2tbs
Spinach, 1 package (10 oz), steamed and chopped coarsely.

In a large skillet or frying pan, add the vegetable oil and bloom herbs and spices including the bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, red pepper flakes and salt. Once the spices were fragrant, I removed the bay leaves and added the jalapeno pepper, and then whole grain mustard. I added yogurt, 1 tablespoonful at a time and mixing well after each addition to develop the sauce. I added the spinach and the chicken (without browning as per my husband suggestion that it only make the oil splatter but does not add much in terms of the flavor). I put on a lid and simmered it for 30 minutes. I finished by adding the raisins and cilantro. The sauce became rather thick.

This is again very flavorful with layers of the many spices and cilantro but not too spicy hot and went perfectly well with cooked rice. We noticed, though, many spices such as cumin, cardamom, cloves are similar among many Indian dishes.

Indian-spiced deviled eggs インド風味のデビルドエッグ

This is another one of my wife's Indian-style dish. This may be my wife's modification to make deviled eggs and the original recipe might be somewhat different. Our good friend who passed away recently, used to make wonderful deviled eggs which prompted my wife to make her own deviled eggs and also bought a special plate for deviled eggs. Although it is rather old fashioned appetizer, I heard, it is making a comeback with new twists. So, this is her contribution to this trend; Indian-spiced deviled eggs". Here is one serving with my usual tomato flower.



Here is a dozen (or 6 whole eggs) on a serving platter.



Close up of the stuffing.

After I made poached eggs in spicy cream sauce. I had a lot of sauce left over. It was so good I had no intention of not using it. In addition, it had become very thick. Since the original recipe used it with eggs I got the idea of making “indian style” deviled eggs. I boiled up 6 eggs and cut them in half. I removed the yolks and mashed them with a fork. Then I added the sauce to the egg yolks until I achieved a consistence in which was thick enough to hold its shape when I put the mixture in the cooked egg whites. I used a small scoop to make the yolk mixture into a ball that fit into the cooked egg white.

This was a delicious variation on an old-tried-and-true favorite. It was interestingly spicy with many layers of flavor.

Poached egg with Indian-style sauce 落とし卵とインド風ソース

Recently, I had surgery on my right hand and ended up sporting a large cast which made it impossible for me to cook anything for several weeks. During this time, my wife did all the cooking (quite admirably, I might add, despite the dearth of Japanese dishes). Recently she has become interested in Indian food particularly the use and combination of spices that provide complex flavor without a lot of heat. Although we have posted her dishes before, I asked her to “pinch hit” for me posting her Indian-inspired and other dishes exclusively until I am back in action. This is the first installment. The Indian dishes are all based on recipes from two books; "Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking" and "Madhur Jaffrey's Quick and Easy Indian Cooking". In most cases she took considerable liberties with the recipes (our apologies to the cookbook’s author) but they still tasted good.

We had this for breakfast. It is a type of curry sauce with a poached egg on English muffin bread. (My wife also baked the bread. Instead of making round muffins she made it into a loaf). I think the original recipe called for the use of hard-boiled eggs but we like runny yolk. Of course, we used pasteurized shell eggs for this dish. Breaking the yolk and mixing it with the sauce and eating it with the bread (you’ll need a fork and knife) was wonderful. Again, it was very flavorful with lots of spices but not spicy hot. Perfect for breakfast or a late night snack.



Ingredients:
1 medium onion chopped
2 tsp grated ginger
1 jalapeño chopped
1 cup of light cream
1 tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. ground cumin seeds
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp garam masala
2 tsp. tomato paste
2/3 cup chicken stock

My wife cooked the onion until it was browned and caramelized. Then she added the ginger and jalapeño followed by the cream, lemon juice, cumin seeds, cayenne, salt, garam masala, tomato paste and chicken stock. She cooked the mixture until everything was combined and the sauce had thickened a bit. (The original recipe call for putting 6-8 hardboiled eggs, cut in half, face side up into the sauce and spooning the sauce over them cooking for 5 minutes). Instead, she toasted some english muffin bread, buttered it, put the sauce on the bread and topped it with a poached egg—voila, Indo-eggs Benedict (?). 

As I said earlier, when the poached egg was broken the yoke ran into and mixed with the sauce. It was a luscious combination because the sauce was not too hot (spicy) but full of flavor. The toast added a lovely crunch.

Indian-style lamb stew インド風ラムシチュー

My wife really likes lamb and recently developed an interest in Indian-style cooking with lots of spices and flavors but not too much heat (spicy hot). This dish combines her favorites. This is, for sure, much more interesting than a regular "curry".

This recipe also came from "Easy and quick Indian cooking" but, as usual, my wife made some variations based on available ingredients. So it varies slightly from the original recipe. I was sous chef for this dish and did all the chopping and preparing.

The ingredients:
Lamb, I bought about 3 and 1/2 lb of lamb shoulder (bone in). After removing the bones and fat, the final amount was about 2 1/2 lb. I cut it into a large bite size (1-2 inches chunks).
2 onions chopped
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp ground garlic
3 tsp water
1 1/2 tsp ground cardamon
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp ground cloves
10 peppercorns
1 tsp cinnamon
1tsp coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 1/4 salt
1/4 tsp garam masala
7 tbs plain yogurt (thick greek style)
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 garam masala

The first step was to make a paste out of the ginger, garlic and water. We chose not to brown the meat (because it doesn’t seem to really make a difference that we can taste), so I made the sauce and then added the meat. The cardamon, bay leaves cloves, peppercorn and cinnamon went into the hot oil and cooked a few seconds until they were fragrant. Then I added the onion and cooked until it became medium brown. Next came the ginger/garlic paste which I cooked for a few seconds. Then the coriander, cumin, paprika, cayenne and salt. While on low heat I stirred in the yogurt one tbs at a time. When the sauce was all nicely blended I added the lamb cubes and water. I put on the lid and simmered for about a hour until the meat was tender. Before serving I was supposed to sprinkle on the garam masala (I forgot to do this.)


This dish was fun to make. I really enjoyed the smell as all the spices bloomed in the oil and gave off their fragrance. I had always thought the yogurt could not be used in cooking because it would “break” so it opens new vistas to be able to use it. (The secret seems to be to add it slowly over low heat). I really like the somewhat tart flavor it adds. For this recipe I might reduce the amount of chicken broth.

The meat really cooked down and the sauce was a bit watery. The flavor however was wonderful. Lots of flavor with only a hint of heat. (That is another thing I like about this cooking; I can control the amount of heat a keep it at a comfortable level). The meat was fork tender.

“Mughlai” Chicken 鶏肉のインド風クリームソース

This is the second Indian-inspired dish my wife made called “Mughlai” chicken. This is a very flavorful dish with lots of spices but not hot. Although it has good amount of cream, use of yogurt makes it less deadly while keeping the sauce very rich. I was sous chef and did the prepping of the chicken and chopping of vegetables. My wife follow the recipe from Madhur Jaffrey’s “Indian Cooking” cook book. The recipe is similar to one by  Nigela Lawson which  is available on-line.

Ingredients:

Chicken: Both recipes are a bit vague about what parts and kind of chicken. We used chicken thigh, skin off, bone out, and cut into two pieces. We used a total of 6 thighs (12 pieces, about 3 lb or 1 kg).

Ginger, I inch cube, peeled and coarsely chopped (we cheated and used ground ginger from a tube).

Garlic, The receipt calls for 8-9 cloves but we cut this down but again used ground garlic from a tube.

Almond, 6 tps, sliced. We used whole almond toasted and sliced.

Cardamom pods, 10, lightly bruised

Cinnamon stick, one

Bay leaves, two

Cloves, 5

Cumin, ground, 2 tsp

Cayenne pepper, 1/8 tsp

Plain yogurt, 7 tbs

Light cream, 10oz

Salt, 1 1/2 tsp

Raisin, 2 tbs (the original recipe called for golden raison but we used regular raison.)

Garam masala, 1/4 tsp

Onion, 2 medium, finely chopped

Vegetable oil, 7 tbs

1. Make a paste of almond (4 tbs), garlic, ginger, and water (starting from 4 tbs) in a small electric blender. We needed to add more water to make it a paste.

2. Brown the chicken:in oil in a large skillet in all sides in two batches. Set them aside.

3. In the same pot, add the cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and bay leaves in the same oil and fry until fragrant. The original recipe does not instruct to remove these items (only mentioned that they were not meant to be eaten). So as not to accidently crack a tooth however, we removed these including black seed spilling out from the  cardamom pods using a fine meshed square skimmer.

4. We added the onion and sautéed it for 3-4 minutes. We then added the almond paste, cayenne pepper and cumin and sautéed for few minutes.

5. We started adding the yogurt one tables spoon at a time until all were incorporated.

6.We added the cream, salt, and the chicken pieces including the liquid accumulated.

7. We simmered it for 20 minutes on low flame with a lid on. We turned over the chicken pieces and added the raisons (see below) and simmered for another 10 minutes.

8. We served this over rice with toasted and sliced almond as a garnish (The first picture).

This is a very nice dish. It has a very complex flavor. Since we did not put too much cayenne pepper, it is not too hot. The mixture of yogurt and cream made the sauce very rich (hopefully better than just cream). This dish reheated well in the microwave oven.

Chickpeas cooked in tea 紅茶ひよこ豆

This is another one of my wife Indian-style cooking but we served this as a drinking snack and it worked very well. Of course, this can be a side dish (vegetarian) for dinner. Again this is from “Quick and Easy Indian cooking”.


Ingredients:
Chickpeas, canned x2, 19oz cans, drained
Vegetable oil, 1/4 cup
Cumin seeds, 1 tsp
Onion, x1 medium, finely chopped
Garlic, 2 cloves, finely chopped
Whole plum tomatoes, canned, x1 16oz, drained and coarsely chopped
2 Tsp grated ginger
1/14 cups prepared black tea (earl grey)
Jalapeno pepper, 2 medium size, seeded and de-veined, cut into thin slices
1tsp salt
2 tsp. ground cumin seeds
1 tsp garam marsala
4 tbs. cilantro chopped
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice


Following the instructions I drained and rinsed the chickpeas. I put oil in a frying pan and added the cumin seeds and let them bloom for a few seconds. Then I added the onion and cooked until the edges turned brown. I added the garlic and tomatoes and cooked until they became a bit carmelized. Next came the chickpeas and the remaining ingredients. I simmered for about 10 minutes.

I initially made this dish because I was curious about how the tea and chickpea combination would taste. As it turns out the tea is simply to color the chickpeas and didn’t seem to add any particular flavor. Since I removed the veins and seeds from the pepper, this was not too hot but if you like it hot, do not remove the veins and seeds. For us this has a nice slow heat which is perfect. 

This was a very good savory dish that just got better with time as all the flavors melded together. It almost had the feel of a comfort food. This will go with any drink.