Jim and I love Indian food. I have 3 or 4 Indian cookbooks I leaf through often. So far, the end result is some Tandoori chicken and the stray kabob or two. Because curry recipes make my eyes swim. I have a chef's collection of spices, but I still don't have asafetida, fresh curry leaves, mace, white poppy seeds, sambar powder... the list goes on and on. And, lest anyone forget, I am absolutely terrible about measuring and following recipes, particularly when they are 25 ingredients long.
So I close the cookbooks and we head out to the (very good) Indian restaurant up the street. But it pisses me off. There is no reason I shouldn't be able to make a decent curry at home on a Sunday afternoon. So I cast about for some ideas, and realized that I had at least five different curry powders, as well as garam masala. If they weren't for making curry, then WTF? What were they doing living in my spice arsenal? So, Sunday, curry was on the menu.
The list of ingredients was still long. I let the spice mixtures stand in for the exhausting lists of spices toasted and pounded in pestal and mortar, but I still needed garlic, onions, ginger, and cilantro. I set my sights on a curry with both a tomato component and a coconut base, because for reasons unknown I had always resisted Indian dishes with tomatoes in them, and adored those with a coconut component. Why the tomato issue? I love both Italian and Mexican dishes with tomatoes. I eat tomatoes straight off the vine. What could have been going through my brain?
The curry starts with a bit of browning. I like chicken thighs for braised chicken dishes, because they don't dry out the way the breasts do. Bone in for flavor, skin off to reduce the fat content.
browned chicken thighs without skin don't look so hot,
but trust me, this step brings a lot of flavor to the finished dish
Next, the thighs are set aside, and the
spices are "bloomed" in the fat. For some reason, a few minutes of
frying makes spices noticeably more delicious. Don't ask me why. I just
know that it works, and that it is a pain in the butt, because burning
them is incredibly easy. I think the "blooming" reference is because
they become very fragrant after a few minutes in hot fat. Use the term
to look like a snobby high-brow chef to your friends.
onions, spices, and broth, ready for the addition of the chicken
The
heat goes down to medium low, and all the aromatics that also benefit
from a few seconds in hot oil need to be right next to the stove. The
drill is: spices for 30 seconds; then the garlic, ginger, chiles, and
tomato paste go in for another 30 seconds; then the onions go in, and if
nothing is burning (different from sticking a bit to the bottom of the
pan--burning is turning black), those cook for a minute or two, until
they begin to soften. Then a cup or two of water deglazes the pan. No
need for chicken broth here. The sauce is loaded with flavor already.
Chicken goes back in, and everything simmers over low heat for 20
minutes. Then the chicken gets turned over, and cauliflower goes in, if
you are using it. It is one of my favorite curry veggies, because it
is such a blank canvas. It absorbs all the flavors of whatever sauce it
is cooked in.
my latest discovery--small bags of pre-cut cauliflower--
not that I mind chopping up a cauliflower, but a whole head
is always way too much for two
Once the cauliflower is in, everything simmers, covered, for another 20 minutes. Then the chicken comes out, a few wedges of tomato and half a can of coconut milk go in, and the heat goes up. The sauce should reduce over medium high heat in about 10 minutes or so. Once the sauce comes off the heat, a handful of fresh cilantro goes in.
a few minutes will produce a creamy sauce
Did I ever mention that there are a few
herbs that are just expensive dust when you buy them dried? If you have
basil, parsley, cilantro, tarragon, or chervil in dried form in your
cupboard, smack yourself upside the head, and pitch them in the trash.
Then buy them fresh at the grocery. Yes, I know. No one carries
chervil. Grow it in the garden next year, or substitute a smaller
amount of it's stronger doppelganger, tarragon. Dried tarragon can have
some flavor, I will admit, but it loses its taste after about, like a week,
and it's expensive. Stick with the fresh. Some time I'll talk a bit
about freezing herbs, which is a handy way not to flush money down the
toilet and still have that fresh herb flavor.
Okay. Tirade over. Back to the curry.
This is a perfect dish to serve over rice, but I have a soft spot for
naan bread with Indian dishes, and naan is available in just about any
store that dares to call itself a supermarket. Jim would be happy with
both naan and rice, but I am pudgy enough without two starches in one
meal. And the naan toasts up beautifully with about 5 minutes in the
toaster oven. Way less fussy than cooking rice.
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