...Well, not literally. Remember the 3 regions of food I'd love to master were Italian, French, and Indian? I'm trying Indian food again today. I wanted to make sauces more spicy, rich, thick, and flavorful. I also added a ton of onions just to give it some extra texture. My stomach is not reacting too well with this meal, hopefully it'll settle after a good sleep. (if you are curious, I have chronic GERD, ironic, I know... have been suffering for 5 years (who knew high school was so stressful?)... this did propel me into cooking for myself because I couldn't eat at most of the college eateries without basically eroding my insides away.... woo hoo.) Anyway, for the longest time, Indian food was on my no-eat list (I had intense cravings in college just because most of my roommates were Indian.) Anything with spices, peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, was a no-no.. basically all of the Indian foods except for naan. : ( But alas...uh.. I am not cured.. but close!, and I am not as stressed at the moment, I have trained my body well enough endure such flavors. yay!
Looking up what to make was difficult. I kind of knew what I wanted to make with my leftover garbanzo beans, but what puzzled me was the spelling. There is no consensus on what it's called! I'm guessing it's because there are a ton of different dialects and regions in Indian... but what I wanted to make was chole, or choley, or channa masala, chana masala, chole masala or ahh iono.. something like that haha (chickpea curry/ garbanzo bean curry.) My second dish was murgh kari, murg kari, or what I'd like to call, Indian Chicken Curry. I served this with basmati rice cooked with some green peas, black pepper, salt, and a splash of oil. I love basmati rice!
Taste as you go along, Indian food is all about tweaking to your desired taste, I didn't measure any of the spices. I just kept tasting the sauce to see where it can go from there.
My version of Chole, or Garbanzo Beans Curry
1 tbsp oil
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 onion chopped
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ginger
1.5 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1.5 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 can garbanzo beans
1 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1. Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin, peppers, and garam masala. Heat for 1 minute on medium. Add in onions, saute until soft. Add in curry powder and turmeric.
2. Stir in tomato paste and chopped tomatoes. Simmer for 3 minutes. Add in hot water, and simmer for another 2 minutes.
3. Add in garbanzo beans, simmer for 5 minutes until they are soft. Mash a few of them so that the sauce, or gravy, is thicker, stir until you get your desired consistency. I like it paste/dip like, but some people like it thin (so add more water/ tomatoes.)
My version of Murgh Kari or Indian Chicken Curry
Serves 1, or 2 small plates
1 chicken breast, cubed + 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 onion chopped
1/8 cup hot water
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1.5 tsp garam masala
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
1/3 cup yogurt
1/2 tsp sugar
1. Heat oil in a pan over high heat, add chicken and saute for 5 minutes, until brown but not yet cooked. Remove chicken and put on a plate for later.
2. Add in onions, reduce heat to medium, add in spices and saute until soft, pour in water.
3. Place the tomatoes and yogurt in. Simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Put chicken back in and add some sugar, simmer for 15 minutes until chicken is tender and sauce is thickened.
Whew. So many spices! I'm cheating just because I have yet to complete my Indian spice collection. Many recipes call for cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and different types of spice mixes. I have yet to gather all of them up, maybe I will soon. Must make a trip back to that Indian food store!
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