Tandoori Chicken Legs

Tandoori Chicken Legs

Ingredients:

2 pounds of mini-chicken legs (or other chicken legs)

Tandoori marinade (below)

juice of one lemon

Directions and Notes:

1. Use a knife to cut grooves in each chicken legs and rub in the lemon juice.

2. Place the chicken legs in a large bowl or plastic bag and pour the marinade over. Marinate them for 12-24 hours in the refrigerator. A longer marinating time will yield better flavor.

3. Cook the chicken on an oven rack above a foil-lined baking sheet for 10 minutes on each side. Pierce a leg to test if it is ready after the cooking time; the juices should run clear if it is done.

4. Broil the chicken legs for just a couple of minutes to blacken them a little before serving.

 

Tandoori Marinade

Ingredients:

½ cup plain yogurt

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 cloves of garlic

3 fresh red chilies, seeded and deveined

1 bunch fresh cilantro

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 Tablespoon tandoori spice mix

½ small tomato

½ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup milk (approximately)

Directions and Notes:

1. In a blender or magic bullet, mix the yogurt, oil, lemon juice, garlic, chilies, and cilantro until a fine puree is formed.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the milk and blend again. Slowly add the milk until the puree is easy to pour. It’s possible that you may need more or less milk than 1/3 cup depending on the other ingredients. The marinade should be pourable and creamy.

 

Tandoori Spice Mix

To make a tandoori spice mix, combine equal parts of the following:

• salt
• ground red pepper
• chili powder
• minced garlic
• ground coriander (or use fresh cilantro, adding 3x as much fresh as you would add dry)
• powdered mustard (or use fresh yellow mustard, adding 3x as much fresh as you would add dry)
• ginger powder
• turmeric
• fennel
• cumin
• paprika

Adjust to taste by adding more of any preferred ingredients.

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Indian Cabbage Curry

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons oil, divided
1 1/2 pound cabbage, chopped into 1/2″ wide ribbons
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup water
1 chopped onion
2 very small tomatoes
1/2 dark green chili pepper, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1″ ginger, minced
2 bunches of cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Directions and Notes:
1. In a large frying pan, heat 1 Tablespoon of oil. Add the chopped cabbage, turmeric, salt, and 1/3 cup of water. Simmer until the cabbage is about half way cooked. Remove from the frying pan and set aside.

2. In the now empty frying pan, heat the second Tablespoon of oil and add the ginger, garlic, and green pepper. Sautee for 2 minutes until fragrant.

3. Add the onion and saute another 2 minutes.

4. Add the cilantro and tomato. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the tomato is mashed.

5. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, and cabbage. Cook for 5 minutes.

6. Add the bay leaf and cook 3-5 more minutes.

Indian-Style Beef Kababs with Cilantro Sauce

An Indian-style beef dish… it might not be the most common or authentic, but I wanted to give it a try. We tried this last night and were pleased!

Ingredients:

2 cups cilantro leaves

1 small onion, peeled, plus 1 large onion for kabobs

2 cloves of garlic, peeled

½ dark green spicy pepper, seeds included for heat or removed for reduced heat

1 two-inch piece of ginger, peeled

1 ¼ teaspoons salt

¼ cup oil

1-3 Tablespoons lime juice

½ teaspoon curry powder

1- 1 ½ pounds beef, cut into one-inch chunks

Directions and Notes:

1. Place the cilantro, small onion, garlic, pepper, ginger, salt, and 3 Tablespoons of the oil in a food processor or magic bullet cup and process until a paste is formed.

2. Put 2 Tablespoons of the paste into a small bowl and stir in lime juice to taste in order to make a cilantro sauce. Cover and set aside.

3. Stir the curry powder into the rest of the paste. Pour this mixture over the chunks of beef and marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes or in the refrigerator for up to a few hours.

4. After the beef has marinated, cut the large onion into 6-8 wedges and separate each wedge into 2 layers. Thread the beef and onion chunks onto wooden skewers.

5. Brush a baking sheet with the remaining 1 Tablespoon of oil and place the kebabs on the baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes until the beef is cooked through. Or bake at the same temperature on a wire rack over a foil-lined baking sheet, turning midway through the baking time. Serve with the cilantro lime sauce.

Recipe adapted from: Real Simple

Potato Bhurta

Potato Bhurta is an Indian-style mashed potato dish. It tastes delish and is really good eaten with naan or any other Indian dish.

Ingredients:

5 large potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed

optional but recommended: milk to help with mashing and yield creamier mashed potatoes

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil (I used one that is especially yellow in color to help give this dish its yellow color.)

1 large onion, finely chopped

10 cloves of garlic, minced

½ – 1 teaspoon ground cumin, or to taste

1” piece of ginger, grated

3 dry red chilies

1 ½ teaspoons salt, or to taste

1 Tablespoons of mustard oil, or substitute vegetable oil

½ teaspoon turmeric (to add a little flavor and some vibrant yellow color)

chopped cilantro leaves to garnish

Directions and Notes:

1. Put the mashed potatoes in a large bowl and set aside.

2. Heat the 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil in a small pan and add the cumin, onion, ginger, and garlic. Fry until soft and add this to the mashed potatoes.

3. Roast the dry red chilies on a dry skillet until they become fragrant. Crush them coarsely and sprinkle over the mashed potatoes.

4. Pour the mustard oil (or vegetable oil), turmeric, and salt over the potatoes and mix all of the ingredients to blend well.

5. Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve with naan.

Recipe slightly adapted from: Indian Food at About.com

Naan

This naan is a great accompaniment to so many of the Indian-style dishes and curries we enjoy– it’s easy and delicious!Ingredients:

2 ¼ teaspoons yeast

1 cup warm water

¼ cup white sugar

3 Tablespoons milk

1 egg, beaten

2 teaspoons salt

3 ½- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda (added to increase bubbles in the cooked naan)

2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)

¼ cup vegetable oil or butter

Directions and Notes:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water and allow the mixture to sit about 10 minutes until there are bubbles on the top. Add the sugar, milk, salt, baking soda, and flour, beginning with 3 ½ cups and adding more if needed until a soft dough is formed.

2. Knead the dough for 6-8 minutes until it is smooth and elastic-y.

3. Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and cover it with a towel and allow it to rise about one hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

4. After the dough has doubled, punch the dough down. Knead in garlic if you are using it.

5. Divide the dough into 16- 20 pieces and form each piece into a ball. Cover the balls of dough with a towel and allow them to rise until they have doubled in size, roughly 30 minutes.

6. Preheat a frying pan on medium-high heat.

7. As the grill preheats, roll one ball of dough into a thin circle, about 6 inches in diameter. (The size isn’t of huge importance—anywhere around 6 inches should work.) Lightly oil or butter the frying pan. Place the dough on the pan and cook it for 30 seconds to 1 ½ minutes until it is puffy and lightly browned. (The time will depend on your heat source, frying pan, and exact thickness of dough.) Brush the uncooked side with oil or butter (optional) and flip it, again cooking it until the face-down side is browned. Remove the naan from the frying pan and repeat the process until all of the naan has been prepared.

Recipe adapted from: All Recipes

Indian Chole (Chickpea Curry)

This chickpea curry was a star at our recent Indian buffet night. It was a big hit here and will be a frequent guest at our dinner table!

Ingredients:
3 cups of cooked chickpeas
2 Tablespoons cooking oil
2 bay leaves
5 whole cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 peppercorns
2 large onions, quartered
1 additional onion, sliced into thin pieces
4 small tomatoes, chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 inch ginger, peeled
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons garam masala (China friends, I got mine here on Taobao.)
2 bunches cilantro, chopped finely
salt to taste

Directions and Notes:

1. Combine the two quartered onions, the four tomatoes, garlic, and ginger in a food processor and combine until a fine paste is formed. Set aside.

2. In a large frying pan, heat the 2 Tablespoons of cooking oil over medium heat.

3. Add the bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and peppercorns and fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

4. Add the remaining sliced onion and cook 2-4 minutes until the onion has softened.

5. Add the paste from the food processor. Stir to combine and simmer for about 5 minutes.

6. Add the cumin, ground red pepper, turmeric, and chickpeas.

7. Salt to taste.

8. Cover the mixture and simmer for about 10 minutes.

9. Remove the cover and use a potato masher to coarsely mash some of the chickpeas.

10. Sprinkle the cilantro and garam masala onto the chickpea mixture. Stir to combine and simmer another 2 minutes until the flavors have combined.

Recipe heavily adapted from About.com.

Cardamom Substitute

In recipes calling for ground cardamom, substitute by using equal parts cinnamon and nutmeg. So in a recipe calling for 1 teaspoon cardamom, instead add ½ teaspoon cinnamon and ½ teaspoon nutmeg. It won’t have exactly the flavor and fragrance of real cardamom, but it’s a good substitute.

Saag Paneer

We love Saag Paneer, an Indian dish made with spinach and fried cubes of paneer, a soft Indian cheese. This recipe was pretty “do-able” with ingredients we could find locally. We’ll be making this again for sure!

Ingredients:

For the cheese:

paneer (about 24 small pieces, the amount yielded by this paneer recipe)

about ¼ cup all-purpose flour

vegetable oil for frying (3-4 Tablespoons or more for a larger frying pan)

For the spinach:

Salt

2 pounds spinach (or other similar dark green vegetable)

For the sauce:

1 two-inch piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

4 cloves of garlic

½ skinny, spicy dark green pepper (partially seeded for less heat)

2 bunches fresh cilantro

1 teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon + 1 teaspoon salt, divided

¾ cup plain yogurt

¼ cup water

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

Directions and Notes:

1. First, fry the cheese:

-Cut the cheese into ¾ inch cubes and toss in the flour until well-coated.

-Heat vegetable oil about ½ inch deep in a medium frying pan over medium-high heat.

-When the oil is warm, add the cheese and fry, turning occasionally until the cheese is golden brown. Drain the cheese and set it aside.

2. Cook the spinach:

-Boil a pot of salted water.

-Cook the spinach for about 30 seconds and remove it with a slotted spoon. Put it in a bowl of salted ice water.

-Drain the spinach and squeeze it dry.

-Chop into roughly ½” ribbons and set aside.

3. Make the sauce:

-Pulse the ginger, garlic, pepper, cilantro, cumin, turmeric, and ½ teaspoon of the salt in a food processor until it forms a paste, finely chopped.

-In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, ¼ cup water, and 1 teaspoon of salt.

4. Heat 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large frying pan or pot over medium high heat.

5. Add the onion and cook it until it is a deep golden brown and fragrant, approximately 4-5 minutes.

6. Add the ginger mixture and cook, stirring for about 2-3 minutes until it is toasted and fragrant. (Add a little water if the mixture starts sticking at any point.)

7. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add ½ cup water and the cooked spinach. Stir until the mixture is heated through, about 2-3 minutes.

8. Stir in the yogurt mixture and simmer gently until the mixture is slightly thickened, roughly 5 minutes. (If you’re working with a thin yogurt or if the mixture seems runny for any reason and is not thickening, you can add a small amount of a corn starch-water mixture… probably not an authentic Indian cooking technique, but it works!)

9. Add the fried paneer and cook the mixture for about another minute.

10. Season with more salt to taste.

Recipe adapted from: Food Network

Paneer

Paneer is a soft type of cheese used in many Indian-style dishes. It is fairly easy to prepare and works well in many dishes such as Saag Paneer, one of our favorites.

Ingredients:

1 Liter whole millk

¼ cup vinegar or lemon juice

salt

Directions and Notes:

1. Bring the milk to about 80 degrees Celsius (about 175 degrees Fahrenheit) and turn off the heat.

2. Add the vinegar or lemon juice one teaspoon at a time, stirring the milk as you add the acid. The curds will separate from the watery whey. Allow to cool for about 30 minutes until it’s cool enough to handle.

3. Strain the milk through a cheese cloth (or a steamer basket cloth from Chinese markets works as well). Rinse the curds with fresh water to help remove the taste of the acid. The whey can be discarded.

4. Use your hand to squeeze out additional moisture from the curds inside the cheese cloth. Then allow it to hang for 1-2 hours (optional) so more moisture can drip out from it. The more moisture that comes out of the cheese, the more firm the resulting cheese will be. Add some salt to the paneer before it becomes too set.

5. Another optional step for firmer paneer: Shape the paneer if desired and place something heavy (a bucket of water, a heavy box, etc.) on top of the paneer to continue forcing out more moisture for 1-3 more hours.

6. Refrigerate the paneer for up to a few days until you are ready to use it.

Note: The pictures here show the paneer after it was cut into pieces and fried in yellow-tinted oil. Before frying, the paneer will be white.