Tag: Indian
Goat Rogan Josh
Goat Rogan Josh
This here is some serious cooking. Rogan Josh is a Kashmiri dish of goat or lamb that’s seared then braised in its own ginger/garlic/yogurt based marinade. A spice powder of cinnamon, cloves, mace, peppercorns, and cardamom seeds, and saffron are added the last 20 minutes of cooking. The goat meat falls right off the bone. I purchase my goat meat already cubed in 2lb bags found in the frozen section of my local Asian market. If you don’t like goat, bone in cubed lamb shoulder will work just fine. If you want to be a punk about it, you can use boneless lamb shoulder. There are a couple of ingredients that might be new to you. Asafoetida, aka hing, is made from the sap of the root plant, ferula. A tiny bit gives a strong oniony taste. Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world. It is the stigmas of the saffron crocus flower. They can only be picked by hand. 250,000 stigmas weighs half a kilo, hence the price. A small amount added to curries brings out a sweet flavor. Mace is the shell around a nutmeg kernel and has a similar taste. All of these ingredients can be found at most Asian markets.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Spice grinder
Ingredients
- 2 lbs bone in goat cubed
- 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida
- large pinch saffron soaked in warm water
- salt to taste
Spice Powder
- 1 small cinnamon stick about 2”
- 6 whole cloves
- 1 whole mace blade
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 5 green cardamom seeds
Garnish
- cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Whisk together the ginger garlic paste, Kashmiri chili powder, and the Greek yogurt.
- Add in the cubed goat, making sure that it is evenly coated. Marinate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Grind all of the spice powder ingredients together. Set aside.
- Soak the saffron in a 1/4 cup of warm water. Set aside.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Toss in the asafoetida, little game it sizzle for 30 seconds until aromatic.
- Add in all of the goat and it’s marinade. Brown on all sides for 10 minutes.
- Cover and simmer for 40 minutes.
- Add in the saffron and its water and the spice powder. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Add a little bit of water if it gets too dry. Garnish with cilantro.
Tandoori Chicken Tikka
Tandoori Chicken Tikka
Tandoori chicken tikka is the most well known food of all Indian cuisine. You will find this on just about every Indian menu. Tandoori chicken originated from the Indian state of Punjab, where skewers of marinated chicken are roasted in a cylindrical clay oven heated with charcoal or wood.You can use chicken breast or thighs with this recipe. I’m partial to using chicken thigh. The boneless skinless thighs I used happened to be ginormous, so I cut them into thirds. Marinate the chicken for 4 hours, preferably overnight. You can either broil or grill the skewers. First, cook them for 5 minutes a side. Then brush each side with melted butter, cooking for another 5 minutes on each side. You should have a nice char on your tandoori chicken. Serve the chicken with mint chutney and naan.
Equipment
- metal skewers
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into large chunks
- butter melted for basting
Marinade
- 2 tbsp greek yogurt
- 2 tsp chickpea flour
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 birds eye green chili finely chopped
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp kashmiri chili powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- pinch cinnamon
- pinch saffron crushed
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Mix all of the marinade ingredients together.
- Add in the chicken. Marinate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Preheat your oven’s broiler. Place 2 pieces of the marinated chicken on metal skewers. Place on a rack on a baking sheet lined in foil.
- Broil for 5 minutes a side. Brush the top side with melted butter. Broil for 5 minutes. Flip the skewers, brushing the other side with butter. Broil for 5 more minutes.
- Squeeze a little lemon juice over the skewers.
Khumb Matar Malai
Khumb Matar Malai (Mushroom Curry with Cardamom, Cashews, and Peas)
Cooking Indian cuisine is not for beginners. The more I delve into regional Indian cooking, the more I’ve learned the complexity of how to properly prepare these dishes. Their cuisine has significantly more ingredients than any other ethnicity I’m finding. Some of the ingredients are fairly expensive(nuts, saffron, etc.) There is a very specific order in which you add the ingredients. If you don’t the recipe won’t turn out right. But…The end results have been nothing but amazing, and this recipe is nothing short of that.Mushrooms aren’t typically used in a lot of Indian cuisine. Khumb Matar Malai translates to mushroom curry with cardamom, cashews, and peas. What you get out of this curry is a creamy mushroom gravy thickened with a cashew paste and aromtically spiced with cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, and Kashmiri chili powder. This dish is vegetarian, but can be made vegan by substituting non-dairy yogurt and almond or cashew milk. Serve with steamed basmati rice and paratha.
Equipment
- Spice Grinder or mortar and pestle
- Food processor or immersion blender
Ingredients
Spice Powder
- 4 whole cloves
- 1” cinnamon stick
- 5 green cardamom seeds
Khumb Matar Malai
- 8 oz button mushrooms sliced
- 1/3 cup cashews soaked in warm water for 20 minutes
- 2 tbsp Greek yogurt
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 small white onion finely chopped
- 1 birds eye green chili finely chopped
- 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup frozen peas
Garnish
- 3 tbsp cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Soak cashews in hot water for 20 minutes.
- Purée the cashews in a blender along with the Greek yogurt and 1/4 cup of the water the cashews soaked in until a smooth paste is formed. Set aside.
- In the same blender, add the onions and purée into a paste. Set aside.
- Grind the cloves, cinnamon stick, and cardamom seeds in a spice grinder. Set aside.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium. Sauté the green chili for 1 minute.
- Add in the onion paste. Sauté for 8 minutes.
- Add in the ginger garlic paste. Sauté for 1 minute.
- Add in the Kashmiri chili powder and spice powder. Sauté for 30 seconds.
- Add in the cashew yogurt paste. Sauté for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the milk. Simmer for 2 minutes.
- Add in the mushrooms, sugar, and salt. Simmer for 5 minutes, covered.
- Add in the green peas and continue simmering for 5 minutes.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro.
