LtDan'sKitchen.com

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Cashew Nut Chicken

This is a version of curry using cashews as the base for the sauce. Equally good compared to my favorite Indian stew, Chicken Garam Masala, this stew is wonderful eaten with basmati rice, whether flavored or just plain steamed. The dish carries enough flavor in the thick sauce that it doesn't really need anything else to enhance its flavor. A good side dish though is a raita. This stew is flavored with red chilies and may pack some heat and raita can provide the perfect foil to balance the heat.

The dish is very easy to make and requires only three steps although looking at the dish, you might think it took hours to make it. Most of the work comes from measuring the spices needed to make the spice paste which includes the main ingredient which is the cashew. You do need a blender or a food processor to make the paste although a large mortar and pestle might do the trick as well.

Cashew Nut chicken - Adapted*

1 onion, diced
2/3 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup cashew
4 tsp garam masala
4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
4 tsp salt
2 tbsp yogurt
4 tbsp canola oil
6 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 cup dried apricots, diced
2 lb chicken pieces, skinned
2 cups chicken stock
4 dried red chili, deseeded
toasted cashew and cilantro to garnish

1. In a food processor, combine the onion, tomato paste, cashew, garam
    masala, garlic, lemon juice, turmeric, salt and yogurt. Blitz until a
    smooth paste is formed.

2. In a deep pot, heat the oil at medium heat and fry the spice paste until
    fragrant. Add half the cilantro, apricot and chicken and stir.

3. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Simmer at low heat and cover until
    the chicken is cooked. This will take about 30 minutes. Add the
    remaining cilantro and dried red chilies. Check for flavor and season
    with salt. Serve garnished with toasted cashews and more cilantro
    leaves.

*Vijayakar, Sunil, 30 Minute Indian, Laurel Glen Publishing, San Diego:2000.

Saffron and Cardamom Rice

My first experience with Indian rice was at a dinner party prepared by a friend's boyfriend who was a chef in an Indian restaurant in Canada. They were originally from Bangladesh and they urged me to give it a try saying it was something I will surely love. It was really an unfortunate experience as the spices proved too strong for me that I gagged. However, since I was eating in front of them, I pretended to choke instead and quickly swallowed the food in my mouth to get it over and done with. By then, I had tears in my eyes but the "choking" excuse took care of that as well. It was only later when I started cooking Indian food that I realized that the culprit was the cardamon seeds. I have used cardamom pods before and I had no problems with it whatsoever. I even use ground cardamom in certain spiced cakes but the seeds just seem to have this profound effect on me. I'm going to go a bit easy easy on the cardamom seeds for this dish and everything should work as planned. The recipe also requires quite a bit of saffron which ups the cost a lot more so an option is to use safflower.

Saffron and Cardamom Rice - Adapted*

2 tbsp canola oil
1 onion, diced
4 dried red chili, deseeded
1 tsp cardamom seeds
2 cinnamon sticks
2 tsp cumin powder
4 bay leaves
2 cups basmati rice
2 tsp safflower soaked in 2 tbsp warm milk
4 cups hot water
salt and pepper
crispy fried onions

1. In a deep pot, heat the oil over medium heat and saute the onions. Season
    with salt and pepper and cook until slightly browned.

2. Add the cardamom, dried chilies, cinnamon, cumin and bay leaves. Saute
    until fragrant.

3. Add the safflower and the milk. Add the rice and stir until well coated by
    the spice mix.

4. Increase the heat to high and add the hot water and bring to a boil. Keep
    boiling uncovered until almost all the water has evaporated.

5. Lower the heat to low and cover the pot until the rice is cooked through.
    This will take about 20-30 minutes.

6. Fluff the rice and serve garnished with cilantro leaves and a handful of
    crispy fried onions.

Crispy fried onions:
1 onion, sliced thinly
canola oil for frying

Heat the oil at medium heat and fry the onion slices until golden brown. Remove from the oil and transfer to a paper towel to drain the excess oil.

*Vijayakar, Sunil, 30 Minute Indian, Laurel Glen Publishing, San Diego:2000.

Mutter Paneer

Mutter Paneer is one of my favorite vegetarian Indian dish. I serve this usually as a side dish with saffron and cadamom rice together with Moroccan Chiken or Lamb stew. The recipe has a long list of spices but as the author says, as long as you have everything ready, then this dish will prove to be really easy to prepare. Paneer is a major ingredient in the dish which can be made easily or bought ready made. An option is extra firm tofu but it doesn't have the delicate flavor that real paneer has.

Cubed paneer

Given the limited availability of spices in Bozeman, I have made some minor substitutions based on what is available in my pantry and the stores here in town. I will note the changes by indicating what I used and what was written in the recipe. This way, if you do have the actual spice, you can use it as was originally intended.

Mutter Paneer - Adapted*

4 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp ground mustard (1 tsp mustard seeds)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick
1 dried red chili
4 cloves
1/4 tsp cardamom seeds( 4 cardamom pods)
2 tsp ginger, grated
1 jalapeno, deseeded and diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp hot chili powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp ground coriander and cumin powder (dhanajeera)
2 tsp brown sugar
4 tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 cups paneer, cubed
14-15 oz frozen green peas
1/4 cup water
4 tbsp yogurt (4 tbsp creme fraiche)
salt and pepper
cilantro

1. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat and fry the cubed paneer
    until golden brown. Remove from the pan and set aside. On the same
    pan, add the cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, dried red chili, cloves and
    cardamom seeds. Stir fry until fragrant.

2. Add the onions and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add the ginger, diced
    jalapeno, garlic, chili powder, garam masala, turmeric powder,
    dhanajeera, brown sugar, and ground mustard. Stir well.

3. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste and water. Bring to a boil. Cover
    and lower the temperature and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Return the paneer and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add the peas and simmer
    until bright green. Check for flavor and season with salt and pepper.

5. Serve hot garnished with cilantro leaves.

*Vijayakar, Sunil, 30 Minute Indian, Laurel Glen Publishing, San Diego: 2000.

Cucumber and Pomegranate Raita

Raita is a condiment made of yogurt used as a sauce or a dip. It is seasoned with select herbs like mint and cilantro and spices like cumin and coriander. This is a wonderful way to balance the spicy heat of any Indian meat stew. Very simple and refreshing, this side dish is just delicious in its simplicity. No cooking required for this one too so there is no way to get this wrong.

Cucumber and Pomegranate Raita - Adapted*

7 oz plain yogurt
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 pomegranate seeds
1 tbsp diced cilantro
salt and pepper

Combine all the ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Keep chilled until ready to serve.

* Vijayakar, Sunil, 30 Minute Indian, Laurel Glen Publishing, San Diego: 2000.

Paneer

Paneer is India's answer to fresh homemade cheese. I used to host Moroccan dinners when I was still living in Atlanta and in an effort to offer a complete meal, I fill in the dinner menu with Indian dishes to complement the Moroccan chicken or lamb stew I usually serve to my friends. A favorite is Mutter Paneer which is a rich Mogul dish that goes well with any meat dish or as a vegetarian dish on its own with warm naan.

I was pampered by the fact that paneer was available in Atlanta but here in Bozeman, I was stuck with two choices. One is to make my own or two, to use the closest thing to a paneer which is tofu. I was informed that paneer is available in town but I decided to go and make my own paneer this time guided by my friend Vasudha who gave me the correct proportions and a simple directive on how to prepare it. I was also watching Nigella's Feasts and she featured Mutter Paneer in one of her episodes so I was more determined than ever to try and make this fresh cheese.

Paneer

1 gallon whole milk
1 qt buttermilk

1. Bring the milk to a boil at medium heat. Once boiling, add the buttermilk
    while stirring continuously.

2. Turn off the heat and keep stirring until the curds have clumped together.

3. Strain the curdled milk on a strainer lined with cheesecloth over a large
    bowl. Reserve some of the liquid to store the cheese in.

4. Using the cloth as your guide, wring the cheese tight to remove the excess
    whey. Fold the cheese into a square shape and wrap securely with the
    cloth. Position the wrapped cheese on a flat surface and top with a plate
    and weigh down with something heavy to set the cheese for at least an
    hour.

5. If not using right away, unwrap the cheese and transfer to a sealable
    container with some of the reserved liquid. Store in the fridge.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Pan di Spagna (Sponge Cake)

Sponge cake is a very basic cake which I think is wonderful in the sense that we tend to go all out when we think of a dessert cake. We sometimes forget that less is more and for this cake, that is definitely true. Referred to as the "bread of Spain", this somewhat soft yet slightly dry cake is prefect to make layer cakes filled with custards or ice creams. As it is, it is perfect paired with a hot cup of coffee and a side of fresh fruits and a dollop of whipped cream. I did use this cake to serve together with the Crema Pasticciera I made. The recipe is from Sophia Loren and I made no changes to it.

Pan di Spagna (Sponge Cake) - Adapted*

1 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 large egg whites
1 1/8 cup flour
butter to grease pan

1. Preheat the oven to
    350°F. Grease a
    10-inch round cake
    pan and line with
    wax paper. Grease
    the paper and flour
    the pan. Tap upside
    down to remove excess flour.

2. In a mixer bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a
    large bowl and set aside.

3. In the same mixer bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar at high speed
    until tripled in volume. Fold in the egg whites to loosen the batter. Sift
    the flour over and fold until incorporated. Add the vanilla and mix.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes. Let cool
    for 15 minutes and remove cake from the pan and let cool on a rack
    completely.

*Loren, Sophia; Sophia Loren's Recipes and Memories; GT Publishing; New York: 1998.

Crema Pasticciera (Pastry Cream)

Pastry Cream is a delicious base for fruit tarts or as a filling for pastry shells, cakes and the likes. It is also wonderful paired with fresh fruits but especially with summer berries in combination with pound cakes or a simple sponge cake. The cream is similar to a custard since it is made with milk and eggs but it is thickened by the addition of corn starch and cooked over a stove top until thickened. Vanilla bean is typically used to flavor the cream but I like mine silky white without the distractions of the dark specks of the vanilla bean seed so I prefer to make mine with vanilla extract.

The recipe I ended up with is a result of combining two recipes chosen in terms of the ingredients as well as the ease of preparation. Sophia Loren's version is a richer version with a higher egg to milk ratio as well as a higher amount of sugar. The Joy of Baking version on the other hand has less sugar with the added bonus of the addition of liquor. I do prefer to use half and half instead of milk as it ups the creaminess factor quite a bit and that is how I like my pastry cream. Making it gluten-free by using corn starch as a thickener instead of flour or a combination of the two also seemed like a good idea and so that is what I did.

Pastry Cream

3 cup half and half
6 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup corn starch
2 tbsp rum

1. Bring the half and half almost to a boil in a thick pot over medium heat.

2. Combine the egg yolks, sugar, and corn starch in a bowl and whisk until
    smooth. Set aside.

3. When the half and half is simmering, take about 1/2 cup of the warm
    half and half and gradually pour into the egg yolk mixture while whisking
    at the same time. Keep whisking until smooth.

4. Pour the tempered egg yolk mixture back into the pot with the half and
    half and continue to whisk until thickened. Once thickened, take off the
    heat and whisk for another minute.

5. Add the vanilla extract and the liquor and mix well. Cover with a
    clingfilm and make sure that it covers the surface of the pastry cream.
    This will prevent a skin from forming at the top. Let cool until you can
    handle with your bare hands and transfer to the fridge and cool
    completely.

6. Serve with your choice of berries or fresh fruits and a slice of pound
    cake or sponge cake.