Raghavan Iyer's Chicken Simmered in a Coconut Milk-Vinegar Sauce from 660 Curries

Here's another chicken curry for ya'll (no, I'm not from the South) to try!  This was a last minute sort-a curry, but I can't really remember how I landed on it (there's so many to choose from!) ... my thought process probably went something like this

Chicken doesn't need to be marinated? ... check. 

Do I have all the ingredients listed? ... check.  

Simple process?... check.  

Done!  

As you can see in the first photo, this is a vindaloo... which equals spicy, but in my opinion the coconut milk significantly cuts down the heat.  You can still make this recipe and tailor it for your tolerance level, but if you're not into spicy food, I'd recommend trying another chicken curries with more flavor (check out some of my past posts!).  

So, here's the recipe: 

Chicken Simmered in a Coconut Milk-Vinegar Sauce

Ingredients: 

As I have now cooked a significant number of curries from this cook book, I prefer a higher ratio of curry (sauce) to chicken.  I have tailored my recipe accordingly.  

• 2 tablespoons of oil (I used coconut oil, recipe calls for canola)
• 1 medium sized red onion, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
• 300 grams of chicken breast cut up into approximately 1 inch cubes
• 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar (I didn't have enough vinegar so I used up what I had and filled the remainder with cider vinegar per the suggestion in the book)
• a couple cloves of garlic minced
• 1 tablespoon of coriander seeds, ground (freshly ground is best)
• 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds, ground (freshly ground is best)
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper mixed with 3/4 teaspoon of sweet paprika (the recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of ground Kashmiri chiles, but since I don't have this I used the replacement)
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

Directions: 

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Once warm, add the onion and cook until light brown until light brown around the edges (stir so they don't burn), about 3-5 minutes. 
2. Lower the heat to medium and add the chicken pieces.  Cook until they have browned, about 2-3 minutes per side.  Transfer the chick and onion to a plate. 
3. Pour the vinegar into the skillet and add the minced garlic, ground coriander, ground cumin, cayenne, Kashmiri chiles (or replacement), salt and turmeric.  Scrape the bottom of the skillet to deglaze.  Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally until some of the oil starts to separate around the edges of the skillet and on the surface.  
4. Stir in the coconut milk, and return the chicken to the skillet.  Cook, covered stirring occasionally, until the meat in the thickest parts of the chicken is no longer pink inside and the juices run clear, about 18 to 20 minutes.  Cook longer if desired to thicken the sauce (note the original recipe calls to remove the chicken and then thicken the curry  separately... I chose not to do this for the sake of time and convenience!).  

• Raghavan mentions that cider or malt vinegar can be used instead of white wine vinegar for a sweeter tasting sauce.  As I mentioned above, I used cider vinegar out of necessity.  I didn't detect much sweetness, so it's subtle at most.  

Note, I served with rice, as is pretty much always standard for me.  You could certainly serve with naan or roti, but I find the rice soaks up the curry best, also cutting a bit of the heat.  

Hope you enjoy this curry!

Chicken with Almond Yogurt Sauce (Chicken Korma) from 660 Curries

Update: March 28, 2014

I remade this recipe after I went out and bought blanched almonds.  I also took more time blending (I used an immersion blender as you can see from the photo below) the 'curry' through so there weren't large chunks of almond.  The immersion worked well to blend through the whole spices (peppercorn, cardamom, etc.) as long as I gave the mixture time to blend together.  I think this recipe turned out a lot better, packed with flavor and not weighted down from the skins of the almonds.  

You can blanch your own almonds by soaking them in room temperature water overnight and peeling the skins the next day.  Alternatively you can buy them and if you don't have a powerful blender, consider buying them slivered, this will help immensely!  

I used cut cub chicken breast again instead of a whole breasts. I used cinnamon powder (which I bought at our local Persian store and which is very strong) instead of cinnamon stick since I needed to use it up.  I used green cardamom pods instead of white (I don't find a flavor difference here, I think it's used for appearances as in if you were going to use cardamom powder in a cake or frosting... anyone out there know?). 

Blending the curry.  Used the immersion blender and blended for a good 5-8 minutes to make sure everything was blended together and evenly.  Whole spices were blended in this mixture as well. 

Chicken curry cooking, with reduced sauce.  Very mud-like.

Dinner is served (over white rice)

Enjoy!

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Original Post:

Trying to get back onto the bandwagon of posting food recipes.... so here goes my first food posting of the year! 

While this was not my favorite curry recipe from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer, it's nevertheless worth a post since it's an interesting dish.  It happened that the next day, as I was reading, Curry: A tale of cooks and conquerors by Lizzie Collingham, I also learned a little about its origins and how the curry became as it is today.  According to this book, Indian cooking was heavily influenced by Persian cooking techniques.  For korma, the concept of marinating the meat in yogurt with spices (the first step of this recipe) was a Persian one.  The Mughals ('kings' ruling regions of India) brought food influenced by Persia and central Asia added spice to the marinade/dish.  The Mughals would not have used chilies, but as chilies made their way from South India to North India, they eventually were incorporated (chilies originated from the Portuguese who brought them to Goa, India... fascinating stuff!).  The chefs of Lucknow (another region in India), added cream to everything which was also eventually incorporated into this dish.  In this case, the marinade in the form of yogurt, but in other cases, actual heavy cream is used to thicken the curry.  In this particular dish, ground almonds is used to thicken the cream, which is also a Persian influence.  

I love that I'm getting  dose of history as I make these curries, it makes it so much more fun to cook.  

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup yogurt (I used greek yogurt)

1 thumb sized piece of ginger, minced (recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of ginger paste which is a lot of ginger and water ground together than can be stored in your fridge for use whenever... I don't do this)

3 cloves of garlic minced (1 tablespoon of garlic paste - same as above) 

1 kilo (2.2 pounds) of chicken breast (recipe calls for 3.5 pounds) cut into cubes

2 tablespoons of olive oil (recipe calls for canola oil)

1/2 teaspoon of whole cloves

1/2 teaspoon of black peppercorns 

6 green or white cardamom pods (I used white)

3 black cardamom pods (I bought these at Penzeys)

3 cinnamon sticks (each 3 inches long)

2 fresh or dried bay leaves (I used dry)

1 medium sized red onion, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced

1/2 cup of slivered blanched almonds (I did not blanch them, next time I would try this)

1.5 teaspoons cayenne pepper 

Fresh cilantro chopped for garnish

Directions: 

1. Blend together the yogurt, ginger and garlic (use a small amount of water if you find it too thick or regular yogurt as opposed to greek yogurt which is very thick) in your blender or a small bowl.  Cover the chicken pieces with the yogurt blend and refrigerate, covered overnight (you could also do this for a shorter amount of time, ~ 1 hour if you are limited on time) to marinate the chicken.  
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the cloves, peppercorns, green/white and black cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, and bay leaves.  Cook until they sizzle and smell aromatic (~recipe calls for 1-2 minutes).  Do not let the spices burn. 
3. Add the onion and cook until they are light brown, about 5 minutes.  Transfer the onion and all the spices to your blender jar and port in 1 cup of water.  Add the almonds, salt, and cayenne.  Puree until blended together forming a gritty solution, not quite paste-like, but it could be if less water was present. 
4. Place the chicken including any marinade in the skillet and cook over medium-high heat.  I find that there ends up being too much water so I use a paper towel to soak up the water. Cook until the chicken is browned. 
5. Add the onion paste to the skillet.  Pour 1/4 cur pot water into the blender jar and wash out the remaining almond solution.  Cover the chicken in the curry completely, make sure all pieces are covered.  Once it starts to bubble (like mud!), reduce the heat to medium-low and cover the skillet.  Occasionally stir the mixture ensuring all chicken pieces are cooked evenly.  Cook until the chicken is fully cooked (which I check by taking out a thicker piece and cutting it at the thickest portion to see if the inside is white). 
6. Sprinkle the cilantro over the curry for garnish.  Serve with rice. 

To be totally honest, while the curry has lots of flavor and included new spices (white cardamom) and techniques (ground almonds to make a thick curry), the dish was not novel to my palate.  I do want to re-try this recipe with blanched almonds (without the almond skin), I think this could lighten up the curry a little.  Perhaps a fresh squeeze of lemon would give it some brightness, but then it might change the flavor profile altogether.  

Regardless, I wanted to post this recipe as I think it could be fun for those willing to try.  If you do, let me know how it goes! 

Happy Currying! 

Raghavan Iyer's Chicken with Yellow Split Peaks (Murghi Dalcha) from 660 Curries

This weekend, I was flipping through 660 curries, trying to find a chicken curry that uses curry leaves....  yes, I stock curry leaves as a regular ingredient in my home thanks to the local Asian store that always has a decent supply of them.  To my surprise, it was more difficult than I thought, but I found a couple of recipes.  Both are similar in that they both include yellow/orange lentils, but the recipe I chose used cooked lentils (instead of roasted and ground up with other species) and didn't require marinating the chicken (which is only something I can manage on the weekends).  I'll definitely have to give the other recipe a try because my experience of using lentils (especially yellow lentils) as part of the spice mix is superb! 

Curry leaves have a unique flavor and scent that cannot be replaced with other spices or dried curry leaves.  According the website included in this caption, curry leaves can be frozen and do not need to be thawed before using.  Your local Asian or Indian store should carry fresh curry leaves.  Image taken from http://www.chow.com/food-news/137167/what-are-curry-leaves/. 

While this was a new curry cooking technique, it tasted a lot like 'dal' (Indian lentil soup) to me.  I thought the chicken was a lost component, but I realized afterwards that the recipe calls for bone-in chicken, almost 2 pounds of it, and I had used chicken breast that was cut into 1 inch cubes.  I think the chicken bones would definitely added some flavor that was missing in my version, and as a result of the longer cooking time, the cinnamon sticks would have likely released more flavor too.  My husband did not have the same reaction I did, he enjoyed the savory flavor of this dish and especially liked the mustard seed/curry leaf flavors, at topping added as a finish touch. 

Ingredients:

(While the ingredients list might seem long, if you typically cook Indian food, you will have most of these ingredients on hand anyway.  If not, visit your local Indian store.)

• 1 cup yellow split peas
• 1 teaspoon of tamarind paste or concentrate (I recommend you get the seedless kind if you can)
• 1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 inch length 'knob' of ginger
• 4 fresh green Thai chilies, stems removed
• 4 tablespoons of oil (recipe calls for canola oil, I used coconut oil)
• 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
• 3 dried bay leaves (you could also use fresh ones)
• 2 cinnamon sticks 
• 2 pounds cut-up bone-in chicken, skin removed (I used 300 grams of 1 inch cubes of chicken breast, even though I used far less chicken then what the recipe called for I thought this was a good amount of soupy stuff [curry] to chicken) 
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro 
• 1 teaspoon black or yellow mustard seeds
• ~30 small curry leaves (or 12 to 15 small to medium sized curry leaves)

Directions:  

1. Wash the split peas with cold water until the water runs mostly clear (this may take 3-4 rinses).
2. Add 3 cups of water to the pan and bring split peas and water to a boil, uncovered, over medium-high heat.  
3. Skim off and discard any foam that forms on top. 
4. Lower the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally until split peas are partially cooked, about 5 -8 minutes. 
5. Stir in the tamarind paste, making sure it dissolves. 
6. While the split peas are cooking, combine the onion, garlic, ginger, and chilies in a food processor and process until minced. 
7. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add cumin seeds, bay leaves, and cinnamon sticks to the hot oil and cook until they sizzle and smell aromatic, 10 to 15 seconds.  Add the onion-chilie blend and stir fry until the onion turns brownish, 3 to 5 minutes. 
8. Add the chicken pieces (meat side down if you are using bone-in pieces) on top of the cooked onion mixture.  Cook until the chicken turns light brown, 2 to 4 minutes.  
9. Sprinkle in salt and turmeric.  
10. Pour in the split peas with their cooking water, and stir once or twice. Heat to a boil and then reduce to medium-low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally until meat is cooked. About 15 to 20 minutes if using 300 grams of 1 inch pieces of chicken breast, about 40 to 45 minutes if using 2 pounds of bone-in chicken. 
11. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in small skillet over medium high heat. 
12. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds.  They will begin popping immediately, allow them to pop (about 30 seconds). 
13. Remove skillet from heat, and add curry leaves - they will spatter (especially if freshly washed!), so use your oil splatter cover.  
14. Pour the mustard-curry leave mixture in the curry and stir once or twice. 
15. Serve over white rice. 

Raghavan Iyer Breast of Chicken with Tomato and Coconut Milk from 660 Curries

Well, it's been quite a long time since I've blogged.  I certainly intended to blog more frequently over the last month, but with completing out my job contract and visitors from the US, it's been very busy around here! It's been great fun, but even though I've been cooking the entire time I really haven't found much time to blog. I received a lovely cook-book, 600 Curries by Raghavan Iyer, from my sister-in-law who visited us in early July and have been exploring many recipes from this book over the last month.  This is the first of what I expect will be many recipes I blog about from this cook-book.  Cooking from this book is quickly becoming a favorite past time around here!

Breast of Chicken with Tomato and Coconut Milk
adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer 660 (p. 146)

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of oil (I used peanut, the recipe calls for canola)
1 small onion, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced (I used a small yellow onion, the recipe calls for a red onion)
4 medium sized cloves garlic, finely chopped (I used a blender for this)
2 lengthwise slices fresh ginger (each 2.5 inches long, 1 inch wide and 0.25 inch thick), julienned
1.5 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 teaspoons of English-Style Madras Curry Powder (don't let this stop you, this was very simple to make if you have a spice grinder and whole spices; it may be possible to mix the already ground spices as well, but I have not tried this)
1.5 teaspoon of coarse kosher or sea salt
0.25 cup unsweetened coconut milk (I actually used a lot more as I wanted a lot more broth, I used 8.5 fl oz)
1 large tomato, cored and fully chopped (I used 2 small ones and left out about 0.25 of the chopped tomatoes out - it felt like too much tomato and since it is added towards the end I didn't feel they would cook down enough)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems (I used a small handful, this is not something I would measure measure out)

English-Style Madras Curry Powder

Place the following items in a spice grinder or coffee grinder and blend until the mixture is finely ground (like your other ground spices!)
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black or yellow mustard seeds (I used black)
0.5 teaspoon whole clove (this was hard to measure, an approximate is fine and can also be adjusted to your taste)
0.5 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
5 to 7 dried red Thai or cayenne chilies, stems removed (to taste)

Once blended, add 1 teaspoon of ground tumeric to the mixture.

You will have leftover masala from this recipe.

Recipe:
1. Prepare all the ingredients (chop the tomatoes, grind the splice blend, cut the onion, garlic and ginger, etc.)
2. Preheat a wok over medium-high heat.  Add the oil and allow it to warm up.
3. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and stir-fry until they are light brown, about 5 minutes (yes, I used a timer)
4. Add the curry powder and mix with the vegetables.
5. Quickly thereafter, add the chicken and sear the meat on all sides (if possible, if not, sear on as many sides as possible)
6. Add salt to the mixture.
7. Add the coconut milk and allow it to come to a boil.  Turn down the heat and allow the chicken, vegetables, spices and coconut milk simmer until the chicken is cooked through.
7. Remove the chicken pieces using a slotted spoon.  Leave as much of the ginger and other vegetables in the soupy mixture remaining as possible.

Chicken cooked and removed from wok

8. Add the tomatoes and cilantro (the recipe calls to do this after the sauce thickens, but I wanted the tomatoes to cook down a bit) to the soupy mixture.
9. Raise the heat to medium,  and allow the sauce to reduce until it thickens to your desired consistency.

Sauce thickening with tomato and cilantro included

10. Add the chicken back into the wok and serve over cooked white rice immediately.

Final product in the wok!

Final product with cooked white rice

This was a fabulous weeknight meal and a great way to use of the massive amount of chicken I had leftover from earlier this week.  To make this faster, prepare the spice blend ahead of time and if possible and chop the onion and garlic ahead of time (but only a night in advance, of course, if you chop everything the day of that is better).  Leave the garlic to a quick chop in a blender/food processor. I ended up doubling the recipe (used the the single serving of garlic and ginger though) to accommodate the amount of chicken, which is great for leftovers (hopefully my new colleagues don't mind the smell of Indian food!).

Hope you enjoy this new recipe! Cheers!