Spicy Curry & Tandoori
Okay so I made an awesome dinner tonight. I don’t want to brag but … yeah it was awesome.
I made Tandoori Tikka Chicken and Cauliflower Curry. I took pictures and want to share the recipes with you now. These recipes come from a cookbook that was given to my mother from a friend. It’s called ‘Calorie Kitchen: Simply Saffron A Taste of India’.
Tandoori-Tikka Chicken
- 3 chicken breasts, boneless skinless, cut in half
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 1 cup chopped fresh coriander
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp. garam masala
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. coriander-cumin powder
- 1/4 tsp. turmeric
- 1 tsp. red chili powder
- 1 tsp. garlic paste
- 1 tsp. ginger paste
Cominbe all ingredients except chicken and mix well. Pierce the surface of the chicken and dip in the mixture, coating well. Marinate overnight in the fridge. Remove chicken from fridge 1 hour prior to cooking.
Preheat the oven to 360F. Arrange chicken pieces on a flat oven tray and broil, uncovered, for 60 minutes or until chicken is cooked and turning crispy. Discard marinade.
My variation: I just poured the marinade over the chicken and stirred it all around, rather than dipping each piece. Time saver. Also, I preheated the oven to 360F as indicated, then cranked it up to ‘Broil’ setting on my oven. I broiled the chicken for maybe 20 minutes per side, till cooked through and browning.
Tandoori-Tikka Chicken and Cauliflower Curry
Cauliflower Curry
- 6 cups cut-up cauliflower
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced finely
- 1 green chili, sliced lengthwise into 2
- 2 Tbsp. fresh chopped coriander
- 1/4 tsp. red chili powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. black mustard seeds
- 1/4 tsp. fenugreek seeds
- 1/2 tsp. coriander-cumin powder
- 1/8 tsp. turmeric
- 1 tsp. canola oil
- 1 tsp. garlic paste
Heat oil in medium saucepan and add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, and sliced chili. Cover and cook on high for 1 minute until seeds start to pop. Do not burn.
Remove from heat to reduce splattering and add tomatoes, cumin, red chili, and garlic. Reduce heat to medium and return pan to heat. Cover and cook masal for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add cauliflower, 1/4 cup water, and chopped coriander. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes until cauliflower is tender yet firm. Adjust water to desired consistency.
Enchiladas Verdes
I love salsa verde. I love it hot, I love it cold. I love tomatillos. It’s amazing that up until now I’ve never taken the opportunity to actually work with tomatillos in recipes. Well, that all changed. I decided to make enchiladas verdes from a recipe I found online at AllRecipes.com.
Mine turned out different than the pictures from the website. I think it’s because I chose to wrap mine in a baking dish, spoon the remaining salsa verde, add the remaining onions and cheese then broil to melt. Then I sprinkled with cilantro.
Overall, the result was amazazing. Except, the bottoms of the enchiladas did get a tad bit soggy. So…I tried again a week or so later. Same problem, even after crisping up the tortillas even longer. I guess that’s why the recipe suggested making 3 per person right on their plates… I still liked having them in a baking dish, and I don’t mind them being a bit soggy, they are kind of messy to begin with.
Here’s my Enchiladas Verdes:
slightly spicy, tangy from the tomatillos, and so tasty
Mexican Night
Recently we were invited to and attended a Mexican Night theme party. All the dishes were Mexican-ish and there were tasty drinks like virgin pina coladas (virgin, because everyone around me seems to be pregnant). I added rum to mine.
There was some delicious food that was brought by all the guests. One guest brought a Mexican-inspired pizza using refried beans as the ‘sauce’ and seasoned beef, cheddar, peppers and more. It was quite tasty. There were enchiladas, homemade flour tortillas to use with the chicken fajita filling, fresh tomato salsa, and two different 7-layer dips.
I made a chopped vegetable salad. I was nervous to bring it, but after eating it at the party I am glad I did. It was light and the flavors balanced out perfectly. Here’s the recipe:
4 medium, ripe avocados, cut up
3 medium roma tomatoes, cut up
1 lime, squeezed
1 medium red onion, minced finely
1 10 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 Tablespoon minced cilantro
Balsamic vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Mix all the veggies very carefully in a large bowl. Do not crush the avocado. Squeeze lime juice over top to prevent avocado from browning and for some nice zip. Drizzle with oil and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Add cilantro. Stir carefully to combine. Taste for seasoning. If necessary add more balsamic and olive oil.
A can of corn kernels would have also been tasty in this salad.
I just love the idea of theme nights like these. We didn’t have to dress up and go all exotic but the party was still fun. I hope we do more of these nights.
delicious fresh ingredients
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