[CH] Long Message: Sunday Dinner (Indian Recipes)
Jonathan T. Smillie (jsmillie@protix.com)
Mon, 19 Oct 1998 13:45:33 -0500
And a merry Monday to the list!
Yesterday evening, with a friend coming over for dinner, I broke out Madhur
Jaffrey's "Indian Cooking" and whipped up a dinnerful of subcontinental
dishes, which I thought I'd share with the list. All three recipes derive
from that one book, which I can't recommend highly enough as a good
overview of all the various aspects of Indian food. None of these dishes
are outrageously (even notably) hot, but could be jacked up however you
like. Anyway, here's what we had last night:
Murgh Musallam (Whole Chicken baked in aluminum foil)
Sweet Yellow Rice
Whole Green Lentils with Spinach and Ginger
1. Murgh Musallam
Prep time: 3.5 hours
Cooking time: 1.5 - 2 hours
1 roasting chicken, 3.5 - 5 lbs.
A large sheet of aluminum foil
Marinade:
6 Tbsp. plain yogurt
1 in. cube ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
Fresh ground black pepper (about 1/2 tsp.)
1&1/4 tsp. salt
Spice paste:
8 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 oz. onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 oz. blanched slivered almonds
1.5 in. cube ginger, peeled & chopped
2 tsp. ground coriander
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp. paprika
1&1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. garam masala
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Make the marinade: In a blender or food processor, combine 1/2 the yogurt
with the ginger and garlic, and pulse until it forms a rough paste. Add the
spices and pulse again to mix. Empty into a bowl (don't rinse out the food
processor yet) and add the other half of the yogurt, mixing well.
Skin the chicken, with the exception of the wing tips. Cover the chicken,
both outside and the body cavity, with the marinade. Refrigerate, covered,
for 3 hours (the book says to leave it unrefrigerated for 2, but being a
little concerned about bacteria, etc. I substituted 3 hours in the fridge).
To make the spice paste, combine the onions, garlic, ginger and almonds in
the unwashed food processor and mix into a paste. Add the coriander, cumin,
turmeric, cayenne, salt and paprika and blend well. Heat the vegetable oil
in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Pour the mixture into the skillet
and fry, letting the spice mix absorb the oil, 8-9 minutes. Add the lemon
juice, garam masala and black pepper and cook another minute. Remove from
heat and allow to cool.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
When the chicken is finished marinating, place it on a large sheet of
aluminum foil (big enough to totally enclose it). Rub the spice paste over
the chicken, inside and out. Fold the aluminum foil over the chicken and
enclose by folding seams together- make sure seams are at least 1 in. above
the "floor" of the foil wrapping. Place chicken on a baking sheet in
preheated oven and roast, 20 minutes per pound or until tender.
2. Sweet Yellow Rice
Prep time: 3 hours with saffron milk; about 1.5 hours otherwise
Cooking time: about 45 minutes
1/2 tsp. saffron threads (see NOTE)
2 tablespoons milk
I cup Basmati rice
2 oz. unsalted butter (or Indian "ghee" if you can get it)
2 pints water
4 whole cardamom pods
1 1-in. stick cinnamon
1/4 tsp. yellow food coloring
1/2 oz. blanched slivered almonds
1 Tbsp. golden raisins (sultanas)
3.5 oz. sugar (or to taste)
Heat a small, heavy frying pan or saucepan over medium heat till very hot.
Add saffron threads and toast 1-2 minutes, until the threads have darkened.
Remove threads from pan and crumble into milk. Set aside and refrigerate up
to 3 hours.
Wash the rice in several changes of water and drain. Soak for 30 minutes in
1 pint of water and drain for another 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
In a large frying pan, melt the butter or ghee over medium heat. Add the
cardamom seeds and cinnamon and stir about for 1 minute. Add the rice and
saute, turning heat down if necessary, 3 minutes. At this point add 1 pint
water and the yellow food coloring. Stir, cooking at medium heat, until the
rice has absorbed the liquid. Transfer rice to a covered ovenproof dish and
add the saffron milk, almonds, raisins and sugar. Mix well, then bake in
300-degree oven for 30 minutes. (I just put it in the same oven as the
chicken at 350 for about 5 fewer minutes- worked fine.) Remove the whole
spices from the rice before serving.
NOTE: If you don't have saffron threads or are on a budget, eliminate the
saffron and the milk, and simply increase the yellow food coloring to 1 tsp.)
3. Green lentils with Spinach and Ginger
Prep time: about 10 minutes
Cooking time: 1.5 hours
7/8 cup dry green lentils, picked over and washed
2 pints water
1 tsp. fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
1&1/4 lbs. fresh spinach (or 1 package frozen spinach, thawed)
1-2 fresh hot green chiles, seeded and minced - I used some jalapenos I had
on hand
8 Tbsp. fresh chopped coriander leaf (cilantro)- adjust to taste.
6 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
Place lentils and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
Cover, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer 1 hour. About 45 minutes into
this, heat vegetable oil in a skillet large enough to hold all the
ingredients, over medium-high heat. When hot, add the ginger and chiles and
saute 10 seconds. Add spinach and coriander and cook, about 10 minutes or
spinach is wilted. Add the lentils, lemon juice and salt and mix well;
bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook another 25 minutes.
Test and adjust seasonings before serving.