Chicken Tikka Masala (Slow Cooker)

Probably at least 7 out of 10 people who you ask their go-to Indian dish will answer chicken tikka masala. In my opinion, it is the gateway Indian food. No matter where you get it, you know it will be yummy. There is just something about that creamy, spicy (although not too hot) tomato sauce that is perfect to lap up with naan. I had been wanting to make this at home for awhile and when I stumbled across a version for the slow cooker, I knew this would a great place to start. Since it is in the slow cooker, the chicken basically falls apart so, as you can see below, it resembles a pulled chicken more than the typical chopped chicken. But don't let that scare you away. It is exactly what you were dreaming of... or at least what I was dreaming of.

I served it with some cooked rice and naan bread. My only regret- I didn't have time to make my homemade naan. Ah well, next time, for sure.

Chicken Tikka Masala (adapted from Table for Two)
Ingredients:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken (combination of breast and thigh or whichever you prefer)
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
29 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups fat free plain yogurt
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp cumin
1/2 tbsp paprika
pinch of kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
2 tsp crushed red pepper
2 bay leaves
1 cup half and half
3 tbsp cornstarch

Directions:
Combine the onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, yogurt, oil, garam masala, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper and CRP in the crock of a slow cooker. Nestle the chicken into the sauce and make sure it is completely covered. Place the bay leaves on top of the sauce.

Cook on low for 8-9 hours, turning to warm after that time if you aren't ready to eat. 30 minutes before the meal, whisk the cornstarch into the half and half and mix into the crockpot. As you mix, gently shred the chicken with the spoon. Cook on high for about 20 minutes.

Serve hot with cooked rice and/or accompanied by naan (homemade if you have time!).

Serves 4-6.

Homemade Naan Bread

Remember yesterday? When I posted that delicious chickpea curry that I said was great on sweet potatoes or over rice? You wanna know what it is also great with? Homemade naan bread!! Y'all this is maybe my favorite homemade yeast bread ever. It takes a little longer for the rising time (2 hours) but it is totally worth it. Make it once and you'll be hooked.

Before we get to the recipe though, can we just talk about how spring has finally sprung? I cannot express my excitement for warm sunny days. The gloom of winter in central IL was just bumming me out. Now I am finding myself smiling and basking in the sun (in between the downpours). What are you looking forward to most this spring?

Homemade Naan Bread (adapted from Eat Live Run)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water (~100 F)
1 tsp active dry yeast
3-3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar


Directions:
In a small bowl, gently stir the yeast and sugar into the water and let sit for 5 minutes.

Using a stand mixer, combine the yeast mixture with half of the flour. Mix on low for approximately 3 minutes. Add the rest of the flour and the salt and increase to a high speed for about 6 minutes, until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise for about 2 hours until doubled in size.


Preheat oven to 475 F.

Turn the dough out on a floured surface and divide into four sections. Shape each into a rectangle and sprinkle with water. Make dimples using your fingers. Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

Chickpea Curry

It is time again to open up that spice cabinet-- we're making Indian cuisine!

This vegetarian curry is a nice blend of spices especially atop baked sweet potatoes. The sweetness of the potato balances out the spicy curry perfectly. Additionally, it is quite delicious mixed with rice. There are so many options for serving that I don't want to limit your creativity. Just do it-- make this hearty vegetarian dish (vegan, if you skip the Greek yogurt) and no one will miss the meat.

Chickpea Curry (adapted from Three Many Cooks)
Ingredients:
2 tbsp canola oil
1 large onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, minced (with as many seeds as you would like)
2 tsp finely grated ginger
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
10 oz can crushed tomatoes
3 cups of cooked chickpeas*
2 cups vegetable broth (homemade or low-sodium)
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Baked sweet potatoes** or cooked rice, for serving
Greek yogurt, for serving, optional
Chopped parsley and red onion, for serving

Directions:
In a Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, jalapeno, and ginger and cook about 1 minute. Add the seasonings and stir to coat. Stir in the tomatoes, vegetable broth, and chickpeas and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-30 minutes until thickened. Stir in the parsley.

Serve the curried chickpeas over baked sweet potatoes or cooked rice topped with Greek yogurt, red onion, and additional parsley, as desired.

Makes a large pot serving 4-6.

*Use 2 15-oz drained cans of chickpeas, or 3 cups soaked and cooked chickpeas.
**To bake sweet potatoes, preheat oven to 400 F. Place potatoes on a foil lined baking sheet and roast for about 1 hour until fork tender.

Indian Eggplant Casserole

Today is one of those days that I am longing for bangs. Could be those bangs from elementary school that started in the middle of my head. Or the ones I curled so perfectly every morning during 8th grade as I was growing out the layers. Today, I am regretting my lack of bangs.

Why?

I was so inspired by Michael Phelps and his 22 Olympic medals (holy-moley, what an accomplishment!) that after I soaked up some sun at the pool yesterday, I decided to try a few laps. Now, you should know that I quit swimming before I learned how to dive, I can tread water but I really have no skill for any of the traditional strokes, and I have a fear of opening my eyes under water. Which is why I ended up banging my forehead on the lip of the pool yesterday. Now it hurts and I'm supporting a very attractive bump (hence, the sudden desire for bangs). Actually, the bump isn't super noticeable, but it is a little red and swollen and kinda looks like rug burn (or maybe sunburn from afar). Fail, Julie, Fail.

           I suppose there will be no gold medal for me in Brazil 2016. :(


What wasn't a fail was my second attempt at Indian cuisine this weekend. I came across this stuffed eggplant recipe a few weeks ago. I picked up an eggplant from the Farmer's market with the recipe in mind. Of course, the recipe calls for smaller Asian eggplants instead of the large purple one I got. Also, it called for ground bison; I have no idea where I would get bison and how much money it would cost me, so I opted for ground turkey instead. I decided to be inspired by flavors the stuffed eggplants and create a "lasagna" of sorts. The eggplant separates layers of the Indian spiced ground turkey, mushrooms and rice. It really turned out great.

Once again, you'll have to ransack your spice cabinet to get all the correct flavors. But it is worth the long ingredient list. You can certainly remove the mushrooms if you are adverse to them or replace the ground turkey with tons more mushrooms if you are going for a vegetarian meal. I made the dish for me, myself and I, but have included how I would adapt it for four servings at the end of the recipe.

Indian Eggplant Casserole (inspired by Eating Well)
Ingredients:
4 1/4 inch slices of eggplant (about 1/4 large eggplant)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup long brown rice, cooked
2 button mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1/2 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tbsp tomato paste
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
Cooking spray
Greek yogurt or sour cream, for serving

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 F.

Arrange the eggplant slices a baking sheet and brush with 1/2 tbsp olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, flipping halfway through, until the eggplant is roasted thoroughly.

Heat 1/2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat in a medium skillet. Add the onion, garlic and ginger. Cook for 5 minutes until softened and fragrant. Add the ground turkey, paprika, cumin, coriander, turmeric, garam masala and crushed red pepper. Cook until the turkey is cooked through and no longer pink. Add the rice,  mushrooms, and tomato paste and cook for approximately 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Lightly spray a mini-loaf pan with cooking spray. Layer 1 eggplant slice on the bottom followed by 1/4 of the turkey mixture. Follow with another eggplant slice, followed by 1/4 turkey mixture again. Repeat until all is added. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until pipping hot.

Serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream.

Serves 1.

**To make four servings, multiple everything by four and layer eggplant and turkey in an 8x8 baking dish.

Bombay Sloppy Joes

One of my friends (Hi Maria!) put in a request for Indian food. I have to admit that I'm not an expert on Indian cuisine. I mean, I like an Indian buffet as much as the next guy (if you're in Durham NC, you should go to Dale's for lunch), but I haven't really experimented with it in the kitchen. I like to make curry, but I think I mostly make Thai curry recipes. When I'm at the buffet, I load up just about everything on my plate. By the time I'm back to the table, the flavors have mixed and I can't even remember what exactly I'm eating. So, to tell you the truth, when faced with the assignment of Indian food, I wasn't quite sure where to start.

Of course, you must turn to an expert in the cuisine to get you on the right path. I remember watching Aarti win the Next Food Network Star a few years ago, and her P.O.V. was making Indian cuisine accessible for the home cook. I'm a home cook, so I went to foodnetwork.com and flipped through all of her recipes. I bookmarked and pinned a number that looked delicious. I'll be trying them out and reporting here.

From what I've learned about Indian cuisine so far, it is all about spices and flavor! That means you may need to revamp the spice cabinet. You're going to need some garlic, ginger, curry, coriander, cumin, paprika, garam masala, cardamon, hot chiles and others. I was able to find the necessary ingredients at Meijer, but you may need to make a trip to a specialty store.

Side note: Speaking of spice cabinets, I now have A LOT of spices that are spilling off of my lazy susan, and consequently, I have to pull out at least 25 bottles to find the one I need. Any suggestions for better organization? Or anyone want to build me one of those spice drawers that organizes them all?


Ok, so for Indian Recipe #1, I chose these Bombay sloppy joes. I know they aren't really what you are going to order from an Indian restaurant but they are getting me more acquainted with the flavors. Overall, I was very impressed with this recipe. The sweetness of the raisins and honey go perfectly with the cumin and garam masala flavors. The pistachios add a perfect crunch to each bite. As the sauce was simmering away on my stove, I just couldn't wait to dig it. I served it, as Aarti suggests, on a toasted bun, although I think it would be good served over some rice as well. The leftovers heated up well the next day. I think the pistachios will get a little soggy if you wait for too long to reheat any extras. I changed only a few things from her recipe, for convenience and personal preference: I used milk instead of half and half, opted for a green pepper instead of red and swapped the cilantro with parsley (I CANNOT stand cilantro). 

Fair warning: these are "extra schlopy" in the words of the lunch lady from Billy Madison.

Bombay Sloppy Joes (very slightly adapted from Food Network)
Ingredients:
Sauce:
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 serrano chile, seeded and finely minced
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp paprika
1 15-oz can tomato sauce
1 cup water

Turkey:
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup shelled pistachios
1/4 cup raisins
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 large white onion, finely diced
1 green pepper, seeded and finely diced
1/2 serrano chile, seeds intact, do not chop
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 tsp honey
1/4 cup milk
salt and pepper, to taste
small handful chopped parsley
4-6 hamburger buns

Directions:
For sauce, warm oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the ginger, garlic and serrano pepper. Saute until the ginger and garlic browns. Add the garam masala and paprika and saute 30 sec. Stir in the tomato sauce and water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, about 15 min until thickened.

Meanwhile, warm 2 tbsp oil in a large skillet. Add the pistachios and raisins and cook until the raisins plump up and the pistachios are toasted slightly. Remove them from the pan and set aside.

Return the pan to medium heat and add another tbsp of oil. Add the cumin sees and allow them to sizzle for 10 sec. Stir in the onions and bell pepper and saute until softened and starting to brown. Add the serrano pepper and saute for another few minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper. Stir in the turkey and cook until brown, about 5 minutes.

Pour the sauce into the skillet with the turkey and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has thickened, about 10 min.

Remove the serrano pepper. Add the honey, milk, pistachios and raisins. Stir and season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with parsley.

Toast the buns and fill with mixture.

Serves 4.