Tandoori Chicken

Don't you hate it when you need a small amount of something for a recipe, but end up having to buy a huge quantity of it because the store doesn't sell any other quantity? I recently found myself with a big tub of plain yogurt and had no idea what to do with it, aside from the half cup I needed for a stroganoff recipe. So, after I made the stroganoff, the yogurt sat in my fridge. Then, when I was looking through my recipes, I found a recipe for tandoori chicken that looked great. And it was. Even my husband, who previously thought he didn't like Indian food liked it.

Tandoori Chicken

Recipe adapted from several at Allrecipes

Serves 4

Prep Time - 10 minutes (plus marinading time)

Cook Time - 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt

juice of 1 lemon

1/2 medium onion, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 TBSP freshly grated ginger

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp ground cloves

8 chicken pieces, bone-in

DIRECTIONS

In a medium bowl, mix together the yogurt, lemon, onion, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, garam masala, cayenne, cumin, coriander, and cloves.

Rinse and pat dry the chicken. Cut a few small slits, lengthwise, into the chicken pieces and place them in a ziplock bag. Place the yogurt over the chicken and refrigerate for 6-24 hrs (generally longer is better).

About 30 minutes before you're going to cook the chicken, take it out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter.

Preheat your grill and lightly oil the grate. Take the chicken out of the bag and shake off any excess marinade. Cook the chicken until cooked through, turning a couple times, about 20-30 minutes.

Indian Butter Chicken

I recently dabbled into making curry. I don't know why, but for some reason, making Indian food seemed a little out of my reach. I don't know what changed my mind. I think I figured that if so many people like curries, they can't be that hard to make. I know that logic doesn't exactly follow, but go with it, OK?

Given that my husband has some different tastes than I do, I decided that Chicken Makhani, or Butter Chicken, was the safest bet for the two of us. Sort of as I suspected, I got mixed reviews. I thought it was great, but my husband thought it was OK, but had the same spicy/sweet combination he doesn't like in Chinese food. I think that's crazy, but to each his own, I guess. I didn't get that at all from this recipe, but if you do have those same issues with Chinese, this recipe may not be for you. If you don't have those issues, I suspect you'll love it, too.


Chicken Makhani
Recipe from FoodNetwork, adapted
Serves 4-5
Prep Time - 5 minutes
Cook Time - about 30 min

INGREDIENTS

Spice Blend
1 tsp garam masala seasoning*
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Sauce
3 TBSP butter
1 large onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBSP tomato paste
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes in juice
1 skinless rotisserie chicken, pulled & cut into small chunks**
1/4 - 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup heavy cream

Hot basmati rice, for serving
warm Naan bread, for serving

DIRECTIONS
Spice Blend
Stir the ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

Sauce
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent. Add garlic, tomato paste, and spice blend, and cook about 1 minute. Stir constantly.

Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes and stir well.

Add the chicken pieces and stir to combine. Reduce heat to low and cook uncovered for about 10 minutes, or until the chicken is warmed through. Stir frequently.

Serve over hot, buttered basmati rice with warm naan bread.

*The original recipe calls for 1 TBSP of garam masala seasoning and 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon in addition to the spices listed. This smelled almost exclusively like cinnamon to me, so I omitted the cinnamon and reduced the amount of garam masala. I would do this again.

**I made a rotisserie spiced chicken in my crockpot. It was super simple and delicious. I will post that recipe soon.