Tuesday, January 25, 2011

A Beautiful Spice Filled Feast!

 A warm and satisfying feast! Includes: Golden Sultana rice, Spiced chicken with tomato and yogurt sauce, cilantro & mint raita, Channa marsala!

 Golden Sultana rice:
3 cups of rinsed Basmati rice
1/2 cup of gold raisins
1/2 tablespoons of brown mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds &  nigella seeds
6 whole black peppercorns
4 cardamom pods- crack open
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 onion- minced in food processor
1 tablespoon kosher salt

In a heavy sauce pot, sauté all spices in oil until golden brown. You will smell them and hear them pop! Add onions and sauté until golden brown. Pour in the washed rice and stir. You are stirring to coat the rice with the spices and oil. The rice will become translucent. This takes about 3 to 4 minutes. Cover the rice with hot water. I use the eye ball method. I pour until it looks around 2 inches above the rice. Bring to a boil on med heat! Boil for 1 minute and cover the dish and kill the fire. Let stand for about 20 minutes. Uncover pot and let heat escape for 5 minutes. Fluff rice with 2 forks!



Spiced chicken with tomato and yogurt sauce:
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 tablespoon each- cumin seeds, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, turmeric & sea salt- grind (I use a mortar and pestle)
1 onion & 1 jalapeño- minced in a food processor
2 minced garlic cloves 
2 teaspoons fresh minced ginger
2 boneless skinless chicken breast- cut into 2 inch cubes
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 cup of yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh minced cilantro


Sauté all spices in olive oil until you can smell them. Add onion, garlic, ginger, and ground jalapeño. Add your chicken and sauté until golden brown. This will take about 10 minutes. Add diced tomatoes, yogurt, and tomato sauce. Let this simmer for around 20 minutes. Tip in the cilantro and make it pretty!
cilantro & mint raita:
3 cups of Greek yogart
2 tablespoons each: fresh mint, parsley & cilantro
1/2 cucumber- seeded and grated
1/2 lemon- juice
kosher salt to taste
Put everything in a bowl and stir!


I think I always have been in love with Indian food. This is just my take on an at home meal. I usually serve this with warm Naan bread.You can see this is not complicated. We absolutely gobble this up! I hope you will try this at home. It has great WOW factor! Remember, you can ROCK THAT PLATE!

1 comment:

Mary Bergfeld said...

This is a lovely winter meal. I am new to your blog and have just spent some time browsing through your earlier entries. I really like the food and recipes you feature here and I'll definitely be back. I hope you have a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary