Tag: greek yogurt
Hyderabadi Style Chicken
We are all guilty of being stuck in a rut- especially when it comes to cooking. I realized, I had not cooked Indian food in a while- not sure what my rut was but it certainly wasn’t Indian food. I decided to change that and come up with a delicious chicken curry!
- 2 pounds chicken thighs, bone-in or out, without skin
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- 3 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 inch ginger, grated
- ½ cup cilantro, chopped fine
- Juice of one lemon
- 2 teaspoons salt
Mix the yogurt, garlic, ginger, cilantro, lemon juice and salt. Transfer to a medium bowl with the chicken. Marinate over night or at least 2 to 3 hours.
Spice Mix
- ½ cup grated coconut (I use frozen)
- 2 green cardamoms
- 4 cloves
- 2 dried red chilies
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
- ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- ½ inch cinnamon stick
- ¼ cup chopped almonds
Process all the ingredients in a spice grinder (coffee grinder) and keep aside.
- 3 tablespoons extra light olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 cup tomato puree
- ½ cup water
- Salt
Heat a heavy saucepan with the oil. Add the onion and sauté on medium high heat, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Add the spice mix and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the tomato puree and sauté for another 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chicken and water. Bring to a boil and simmer with lid for 35 to 40 minutes or till the chicken is cooked through. Take lid off and cook on high heat to cook off the excess liquid. Add salt if necessary. Serve warm with rice or quinoa.
Orange Cardamom Panna Cotta
I have decided to do all desserts this week in honor of Valentines day. I may disappoint all the chocolate lovers out there.. most of the desserts are fruit based- something different for V-Day!
I love any custardy dessert…I find them very comforting. This panna cotta is comforting and healthy at the same time. I have used cream, which can be substituted with all milk. Either way, this dessert is delicious, especially topped with fresh chopped oranges.
- ¼ cup 2% milk
- 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
Add the milk to a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin and let sit and absorb.
- ½ cup 2% milk
- ½ cup cream
- 3 to 4 cardamom pods, crushed
- 1/3 cup agave (add more according to taste)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups plain non-fat Greek yogurt
Add the milk, cream, cardamom and agave to a medium saucepan and simmer without boiling for 4 to 5 minutes. Turn heat off and add the gelatin mixture. Whisk well to make sure the gelatin dissolves. Add the vanilla extract and yogurt. Taste and add more agave if needed.
Pour into small bowls and refrigerate overnight. Make sure to cover with plastic wrap.
Orange Topping
- 2 navel oranges, peeled, segmented, chopped
- 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
Add the chopped orange segments to a small bowl. Add the vanilla sugar and let sit for an hour. Top the panna cottas with the topping before serving.
Tandoori Cauliflower
I guess I will continue the cabbage and cauliflower theme this week. Cauliflower is everywhere right now- big, snowy white, beautiful!
We were in town and a local restaurant was selling farm fresh vegetables. The cauliflower was calling my husband from a mile away. We bought the biggest one we could find and brought it home.
We were having some people over and I was making vegetarian food- what does one make for an appetizer??? Well, grilled or tandoori cauliflower, of course!!
I mixed up a tandoori paste which included ginger, garlic, cilantro and Greek yogurt. I blanched the cauliflower and marinated the florets in the delicious paste. I had time and marinated them overnight. If you don’t have the luxury, marinate them for at least 2 to 3 hours..
Try this next time you are stumped on what to make for a vegetarian appetizer…
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Avocado and Poblano Pepper Crema
I am not sure how this recipe came about. I was at the farmer’s market and I found these great looking poblano peppers. Once I had decided to make grilled steak fajitas, I wanted to make some kind of a salsa to serve on top. Instead I thought of making an avocado crema- what is that you ask??? Well, it is essentially a combination of creamed sour cream and avocado.
In this case, I grilled the poblano peppers, green onions, garlic and yellow onion with a drizzle of olive oil and salt. Once all the vegetables turned golden brown, I blended them with a cut up avocado, lime juice, Greek yogurt and salt. That was it- super simple and so flavorful.
I drizzled the crema over the steak and the vegetables. It complemented the spiced in the steak really well. The tang and the creaminess was delicious with the crunchy vegetables. I used up half of it for the meal and stored the rest away for another meal- hmm, how will I use it up??
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Dal Keema (Ground Turkey with Yellow Gram Lentils)
This is a very simple and delicious dish to make. If you have never made an Indian dish before and are a little overwhelmed- this maybe the one to try. Don’t let the list of spices scare you- if you can’t find any one of them, just eliminate them.
Keema is essentially ground meat. Typically it is either goat or lamb keema cooked with a vegetable- either peas, cauliflower, potatoes or spinach. I use turkey to create a healthier dish for my family.
I made this dish a bit different and paired it with lentils. I cooked the lentils separately in a pressure cooker. You don’t need to have one- just follow the same instructions but cook the lentils on the stove. It will take longer and a bit more liquid but you will get the same results.
The rest is quite simple, I sauteed some spices, onions and garlic. I added the ground turkey meat and cooked it for a while and then added the meat. To make the dish creamy, I added some Greek yogurt.
It was a delicious dish I served with fresh rotis and a spinach salad.
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Chicken Chettinad Tikkas
These are a one of a kind of tikkas I came up with the other day. I asked my husband what he wanted to eat for dinner. He thought about it and suggested I make something with south Indian flavors. I knew I wanted grill some chicken- so I decided to come up with a recipe for chicken tikkas but not with the usual suspects. I added some south Indian flavors to it. Instead of the lemon juice, I used tamarind. It provides the same tanginess but also adds an earthy flavor lemons don’t have.
For the spices, I used a combination of cumin seeds, mustard seeds, cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg. I roasted them with curry leaves and ground everything up. Everything was mixed with the greek yogurt and marinated for several hours. It resulted in a super flavorful chicken. Everyone loved it, especially my husband.
I think this chicken will be part of the summer meals repertoire- it is perfect to serve with grilled corn and other vegetables. Try it- you will love it.
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Cardamom and Ginger Chicken
I was cooking for a book club meeting. We were discussing ‘The Space Between Us‘ and since it is a book based in Mumbai, India- Indian food was requested.
I thought of making appetizers or finger foods. One of my friends suggested I make chicken tikkas. That was a good idea- but I wanted to change it up a bit.
After giving it a few thoughts I decided to use cardamom as the primary flavor. I love using cardamoms- I have a huge bag my Mom got from India. I store them in one of my two freezers- yes I have two additional freezers in my basement. What do I have in them, you ask? Well, one of them is full of extra spices, flour and rice- mostly all Indian groceries. The other one has spare breads, some meat, frozen vegetables and lots of other things I don’t have room for in my kitchen freezer which by the way is huge as well. As usual, I digress- I love the floral flavor and use it in sweet and savory dishes. Most of all, I use it in masala tea.
I also decided to use ginger in the chicken to simply ground the taste a bit. The rest of the ingredients are pretty much the same as the other chicken tikkas I have made in the past.
It is great to have in the fridge- my daughter loves the chicken and I like to usually make it on the weekends so I can use it through the week especially for her lunch.
Give the cardamom and ginger chicken a try- you won’t regret it…
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