Dinner From The Subcontinent

The Bride enjoys Indian food.  That is a fact.  As for myself, I like it, but not nearly as much (nor do I desire it as much) as The Bride.  Since I am on The Diet we aren't eating out as much, which means that she can't have Indian food as much, so I thought I would try to appease her by picking out two recipes that have an Indian influence.  To start off, our main dish would be the Tandoori-Style Chicken on page 241.

I knew that this needed a lengthy marinade time, so I purchased what I needed yesterday.  I got home as quickly as I could today and began mixing the ingredients together.  I started by blending the spices in my spice grinder.

I dropped them into the yogurt, along with the other marinade items.

After a quick whisking I had a tasty and tangy marinade.

Many moons ago The Bride and I took a cooking class.  In one of the sessions I learned how to break down a chicken.  I don't use this all that often, but here it came in handy, as the recipe called for me to cut the chicken into eight pieces.

I didn't do too awesome of a job when it came to the skin, buy hey, I don't do this with any regular frequency.  All in all, I was pretty happy.

By 4:00, the chicken pieces were properly submerged in the marinade.  I then went about sitting on my porch for a while to enjoy the weather, which for right now is still a novelty.

The Bride called to inform me that she was on her way home.  It was time to make the side, the Cauliflower and Red Onion Curry on page 342.

I read the recipe a couple of times, just to make sure I had a good strategy.  In reviewing the steps, I noticed that this would come together quickly in the saucepan, so it was vital that I prepared my mise en place.

Although I had broken down whole chickens before, I had never really worked with a whole head of cauliflower (nor broccoli, for that matter).  I think I did a decent job.

The vegetables came off the grill in pretty good shape.  The onions I now have enough experience with (thanks, Weber!) that they were perfect.  Grilling cauliflower was a new experience, but overall I was pleased with my first attempt.  What I was really surprised at during the process was how fragrant the cauliflower was while grilling.  I had always thought of this vegetable as rather bland, but all I had ever had was boiled/steamed/sauteed cauliflower, so I had never been able to experience a "dry" cooking method that would allow its true aroma.

Per the recipe, I chopped everything into bite-sized pieces.

In following the recipe, it instructed me to melt the butter and mix in the flour and spices.  This I immediately recognized as a roux.  I've become quite comfortable with this procedure in the last two years, so this was easy.  What you have to train yourself in is to not freak out when it begins to clump, like in the picture below.  This step is necessary to cook out the "flour" taste and allow the starches to begin to cook in order to later thicken your sauce.

After pouring in the liquid, you have to whisk, whisk, whisk, and then whisk some more.  This is to break up those clumps of flour.  Once your sauce is smooth, you get to KEEP WHISKING!  YEAH!  Soon your sauce will go from thin and runny...

To thick and able to show the bottom of your saucepan while stirring.  This is the consistency you are trying to achieve.

Add in the remaining ingredients and cook to desired doneness.

The chick came out look SUPER!

I plated, poured the Splenda-laced Kool-Aid (Tropical Punch tonight) and sat down for another episode of The Tudors with The Bride.  

The chicken was just as good as it looks.  It was juicy, slightly crispy on the outside, and well-seasoned.  Even though I had given it about three hours to marinade, it needs a lot more.  The recipe calls for a marinade time of six to eight hours, so in reality I only provided half that time.  Still, this was amazing, and I can only imagine how good it would be after the full amount of time in the tangy sauce.  It was indeed a little hint of India, and I was rather happy with it.  As for the Red Onion and Cauliflower, it got a thumbs-up from me and a thumbs-down from The Bride.  She said she liked the curry sauce, but that the vegetables were too al dente.  I liked them that way.  What I would like to have changed was the amount of sauce.  I have learned to double the amounts listed in the cookbook for any marinade (I did so today as well), and I would like to have doubled this sauce.  When I think of Indian food, there is always a healthy sauce to other ingredients ratio.  I think this would also allow me to simmer the vegetables in order to make The Bride a little happier.