Tandoori Chicken

To properly make tandoori chicken, you need a special oven called a tandoor, from which the dish takes its name. Fortunately, it turns out pretty well on a grill, and now that it's summer, it's a perfect time to make it. The yogurt coating simultaneously adds flavor and keeps the chicken moist, which can be hard to do.  You can bring it to a cookout, letting it marinate on the way, and everyone will be asking "Who brought the orange chicken?" and "Is there any more?"

Lauki Kofta

Lauki kofta is a fairly uncommon in the US, but it is a delicious, savory vegetarian dish. It is similar to meatballs in gravy, but without the meat. Kofta are generally ground meat kebabs, and the name has also been applied to this combination of besan (chickpea flour) and lauki . The English name is for lauki is "bottlegourd", but not really since no one will know what you're talking about. Its a green squash that is somewhere between a cucumber and a zucchini, but a lot bigger. (I forgot to take a picture of a whole one - you can google for one).

Indo-Chinese Chili Chicken with Fried Rice

Indo-Chinese food is a cuisine that isn't well known in the US, but is an incredible fusion of Chinese and Indian ingredients and techniques. Many Indo-Chinese dishes are somewhere between a stir-fry and a dry curry, and tend to be spicy and fried. This chili chicken is a simple, delicious one-pan dish.

Chicken Saag with Corn Roti

 I've been getting so much food through my CSA that I've been giving some of it away every week. Some mustard greens ended up making it to my friend Ricky who used it to make chicken saag, an Indian dish made with pureed spinach or mustard greens. The next week I got more mustard greens, and decided to make some myself. Saag can be plain or made with meat, chickpeas or paneer (cheese).

Sweet and Sour Eggplant Curry

Here's another way to do eggplant. This is similar to a vegetable curry, but includes tamarind, which gives it a  sweet and tangy taste.

BBQ Eggplant (Baingan Bharta)

The first time I ever had this dish was in the middle of the woods on a road trip to Amarkantak. We got up early and drove for hours before lunch, going slowly through the mountains on a journey of only 100km. We stopped for lunch at an ashram, where my travelling companions/guides made lunch around a fire. They put the eggplant right into the fire to roast on the coals, and it was one of the first times I really enjoyed eggplant (I learned I like my eggplant well cooked). In an American kitchen, cooking directly with fire is uncommon, but if you have a gas stove you can cook the eggplant directly on the flame.

Nimbu Aachar (Lemon/Lime Pickle)

Aachar is the Indian style of pickles. A good aachar is hot, sweet, salty, and sour, adding a little of every taste group to the plate, and letting each person regulate the intensity of their meal.  You can buy aachar in jars at the store, but they are thick like tar, too salty, and loaded with preservatives. So, make your own.

This aachar is made with lemons and limes. Nimbu is the Hindi word for a lemon, though they use a different variety that is a little larger than a golf ball and is often green. As a substitute, we are using lemons and limes. Instead of vingear, the fruits are pickled sugar, salt, spices, and their own juices. After sitting in the sun for a few weeks, the peels become soft, and are eaten with the thick liquid.

South Indian Egg Curry

For many people in India, eggs are the closest they get to eating meat. An egg curry can add protein to a meal and offer a change of pace from pulse and grain-based proteins. The most common version is hard boiled eggs in a masala sauce, like this egg curry. Here we have a different preparation that comes from South India - I was served it in Hyderabad and Vijaywada, both in Andhra Pradesh. The eggs are fried hard with onions and crusted with garam masala, resulting in chewy, savory, meaty nuggets.

Bhindi (Okra)

Some people don't like okra, but they're crazy. Many people who claim not to like okra will like it this way, cooked with Indian spices. The goo that offends some people becomes an integral part of the curry gravy. This is similar to a Nepali preparation of the dish, but I don't remember exactly what went into that (it had tomatoes, turmeric and fenugreek), so I won't claim that this is Nepali.

Urad Dal

Dal is a soupy dish made of lentils and spices, and is a staple of Indian diets. Lentils are high in protein, so dal is served almost everyday as an important part of a vegetarian diet.

Pakoras, Part II

These chicken parkoras are similar to the apple pakoras, except they are one big chunk coated in the chickpea batter, and I found a new spice blend specific to pakoras.

Chicken Curry

Yeah. Chicken Curry.

Sweet Potato Curry

I went to a Diwali/Eid potluck dinner over the weekend and made this dish, which also works in a Thanksgiving context.

Apple Pakora

A friend said about pakoras "I get it, its another name for a fritter".  That is exactly correct. Its anything you want, battered and fried. Onions, potatoes, cauliflower, chicken, eggs, bread, sandwiches - whatever you want. What makes it a pakora is that the batter is made from besan (chickpea flour).

These are apple pakoras, which I never saw in India. They do have apples, and like a state fair, there's nothing they won't cover with batter and drop in oil, so I'm sure these get made somewhere.  At home, they're fast and easy to make.