practice practice practice

[verbicide]

This year, I want to cook more Pakistani food. It's bizarrely intimidating, but I've been trying more and more dishes lately. There are probably a handful of things I grew up with that are my favorites, and I've been making my way through a mental list of things I'd like to try or improve.

For some reason, my murgh cholay (chicken with chickpeas) has always sucked. The curry would taste fine, but the meat was sort of bland. So I talked to some aunts, thought about my mistakes, and I finally made a satisfactory version for lunch today. So very exciting! I didn't have any cilantro to finish the dish off, but that was okay! What's funny is that my brothers and I would whine to my mom for boneless chicken because we didn't like dealing with bones, but as a cook now, I wouldn't consider giving up the extra flavor that the bones adds!

From Food

Recipe: Chicken and chickpea curry

2 T oil (I used olive, my mom used vegetable)
1 medium onion, medium dice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp garlic paste *
1 tsp ginger paste *
4 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs (can use legs, too)
3 heaping tablespoons yogurt
14oz can whole peeled tomatoes (or, 2-3 medium sized fresh tomatoes)
1 bay leaf
water
14 oz can garbanzo beans, drained
cilantro (optional)

Heat oil in pot. When oil is hot, add onions and saute until golden. Dump in all the spices and salt. Add garlic and ginger pastes, saute for a few more minutes. Add chicken, move it around in the pot, coating the pieces with the spices and letting the chicken change color a bit. Add the yogurt, stir everything around. Add tomatoes, crushing well as you add them. My aunt purees them before adding. Add about a can's worth of water (just enough to mostly cover the chicken, but not too much). Add bay leaf.

Bring everything to a nice boil, then cover and reduce to simmer for about an hour until chicken is tender. About 20 minutes before it's done, add the garbanzo beans. Eat with steamed basmati rice.

The heat level on this isn't very high--as much as I like things with a kick, I like my curries on the less scorching heat side.

* Normally I wouldn't use jars of garlic or ginger pastes, but Pakistani women everywhere seem to use this, and I'm not interested in messing with that.

Comments

[artemis77.livejournal.com]

I am soooo glad you mentioned ginger paste (I remember you wrote about needing some for a recipe, or something, a few months ago). I have a bad habit of buying fresh ginger that proceeds to mold in the fridge, much to the annoyance of my husband who thinks I'm wasting tons of money (which, I guess I am... but I never buy a lot of it, so the pieces are about 25 cents...).

I found ginger paste near the Indian foods in our grocery, and I love love love it. I know fresh ginger has more bite (or it seems to), but it works for me!

[artemis77.livejournal.com]

I would try this with the fake chicken, Quorn bites...

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

OR, you could substitute potatoes and make channa masala instead! It's a similar-flavored chickpea and potato dish.

Channa Masala

1 T whole cumin seeds
1 t ground cumin
1 t ground coriander
1/4 t caynne pepper
1/4 t turmeric
1 t minced ginger
1 t minced garlic
2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
salt to taste
vegetable oil, about a quarter cup
water, about 4-6 cups
1 large onion, sliced into thin strips
3 medium potatoes (I used red skinned), cubed into 1 inch chunks
2 cans of chickpeas, drained
1 14 oz can of tomatoes (I love Muir Glen) with juice

Put about a quarter cup or so of vegetable oil over medium-high heat into a large pot and heat up. Add one tablespoon of whole cumin seeds and fry for a few seconds (they'll sizzle). Add onions and fry until brown. Add spices and salt and stir fry them briefly. This will let off some pretty cough-inducing fumage, so have the fan on. My mom used to light a candle next to the stove. Add garlic and ginger and serrano peppers. Stir fry a bit more, just for a few minutes. Then add tomatoes, incorporate and then add about two cups of water. Stir and add potatoes. the water should just barely cover the potatoes. Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add chickpeas and another 2 cups of water and simmer for another 10-15 minutes or until it tastes done! Add chopped cilantro before serving. Voila!

[artemis77.livejournal.com]

I will totally be making that.

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

Awesome!

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad that helped! But I've also learned something else sort of cool about ginger--because I also would always buy it and let it rot: you can freeze it!! I think fresh ginger is better for most things, but now I just peel it and chuck it into the freezer, and it's even easier to grate that way!

[artemis77.livejournal.com]

OMG you're blowing my mind here. FROZEN GINGER. I can't believe I never thought of trying that. Another great idea!

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

I know--I can't believe I didn't know that before--I saw it on the Food Network recently and it blew my mind, too!