Cooking with Dr. Monkey

This week's new to me recipe in my 2013 New Recipe Challenge is Bangalore chicken curry because I've been craving Indian food ever since we saw the film Trishna a few weeks ago.

I started out by sauteing one and a half white onions in some canola oil. 

 I sauteed them until they just started to turn golden brown.

Next I added six cloves of roughly chopped garlic, one twp of Turmeric, and one teaspoon of dhana jeera, which is a mixture of ground cumin and ground coriander.  I added all that to the onions.

Next up I washed and chopped up a bunch (and by that I mean one 'bunch' I bought in the grocery store) of cilantro and three de-seeded seranno chili peppers.  I put the cilantro and the peppers in my food processor and I added a little water and I turned all that into a paste.

 I added the paste to the pan with the spices and the onions.  Then I put in the pan six bone in chicken thighs, you can use a whole cut up chicken, chicken breasts, or whatever cut of meat or chicken you like.  Once I cooked the meat for a few minutes on one side, I turned it over and cooked it on the other.

Once it was properly browned I added one and a quarter cups reduced fat coconut milk mixed with one quarter cup chicken broth.

And then I turned the burner on low, covered it up and let it all simmer for 50 minutes.  I turned the chicken pieces over at the 25 minute mark.  I whisked in a couple of tablespoons of plain yogurt to blunt the heat of the chilies and to make it a bit richer and silkier.

 After the 50 minutes was up I served the chicken with basmati rice and a little steamed spinach.

The verdict:  delicious.

Don't be intimidated by the fact that this is an Indian dish, it's super easy and all of the ingredients are easy to obtain from any major grocery store.  The only modifications I'll make next time are I'll make this in my stock pot instead of a frying pan because of all the liquid involved and because I'll be able to put in more chicken, or pork, or beef.  In the future I'll also make the curry without meat and use it as a dipping sauce for things like samosas or to ladle over salmon, cod, or other fish that can't stand up to nearly an hour of cooking on the stove top.