Photo Recipe: Pasta with Arugula and Chicken

Hello there! Many moons ago, when this blog was still new, I did a photo recipe post about fried rice. I like photo recipes - they allow me to post when I don't feel like typing out a recipe and work well for easy recipes that are just meant to inspire some ideas. Well at least I hope they inspire ideas.... :) Here we go with another photo recipe then.

Tonight, I made pasta for dinner (with no intention of immediately writing a post about it). Pasta is good for lazy days when all you have the energy for is boiling water and opening a jar of sauce. But it's also great for creative days when you want to experiment with sauces. And experiment I did. Here's what I had left of this week's grocery: arugula, poached chicken, heirloom yellow tomato and a decent, cheap Riesling. This is what it ended up coming together as:

How you ask? Start with putting a pot of salted water to boil. Then bring out a skillet or saute pan and throw in some olive oil. When the oil is hot enough, throw in garlic, red pepper flakes and thyme. Let it sizzle around in the pan. Choose your own herbs if this is not your combination.

Then it's time for some chopped, cooked chicken. You can also go with raw, marinated chicken. If you're a vegetarian, I'd say mushrooms....or bell peppers....or whatever else you're craving. Get the meat/veggie to brown up a little and then throw in your wine of choice. I had a Riesling...you could go with Marsala or Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Noir. Or no wine if you don't drink or are serving this to kids. Go with a splash of stock or some lemon juice....or a mix of the two. Let the meat simmer away for a few minutes, smelling glorious.

In the meanwhile, get some tomato chopped up and clean the arugula. If you don't like arugula, try spinach or chard. At this point, the pasta should also be cooking...just in case you forgot. :) The scene at this point is about like this :

When the liquid in the skillet has almost evaporated, throw in some salt, pepper and the vegetables from that beautiful scene above. Let the greens wilt.....won't take more than 2 minutes. Now add a little bit of the water the pasta was cooking in just to have enough liquid for the pasta. Simmer for a minute or so and then throw in the drained pasta. Et voila!!

Dinner is ready! Add some grated cheese if you like that.....I'd say Parmesan or Gouda. Slurp the deliciousness off your plate!

Kebab Time

Hola readers! It has been a while since a posted......a seriously long while. In case you were wondering (I hope you were.....) if I stopped blogging, here's your answer. This blog and I are still around to share my culinary adventures, but posting has been and will be a little sporadic for some time.....so, my apologies.

Now since that is out of the way, let's talk food. I love the flavors of fresh coriander (cilantro) and mint. Those two can brighten up most savory food and do an excellent job of it. But even with all the cleaning and ziplock bagging, the rate at which fresh herbs become slimy/yellow is way faster than my rate of consuming them. So, how do you get the most out of your grocery store haul of cilantro and mint? You grind them together into a paste, that's how! I put generous amounts of cilantro and mint into my food processor along with some fresh ginger, garlic and green chilies. Et voila! The result is a beautiful spice paste or 'green masala' that can go into curries, marinades or even work as a condiment with some dressing up. 

So what did I do with my herb paste? I incorporated it into some seriously delicious chicken kebabs / mini burgers / koftas. Name them what you like, but first read on for how you make them. :)

Chicken Kebabs
(makes about 15)

1 lb ground chicken (450 grams)
3/4 cup green masala / herb paste (Recipe follows)
1/2 medium sized onion, chopped finely
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon tandoori chicken masala or garam masala
1/4 cup breadcrumbs, more if required
1 teaspoon kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves), optional if you can't find it
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder, completely optional
1 tablespoon oil

Mix the bread crumbs, salt, tandoori chicken masala, kasoori methi and red chilli powder (if using). Mix the ground chicken, onion and herb paste well. Add the breadcrumb mixture and combine. Divide the mixture into equal portions. Shape them like mini burgers.

Heat the oil in a shallow frying pan on medium heat. Cook the kebabs/burgers on both sides until browned and completely cooked, about 10 minutes on each side.

Serve with yogurt, tamarind-date chutney, a cabbage slaw or with mini buns like sliders.

Green Masala
(should make about 3/4 cup)

1.5 loosely packed cup cilantro leaves, stalks removed
3/4 cup mint leaves
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 Thai green chili peppers or any other green chili pepper

Grind all the ingredients in a food processor until you get a paste consistency. Add a spoonful of water while grinding, if required. Use immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Notes:

1. The chili peppers in the herb paste are hot enough. Adjust the quantity per your heat tolerance. Add ground chili powder ONLY IF you like very hot/spicy food.

2. The quantities for the masala paste are indicative. Experiment all you want with the proportions.

Grand Comeback....It's Curry Time Folks!!!

It has been almost two months since the last post....so so very tardy!! Winter break, research and other school work have been conspiring to keep me super busy and away from my blog. Oh well...to make up for the absence I'm going to share the delicious outcome of an experiment from last year. It's my favorite, very special chicken curry...so meat lovers rejoice!!

Back home, chicken used to play the lead role in Sunday lunches every other week or so. Now that I think back, it was probably one of the things I looked forward to the most on weekends. It's surprising that in spite of liking chicken so much, my own frequency of cooking it is even lower than every other Sunday. Maybe it's because cooking vegetarian lends itself to easier prep and clean up. Anyhow, so I bought some chicken breasts from the store one day and threw together a bunch of things from the kitchen and pantry into a marinade - yes the whole spectrum from veggies to spices to nuts. Now it wasn't nearly as random as I'm making it sound.....I definitely have some sense of what ingredients go together well so long as it's regular kitchen stuff. Now if they put me on an episode of Chopped, I probably wouldn't survive even 5 minutes.....

So getting back to my story, I came up with this chicken marinade and then turned the thing into a seriously amazing curry that far exceeded whatever expectations I had. It's tried and tested and I'm yet to meet a person who dislikes it. Either that or I know some seriously polite people!! If curry is not your style, the marinade along with some red chilli powder (ground red pepper/cayenne pepper), salt and garam masala is fabulous on grilled chicken. 

Chicken Curry

2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into medium sized pieces

Marinade :

4 large cashews

2 tsp slivered almonds (without skin)

1 Kashmiri red chilli - optional

2 teaspoons oil

1 medium red onion, sliced thin

1 medium sized tomato, cut into chunks

3-4 large cloves of garlic, cut into chunks

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and cut into chunks

1 cup cilantro (coriander) leaves, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

¼  tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chilli powder

 

Curry:

1 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon garam masala

salt, to taste

1 cup water

Marinade: Soak the cashews, almonds and the red chilli (if using) in warm water for an hour. Heat oil in a pan. Saute the onion until it begins browning. Then add the ginger, garlic and tomatoes and continue to cook until the tomatoes become soft, about 5 minutes. Take it off the heat. Add the soaked ingredients and cilantro leaves. Grind the mixture with a little bit of water (about 2 tablespoons), after it cools. Marinate the chicken with this paste, salt and spice powders. Let it sit in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.

Curry: Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the chicken and saute for 4-5 mins. Add water and cover the pan to let the chicken cook. When the chicken is almost done, add garam masala. Add more salt and red chilli powder as required. Let the chicken simmer on low heat for 10 minutes. Serve over rice or with your favorite bread.

Notes:

1. Slivered almonds are basically almonds with the skin taken off and chopped lengthwise. If you can't find them, just soak whole almonds and make sure you take the skin off before adding them to the marinade.

2. For the uninitiated, a Kashmiri chilli is a kind of chilli pepper that is widely used for color and flavor and not so much for the heat. You can leave it out if you don't have it. 

3. Adding a little bit of cream or half and half during the last minute or two of simmering the curry makes it richer and takes the flavor up a couple of notches. Do not overdo it though.

4. There really is no substitute for cilantro in this one. Parsley will NOT work!!