Chicken Tikka Masala (Slow Cooker Version)

Makes 7 Cups
28 oz Muir Glen Fire Roasted crushed tomotoes
1 small uncooked onion(s), minced
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp ginger root, fresh, minced (I used more)
2 Tbsp garam masala
1 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 pound(s) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken thigh(s) (I used half organic thighs and half organic breasts)
1 Tbsp kosher salt (it's 2 lbs of chicken, so you need it!)
1/2 cup plain, 0% Fage Greek yogurt
Instructions
Combine all ingredients, except yogurt, in slow cooker. Cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or low for 6 to 8 hours. Stir in yogurt and cilantro.

Indian Restaurant Red Lentil and Spinach Soup

Indian Restaurant Red Lentil and Spinach Soup

Although this is not an authentic Indian recipe, it is my take on lentil and spinach soup that I have enjoyed at Indian restaurants in California.
Serve with naan flatbread. If you don't have naan (Indian flat bread) heat a dry flour tortilla in the microwave for about 10 seconds, it makes a good substitute.

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion (about 1 cup), diced
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon (or 1 cube) chicken bouillon powder
2 teaspoons dried basil, crushed
1 1/2 teaspoons cardamom powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
a pinch cayenne pepper (or to taste - optional)
5 cups water
2 cups dried red lentils, cleaned, rinsed and drained
2 cups (28 oz can) plain diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups (about 10 oz) spinach, from frozen, thawed
1/2 cup plain yogurt, for garnish
naan flat bread, or heated flour tortillas cut into quarters.
In a 5-qt stockpot, fry diced onions in olive oil until lightly browned.
Add the butter and the remaining dry spices and fry for a minute or two.
Add remaining water and ingredients (except for yogurt and flat bread) and stir well.
Bring to a boil, add cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30-minutes,
stirring occasionally, unitl lentils are soft and done.
Place a cup of the lentils and broth in a blender, food processor or use a stick blender.
Blend and add back to stockpot. This will help to thicken the soup.
Serve in bowls with a tablespoon of plain yogurt on top for garnish and
naan flatbread (or a heated flour tortilla) on the side.
Makes about 8 cups.

Chana Masala with Mushrooms

Chana Masala with Mushrooms
Vegetarian, vegan if you use vegetable oil, and gluten-free
Serves 2 as a main course with basmati rice or 4 as part of a larger Indian meal

• 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (15 oz. can, drained and rinsed, or better, home-cooked)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or clarified butter / ghee if you have it)
• 2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 medium onion, small dice
• 1 medium tomato, cored, small dice (canned is an option)
• 2/3 cups white mushrooms, quartered or thickly sliced
• 1 small, hot red chili pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon fresh grated turmeric, or 2 teaspoons dry
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• for tempering: 1 tablespoon oil, 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
• for garnish: cilantro

1. If using canned chickpeas and, drain and rinse them, and put them in a saucepan with water to cover, then bring to a boil and simmer while you get everything else going. This will improve their texture. You can do this in the microwave too. Or skip this step completely if your chickpeas are already pleasantly soft.
2. In a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil over a medium-high flame. Add the mustard, fennel, cumin and coriander seeds. Cook for about 10-20 seconds until the mustard seeds begin to pop. Immediately add the garlic, onion and tomato.
3. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes until the liquid is mostly gone and everything is browning.
4. Add the mushrooms and the drained chickpeas, the hot pepper, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves and cayenne pepper, lemon juice, a teaspoon of salt, and a cup or so of water, so it is kind of soupy.
5. Cook uncovered over a medium-low flame for about 15 minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken. Taste and adjust seasoning. Does it need more salt? More lemon juice? A bit more cayenne?
6. Finish for the texture you want – you can see how I like it in the picture above. Then in a separate skillet, heat the last tablespoon of oil over a high flame and fry the mustard seeds until they pop, just a few seconds. This is called tempering, and it is a great way to add a final layer of flavor.  Toss the contents of that skillet over the chickpeas and serve, with the cilantro for garnish.

http://herbivoracious.com/2009/09/quick-chana-mushroom-masala-chickpea-curry-recipe.html

Indian-Spiced Vegetable Fritters with Curry-Lime Yogurt

Indian-Spiced Vegetable Fritters with Curry-Lime Yogurt
Makes about 24 pancakes.

1/2 cup frozen peas
1 medium onion, peeled
1 large russet or Idaho potato, peeled
1 yam or sweet potato, peeled
1 large or 2 thin carrots, peeled
1 zucchini
4 large eggs
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
A pinch of cayenne
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

Curry-Lime Yogurt
2 cups plain yogurt (we love the Fage fat-free stuff)
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon sugar
A squeeze or two of fresh lime juice, to taste
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 200°F. Place two nonstick baking sheets in oven.

In small saucepan, bring salted water to boil. Add peas and cook, uncovered, until heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Drain, then rinse in colander under cool, running water. Set aside in colander to drain completely.
Using box grater or food processor² fitted with grating disc, coarsely grate onion, potatoes, carrot and zucchini and place in colander set in sink, setting aside to drain.
In large mixing bowl, lightly beat eggs. Whisk in flour, coriander, turmeric, and cumin. Mix in ginger, cilantro, and peas.
Press potatoes and onion to extract as much liquid as possible, then add to bowl. Season mixture with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Using wooden spoon or hands, mix well, but do not overwork.
In heavy-bottomed, 12-inch non-stick³ skillet over moderately high heat, heat 1-2 tablespoons oil (I used an extra-virgin olive oil spray I’d found to lightly coat the pan); until hot but not smoking. Drop 4 scant 1/4-cup portions of potato mixture into pan and flatten with spatula to form four 3-inch pancakes.
Fry until bottoms are golden-brown (the color really counts on this; the darker you let it go, the more the pancake holds together – this goes for both sides.), 4 to 5 minutes, then turn over and fry until golden-brown and crisp, an additional 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain; season immediately with salt and pepper. Keep warm on baking sheets in oven while making remaining pancakes.
Using paper towels, carefully wipe out pan. And 1 tablespoon oil to the pan and fry 4 more pancakes. Repeat with remaining batter, wiping out pan and adding 1 to 2 tablespoons oil before each batch.

Serve pancakes hot with Curry-Lime Yogurt.

Recipe from the smitten kitchen.  

¹Or, you could do this step in the microwave, and save yourself a good bit of effort.
²Yet another recipe that yes, if you have a food processor, it takes no time at all to put this together. That said, it makes for more coarsely-grated vegetables than doing it by hand, so they are slightly harder to assemble into pancakes.
³I know there is a lot of head-shaking at nonstick these days, and I, too, try to avoid it when possible. Still, pancakes like this are much, much more difficult to make without non-stick, as you’ll end up using tablespoon after tablespoon of oil to keep the fritters from sticking.

Basmati Rice with Vegetables

Basmati Rice with Vegetables 
(from Best Indian Cookbook, posted by Lisa- averyhappymama)

Serve with chicken, lamb, or fish.

1 3/4 c basmati rice 
3 Tbls vegetable oil 
1 chopped onion 
2 crushed cloves garlic 
3 c water or vegetable stock 
2/3 c corn kernels 
1 bell pepper 
1 large grated carrot 
Wash rice in a strainer, soak in cold water for 20 minutes, then drain very thoroughly. 
Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onion for a few minutes over a medium heat until it starts to soften. 
Add the rice to the pan and fry for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent rice from sticking. Stir in crushed garlic. 


VERSION 1: Put mixture in rice cooker with water or stock, add vegetables, and steam until ready. 


VERSION 2: Pour in the water or stock and stir well. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Sprinkle the corn over the rice, spread the bell pepper and sprinkle over all the grated carrot. Cover tightly and steam until tender.

Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken

4 tablespoons tomato puree,
150 ml water,
1 inch cube of ginger,
300ml half & half,
1 teaspoon garam masala,
1 teasp salt,
1 tesp sugar,
1 fresh chili,
1 teasp chili powder,
1 tablesp fresh cilantro,
4 teasp lemon juice,
1 teasp roasted cumin seeds,
4 oz unsalted butter.
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked & cubed.

In a food blender put the tomato puree, water, ginger, half & half, garam masala, salt, sugar, fresh chili, chili powder, fresh cilantro, lemon juice, roasted cumin seeds. Blend well. 

Heat butter in large pan, when butter has melted, add all ingredients from blender. Bring to a simmer & cook for one minute. Add the chicken pieces stir gently into the sauce. Add more chopped cilantro & serve!

Aloo Matar Paratha

Aloo Matar Paratha - Potato and green peas stuffed pancakes

Makes 14-16 parathas

Ingredients

For the stuffing:

4 medium sized potatoes (boiled and mashed)

1 ¾ cups green peas (thawed if using frozen and steamed or cooked if using fresh)

1 cup onion (julienned)

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 ½ tsp coriander powder

½ tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red pepper flakes (you can also use cayenne pepper or chopped green chili)

1 ½ tsp lemon juice

1 ½ tbsp. oil

Salt

For the dough:

2 ½ cups of whole wheat flour

Water (approximately 1 cup. But I have experienced that different brands of flour ask for different quantity of water depending on the quality. So I usually eye ball the amount of water used.)

1 ½ tsp salt

Ghee or oil for pan frying the parathas

Method

For the dough:

The process of kneading the dough for parathas is very much like doing that for making rotis. Please refer to my detailed post on how to make a roti to find out how you can make dough for parathas. Process is simple, just add water and salt to the flour and knead but can sometimes be tricky. I hope the post on making roti helps you make your dough.

For the stuffing:

Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds. Once cumin starts to pop add onion.

Cook onion until light golden in color. Add turmeric, coriander and red pepper flakes.

Mix well. Add mashed potatoes and green peas. Add salt.

Mix everything together and mash it all well.

Set aside and let it cool.

Stuffing and making parathas:

Divide the dough and filling into equal parts. 

Dust the working area where you will be rolling the dough.

Roll out dough about 2 inches in diameter. 

Place a ball of filling in the middle and bring all the edges together sealing the filling in the center of the bag.

Press the bag gently on the sealed side, flattening it a little.  Dust and roll out the dough flat.Tip- Try to be light handed while rolling out the dough. Dust frequently if the dough is softer and the filling is coming out.

Repeat the same for the rest of the filling and dough. Tip- If you plan to roll out all the dough before starting to pan fry them then cover it with a damp cloth to prevent it from drying out in the air.

Heat a skillet and place the rolled out dough on it. Tip- To check whether the skillet is hot enough sprinkle some water in it. If it sizzles out right away then its ready.

Let it cook for a few seconds and when you see the surface of paratha getting darker, flip to the other side. If you see some small brown spots on it then that’s good!

Brush ghee/oil on the cooked side and then flip again. Gently pressing with a spatula and rotating cook it for a minute. Repeat the same for the other side as well.

A perfect paratha should be golden brown with some dark spots on it.

Serve hot with yogurt, pickles or chutney.

Curried Chickpeas

Curried ChickpeasCindy(mommy_of_love1) via Everyday Exotic (Food Network)
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/2 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 clove garlic, finely diced
2 tablespoons curry powder
splash white wine
4 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 540ml can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon butter, cold
salt
In a sauté pan, heat oil over medium heat and sweat onions. Add carrots and garlic, stir. After garlic has browned slightly, add curry powder and stir. Add a splash of white wine to deglaze pan. Add tomatoes and chickpeas, stir. Add chicken stock and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Season with salt and sugar.
Remove from heat, add cold butter to finish.

Indian Dal Nirvana

Indian Dal Nirvana

Ingredients:

1 cup dry lentils
6 ounces canned tomato puree
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup water
4 tablespoons butter
1/8 teaspoon salt, more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

In a large sauce pan, add the lentils and fill with water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes until the lentils open and are tender. Drain the water from the lentils and return the lentils to the pot. Stir the lentils around in the pot mashing some of them against the pot to break open. Add the tomato puree, ginger, garlic, cayenne pepper, water, butter, salt and pepper. Cook for 1 hour until the dal is thick. Make sure to check the pot periodically to make sure the water does not cook out.

Stir in cream, garnish with minced cilantro.

From here.

Curried Ground Turkey with Potatoes

Ingredients:

3-4 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 pound ground turkey (thigh meat if you can get it)
1 chopped onion
2 chopped garlic cloves
1-2 chopped fresh red chiles (optional)
A 1-inch piece of peeled ginger, grated fine
1/2 cup water
Salt to taste
1 Tbsp garam masala (or curry powder)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2-4 Roma or other plum tomatoes, diced
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
1/2 cup (loosely packed) chopped cilantro or parsley
Heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a large pot with a lid. When the oil is hot, add the ground meat, spreading it out over the pan. Try not to crowd the meat (you may need to cook in batches). Cook the meat without stirring, until it begins to brown.

Add the chopped onion and chiles. Stir and sauté for 4-5 minutes, or until the onion begins to color a bit. Sprinkle salt over everything.

Add the grated ginger and garlic, mix well and sauté for another 1-2 minutes.

Mix in the spices, water, and the potatoes. Stir to combine and cover. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

When the potatoes are tender, add the diced tomatoes and peas. Mix well and cover the pot. Cook 2-3 minutes. Add salt, if needed, to taste.
Right before you serve, mix in the chopped cilantro. Serve alone or with flatbread or white rice.

From here.

Brown Basmati Rice

Brown Basmati Rice
WickedPixie18

2 cup brown basmati rice (rinsed)
4T vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
4 whole cloves
5 black peppercorn
1" cinnamon stick
1 Bay leaf
1t salt
1/2t sugar
4 1/2c hot water

Heat oil on medium flame in large heavy potted pan, add sugar and allow to carmelise (turn dark brown). Add whole spices and fry until the aroma is released (slightly darken). Add rice and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Add hot water and mix again. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and allow to simmer until most of the water is absorbed. Sprinkle 3-4 T of water all over rice, cover and cook until done. Once done, turn off heat, cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

From here.

Gujarati-Style Green Beans

Gujerati-style  Green Beans
Bex (Bex&Kids) from Madhur Jaffrey

Ingredients

1lb fresh green beans
4 T vegetable oil
1 T black mustard seeds  
4 cloves garlic, peeled and very finely chopped
1/2 - 1 hot, dried red chilli, coarsely crushed in a mortar (or just chopped, could also use red pepper flakes)
1 t salt
1/2 t sugar
Freshly ground black pepper

Trim the beans and cut them into 1 inch lengths. Blanch the beans by dropping them into a pan of boiling water and boiling rapidly for 3-4 minutes or until they are just tender. Drain immediately in a colander and rinse under cold, running water. Set aside.

Put the oil in a large frying pan and set over medium heat. When hot, put in the mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds begin to pop, put in the garlic. Stir the garlic pieces around until they turn light brown. Put in the crushed red chili and stir for a few seconds. Put in the green beans, salt and sugar. Stir to mix. Turn the heat to medium-low. Stir and cook the beans for 7-8 minutes or until they have absorbed the flavor of the spices. Add the black pepper to taste, mix and serve.

From here and here.

Chicken Makhani

Chicken Makhani

Ingredients:

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (mine were frozen solid)
1 onion, sliced
6 garlic cloves, chopped
4 T butter
15 cardamom pods (sewn together!)
2 tsp curry
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 can coconut milk (I used light)
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
2 T lemon juice
1 cup plain yogurt (to add at the end, I used fat free)

The Directions.

Use a 5 quart or larger crockpot. Carefully sew together the cardamom pods using a needle and thread. You can put them in a little cheese cloth bundle, instead, if you have that in the house. Put chicken in crockpot, and add onion, garlic, and all of the dry spices. Plop in the butter and tomato paste. Add lemon juice and coconut milk. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. The chicken should shred easily with 2 forks when fully cooked.

Stir in plain yogurt 15 minutes before serving. Discard cardamom pods. Salt to taste, serve with white or brown basmati rice.

From here.