Finally: Some good Indian food at long last. Recipes please.

Cafe Society
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We lived in Uganda for a year and became completely ruined for anything other than the best Indian cooking. We left Kampala late in 1998 and have not had good Indian food since. Forget Alaska, you can’t even find decent Chinese here, let alone something more exotic.

We’ve been on trips to San Francisco and New York and gotten nothing but mediocre dishes. Regrettably, my Indian cooking skills are pretty much untested and lacking.

Then, last night, my wife dragged me out of the house to an annual meeting of the Indian community, where, for $15 a head, one could have food from all parts of the sub-continent. It was absolute heaven, since it was all cooked up (or at least finished)on the spot, fresh, fragrant and spicy. And all vegetarian, surprisingly.

I searched the SDMB and came up with some recipes, but I’m hoping that there are more out there to be shared. I would really like to have a good recipe for the channa I had last night: garbanzo beans in a curry…mmmmmm

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Do a search on Tansu’s name or look for her submissions in The Ultimate Recipe Thread’s Active Index. Me? I’m still searching for a decent tomato and green chile chutney recipe. I can fake it well enough by stirring some yellow curry into a tin of Herdez Salsa Casera, but my tastebuds know when they’re being deceived.

Zenster’s favorite Indian meal:

Papadums with tomato green chile chutney (a dozen, please)

Rasam

Raita

Kima lamb curry

Garlic nann

Dosa

Kulfi
Hammit all to Dell! Now I’m hungry for Indian food. It’s all your fault, Chefguy!

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So, are the recipes for the above on your recipe thread? I believe I have all of Tansu’s recipes.

I’ve held off getting into Indian cooking up to this point because of the complexity of the spicing and the involved cooking methods (I’m a bit lazy, as it turns out), but it looks like if I want it badly enough, I’d better learn to cope.

There was a small Indian restaurant in Kampala that served garlic/cheese nann, mint chicken tikka, and a lentil dal that was to die for. ::wipes drool off chin, wanders off to make a PBM sammich::

Too my credit, I did make a killer tomato soup today with some beauties from the farmers’ market that I let overripen. Basil, rosemary, thyme and a little oregano…mmmmm.

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Well, to do it right, you’ll want to be making your own Garam Masala, as what you can buy is a) likely limited, b) poor quality, and c) best not stale

3 teaspoons Black pepper
2 teaspoons Cloves
4 teaspoons Cinnamon
3 teaspoons Brown cardamom
5 teaspoons Cumin seeds
2 teaspoons Bay leaves
1 teaspoon Coriander seeds

Roast cummin seeds till it becomes brown. Heat all other ingredients slightly so that they do not have any moisture.

Grind together all the ingredients to a fine powder.

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I’ve tried garam masala from both Spice Islands and McCormicks and I have no problem with either. I have not tried the above recipe (yet) so I can’t compare.

I do make a mean chicken tikka masala, but I don’t know how to make a decent tandoori chicken to go in it. Does anyone have a good recipe for that? By way of trade, here’s my tikka. It’s a heart-attack with a stoke chaser, but if chlorestol doesn’t scare you, you’ll love it…

Soak 2-5 boneless, skinless, fatless, tendonless, cubed, chicken half-breasts (1 per person you plan to serve) 12-24 hours in half a bottle of Italian dressing. Use a non-metalic container (of course) and keep it in your refrigerator.

After it soaks, put the whole mess in a frying pan and cook it just long enough to turn the chicken cubes white all the way through. Drain and set on paper towels to dry.

Blend the following together into a sauce:
1/2 large onion
1 T chopped garlic (I like the big jars from WalMart!)
2 t garam masala
1/2 t ground white pepper
1/4 t salt
1/8 t ground ginger
1/4 t ground cumin
1/2 t ground cardamom
1/4 t ground corriander
1/8 t ground clove
1/2 c sour cream
1/2 c heavy whipping cream
1/2 c condensed Campbell’s tomato soup
3 T butter
1 T honey

Cook on high until it starts to bubble. Cover and reduce heat as low as your stove can go. You might even use a double-boiler if you have one handy. Add chicken. Stir frequently to keep bottom from burning and top from skinning. Let simmer and cook rice. When the rice is nearly done, check the sauce thickness. If it is too runny, allow to cook uncovered until it thickens up.

Cook the following in a rice cooker:

2 c of basmati rice
2 1/2 c water
1 stick of cinnamon (do not try powder!)
1/8 t ground cardamon (unless you can get whole white cardamom seeds, then use about a tablespoon worth and remove after cooking)
small pinch of saffron (if you have it or don’t mind buying it)

Serve tikka over rice with naan if you know how to make it (does anyone have a good recipe?).

Also, I’ve found that you can add a package of sliced almonds to the chicken as you fry it. It will not change the tikka’s taste, but it has a nice texture. I’ve never tried to make a vegetarian version, but I would bet you could replace the chicken with almonds, potatoes, and tofu. Consider that your homework, you vegetarians out there.

Good tikka will cause drowsiness just like turkey and stuffing will. Don’t try to operate heavy machinery afterwards.