Let's Have Indian!

Tandoori Chicken & Chickpea-Mushroom Vindaloo with Garlic Naan

Ingredients:

- 1 lb cubed chicken breast

- 1 can chickpeas

- Patak's Vindaloo Paste

- Patak's Tikka Masala Paste

- White long grain rice

- 3 Garlic cloves

- Spanish onion

- Sliced hot green pepper

- Sliced white mushrooms

- 1 fresh beefsteak tomato

- Light cream

- Sour cream

- Extra-virgin olive oi

- Margarinel

- Curry

- Ground cinnamon

- Cumin

- Salt

- Crushed red pepper

- Black pepper

- 1 piece garlic naan

Indian is something we cook often but we haven't made it since we started posting our meals here. This is a hybrid meal that we make variations of often and always enjoy thoroughly. Usually we air on the Saag (spinach) side of life when making Indian so this meal being a departure was extremely exciting and, as hoped, turned out fantastically.

We started out by chopping the chicken into cubes and making a sauce to bake it in. The sauce consisted of sour cream, warm water, 2 tbsp of Patak's Tikka Masala and a pinch of salt. The chicken was spread out on a foiled baking sheet and covered with the chopped tomato, onion, hot pepper and then drizzled with the sauce so that it covered the whole pile and seeped down while the chicken baked in our (not clay but good enough) oven. While the chicken was in the oven the Chickpea-Mushroom dish was begun by sauteing chopped onion and garlic for a minute or two in an oiled pan. Next we added the mushrooms and chickpeas. After the mushroom-chickpea mixture cooked briefly the sauce - Patak's Vindaloo Paste, warm water, sour cream, light cream, and a touch of crushed red pepper - was added to the vegetables. It was all stirred together to get the flavors to commingle and extra sour cream was added little by little to ensure a creamy coating within the pan. While the two main dishes were cooking we had the rice going on the back burner and once it was soft the seasoning went in: 2 tbsp margarine, curry, cumin and a sprinkling of cinnamon for added flavor and to give more definition to the rice. Miyu and Tula anxiously awaited the end result and watched attentively as the Naan went into toaster oven right before plating.

Now that the kitchen was filled with the smells of our meal and the naan was warm with a slight crunch we plated the main dishes, doled out the rice and sat down to enjoy the fruits of our labor. The flavors were robust even though the seasonings were spare. The taste came from the Patak's pastes and the raw ingredients themselves introducing a new take on Indian, a departure from our normal mushroom saag and jaipur vegetables. It was satisfying, filling and left us patting ourselves on the back. We have added a delicious new Indian dish to our repertoire and cured another day's hunger for damn good eats.

G