Saturday, April 09, 2011

Red Goan Chicken -- from Anjum's New Indian

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In the last couple of weeks, I have been in deep s*** where time and work is concerned. There is loads of work and very less of time. I don't know how I got myself into this situation but I really want to go and live in Venus with its longer days.

On top of all this the husband will have to move to a work location, beyond everyday commutable distance and so he intends to do a Mon-Thur which essentially leaves me in sole charge of two tiny human beings and their music/taekwondo/swimming/studies/tantrums/fun-moments/life for whole 72 hours and some.

Yeah, yeah M Didi is still around but really not of much help in the evenings. She is not one of those enthu, proactive people you hate at work. She believes in taking things slow, real slow and relaxing a lot which is a mighty good work ethic I must say.

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In between all this I have been doing my usual cooking because I feel one of the many purpose that God had in mind while putting me on earth involves offering healthy home-cooked meal to my kids. Yeah, I am a believer that way. But since I have very very little time I cannot go into the details.

Also due to lack of good ol' time, I cannot tell you how embarrassed I am that I did not do a review of Anjum's New Indian(author Anjum Anand) which I received 2 months back. Or say that how beautiful her book is with lush pictures of food. Or how gorgeous, calm and composed she looks hovering over the big pot, very unlike my harried, sweating self over similar pots. Or how her book has nice simple recipes plucked from all around India and then tweaked for the New Indian, whoever he is.

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Only thing I can tell you is this Red Goan Chicken Curry from her book is fabulous. The kind that would make you say "De la grandi mephistopheles", like Tenida. I will put down her exact recipe here and then in the Notes I will tell you what all changes I made. Yes, I can never ever leave a recipe unchanged, what can I say ?


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Red Goan Chicken Curry

Make Goan Red Spice Paste

2 large, mild, fresh red chilies, desseded
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1&1/2tsp coriander seeds
3 cloves
6 black peppercorns
171/2" piece of cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground turmeric
9 large cloves of garlic peeled
1 tsp tamarind paste
3/4tsp sugar
3/4tsp salt
1/3 cup white vinegar

Note: I skipped the Tamarind. Used 2 dry red chili, did not deseed.

Make Red Goan Chicken

Note: I started off by marinating 1&1/2-2lb of chicken pieces in 1 tsp of ginger paste, 1 tsp garlic paste, salt and 1/4tsp of turmeric. This is not suggested in the book. Anything under Notes is not as per the book.

Heat 4 tbsp Oil in a large saucepan

Add 1 large onion sliced and cook until browned around 10 minutes.

Add 4tbsp of Goan Red Spice paste and cook for 2-3 minutes

Add 4 large tomatoes chopped, salt to taste and cover and cook for 10 minutes or until the tomatoes have softened and reduced. Uncover the pan and cook the tomatoes further in their juice for 6-8 minutes, stirring in between till you see oil separating from the masala.
Note: I used only 1 large juicy red tomato

Add the chicken pieces(1&1/2lb chicken skinned) and stir well in the pan for a few minutes.
Note: I did this until the chicken pieces were lightly browned

Add 1 cup of water, bring to boil and cover. Cook covered till chicken is done.

Remove the cover, turn the heat up and boil off excess moisture in the pan, tossing the chicken in the reducing gravy all the time. Also check for salt and seasonings and adjust.

Note: This dish was pretty mild and perfect for us and the kids. I would increase heat up a notch by adding a little red chili powder otherwise. I also garnished the dish with some fresh chopped corriander.

24 comments:

  1. Sounds like a vindaloo without ginger. I've been seeing sugar as an ingredient in these vindaloo-type recipes, which is very interesting. Maybe I just completely missed seeing it as an ingredient or it's for that New Indian. :-D

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  2. oh having your husband away must be tough!

    i am loving the look of that book btw :)

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  3. Can take my eyes from ur clicks,incredible..

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  4. Love the color of the chicken curry. I am not sure about the vinegar in chicken though.

    That is tough. We did it for a few years when DD was tiny. I was working from home so it was a tiny bit OK.

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  5. D is moving? tough, even if it's part time, hope things come back to normal soon.

    None of those celeb cooks or kitchens look like us or ours because we actually cook and do most of the labour ourselves.

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  6. curry looks yum,,,drooling here,,

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  7. Hi Sandeepa,

    A big hug for you first...I think you will need that in weeks to come. I have survived husband shifting to work location myself... and not Mon-Thu.... but 3 weeks and 1 week home for most of my last 13 yrs of life.

    It is difficult...actually very difficult in the initial weeks, months or years(?)... till kids accept the fact. We had our share of 1 week of 'Baba keno choley gelo' to 1 week of'Baba eshechhe... tai shaaper pnaachpa'.... with just a couple of normal Mom and son weeks in the middle.

    But, I have full faith that you will survive the emotional onslaught. My best wishes to all of you

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  8. Manisha

    Yes, it sounded like vindaloo to me too, but I have never cooked or tasted an authentic vindaloo, so don't know.
    Many of the recipes are indeed for new Indians, at least I can definitely tell for the ones she says is from Bengal :-D
    All in all good, nice book though.

    Nags

    yeah the book looks good, pics are fabulous, recipes easy to follow and simple.

    Priya

    Thanks You :)

    Indo

    Vinegar is ok, I used less than the suggested amount though.
    Yeah, I don't have that option and two of them to manage. Let us see, good thing is he is not really a long distance away, drivable, so ok.

    Sra

    Ha, ha :-) She looked really pretty cooking. And the book is nice.

    Notyet

    Try it

    BWM

    3 weeks away-- 1 week in...Hmmm that must be real difficult.
    You give me strength :D

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  9. Eta agey post korechile na? But then I may be wrong too ... am in the throes of short term amnesia these days. :-)
    Bhalo korle Tenida mone koriye ... boi ta baar kori giye ... besh kichu din kete jabe. All the best for the busy days ahead. :-)

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  10. I have been in such a situation, kids are much emotional - I wonder how u manage them.
    The chicken should be different with tamarind touch Sandeepa! Probably got to try with tamarind!

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  11. You are supermom San! I have tried Anjum Anand's recipes from an old book, don't remember the name, but it was for the new Indian and spice levels were milder.

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  12. Hey BongMom, nice pic. Chicken looks yum.. Will try.

    Tough, abt D. These days hard to avoid such traveling projects. Just take it by the day, the phase will pass. Best wishes.

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  13. Cham

    I know, I am worried about the little one. The older one is ok.

    J

    Naaah, i wish. I am already hyperventilating ;-)

    SS

    It is not exactly a traveling project, same org and everything where he has been, but his current work profile needs him to move to this new location. Technically new location is not 2 states afar either but the rush hour traffic makes commute much,much longer than usual(we are talking almost 3hrs each way just due to traffic).

    Other option is for the whole family to move lock, stock and barrel. Ah, we will see.

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  14. sounds like a tangy chicken curry. Having your husband away is probably tough on all of you. What do the kids think of that?

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  15. SAngeeta your chicken curry was really nice.Now you have become a household name here at home, my kids ask me is this Bong mum's recipe every time I make something new!!!!

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  16. Mandira

    yeah this is a nice chicken. it wasn't exactly tangy 'coz I skipped tamarind and also little vinegar.
    I guess it should be more tangy.

    Poornima

    Hope in a nice way and not like " You better finish dinner or I will cook Bong Mom's recipe tomorrow" ;-)

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  17. your recipes seem very interesting and would love to try them. I live in CA and have a question regarding the type of chicken that you use.
    I typically use the frozen chicken breasts available the store and i find that it tastes very fibrous in indian dishes or the masalas dont penetrate well into it.
    is there a special type of chicken that you buy for indian food? what type of chicken do you recommend for indian food?
    Thanks a lot. Greatly appreciate it.

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  18. Anon

    Very true, chicken breasts taste horrible in most Indian dishes. Here is what you can do.
    1. Buy Cornish Hen, found at supermarkets, you have to cut up, it is small.
    2. Buy free range chicken from local farms -- I am yet to try this one
    3. Buy whole chicken from Middle eastern/Indian Meat stores. Ask them to remove skin and cut in pieces.
    4. Buy Organic or regular skinless chicken thighs from supermarket

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  19. If I am not mistaken this recipe is taken (lifted) from ndtvcooks (when i first saw it in 2005)

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    1. Anon

      This is not my recipe. It is from Anjum Anand's book as I have mentioned in the post.

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  20. Oh wow! This looks fabulous! I have a weakness fr all things Goan. Thanks for posting this, bookmarking it.

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  21. Could you please repeat the quantity of cinnamon to be used in the cooking.Urgent.
    S.K.Sen

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    Replies
    1. around 1" piece. Also add a dash of coconut milk if you can

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