Fun in the kitchen
Yesterday I made chicken curry for the fourth time. The second time was the best still, but I think I'm getting closer to producing quality consistently. I also made dal, which turned out just fine. Sometimes I judge the salt wrong, but not as often these days.
My chicken curry is a bit of a variation on Mother's. We buy a family pack of drumsticks normally, approximately 5 lbs. I'll use about half that at once. Darren likes the skin and I don't, so I pull the skin down and leave it hanging off the bone. Then I cut four slashes in the meat, make it easier to soak in seasoning and cook through. Salt, cumin, turmeric, crushed red chili - rubbed in, then refrigerated while I prepare the rest. First I chop up garlic, then ginger root, and I cut baby carrots into quarters. (The carrots were an accident - we didn't have potatoes the first time I did it in my apartment, and then they turned out well, so I just keep doing it.) I pour some oil into a pan, throw on some mustard seeds, whole dried red chilis, and a some more crushed red chilis. Once it gets hot and starts popping, I cover with a lid for a few minutes. Once it's settled down, I remove the lid and add the garlic and ginger. As the garlic roasts, I throw on the carrots, sprinkle some cumin over them and let them simmer a bit. I add the chicken and turn it periodically. It's normally a pretty tight fit in our pan, but it seems to work well enough. When the chicken is mostly done, I add about a cup or cup and a half of water then cover. This time the flavour didn't permeate the chicken properly, but it was so soft it was falling off the bone, which I liked. And the carrots and sauce were delicious.
Today I experimented some more. Added cumin, black pepper, a tiny bit of turmeric, and squeezed half a lime into the rice before turning on the rice cooker. I'd seasoned rice in the rice cooker once with success at Ueda-sensei's apartment two summers ago. I think I used fennel and such then. This time the lime overwhelmed everthing else. Bad if you don't like sour things as much as I do. :-(
I skinned and slashed the rest of the family pack of chicken same as always. Then mixed up some "Caribbean Jerk Seasoning" that Darren keeps in stock with a bit of soy sauce, vinegar and squeezed in half a juice orange. The other half of the orange I sliced thinly. After dipping each drumstick in the caribbean concoction, I laid each on a slice of orange then covered it with another slice. Poured the remaining caribbean stuff on top, then refrigerated for 20 minutes before putting in the oven, which had been set at 350, for 1.5 hr. It turned out pretty well. Cooked through and still moist. Basically it tasted like the caribbean seasoning with a subtle (and pleasant, I thought) hint of orange. The orange slices soaked in caribbean seasoning were a little weird though. I was pretty satisfied with it. I'm not a huge fan of chicken - it's either tasteless or dry or overwhelmed with seasoning, but this was a decent balance.
The best part of the meal was the potatoes though. One day at Brett's house, I happened to see part of TLC's "Take Home Chef," in which the Take Home Chef did something sort of like this: I boiled half a dozen small potatoes then sliced into coins and removed the skins. In a pan I heated oil, laid out a layer of potatoes flat. I sprinkled on salt, crushed red chili, and a tiny bit of turmeric. After they browned on one side, I flipped them and sprinkled parsley flakes on top. They were really really good. Darren was eating them about as fast as I was making them at first. :-)
I'm too lazy to learn recipes and stuff, but it's kind of fun to just go to the fridge and see what can happen. Relaxing too. And this way I experiment on Darren before putting anyone else at risk. ;-P
My chicken curry is a bit of a variation on Mother's. We buy a family pack of drumsticks normally, approximately 5 lbs. I'll use about half that at once. Darren likes the skin and I don't, so I pull the skin down and leave it hanging off the bone. Then I cut four slashes in the meat, make it easier to soak in seasoning and cook through. Salt, cumin, turmeric, crushed red chili - rubbed in, then refrigerated while I prepare the rest. First I chop up garlic, then ginger root, and I cut baby carrots into quarters. (The carrots were an accident - we didn't have potatoes the first time I did it in my apartment, and then they turned out well, so I just keep doing it.) I pour some oil into a pan, throw on some mustard seeds, whole dried red chilis, and a some more crushed red chilis. Once it gets hot and starts popping, I cover with a lid for a few minutes. Once it's settled down, I remove the lid and add the garlic and ginger. As the garlic roasts, I throw on the carrots, sprinkle some cumin over them and let them simmer a bit. I add the chicken and turn it periodically. It's normally a pretty tight fit in our pan, but it seems to work well enough. When the chicken is mostly done, I add about a cup or cup and a half of water then cover. This time the flavour didn't permeate the chicken properly, but it was so soft it was falling off the bone, which I liked. And the carrots and sauce were delicious.
Today I experimented some more. Added cumin, black pepper, a tiny bit of turmeric, and squeezed half a lime into the rice before turning on the rice cooker. I'd seasoned rice in the rice cooker once with success at Ueda-sensei's apartment two summers ago. I think I used fennel and such then. This time the lime overwhelmed everthing else. Bad if you don't like sour things as much as I do. :-(
I skinned and slashed the rest of the family pack of chicken same as always. Then mixed up some "Caribbean Jerk Seasoning" that Darren keeps in stock with a bit of soy sauce, vinegar and squeezed in half a juice orange. The other half of the orange I sliced thinly. After dipping each drumstick in the caribbean concoction, I laid each on a slice of orange then covered it with another slice. Poured the remaining caribbean stuff on top, then refrigerated for 20 minutes before putting in the oven, which had been set at 350, for 1.5 hr. It turned out pretty well. Cooked through and still moist. Basically it tasted like the caribbean seasoning with a subtle (and pleasant, I thought) hint of orange. The orange slices soaked in caribbean seasoning were a little weird though. I was pretty satisfied with it. I'm not a huge fan of chicken - it's either tasteless or dry or overwhelmed with seasoning, but this was a decent balance.
The best part of the meal was the potatoes though. One day at Brett's house, I happened to see part of TLC's "Take Home Chef," in which the Take Home Chef did something sort of like this: I boiled half a dozen small potatoes then sliced into coins and removed the skins. In a pan I heated oil, laid out a layer of potatoes flat. I sprinkled on salt, crushed red chili, and a tiny bit of turmeric. After they browned on one side, I flipped them and sprinkled parsley flakes on top. They were really really good. Darren was eating them about as fast as I was making them at first. :-)
I'm too lazy to learn recipes and stuff, but it's kind of fun to just go to the fridge and see what can happen. Relaxing too. And this way I experiment on Darren before putting anyone else at risk. ;-P
posted by Bibhatsu at 23:26
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