Creamy Chicken Curry with Peas: Muttar Murghi

Yet another inspiration from 660 Curries. I swear, every time I pick the book up and leaf through it, I find another dish I want to run into my kitchen and cook. It never fails–and what is even more amazing, is that there are very few photographs in the book. I just read the titles of the recipes, look at the description and run down the ingredient list and I am hooked. Nearly everything in the book sounds distinctly appetizing.

The chicken in this curry is amazingly tender for two reasons–one, is the yogurt-based marinade. You don’t leave the chicken in it for long–if you do, the acidic yogurt will start breaking down too much of the protein in the chicken and will give the flesh a cottony, spongy texture which is less than appealing. But even as little as a half hour’s soak in the thick, fragrant yogurt blend will tenderize the chicken admirably. An hour is even better.

The other reason is that if you cook the curry on medium low heat and keep an eye on the chicken and stop cooking it just after it firms up–it will be almost meltingly tender. High heat will firm the chicken too much, but the combination of yogurt and medium low heat is magical–the chicken is velvety and delicious.

Of course, I changed the recipe up a bit. Don’t I always?

The first change came when I ground up fresh turmeric root into the marinade instead of using the dried turmeric called for in the book. I love the medicinal fragrance and slightly sharp, tingly flavor of fresh turmeric, and the color it imparts to curries, as you can see in the photograph above, is remarkably pretty.

I also chose to use a different spice mixture than the author required. His had coconut and peanuts in it; I was not in a peanut and coconut mood, so I used one of my own masala mixtures which is heavy on coriander seed and cardamom. I added a couple of bay leaves; I figured that their sharp, herbal tang would combine beautifully with the fresh turmeric.

Speaking of bay leaves–they have a completely different character when you grind them up rather than using them whole. I have never used them ground except in Indian foods, but I may change that when it becomes grilling season again. I think that a bit of bay leaf in a rub for steak or chicken would be fantastic.

This recipe comes together quickly–after you grind up the dry spices into a masala, set them aside and grind up the garlic, ginger, turmeric, and chilies, then whisk these together into the cream and yogurt mixture. Marinate the chicken in it while you slice the shallots and cook your rice. Then you just brown the shallots, scrape the chicken into the pan, and sprinkle it with the masala. Cook, stirring, until the chicken just firms up–it takes about twelve minutes or so–add the peas, and cook until they thaw and warm up, and there you are–dinner!

Muttar Murghi
Ingredients:

3 1/2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
10 green cardamom pods
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 bay leaves
1/2″ piece cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
3 whole cloves
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper flakes
3/4 cup whole fat or low fat (not fat free) Greek style yogurt
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2″ cube fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon salt
2″ long piece fresh turmeric root, peeled and roughly chopped
4-6 large garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
2-3 fresh green Thai chilies
2 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts (four halves), cut into 3/4″ cubes
2 tablespoons ghee or canola oil
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced shallots or red onion
8 ounce package frozen peas
salt to taste
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves

Method:

Grind together all of the dry spices. Measure out a tablespoon of the mixture and seal the rest up in a container for use another day.

Whisk together the yogurt and cream, and then grind together the ginger, salt, turmeric root (if you do not have access to the fresh root, use 1/4 teaspoon dried, ground turmeric root), garlic and chilies. Whisk these together with the yogurt and cream mixture until well combined and smooth. Toss the chicken pieces into the marinade and cover and allow to sit for at least thirty minutes.

Heat the canola oil or ghee in a heavy-bottomed skillet on medium flame. Add the shallots or onions, and cook, stirring, until they turn a nice, rich golden color. Add the chicken, scraping as much marinade as possible into the pan and turn the heat down to medium low. Rinse the marinade bowl, getting all the good stuff off the sides of the bowl, with 1/2 cup water, and set the bowl with the water aside.

Cook, stirring, as needed until the chicken loses most of its pink color and some of the marinade starts to stick to the bottom of the pan and brown. Deglaze the pan with the water in the marinade bowl, and scrape up all the browned bits. Stir in the peas, turn up the heat slightly to medium, and cook until the chicken is just firm and no pink shows and the peas are heated through.

Add salt to taste and garnish with the cilantro leaves.

Meatless Monday: Methi Malai Paneer

Or, in plain English, Paneer Cheese with Fenugreek Greens and Cream.

I ask you all–how in the world can this be bad? It contains fried cheese, the tastiest greens this side of collards and cream.

The answer of course is: it can’t possibly be bad!

And it isn’t. It is, in a word, amazing. The paneer is springy and sweet with a crisp exterior, there are almonds for crunch and a discreet nutty flavor, and the sauce is tangy, creamy and thick, and scented with the rich grassy fragrance of methi greens.

I like it even better than mattar paneer, and that says a lot, because that dish pretty much got me to eat peas and actually like them. (Zak still prefers mattar paneer, but he still really liked methi malai paneer, too.) And here’s the great part–it is easier to make than mattar paneer, and it has less fat in it, because there is only 1/2 cup of cream in the whole dish, which will feed four people as part of a multi-dish Indian meal, or three if you are only eating it and some rice or bread.

I got the idea to make this from Raghavan Iyer’s wonderful book, 660 Curries, which has become my go-to tome when I want to make Indian food, but I want to make something different, and I don’t just want to “wing it” and make up a Barbara curry. (There is nothing at all wrong with winging it and making my own curries–my curries are quite tasty, but sometimes you need new ideas to spark your appetite.) I was digging through the book, while I still had a gallbladder and was desperately trying to find something I could eat that had flavor, and had found this recipe in the long and drool-inducing paneer chapter. Sadly, though it caused instant salivation, it also made me queasy, because of the butter, paneer and cream it contained. I knew how sick it would make me if I had the audacity to eat it right then. So, I bookmarked it and promised myself to return to it as soon as my gallbladder was out and I could buy fresh methi greens.

And that is exactly what I did.

Now, of course, all of you know that I had to change it a bit. And I did, but I still credit the basic idea of this recipe to the very talented Mr. Iyer.

I added browned onions, garlic, some mustard seeds to be browned with the cumin seeds, and I ground up dried soaked methi leaves up with the garlic and spices. I also added some Aleppo pepper flakes, though next time, I may use a stronger chili. And I used more of the fresh methi greens than he called for-he only used one cup and I used three. Why? Because too much is better than not enough, I had lots of methi and needed to use it and I really like the stuff. And, it is good for you.

It cooks up really quickly–I can totally see making this for dinner at the end of a busy day after putting some basmati rice in the rice cooker. It takes about a half hour, prep time included, to make. (Mind you, I cut, chop and mince quickly, but still–it is a fast dish.)

You could make it go even faster by pre-frying the paneer cheese over the weekend and keeping it sealed up in your fridge ready to turn into a delicious curry later in the week. Iyer says you can freeze fried paneer, but I don’t really like the texture of it after it thaws all that much. I think it gets a bit mealy.

The best part of this curry though, other than the fact that it is creamy, delicious and soul-satisfying, perfect for a cold winter night–is that it leaves your home perfumed with the glorious mown-hay scent of fenugreek.

It is heavenly.

Methi Malai Paneer
Ingredients:

8 ounces paneer, cut into 1/2″ cubes
1/4 cup canola or peanut oil
2 tablespoons ghee, canola oil or butter
3/4 cup thinly sliced red onion or shallot
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1/4 cup slivered blanched almonds
1/4 cup dried methi greens soaked in hot water and squeezed out
2 large cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons Aleppo pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
1/4 teaspoon peppercorns
2 1/2 -3 cups roughly chopped fresh fenugreek greens (remove big stems before chopping)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons tomato paste (I use the stuff that comes in a big tube like toothpaste–it is concentrated and easy to keep in the fridge on hand)
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Method:

Heat the 1/4 cup of canola oil in a heavy-bottomed nonstick (or well-seasoned cast iron) skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Add half of the paneer and cook, turning over with a spatula now and again, until it is golden brown and crispy on all sides. Remove with a spatula to drain on paper towels, and fry the next batch.

In a heavy-bottomed deep skillet, heat the ghee, oil or butter on medium heat until it either foams or shimmers. Add the onion or shallot and cook, stirring, until the slices turn golden brown. Sprinkle in the cumin seeds, mustard seeds and almonds, and continue stirring.

While the onions, spices and almonds cook, grind up the soaked dried methi, garlic, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, pepper flakes, fennel seeds, amd peppercorns into a fine, fragrant paste.

When the almonds are lightly browned and the onions are a reddish brown, add the spice paste, and cook, stirring for another couple of minutes.

Add the fresh methi leaves and cook, stirring, until they wilt slightly–about a minute and a half. Turn heat down to low. Add the cream and tomato paste, then stir in with the salt. Add the fried paneer cubes to the sauce and cook, stirring as needed until the paneer turns soft and spongy–about 5 to 8 minutes. The sauce will also reduce until it thickens and basically clings to all of the other ingredients, leaving very little in the pan.

Serve with bread or rice.

I Have Returned

I want to thank everyone who has written me messages on my blog, sent email, and tracked down my husband on LJ to express concern, encouragement and good wishes. Your love and thoughts meant a great deal to me while I was recovering from the surgery, and I cannot really express how much it means to me that people from all around the world have been thinking of me while I was recuperating.

Let me tell you how I am doing.

Physically, I am absolutely great. I look better than I have in years (that would be the gallbladder diet, I expect), and for the first time in over three years, I have had a cessation of the nausea that plagued me off and on, as well as the phantom fevers which would come and go like heat lightening in summer. Both my GP and my surgeon think that my gallbladder was acting up for a long time, it was just that until the upper-right quadrant pain started, there was no reason to think that my symptoms had diddly to do with my gallbladder. The nausea was attributed to various medications, anxiety and post partum depression, and everyone just shrugged about the fevers, since they were low-grade and never lasted longer than a day, usually less than that. But I feel amazingly fine. I’ve lost enough weight to wear size 12 jeans again, and for the first time in years–I can eat anything with impunity.

I am back to having a cast iron stomach, it seems. Well, I still don’t eat shellfish, being that allergies can kill, but other than that, I can eat whatever I want and I don’t get sick. Lots of folks who have their gallbladders removed are not so lucky, and I feel for each and every one of them and I thank God every day that I was so lucky. No pain. No nausea, no intestinal issues, no gas–that is the best–I can eat beans, dal, broccoli–tons of onions–and nothing gives me gas. Nothing. I am eating dal like a madwoman!

But what is interesting, is I don’t eat nearly as much as I once did. I eat smaller portions, and am perfectly satisfied. I am wondering if my stomach shrank down to a more normal size for the month when I was living on basically rice, lettuce apples, and crackers. (At the end, it was just the crackers. And water. Nothing else but coffee. That, I refused to give up.) Whatever the reason, I just do not eat as much. My stomach tells me when it is full, and I stop, and all is well. For a long time, I had been having trouble knowing when I was full, and so I would eat more than I needed and that contributed to weight gain.

But I guess not anymore.

Emotionally–well that is another issue.

See, the truth is, the reason I didn’t write for so long is that I am going through really heavy therapy right now to help me get over the trauma that happened nearly twenty years ago during my divorce and custody battle with my ex-husband. Things go so scary and screwy and messed up that I now have two highly qualified therapists telling me that I have post traumatic stress disorder. And–they are right. I can read a textbook–and I know my symptoms, and yeah, yeah, it’s there all right.

A few months back, I had a breakdown and ended up with a friend helping me find a good therapist who specializes in trauma cases and women’s issues, and so I have been seeing her once a week for a couple of months. And we are dredging out the painful memories and slowly, going back and letting me feel the emotions that I could not express then, and express them now in a safe situation. And, in turn, we are disconnecting the emotional content to these memories so that when I remember–I do not have to relive the situation.

So, right before the gallbladder surgery, the therapy also got very intense, and so, frankly, that is what I have been dealing with. The holidays always make everything worse for me, and so that was where I was. In a not so pleasant place in my head, and in no way, shape or form, was I up for writing about food, or really, much of anything.

But–I am back. I am feeling much better emotionally, and am on a much more stable footing. I feel stronger than I have in, well, forever it seems, so I am back on duty, and will be blogging at least three times a week for the rest of the year, and hopefully, even more when the new year rolls around.

Once again, thank you all so very much for your kindness. It has blown me away.

Love and peace to you all.

The Gallbladder is Gone, Gone, Gone!

I am home, with three kitties curled up in bed next to me, and am feeling really pretty good. The percoset has kept the pain at bay, (though it is doing diddlybupkiss for the caffeine headache, unfortunately) and I have slept most of the afternoon away. Kat and Zak are napping downstairs, the house is quiet, and I can rest and heal.

Thank you all for your support while I have struggled to write about foo:, the topic had become next to impossible for me to care about. At the end of this ordeal, nearly everything I ate caused pain or nausea, or on lucky days, both. But thanks to you all who stuck with me through the long stretches of silence with a recipe here and there.

From here on out, things will improve.

Thank you all again–you are the best!

Surgery is Scheduled for Tomorrow

So, the gallbladder surgery that was scheduled for earlier this month is actually happening tomorrow morning.

Wish me luck and look for more posts on more fun topics like food in the future.