Tonight's dinner

Tonight for DH's birthday, he asked for Indian food (again!) so.. here's
what we ate:

Sindhi Chicken Curry *

Ingredients
8 skinless boneless chicken breast, halved
1 cup plain non-fat yogurt at room temperature
1 tsp cornstarch
2 TBSP Canola oil
2 cups finely chopped onions
1 TBSP peeled, minced ginger root
1 TBSP peeled minced garlic
1 TBSP minced Serrano chilies
1 TBSP coriander powder
1 ½ tsp cumin powder
¾ tsp turmeric
¾ tsp cayenne pepper
1 28oz can chopped tomatoes with juice**
½ cup cilantro, chopped
2 tsp salt (kosher)
1 ½ tsp garam masala
¼ cilantro, chopped divided

Directions
1- Rinse chicken and pat dry
2- Stir yogurt and cornstarch together until smooth, set aside.
3- In a large saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, heat oil over medium-high
heat. Add onion and sauté until beginning to color, 6 to 8 minutes. Reduce
heat to medium and sauté until dark golden, 10 to 12 minutes longer.
4- Stir in ginger, garlic and Serrano, sauté for 2 minutes. Increase heat to
medium-high. Add chicken and brown well, 6 to 8 minutes.
5-Reduce heat to medium. Add coriander, cumin, turmeric and cayenne pepper.
Mix well and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
6- Add tomatoes, yogurt mixture, ½ cup cilantro and salt. Mix well. Cover
and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to los and simmer until chicken is no
longer pink inside, about 15-20 minutes (depending on the size of the
pieces).
7- Remove from heat. Stir in garam masala and 3 TBSP cilantro. Garnish with
remaining cilantro before serving. Makes 8 servings
* Cornstarch isn’t core but it amounts to 0 pts.
** For a thicker curry, drain some of the juice

Vegetable samosa filling*
8 servings

Ingredients
2 baking potatoes (about ¾ lbs)
1 TBSP ground coriander
1 tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp turmeric
2 TBSP canola oil
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp amchur
2 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp minced cilantro
2 cup frozen green peas defrosted

Directions
Boil the potatoes in their skin until very soft, about 25 minutes. Drain.
When cool enough to handle, peel and mash coarsely. Add the coriander,
cayenne pepper, turmeric and oil. Mix well.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over high heat until very hot. Add
potatoes mixture. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring until the spices
are fragrant and the potatoes are lightly fried, about 8 minutes. Stir the
peas during the last few minutes. Return the potato mixture to the same
bowl. Fold in lime juice, amchur salt and cilantro and set aside to cool
completely.

*I use that as a side dish since 1- I don't know how to make the pastry
part, and 2- I like the filling a lot more than the pastry.. so there!

Split Pea Dal Laced with Garam Masala and Caramelized Onions*
4 servings, 5 pts/ serving

Ingredients:
For cooking peas:
1 ¼ cups commercial yellow split peas
½ tsp turmeric
1 ½ tsp coarse salt or more to taste
For the spice-infused butter:
1 TBSP oil
1 ½ tsp cumin seeds
1 cup finely chopped onions
½ - 1 tsp garam masala
¼ finely chopped cilantro

Directions :
Rinse split peas, drain and put in a deep pot. Add turmeric and 4 cups of
water and bring to a boil. Cook peas, gently simmering, partially covered,
until cooked and tender, about 40 minutes. Stir a few times during cooking
to ensure the split peas are not sticking and burning. Add more water if
necessary. Turn off heat and check to see if the consistency is like the pea
soup, and if not add more water and/or crush some of the peas with the back
of a spoon or an immersion blender. Add salt, cover and set aside.

Heat the oil in a small frying pan. Add the cumin seeds and sauté over
medium-high heat until the spice turn several shades darker. Add the onion
and cook until they are brown and caramelized. Stir in Garam Masala.
Transfer the lentils to a warm dish.
Pour the spice-infused butter over the Dal. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

*I just do the pea puree... not the butter and onions n stuff... I like it
more neutral to go with curries..


I served all that with this chutney that I had frozen from a previous
cooking attack!

Cilantro Mint Chutney (Hari Chutney)
Makes 1 cup, 1 pts/cup

Ingredients:
4 cups loosely packed cilantro (leaves & stems)
½ Cup mint leaves
2 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
3-4 chopped Serrano chilies
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
1/3 cup lime or lemon juice
3 TBSP (or more) water.

Directions:
Put all ingredients in a blender and pureed well.

Can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, frozen for months.

Soooo that was dinner, and we have tons of left overs, I froze 4 servings of
curry, and we have one each for lunch tomorrow.. the rest will get eaten
sometime between now and friday night.. We also had angel food cake with
fruits and ff cool whip!

I'm huh.. past satisfaction.. good thing it's not his birthday every week!
oooffaaahhh

Will~