Eat Your Veggies

It's getting ridiculous with the cream around here. I realize this, and I also realize my lack of vegetable and fruit intake these last few days. I have not eaten an apple for three days. I did eat a perfectly sweet and ripe cantaloupe, though, and for breakfast I ate a carrot. I will have another salad later, since Indian Butter Chicken is on the menu, and I am compelled to find some type of balance for its richness.

The wife likes Indian Butter Chicken, so I make it for her occasionally. As the name indicates, it contains those two ingredients. Indian food is some of my favorite victuals, as I like the spice combinations used, and I like spicy, but this dish has very little heat. The wife cannot tolerate too much hot spice.

When I was going to UNCG a few years ago, I stopped for the lunch-buffet special at the India Palace occasionally. All of the dishes were cooked perfectly and tasted just right. Then they sold the joint to return to India and it kind of went downhill for me. The last time I went there, they were serving bread pakoras. Come on, now. But as I was saying, one day right after I had lunched at the Palace, I was sitting in a small group in one of my ridiculous classes at UNCG. That curry, among other things, started oozing from my pores. The girl next to me was like, “What is that smell?” as she wrinkled her nose. I think she was somewhat offended, never having eaten Indian cuisine. I knew it was me, and that is another reason why I love Indian food.

The recipe calls for thighs, and I use thighs which bake in the oven while the sauce is built, but first I cut all excess skin from thighs with my scissors. This leaves a patch of skin atop the meat that crisps nicely while keeping the meat underneath succulent. I Salt and Pepper the skin, then I pull the skin back from the thigh and salt underneath it, replacing the skin after.

The sauce begins with sauted onions. I added mushrooms today because I like them, and I had a carton of sliced portabellos in the fridge. These two ingredients I allowed to cook slowly. Then I made a little paste of chopped and mashed garlic to which I added powdered ginger. I thought I had fresh ginger in the fridge, but I did not. Ginger is a nice flavorful ingredient that gives a bit of punch to the dish. It is very strong, so I have to be careful with it.

To that mixture, I added at least a tablespoon of garam masala, cumin, curry, and chili powder; S & P, and about two cups of crushed tomatoes. A bit of sour cream, a turn of fresh cream, and two tablespoons of butter later, I was ready to pull the chicken from those thighs and add them to the pan. Now a bit of heat, if you please. I love the click of the igniter and the accompanying “whoosh” as the blue flame ignites. It makes me happy. On the old cooktop, two burners out of four functioned, and barely. You had to start the fire just right by turning the knob to ignite, then turning it off and repeating that about three or four times. But I cooked the sauce for a few more minutes, and Butter Chicken was done.

I have a bag of short-grain rice (purchased on sale) that I want to use, so that is what I am eating with the chicken. Also, a slab of naan bread that I will toast a little. A green lettuce salad with tomato and beet completes the feast, and then it's off to spend a little time with my old friend, the treadmill.