Garlic Naan

In the span of my lifetime, I am relatively new to naan. In fact, I am relatively new to Indian food in general. Most of what I have had was ordered for lunch at work from a little, local Indian restaurant back in Nebraska. One of our technicians would usually order for all of us there on the weekend, and it would come in Styrofoam soup cups and foil-wrapped packets. Most of the time I didn’t know the exact name of what we were eating, but I do know that I liked it! 

If you haven’t guessed, the foil-wrapped packets contained the hot, garlicly, buttery naan. To say this was one of our favorite parts of this meal would be an understatement. I guess since it was so foreign to me I always assumed that it would be relatively hard to make at home. Not true. After finding Jessica adaptations of Indian Simmer's recipe on Tasty Kitchen and seeing Tracey have good luck with it in her kitchen, I knew I would give it a shot next time we made an Indian meal. Who knew that making naan didn’t even involve yeast?!?

In her post on Tasty Kitchen, Jessica mentions that she made a batch using whole wheat pastry flour. I try to make most things a little healthier when I can, so I went that route. I did notice that my breads didn’t rise quite as much as either Jessica’s or Tracey’s, but the taste was spot on. I brushed the top side of mine with minced garlic before cooking them to get that garlic flavor that I remembered, and it worked perfectly. Definitely garlic naan. Unfortunately, I am not blessed with a gas stove-top, so I simply cooked both sides of mine in the pan, pancake style rather than roasting the second side over an open flame. They actually still browned pretty nicely regardless. My only extra tip would be to only brush melted butter on the pieces that you plan to eat that night. It keeps better that way – if there is any left :) Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

Garlic Naan

From Tasty Kitchen (adapted from Indian Simmer)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour (whole wheat pastry flour)

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup warmed milk, about 100 F (I used skim)

1/2 cup plaint non-fat yogurt

bulb of garlic

melted garlic (to brush over the cooked naan)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Combine the milk and yogurt in a measuring cup. Pour over the dry ingredients and start to mix with a spoon, keeping in mind that you might not need all of the liquid to bring the dough together (I needed it all, but I live in the desert). The dough will not look like a typical bread dough at this point. Do not worry. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and set it aside in a warm place for at least 2 hours. 

Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead for 2-3 minutes. The dough will become silky and smooth. Divide the dough into 8 pieces. You can add more flour if the dough is sticky. Roll the piece out to about 1/4-inch thick. The shape does not have to be a precise circle; it can be any shape. Push several garlic cloves through a garlic press. Brush one side of the bread with the minced garlic and wet the other side of the bread with water. I used a spray bottle and it worked really well, but you can also use a pastry brush.

Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium to medium-high heat. When it is hot, place the naan wet side down and cover with a lid. The bread will stick at first, don't worry. Let it cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until you can see the dough bubbling. If you have a gas stove, you can cook the other side over the open flame of another burner, or you can flip the bread and cook the other side in the pan (like a pancake). Brush only the pieces you plan to eat immediately with melted butter.

Slow Cooker Coconut Chicken Curry

We are back! If you noticed the absence of my posts last week, the hubby and I were able to get away to Antigua to jointly celebrate our anniversary and graduations (his was last year). We had a great time, and it was nice to spend some time relaxing! While we were away, summer definitely arrived in Arizona! Our temperatures have been north of 110 for the past two days, and even though I love baking, you couldn't pay me to turn my oven on today :)

Because I knew these hot days were coming, I was on the lookout this spring for great dinner recipes that wouldn't involve heating up the house. Anything involving only cooking pasta/grains for a short time on the stove, the slow cooker, or the grill was game. This recipe is originally from Salt and Paprika, although I followed Kristin's adaptions on Iowa Girl Eats. I love curries but don't make them at home very often, so I was excited to give this one a whirl.

The recipe came together great! If you follow Kristin's adaptations, you'll end up with enough "sauce" for two recipes which is a double bonus for busy days. The biggest struggle I had with this recipe was finding the Garam Marsala! With the recent popularity of Indian dishes, I feel like this mixture shouldn't be that hard to find, especially where we live. Nevertheless, we had to go to 3 different grocery stores before we finally found it in the bulk spices at the local market. If you also have trouble locating some, it is something that can be made at home too. My only change to Kristin's method was to increase the cornstarch mixture. My hubby has a thing for thicker sauces in dishes like this. He wants the sauce to coat the meat/veggies not sink into his rice, so I tend to go a little heavier on the cornstarch than is called for in most recipes. Completely personal preference.

I served this with basmati rice and whole wheat homemade naan (recipe to come soon), and it made for a great, non house-heating meal. I know I'm already looking forward to using the other half of the sauce currently living in our freezer! Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

Slow Cooker Coconut Chicken Curry
Originally from Salt and Paprika, adaptions from Iowa Girl Eats

Ingredients:
1/2 large onion
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and quartered
2 garlic cloves
1 small can tomato paste
1 can (14.5 oz) light coconut milk
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. curry powder
1 Tbsp. Garam Marsala
1 lb. chicken breasts, cut into big chunks
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. cornstarch (May add more if desired. Just mix it in a little water before adding)
basmati rice, prepared according to package directions
naan, warmed

Place bell pepper and onion into a food processor. Process until finely chopped. Add in garlic cloves, tomato paste, coconut milk, salt, curry powder, and Garam Marsala and process until smooth. Divide the sauce in half (for me, half was just a little less than 2 cups). Place half the sauce into a freezable container and freeze to make this dish again at another time. 

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Combine with the remaining sauce and cook in a crockpot on low for 4 hours. After 4 hours, dissolve water and cornstarch together and add to the crockpot. Keep the lid cracked and cook on high for another 10-15 minutes. You can also transfer the sauce to a saucepan and simmer on the stove top over medium heat for 3-5 minutes if desired.

Serve with prepared rice and naan. If desired, the naan can be warmed by wrapping in foil and placed in the oven on broil for a few minutes. Enjoy!

Curry Chicken

Wow. Got to love the end of the semester. It never fails that it always feels like a game of "hurry up and get this in before the school year is over." Regardless, I only have 1 group paper/presentation and 2 exams left before I am completely finished with the didactic training of pharmacy school! Can I get a whoop whoop?

My husband has actually been great these past couple weeks. In fact, he's made dinner most nights for the past 2 weeks! He's getting pretty good if I do say so myself. I've got quite the list of yummy recipes to put up here :-) 

It has been a little while since we have made a curry dish. This one came to my inbox in the form of an email from Cuisine at home. I'm notorious for saving those emails and then never making the recipes they list, but I'm glad this one materialized! Simple, healthy, and good. I can't complain with that list.

The only thing I didn't like was the fact that it uses such a small amount of a few of the ingredients. This is probably because it's written for only 2 servings, but now I've now got most of a can of garbanzo beans sitting in my fridge. Hummus anyone?

(Printable Recipe)

Curry Chicken
Adapted from Cuisine at Home

Ingredients:
2 servings whole-wheat instant rice, prepared according to package directions
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken tenders, seasoned with salt and pepper

1 Tbsp. curry powder

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. minced fresh ginger

1/2 c. light coconut milk

1/2 c. low-sodium chicken broth
4 c. chopped, fresh spinach
1/4 c. canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
lime wedges, optional 

Heat oli in a saute pan over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until browned, 3 minutes per side (we sliced it in 1-inch piece and cooked until no longer pink). Stir in curry powder, garlic, and ginger; cook for 1 minute.

Add coconut milk and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer for 1 minute. Add spinach and chickpeas. Cook until spinach wilts, about 2 minutes. Serve with cooked rice. Can garnish with lime wedges if desired.

Basil Chicken in Coconut-Curry Sauce

For a few months now, we've been working on trying new foods - both new restaurants and new recipes at home. Indian food is something that I've been interested in for awhile. On one hand, I'd love to stop in a try a restaurant (I've got a particular restaurant in mind here in town), but on the other hand, I'm a little nervous about what to order? Well, we figured we'd start working the curry flavor in at home and see how it goes.

We got this recipe from one of our friends and co-workers and have made it a couple times now. The only major change that I've made to the recipe is to swap in light coconut milk. It's a wonderfully easy recipe and goes together rather quick after you're finished marinating the chicken. Overall, it's a meal that we both would definately recommend. Now for that restaurant...

Basil Chicken in Coconut-Curry Sauce

4 boneless-skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1 lg. red onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 (14oz) can unsweetened coconut milk
1 Tbsp. corn starch
3 Tbsp. basil, snipped
1 tsp. grated ginger
3 c. basamati rice, cooked

Mix curry, salt, pepper, and chili powder. Sprinkle/rub mixture over chicken and toss to coat. Cover and marinate for at least 1 hour.

In a skillet or wok, cook onion, garlic, and jalapenos in hot oil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Remove onion mixture and set aside. Add half of the chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove and cook other half of the chicken. May need to add more oil each time you cook something new. Set cooked chicken aside.

Combine coconut milk and cornstarch (mix well). Add to wok/skillet and cook until thickened and bubbly. Return onion mixture and chicken to wok/skillet. Stir in basil and ginger and cook until mixture is thoroughly cooked. Serve over rice.