Quick Indian Chicken

I had some leftover Indian food from a dinner in Somerville with a friend, and Charlie and I wanted to eat it for dinner. We decided to supplement the aloo chole and rice with some Indian-flavored chicken. I loosely adapted this recipe from this one at the blog coffeemuffins.com.

Tandoori Chicken Marinade

• 2-3 tablespoons of plain non-fat yogurt
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric or curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon of paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne
• 1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves
• optional: coriander, ground chili pepper, garlic
• a squeeze of lemon juice
• a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper

Mix the ingredients together, until they form a smooth paste.

This makes enough for around 3 or 4 chicken breasts. We cut the chicken into bite-size pieces, but you could also leave the breasts whole. Cover the chicken with the marinade. Leave it to marinate for 10min - 2hrs (the longer you let it sit, the deeper the flavors.

Cook on the stove-top or on the grill (7min per side for a whole chicken breast, 3min per side for cut-up chicken).

Serve with basmati rice!

Chana Masala

This is a hearty and easy Indian-spiced chickpea dish. Adapted from www.smittenkitchen.com.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 medium onions, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (to taste)
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (to taste)
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 cups tomatoes, chopped small or 1 15-ounce can of whole tomatoes with their juices, chopped small + tomato paste to thicken (about half a small can)
2/3 cup water or vegetable broth
4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 lemon (juiced)

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, ginger and pepper and sauté over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seeds, paprika and garam masala. Cook onion mixture with spiced for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and any accumulated juices, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan. If you want a deeper tomato flavor and a slightly thicker sauce, add some tomato paste. Add the water or broth and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir in salt and lemon juice.

Eat up or put a lid on it and reheat it when needed. Curries such as this reheat very well, later or or in the days that follow, should it last that long.