lazy daaay

so today was an amazingly lazy day. after waking up late, i went to pick up the wii from lori. then stopped by the store to get some ingredients to make chicken curry (recipe from CHOW) and vietnamese coffee cupcakes (recipe from chockylit.) i'm going to try and make cupcakes tomorrow to deliver to my finals ridden friends as i am officially done for this quarter. but the curry came out pretty well; a little more spicy because i wasn't paying attention to the recipe and added more cayenne pepper than i should have. but other than being too spicy for my roommates, it was pretty good. Here's the recipe:

Vij's Chicken Curry from CHOW

1/2 cup canola oil {This is a lot of oil, which pays off in the silkiness of the sauce}

2 cups finely chopped onions (2 large)

3-inch stick of cinnamon

3 tablespoons finely chopped garlic

2 tablespoons chopped ginger

2 cups chopped tomatoes (2 large)

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon turmeric {There’s not as much turmeric here proportionately as in most commercial curry powders—a good thing, because too much brings a leafy astringency to the table. Also note that there’s no fenugreek in this curry—another typical curry powder spice.}

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon garam masala (recipe p. 26) {Making garam masala is really just a game of chicken played on a stovetop—I toasted the cumin, black cardamom, clove, and cinnamon in a dry pan on the stovetop; the smoke started billowing upward, and my two-year-old son and I started hacking. Stirring, stirring—how dark should the cumin seeds get? I settled for a dark coffee color and let the mixture cool off. According to the book, many commercial garam masalas aren’t toasted, so they lack the depth this one adds to the curry.}

1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

3 pounds chicken thighs, bone in {My husband asked for “legs” at the grocery store, and we ended up with drumsticks—more tendons to navigate, but still tasty.}

1 cup sour cream, stirred {For those of us who always marvel how creamy Indian sauces can be, I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise that, in fact, they contain cream. Score one for the moghuls.}

2 cups water

1/2 cup chopped cilantro (including stems)

In a large pan, heat oil on medium heat for 1 minute. Add onions and cinnamon, and sauté for 5 to 8 minutes, until onions are golden. Add garlic and sauté for another 4 minutes. Add ginger, tomatoes, salt, black pepper, turmeric, cumin, coriander, garam masala, and cayenne. Cook this masala for 5 minutes, or until the oil separates from the masala. {One begins to appreciate all the moments that serve to concentrate flavors in these recipes. Here, when sweating the onions to start the stew, you go for a little color, unlike the practice with most French preparations; then you add a little garlic and again let things get a little colored. Finally, you add your precious garam masala—which, remember, has already been toasted—and tomatoes, ginger, turmeric, cumin, cayenne, and coriander, and let it all cook together again until the tomatoes cook off their juices and the oil separates from the spicy paste below.}

Remove and discard skin from the chicken thighs. Wash thighs and add to the masala. Stir well. Cook chicken thighs for 10 minutes, until the chicken looks cooked on the outside. Add sour cream and water and stir well. Increase the heat to medium-high. When curry starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring 2 or 3 times, until chicken is completely cooked. Poke the thighs with a knife. If the meat is still pink, cook for 5 more minutes. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick. Cool curry for at least half an hour. {Here’s another moment of flavor concentration—letting the curry cool before serving. We were in a rush the first night of the curry and served it hot, but then I ate it for lunch the next day and the spices had knit together with the meat in a much subtler way, and the cayenne’s impact went from a little harsh to a gentle, warming tingle. Do not be afraid to eat chunks straight out of the refrigerator.}

Transfer cooled chicken to a mixing bowl. Wearing latex gloves, peel chicken meat off the bones. Discard bones and stir chicken back into the curry. Just before serving, heat curry on medium heat until it starts to boil lightly. Stir in cilantro. {After cooking this recipe, I tried another chicken curry from the book. It used fewer spices that were kept whole and got most of its punch, instead, from a mint and cilantro chutney that was stirred into the stew shortly before serving. Though they share many ingredients, the difference was striking between this yellow curry’s full-bodied warmth and the other’s play between nutty toasted cumin and coriander, and the rounded grassiness of the chutney.}

i wish i had some good tandoori oven naan to serve it with but i had to settle with cardamom jasmine rice. overall, yummy and tummy warming for a cold winter's day. i'll be making the vietnamese coffee cupcakes tomorrow...and maybe i'll make some vietnamese coffee for me to drink! mmmmm....rich, strong, coffee.