Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Indian Inspired Outstandingness

Uploading this picture caused me to drool and swoon all over again. On a recent ski-trip to Mt. Washington, 15 friends decided to divide up the dinner preparations. John, Claire and I schemed an Indian-themed dinner...Claire made something yummy that I don't know the name of at the moment (help, Claire!) involving delicious potatoes and golden onions and tomato and all that good stuff. She also made an OUTSTANDING mint chutney that I hope she will blog about. And let's not forget those Naan crackers:

John made Nepal's national dish, Dhal Bhat, mmmmmmm. I made Green Onion Chick Pea Curry from Vij's new cookbook (below). Very easy and incredibly saliva-worthy. Before I post the recipe, observe John, Claire and I in perfect culinary karma...you can tell, we can hardly tell what's happening we're so blissed-out.
Okay, so here's the recipe:

Green Onion and Coconut Chickpea Curry
1/2 cup canola oil
1Tbsp cumin seeds
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions (1 large)
12 oz tomatoes, chopped (2 medium)
1 tsp salt
5 Tbsp finely chopped giner
4 Tbsp finely chopped jalapeno peppers
3 cans (15-16 oz each) chickpeas, drained
1 cup coconut milk, stirred
7 oz green onions, green parts only, in 1/4 inch pieces

Heat oil in a medium pot on medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add cumin seeds and allow to sizzle for about 30 seconds. Add onions and sauté 8-10 minutes, or until they are brown. Stir in tomatoes, salt, ginger and jalapeno peppers and stir well. Sauté for about 5-8 minutes, or until oil glistens on tip. Stir in chickpeas and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes. Stir chickpeas at least once while they are simmering. Add green onions, stir and simmer chickpeas for just 1 minute more, then turn off the heat.

That's it! Thanks to Ange for giving me the recipe and for the sacrifice it entailed (read: ripped and spilled-on pages)to her copy of Vij's Cookbook.

Behold! Some of our appreciative diners, indulging in a plate of heavenly goodness.
In summary, I'd highly recommend making Indian-inspired food. As if you couldn't have guessed.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...
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claire said...

Yes, everything was so superb! There was the small matter of the naan crackers, but they were a minor derailing, I'd say.