Tandoori Chicken, Coconut-Scented Rice, Cucumber Raita, and Orange/Coconut Compote

FOOD, FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD

Tandoori Chicken

Recipe courtesy Aarti Sequeira

Prep Time: 20 min

Inactive Prep Time: 1 hr 0 min
Cook Time: 25 min
Level:  Easy
Serves:  4 servings

Ingredients 

• 5 cloves
• 2 dried guajillo chiles (if you can't find these, then use 2 chiles de arbol, and more paprika for color)
• 2 green cardamom, husks discarded, seeds retained
• 1 black cardamom, husk discarded, seeds retained
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• 1 cup whole fat plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup peanut or canola oil
• 2 tablespoons malt vinegar or lime juice
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-inch thumb ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 packet boneless skinless chicken thighs (1 1/2 pounds usually)
• 1 teaspoon honey
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Couple of extra limes, for garnish

Directions

To make the marinade, toast the cloves, whole chiles, both types of cardamom seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and fenugreek seeds in a cast-iron skillet until fragrant, 3 minutes or so, shaking the pan. Then, pour the spices into a spice grinder and grind them until you get a fine powder.

In large bowl, whisk together the spice mixture you just made with the yogurt, oil, malt vinegar, salt, ground cinnamon, paprika, turmeric, cayenne pepper, garlic and ginger until well combined. It should smell amazing! Taste and adjust with more salt if it needs it.

Reserve 1/3 cup of the marinade and set aside; you're going to make a sauce out of this reserved marinade.

Prick the chicken thighs with a fork. Add the thighs to the rest of the marinade, and toss to coat. Marinate at least 1 hour in the fridge, and at most overnight.

When you're ready to cook, line a baking sheet with foil, and turn your broiler on. Place each chicken thigh on the baking sheet, making sure each one is coated with the marinade, but isn't swimming in it. Cook the chicken thighs under the broiler until starting to blacken, about 5 minutes. Then turn the oven to 350, and cook until a meat thermometer inserted in the meatiest part of the thigh registers 160 degrees F, another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven.

While the chicken is cooking, pour the reserved marinade into a small saucepan, along with 1/2 cup water and the honey. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-low heat, whisking all the time. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and pour into a small bowl or gravy boat for serving.

Serve the chicken thighs on a platter with a fresh squeeze of lime and a drizzle of the sauce.

Weight Watchers: 10 Points per servingeight Watchers Points: 10 points per serving

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Coconut-Scented Rice

Recipe courtesy Melissa d'Arabian

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 20 min

• 1 ½ c long-grain white rice, rinsed
• ½ c  regular coconut milk
• ½ c chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 ¼ c water
• 1 T vegetable oil
• Zest of ½ lime
• ¼ bunch fresh cilantro, chopped very fine

To cook on stovetop, put all ingredients into a pot, stir, cover, bring to boil, and turn down to very low heat for 20 minutes.  Let sit for about 10 minutes.  Stir in the zest and cilantro.

If using rice cooker, please check Food Network for recipe.

Weight Watchers: 6 Points per servingeight

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Cucumber Raita

From: “the vegetarian epicure book two”, Anna Thomas
            Alfred A. Knopf 1978

Serves: 4 to 6 

• 1 large cucumber
• 2 – 3 T finely chopped onion
• 2 c yogurt
• ¼ t ground cumin
• 1/8 t cayenne pepper
• salt
• chopped fresh cilantro

Peel the cucumber, seed it, and coarsely grate it.  Stir together the cucumber, onions, and yogurt.

Heat the ground cumin for a moment in a small enameled pan, then remove it from the heat and quickly stir in a little of the yogurt mixture.  Return the yogurt-cumin mixture to the rest and stir thoroughly.

Stir in the cayenne, salt to taste, and as much chopped cilantro as you like.  Serve chilled with curries of other Indian dishes.

Weight Watchers: 1 Points per servingeight

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Orange Coconut Compote

 

This is a very simple and refreshingly delicious salad, or desert, that Meg recently had at a holiday dinner.  It was somewhat of a family tradition, and she modified it to make it hers. 

• Navel oranges
• Sweetened coconut
• Freshly grated ginger 

Cut the rind completely off as many navel oranges as you will need to feed your group.  Cut the oranges into ½ inch pieces.  Put in a serving bowl.  Add as much coconut as you like.  Toss, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.  The coconut absorbs the juices from the oranges, adds a little sweetness and chewiness to the mix.

 We used 4 navel oranges and ½ cup coconut and about 1 teaspoon of ginger. We put in a covered container in the refrigerator for about 3 hours to let the flavors marry.

Weight Watchers: 7 Points per serving

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Baked Brown Rice

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2005

Prep Time:  5 min

Inactive Prep Time:  --

Cook Time:  1 hr 5 min

Level:  Easy

Serves:  4 servings 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups brown rice, medium or short grain
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place the rice into an 8-inch square glass baking dish.

Bring the water, butter, and salt just to a boil in a kettle or covered saucepan. Once the water boils, pour it over the rice, stir to combine, and cover the dish tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, remove cover and fluff the rice with a fork. Serve immediately.

Weight Watchers: 8 Points per serving

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       WINE(S) 

Riesling 2010,  Dr. Heidemanns-Bergweiler , Germany  / $9.99 at Total Wine
Our pick for this meal.

Chenin Blanc  2010 Beringer , California  /  $4.99 at Raley’s  Supermarket

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OUR UNSOLICITED, BIASED OPINIONS

So this may seem a little over the top what with two rice sides and two wines. Don’t expect that every time. There was a method to our madness though. We didn’t know how spicy the tandoori would be and we wanted to pair it with the appropriate wine.

The brown rice was to give a healthier rice option. Don't expect that every time either. We are both in agreement that the coconut rice was best suited to the tandoori. The tandoori , by the way, was not hot in spice but full of flavor.

We both felt the raita was not necessary since the chicken was not overly spicy.

The orange coconut compote/salad was a really nice finishing touch.

So listen up, you really want to invest in a mechanized spice grinder and/or coffee grinder to grind the toasted spices. We covered the last two years of accomplishments, wishes, and dreams while hand grinding the spices, and while it was entertaining, we got hungry!

We both agreed we would make this again and again. We loved the flavors in the tandoori and the coconut rice.