Indian Food

(by Jeff)


Aubree and I love Indian food. We have eaten at a couple of great Indian restaurants lately, and we decided to see if we could make our own Indian food at home. So I got on the Internet and got some recipes.

For our first meal, we tried our favorite: chicken tikka masala (chicken cooked in a spicy red cream sauce). It turned out great! Not quite as good as the restaurant version, but a lot better than I was expecting for our first try. (We were going to take a picture, but we were so hungry that we forgot.) We also tried making naan bread, but the recipe didn't turn out very well.

Yesterday, we attempted our second Indian meal. This time we made tandoori chicken (chicken marinated in a mixture of yogurt and spices and then grilled). It was pretty good, but not nearly as good as the chicken tikka masala. We also tried a new recipe for naan, which was 100 times better than the first one we tried. We also cooked our naan on the grill, which made it even better. Here's a pic:


Here's the recipe for the naan (from Cooks.com):

1 package (.25 oz) active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)
1/4 cup butter, melted

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.

2. Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

3. During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.

4. At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

Our modifications: In step 4, after we roll out the naan and butter it, we like to sprinkle on a little salt and put on some fresh cilantro leaves.

Next time we make chicken tikka masala, we will add a picture and the recipe!