Birthday Dinner----My Indian Meal

My birthday is coming up next week and my daughter and her new husband are coming to visit from Houston. We have not seen them since the wedding in March so this should be a nice visit. My daughter even offered to cook (since she is a good cook) and it is my birthday but I felt bad asking her to cook and she is not here for very long. So I decided to do Indian since it is my favorite food and both the daughter and husband like Indian. So I have been cooking some new Indian dishes to try them out on my husband and try to decide which I will cook when the visitors come.

I tried some chicken kebabs from Madhur Jaffrey’s book, From Curries to Kebabs, Recipes from the Indian Spice Trail, and they were fabulous. So this is a go. Also I tried several new condiments to add to the meal and found that these made the meal so much more interesting and tasty, so these are a go also. Give these all a try. These kebabs are mildly spiced and just melt in your mouth. Just add some basmati rice or Indian bread and you have a great meal!

 

All recipes are from Curries to Kebabs, Recipes from the Indian Spice Trail by Madhur Jaffrey, 2003.

Silken Chicken “Tikka” Kebabs

Serves 4 as a main course, 8 as an appetizer

1 ½ pounds boned and skinned chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces (bought organic chicken from Whole Foods)

½ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon peeled and finely grated fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, crushed to a pulp

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon bright red paprika

½ to ¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper

6 tablespoon heavy cream

½ teaspoon garam masala

3 tablespoons corn or peanut oil

Put the chicken in a bowl. Add the salt and lemon juice and rub them in. Prod the chicken pieces lightly with the tip of a knife and rub the seasonings in again. Set aside for 20 minutes. Then add the ginger, garlic, cumin, paprika, cayenne, pepper, cream, and garam masala. Mix well, cover, and refrigerate for 6-8 hours. (Longer will not hurt.)

Just before serving, heat the broiler (we cooked ours on the grill). Thread the meat onto two to four skewers (the flat, swordlike ones are the best.) Brush with oil and balance the skewers on the rim of a shallow baking tray. Place about 5 inches from the source of heat and broil for 6 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned and cooked through.

 

Raw Onion Rings

These are a common garnish for kebabs and are easy to prepare. The most important thing to remember it that, unlike the raw onion slices used in hamburgers, these rings are very delicate and can only be make with smaller onions, those that weigh about 5 ounces or less.

When onions are used as a garnish for kebabs, they are just spread over them without a dressing of any sort. They can also be dressed and eaten as a salad/relish. The next recipe is for that.

1 medium onion (about 5 ounces)

Cut the onion crosswise into paper-thin slices. You could also cut the onion in half lengthwise and then cut the halves evenly, crosswise, into paper-thin slices. Separate the slices into rings or half-rings. Put them into a bowl filled with icy water, cover, and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. Dain the onions and pat them dry. They are now ready to be used as a garnish.

 

Raw Onion Salad

Serves 4

1 medium onion (about 5 ounces)

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried mint, well crumbled (optional)

Cut the onion, then soak and dry the rings or half-rings as in the preceding recipe. Put them in a bowl. Add all the other ingredients. Toss to mix.

 

Thai Cucumber Salad

This sweet, sour, salty, and hot salad may be served with curries. I found it a good addition to my Indian meal.

Serves 4

1 young cucumber with undeveloped seeds (about 7 inches in length) or 2 smaller cucumbers, sliced without peeling, into 1/8-inch rounds

½ cup white wine vinegar

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon coarsely crushed red chili powder

2 fresh green and red bird’s-eye chilies, sliced into fine rounds

Put the cucumbers in a bowl.

Combine the vinegar, sugar, salt, and chili powder in a small pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Pour this syrup over the cucumbers. Allow them to sit in the syrup for at least an hour, tossing now and then. Before serving, lift the cucumber slices out of their syrup and arrange on a plate. Scatter the cut chilies over them.

 

We’ll also have some old favorites: carrot salad which is my husband’s favorite way to eat carrots, tomato and cucumber raita, Indian bread, basmanti rice, bhindi (okra or ladyfingers) since they are plentiful in the garden, as well as green beans which are also plentiful. As dessert we’ll also have an old favorite, a spicy banana sauce over ice cream. And to drink maybe a salty lassi, beer or shandy. A sweet Riesling if we have a wine.