Chicken Tikka Masala

This recipe is from The Best of America's Test Kitchen Best Recipes and Reviews 2009. It's pretty good. See my comments below in blue.

Chicken Tikka

• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed (I used drumsticks and thighs)
• 1 cup plain whole milk yogurt (I thought this was a waste of yogurt - try 3/4 cup)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (ginger is difficult to grate since it gets stuck in the grater, try a mini-food processor)

Masala Sauce

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 onion, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 serrano chile, minced (I used thinly sliced)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes (I used 1/5 less tomatoes and it was fine)
• 2 tsp sugar
• salt to taste
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. For the Chicken: Combine the cumin, coriander, cayenne and salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly on chicken. Refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.

2. For the sauce: Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently until light golden (8-10 minutes). Add the garlic, giner, chile, tomato paste, and garam masala; cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, sugar, and 1/2 tsp salt; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the cream and return to a simmer. Remove the pan from the heat and cover to keep warm.

3. While the sauce simmers, adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position (about 6 inhces from the heating element and heat the broiler). (No wonder my chicken took twice as long. My rack was in the dead middle of the oven.) Using tongs, dip the chicken into the yogurt mixture (the chicken should be coated with a thick layer of yogurt) and arrange on a wire rack set in the foil lined, rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan. (You don't need a wire rack, you can lay your chicken directly on the foil lined sheet.) Broil for 10-18 minutes flipping the chicken halfway through cooking. The exterior should lightly charred in parts. (It took 18 minutes to char on each side if you put the rack in the dead center of the oven.) The chicken should read 160 degrees at its thickest parts.

4. Let the chicken rest 5 minutes, then cut into 1 inch chunks and stir into the warm sauce. Stir in the cilantro, season to taste with salt, and serve.

Aloo Gobi Recipe

Here is the original recipe as posted here with my comments below in blue.

1 small head phool gobhi--cauliflower, chopped into florets and washed (don't chop, tear up with hands)
3 quick cooking potatoes, (they must be the kind that cook in 20 minutes, not the baking kind that take an hour) cut into small cubes and soaking in water (I used 2 small yellow potatoes)
1 small onion sliced
4 garlic cloves cut into slivers
1 tsp crushed fresh ginger
1 tsp whole cumin seeds (substituted with ground cumin)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2-1 tsp red chili powder
1 heaping tsp ground cumin
1 stick cinnamon
3-4 cardamon pods
2 bayleaves
5 black pepper corns
5 cloves (all of these whole spices come together in your small packet of whole garam masala in small quantities to make it easy for you)
2-3 whole red dried chilies (I used one medium dried ancho chile)
2 fresh green chilies cut in bite sized chunks (de-seed if u like) (I used 1 sliced serrano pepper)
2 tablespoons of roughly chopped fresh cilantro
1/2-1 tsp garam masala powder
2 tablespoons oil
salt to taste

Heat oil in wok until very hot. Add in the whole red chilies, the cumin seeds, the bay leafs, cloves, pepper corns, cardamon, cinnamon stick, and fry around for about 1 minute.

Then add in the onions, garlic, ginger. Fry until onions look translucent and garlic looks crispy.

Then add in the turmeric, red chili powder, and cumin powder. Let this sizzle for one moment, then add in the potato cubes. They must still be wet from soaking in water...this creates steam to help them cook. Stir around well for a few minutes, getting the masala color on them.

Then lower heat to medium and cover. Leave for 10 minutes, stirring a couple of times to prevent bottom sticking.

Then turn up the heat and add in the gobhi---it helps if you gobhi is a tad wet from being washed as well. Stir again coating in the masala oil. You should add your salt now, too.

Then lower heat to medium again and cover for about 10-15 more minutes, stirring occasionally. By now the potato and cauliflower are both cooked, and it is done. They should be fully cooked, but slightly crisp. Definately not mushy and falling apart. Now add the pinch of ground garam masala and the chopped green chilies. With the heat off, cover again and allow the green chilies to steam a bit for a few minutes. Then uncover, add in the chopped cilantro garnish, and serve.