November 05, 2004

Spicy Tumeric Stew

Well, one good thing came out of election night --- I made some chicken stew with Indian spices that came out pretty well, so in the interest of my being able to recall what they hell it was I did if I should want to make it again, I'm posting the recipe here while I can still remember it. Now all the internet shall know its glory. Lo! And Behold!

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C's Spicy Tumeric Stew
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Meat:

6 Chicken Thighs
4-6 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Flour
Salt, Pepper

Spices [1]:

1 1/2 Tbsp. Cumin Seeds
1 Tbsp. Corriander Seeds
2 Tbsp. Ground Ginger
2 Tbsp. Tumeric
2 Bay Leaves
1 Cinamon Stick
4 Cloves Garlic, minced

Veg:

1 large (or two medium) Onion(s), diced
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 Green Bell Pepper, diced
3 Scotch Bonnet Peppers, minced
1 large can Crushed Tomatoes

For Sauce:
16 oz (one box/large can) Chicken Stock
16 oz. (two small containters) Plain Yogurt
4-6 oz. Goat Cheese
3/4 cup Flat-leaf Parsely, chopped

1. Get a heavy-duty pan (a large, deep one, so we can add a lot of liquid, or use a stock pot) and heat it well, then add about half the oil. Dredge the chicken thighs in seasoned flour and brown on both sides, then set them aside.

2. Toast the cumin and corriander seeds in the hot oil. This happens very quickly; as soon they go brown and you can smell the spice wafting up off the pan, add the the other spices, (ginger, tumeric, cinamon, bay) the garlic, and the onion, and give 'em all a stir to coat. [3] You might need to add the rest of the olive oil at the point if it looks a bit dry; you want the veg to have enough to fry in. Then add the peppers, stir together, and let sautee until the onions are soft and traslucent, say 5 or 6 minutes.

3. At this point, add the crushed tomatoes and the chicken stock. Return the chicken to pot and taste for seasoning (Don't worry if it seems too spicy at this juncture; see [2].) Let the whole come to a boil, then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer, and let work for about an hour, or until the chicken is falling-off-the-bone tender.

4. Fish out the bay leaves and the cinamon stick. Remove the chicken, take off the skin and seperate the meat from the bone, and return the meat to the pot. Turn off the heat, add the yogurt and the goat cheese, and stir thoroughly until everything's incorporated. (The yogurt goes in pretty easy, the goat cheese is a bit slower to incorporate.) Add the parsley, give it a good stir, and you're good to go.

The end product should be a rich, meaty stew, bright yellow in color, with green and red flecks from the pepper and parsley and darker spots of spice.


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Notes
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[1] Spice amounts are kind of approximate. I eyeballed it at the time. But I thought people might find "A hefty amount of tumeric" a bit vague. Adjust to taste, of course, but if you don't like a lot of spice, then, um...don't make something called "Spicy Tumeric Stew."

[2] The heat pretty much comes from the Scotch Bonnet Peppers in this dish. If you don't like a lot of heat, you could knock it down a pepper. If you're a real wuss, you could even take out two peppers. But I'd leave at least one in; you want some kick, and if it tastes too hot initially, that's fine, as a lot of the heat will be mellowed out by the yogurt 'n goat cheese in the completed dish.

If you can't find Scotch Bonnets, you could use another very hot pepper. Maybe Haberneros. If you use jalepenos, you might want to make it, say five or six peppers rather than three.

[3] Adding the onion immediately after the powdered spices is Very Important, as it prevents the spices from burning. So says one who once drove people from her apartment in a fog of burning somph, they eyes and noses streaming.

Posted by Diablevert at November 5, 2004 12:28 PM | TrackBack
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