Recipe for Curried Chicken and Rice Casserole

We have a great Indian restaurant on Maui and enjoy getting together with a bunch of friends to go stuff ourselves on curries, naan, tandoori meat, lentil dishes.....   If it's just the two of us craving Indian flavors, I'll throw together an easy curry.  This recipe is an adaptation of a wild rice and chicken casserole I used to make when my kids were small.

Recipe for Indian Flavored Squash Fritters-Daring Cooks

This recipe resulted from the monthly challenge from the Daring Kitchen.  The Daring Cooks' February 2012 challenge was hosted by Audax and Lis and they chose to present Patties for their ease of construction, ingredients, and deliciousness!  We were given several recipes, and learned the different types of binders and cooking methods to produce our own tasty patties.


Sometimes the challenges are very specific.  This one was great because we had a lot of latitude in our recipe. I thought about different kinds of patties all month-I think I had patty paralysis.  But, as is often the case, I just needed to open the fridge to get inspiration. When I saw the acorn squash sitting there, I was over my paralysis and knew what I'd put together-a fritter! 

Recipe for Slow Cooker Indian Spiced Lentils and Chicken

I haven't used my slow cooker for a while but it's been hectic lately, catching up from my trip back to Atlanta to meet Miss E. (my first grandchild) and planning for our upcoming vacation (Ireland, Scotland, and England).  So, a perfect time to pull it out.  I love plopping all the ingredients in the crock, turning it on and not thinking about it until it is time to serve.  Continuing on my Indian flavors kick, this comfort food recipe hit the spot.

Recipe for Indian Spiced Beans

A few months ago I saw a couple of mentions of the Secret Recipe Club but didn’t really have time to look into exactly what it was all about.  Until now.  How it works in a nutshell is you sign up to join and are assigned a different blog each month (from another participating blogger).  Once you receive your assignment, you choose any recipe to make from that blog.  The secret part is that participating bloggers don’t know who is cooking from their blog or what is being made until the assigned day. 

Today is the day, and I am featuring a recipe from the blog Beantown Baker.  Jen is the author and lives in Boston with her hubby and two cats.  She loves to bake as you could probably guess but also features other recipes on her blog.  Since Mr. ELEB and I are still trying to recover (ie lose the weight we gained) from our (not so) recent SF/NY/Atlanta trip, and because I’m trying to cook more Indian food, I chose this interesting bean recipe rather than one of her delicious sounding desserts.  However, I’d encourage you to check out Jen’s blog for some decadent cupcakes!

Yield: 3 servings

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup light coconut milk
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves

Method:

• Heat oil in a medium skillet over med-high heat.
• Add onion and sauté until translucent.
• Stir in the minced garlic and garam masala.
• Cook for one minute. 
• Stir in the beans, tomatoes, ginger, and salt.
• Simmer for fifteen minutes. 
• Pour in coconut milk.
• Heat until warmed.
• Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

This is a great, quick recipe for when you want something flavorful but easy to put together, especially if you are on an Indian food kick like I am!  I stayed pretty true to the original recipe.  I used cannellini rather than pinto beans but as Jen noted, any bean will work.  I also omitted the small amount of sugar in the original recipe, used fresh instead of ground ginger, and used light instead of regular coconut milk. 

Check out all the other recipes that were made as part of the Secret Recipe Club.  I can’t wait to see what someone picked to make from Eat Little, Eat Big!  

Printable Recipe

Recipe for Chicken Vindaloo

Indian dishes are something we really enjoy eating.  How about you?  I've been trying to cook more Indian recipes at home and with that in mind, I bought some Vindaloo Spice Mix at Penzey's when I was at their retail location in Menlo Park last month.


This probably wouldn't be considered a traditional dish which most references say includes potatoes, not beans or tomatoes, but I wanted a one-pot dish, didn't want potatoes, and had green beans to use.  I used the directions on the Penzey's package for general guidance and then went my own way!


If you want to mix your own spice from scratch, here is an ingredient list I found on e-How.  In Penzey's mix: coriander, garlic, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, mustard, cayenne pepper, jalapeno, cardamom, turmeric, black pepper, cloves.

Recipe for Chai Concentrate

Yesterday I promised you another Indian ingredient recipe.  The surprise is that it isn’t for a meal.  It's for chai (Indian tea) concentrate.  I saw the original recipe from thecatnipcat and thought it would be great to have this in the fridge for iced chai lattes or, on that rare cool evening here, a hot latte.

I halved the original recipe and tweaked the ingredients to my preferences.  I think this is a versatile enough recipe to increase or decrease ingredients depending on what you like (I like cinnamon, so I used more; not that crazy about cloves so used less).

Recipe for Garam Masala Grilled Chicken



Here is another recipe following my interest in cooking more with Indian spices.  This is a super easy, quick marinade that tenderizes and flavors the chicken in a wonderful way.  A quick turn on the grill and you have a delicious Indian flavored main course.