Yogadad World

I hadn't used my pressure cooker since the last time I canned jalapeno peppers and salsa. Until this evening. I hadn't really tried to cook with it so was feeling a little skittish. After putting the lentils & water into the cooker and bringing the water to a boil, 35 minutes later I had very tender legumes. Mixed in the spices, tomato, & cilantro and had a very tasty dish.

Ingredients
1 cup whole green lentils
2 Tbl Ghee or canola oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 c finely chopped red onion
1 large tomato, cored & finely chopped
1/4 c finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves & tender stems
1 1/2 tsp coarse kosher or sea salt
1 tsp ground Deggi chiles (or 1/2 tsp cayenne mixed with 1/2 tsp sweet paprika)
1 tsp Toasted Cumin-Coriander Blend
1 tsp ground tumeric

Place the lentils in a pressure cooker. Fill the cooker halfway with water, and rinse the lentils by rubbing them between your finertips. The water may appear slightly dirty. Drain this water. Repeat 3 or 4 times, until the water remains relatively clear. Add 3 c water and bring to a boil, uncovered, over high heat. Sim off and discard any foam that forms on the surface. Seal the cooker shut and allow the pressure to build up. When the cooker reaches full pressure, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for about 20 minutes. Remove the cooker from the heat and allow the pressure to subside naturally, about 15 minutes, before opening the lid.

Meanwhile, heata medium-size skillet over medium-high heat and pour in the ghee. Add the cumin seeds and cook until they sizzle, turn reddish borwn, and are aromoatic, 5 - 10 secs. Add the onion and stir-fry until it is light brown around the edges, 3 - 5 minutes.

Add the tomato, cilatnro, salt, ground chiles, cumin-coriander blend, and turmeric. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the tomato breaks down to a saucy consistency and some of the ghee starts to separate on the surface, 5 - 8 mins. Set the skillet aside until the lentils are cooked.

When the lentils are ready, add the sauce. Pour 1/2 c water into the skillet and degalze it, releasing any browned bits; pour this into the lentils. Stir once or twice, and simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent the lentils from sticking, until the flavors permeate the legumes, 8 - 10 minutes. Then serve.

No Super Bowl here today. Instead we made an Indian dish with skinless chicken and a yogurt-based marinade. It made for a super platter, if not a super bowl. The recipe is from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer. We loved it. Just the right amount of heat from the chilis. I used 2 serrano and 4 Thai chilis. Any more and it would have been too hot for us. Your taste will vary. If you don't like much heat at all, cut way back on the peppers. And if you like it very hot, add a couple more. One more tip. Don't try to cut a corner and leave the skin on the chicken. You won't like it nearly as much. Removing the skin is a bit of chore but shouldn't take more than a few minutes. The wings are the hardest, legs second hardest and the rest is a piece of cake. Just grap a corner, lift, and it pretty much slides off.

The recipe calls for grinding whole spices. I used a mortar & pestle. I have a cast iron model that we picked up at a garage sale last summer. It's very heavy and did a great job grinding the corriander, cumin, and cardamom. I used ground cloves, not having whole cloves in the cupboard. The fragancy of the freshly ground cloves adds another dimension to the dish. 

A couple of notes. The bread came out of the oven this afternoon. Shannon uses the almost No-Knead bread recipe made famous by Jim Lahey and publicized in the New York Times, Cooks Illustrated and elsewhere. She added garlic, rosemary, and cheese. It was perfect with the chicken.

The yogurt was homemade, too. That came out of the yogurt maker yesterday. Very smooth and tasty.

Marinade Ingredients:
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup slivered blanched almonds
6 lengthwise slices fresh ginger (each 1 1/2 in. long, 1 in. wide, 1/4 in. thick
6 large cloves garlic
5 - 7 in. fresh green Thai, cayenne, or serrano chiles, stems removed
1/4 c finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tb coriander seeds, ground
2 tsp cumin seeds, ground
2 tsp coarse kosher or sea salt
1/2 tsp cardamon seeds, ground
1/2 tsp whole cloves, ground

Other ingredients
1 chicken (3 1/2 lbs) skin removed, cut-up
4 Tb canola oil
1 medium-sized red onion, cut in half lengthwise & thinly sliced
4 fresh or dried bay leaves
5 oz fresh baby spinach leaves

Combine yogurt, almonds, ginger, garlic & chiles in a blender & puree. Sauce should be smooth, but slightly gritty. Pour into medium bowl and fold in cilantro, coriander, cumin, salt, cardamom, and cloves.

Add the chicken pieces to the bowl & coat well with marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.

Heat 2 Tb of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion & bay leaves. Cook, stirring, until the onion slices are soft & light brown around the edges, about 3 or 4 minutes. Transfer the onion & bay leaves to a plate

Pour the remaining 2 Tb oil into the same skillet. Remove the chicken from the marinade (it's ok if some of the mariade clings to the chicken) and add it to the skillet, meat side down, in a single layer. Reserve the remaining marinade. Sear the meat until it is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Turn the pieces ove and sear the other side unti lightly browned, about 3 mins.

Spread the reserve marinade over the chicken, add the cooked onion and 1/4 cup water. Lift the chicken pieces & allow the liquid to flow underneath them; it should deglaze the skillet, releasing any bits of browned chicken & spices. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and braise the chicken, basting it wi the sauce occasionally, until the meat in the thickest parts is no longer pink inside & the juices run clear, 25 - 30 mins. Transfer chicken & onions to a serving patter.

Raise the heat to medium-high & boil the sauce, uncovered, stirring occasionally until it is slightly thickened 5 - 8 mins. Then stir in the spinach, a handful at a time. Cook just until the leaves have wilted, 1 - 2 mins.

Spoon the spinach sauce over the chicken pieces & serve.