[Recipe] Kashmiri Chicken

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[Recipe] Kashmiri Chicken

Post by pinback »

Reprinted (legally) from my own memory, and (illegally) from my primary Indian cookbook, "The Food of India", from which pages 289 and 290 are missing, so if anyone has 'em and can photocopy them for me, I'd sure appreciate it.

Kashmiri Chicken, AKA the greatest thing you have ever eaten in your entire lifetime:
-------------------------------------------------
3 lb chicken, skinned and boned, cut into bite-sized pieces.
Seeds of 6 cardamom pods.
1 onion, finely chopped.
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped.
2 inch piece ginger, finely chopped.
1/2 cup chicken stock.
1/2 tsp cumin seeds.
1/2 tsp coriander seeds.
1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns.
1/4 tsp whole cloves.
1-2 inch stick cinnamon.
2/3 cup blanched almonds (whatever the hell that is)
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1 cup [plain] yogurt
1/4 tsp saffron threads


1. Dry roast cumin, coriander, and cinnamon in a dry pan over low heat until aromatic.

2. Grind cumin, coriander, cardamon, cinnamon, and pepper in your choice of grinding implement.

3. In large pot, fry onions in a couple tbsp of veg oil (NOT olive oil) until golden.

4. Add chicken, garlic, and ginger to pot, fry for five minutes.

5. Add chicken stock and ground spices, stir, cover, simmer for 30 minutes, covered.

6. Meanwhile, in a processor/blender/whatever you want, finely chop the pistachios and almonds.

7. After the 30 minutes in step 5, mix nuts with yogurt, remove cover from pot, and add to pot.

8. Mix saffron with 1 tsp very hot water, allow to steep for 30 seconds, then add to pot.

9. Stir everything up, and simmer/boil until sauce becomes rich 'n' creamy.

10. Salt to taste, serve with rice, and whatever you want.



Now, BEN'S GUIDE TO BUYING SPICES 'N' SHIT.

Most major supermarkets will sell all the spices mentioned above, if not in their whole forms, then at least in their pre-ground forms. Now, when you don't grind 'em yourself, you will never get the depth and sharpness of flavor from any of your spices, but in a pinch, you can use 'em and probably nobody will be the wiser. Fine. That being said, NEVER BUY SPICES FROM A SUPERMARKET IN ANY FORM, if you can possibly avoid it. If you can't avoid it, look first in the "Mexican/Oriental/Random Racial Slur" aisle first. Why? Because at your local "specialty" grocery store, the spices will normally be at MOST 1/4 of the price you're paying at Safeway/Kroger/Vons/etc. Many times it will be 1/10 of the price, and probably fresher.

Now, if your specialty grocer is anything like mine, you will never KNOW what the actual price of anything is, because nothing has price tags on it, and the shelves on which the items sit have no price tags either. But fill up that hand-cart with abandon, because no matter what Habib there rings up on the register, it's going to be a hell of a lot better than what the other Habib at the big store rings up.

SPECIAL NOTE ON BUYING SAFFRON: I'll admit it, I'm just wild about saffron. In my experience, there's no way to avoid paying at least $6 for a teeny package of saffron, surely the most coveted, expensive of spices. However, as above, the $6 saffron you get from the specialty store will contain at least 4 times as much as the fancy glass bottle in the spice aisle at the supermarket. And again, likely fresher and of better quality. "Is it really worth it?" you ask. Well, make the above recipe and let me know. Here's a hint: Yes.

Image

Vitriola

Post by Vitriola »

I'm planning on making this this weekend, as it was the best thing I ever ate, ever, but I will have to disagree on the cheapness of ethnic store spices compared to the grocery stores. When buying meat at the carniceria, I bought all my spices there too, because Bruce told me to, like coriander, cumin, cayenne; and later found that they were 10 cents cheaper at the King Soopers. There also being no other real ethnic groceries in Longmont, the drive to Boulder would most certainly cost more in gas then I would save. However, I still plan on asking my Dad for a mortar and pestle for christmas. And some decent saucepans and baking racks, etc. And some KNIVES. Or maybe just a sword.

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Post by bruce »

Vitriola wrote:I'm planning on making this this weekend, as it was the best thing I ever ate, ever, but I will have to disagree on the cheapness of ethnic store spices compared to the grocery stores. When buying meat at the carniceria, I bought all my spices there too, because Bruce told me to, like coriander, cumin, cayenne; and later found that they were 10 cents cheaper at the King Soopers.
You also have to buy them in huge quantities in crappy cellophane bags.

But a huge (4 oz?) bag of cumin, for instance, costs $1.29 at my International Foods Market, while the Spice Islands half-ounce is $3.99 at Schnuck's.

Adam

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Post by Worm »

bruce wrote:
Vitriola wrote:I'm planning on making this this weekend, as it was the best thing I ever ate, ever, but I will have to disagree on the cheapness of ethnic store spices compared to the grocery stores. When buying meat at the carniceria, I bought all my spices there too, because Bruce told me to, like coriander, cumin, cayenne; and later found that they were 10 cents cheaper at the King Soopers.
You also have to buy them in huge quantities in crappy cellophane bags.

But a huge (4 oz?) bag of cumin, for instance, costs $1.29 at my International Foods Market, while the Spice Islands half-ounce is $3.99 at Schnuck's.

Adam
Then, you move them from the crappy bags to old sauce jars, and you're all set.
Good point Bobby!

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Post by pinback »

Or less-crappy Zip-loc bags, which is what I do.
I don't have to say anything. I'm a doctor, too.

Vitriola

Post by Vitriola »

MMMmmmmMMmmmm.

Although I'd add 3/4-1 cup chicken stock, and I'd double the recipe to have more left over for the next day. We each had 1 normal serving and there was only a little left.

I would take a picture, but mine looked less GREEN than the one portrayed, and therefore had less cinematic appeal.

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Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

Bumping this because I am gonna make this this week.
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Post by pinback »

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:Bumping this because I am gonna make this this week.
Except without the saffron.
I don't have to say anything. I'm a doctor, too.

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Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

Yeah, I am not getting into the goddamn logistics of capturing saffron.
the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey!

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Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

I have once again decided to make this again. This recipe really should be in the Best of Base.

Pinback makes wonderful recipes.
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Re: [Recipe] Kashmiri Chicken

Post by Tdarcos »

pinback wrote:SPECIAL NOTE ON BUYING SAFFRON: I'll admit it, I'm just wild about saffron.
You're not alone:
I'm just mad about Saffron / A-Saffron's mad about me...
- Donovan, Mellow Yellow 1969

[youtube][/youtube]
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Post by pinback »

Yeah, see, that's... that's what I was referencing when I quoted the goddamn song.

PRO TIP: If you (Paul) think you found something clever about something someone wrote eleven years ago, please know that everyone else immediately "got it" a half-second after they read it the first time.
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Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

We made this for Valentine's Day! It was great, of course. Since it was our first time, there were ways to improve it. The spices may not have been in sufficient number, as the meal could use a little more KICK to it. And it was a bit dry.
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Post by pinback »

I'd also ask that you work on presentation a bit as well.
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Re: [Recipe] Kashmiri Chicken

Post by Tdarcos »

pinback wrote:Reprinted (legally) from my own memory, and (illegally) from my primary Indian cookbook, "The Food of India", from which pages 289 and 290 are missing, so if anyone has 'em and can photocopy them for me, I'd sure appreciate it.
If you haven't gotten an offer for the missing pages from someone and this book is important to you, you can buy a replacement copy of the book from Amazon.com. A used copy is just under $6 ($1.88 + 3.50 shipping). One of the sellers is Silver Arch Books, a bookseller I've bought a few items from (computer books, of course), who has over 220,000 positive ratings.
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Post by pinback »

I posted that twelve years ago. I've... I've let it go.
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Re: [Recipe] Kashmiri Chicken

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

I think if we bump this, search might work again for it. And that would be great. Like this dish!!
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Re: [Recipe] Kashmiri Chicken

Post by pinback »

Anyone got any shortcuts for this? It's so cute to think I once had the time/money to buy all of those individual spices and deal with them in a careful, individual way.
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Re: [Recipe] Kashmiri Chicken

Post by Tdarcos »

pinback wrote: Sat Apr 14, 2018 4:55 am Anyone got any shortcuts for this? It's so cute to think I once had the time/money to buy all of those individual spices and deal with them in a careful, individual way.
"There is no problem that cannot be solved by the judicious application of high explosives."
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Re: [Recipe] Kashmiri Chicken

Post by Billy Mays »

I've been really interested in following this thread for the last couple of days to see how it unfolds. A thread that has been developing and maturing on this BBS for 14 years, a Best Of candidate and an Admin bump; surely it can not end with Tdarcos suggesting that pinback blow up his kitchen? Will any thread end in Tdarcos suggesting pinback blow up his kitchen if it runs long enough? I need some clarity on this.

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