Chicken Little

July 20, 2009 5 Comments

I am scared of cooking meat. I have never really tried and for the last 15 years or so have been pretty much vegetarian. BUT ... because I love you all soo soo much and of course love my husband even more, I am trying some Indian meat dishes in the crockpot.

Today, I tried my hand at traditional North Indian chicken curry. I bought 3 pounds of chicken from Whole Foods and had him skin and cut it up. It was all parts - breast/thigh/wings as my husband instructed. This experience in front of the meat counter which I never ever visit was pretty exhilerating. Empowering almost. It's usually my husband's job.

Today, as I was splitting the breast I discovered something really strange. There was this dark red organ almost attached to a breast. I jumped and almost dropped the huge knife I was using. The scene was classic. I was jumping up and down...fanning my face to prevent myself from passing out in fear. What the heck was that thing? Is that the heart folks? Or another organ that I don't know about yet? And if it was the little itty bitty heart why would those cruel folks behind the butcher counter leave it in the package? Do people like eating it with their stews? I took a picture of it to post for all of you...and threw it out. Yeeeesh.

The good news is the four recipes I promised you are DONE...and it's just before 2 p.m. At this rate all my recipes will be finished this week!!!! But don't worry, I'll still keep cooking. Chicken hearts and all!

I'm glad I stuck with it. The results were out of this world! I was really impressed by the simple Split Moong Dal with Baby Spinach. It was delicate and yet hearty at the same time. The chicken curry was out of this world - and you already know my feelings about eating meat. The Yellow split-pea soup was incredibly yellow and sweet. Like spring in a spoon. Really good. And the carrots - well, maybe a bit of an aquired taste but it's going in the book.

Neha and Aria's Take on things: Aria ate the Yellow Dal and Spinach, though she gave me two sideways thumbs telling me it was okay. She still devoured more than half of her bowl. Neha said she didn't like it, so I asked if she wanted chicken curry. She loved that and had a piece of naan with it.

Sandeep's Take: He was out for dinner tonight but says while eating his steak, all he could think about was my ginger/garlic eggplant? Eggplant? Seriously? He claims he's serious.

Things are slowly shifting in our house. Still trying to figure out what it all means. One thing I know...my fridge is getting full!

5 Responses

Indian As Apple Pie

July 23, 2009

Thanks James…I don't think I ever added salt in the split pea so you are right on the money in terms of that dish. Love the idea for the mango chutney. I'm gunna try it tonight when I have a sweet craving. And Pam is in – she just should email me at anupysingla@indianasapplepie.com or just write on this blog. -Anupy

Anonymous

August 03, 2009

Hey anupy..I'm butcher that served you, I really like the blog. I'm glad that the meat really worked out and the dish came out expectacular.

Indian As Apple Pie

August 04, 2009

Hi Carlos – right? I owe you some food. I promise I'll have it over there! As you can read some of my plans have not been quite on track. I'm getting there though.

Deborah

July 22, 2009

I love this story. It conjures up images of you and I in your kitchen (with the girls, including Isabella, running amuck!). I can picture Neha so clearly at the dinner table with her way-beyond-her-years, intelligent, to-the-point narratives on all the things in her world — including food! — delighting me with continuous "you know what, Deborah, you know what?" I really miss that. The way you describe their take on things makes me see all of them so clearly around the environment in your kitchen…I love it, Anupy. It's perfect.

BIOburn3

July 23, 2009

Anupy I tell you that your brillant! The more people I tell about your project the more excited I get it about it! The food is consistently good. I took the split pea, eggplant, dry dal, mango chutney, and carrots to my office for Pam (she is a big fan of Indian cuisine) to taste. I told her to ask you if she could be a taster too. Pam said she would make indian cuisine everyday if she knew how to make it in the crockpot and what a wonderful idea you have.

I still can't get enough of your eggplant, it is quite fabulous. I am a huge carnivore and need to generally have meat with every meal, however, I am able to eat the eggplant and I don't find myself craving meat at all. The carrots are another dish that people will love, this is great as a side dish for a redmeat or for vegans it could be the main coarse on a bed of pasta. The split pea I needed to add a bit of salt to (but I'm so American when it comes to salt intake). The lamb was so good, the flavor was fabulous. I never like crumbly meat stand alone, so I put it into a pita with some of the rice you had given us, added a little spliced pickle and had myself a great "gyro". I do agree that a little spice would kick things up a notch with the Chicken curry.

The mango chutney, if your readers have not tried your chutney they do not know what they are missing. For me this is the perfect dish for anyone with a sweet-tooth that is trying to trim down. I combine a few table spoons of the mango chutney in a bowl with a cup and a half of rice, warm the two together, and then stir the concoction together. This is a very filling sweet snack, however, it is much better that thai sweet rice (or a bowl of ice cream).

Brennan's meatloaf was fabulous!