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!
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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.