Most Indian meals are not formally structured and there are usually a number of dishes for balance. There may be a meat dish, a seafood dish, at least one vegetable dish and perhaps a lentil dish as well. All would be served with fluffy rice and probably a bread such as chapati.
A typical meal you can cook at home includes Chicken Vindaloo (recipe below) and Shrimp Korma served with Ghee Rice. Serve them with mango chutney and cucumber raita, made from sliced cucumbers in yoghurt with lemon, cumin and fresh mint. A vindaloo is traditionally rather sharp and fiery. The amount of chili used in the recipe below makes a medium-hot curry. You can add more or less, but keep in mind that a chili powder made in India may be hotter than a locally made commercial brand.
Recipe: (Serves 4)
1 kg chicken breasts, skinned
300 ml natural yoghurt
1 large onion, sliced
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
For the spice blend:
1 tablespoon ghee or vegetable oil
3 tablespoons chopped onions
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon hot chili powder
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
4 cardamom pods, crushed
4 cm cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon malt vinegar
Method:
Cut the chicken into large chunks. Mix the yoghurt, sliced onion, honey and salt in a large bowl to make a marinade and soak the chicken in it for 2 hours, turning occasionally.
To make the spice blend, heat the ghee or oil in a saucepan and fry the chopped onions, garlic and ginger for 5 minutes. Add the chili powder, then add all the other spices to the pan. Stir-fry for a minute or two.
Add 300 ml of water, plus the tomato paste, vinegar, the chicken and marinade and mix together well. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Serve with rice.
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