my modern artefact

I am in love with Indian food. It's really one of my favorites. In Manhattan, I would order out from a restaurant in 'Curry Hill' (or the Indian food saturated Murray Hill) at least once every few weeks, but here in Portland, I've yet to find a great restaurant. Luckily for me and my Indian food cravings, a few months ago a friend threw an Indian-inspired dinner party and chocked it all up to Madhur Jaffrey and her book Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking.

Jaffrey's recipes are simple and easy, which is not what you'd expect when you think about combining all of those layers of flavor. For her, it's all about freshly grinding each spice per use so that the distinct flavors of the spices stand out instead of combining to taste like something muted and foreign.

Because of Jaffrey's influence, I grind my own spice mixes like garam masala, which provides just the right blend of earthy and spicy flavors for a roasted chicken or for Jaffrey's chicken with tomatoes and garam masala (above). To grind the spices together, I used my burr grinder, but I think the smartest way to go about it is to keep a separate electric grinder just for spices. This way, you don't end up with cardamom-infused coffee the next time you use it. However, you could always use a mortar and pestleor a manual spice mill to crush the spices.

Indian Chicken with Tomatoes and Garam Masala
adapted from Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking
Serves 6

Ingredients:
5 tbsp vegetable oil
3/4 tsp cumin seeds
1 inch cinnamon stick
6 cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp peppercorns
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
6-7 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 inch cube fresh ginger, grated with microplane
1 can of crushed organic tomatoes
2 - 3 lbs chicken pieces, skinned, and chopped into bite-size chunks
salt to taste
1/8-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garam masala

1. Heat the oil in a large pot; when hot, put in cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaves, and peppercorns.

2. Stir once, quickly, and then stir in onions, garlic, and ginger. Sauté, stirring, until the onions have brown specks. Then put in the tomatoes, chicken, salt, and cayenne pepper, stirring to mix.

3. Bring the pot to a boil and cover tightly, reduce heat to low, and simmer 25 minutes until chicken is tender. Stir occasionally.

4. Remove cover and turn up heat to medium; add garam masala and stir for 5 minutes to reduce water content.

5. Serve over long grain basmati rice and garnish with a sliced radish and a pinch of parsley.

[1. c. lynn]