Chicken, Better Than I've Ever Known Before

What meat-eater doesn't love chicken? While top chefs might balk at the idea of the Colonel's meat-of-choice having any true culinary value - unlike beef, lamb or even duck, with their complex age-able flavours - the capacity of chicken as a vehicle for flavour is worthy enough for celebration. These were my thoughts after cooking the, aptly named, 'Bademiya's* Justly Famous Bombay Chile-and-Cilantro Chicken'.
*A quick Google search for 'Bademiya' brought me here and while the NYT recipe doesn't use milk/cream ('malai') in the marinade, 'Chicken Malai Tangdi' on the menu is my best guess at this dish's inspiration. Safe to say that Bademiya is also now on my 'Places to visit in India' list.

This page in my copy of The Essential New York Times Cook Book has been bookmarked since day one and I was stoked to finally try it out. It's list of ingredients is fairly basic, and if you have ever cooked any simple Indian recipes before, you'll most likely have what you need for the chicken in your pantry already.

And while not essential (a quality hot sauce would be a fine accompaniment), the Cilantro Sauce included in the recipe takes this dish above-and-beyond already finger-lickin' delicious - yet in an unexpected direction, given the slight bitterness and textural aspect of the walnuts.

Bademiya's Justly Famous Bombay Chile and Cilantro Chicken

Living Below the Line - Day 2

I'm currently reading the book Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick, which has been nothing short of a brilliant read.  However brilliant, it is often harrowing as Demick describes the realities of North Koreans in terms of their hunger and suffering.  Withholding food became a device for creating class barriers until the entire country was unable to produce hardly any food at all due to increasingly poor relations with their Communist counterparts in the 90's.

Reading about the lengths of which people went to feed themselves (including hunting frogs to extinction, eating ground corn husks, tree bark and prostitution in exchange for noodles) is eye-opening and probably a suitable accompaniment to doing the Live Below the Line challenge for a mere 5 days.  I can hardly complain about being hungry when there are people around the world who seriously struggle to live - not just eat - off $2.25 a day, or less.

I reminded myself of this as I felt hunger pangs all morning despite having had my flatbreads for breakfast and morning tea ($0.185).  Lunch, as per last night's dinner (pumpkin and spinach risotto), lasted for 3 hours as I continued to work eating only spoonfuls at a time. A little often definitely helps to keep hunger at bay and eating less for dinner (e.g. before going to sleep) helps to have a larger serve for lunch. Fair to say, there was heaps of it!

Desktop lunch - leftover pumpkin and spinach 'risotto'

Dinner tonight was pumpkin, carrot, potato and onion fritters.  This is a recipe inspired by my go-to zucchini fritters which utilises the water leeched out of the zucchini itself from salt being sprinkled through it. Here, my selection of vegetables are naturally much dryer (except the potato) so I added water to help bind the ingredients.

1/5 crown pumpkin ($0.40), peeled, 1 carrot ($0.12), also peeled, and 1 potato ($0.20), skin on, coarsely grated with 1/2 onion ($0.10) diced and 1 sliced green onion ($0.15) in a large mixing bowl. Combine with 1 tsp salt ($0.02), 1 tsp curry powder ($0.05), 1 tsp cumin ($0.05), 45g chickpea flour (1/2 cup, $0.15) and 1/2 c water.  Mix thoroughly, tossing all ingredients together ensuring there are no lumps of chickpea flour left behind.  Heating a large skillet or pan with 1 tsp oil ($0.05), cook spoonfuls of the mix until lightly golden on both sides.  Eat! (Total = $1.29)

Pumpkin, carrot, potato and onion fritters

These would be perfect served with a fresh herb yoghurt sauce or even just some sweet chilli; as a vege burger or by themselves with some salad.  The recipe made heaps (at least 25 at the size seen above, though I lost count as I just started eating them right out of the pan) and is something I'd definitely make again. I'd love to add some seeds and some crushed toasted coriander seeds as well as a small pinch of smoked paprika to give further depth to the flavour... but these did nicely for today.  And will do again for lunch on Day 3.

I'm very excited about tomorrow's dinner though... Dhal and tomato nachoes!

To support me (and Oxfam) on the Live Below the Line challenge, please donate by clicking here.

Living Below the Line - Day One and a half

It has begun. $11.25 to create all of my meals for the next 5 days (including today).

I spent most of the weekend food planning, writing everything down, evaluating the cost and quantity against a meal plan for the week.  I went to the market on Sunday and a few different shops throughout the week ensuring I could get the most bang from my buck and I think I have managed to allow myself a mid-week luxury.

Newtown market (photo taken a few months ago)

Moshims, 2-6 Wilson Street, Newtown - amazing for seasonings, spices, dhal, flours, rice, beans, etc, all sold by weight

My ingredients:

1 can of tomatoes ($0.88)

1 crown pumpkin ($2)

1 bunch of spinach ($1.25)

2 onions ($0.40)

2 carrots

2 potatoes ($0.65 for both)

1 bunch of green onions ($1)
1 sprig of rosemary (free, growing behind the local supermarket)

312g of Masoor dhal lentils ($0.93)

246g of chickpeas ($0.74)

350g of brown rice ($0.81)

500g flour ($0.65)

1 tsp yeast ($0.10)

45g chickpea flour ($0.15)

1 bag corn chips ($0.98) (the luxury - hurray for Pak n Save specials!)

Leaving $0.71 for oil and seasonings ($0.05 per 1 tsp oil, $0.01 per 1/2 tsp salt, $0.02 per 1/4 tsp pepper and for my herbs and spices I'm counting $0.05 per 1 tsp as I buy only at Indian/Asian shops where they sell by weight, as opposed to buying packets from the supermarket.)

The loot from the market

Supermarket goods

Kedgeree: my kind of breakfast

I've never been into cereal or jams.  On a rare occasion, I'll crave sweet crepes topped with lemon juice and sugar, or cinnamon-crusted french toast served with fresh berries, maple syrup and a dusting of icing sugar.  Sometimes I'll even yearn for a glazed apricot danish, one complete with a smooth custard filling perfectly complementing the tartness of the fruit and light crispiness of the pastry.  For the other 362 days out of the year, however, I want savoury.

Photo from Seasaltwithfood.com

While I enjoy the traditional, like an omelette with mushrooms, cheese and fresh herbs within or a full Irish breakfast with both black and white puddings, I most desire a non-western style breakfast.  Dishes like Huevos Rancheros (eggs served with refried beans on fresh corn tortillas and ample salsa atop, lime on the side); Nasi Lemak (Malaysia's national dish composed of steamed rice cooked in coconut milk, fried anchovies, slices of cucumber, roasted peanuts, sambal and a sliced boiled egg with the addition of rendang as a post-breakfast variation); or the simple Spanish 'pan con tomate' (toasted bread rubbed with garlic and tomato, drizzled in good olive oil and a pinch of sea salt): these are the types of morning meals that excite me most, the ones that make me pause and think, smiling, "this is so good!"

Another such breakfast is kedgeree.  A dish I've been wanting to make for awhile now, a visit to the brilliant Nikau Cafe on Friday for lunch gave me an extra push of inspiration.  Nikau has long been renowned for their kedgeree and I am sure at least half of their customers must order this at least every second visit.   They even sell their recipe as a lovely teatowel.  Like most things though, and especially food, there are many variations of the basic idea.

Inspired for Goat

I’ll admit quickly that I love watching My Kitchen Rules Australia.  The casting is brilliant with plenty of characters to love, hate and talk about the next day over morning tea.  For obsessives like me, it reinforces knowledge while also learning something new though it’s also just exciting to see how and what people cook when under pressure.  The question at the back of my mind: could I pull that off?

For MKR Season 4 followers, you’ll know who I’m talking about when referring to the ‘Spice Girls’ - a pair of girls from India and Bangladesh who were very vocal and very critical.  High expectations were therefore created for their ‘Instant Restaurant’ and these were by no means met.  

I was, however, inspired by their mistakes.  They proposed a goat biryani for the main course and the result was unflavoured rice compiled haphazardly with stewed goat, nuts and tomatoes.  While biryani vary from region to region and country to country, it often means a rich curry-like stew cooked separately to rice but served layered together to let flavours mingle shortly before serving.  When I saw the Spice Girls cooking their rice in the microwave, I immediately wished for a more pullao (or pilaf) style preparation.  All those beautiful spices creating a flavourful curry - why not cook the rice in it? 

Luckily, our local Pak n Save often stocks cuts of goat and I had recently stocked up on some key Indian spices (coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves, mustard seeds, cinnamon, etc).  Due to my boyfriend recently finding out he is allergic to night shades (i.e. tomatoes, peppers, chillies, etc), I also had to think about how to create the curry without a typical tomato and chilli base.  One thought was to use chicken stock, but I went with the can of coconut milk I had in the cupboard for a rich creamy texture.

Goat needs slow cooking, so the strategy was to braise the meat low and long in the spices and coconut milk in my Staub cocotte (the best French cookware, in my opinion) with rice added towards the end. I’d let it continue to cook in the turned-off oven overnight, in the hopes of awaking to perfectly cooked goat and rice.