Moguli Chicken Curry (Moguli Murgh): A Graduation Feast

This weekend was graduation at the University.  Darren received his M.F.A. and his mother, two lovely sisters, and brother-in-law came to celebrate with him and proudly watch him walk across the stage. I was told his sister's liked Indian food, so I decided to make the chicken dish I grew up eating.  The benefit was two-fold for me.  I would get to eat a dish that would bring me back to my childhood table, which I am forever want to do, and, most importantly, I would have an excuse to engage my 81 year old father in a discussion about something other than his health.
Armed with his wisdom and years of memories, I set about making this delicious dish, only altering his recipe slightly.  One alteration I made was to use boneless chicken thighs rather than bone in, and the other was to add a small amount of red chile powder, to heat up the dish a bit, but not too much.  The Moguls were not fond of hot spice, and, as my father suggested, this heat was not available when recipes such as this were first made.
If you like Indian spices, but are afraid of the heat in Indian foods, this dish is for you.  It is relatively easy to make (if you can get the spices pre-made) and delicious.  I served this with basmati rice, saag paneer (spinach with cheese curds), tomato chutney, and naan.  This amount fed 6 with leftovers for two meals for 2, so I guess it would feed around 10.

Moguli Chicken Curry
3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut in half
6 cloves garlic
1 T. ginger
1 t. tumeric
1 t. red chile powder (cayenne will work)
1 T. vegetable oil
1/2 t. saffron threads
1/4 c. milk
vegetable oil (for frying the onions)
2-3 large onions (about 4 cups), very thinly sliced (use a mandoline, if you have one)
3 T. ghee (clarified browned butter, or just oil) Ghee directions follow this recipe
1 T. hot garam masala
2 t. sweet garam masala
2 t. salt (kosher or 1 t. table)
1 c. chicken broth
1 c. sour cream (low fat is ok)
1 c. yogurt (low fat is ok)
2 T. cilantro, chopped

Directions
Several hours before you are ready to cook, put the garlic and ginger in a mini food processor along with the 1 T. vegetable oil, tumeric and red chile powder, and process into a paste (this can be done by hand too).   Rub the chicken with the paste and refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to overnight.

While the chicken marinades, deal with the onions.  Cut the onions in half and slice paper thin.  Place them on a clean tea towel or paper towels and place another on top and press it down to remove some of the water from the onions.  Let the onions sit for 1 hour on the towels.  After this rest, heat a large, heavy bottomed dutch oven to medium heat.  Add 1/2 inch of oil and heat.  Add the onions and slowly brown the onions to a medium brown crisp, stirring every few minutes.  Some of the onions will still have some white.  Do not bring to a dark brown.  Using a slotted spoon, put the onions onto several layers of paper towel and spread them out.  They will crisp up as they cool.   Heat the milk in a glass measuring cup for 30 seconds in the microwave and add the saffron.  Let this steep while you do the next step.

After marinating, scrape as much of the paste off of the chicken as possible, reserving the marinade.  Remove the oil from the pan you made the onions in.  You can reuse this oil for any other dish, it will have a wonderful onion flavor.  Heat your heavy bottomed dutch oven and add the ghee.  When hot, add as much chicken as will fit in one layer.  Brown the chicken on both sides.  Remove the chicken and repeat with remaining chicken.  When done, add the leftover marinade and saute for 1 minute (do not let it brown-  you may need to lower the temperature).  Add the masalas and saute for another minute.  Add the saffron milk and use this to help you scrape the fond from the bottom of the pan.  Add the chicken, 1/2 of the onions, salt, and the chicken broth.  Bring this to a simmer.  Cover and simmer this until the chicken is very tender (30 minutes to an hour depending on how tender you want the chicken).

Whip together the sour cream and yogurt until very smooth.  Turn off the heat of the pan and add the sour cream mixture.  Mix well.  Return to heat on low and keep this on a low simmer for 15 minutes.  Serve with cilantro and the rest of the onions on top.  Enjoy!

Ghee
Place one pound of unsalted butter in a heavy bottomed small pot.  Turn the heat onto medium low.  As the butter melts, you'll see it will begin to foam.  Skim the foam off the top of the butter.  Continue to cook the butter, skimming as needed, until you see brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Turn off the heat and strain into a jar.  To store your ghee, cover tightly and place in the refrigerator.  This clarified butter will not burn at high temperatures as butter does, and has a delicious, nutty flavor.

Sunday Red Gravy and Pasta: Marathoners Treat

When my friend Dan asked me to cook for his family who were to run the Champaign Marathon, I readily agreed.  Dinner for 8?  No problem, even for a Friday night.  Little did I know that dinner for 8 would morph into dinner for 20.  But what to cook?  What do you feed people the night before a 26 mile run?  Pasta.  Of course, pasta.  But pasta for 20 in a small kitchen?  So, I decided to go with something tried, true, healthy and delicious.  Red gravy, or red sauce, depending on who you are talking to.

Do you know red gravy?  That meat based red sauce so ubiquitous, so easy to do terribly.  I don't know about you, but red gravy is the bane of my restaurant existence.  Rarely is it anything but too sweet.  So my personal rule of thumb is to not order anything with a red sauce in an Italian restaurant.  But I love a good red gravy, like the one my former father-in-law taught me how to make some 20 years ago.

The recipe below is tried and true. It is rich, but not sweet.  The flavor of the sauce comes from the meat used, so the better quality sausages you can get, the better your sauce will be.  There is nothing here that should intimidate you.  Yes, it takes all day, but most of that time is completely hands off.  I used ground turkey and turkey sausages because I was feeding runners and wanted to keep the fat content of the food I made as low as possible.  You, of course, could substitute beef or a combination of beef and pork.  I hope you will make this recipe. It is simply delicious and goes beautifully with any number of pastas.  It can easily be frozen and saved for a later date.

Meatballs:
1 lb. ground turkey
2 slices white bread
1/4 c. buttermilk
1 onion, finely minced
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup parsley
1 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. fennel seeds, bruised in a mortar and pestle
1 t. salt
1/4 t. crushed red chiles
1 egg
Directions:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Pour the buttermilk over the bread and let sit while you make the rest of the meatballs.  Mix the onions, garlic, parsley, oregano, fennel, salt, red chiles and egg in a medium sized bowl.  Mush up the bread and add it along with any remaining buttermilk to the vegetable mix. Gently mix in the meat.  At this point, cook up a bit of the meat in a frying pan.  Taste it and adjust your seasonings as needed.

Roll your meatballs into golfball sized balls.  Place them on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 1/2 hour.

Sunday Red Gravy:
1-11/4 lbs. Italian sausage (sweet or hot depending on your preference)
1 T. olive oil
2 c. onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 c. green peppers, finely chopped
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1 small can tomato paste (about 1/4 cup)
3 28 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed in a food processor or blender
1 bay leaf
salt to taste

Directions:  Heat olive oil in a large, heavy bottomed Dutch oven.  Add the sausage and brown on all sides.  Remove the sausages to a plate.  Add the onions, green peppers, and mushrooms.  Saute, scraping up the bits (fond) on the bottom of the pan as the vegetables sweat.  When the vegetables are all soft (about 10 minutes), add the garlic and cook for one minute.  Add the tomato paste and continue to stir and cook until the color of the paste becomes a rich, deeper red, about 7 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, bay leaf, sausage, and meatballs. Add 3 cups of water and stir.  Bring this to a simmer, and simmer for 4-6 hours, stirring every once in a while to prevent sticking.  Add salt as needed.

Serve your red gravy with fettucini, angel hair pasta, penne, cheese or meat ravioli, or lasagna.
Enjoy!