Catch the Spoon

Our household’s take on traditional Kashmiri Chicken: buttery and fragrant. Intense, decadent, and filling. I’m not sure how to describe this dish short of throwing out more strings of adjectives, so I’ll let this one speak for itself. Delicious over basmati rice with a side of homemade pita to mop up all that sauce. Yum.

Kashmiri Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1/4 lb (1 stick) butter
• 2/3 cup minced shallots
• 10 whole black peppercorns
• 2-3 whole cardamom pods
• 1 2-3″ cinnamon stick
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 6 chicken thighs with bones and skin
• 1 cup plain yogurt, plus extra for garnish

In a cast iron dutch oven or other wide, heavy pan with lid, melt butter over medium heat. Add shallots and spices; cook, stirring often, 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Add chicken to pan, skin-side down, and cook until lightly browned. Move chicken to edges of pan to create well in center and slowly add yogurt to butter sauce, stirring briskly to prevent breaking. Reduce heat to low and cook 45 minutes to one hour, or until chicken separates easily from bone. Garnish with a dollop of extra yogurt just before serving.

Serves 4-6.

Bonus picture! (I’m so easily amused - I love the steam coming off the chicken.)

Hummus! When I alluded to it in the pita bread recipe I posted a short time ago, my intention was to post the accompanying hummus recipe as an immediate follow-up. Meatloaf and toaster pastries somehow snuck their way in before the hummus settled in to the “you should post this now” section of my head. Ah, well.

There’s not much to say about homemade hummus other than to note that it kicks the ass of anything you can buy in a supermarket. It’s completely worth the time and effort that goes into it, although you can lessen that a bit if you buy your tahini paste (if that’s the case, omit the sesame seeds, sesame oil, salt, and water and substitute 2-3 tbsp of the paste).

Hummus

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp sesame seed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1-2 teaspoons hot water
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice (to taste)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Special equipment:

• Mortar and pestle
• Food processor

Process sesame seeds and salt with mortar and pestle until seeds begin to break down. Add sesame oil and hot water as needed and continue to process until the mixture is smooth and thick. This is your tahini paste.

Place tahini, chickpeas, cumin, garlic, and olive oil in food processor and pulse until smooth. Add lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste. Move to bowl; cover and refrigerate for one hour to allow flavors to blend. Serve with pita, crackers, veggies, or a spoon.