I made another attempt at an Indian dinner last night to feed a loveley lady. A couple people have asked for the menu and recipes, so...



Brown Rice Biryani with Green Masala

chicken
onion
vegetables ( I used carrots and cauliflower)
marinade: ginger, garlic, green chili, tumeric, salt, chili powder, lemon juice
masala paste: ginger, garlic, green chili, mint, coriander, lemon zest, olive oil
whole spices: cinnamon, clove, peppercorns

Marinate chicken overnight. (should also work with tofu, etc.)
Mix masala paste
Cook brown basmati rice, do other prep while it cooks
Sautee onion, add chicken, vegetables and masala paste. Cook until mostly dry
Remove half of the cooked chicken mix, and smooth out the remainder. Add a layer of rice, then the rest of the chicken mix, and another layer of rice. I poured a couple shots of saffron infused water over top - next time I might try some stock mixed in here, too.
Put a tight fitting lid on and leave on low heat to steam ingredients together a bit.

Mango Lassi

The recipe I used specified 1 part mango puree to 1 part yogurt - I found this a little too thick. Next time I may add a little bit of milk, or, more likely, tilt the balance towards more mango - I thought it could stand to be a little sweeter, too.

"Gujerati" spinach

Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's Gujerati Sem (Gujerati style green beans).
Pop 1 tbsp of black mustard seeds in a little oil.
Sautee a couple cloves of garlic and a red chili
Toss in a few handfuls of spinach, sprinkle on some sugar, salt and pepper
Cook until spinach is wilted but still bright green. Drain off excess liquid.
I used way too much salt, but I undersalted the biryani, so it balanced out.


Chutney

Puree a handful of mint and another of coriander with yogurt and a sprinkle of salt. This is good on the biryani, especially if it ends up too spicy.