Chicken Vindaloo

I don't spend a lot of time planning my last meal, but when I started thinking about how exactly to describe this chicken vindaloo recipe, I started thinking about Ajanta's chicken vindaloo. Ajanta has the best Indian food in the Bay Area. That's my opinion, but not just my opinion. It has been so designated by Zagat and SF Baylist for a few years, though I'm lucky enough to have known about Ajanta for at least a decade.

I once traveled to India mostly to experience a country where I could find this incredible food everywhere. I probably should have known that not every restaurant in India would be Ajanta-calibre. Disappointingly, I found nothing that could compare. So even after five weeks in India, Ajanta has the best Indian food I've ever eaten. 

Next I bought the Ajanta cookbook, hoping to get their vindaloo recipe. No dice.

I may never be able to make vindaloo like the chefs at Ajanta, but if I had to pick a recipe that could approximate the experience, I would feel comfortable leaving it to Cook's Illustrated. I expected that something as complexly flavorful as vindaloo would be really hard to make, but it is surprisingly simple. And, it's a one pot recipe which is always a bonus. (Especially if you are doing the dishes--and I am.)

This particular vindaloo recipe was inspired by Savory, a new spice shop in my neighborhood. They had a great curry selection, including a vindaloo spice blend that made this recipe super simple!

The more I thought about vindaloo, the clearer it became. Since I love food it would definitely be a very tough decision, but if it came down to it, I think my last meal would be chicken vindaloo. It's just that good.

Chicken Vindaloo

~Print Recipe~

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, separated
• 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• 1 1/2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 tablespoon sweet paprika*
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin*
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom*
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper*
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves*
• 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tablespoon mustard seeds
• 1 or 2 bay leaves
•  1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves, divided

1. Adjust oven rack to lower- middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Season meat generously with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large ovenproof Dutch oven over medium-high until shimmering. Add meat, keeping pieces close together but not touching. Cook, not moving pieces until the side in contact with the pot are well browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Using tongs, turn each piece and continue cooking until most sides are well browned, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer meat to a medium bowl.
2. Reduce heat to medium, add remaining tablespoon oil to empty Dutch oven, and swirl to coat bottom of pan. Add onions and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring frequently and vigorously, scraping bottom of pot with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. After onions have softened, about 5 minutes, stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add flour and spices or spice blend. Stir until onion are evenly coated and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Gradually add broth, scraping pan bottom and edges with wooden spoon to loosen remaining browned bits and dissolve flour. Add tomatoes, vinegar, mustard seeds, bay leaves, and sugar and bring to a simmer. Add browned chicken and accumulated juices, submerging meat under liquid. Return to simmer, cover and place in oven. Cook for 2 hours.
4. Remove pot from oven. If serving immediately, spoon off any accumulated fat at surface. Remove bay leaves, stir in some cilantro. Adjust seasonings. Serve immediately with a garnish of cilantro leaves.

The New Tuna Salad Sandwich

There's your typical tuna sandwich, and then there's this tuna sandwich. We're really going to blow your mind with this one. Well, I mean it's only a tuna sandwich, but just think: whole grain mustard! Curry paste! Hummus! Greek yogurt? Feta? Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. This here is a bit of a tuna sandwich revolution. Best get ready.

So, my mom never made tuna sandwiches for me when I was little. She didn't like canned foods. Or mayonnaise. I specifically remember having one or two tuna sandwiches as a kid, eaten tentatively like a foreign food while at a friend's house. I kinda liked them. Still, something about tuna is a just little funky. Tuna sandwiches sure taste good, but they'll never be cool. Tuna just smells a little too fishy to be hip.

That being said, there is still something very satisfying and delicious about a tuna sandwich. I'm not sure exactly what it is. Something brilliant happens when you get the alchemy of all the different flavors just exactly right. It is a complicated balancing act. If there's not enough of just one ingredient---not quite enough salt, or a little short on the mustard---the whole sandwich is thrown off. Usually it's close, but you can taste it---it doesn't quite taste like your Platonic ideal of a tuna sandwich (you know, like the ones you remember from your childhood.)

Like many recipes, tuna salad preparation requires constant tasting and adjusting. Wait for it.... You'll know when you've gotten it just right. Trust me.

I don't know how Mark came upon the pure, solid genius of adding feta to a tuna sandwich, but he did. Now I am reaping all the rewards. Bwah, ha ha hah. Ah ha hah ha! (Oh, and by rewards, I just mean really, really ridiculously good tasting sandwiches.) The curry is all mine, though, because I like a hint of curry in pretty much anything. Greek yogurt is just a fantastic creamy addition to anything that needs to be creamier (and low fat, too!). In fact, you could replace all of the mayo with Greek yogurt if you were so inclined. (I am, Mark's not.)

New Tuna Sandwiches

~Print Recipe~

• 4 slices of bread
• Hummus
• Lettuce 
• 2 oz. feta, crumbled*
• 2 cans of tuna in water
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion*
• 1/4 cup finely chopped celery*
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise*
• 3 tablespoons whole grain mustard*
• 1 or 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt*
• 1/2 teaspoon curry paste (such as Patak's Vindaloo)*
• 1/4 teaspoon dill*
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix well tuna and all subsequent ingredients in a medium bowl.
2. Lightly toast your bread and spread all four slices with hummus. Divide tuna salad evenly between two slices. Sprinkle each sandwich with feta, top with lettuce and remaining bread slices. Prepare to be blown away.

*More, or less to taste. As you can see, this is not an exact science. Do whatever tastes good to you!

Serves 2

Samosas

After only being in India a few days, I found myself, thanks to a friend of a friend, spending New Year's Eve with a local family in the Northern suburbs of Mumbai. I won't tell you about the harrowing train ride there, which left me in tears, but I will tell you that we arrived to a memorable Indian welcome and just in time for a lavish lunch prepared entirely from scratch by our host mother.

She started with handmade samosas. Though the whole meal was thoroughly enjoyable, the samosas are what I remember most. Made from scratch! By hand! Just for us! I never, ever thought that I would be able to attempt something like that on my own. And to be sure, when I flipped the pages of Cooking Light and came across a recipe for samosas, I was surprised to find it there. I imagined the making of samosas to be a laborious and time consuming task, something outside the scope of your average American cook.

Now, these samosas are not exactly what I ate that day in a Mumbai living room, but they are definitely good enough for me. The main leap of faith is using egg roll wrappers in place of the tasty dough that normally envelopes these savory treats. The egg roll wrappers are easier, of course, and I would rather make samosas this way than not make them at all, which would probably be the alternative--at least for me.

The original recipe was developed by Cheryl and Bill Jamison of, apparently, some cookbook fame. I had never heard of them before randomly picking up a sale book at Powell's called Around the World in 80 Dinners: The Ultimate Culinary Adventure. I think it was priced to move for a reason. Terrible, boring book. I don't know how the Jamisons made a book about travel and food boring, but sadly they did. Skip their book, but definitely try these samosas.

Samosas
(adapted from Cooking Light)

~Print Recipe~

• 1 1/4 cups mashed potatoes
• 1/4 cup cooked lentils
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh mint
• 1 teaspoon curry paste (like Patak's) or curry powder, more if desired
• 1 teaspoon butter, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon kosker salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 cup frozen petite green peas, thawed
• 10 egg roll wrappers
• 1 egg, beaten
• Cooking spray

1. Mix together potatoes, lentils, mint, curry, butter, salt and cumin until combined. Gently fold in peas.
2. Use one egg roll wrapper at a time and cover the rest so they don't dry out. Cut the wrapper down the middle to form 2 long triangles. Dip a finger in the egg, then use your finger to coat the edges of the wrapper with egg. 
3. With your hands, grab a small portion (about 1 tablespoon) of the potato mixture and place it near the bottom left hand edge of the wrapper. Fold the bottom right hand corner of the wrapper over the mixture to meet the left edge of the wrapper to form a triangle. Repeat the fold to the opposite side to form another triangle---like folding up a flag. Seal the edges and set aside. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
4. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Coat with cooking spray. Add samosas to pan, cook until bottoms are golden brown. Flip and cook until other side is also golden brown. Serve with chutney or raita of your choice. (Note: Trader Joe's has an excellent selection of chutneys and sauces.)

Makes 20 pieces/ 4-5 servings