Indian Luncheon: Vij's Chicken Curry and Red Lentil Curry

It's been a week since I last posted, and with good reason.  Last Wednesday, we said goodbye to our oldest son, who was leaving for a two year adventure out in the wilds of San Jose.  Hopefully he will come back wiser, and not just older.  The rest of the week was spent cleaning up after the chaos that we called packing.  Meals were basic--leftovers were involved on two different days.  Some of the leftovers were from our son's last home cooked meal, which I will post about later.  Today, though, I thought I'd share with you a couple of recipes from the world-famous Indian restaurant, Vij's, up in Vancouver, B.C.

I love Indian food.  When we were living in California, we made a lot of good friends from India, and they introduced us to parts of their cuisine that you don't often find in Indian restaurants.  One of the best things about Indian food is the number of dishes with marvelously complex spice mixtures.   A spice mixture is called a masala.  Garam masala, which you may have heard of, is just one of many such spice mixtures, all of which can differ from region to region and even family to family.  (Think BBQ sauce, here.  What exactly goes into it, again?)  Masalas can be made from dried herbs or they can be a paste.  In most recipes, you toast and grind your spices prior to adding them to the dish in order to release more of the flavor.  Don't skip this important step.  It only takes a couple of minutes and vastly improves the aroma and flavor of your culinary creation.

Vij's in Vancouver, B.C. is wonderfully free with recipes for their marvelous dishes, and you can find many of them posted on the internet on everything from food blogs to online journals.  Since the consensus seems to be that they are fairly easy to make, as Indian food goes, I decided to try out a few dishes this week. The most popular recipe, based on an informal survey of how many times it was posted, was the recipe for Vij's Family's Chicken Curry.

The above picture does not do the dish justice--if for no other reason than that you can't smell blog postings.  Which is too bad, really.  Someone in Silicon Valley needs to fix that.

I served it with rice and paired it with Vij's Red Lentil Curry.  Both recipes I tweaked a bit, but if you want to find the originals, just Google them.  The lentil recipe, in particular, had a problem with being soupy.  Really soupy.  And please don't write in and tell me that Indian food is famous for its sauces--this was actual soup.  Seven cups of water per cup of lentils is a bit much, even if you are going for saucy, and none of the accompanying photos of the dish showed anything other than a fairly moist lentil mush.  So, I cut the water in half.  If this turns out to be less water than you want, just add a little more.  It's much easier to add more than to reduce it once it's in the pot.

Vij's Family's Chicken Curry  -- Serves 8

½ cup canola oil
2 cups finely chopped onions (2 large)
3-inch stick of cinnamon
3 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp grated ginger root
2 cups chopped tomatoes (2 Large) or a 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp turmeric
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp garam masala (you can find a McCormick version in most grocery stores)
½ tsp ground cayenne pepper
3 lbs chicken thighs, bone in--about eight (I used boneless, and it worked fine.)
1 cup sour cream
2 cups water
½ cup chopped cilantro (including stems)

In a large pan, heat oil on medium heat for 1 minute. Add onions and cinnamon, and sauté for 5 to 8 minutes, until onions are golden. Add garlic and sauté for another 4 minutes. Add ginger, tomatoes, salt, black pepper, turmeric, cumin, coriander, garam masala and cayenne. Cook this masala for 5 minutes, or until the oil separates from the masala.

Remove and discard skin from the chicken thighs. Wash thighs and add to the masala. Stir well. Cook chicken for 10 minutes, until the chicken looks cooked on the outside. Add sour cream and water and stir well. Increase the heat medium-high. When curry starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes, stirring 2 or 3 times, until chicken is completely cooked. (It took my chicken 25 minutes to reach 165F on my instant-read thermometer.)  Poke the thighs with a knife. If the meat is still pink, cook for 5 more minutes. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick. Cool curry for at least half an hour. (Or you can skip this step if you used boneless.) Transfer cooled chicken to a mixing bowl. Wearing latex gloves, peel chicken meat off the bones. Discard bones and stir chicken back into the curry. (Or if using boneless, just break the chicken up a bit with your spoon or wooden spatula and it's ready to serve.)  Just before serving, heat the curry on medium heat until it starts to boil lightly. Stir in cilantro.

 Vij's Red Lentil Curry  -- Serves 8

    1 cup red lentils (or any other lentils will do)
    3 1/2  cups water
    2 tsp salt
    1 tsp turmeric
    1 Tbsp grated ginger root
    1/4  cup canola oil
    1 Tbsp cumin seeds
    1 large onion, finely chopped
    3/4 cup finely chopped tomatoes
    1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
    3     ounces chopped baby spinach leaves (optional)
    1/2     cup finely chopped cilantro

Sort through the lentils to make sure that all of the pebble and debris are out.  Add the lentils, water, salt, turmeric and ginger to a large pot with a fitted lid and stir.  On high heat, bring the lentils to a boil; reduce heat to low and cover with a lid, leaving just a crack to let steam escape.  Cook for about 5 minutes or so, or until there is very little foam left on top of the lentils.  Stir again, cover the pot completely, and let the lentils cook for 25 more minutes.

Meanwhile, make the masala. In a small frying pan, heat the oil on medium high heat for 30 seconds. Add the cumin seeds and let them roast for 15-30 seconds, or until dark brown (not black). Add the onions and sauté them until they become golden. Add the tomatoes and cayenne pepper. Saute the masala, stirring regularly, for five minutes, or until the oil begins to separate.

Add the masala to the lentils once they are fully cooked. Stir well. Add the spinach leaves and stir until wilted.  Add the cilantro just before serving.