Indian Recipes

I have lots of Indian Cookbooks but my two best are Betty Crocker's Indian Home Cooking and Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking. Neither one is complete by themselves, but between the 2 books you can pretty much figure out any Indian recipe.

Chicken Saag Recipe


2 T vegetable oil
2 T finely chopped fresh ginger
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup tomato sauce
1 T ground coriander
1 t ground cumin
1 t ground red pepper
1 t salt
2 packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed (do not drain)
1 pound chicken cut up
1/2 c heavy whipping cream
1 t Garam Masaala

Brown garlic and ginger root in oil. Stir in chicken and brown. Add everything else but the whipping cream, cover and simmer for an hour or longer, until it looks right to your tastes. Adjust salt. Add cream, cook 1 minute longer and serve.


Tandoori Chicken


2 1/2 pounds chicken, cut into pieces to put on the grill or on skewers
1 t salt
1 juicy lemon
15 oz plain yogurt
1/2 medium onion, quartered
1 clove garlic
2 t cumin
1 inch ginger, peeled and quartered
1/2 hot green chili, sliced
2 t garam masaala
3 T red food coloring
lime wedges and cilantro to serve

Cut a few slices on the surface of the chicken so that spices etc can get in there.
Brush chicken pieces with food coloring and let sit for a while as you prepare the marinade. To make the marinade comine the yogurt, onion, garlic, ginger, green chili and spices in the blender. Blend until you have a smooth paste. Strain the paste through a strainer and save the liquid. Put salt and lemon juice over chicken and let sit a little longer, then put the marinade on the chicken. Marinate for 6 to 24 hours, stiring every once in a while. When you are ready to make them, get a charcoal grill going and grill the chicken pieces, either on skewers or just by themselves. To serve, put the pieces on a platter with lime wedges. Sprinkle a little cilantro over the top. You can also serve with a garnish of grilled onions if you like.