Indian Food. Yea Riiiigggghhhhttt!

Had you asked me a couple years ago if I liked Indian food I would definitely have given you the "crinkled-nose ewwwwwww" response.  However, today I MAY be changing my tune:)  Mind you, I haven't bought a sari and haven't quite booked the family vacation to New Delhi...but I'm definitely tearing down the walls and opening the windows to completely new way of cooking....well at least for me. 

There were a couple a things that "threw" me when it came to Indian food.  One - a lot of it didn't even LOOK good.  Mushy gravy all over rice was pretty much what I thought.  Second it was spicy and by spicy I mean HOT spicy - and as you may have guessed from previous posts Princess here does NOT do spicy.  However, time passes, things change and all of a sudden I'm willing to give it a go.  OK - not the spicy part.  I still don't do overly spicy food - it just seems senseless to me.  (remind me sometime to go into my diatribe on why I think crazy spicy is ridiculous)  

If you've not been, Dekalb Farmer's Market has a ridiculous selection of spices and even more ridiculous low prices.  Seriously people - what will cost you $4 at a grocery store will cost you $.62 at the Farmer's Market.  It is this selection of spices that I will partly attribute my willingness to give Indian food a go.  Well that, and a somewhat compulsive shopping "thing" I have going on.  I mean, if I can get 20 tubs of spices for less than $10 - I'm so there.  Which, is how I ended up with curries, masala, cardamom and array of other spices which lend their flavors to Indian cuisine.  And finally, all my beloved Indian friends of which are now a part of my life and forever will I attribute exposing me to at least some of this cuisine.

Chicken Masala

So of course my next stop is my library of cookbooks.  I ended up with what looked to be a decent dish - Chicken Masala. (recipe link) "Masala" basically means "mixture".  So chicken masala is made from chicken (thighs) and a great mixture of spices including garam masala. Garam masala refers to the intensity of the mixture of the herbs - in it's case very pungent.  To all my Indian friends...keep me honest here!  --- and if I'm wrong, blame Wikipedia!

After looking at this recipe I realized I liked everything in the recipe...just never tried them together....so why not?

I've added the link above to the details of this recipe so I'll not go into major description here other than to offer a few tips on variations.

I served this with rice - brown rice to make it a little healthier.  However, I gotta tell you it was screaming for some white rice:)  The spices in this recipe can be adjusted to your liking for the most part.  I'm not big on lots of heat, so I really reduced the cayenne down, but added some curry powder.  I also think a great yogurt sauce lightly drizzled on the top of this would be great.  Another thing I did to top this off was once I plated the dish I squeezed lime juice over the top --- this really gave the dish a nice, fresh finish.  Not to mention cilantro and lime, well heck they just go together;)

So here's the thing - OK this particular dish still isn't the prettiest dish -- but I gotta tell you ...it's pretty darn tasty.  It's definitely a different flavor combination and like most things, it takes getting used to.  "It's an acquired taste" is not a BS phrase...it's really true with a lot of things.  Try it...and then try it again....go to a GOOD Indian restaurant and I'll be you'll find a few things that will make you nod the head and say...."yea....I can do Indian food".