Trial and error (8): Paalak murg or Spinach chicken

Continuing with my effort to cheer myself up I tried this simple recipe of Paalak Murg (Spinach Chicken) gravy. Living abroad I have often found the lamb meat does not taste as nice as back home. As a result I mostly cook chicken or sometimes prawns. So I thought that I should try something new using chicken.

How I did it?
I have been following Mehan's Kitchen blog for some time now. Previously I have made broccoli cutlets using a recipe from the blog. This time I chose Chicken and Spinach Curry recipe there. The one minor addition that I made was using two diced tomatoes to make the gravy along with the onion. As I did not have garam masala, I substituted it with biryani masala.

Notes on cooking technique.
I have to admit that for once I did not come across any difficulties while cooking Paalak Murg. In the future too I don't see any reason to deviate from the methodology.

My verdict.
It was totally yummy and I enjoyed eating Paalak Murg with chapatis. Here are is a picture for you to see:

Paalak murg or Spinach chicken gravy

Trial and error (6): Chicken meat ball curry

I have to admit that during Christmas vacations I took it real easy. There was more ordering in of food and little of proper cooking. The snow storms that struck the city, also struck my enthusiasm. But with the new year not being so new any more and my birthday a week away I seem to be getting my drive back. So I thought of trying my hand at something I had made a long time back: Chicken meat ball curry.

There are two reasons that I have shied away from this one up until now: (1) the first time that I did make it I remember the meat balls broke when cooking and (2) the high standards that my husband holds with respect to this dish. He has grown up eating this delicious lamb meat ball curry which his aunts make. But the recipe is really intricate. So as a start I decided as usual to find an easier route.

How I did it?
I have been following Bong Mom's CookBook blog for a while. To be honest I love her writing, the stories that precede the recipes. Plus, the photos of the dishes do give confidence that she is good at what she does. Searching through her repertoire I found this post: http://www.bongcookbook.com/2009/06/kofta-curry-and-then.html and followed the instructions without deviating much. As I did not have cashew nuts and yoghurt I left them out.

Notes on cooking technique.
What is interesting is that Bong Mom's Cookbook tells that you can do the koftas (meat balls) three ways. You can fry them and serve as a starter, make them into a curry or use to make a pulao. I tried the first two and in both cases the meat balls came out nice and soft. In the meat balls mix along with coriander leaves I also added some mint leaves to give it a tangy taste. Though it wasn't mentioned I used 1 egg for binding. I have to admit that I added less salt in the meat balls. This was worked as far as the curry was concerned because the meat balls absorb the saltiness from the gravy when left standing. But it did leave the plain fried koftas wanting.
       
       I first made the meat ball mix and refrigerated it. While it was in there I began working on making the gravy. As the onions, tomatoes and ginger-garlic need to be cooked and cooled first before blending into a paste, by the time I was done 45 min had gone which was the more than the minimum time (30 min) for the meat balls mix to marinate.

My verdict.
Given that it was rather cold in the evening when I made this recipe it did not take me too long to cook it. I do intend to make it again with one variation of adding coconut milk. I think it will make it tastier.

Here is the final photo after much of the meat balls had been devoured:

Meat balls in curry and as an appetizer

Trial and error (4): Potato cup frittata

I have to admit that though I have learnt to make quite a few dishes for the daily meals, I have been afraid to go beyond that. This is mainly because while the eating part is quick, cooking generally takes much longer. So when trying something new a build up is created which can be misleading like an expected blockbuster film which turns out to have gone all wrong. There have been quite a few occasions when this is exactly what has happened to me. The fact that I am an emotional cook makes it worse. If my pooris don't rise, chapatis are not soft or biryani is not perfect you will find tears dripping down my face.

The good thing about living in Providence is that unlike Uppsala in Sweden, we can get food home delivered. So there is something to fall back on. Not that being forced to do this will make me feel any better. So with a little trepidation I decided to step out of the snack zone to dinner service. However, as always I chose a recipe that would be easy to deliver and would have an appearance and a taste that I could recognize to know for sure of its success or failure.

For the Christmas lunch one of the dishes that my landlady had made was the frittata. In the first Masterchef USA mystery box challenge the contestants were asked to cook something stunning using an egg. A frittata made it to the top three. As I searched over the internet I found that this is really an Italian omelette which makes use of all kinds of filling ingredients like potatoes, spinach, broccoli, zuchini, bacon and ham but obviously not all at the same time. It may be cooked on the stove or in the oven. You can serve it as a breakfast, lunch or dinner along with a salad.

How I did it?
I was all set to make a traditional frittata (like a big pizza circle) on Saturday night when I found a different way of cooking it inside small potato cups as shown by Averagebetty (click to see recipe). I used sautéed onions and green capsicum with coriander leaves but avoided the dressing up with the baby tomatoes. I also refrained from adding cumin powder and fresh cream.

        Finally I served the frittats with a classic salad in drizzled with vinegar and a cheesy pasta. The latter was bought from the market as I was not sure if the frittatas on their own would be filling for tummies used to heavy Indian dinners.

Notes on cooking technique.
Though I drained the potato shreds of water I found that still some remained at the end. I am not sure if this caused any adverse affect. I spread them around the muffin cups with fingers more easily than a spoon. I perhaps used more shreds than were necessary as the base seemed to remain soft.

         The video showed a green chilli paste being added to the egg mix. I used two chillies to make a paste but as it did not become as fine as I wanted, I added some water to get the chilliness into it. I then drained off the chilli bits and used the water to spice up the egg mix.

          When filling the potato cups with the egg mix it looked like there were too many veggies and little of the egg itself. But on baking the frittatas rose and the combination came out right. For removing the frittatas I slid a knife around in a circle. But because the muffin tray was not non-stick some of the potato shreds on the base did not come out. At the same time it wasn't much of a struggle or cause for frustration.

My husband's verdict.
He was very happy with the end result so much so that he made me give some to the other two residents of our building, one of them being our landlady who was the inspiration behind trying the frittata recipe in the first place.

Here is the photo of the dinner plate. Enjoy!

Potato cup frittatas for dinner

Trial and error (1): Pan-fried lamb chops

One of the promises that I have listed to keep this year is to try out new recipes [Refer post 2]. To add a seriousness to it I have decided that on a minimum I will make one such attempt per month. Clearly I am no Julie Powell who completed the challenge of cooking all the 524 recipes from Julia Child's cookbook titled "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". While I admit I haven't read Julie Powell's book nor her famous blog where she wrote about her trials and errors, based on the movie Julie & Julia it looks like when she undertook the Julie/Julia Project she loved cooking and already had some skills in the kitchen. As I am not as much of a cooking enthusiast the low cap that I have self imposed can be forgiven. At the same time for having already begun on this journey so soon my determination should be applauded.

Wanting to start with an uncomplicated yet delicious recipe requiring little expertise, I chose Grilled Pan-fried lamb chops.

How I did it?
I followed Giada De Laurentis' recipe from foodnetwork.com but substituting thyme with mint leaves and adding juice of half of a lemon when making the marinade. For pan frying I used a little canola oil letting a tablespoon of butter melt into it before placing the lamb chops. I used shoulder lamb chops which are a bit harder. Since I wanted them well done, I cooked both sides of the chops for 10 min each. I served the chops with based potatoes and boiled peas with a dash of butter.

Notes on cooking technique.
My first comment on the final outcome is that I should have made either more portions of the chops or served an appetizer before, as one piece was not filling enough. Secondly, it turned out that in my first attempt I had employed a cooking time of 15 min on each side which was more than necessary and made the meat slightly firm. When I remade this dish a couple of days ago, based on directions given on ehow.com I first fried each side for 5-6 min. But I found that the meat remained undercooked. Frying each side additionally for 5 min on high flame made it just right. The meat was cooked through as well as slightly tender.

My husband's verdict.
His rating for the dish: 7/10 which for me equals "not bad". He was happy though I made an effort.

This is how the Pan-fried lamb chops came out looking:

Pan-fried lamb chops for dinner