It Comes With…

People sometimes ask about our cooking process. I would call it an evolving partnership. Ben thinks of a meal he loves, or he looks through his cookbooks, and usually comes up with something that is not practical to make together. Sometimes, it is too complicated, and requires techniques he certainly doesn’t have, and I can’t execute under duress (say, making pâte à choux while Alexa is playing “Baby Shark” at full volume.) Sometimes, especially with wonky supply chains, I can’t get the right ingredients. Sometimes, I balk at the cost. Do we really need lobster tails on a weekday? Isn’t prosciutto a little extravagant as a sandwich filler? But the most common technique Ben uses when meal planning is something I like to call, “It comes with…” 

Here’s how it works. Ben thinks of a perfectly reasonable meat-centric main dish, and sells me on it. Once I agree to the main dish, the side dish is usually pretty easy to slip in. Man cannot live by chicken alone, right? He has learned that if he shoots for dessert straight away, he’s likely to get shot down, so the order of his next request is critical. “It comes with…seizure (Caesar) salad…” (I agree, because what mother, in the history of time, has ever told her kid he can’t have salad?) “…and peas…” (again, veggie request approved) “…and fruit for dessert…” When I cautiously agree, he reveals that the fruit is actually in the dessert, like a single banana sliced into a sugar-laden pudding, with Nilla wafers and “whooped” cream. If I balk, he concedes that we can just have plain chocolate pudding to “make it easier.”

This week we made Chicken Tikka Masala. “It comes with rice…and homemade naan…and grape shrimp salad* cucumber slices…and blueberry cobbler** ice cream for dessert.” In a perfect world, we would have worked in more veggies, but making both naan and tikka masala requires some concentration in the last 10 minutes, so we kept the rest as simple as possible.

I’m sure that our recipe takes many shortcuts, but it tastes great, so I’m fine with sacrificing authenticity. The copious amounts of butter and cream are a whole different issue, so if you are health conscious or have decided that a pandemic is an ideal weight loss opportunity, keep walking… nothing to see here.

Chicken Tikka Masala

For the chicken:

3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1/2 cup plain yogurt

2 tablespoons canola or peanut oil

4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon salt

For the sauce:

2 tablespoons ground coriander

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon cardamom

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced or grated

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter

2 large white onions, finely chopped (or lightly pulsed in a food processor)

28 ounces tomato puree

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup heavy cream

1-1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup cilantro leaves, chopped, for serving

1. In a large bowl mix yogurt, 2 tablespoons oil, lemon juice, garlic and 1 teaspoon salt. Add chicken, and stir to coat. Set aside (30 minutes, or so) while you prepare the sauce.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the coriander, cumin, paprika, cardamom, nutmeg, cayenne and ginger.
3. Melt the butter over moderate heat in a large, heavy pot. Add the onions and sauté until soft, but not brown, about 7 minutes. Add the spice and ginger mixture, stirring to coat onions. Add the tomato puree, water, cream, and salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently, uncovered, about 10 minutes.
4. Grill chicken over moderately high direct heat, turning after 5 minutes, cooking a total of 10 minutes. (Note: If you prefer, sauté the chicken in batches in a large skillet over moderately high heat, turning once, until cooked through, about 8 minutes total.)
5. Let cooked chicken rest 5 minutes, cut into bite-sized pieces, and add, with juices, to simmering sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes, remove from heat, and stir in pepper. Top with cilantro, and serve with rice, naan, or (the obvious choice), both.

The recipe for naan was posted earlier, here:

Chicken Vindaloo and Homemade Naan

*Despite sounding odd, grape shrimp salad is a thing – a very delicious thing – but to call it salad is a stretch. We hope to feature it soon on Ben’s Day Wednesday.

**Blueberry cobbler would have been a delicious end to this meal, but I stood my ground in this week’s episode of “It Comes With…” (Custard’s last stand?)