Fragrant Cuisine - Easy Indian

If I ask most people around here if they like curry, the most common reaction is a wrinkled nose and a vigorous head shaking. That's because most of them have not had a properly-made curry. In Montana the number of people from South Asia is not that large and so good curries are few and far between.

I encountered the similar reactions among many of my personal chef clients, but convinced enough of them to try two of my dishes that I called "Two Introductions to Curry." One was a beef stew with mild curry spicing and the other was pan roasted pork chops with curry added to a peach sauce. Not only was I pleased with their reactions, I converted quite a few clients from those wrinkled nose expressions to regular requests to repeat the dishes in their bi-weekly orders.

Why do I bring this up since this week's recipe has nothing to do with curry? Only because this week's dish also falls into the category of Indian cuisine -- a cuisine noted for its use of curry, from very mild to very very hot.

Chicken Biryani is a simple stew that includes fragrant spicing so characteristic of Indian cuisine and that's one of the reasons I chose it. I just love the aromas in my kitchen while this dish cooks. It does have a little bit of a kick, since it includes dried chilies and some jalapeño. But, as in all of my recipes, you can feel free to add or subtract the heat. Just remember that once you add it -- you really can't subtract it.

Biryani is actually a word that comes from ancient Persian and it means "fried," which I find interesting because nothing except the garnish in this dish is fried (the shallots).

In any case, I urge you to try this dish, especially if you're unfamiliar with Indian cuisine. It's a good introductory dish. And remember you can control the heat level by adding or subtracting the chilies and jalapeños before you begin cooking.

Here's the video and the recipe:

1 cup Basmati rice 2 Tbsp canola oil 2 tsp coriander seeds 3 dried chili peppers (Chili de Arbol, if available) 1 1/2 Tbsp Kosher salt 2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped 4 chicken thighs, skinless, bone in 4 chicken drumsticks, skinless, bone in 1 large yellow onion, chopped 1 2-inch piece of ginger root 1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, finely chopped 1/4 cup slice almonds, toasted (for garnish) fried shallots (for garnish) chopped cilantro (for garnish) Heat oven to 350. Put the rice in a bowl and cover with water and soak for 20 minutes, rinse and repeat. Drain then set aside. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the coriander seeds and crushed chilies and cook, stirring occasionally until fragrant, about a minute and a half. Add the salt, cinnamon, garlic, chicken pieces, onion, ginger and jalapeño and cook, stirring frequently until the onion softens, about another 6 minutes or so. Stir in the reserved rice and 1-1/14 cups of hot water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover the pot and transfer to the preheated oven. Cook until the rice is tender and the chicken is cooked through -- about 35 minutes. Transfer the pot to a rack and let it sit covered for at least 5 minutes. Uncover, fluff the rice with a fork and transfer to a serving planner, garnishing with toasted slivered almonds, fried shallots and chopped cilantro.