Chicken Masala, Brown Rice and Roti

S and I bought a book called "Curried Favors" on our honeymoon... and it has become one of our favorite recipe books.  Never fear, those of you who don't like curry powder... Real Indian curry does not have curry powder in it at all!  I serve this meal with brown rice and/or roti bread.  This recipe is delicious and I have altered it as I've gotten comfortable with the process... this is the version that I make:

Chicken Masala

2 medium chicken breasts (or boneless thighs, etc), chopped into small pieces

Spice mixture:
6 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne) -optional for those sensitive to spicy food-
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon salt

2 cups thinly sliced onion
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced ginger
2 teaspoons olive oil (or just more as needed)
2 cups chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned, drained
1 teaspoon salt (I only add one teaspoon with the spices and omit this teaspoon)
2 teaspoons poppy seeds, coarsely ground in a mortar and pestle (I use a hand held coffee grinder... clean out the coffee first, of course)
1/2 cup water
Salt to taste

You can begin by rubbing the spices into the chicken and refrigerate it for an hour or you can do it my way... the lazy way... which is:

In a deep, heavy frying pan, begin saute onions in olive oil.  While onions begin to saute, mince garlic and ginger.  When onions are almost done sautéing, add garlic and ginger.  Stir and cook briefly and then set aside in a bowl.
Add more olive oil to pan, add chicken pieces and pour spice mixture over the chicken.  Mix the spices into the chicken right away.  Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes or until lightly browned.  Add fried onion mixture, tomatoes, and salt (if you want more salt) and simmer until tomatoes are very soft.
Stir in crushed poppy seeds and water.  Bring mixture to a boil and then turn down the heat, cover, and simmer for approximately 20 minutes.
Uncover and simmer for approximately another 20 minutes until sauce thickens and turns a dark shade of brown.  (I don't cook it for this long... just cook it until it is thick enough.  It will probably be done sooner than the recipe suggests)
Add salt to taste (I like this better if I'm using Real Salt... because then you don't cook all the trace minerals out of it.)

Prep time: 1 hour
Serves: 2-3 people


African Brown Rice

1 cup brown rice
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil or coconut oil
3 to 3 1/2 cups water

Put butter and olive oil in a pot on medium heat... allow butter to melt.  Then add brown rice and mix with spoon constantly so rice does not burn.  When rice is browned and beginning to pop (only a couple pops... sort of like popcorn)... add water and put temperature up to medium high.  When rice begins to boil, set timer for 10 minutes.  It's very important that the rice boils for ten minutes because it helps the rice to burst open and soften later on.  When ten minutes is up, make sure rice still has enough water to cover it... and then put a lid on the pot and turn the heat down to minimum... like 1 or 2.  Leave it here for at least 20 minutes.  You CAN leave it longer... up to 3 hours... just like the Africans cook their rice.  :-)
-This kind of rice is softer and easier to digest because the method of cooking allows the grain to burst open.


Roti

1 cup flour (white or wheat)
Pinch of salt
Enough lukewarm water to make dough

Place a cup of flour in a bowl with a pinch of salt.  Add some water and mix with your hand until you have made a soft dough.  Don't over knead dough.  Break dough into four pieces and knead in flour until smooth.  Roll one piece out at a time, as you cook them.  They should be very thin... thinner than a tortilla.
Place one roti in hot frying pan (preferably cast iron) with a little bit of oil on medium heat (not too much or the roti will taste like oil... just enough so it doesn't burn or smoke from any excess flour)
Flip over when starting to brown.  The roti should have air bubbles when it cooks on the second side... you can press these down with a spatula or a slightly damp dish towel-like they do in India, apparently... (but don't burn yourself!)

When you take the roti off the pan, quickly add another one before the pan starts to smoke... then return to the one you removed from the heat and put some softened butter and salt on it... repeat this process with each roti you remove from the heat.  Keep warm in the oven until you serve it.
(You may need more oil in the pan at times... just don't add too much at once.)



If you don't want to spend a ton on spices, but you want to try this Chicken Masala, just go to a bulk food store to get a little of each spice... then if you want to invest in more, you can do that later.