South-Asian Inspiration

I recently realized how much Indian food has to offer. They are by far the masters of spices and I always wanted to experiment with the spices and mixtures they work with. I visited this amazing spice store in Manhattan and bought every spice I heard of but never tried. I ran home and read a million recipes online, printed a few and went to my kitchen. I had two recipes: one was Lamb Tandoori and another was Chicken Tikki Masala, which I recently tasted with my biffle Flora at Curry in a Hurry which is next door to this spice market. Of course in my frazzle and tiny kitchen, I mixed up both recipes and had to work with what I had. I decided I wanted to make the Tikki Masala with Lamb. However, I was reading the Lamb Tandoori recipe and made the Tandoori marinade instead of the Tikki Masala marinade. The next day I continued the day after recipe with the Tikki Masala recipe. And so I ended up with some new age Indian dish I named Lamb Tandoori Tikki Masala. Please note that this is probably not appropriately titled but it works for me. The Chicken Tikki Masala calls for a different over night marinating. However this dish came out so amazing that David and I ate the left-over’s the day after. We never eat left-over’s so you can only imagine how happy we really were =). This is a very long recipe because it calls for so many ingredients. However, if you are a fan of spices please feel free to try this out. If you want to try this recipe but do not have the ingredients visit this website, of the spice market I went to (http://www.kalustyans.com/) where you can just order the spices online and have it delivered to your home. Once you have these spices, you can store them in a cool dry place and use them as you feel.

Please note that the recipe for Garam Masala is just one version. Different regions in Indian have their own recipe and so this is one that I found that works best for me. You can also order the ready-made mixture on Kalustyan’s website or in their store and save yourself some time. Garam Masala is very popular and used in many of the south-Asian dishes. Do not get scared of the recipe. If you have all of the ingredients and a really good food processor (Which every cook should invest in one) you will be good and on your way.

Also, if you are interested in beginning to create your own spice mixtures you should invest in a coffee grinder that is designated specifically for spices. Do not use the coffee grinder you already use for coffee for these spices. These spices have very distinct tastes that might not leave the grinder ever. Coffee has a very strong taste as well, so it’s hard to fight against that taste as well, no matter how much you wash and soak it.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

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Lamb Tandoori Tikki Masala

Prep Time: 20 Minutes the day before and 20 Minutes the next day

Cook Time: 45 Minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Lamb Marinade:

4 palm sized pieces of lamb chunks cut into 4. (You can also use lamb chops, or lamb with bones).

2 cups of yogurt

½ tablespoon of cumin seeds, toasted and cracked

½ tablespoon of coriander seeds, toasted and cracked

½ tablespoon of ground black pepper

½ tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons of honey

2 teaspoon of Garam Masala (recipe follows)

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon of fresh ginger, minced

5-6 flakes of red Chile

1 tablespoons of peanut oil

1 scallion chopped

½ cup of cilantro leaves (stems removed)

Tikkie Masala (day of) ingredients:

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon of vegetable or canola oil

¼ cup blanched whole almonds

1 large onions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

1 ½ tablespoons Garam Masala

1 ½ teaspoon pure chilie powder

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

One 35-ounce can peeled tomatoes, finely chopped, juices reserved

Pinch of sugar

1 cup heavy cream

Garam Masala:

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

½ tablespoon whole cloves

1 tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon cardamom seeds

3 tablespoons cumin seeds

3 tablespoons coriander seeds

4 (3 inch) cinnamon sticks

¼ cup dried red chilies

½ tablespoon freshly grated nutmeg

Directions to make Garam Masala:

In a large sauce pan, combine black peppercorns, cloves, cardamom seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cinnamon sticks, and dried red chilies. Over medium heat, cook just until slightly toasted, stirringly constantly. Turn off heat and stir in grated nutmeg. Transfer to a food processor and grind to a fine powder. Pass through a fine strainer. Allow to cool to room temperature. Stir in an airtight jar. Use as needed. If your kitchen is known to be very warm (like mine) it is a good idea to keep your spices in the refrigerator or even the freezer.

Directions for Lamb Marinade:

The night before, In a food processor using a metal blade, combine the yogurt, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, black pepper, salt, honey, garama masala, garlic, ginger, red chilie flakes, peanut oil, and scallions and process until well blended. Add the cilantro leaves and continue to process until pureed and well blended. Arrange the lamb in a non-reactive pan. Pour the marinade over and make sure both sides are well coated. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

Directions for the Next day:

Take out the lamb from the marinade and scrap off with a spoon all the excess sauce on the lamb. Cover the pan with foil. If you have the new non-stick foil it works wonders. If not, spray the foil lightly with cooking spray. Heat a grilling pan really well (for about 4 minutes) on high. Reduce the heat a tad bit and place the lamb on the pan. Do not touch the lamb. Grill for about 5-8 minutes and then peak to see very fine grill marks. Once it has the grill marks, flip over and cook for another 10 minutes or so. Remove to a plat and repeat if you have more pieces.

In a separate deep skillet begin the tikki masala sauce. First, heat 1 teaspoon of oil. Add the almonds and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until golden. Keep an eye on this so it does not burn. It will take about 5 minutes. Transfer the almonds to a plate and let it cool completely. In a food processor, pulse the almonds until finely ground.

In the same deep skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil until simmering. Ad the chopped onions, garlic and ginger and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until tender and golden, about 8 minutes. Add the garam masala, chilie powder and cayenne and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes with their juices and the sugar and season with salt and pepper. Cover partially and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Add the cream and ground almonds and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 10 minutes longer. Stir in the lamb; simmer gently for 10 minutes. Stir frequently.

Serves this with white jasmine rice, naan bread and even a cilantro mint chutney. You can also just add some freshly chopped cilantro and mint on top of the dish.

Cilantro Mint Chutney Recipe:

Ingredients:

6 ounces coconut milk

3 cloves garlic

4 ounces yogurt

1 ounce honey

1 tablespoon garam masala

2 cups cilantro leaves

1 ½ cups mint leaves

Salt

Black pepper

Sugar

Directions:

In a blender, combiner the coconut milk, garlic, yogurt, honey, and garam masala. Process until well blended. Add the cilantro and mint leaves and process until the herbs are pureed (mixture will turn to a green color). Season with salt, pepper and sugar to taste. Keep refrigerated until needed. (Yields about 1 2/3 cups)