Chicken Bhuna with Lemon Rice

First of all Lemon rice, though it should be called lime rice, is way better than the sum of its parts... way better. Something about the crunchy toasted urad dal and the peanuts with the sweet and sour rice is majestic, so no matter who you are just make it.

Secondly any kind of bhuna preparation is pretty much solidly what my wife would call “Mikey food”, with onions, tomatoes, garlic, and chilis you can't go wrong as far as I'm concerned. If you want it framed in a more Americanized context, it's basically slightly saucier fajitas with more spices. It's awesome! And I know that some of you out there have an aversion to fennel/anise/love/happiness/etc., so if that's the bane you suffer just leave it out or grow up.

Chicken Bhuna

Serves 2-4 depending on how you like to party

Ingredients

3 TBS oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 sprig curry leaves

¼ tsp turmeric

1 heaping TBS ginger/garlic paste

1 bell pepper thinly sliced

1 large onion thinly sliced

1 TBS tomato paste

1 lb of boneless chicken sliced very thinly against the grain (breast or thigh, doesn't matter much here though thighs are always better... ALWAYS!)

1 TBS fennel powder

1 TBS cumin powder

1 TBS coriander powder

red chili powde to taste (optional)

½ tsp garam masala

½ tsp black pepper

salt to taste

¼ C chopped cilantro

Method

Heat your oil to med/high and fry your cumin seeds until they splutter, then add curry leaves and turmeric until the leaves crackle, then add gin/gar paste and stir for 20 seconds or so.

Mix in your peppers and cover for 2 min, then add onions with a little salt and cover stirring occasionally until they look slightly translucent.

Stir in your tomato paste and fry for 1 min.

Add in chicken with all of the spices, stir very well and cover for 2- 5 minutes stirring a few times, until chicken is cooked.

Taste for salt and mix in cilantro.

Eat it!

Lemon Rice

Serves 2-4 again depending on your mood

Ingredients

3 C leftover rice (Like making fried rice, you CAN cook it first and then put it on a sheet pan to cool for a little while, but leftover rice has a much better texture)

2 TBS oil

1-2 TBS urad dal (split black skinless lentils)

2 TBS dry roasted peanuts

½ tsp mustard seeds

1 sprig curry leaves

1 pinch hing

¼ tsp turmeric

1 TBS minced ginger

½ finely chopped jalapeno (optional)

Juice of 1-2 limes

1-2 TBS sugar

¼ C chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

Method

Heat oil in pan to med-med/high and toast urad dal until golden, then add mustard seeds until they splutter, then curry leaves until they crackle, then hing, peanuts, and turmeric.

Next add ginger and fry for 10 seconds, then add jalapenos and mix for 30 seconds

Throw your rice in and break up the clumps, stir fry it until it' well coated for about 2-3 minutes and it's nice and hot.

Sprinkle it with sugar and stir, followed by lime juice.

Stir fry until the lime juice has dried up, then add salt to taste and cilantro.

Relish this opportunity to enjoy the fruits of your labor!

Home-style Bhindi Besanwali and Methi Dal

After being out of town for awhile its always pretty awesome to get back in the kitchen and cook for my wife and I. I still love cooking big caloric feasts for my friends when I go to visit, but I end up missing the healthier, and often less ubiquitously preferred dishes we eat at home.

As much as I do know a ton of awesome open-minded people who enjoy all kinds of stuff, some flavors and textures are pretty polarizing, for example: Okra and Fenugreek! My wife (thank God) and I LOVE okra, and my friend and Indian food co-conspirator recently schooled me on the joy of frozen fenugreek leaves (thank God again) so I wanted to throw together a nice Rajasthani lunch.

We ate this stuff with some plain basmati rice (so I could use the leftovers for lemon rice!), lime pickle and a little yogurt. This is a super tasty, super healthy powerhouse of flavor. Usually, folks will deep fry the okra dish, but after some looking I found some versions that were satueed. Don't get me wrong, it would straight up be better fried, but we're always trying to eat fewer calories than we really want to.

Home-style Bhindi Besanwali

Yield: 4 servings as a side dish

Ingredients

1lb frozen cut okra

3 TBS oil

1 onion in 1 inch thin slices

½ jalapeno finely chopped

1 TBS ginger/garlic paste

¼ C besan (chickpea flour)

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 pinch of hing

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 TBS cumin powder

1 TBS coriander powder

1 TBS amchur (dried green mango) powder or the juice of 1 lime

Red chili powder to taste (optional)

¼ C chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

Method

Heat your oil to med/high and fry the cumin seeds for a few seconds, then hing, then turmeric, then gin/gar paste for 20 seconds or so.

Follow up with the onions and jalapenos with some salt until they're golden.

Next add your okra with coriander powder and red chili powder and reduce the heat to med stirring often for about 5-8 minutes until the okra is about ¾ cooked.

Now stir in your amchur powder or lime juice, followed by the besan.

Let this sautee until the besan is cooked, maybe 5 minutes or so stirring often. Finish it off with the cilantro, salt to taste, and enjoy!

Methi Dal

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 C sorted and rinsed moong dal (split peeled mung beans)

3 C water

1/8 tsp turmeric

2 TBS oil

1 onion finely chopped

1 jalapeno finely chopped

1 TBS ginger/garlic paste

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 pinch hing

1/8 tsp turmeric

½ C frozen methi (fenugreek) leaves

Red chili powder to taste

Salt to taste

¼ C chopped cilantro

Method

Boil your dal with 1/8 tsp turmeric and water until mushy, adding water to your desired consistency.

Heat oil in pan to med/high then fry cumin seeds until the splutter followed by hing and another 1/8 tsp turmeric then add gin/gar paste and fry for 20 seconds.

Add your onions and jalapenos with salt and sautee until golden, followed by the methi leaves and red chili powder and let it cook for 5 minutes.

Add the methi mixture to the dal and stir, add cilantro and salt to taste.

Eat it!