Chicken Tikka Masala

This is the best CTM I have ever had in my life.

Mix

2t turmeric
4t garam masala
4t black pepper
1/2t ground ginger

into

2c buttermilk (or you could use yogurt plus 2T lemon juice if you don't have buttermilk). Add
2-2.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thigh, diced

and marinate in the fridge overnight. The next day:

Heat up a kettle, in case you need to add hot water to the onions to keep them from burning. In a saucepan rather than a skillet, saute

1/2 stick (4T) butter
1c diced yellow onion

for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add

2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped fine
1/2 head garlic, crushed
1.5T grated ginger

and cook for 20 minutes, on medium heat at first, gradually lowering heat and stirring more frequently as the onions cook. Add

3.5t garam masala
1t paprika
1t salt

and cook for another minute or two. Add

1 15-oz can tomato sauce

and blend with a stick blender until smooth, heaping sauce on the blender so that it doesn't splash. Add

1T dried fenugreek leaves or fresh, finely chopped fennel fronds

and simmer for 30 minutes. Meanwhile preheat broiler, put up a pot of rice, and put chicken on a cooling rack on foil on a baking sheet. With 15 minutes left on the rice, put chicken in broiler, not too close to the flames, and cook for 7 minutes on the first side and 6 minutes on the second side, until a few spots are browned. It's OK if it cools off during the 3 or 4 minutes it takes to flip. To the sauce, add

about 1c half-and-half (it really wants to be half and half here, not cream), until the tomato and cream flavors are balanced. Exact amounts will depend on the quality of your dairy.

and stir until the color is consistent. Add chicken and serve over rice.

Makes a little more than 2 pints.

Saag Paneer

This recipe is a work in progress and will likely change unannounced. Note that most small amounts are in *tablespoons* not teaspoons -- I make this recipe with the half-tablespoon measure, half filling it where a quarter tablespoon is called for.

In a heavy 4-5 quart saucepan or dutch oven, heat

1/2 gallon whole, non-UHT milk

to almost boiling. Add approximately

1/4 cup white vinegar

stopping when the milk begins to curdle. Stir until curds and whey are completely separated and strain through cheesecloth in a colander. Stir curds to let the whey escape, then gather the curds in the cheesecloth, squeeze, and press in a box press or under a heavy weight for at least an hour. Cut resulting cheese into 1/2" cubes.

Put up a pot of rice, and heat up a kettle to use where water is called for in the next few steps. In a saucepan, cook

1/2T cumin seeds in
a little bit of avocado oil, until they sizzle. Add

1-1/3c diced yellow onion
1/2 head garlic, crushed
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped fine
1T grated fresh ginger

Cook for another minute or two, then add

1/2T salt
1/4T turmeric
1T garam masala
1T coriander
1/4T paprika
1/2T ground cardamom seed
1T amchur (dried mango) powder (optional)
1/3c raw (unroasted) cashews
3/4c hot water
1T lemon juice
1T calamansi vinegar (or you can substitute a little more than 1T additional lemon juice if you don't have calamansi vinegar)

cover and cook for 5-7 minutes on medium heat. Add

8 oz chopped collard greens, stems on (this pretty much fills my 3 quart saucepan to the top). Or some other mix of dark greens; radish greens, chard, dandelion greens, various kinds of mustard greens, spinach, or even some kinds of choy work great. Malabar spinach does not work so well. If you use spinach, use grown-up spinach, not baby spinach. Pick fractions so that the overall level of flavor works out similarly to a collards/mustard greens mix.

Cook for 2 minutes to wilt (longer for a double batch), then add

8 oz chopped mustard greens, stems on

and cook for another 2 minutes. Turn off heat and blend with a stick blender, heaping sauce on the blender to keep it from splashing, until the pieces are about 1/4" long. Add cheese and

1/2T butter (optional)

and cook on medium for another minute or two. Add up to another

1/4c hot water

stirring until mixture will pour from a spoon, but not so much that the water separates from the curry.

Serve over rice.

Makes a little more than 2 pints.