Indian Cooking---Made Easy

I don't know about you, but Indian cooking has always intimidated me. There are so many spices and spice blends, I find it overwhelming. My roommate in med school was Indian, and there were jars of spices that took up an entire shelf in our pantry. She made a memorable chicken biryani----but it took an entire afternoon to create this masterpiece! That's when I decided that I would have to resort to restaurants to get my Indian fix. After all, who has the time to cook all day?

(FYI: my husband and I love Tamarind in NYC, and Rasika in DC---check it out if you're in the area. Amazing.)

This summer, I gained the courage to cook my own Indian dinner after taking an Indian cooking class. Thanks to an amazing instructor who introduced us to Indian spices and numerous hands-on recipes, I don't find this cuisine as daunting. It also helped to have two other foodie friends help out with my first attempt at Indian cooking.

Here's Parippu in the making....

Since I am always ordering chicken tikka masala at restaurants, it only made sense that I should attempt this at home. I found a good recipe from Cook's Illustrated. It far exceeded my expectations, and I would even say it's comparable to the restaurant versions I've had. My friends and I loved it!

As promised, here's the link to the recipe, ladies. chicken tikka masala

I would emphasize that making your own garam masala spice blend makes all of the difference when cooking Indian food. I made the mistake of buying pre-made indian spice blends in the past---I would NOT recommend that. There are a lot of spices that go into garam masala, so if you want to save on the cost, then buy the spices in "bulk" rather than a whole jar of each spice. I found them at Whole Foods, and if you're in Seattle, check out the Market Spice store in the Pike Place Market.

GARAM MASALA

8 cardamom pods
1 tsp black peppercorns
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cloves
2 bay leaves
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 inches cinnamon stick

Grind all ingredients together until smooth. Store in airtight container.

Let me know how it turns out!
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