Tikka Masala over Aloo Dum **news!**

The bigger picture...

Throughout the short course of this blog, I've learned several things.. not only about myself, but about others too.. 

I've learned that people will give others a chance, when one might not always think he/she has a chance at all.. 

I've learned that I'd like to pursue cooking, as a career...  I'd like to try and open a restaurant one day and hopefully keep it in the family for generations if possible.. 

and

I'd like to officially announce today to this group, that I'm going to put together a COOKBOOK!!

Yep... either self-published or find an agent (Still looking).. Probably just online distribution through private copyright but hell, it's something I've wanted to do, others have asked me to do and my family would love for me to do.. so, there it is.. it's out of the bag.. there will be a What's For Dinner Dad?! cookbook with recipes that I've created and my methods for each recipe.. XD  

I want to give a special thanks to the facebook group for reaching 200 page LIKES to achieve this blog entry!!  

The blog will continue now with REGULAR posts and many recipes, sharing of methods and daily life, from a skewed point of view.. Enjoy..

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Some of you have expressed interest in how I made the Tikka Masala over Aloo Dum, below is your recipe!

Indian food is love of food and culture

Respect the ingredients that you use to make this... good in, good out 

If you absolutely cannot find fresh spices, your local grocery usually has some form of the spice in jars.. major stores too.. go with whole spices when possible (and needed), and if they don't have one type, you can usually google it and figure out what whole spices are needed to make a particular powder..  do your best and PREP PREP PREP (very key)

What I've done for this dish is combine two recipes.. Tikka Marsala and used to potato method without the curry for Aloo Dum ... Nice chicken and potatoes, a good curry and great flavor.. 

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What you will need

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2-3 lbs Boneless Chicken

--Ginger/Garlic Paste--

{3-4 cloves of garlic}

{fresh ginger }

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Onions Chopped

Green Chili (optional for heat, I can't have it =.(  )

Cilantro(coriander)

tomatoes sliced 

tomato paste

cinnamon stick

Curry powder

whole clove

fennel seed

chili powder

bay leaf

cumin seeds or powder

ginger powder

yogurt (squeeze as much water out as possible/greek yogurt/dry) 

fresh lemon juice

Ghee (clarified butter, heat butter, separate with cheesecloth, use clear oil) 

potatoes (small fingerling work well, if not just cube small)

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Believe it or not, I learned this by watching two separate videos, as always, I give credit, where it's due.. 

Watch these two several times to get a feel for what you will have to do here... Gordon's will be a bit difficult to follow, but the Manjula's recipe is direct to the point.. you will only be doing the potato prep from this video...  Boil, then fry potatoes, then you add them to the Tikka Masala ... 

Aloo Dum - http://youtu.be/g8wlWaEBncI

Tikka Masala - http://youtu.be/y-VjBxMufhw

Tikka Masala - VAHCHEF - http://youtu.be/QPCwH8uJawA (another recipe, but slower)

Above is the recipe that I used in mine.. a bit different than Gordon's! (which is delicious, I've made it before)

I do NOT add sugar to mine.. I think the ingredients provide a sweetness of their own!  

also, I used WHOLE garam masala vs powdered.. another big difference..

TIPS: Cook the garlic/ginger in large chunks, it won't matter because you will be blitzing them anyhow.. they brown nicely and give good flavor!  I do NOT blitz my bay leaf as it's provided undesirable results (dried bay leaf, fresh would blitz fine)

Fry up the chicken pieces in the SAME PAN you built that delicious paste with!

Simmer the curry, longer the better sometimes.. let it get deep red and taste it!!  if  it tastes like spices, add salt, the whole dish will change after a few minutes..   I add the salt AFTER the blitz, while reducing..  it goes VERY fast in the video, I know.. but watch it again and again..  I've also included the VAH CHEF Masala video for reference.. he's also very funny and I've tried a few of his recipes and they are DELICIOUS!!  (although he uses a LOT of ghee sometimes and I cut back on it)

Add coriander and serve...   add the potatoes after the blitz (of course)

It was very very good... the potatoes soak up the curry and really melt in your mouth.. 

I hope you all enjoy this little concoction I've threw together and if you make it sometime, let me know! =D

~Chef Dad

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