All-Purpose Curry Sauce

     Let me preface this recipe by stating that it is not truly "all-purpose." While it would go great on eggs, I'd probably think twice before putting it on your ice cream. I do admit to dipping a pancake in this sauce and it was not bad in a French-fries-in-a-McDonald's-chocolate-shake sort of way. The sauce was pulled from a recipe for fish in a curry sauce. I wasn't really keen on the idea of curried fish at the time, so I wound up using this to cover some chicken tenders. This is a really tasty sauce. I used a sweet curry, so the more delicate eaters should have no complaint. If you want heat, use hot curry powder or throw in some cayenne. All I want is for you to be happy. Is that so much to ask? As always, notes are in blue.

All-Purpose Curry Sauce
via Madhur Jafrey's Quick & Easy Indian Cooking

Ingredients

• 2-1/4 cups milk
• 4 tablespoons butter (as usual, we went with margarine)
• 1/4 cup good curry powder (our good curry powder was a sweet curry powder from The Spice House)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro (our garden is chugging right along, so we actually had fresh on hand!)
• 2-3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (no fresh on hand, I used the lemons to make limoncello. I had to use bottled)

Directions

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add curry powder, stir for a minute to incorporate. Add flour, stir for 2 more minutes (fundamentally, you're making a roux here. Don't let it get too hot or it will burn and then you're screwed and have to start over).
2. Using a whisk, beat in the milk. Bring the heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. When the mixture hits the boil, add the cilantro and lemon juice. Lower the heat so the mixture comes off the boil. Stir for a couple more minutes and then remove from the heat. The sauce should be creamy.

Good times!

Chicken Makhani

     The first Indian meal my wife ever had was Chicken Makhani. I took her out to an Indian restaurant. She was a little leery, thinking everything would be spicy and overwhelming. She tried the makhani and it began her love affair with Indian food. I've been cooking Indian around once a week now. One of The Wife's demands is that I replicate the restaurant's makhani. This recipe comes very close. We had to do some tinkering. The restaurant used yogurt, so we swapped it in here. We also kept it mild.  I was super pleased with the results here. The sauce was creamy and extremely flavorful. This is a good place to start if you have never had Indian food. There are quite a few notes and changes made in this recipe, so read carefully if the text is blue.

Chicken Makhani
via Madhur Jaffrey's Quick & Easy Indian Cooking

Ingredients

• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala (I stopped making it myself and just started buying it by the jar. In the end, it costs almost the same and is way less of a hassle)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt (as I watch my salt intake, I cut this back to 1/2 teaspoon)
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (we like the heat, so we went with the 1/2 teaspoon. I wouldn't ramp it up much more than that because you'll start drowning out the other flavors)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste (we used 2 tablespoons)
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream (we subbed 3/4 cup plain yogurt)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (we used bottled)
• 2 tablespoons chopped, fresh cilantro
• 1 fresh, hot green chile, finely chopped, with seeds (since we were trying to duplicate a restaurant recipe, we omitted the hot chile. The makhani we had was mild)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon black or yellow mustard seeds
• 2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen peas (omitted)
• 1-1/2 pounds boneless chicken

Directions

1. Combine sugar, ground cumin, garam masala, salt, cayenne and tomato paste. Slowly add 2 tablespoons water, mixing as you go. Add the cream (or yogurt, if that's what you're using) slowly and mix. Put in the lemon juice, cilantro and green chile (if using). Mix again and set the cream sauce aside
2. Put the oil in a large frying pan and set over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in the cumin and mustard seeds. IF YOU WANT TO SKIP THE PEAS AND USE CHICKEN, SKIP STEP #3 AND GO TO STEP #4. 
3. After a few seconds, the mustard seeds will begin to pop. When this happens, put in the peas. Stir and fry the peas for 30 seconds
4. Add the chicken and stir and fry until cooked through.
5. Add the cream sauce. Cook on high heat for about 1-1/2 to 2 minutes or until the sauce has thickened (if you used yogurt instead of cream, it's going to be plenty thick already. Just cook it until everything is heated through). Stir gently as you cook. 

Good times!