All I want for Christmas is a tandoor oven

The Indian food was a smashing success!! I feel a love affair with Indian food coming on. I can't wait to try more recipes! Jacob's only complaint was that I substituted half of the chicken with garbanzo beans (he didn't like the texture as much, although the flavor of the beans was great in this dish). I told him he should be thanking me for being so economically savvy; when a package of four little chicken breasts costs $6 at the grocery store, it only makes sense to cut the recipe requirements in half and substitute a can of beans (costing a mere 50 cents) for the protein. So here's the bottom line: garbanzo beans taste delicious with this recipe, but chicken tastes even better. It was such a tasty meal that I have decided to post the recipe for you all to try (here you go, Kaerlig). The recipes can be found on Allrecipes.com, but I did some slight variations that I think made the original recipes even better, so here is my version:

Curried Coconut Chicken

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" pieces (original recipe calls for 2 lb. chicken)
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. salt and pepper, or to taste
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 T curry powder
1 onion, thinly sliced and coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14-oz.) can coconut milk
1 (14.5-oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 (8-oz.) can tomato sauce
3 T brown sugar

1. In large skillet, stir together 2 T of the olive oil and curry powder on medium heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat slightly and add onion, garlic, and the rest of the olive oil (or whatever amount of olive oil it takes to adequately coat the onions as they caramelize) and saute until onions are translucent and tender, stirring occasionally. Add other spices and diced tomatoes and cook 5 minutes longer.

2. Increase heat to medium and add chicken. Cook until center of chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear. Stir in coconut milk, tomato sauce, and sugar and reduce heat to medium-low, or whatever temperature keeps the sauce at a gentle simmer. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens. Stir in garbanzo beans and continue to simmer until beans are heated through.

3. Serve over white rice with garlic naan and mango lassi. DELICIOUS!!

(My changes: 1 lb. chicken, garbanzo beans, more olive oil, cayenne pepper, and in general cooking the dish at a lower heat and for a longer period of time. You can cook it at a higher heat and in a shorter amount of time, but the flavors will not be as rich. And the best part about this dish is that it fed Jacob and I for 3 meals!!! Oh how I love leftovers.)

The garlic naan also turned out well, although not as good as the naan I have eaten at Indian restaurants. I used the recipe on Allrecipes.com called "Naan" submitted by Mic. I just don't feel like typing it out. :) I added 1/2 tsp. of baking soda to the dough to help it form bubbles as it cooked. My suggestions are to roll out the naan as thin as possible, otherwise the weight of the dough causes the bubbles to deflate soon after cooking. I might even increase the garlic to 3 cloves next time, just because I love garlic so much. I also think I will knead in some chopped fresh cilantro when I knead in the garlic. This is a great naan recipe, but I think the only way to make a fantastic naan is to use a tandoor oven... and who has one of those??

Although I ran to the store at the last minute to buy some mangoes for the mango lassi, I decided not to make it because the mangoes were not ripe enough. I figured it would be better to be patient and have a sweet, delicious mango lassi later in the week rather than a tart, sour lassi with the Indian meal. I am planning on using the recipe entitled "Mango Lassi II" submitted by Yonna. It looks delicious!

If any of you have any great Indian or other ethnic recipes you'd like to share, do pass them along! I'm so utterly bored with my American recipe rotation that I'm making it my personal mission to introduce a variety of dishes into my weekly menu. Happy Cooking!