Jay was here for dinner, and I made Indian food for him and Larry. I don’t make Indian food very much, and when I do, it’s not really traditional Indian food – more like simple curries. I wanted to bake this weekend, so I figured I’d get my baking fix by making naan.
The chicken was good. Not super fantastic, must have again, but good. It was kind of a lot of work, and so much butter and cream. Which I usually don’t shy away from, but it was really A LOT of butter and cream. I might make the chicken tikka on its own again, though.
The naan. Oh, boy, was I over-ambitious about making naan. It wasn’t easy to make at all. The dough wasn’t easy to handle. I wanted it smooth but not too dry, and I tried not to handle it too much, but it was difficult. My first two came out very mis-shapen (I cooked them in the oven on a pizza stone). I got the hang of it after that, and the rest came out beautifully… but I live in an area with a huge Indian population. No reason not to buy naan – and it’s better than what I could make, too.
- Chicken Tikka Masala (Fine Cooking #81, November 2006, p. 70)
- Homestyle Indian Naan (Fine Cooking #47, November 2001, p. 47)
- Mixed Greens with Balsamic-Olive Oil Vinaigrette
- Double Ginger Pound Cake with Brown Sugar Mascarpone Whipped Cream (Fine Cooking #82, December 2006, p. 64)
Wine: Cinnabar 2003 Mercury Rising (California). This is a Bordeaux-type blend from a local Santa Cruz Mountains producer, and oh man is it good. We finished the whole bottle.
I made the Tikka Masala and really liked it! Of course I did cut down on the amount of butter (I often think FC uses too much olive oil and/or too much butter), but it’s still very rich with all the cream too. I probably will make it again.
I cut back on the butter too, and I agree that it was too much. Still, it was a lot of saturated fat in that dish!
I like the way you misshapen naan looks:)