Tonight's Dinner

I love Indian food. My wife does too, I think because she knows it's time for me to have a beer, glass of 12 yo scotch or whatever happens to be in our liquor department that night, and get my "creative juices" going.

Tonight, I really made something quite tasty. Chicken in coconut milk, and Potlakaya (snake gourd) w/chick-peas. I saw a recipe for Potlakaya Perugu Pachadi, and it looked pretty good, so I modified it to include chick-peas, and changed some of the ingredients.

Chicken in Coconut Milk

Image via Wikipedia

• Couple of skinless breasts
• 1 TBSP Ghee, or butter, or Olive Oil. Your heart, your choice.
• Medium onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 TBSP sugar
• 1 TBSP vinegar
• 1 Tsp salt
• 2 TBSP Garam Masala or your favorite curry
• 1 can Coconut milk
• 1 Yam or Sweet Potato
• 1 bell pepper, your color choosing

1. Chop onion and garlic. Sweat over medium heat in Ghee, or butter, or olive oil. Your choice, your heart.
2. Add sugar, salt, vinegar and curry. Let it bloom for about 1 minute, stirring a bit.
3. Toss in cubed potato and equally sized pieces of chopped pepper.
4. Add coconut milk. Adjust seasoning to taste.
5. Add chicken, simmer for 30 minutes, or until chicken is just done.

You might like to garnish with coriander, and serve with Jasmine or Basmati rice.

Potlakaya and Chickpeas

• 1 package of frozen potlakaya or 2 cups
• 1 can chickpeas
• 1 TBSP Ghee, or butter, or Olive Oil. Your heart, your choice.
• Yellow curry
• Mustard Seed
• Cumin seed
• 3 TBSP sour cream
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1/2 Tsp salt
• 1 Tsp lemon grass
• 1/2 squeezed lime

1. Over medium heat, brown potlakaya in Ghee, or butter, or Olive Oil. Your heart, your choice.
2. Add mustard and cumin seed. Cook just until the mustard seed begins to pop.
3. Add curry and salt, stirring and letting it bloom for a minute or two.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients, simmer until it gets to a thicker consistency.

Enjoy!