Indian week of our international culinary tour was a couple weeks ago, but things got busy and I never blogged about the second meal in that delightful week. In the spirit of "better late than never", I bring you Chicken Makhani. This is another great dish for those new to Indian cuisine. With a sauce based on tomatoes and cream, it's just a little spicy, comforting, but exotic. I used this recipe as a basis, but I've used similar ones in the past with excellent results. I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I used minced garlic and ginger instead of ginger-garlic paste. I also browned the chicken and then transferred all of it into the pan with the sauce to simmer rather than moving just a little sauce over. Either way, this is simply delicious with some basmati rice and naan. To our delight, naan (an Indian flatbread) has recently appeared in the bakery section of our local grocery store! During Indian week, I, The Physicist, also made paneer, a soft Indian cheese. It tastes great and I'm hoping to make it into something (paneer makhani or maybe paneer pakora where the cheese is coated and fried....mmm), but maybe we'll just eat it straight. Either way, it was a fun, easy, first try at cheese that didn't require anything special beyond some good cheesecloth. I started taking pictures of the whole process, but quickly got so wrapped up in what I was doing that I forgot to take more pictures. Maybe I'll remember next time.
