chicken tikka masala

we've always been so intimidated by indian cuisines because of all the spices, but after making some of the more popular dishes the last year or so, it's not so bad anymore.


this chicken tikka masala dish served with rice is so good, can you see that clean plate in the picture? ;)

m is cooking again tonight. he doesn't cook very often, but when he cooks, he cooks indian. and we love it! over the past few years we've become quite a fan of indian cuisine. even c loves it and he's so picky with his food! i have to say they are just so good. you cannot go wrong with all those spices. i know the list of ingredients just seem so intimidating, especially with all the spices. i mean, who has fenugreek or cardamom pods in their spice pantry? i know we definitely didn't 3 or 4 years ago.

well, i figured it's about time i post one of his indian dishes on here. what you see in this post is his chicken tikka masala. we had it with brown rice since we didn't have basmati rice on hand or any naan bread. i know, i have this bread book with this one naan recipe i have yet to try and make. like i've mentioned in the past, someday i will make bread. naan bread will be one of the things i'll make. just not today or tomorrow or next week. hehehe ;)

ok, so far m has cooked us chicken korma (which i think is his signature dish… it's seriously so good), chicken tikka masala (the ones pictured here) and chicken biryani. all three dishes have been superb. i think they are just as good as any dishes you'd get at an indian restaurant or better. i know he's still trying to perfect his biryani dish, but i have to say, that last time we had it, it was almost perfect! hahaha… good enough for eating anyway. for sure better than the first time he ever made it. oh, yeah… let's just say it didn't quite turned out the way it was supposed to. i have pictures of the second biryani try that turned out fine, but i have yet to post it here. someday when i get around to it.

unfortunately, i don't have the recipe for this delicious-looking chicken tikka masala to post here (maybe when i get a hold of it, i'll update and post it?!). he told me he got it out of this book, 660 curries by raghavan iyer. i believe you can get it on amazon. it's got a bunch of indian curry dishes. there are so many, we've only got around to a few of them. plenty more to come!

now, tonight m's making butter chicken. i'm very curious to see how that dish will turn out. i'm sure it'll taste delicious as always. he's such a tough critic himself, so i hope it's good. :)

recipe from: 660 curries by raghavan iyer

udon noodles stir-fry

i had the luxury of working from home this afternoon. actually, it was because i needed to pick c up from school as m couldn't do it today. when i got home around lunch time i had about 15 minutes to spare before it was time to pick up c. i had been craving some chow mein noodles these past few days but have yet to satisfy my cravings. with that 15 minutes i decided that i would somehow attempt to make some kind of noodle stir-fry dish. i had some udon noodles in a vacuum sealed-type pack that i picked up from the chinese supermarket many trips ago sitting in my pantry. those noodles are all ready to go. you just need to heat it in hot water for 3 minutes before adding it to your stir-fry or soup broth if you're making noodle soup. i also had some leftover pork sausage i made the other night sitting in the fridge. so i decided why not use those up in this noodle stir-fry.

okay, i suck at telling stories. to get to the point, i whipped up this udon noodles stir-fry dish with simple ingredients i had lying around the house in less than 10 minutes (5-7 minutes probably?!). it's so simple. literally a piece of cake. you can make it too. it's so easy and makes such a delicious meal in less than 10 minutes (for one or two, or more people)! so if you'd like to try, the recipe is below. just note that i only wrote it up for one serving as that's what i made today. you can double or triple it for more people. so go ahead and let me know what you think. oh, and just as a disclaimer, they don't taste like chow mein. the three sauces i used actually is a bit on the sweet side. so if you want to balance it out, i'm sure you can throw in a few drops of soy sauce or fish sauce. oh, and a squeeze of lime would be great too actually. ok, enjoy and happy cooking and eating! :)


i can't believe how easy it was to make this noodle dish. so simple and quick, and it turned out great! just exactly what i was craving for.


a close-up shot of the udon noodles. so. good.

udon noodles stir-fry with pork sausage

ingredients:

• 1 pack of udon noodles (similar to this)
• 1 cooked pork sausage (or any sausage or meat, just not italian flavoring or whatever, unless you don't care about the different ethnic flavor combos)
• 1-2 teaspoons of hoisin sauce, sweet sauce, and oyster sauce (you can find these at any asian supermarkets or in the asian/ethnic foods section of your local supermarket)
• for garnish: a few sprigs of cilantro and 1-2 thai chili peppers (optional if you like a little heat)

directions:

1. put noodles in a microwaveable bowl with enough water so that there isn't any noodles sticking up. heat it in the microwave for 3 minutes (or you can just follow the instructions on the package, that works too).
2. while the noodles are heating, heat up a 10-inch skillet pan on the stovetop (medium temp). then cut up the sausage into pieces and toss it into the pan. stir-fry it for a few minutes or so.
3. once noodles is done in the microwave, drain them and add them to the pan. also add in the teaspoons of sauces and mix until everything is combined. then let it cook for a minute or more until it looks like the noodles and sausage is caramelizing (or looks like the pictures above anyway). then turn off the heat and garnish with cilantro and thai chili peppers (optional).

makes 1 serving.

note: for 2 or more servings, you can just double or triple the ingredients. just be careful with the sauces and add them in slowly as everyone is different on their sauce preference (heavily sauced or just a touch).

easy sunday night dinner - spam & rice

five years ago if you asked me if i liked spam i would probably respond, "ewww? spam?!" but these days, you'd definitely find me chowing down some good old spam and rice – i'll take it any day. i love it, especially when it's glazed with a sweet salty sauce that's very similar to a teriyaki sauce like the simple one i made for tonight's dinner.

the sauce is so simple, you only need two ingredients and it totally transforms plain boring spam into something delicious and finger-licking good! hahaha, yes, that is if you eat without any forks or knives – which i must confess, i do occasionally. ;)


i used the oven to cook the spam – it makes for easy cleanup!


easy to make teriyaki-like glaze spam over steamed jasmine rice -- yum!

sweet & salty teriyaki-like spam over steamed jasmine rice

ingredients:
1 spam tin, sliced into 8 pieces
2 cups cooked jasmine rice
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
green onions for garnish (optional)

directions:
mix together the brown sugar and soy sauce in a small bowl and set aside. cook the sliced spam in a nonstick or frying pan over medium heat. once spam is seared enough on both sides (where it looks crusty) in the pan, add in the sauce. make sure to sauce all the pieces of spam. let the pieces sit for a minute or two to get the sauce to caramelize and thicken a bit. after those few minutes the spam should be ready to eat. serve spam over cooked jasmine rice.

suggested serving: 2 slices of spam per 1/2 cup rice. makes enough for 4 total servings. enjoy!

note: you can also cook the spam in the oven – that's what i did this time. i couldn't be bothered to fry them in a pan, so i used the oven instead. it makes the cleaning up process super easy actually. i would highly recommend cooking them in the oven. if you go this route, bake in 400°F for 10 mins, then add in half the sauce sauce, put back in the oven for a minute; take it out, flip the slices, add the rest of the sauce and put it back in the oven again for another minute; and voila! you're all done!