ASIAN FOOD, SORT OF

Monday, October 31, 2005

Sorry about my brief hiatus--school is getting the better of my time these days, and David has had to take over the kitchen. This menu is from a few weeks ago when I was not quite so busy, so I thought writing about it might help to wake me from my culinary slumber. Or at least make me hungry enough to get in the kitchen and blow off some academic steam!

I make no pretenses about the fact that my Asian cooking is less than authentic. My office-mate, Sukanya, is from India, and she says the only way to really learn how to cook Indian food is to find an Indian friend to teach you. She has promised to come over and cook with me one of these days, but until she does, I am left experimenting on my own.

I first learned to love Asian cuisine in London, where I had a hard time finding affordable, edible food. Then I discovered Indian, Thai, and Chinese restaurants near our hotel, and eating became a whole other adventure. Since then, I have tried to recreate what I eat when I get Indian or Thai take-out, and while my recipes may be pretenders to the real deal, they assuage my cravings for spicy, aromatic food in a satisfying way. Asian ingredients are sometimes hard to find and can be expensive, so if I'm buying them, I usually plan several meals around them.

This recipe is a hodgepodge of several different ones. Traditional tandoori chicken is cooked in a clay tandoori oven over an open flame, as I understand the process, but in my very Americanized kitchen, I broil it. Grilling would be even better, as it would draw out the smoky flavors of the marinade. I serve this chicken with a big mound of Basmati rice.

Here's my very inauthentic method:

Tandoori-ish Chicken

For the marinade:

1 cup plain yogurt

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 t. ground coriander

1/2 t. black pepper

1/2 t. cumin

1 t. garam masala (Chinese 5-spice powder will do in a pinch, if you can't find the garam masala)

1/2 t. cayenne pepper

1/2 t. paprika

1 t. chili powder

1 T. fresh ginger, minced (about a 1-inch piece)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces

Mix the marinade together thoroughly. Coat the chicken pieces thickly with the marinade. Place in a glass baking dish, cover, and refrigerate for several hours, preferably overnight. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Wrap the chicken in foil and cook for about 20-30 minutes. Remove and preheat the broiler. Unwrap the chicken and place under the broiler for a few minutes per side, until the skin is beginning to crisp and the chicken is done in the center. How long this takes all depends on your broiler--just check it frequently.

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