Oh, Shiitake!

Cooking mushrooms is annoying. A huge bag of them cooks down to nothing. But I love, love, luuuuhhhooove this recipe! I was craving some familiar South Indian tastes, but wasn't in the mood for the same old stuff. I had some Shiitake mushrooms on hand, and some tiny, cute little new potatoes. Necessity is the mother of invention, especially when it comes to food! Let's get right to it.

What you'll need:

1/2 lb of mushrooms (any kind will do, but the Shiitake ones are my personal favorite)
1 lb potatoes (you can use the big ones and cut them down to cubes, or just peel and use the small new potatoes/red potatoes)
1 large onion
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon garlic/ginger paste
8 curry leaves

Spices:
2 teaspoons black pepper powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
2 teaspoons whole black mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
Salt to taste

What to do:

Get your oil super super hot in a pan, and throw in the black mustard seeds and curry leaves. There's gonna be some MAJOR spluttering, so be careful! Throw in your chopped onions, and fry till golden brown, then add your tomato paste, and garlic and ginger paste. Cook for a minute, then add all your spices. Cook the mixture for another minute or two, and add the potatoes. Add some water (about 1 cup), cover and simmer till your potatoes are cooked. Uncover, and ideally, your water should have almost evaporated. Throw in the mushrooms and stir gently. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, add chopped cilantro and you're done!

This is really fast, but super tasty!

Chiquita Chicken

I'm a huge fan of salsa verde. I like salsa in general (the dance and the condiment), but the green salsa is my favorite. It's tangier, and the flavors are really well balanced. So this weekend I thought, why not turn it into curry? (Work with me here, everything takes on an Indian hue in my hands!). It turned out fantastic!

So here's what I did.

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken (preferably dark meat, bone in or boneless)

6 Tomatillos

1 large onion, sliced thinly

3 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly

A handful of cilantro

1 tablespoon cream cheese or yogurt

Spices:

2 teaspoons coriander

1 teaspoon cumin

Salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon pepper

We start off the same way most Indian food starts off. Saute the onions in a hot pan with a small bit of oil, couple tablespoons. When the onions are golden, throw in the garlic slices as well. In the meantime, blend the tomatilloes together with the cilantro into a smooth sauce. Add the spices to the onion garlic mixture and roast for another minute, then add the sauce and the chicken in at the same time. Turn down to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes or so, depending on the size of the chicken pieces. The sauce will become a darker green, and the chicken becomes super tender. Finish off with the cream cheese or yogurt to give it just a little bit of a creamy texture/flavor. I happened to have some onion/chive cream cheese and it was perfect.

If you just want the salsa, follow the recipe except leave off the chicken and the cream cheese. It definitely cooks up faster, and goes very well with chips, tacos, etc. It refrigerates well, and you can keep it in a jar for about a month in the fridge.

Give it a try, best of both worlds, Mexican and Indian! Good stuff.

(The picture doesn't do it justice, but I caught it cooking mid-boil, and my Iphone camera got steamy and blurry :P)