Nothing is more romantic than a home cooked meal for special someone. That too on Valentine’s Day, cooking something special to Andy is very very special to me. I rarely make three course meal, except on Sundays. Weekdays are usually rice, curry and veggies. So I make it a point to prepare three course meal on special occasions. Christmas and Easter you don’t even have to ask, for sure there will seven course meal for lunch.
For a change, forget about making reservations in a fancy restaurant. Stay in, cook a special meal and surprise your loved one. Or just have a girls night, cook a great meal and have fun with your girls. Who wouldn’t go an extra mile to make your loved one happy, I definitely would!!!
Posts for this month is all going to be Valentine’s Day special. Watch out guys, Chicken Curry & Coconut Milk Rice is the Entree in this series. Following posts will contain appetizer, dessert and a bonus post (spoiler alert).
I chose Chicken Curry & Coconut Milk Rice for two reasons. For one it is an effortless recipe, looks and tastes like a complex dish. Secondly, this is one such recipe that can be converted as vegetarian. All you need to do is to substitute paneer, cauliflower or grilled eggplant instead of chicken.
Lets start off with rice.
COCONUT MILK RICE
Ingredients,
1½ cup of basamati rice (soak for 30 minutes)
1 brown onion, chopped finely
2 green chilies, slit
¼ cup of mint, chopped
1 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste
1 cup of coconut milk
2 star anise, cloves, bay leaves, cardamom (whole spice)
1 inch cinnamon bark (whole spice)
1 tsp of butter
Salt to taste
Preping,
To a pan at medium hot pan, add butter.
When butter starts to melt, add star anise, cloves, bay leaves, cardamom and cinnamon bark. Saute it for a minute.
Add ginger-garlic paste and saute it until the raw smell is all gone.
Add onion and green chilies. Saute till the onions get translucent.
Drain the water from rice and add it to the pan. Now add the mint leaves and salt to taste.
Transfer the mixture to a rice cooker. For 1 cup of basmati rice you need to add 1½ cup of water. So I added a cup of coconut milk and 1¼ cup of water.
Note: If cooking in pan, add the same amount of liquid. Bring it to boil and cover and cook in medium flame for about 8-10 mins.
Fluffy and coconuty rice, yummy!!!
FYI: Coconut Milk Rice will also be good with Coconut Shrimp Curry
While the rice is cooking you can move on to the curry.
CHICKEN CURRY
The most easiest curry ever. It has very few ingredients, you just have grind, saute and simmer.
Ingredients,
1 lb of chicken (thigh or drumsticks)
2 red onions, puree
1½ tomato, puree
1 tbsp of red chili powder
2 star anise, cloves, cardamom (whole spice)
1 inch cinnamon bark (whole spice)
1 tsp of garam masala
½ tsp of turmeric powder
¼ cup of cilantro, finely chopped
2 tbsp of thick coconut milk or a tbsp of heavy cream
Salt to taste
Preping,
To a pan on a medium flame, add vegetable oil (2 tbsp). When the oil is just hot, add in the star anise, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon bark. If you want more strong flavor of the spices you can omit the whole spices and add 2 tsp of garam masala instead.
Saute the whole spices for a minute. Add ginger-garlic paste now, saute until the raw smell is gone completely.
Now add the freshly ground onion. Saute it until the puree turns slightly brown. It will take about 8-12 mins.
While it is cooking, go ahead and make some tomato puree. Add the tomato puree to onion mixture. Cook in medium flame till oil separates.
Cut chicken to bite size pieces if your using thigh piece. For drumstick you can add it as whole. Add chicken to onion-tomato mixture.
Add ½ cup of water, cover and cook the chicken. For approximately 10 mins.
Once the chicken is done, simmer the sauce until it thickens. The sauce must thicken to a consistency of Broccoli cheddar soup.
Finish it off with two table spoons of thick coconut milk or a tbsp of heavy cream. This step will bring all the flavors together.
Stir and add cilantro.
As I said before, the whole process of chicken curry is grind, saute and simmer.
There you go. You have a creamy Chicken Curry & flavorful Coconut Rice.
Cardamom Twist 