David Rosengarten Recipes

David Rosengarten Recipes
A Good Fork for Indian Food - July 26, 2008
FIRST COURSE
GRILLED SAFFRON PANEER
Makes 4 servings
At the great Paradise restaurant in sister-city Secunderabad, I had a dish like this as one of my apps --certainly one of the most awesome and surprising
Indian grill dishes I've had in a long time. It's a great way to start your party. The right paneer--and the Nanak brand from British Columbia, available at
Patel's in 14-ounce refrigerated packages, is dead-on--stays firm and grillable on the outside, while tenderizing and creaming on the inside. Gilded by
saffron, and other aromatic spices, these rectangles of cheese are crazy-good finger food, and also delicious on puffy Indian bread. They are fantastic just as
they are, but a squeeze of lemon juice brings out even more flavor.
Special Instructions: Begin marinade 4 hours before grilling
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
2 teaspoons hot water
1 teaspoon Green Cardamom Powder
1/2 teaspoon Roasted Cumin Powder
lemon halves for garnish
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 lb. paneer (preferably Nanak brand)
1. Place the saffron threads in a wide, shallow mixing bowl, and pour the hot water over them. Stir, and let
mixture rest for 5 minutes.
2. Blend in green cardamom powder, roasted cumin powder, garam masala, turmeric and chili powder, stirring well.
3. Cut paneer into 8 rectangles, each one approximately 2 1/2" long, 1 1/2" wide, and 1/4" thick. Carefully place
paneer slices in marinade, and turn them, until slices are coated with the spice mixture. Cover tightly and
refrigerate for 4 hours.
4. Place the paneer slices, their marinade clinging, over a medium-hot fire. Grill for approximately 2-3 minutes on each side, or
until each side begins to brown. Make sure you don't grill them so long that they melt.
Remove from fire, arrange on platter with lemon halves, and serve immediately.
SECOND COURSE
MALAI CHICKEN TIKKA
Makes 4 servings
"Malai" means cream, that stalwart ingredient of the Punjabis in the North--and I have had creamy chicken kababs in Indian restaurants everywhere.
However, the first time the dish rang bells for me was in Hyderabad--where not the extra heat (from green chiles), but the extra care in execution, blew me
away. Prasad's Malai Chicken Tikka is a perfect replication of that Hyderabadi high point, with a crazy-light fluffiness landing like a dream on your palate.
Of course the dairy-like outside is fluffy--but so is the marinated chicken inside! Just be careful, when turning the chicken on the grill, to keep the creamy
coating as intact as possible. When you serve the chicken pieces, you have options. You may serve them alone, as is; they're wonderful that way. Or, you
may offer thinly sliced red onions and coriander chutney as garnish. Or you can do individual plates that feature "stacks" of chicken pieces layered with
red onion slices and coriander chutney. All good--your call!
Special Instructions: Begin marinade 7 hours before grilling
1/4 cup Raw Pineapple Paste
1/4 teaspoon finely ground white pepper
1 lb. thick, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon grated sharp cheddar
1 tablespoon ginger paste
Vegetable oil (for oiling grate)
Thinly sliced red onion for garnish
1/4 teaspoon Green Cardamom Powder
3 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup yogurt
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1/2 teaspoon Green Chili Paste
1/4 cup clarified butter
Coriander chutney for garnish (SEE NOTE)
1. In a medium-large bowl, mix together the Raw Pineapple Paste, Green Cardamom Powder, white pepper, and 2 tablespoons of
the oil. Season to taste with salt.
2. Cut the chicken into cubes that are about 2" square. Immerse them in the marinade, mixing with your hands to insure even
coating. Marinate, refrigerated, for 1 hour.
3. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sour cream and heavy cream until smooth. Stir in the cheddar,
garlic paste, ginger paste, and Green Chili Paste, blending well. Season to taste with salt.
4. After the chicken has marinated in the pineapple mixture for 1 hour, remove chicken pieces, scraping off the pineapple
marinade, and transfer chicken to the yogurt marinade. Combine evenly. Marinate, refrigerated, for 6 hours.
5. When ready to cook, brush oil on the grate over a medium-hot fire. Carefully transfer the chicken pieces from marinade bowl
to grate, trying to leave as much marinade as possible on each piece of chicken. Grill until the chicken pieces are just cooked
through, approximately 20 minutes altogether. Turn occasionally, taking care not to disturb the creamy outside. Drizzle chicken
occasionally with clarified butter.
6. When chicken pieces are cooked through, transfer to platter; served with sliced red onions and coriander chutney.
NOTE: Coriander chutney (made with cilantro leaves) is that wildly popular bright green stuff--sometimes thin, sometimes
thicker and more puree-like--that many Indian restaurants are now offering with pappadams at the start of the meal. But the
easiest way to get some on your table is to order the unrefrigerated 7.5-ounce jar of Swad Coriander Chutney (shopping list, is
this the same as whats on prasads special products list along with your other items from Patel's. It is thick, bright-green (and
stays bright-green!), and has a lovely, fresh cilantro taste. And it's fabulous on the malai tikka!
MAIN COURSE -- LAMB BIRYIANI
STEP 1: Marinate the meat. Mix the following in a large pot with a tight-fitting cover:
2 lbs. lamb, with bone, cut into 1 1/2" cubes
2 cups plain yogurt
2 tablespoons Kalustyan's Kashmiri Mirch, Red Chili Powder*
1 tablespoon garam masala powder
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 firmly packed cup chopped fresh mint leaves
1 heaping tablespoon julienne fresh ginger
2 teaspoons puréed green papaya
2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 firmly packed cups fried onion
1/4 firmly packed cup chopped cilantro leaves
4 small green chiles cut in thin slivers
Mix well. Cover and marinate meat for 2 1/2 hours at room temperature.
STEP 2: Place 2 cups of Kalustyan's Basmati Rice, Dehraduni, Grade "A" Ex-Long* in a bowl & cover with water. Reach in with your
hands, scrubbing the rice through your fingers for a minute or so. Spill off the water. Let rice sit in the bowl for 2 1/2 hrs.
STEP 3: When ready to build the casserole, prepare the marinated meat by drizzling it with 1/3 cup melted ghee.
STEP 4: Par-boil the rice in flavored water. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil, then add:
1 tablespoon salt
2 cinnamon sticks, broken
12 green cardamom, whole, smashed
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 green chiles, chopped
20 black peppercorns, smashed
2 black cardamom, whole, smashed
2 bay leaves, broken
6 cloves, smashed
1/2 teaspoon of black cumin seeds
Bring to a boil, and boil for 3 mins. Add soaked rice, bring back to boil, and boil for another 3 mins. You must time this so that
the rice cooks no more than 3 mins. When it's done, you must be ready to immediately begin STEP #5.
STEP 5: After the rice has cooked for 3 mins, begin lifting it from the pot with a slotted spoon, picking up all the flavoring
agents as well (bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, etc.) Strew the rice with flavoring agents on the marinated meat, transferring a bit of
the rice-cooking liquid as you go (in other words, don't be scrupulous about draining off water as you do the slotted-spoon
transfer). Add half the rice and flavoring agents to the meat pot, then strew with another cup of fried onions (see recipe).
Finish topping the meat pot with the rest of the rice and the flavoring agents.
STEP 6: Top all with:
1/3 cup ghee, drizzled evenly
1/2 cup warm water (in which 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads & 1 teaspoon salt have soaked for one hour at room temperature)
Drizzle the saffron water as evenly as possible all over the top of the rice.
STEP 7: Cover the pot with its tight-fitting lid. To be really authentic.....and dramatic!.....seal the pot with a dough paste. All you
have to do is mix all-purpose flour and water together until a pretty stiff dough is formed. Form it into a snake that fits around
the circumference of the pot, and seal the lid to the top of the pot with the dough. Firm it in place with your hands.
STEP 8:
1.
Place pot on high heat and cook for 12 mins. Turn down heat to very low, and cook 40 mins more.
2.
Take off heat and rest for at least 30 mins. The biryiani can be held for 5-6 hrs, at room temperature, before you break
the seal.
3.
Serve onto dinner plates directly from the pot. You can pass a garlicky yogurt sauce, and a mint-cilantro chutney,
as accompaniments.