Beef Biryani...in the Slow Cooker!

Even with the ease of the Internet, I still love good old cookbooks! I was at my mother-in-law's condo last weekend and spotted a cookbook with the title The Gourmet Slow Cooker: Simple and Sophisticated Meals from Around the World. You had me at Gourmet...and then you had me again at Slow Cooker!

While I love my slow cooker, I have a beef with the recipes for it. So many of the popular crockpot recipes call for cream of something soup or prepackaged spice packets. While I love the convenience of the crockpot, I don't want to sacrifice health (especially sodium content) just to use the crockpot. This cookbook is awesome because it uses all fresh ingredients and spices.

Okay, I'll step off my soap box now. This recipe caught my eye because I love Indian food and the picture corresponding to the recipe looks fabulous. An added plus is that Finley loves meat, rice and peas, so I thought this recipe would be right up her alley.

The Beef Biryani was great! It was flavorful, delicious and the meat was wonderfully tender. The spice mixture used was different than the traditional curry and since it didn't have a cream-based sauce, I felt good about eating it. If you haven't ever tried biryani before, Andrew called it the Indian equivalent to paella, and he's not far off. It's a dish made of seasoned meat and broth with rice and peas added towards the end. I served it with a simple cucumber raita and the creaminess of the salad complimented the biryani perfectly. (I'll post that recipe tomorrow.) We had my parents over for dinner and the recipe served the four adults, one child and we have enough left-overs for another two to three people. So it feeds a crowd!

FYI - This recipe calls for several spices that I didn't already have in my spice cabinet. I checked out the prices for bottles of the spices at my local grocery store but they were all pretty pricy. I made an extra trip to Central Market and bought the spices out of the bulk bins, buying only what I needed, and spent less than $1.50 for all of them!

Beef Biryani

recipe adapted from The Gourmet Slow Cooker by Lynn Alley

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

seeds from 3 cardamom pods (smack the cardamom pods with the back of a spoon a time or two to get the seeds out)

6 whole cloves

6 to 8 peppercorns

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 1/2 pounds lean beef stew meat

1 red or yellow onion, finely chopped

1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

1/2 cup water

1 cinnamon stick

3 to 4 cups cooked Basmati rice

1 1/2 cups frozen peas

1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, soaked in 1/4 cup water for 20 minutes (reserve soaking liquid)

1 teaspoon salt

Chopped cilantro, for garnish

Combine cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves and peppercorn in a spice grinder or mortar and grind to a fine powder. Set aside.

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add oil. Add beef and cook, turning occasionally, for 10 minutes or until browned on all sides. Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate.

Add the onion to the pan and saute, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes, or until the onion is softened and starting to brown. Add garlic and ginger and stir for 3 minutes. Add the spice mixture and stir well. Add meat and yogurt and mix well.

Transfer meat mixture to slow cooker and stir in orange juice and water. Place cinnamon stick in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat for 6 to 8 hours, until meat is very tender. About 30 minutes before serving, stir in rice, peas, salt, saffron threads and their soaking liquid.

To serve, remove cinnamon stick and garnish with cilantro.

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Chicken Tikka Masala

My parents have led an interesting life and lived in, and travelled to, some pretty exotic places - Virgin Island, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and all over Europe. As a result, they exposed us to a wide array of food from an early age. The first time we went to an Indian restaurant I think I was in elementary school and I fell in love with the warm, soft naan and Chicken Tikka Masala. I was hooked, and I always ordered the same thing. It wasn't until I was out of college that I branched out and started ordering other dishes, but every now and then, I come back to my old stand-by.

If you've never had Indian food before, Chicken Tikka Masala is a good place to start. The flavors are wonderful, but still fairly mild, so I think most people would like it. I didn't put much heat in my dish because I knew Finley would be eating it too. If you like your food spicier, add a diced jalapeno or some ground cayenne pepper to the sauce. Marinating the chicken in the yogurt mixture is imperative - it adds some flavor, but mostly it keeps the chicken really moist and tender.

Chicken Tikka Masala

for the marinade

1 c plain yogurt

2 t ground cumin

1/2 t ground red pepper (cayenne)

1/2 t ground cinnamon

1 t ground ginger

1 t paprika

salt and pepper

1 lb chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

for the sauce

1 T butter

1/2 white onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 t ground coriander

2 t paprika

1 t garam masala

1 t ground cumin

1/2 t salt

1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce

3/4 c heavy cream

3 T tomato paste

chopped cilantro, for garnish

cooked white rice, for serving (recommended: basmati)

In a glass bowl, stir together yogurt, cumin, red pepper, cinnamon, ginger, paprika, salt and pepper. Add chicken. Stir to coat chicken. Marinate (in the fridge) for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

Place chicken in colander to drain off marinade.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until onion is soft. Add spices, tomato sauce and chicken. Stir to combine. Lower heat to medium-low and let simmer for 15 minutes. Add cream and tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes to thicken the sauce.

Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro.

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Naan (Indian bread)

{homemade naan}

{my little kitchen helper}

As I was prepping for dinner this morning, I realized that I forgot to buy naan at the grocery store. Any Indian food fan knows that naan is essential for a great Indian meal. I found a recipe online, checked to see if we had all the ingredients in the house (we did!), and then Finley and I went to work making homemade naan! I'm not a breadmaker - not a fan of kneading - but with the dough hook and my trusty Kitchen Aid stand maker, preparing the naan was surprisingly easy. If I can do it, then you certainly can too! I think next time I'll have to try a stuffed naan...

Naan

recipe from Southern Pink Lemonade as seen on Indian Food Forever

4 c flour

1/2 t baking powder

1 t salt

1/2 c milk

1 T sugar

1 egg

4 T oil

water, as needed

Sift together flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl and make a well in the middle.

In a separate bowl, stir together milk, sugar, egg and 2 T oil. Pour wet ingredients into the well. Using the dough hook and a stand mixer, knead ingredients together, adding water as necessary to form a soft dough. (I think I used about 3/4 c of water.) Add remaining 2 T oil and knead again.

Cover bowl with a damp cloth and let rest for 15 minutes. Knead one last time. Cover with damp cloth and let sit 2-3 hours.

About 30 minutes before baking, preheat your oven to 475 degrees.

Divide dough into 8 balls and let rest 3-4 minutes. Shape and stretch each ball into a long oval shape. Bake on lightly greased cookie sheets for 8-10 minutes, or until puffed and golden.

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