Kana Tikka Masala ja Basmati riisi

Chicken Tikka Masala (the hard way)

Instead of going the easy and obvious way (aka the ready made spice mix from the local supermarket), we thought: why not experience the pain in the @rse indian way and do everything from scratch by ourselves! So, we went to an asian grocery (Hakaniemi area), bought the necessary ingredients, and off to the kitchen, ready to enjoy hours of hard indian labour. But trust us, the final result is on par (just kidding) with one of our Helsinki's favorite, restaurant India House

First, heat a pan and add 2 tsp cumin seeds, toasting them lightly for a few seconds. Remove the seeds from the pan on to a plate and allow to cool.  Now add the same amount of coriander seeds to the pan for a couple of seconds before removing to cool on the plate with the cumin. When the seeds have cooled, grind the cumin seeds first and reserve 1 tsp for the sauce. Grind the coriander seeds and add with the cumin, organic yoghurt (we use organic ingredients in our cooking as much as possible), some crushed garlic and strips of ginger to a food processor and blend until fairly smooth. Finally, the yoghurt mix meets the chicken breasts (cut in pieces). mix well and leave to marinate for around 30 minutes. Then the Masala sauce: heat the butter and oil in a heavy pan over high heat and add 2 finely sliced  medium onions. Cook until the onions are soft and golden brown. Then more garlic and ginger are added and cooked for 2-3 minutes then the cumin set aside earlier when making the marinade, dry chili (powder or flakes at your convenience) & 2 tsp of paprika, and stir. Then the chicken pieces are added to the mix and stirred well. 1 tin can organic tomatoes, tomato puree, boiling water and salt are added, along with the chicken marinade (should not exceed a cup). Simmer for around 20-25 min. Toward the end, add 1 ou 2 tbs of Garam Masala (more or

less spicy), half a cup of heavy cream, the juice of 1 lemon and fresh chopped coriander. The sauce should reduce slightly to become rich and creamy. And voilà! Chicken Tikka Masala... perhaps?

 Basmati rice

Rince well 350g of organic basmati rice to remove the starch as much as possible, then soak the rice in cold water for 30 min. In a heavy pan, slice and fry 2 onions in the butter-oil combo until gold and brown. Then add 2 tsp of cumin seeds , 2 tsp of fenel seeds, 5 to 7 cardamon pods, the same amount of cloves, 1 bay leaf, 1/3 of cinnamon stick and fry for 2-3 min. Then add 2 tsp of tumaric powder and stir a little. Dry the rice then add it in the pan and stir for 1 min. Add boiling water up until the rice is covered. Put the lid on, reduce the heat and let cook (~25min.) until the rice is soft and tender. And please, resist the envy to open the lid to check. The steam must stay inside during the cooking. Remove all the spices bits before serving (what we obviously didn't do it).

Raita & Naan bread

100% supermarket! Our culinary masochism has its limits! (but we did add chopped deseeded cucumber, fresh coriander, lemon juice and chili in the raita mix)

ps: all the spices couldn't fit in 1 photo