Eating Our Way Through South Asia

Last week I tried Tangy Chicken in a Yogurt Sauce and Tuna/Salmon Salad, a version of Tandoori Chicken(India).

This week was Biryani(Pakistan), spicy chicken and rice in a yogurt sauce. It was delicious, but I should have followed the recipe more closely in order to get a stronger taste. I added too much vinegar and yogurt thinking it needed to cover the chicken, but the chicken and yogurt made it's own water. I had to bring up the flavor of the herbs by adding some seasoned salt. After this, it was great!

I didn't have Basmati rice, so I made curry rice(regular white rice) using the recipe's ingredients for a bay leaf and cardamon(in addition to the curry), and salt.

I noticed the reviews for this recipe mentioned low flavor. It's a dish I'll definitely make again, just needs some extra seasonings, more of everything.

I've added my substitutions in parenthesis.

INGREDIENTS

* 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
* 3 tablespoons plain yogurt
* 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
* 1 medium onion, sliced
* 2 cloves garlic, crushed(1 TB minced from a jar)
* 1 tablespoon ginger paste(ginger powder)
* 2 small green chile peppers(red pepper flakes)
* 2 medium tomatoes, chopped(canned diced tomatoes)
* 2 tablespoons garam masala(curry, cumen, cardamon, cinnamon, coriander)
* 1 tablespoon dried mint(fresh mint at end)
* salt and pepper to taste(seasoned salt)
* 5 sprigs cilantro(Goya Sofrito - green peppers, onions, cilantro and garlic)
* 1 (3 pound) whole chicken, skin removed and cut into pieces(three large pieces of ice glazed boneless skinless chicken(Walmart of Food Lion bagged brand which I cut into little pieces as they cooked in the pan)
* 2 quarts water(4 cups water)
* 4 cups uncooked basmati rice(2 cups white rice)
* 1 bay leaf
* 4 pods green cardamom(regular cardamon)
* 1 pod black cardamom(regular cardamon)
* 1 cinnamon stick(powdered cinnamon)
* salt to taste(seasoned salt)
* 1/4 teaspoon powdered yellow food coloring(used curry and turmeric)

Next week: Chicken Shawarma

And just for fun..................

"South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities, also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east. It is surrounded (clockwise, from west to east) by Western Asia, Central Asia, Eastern Asia, Southeastern Asia and the Indian ocean.South Asia is home to well over a fifth of world population, and using the UN subregion definition, is the most populous and densest in the world. " Read more here.