I didn’t really think today would be as frustrating as it had been. From 8am-noon I was attempting to figure out my 2017 taxes, which should have been easy, right? I’ve done them on my own for the last three years, so this should have been fine. I even had a free turbo tax 1040EZ program that made doing my taxes even easier. So I got started, filling in all the information they wanted from me about all aspects of my life and financial situation. After about an hour and a half, I got to a point where the program stopped me and said I needed to pay for the “deluxe” version of the software because my tax situation was not as easy as I thought due to a naïve fund error I made last year. So, I wasted an hour and a half trying to get my taxes done when I really now have to fill out the long adult version of the tax form, which will take another hour. I was extremely frustrated at this point, almost to the point of tears. I had just wanted to do my taxes on my own, but there I was constantly texting my dad and having him help me through what I needed to do. It made me feel as though I was not ready to be a full-fledged adult yet, but I will be getting my own real job with benefits this year. It just shook me and made me realize that I will definitely need help when I am first off on my own, and that sucked. I want to be independent and strong in my abilities to take care of myself, but I couldn’t even figure out a tax situation on my own. I know that everyone asks for help and that it is nothing to be ashamed of, but I was just more frustrated than I intended to be. I needed a break with one of my favorite foods: chicken curry.
I have never made this recipe before, so I was not sure if it was going to taste like the chicken curry I get when I order take-out. My guess is that it would taste similar but not the same because this recipe claimed to be authentic in its use of ingredients and spices. I don’t know what sort of Americanized Indian food I have come to order and love from Adeep India, but I’m assuming it’ll taste different from the more authentic version. This recipe used a lot of fresh ingredients and dried, fragrant spices. I had to give my roommates a solid warning ahead of time that our tiny apartment was going to be filled with the lingering smell of curry for a little while. This recipe yielded easily 5-6 normal person servings, but when Sam and I got our hands on it, it was more like 4 servings. It did take an hour and a half to prep and cook, though, so I recommend doing this on a night where you actually have the time to devote to creating a great home-cooked meal.
Stress level: 6/10
Yield: 5-6 servings
Time: 1.5 hours
Ingredients:
I have never made this recipe before, so I was not sure if it was going to taste like the chicken curry I get when I order take-out. My guess is that it would taste similar but not the same because this recipe claimed to be authentic in its use of ingredients and spices. I don’t know what sort of Americanized Indian food I have come to order and love from Adeep India, but I’m assuming it’ll taste different from the more authentic version. This recipe used a lot of fresh ingredients and dried, fragrant spices. I had to give my roommates a solid warning ahead of time that our tiny apartment was going to be filled with the lingering smell of curry for a little while. This recipe yielded easily 5-6 normal person servings, but when Sam and I got our hands on it, it was more like 4 servings. It did take an hour and a half to prep and cook, though, so I recommend doing this on a night where you actually have the time to devote to creating a great home-cooked meal.
Stress level: 6/10
Yield: 5-6 servings
Time: 1.5 hours
Ingredients:
- 2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup vegetable oil (slightly less)
- 1 white onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- Fresh ginger (1 ½ tsp minced ginger total)
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 2 tbsp fresh, chopped cilantro, divided
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup water
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 lemon, for serving
- Cooked jasmine or basmati rice, for serving
- Chop the cilantro, dice the onion, and mince the garlic and ginger. Set each aside separately. In a small bowl, combine the curry powder, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and cayenne pepper to set aside for later.
- Heat all of the oil in a very large pan over medium high heat. Cut the chicken into one inch cubed pieces, and season with 1 tsp of salt. Brown in the pan for a few minutes, but do not cook all the way through. You may have to cook two rounds of chicken. Remove browned chicken to a plate and reduce heat to medium.
- Add onion, ginger, and garlic to the same pan. But do not drain the oil. Cook for 5 minutes until the onions are softened and translucent. Add the curry spice mixture and one tbsp. water to the pan and sauté another minute.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, yogurt, 1 tbsp cilantro, and salt. Stir until well combined, then add the chicken back to the pan. Add the water and coat the chicken well in the mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low.
- Sprinkle the garam masala and remaining cilantro over the chicken, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Serve over jasmine rice and squeeze lemon once over the curry.
This recipe was adapted from allrecipes.com, and it tasted extremely good. My only mild complaints were that the yogurt had a slightly gritty texture the longer it was away from the heat and that the spice level could have been kicked up a notch for me. If I make this again in the future and I want a more unhealthy experience, I will add cream instead of the yogurt and simmer for a bit longer to thicken up the mixture. Regardless of whether I use cream or not, I will add more curry powder, cumin, and cayenne to the sauce. I’ll also look into marinating the chicken in spiced yogurt to add moisture and more flavor throughout the chicken itself. Even though I have a few alterations, I really did love this recipe. It tasted very similar to what I usually order at a restaurant, but I knew exactly what was going into it and used a lot of fresh ingredients.
When my roommate walked into the kitchen halfway into my cooking experience, she told me it looked like there was so much going on at once. I had to glance back at the stove and the completely utilized counters to realize that she was right, I was keeping track of a lot of different things at once with this recipe. I was prepping the produce while I was setting the rice up to boil and I was still preparing the chicken and spice mixture when the rice was cooking and the pan was heating up. It seemed like a lot at once, but I knew exactly what was going on and how long things needed to be where. It is showing me that I am gaining more confidence in the kitchen, even with recipes I have never attempted before.
This recipe was especially stress relieving because you had to physically prepare a lot of the ingredients. I peeled and minced the garlic and ginger, chopped the onion and cilantro, diced the chicken, and stirred the sauce throughout the entire process. After each ingredient was added to the pan, the smell filled the kitchen and drew people nearer and nearer to the action to see what I was adding to the pan next. Chicken curry is the most fragrant recipe I have ever cooked due to the spice content. I used to be afraid to add a lot of different spices to my food, but this recipe showed me that you can add a lot of different things together and still have a wonderful product. I won’t necessarily start adding cumin or curry to absolutely everything, but this gives me a little more liberty to experiment. New stress level: 4/10
When my roommate walked into the kitchen halfway into my cooking experience, she told me it looked like there was so much going on at once. I had to glance back at the stove and the completely utilized counters to realize that she was right, I was keeping track of a lot of different things at once with this recipe. I was prepping the produce while I was setting the rice up to boil and I was still preparing the chicken and spice mixture when the rice was cooking and the pan was heating up. It seemed like a lot at once, but I knew exactly what was going on and how long things needed to be where. It is showing me that I am gaining more confidence in the kitchen, even with recipes I have never attempted before.
This recipe was especially stress relieving because you had to physically prepare a lot of the ingredients. I peeled and minced the garlic and ginger, chopped the onion and cilantro, diced the chicken, and stirred the sauce throughout the entire process. After each ingredient was added to the pan, the smell filled the kitchen and drew people nearer and nearer to the action to see what I was adding to the pan next. Chicken curry is the most fragrant recipe I have ever cooked due to the spice content. I used to be afraid to add a lot of different spices to my food, but this recipe showed me that you can add a lot of different things together and still have a wonderful product. I won’t necessarily start adding cumin or curry to absolutely everything, but this gives me a little more liberty to experiment. New stress level: 4/10