Aarti Sequeira Husband Recipes

CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA

Steps:

• For the marinade: In a large bowl, mix together the marinade ingredients. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Marinate at least 30 minutes, or in the refrigerator up to overnight.
• For the sauce: When you're ready to make the curry, place a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil and butter. When the butter has melted, add the Ginger-Garlic Paste and serrano peppers. Saute until lightly browned around the edges. Add the tomato paste and cook until the tomato has darkened in color, about 3 minutes. Add the garam masala and the paprika and saute for about 1 minute to draw out their flavors.
• Add the tomatoes, salt, and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer, and cook until thickened, about 20 minutes. You may need more water depending on how much liquid the tomatoes give off.
• Meanwhile, fire up your grill. When it is nice and hot, lightly brush it with oil. Place the chicken on the grill, shaking off some of the excess marinade. Cook until it's charred, about 2 minutes on each side. (Don't worry that the chicken will still be a little uncooked, it finishes cooking in the sauce).
• Pour the sauce into a blender or food processor, or use an immersion blender, and process until smooth. Pour back into the skillet and bring back up to a boil. Add the chicken and fenugreek leaves, if using. Take the heat down to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the cream and stir through. Garnish with minced fresh cilantro, and serve over rice, with naan, or a crusty piece of bread!
• Throw the garlic, ginger, and canola oil in a mini-food processor and let it go until it forms a semi-smooth paste. There will still be tiny little pieces in there, but overall, it should resemble a paste.
• Save what you don't use in a small glass jar. It should last in the fridge for 2 to 3 weeks. It's a delicious addition to marinades, pasta sauces, stir fry sauces, slow-cooker recipes, gravy etc. We always had a jar of this stuff in our fridge growing up.

TANDOORI CHICKEN

Steps:

• To make the marinade, toast the cloves, whole chiles, both types of cardamom seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and fenugreek seeds in a cast-iron skillet until fragrant, 3 minutes or so, shaking the pan. Then, pour the spices into a spice grinder and grind them until you get a fine powder.
• In large bowl, whisk together the spice mixture you just made with the yogurt, oil, malt vinegar, salt, ground cinnamon, paprika, turmeric, cayenne pepper, garlic and ginger until well combined. It should smell amazing! Taste and adjust with more salt if it needs it.
• Reserve 1/3 cup of the marinade and set aside; you're going to make a sauce out of this reserved marinade.
• Prick the chicken thighs with a fork. Add the thighs to the rest of the marinade, and toss to coat. Marinate at least 1 hour in the fridge, and at most overnight.
• When you're ready to cook, line a baking sheet with foil, and turn your broiler on. Place each chicken thigh on the baking sheet, making sure each one is coated with the marinade, but isn't swimming in it. Cook the chicken thighs under the broiler until starting to blacken, about 5 minutes. Then turn the oven to 350, and cook until a meat thermometer inserted in the meatiest part of the thigh registers 160 degrees F, another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven.
• While the chicken is cooking, pour the reserved marinade into a small saucepan, along with 1/2 cup water and the honey. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-low heat, whisking all the time. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and pour into a small bowl or gravy boat for serving.
• Serve the chicken thighs on a platter with a fresh squeeze of lime and a drizzle of the sauce.

HUSH PUPPIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a triple layer of paper towels, then set a wire cooling rack over the top. Set aside.
• For the tempering oil: Warm the ghee in a small skillet or tadka pan over medium heat. Drop a couple of mustard seeds into the ghee; if they sizzle immediately, then it's hot enough. Add the remaining mustard seeds and the green chile. Cook about 5 seconds, then carefully add the curry leaves (they will splutter!). Cook about 30 seconds, then pour into a small bowl and set aside to cool down.
• For the hush puppies: Whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and soda, turmeric and salt together in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, egg and lime zest together. Stir the wet ingredients and the now cooled-off tadka into the cornmeal mixture until just combined. Set aside to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, fill 10-inch cast-iron skillet with frying oil about 3/4-inch deep, or fill a deep-fryer. Preheat until it registers 375 degrees F.
• Drop little balls (about 1 tablespoon) of batter into the oil, being sure not to overcrowd the skillet. Fry, flipping often, until deep golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer the hush puppies to the prepared rack, then sprinkle with salt and lime juice and keep warm in oven.
• To serve, sprinkle with the cilantro and coconut.

BLUEBERRY COBBLER WITH JUNIPER

Steps:

• For the filling: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Grind the juniper and peppercorns until fine in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder.
• Add the butter to a large saute pan set over medium heat. Add the blueberries and cook, stirring occasionally, until they start to release their juices, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the heat off. Stir in the ground juniper and peppercorns, the preserves, sugar, cornstarch, gin, salt, vanilla, lemon zest, lemon juice and pepper. Pour into a 9-by-13-inch casserole dish.
• For the biscuit topping: Whisk together the flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and baking soda in large bowl. In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, buttermilk, vanilla and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring until just combined.
• Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions. Top the filling with the biscuits, leaving about 1/2 inch between each. Sprinkle with a little extra sugar. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes. Serve.