Indian Salad

I need to put one other recipe on here as it goes really nicely with the Chicken Jalfrezi and Taziki/Raita - I am thinking I should rename the Taziki/Raita to Raziki.  Anyways, as most of you know Andre and I have been eating quite a bit healthier recently.  Although both these recipes are relatively clean we do eat a lot of vegetables (approximately 4 cups each a day!). So here is an additional recipe. 

Indian Salad

1 cucumber

1 onion, red or white

1 carrot

1 tomato

fresh cilantro - Surprise!! It has cilantro

Juice of 1/2 a lemon or to taste

Salt

Peel and cut veggies into very thin slices.  Arrange veggies in a bowl or on a serving plate (depending on how fancy you want to be) and sprinkle chopped cilantro, salt and lemon juice. 

Chicken Jalfrezi

Chicken Jalfrezi

This is a Pakistani recipe for a spicy curry that I found on allrecipes.com, which I have tweaked and made into a Jen recipe.  My sister Rebekah always requests this when she comes out for a visit; if I am feeling particularly evil I will call her and tell her I am making it. You must try it if you are looking for something with a little bit of a kick. This dish is best served with basmati rice or naan bread and my fake taziki/raita. 

1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 onion, grated

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks

1-2 tablespoons ground turmeric

1 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon salt 1 – 2 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes, drained, depending on how tomato-y you want it

1 ½ tablespoons ground cumin

1 ½ tablespoons ground coriander

2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger root

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Heat the oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic, and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the chicken, and season with turmeric, chili powder and salt. Fry gently, scraping the bottom of the pan frequently and turning the chicken.

Pour in the tomatoes and cover the pan, and simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes. Uncover, and simmer for another 10 minutes to let the excess liquid evaporate.

Add the cumin, ground coriander, ginger and cilantro, and simmer for another 5 to 7 minutes. Serve on steamed basmati rice with a side of Jen’s fake Raita.

Jen's Fake Taziki/Raita or Raziki

Raziki

So this is a recipe that I really love and Andre asks me to make for him so much that I ended up showing him how to make it himself.  It is not quite a traditional taziki or a raita, but some mutant form of the two.  Warning: there is some prep time for this recipe so read thoroughly .


1 Field Cucumber (not long English as LE tend to be quite bitter)
1 container Astro Greek/Balkan Natural Style Yogurt
1 – 2 cloves of Garlic (be very careful with how much you put in I like 1, Andre likes 4, which is so hot it burns going down)
½ tsp. salt (for garlic – see below)
1 tsp. salt (for cucumber – see below)
Handful fresh cilantro, chopped
1 TBS. Olive Oil
1 tsp. Lemon juice
Black Pepper, to taste

Strain yogurt. What I do is take a metal sieve and line it with cheesecloth (if you don’t have cheesecloth, use a coffee filter) put it into a bowl for the liquid to drain out into and dump container of yogurt into said filter (see picture) let sit overnight in the fridge or for 2 hours on the countertop. You have successfully made what is commonly referred to as Yogurt Cheese, which is a health base to all kinds of dips, sauces, etc.

Once your yogurt has drained, peel and grate your cucumber on a cheese grater. Set it in a strainer over the sink and let drain. As it is draining sprinkle and mix in 1 teaspoon of salt, this causes the water to come out of the cucumber, let drain for about 10 minutes or however long it takes you to do the next step.

Chop or mince garlic and then mash it with ½ teaspoon of salt until it becomes a paste, you can use a mortar and pestle if you have one otherwise just sprinkle the salt in a pile on your cutting board, put the garlic on top of it and squish it with the back of a spoon. The salt helps to grind up the garlic into a fine paste.

Return to your cucumber that is draining in the sink. Run cold water over the cucumber to rinse off the excess salt. Squeeze through paper towels to remove moisture.

Combine yogurt cheese, cucumber, garlic, cilantro, black pepper, olive oil, and lemon juice. Let favours mingle for a couple of hours and enjoy. This is really great with chicken and pork slouvaki.