Ministry of Curry

09 January 2019, 03:46 PM

wtg

Ministry of Curry

First try at preparing a whole chicken in the IP.

Found a bunch of recipes for rotisserie-style chicken. Stupid simple. Coat the chicken with a seasoning rub and then brown it in the IP. Remove to plate and add a cup of broth or water to the IP, then put the chicken on a trivet and put it back in the IP. Cook at high pressure for six minutes a pound and depressurize naturally for 15 to 20 minutes.

Not expecting crispy skin but figure if I can always dunk it under the broiler after it's done to crisp things up a bit.

I'll let you know how it comes out.

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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

Bazootiehead-in-training

09 January 2019, 04:41 PM

wtg

It's done!

Skin is not crispy, and I didn't bother with the broiler. Breast and leg meat are very flavorful and tender. I thought it might taste more poached than roasted because of the pressure cooking with the liquid in the bottom, but it's not bland at all. I do think that the rub and the pre-cook browning added good flavor.

There is a ton of broth in the pot that could be thickened nicely and made into a very rich gravy.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

Now I'm off to try the vegetable biryani recipe from Ministry of Curry....

09 January 2019, 07:21 PM

wtg

Decided to wait till tomorrow to make the biryani. Instead, I tried her recipe for homemade ghee; I needed it for the biryani anyway.

It worked! Much easier than the stovetop version.

09 January 2019, 10:42 PM

AdagioM

I think I’m going to have to roast a chicken...

10 January 2019, 12:31 AM

RealPlayer

As an aside to this discussion, I have been making Indian dishes from a Madhur Jaffrey book (not with IP), and am surprised how different the resultant dishes are from what you usually get in an Indian restaurant. The restaurant food seems heavy, made with cream and butter (ghee). The ones in my cookbook are much lighter, using tomato, oil, potatoes, maybe coconut milk for a cream-style sauce. Still lots of spices. I suspect they are healthier too.

I suspect there may be another distinction in there somewhere -- fancy vs. everyday food.

The local Indian restaurant offers coconut milk as a vegan option in its cream sauces, too.

10 January 2019, 09:09 AM

Mary Anna

I have one of her books, maybe her first, published in the 1970s. I love her essays about life in India that are interspersed through the recipes.

10 January 2019, 09:42 AM

pianojuggler

I find most Indian restaurant food to have way too much salt. Salt makes the food taste better when you're eating it, but I spend the rest of the day in search of water.

That's one of the reasons I love Market Spice curry powders. They have no salt. Most commercially-available curry powders have a LOT of salt. If I share my curry with others I tell them they may want to add salt. I don't.

Sometimes I make curry with coconut milk... I use the "light" stuff. Sometimes I use non-fat yogurt instead. But more frequently, I use a tomato base. It is just a rich and tasty, but low or no fat.

10 January 2019, 12:19 PM

AdagioM

quote:
Originally posted by pianojuggler:
I find most Indian restaurant food to have way too much salt. Salt makes the food taste better when you're eating it, but I spend the rest of the day in search of water.

That's one of the reasons I love Market Spice curry powders. They have no salt. Most commercially-available curry powders have a LOT of salt. If I share my curry with others I tell them they may want to add salt. I don't.

Sometimes I make curry with coconut milk... I use the "light" stuff. Sometimes I use non-fat yogurt instead. But more frequently, I use a tomato base. It is just a rich and tasty, but low or no fat.

Wait. Do I need to change up my PJ’s Chicken Curry routine with tomatoes instead of coconut milk? I do have the curry from Market Spice; Kid1 brought me some from his last trip to Seattle. He identified it by sniffing the curries!

10 January 2019, 07:09 PM

wtg

The vegetable biryani recipe is wonderful! The recipe calls for a teaspoon of red chili powder. I thought that might be too spicy, so I cut it back to about a 1/4 teaspoon. We both decided that a half teaspoon would be about right. I also cut back on the salt.

https://ministryofcurry.com/ve...biryani-instant-pot/

I left out the paneer because we had IP rotisserie-style chicken from yesterday left over. Also some roast leg of lamb (prepared conventionally) from two days ago. The vegetable biryani was our rice/veggie side dish for the meats.

And I used my homemade ghee!

eta: For those who prefer quinoa, the recipe says you can substitute it for the basmati.

10 January 2019, 08:44 PM

Steve Miller

I'll try it!

What is the advantage of using ghee over using butter?

10 January 2019, 08:50 PM

wtg

Ghee has a slightly nutty flavor. I would also imagine that it's a little less likely to burn, as the milk solids have been filtered out. eta: The smoke point of ghee is around 450, while butter is 350.

quote:
For starters, ghee and butter are made up of different components. Butter on its own is comprised of butterfat (churned from cream), water, and milk solids. Ghee, which is rendered from butter, is only made up of butterfat.

Unlike butter, ghee and other types of clarified butter contain virtually no lactose and are very low in casein, which makes them an ideal alternative to regular butter for those with dairy and lactose sensitivities. However, sometimes ghee can contain trace amounts of casein and lactose, so it should still be avoided if you’re truly allergic or intolerant.

Ghee can be used in place of recipes that call for solid fats, such as butter or coconut oil. However, ghee does have a slightly nutty taste, which may alter the flavor of your dish — but not necessarily in a bad way. In fact, some describe the taste of ghee as “more buttery” than butter.

https://blog.kettleandfire.com/ghee-vs-butter/

11 January 2019, 12:40 AM

RealPlayer

quote:
Originally posted by pianojuggler:
Most commercially-available curry powders have a LOT of salt.

That's a very good point. Many kinds of curry powder can be had cheaply at the local Indian groceries, but they don't list their ingredients.

Also, it's not that hard to make your own if you have the spices and a grinder, and you can leave out the salt.

14 January 2019, 03:03 PM

Steve Miller

I made the Healthy Butter Chicken recipe last night and it was terrific! After reading these comments I decided to cut the salt back to 1/2 teaspoon. Glad I did - the salt level was perfect. I also left out the sugar.

I saw a picture of a cucumber salad on the website and figured out it's called "Kachumber Salad". I made that too and it's also a keeper. About as healthy as you're going to get - no oil at all, just lemon juice.