Chicken Tandoori and Palak Paneer

I love Indian food, but found out that many recipes use dairy, which Zoe is allergic to. So, I have been experimenting with goat yogurt and tofu with fantastic results! The chicken tandoori recipe says to skin the chicken, and I found that to be difficult and slippery, so I pulled the skin up and just cut it off, rather than trying to tear it off all the way. That seemed to work well!

For the palak paneer, I was looking for a recipe to use some spinach that I had, but noticed that the Americanized recipes used ricotta, and the more authentic recipes used paneer, which I am guessing is a mild Indian cheese. I had some soft tofu on hand, so I crumbled that up. I don't think I used enough, though, because the flavor was strong.

We all liked the chicken, but Ben and Zoe wouldn't touch the palak paneer. I like it with some rice to cut the flavor a little. One more thing, I made a really good simple sauce for the chicken and the rice by mixing some goat yogurt with a little bit of curry powder and salt. We all like that!


Chicken Tandoori
- adapted from Recipes Live

Ingredients

• 1 tsp mustard pwd
• 2" ginger root, peeled and minced
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp grnd coriander
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2/3 cup plain yogurt (I used goat yogurt)
• salt to taste

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix mustard, ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric, lemon juice and cayenne.
2. Add tomato paste and oil, a little at a time, mixing well to form a smooth sauce. Add remaining oil and stir in yogurt and salt. Prick drumsticks several times and place in a shallow glass dish. Pour marinade over drumsticks and turn drumsticks in mixture. Cover and marinate in refrigerator.
3. Preheat broiler. Arrange drumsticks in a broiler pan and pour marinade over chicken and cook 30-35 minutes or until cooked through, turning and basting frequently to ensure even browning and cooking.
   

Palak Paneer
-adapted from allrecipes

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup olive oil or butter substitute (I used a combo of Earth Balance and EVOO)
  
• 1 clove garlic, minced
  
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste (I used remainder of can from chicken tandoori)
  
• 1 (3 inch) piece ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup water, or as needed
• 1 (10 ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 pound tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I believe you can sub ricotta or paneer for this)
  

Directions

1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in garlic and cumin seed; cook until the garlic softens, about 3 minutes. Add tomato paste, ginger, 1 teaspoon garam masala, salt, onion, and water. Increase heat to medium, and stir until the tomato paste dissolves. Simmer slowly for 1 hour, adding water as needed to maintain a sauce-like consistency.
2. Stir in spinach and cook until hot, about 5 minutes. Add paneer, and allow to cook an additional 5 minutes, or until hot.