Vij's Cilantro-Mint Chicken Curry: is it "the one"?

I've posted probably two hundred or more recipes on the blog in the last 4+ years. I've made dozens more things that didn't make the cut because I truly do care about your tastebuds. Out of those couple hundred or so recipes there's been a few dozen show stoppers. Those all too rare restaurant quality moments. Whittling it down further you get to the "Oh my f*cking god this is good" meals, which also will invariably entail swooning and eyes rolling to the back of the head. The foodgasms if you will. Like that other kind of "gasm", some are better than others.

This recipe from the greatest Indian restaurant in North America, Vij's in Vancouver, B.C., falls squarely into the last category, a "how did you do that and would you do it again?" sort of eating experience. Out of the several hundred recipes I've posted, could this be "the one"? Well, if it isn't the one, it is definitely one of the two or three best things I've ever made, fully deserving of the bold face type. As soon as I had the first bite I couldn't wait to make it again for friends to knock them on their asses. It is phenomenally good, so incredibly deep and complex. Vij's cookbook is a source of inspiration that should be in every cook's library. Not only are the few things I've made from it as good as what you have in their mind blowing restaurant, but usually they are also incredibly easy. As far as ease of prep and cooking, this would fall into the "ridiculously simple" column. To give yourself or some very deserving friends a sensory thrill ride, you must make this....soon!!
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Vij's Cilantro-Mint Chicken Curry
From "Vij's Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine"

ingredients:
Cilantro-Mint Chutney
2 cups cilantro, chopped
2/3 cup mint, chopped
2 jalapenos, finely chopped
1-1/2 cups red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon ginger, chopped
1/3 teaspoon asafoetida (you can find this in any Indian market, or some specialty grocers)
1 cup water

Curry
½ cup canola oil
1.5 tablespoons cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seed
3 tablespoons garlic , crushed
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup plain yogurt, stirred
3 lbs chicken thighs, bone in
3 cups basmati rice, cooked

method:
for chutney:
Mix cilantro leaves and stems, mint, jalapeño peppers, onions, ginger, and asafoetida in a large bowl. Pour one third of this mixture into a blender with 1/3 cup of water. Purée until smooth. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat two more times with remaining cilantro-mint mixture and water. You should have a smooth green chutney. Set aside while you prepare curry.

for curry:
Heat oil in a heavy, shallow pot (make sure it has a tight fitting lid) on medium-high heat for about 1 minute. Add cumin and coriander seeds and allow them to sizzle for about 30 seconds (the cumin will actually sizzle, the coriander will just cook) Add garlic and sauté for about 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Stir in the salt. Turn off the heat and after 2 to 3 minutes stir in the yogurt. Add chicken thighs and stir well. Turn the heat to medium, then cover and cook for about 25 minutes, stirring regularly. Remove curry from the heat and cool about 20 minutes.

Transfer chicken to a bowl. Peel chicken off bones. The size of the chicken pieces doesn't matter but do not shred them. Discard the bones and stir chicken back into the curry. Stir in the cilantro mint chutney. About 15 minutes before serving bring curry to a boil on medium heat. Turn the heat down and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes.

Place 1/2 cup or so rice in a bowl and ladle chicken curry over the rice.

note: when you cook the cumin and coriander the oil will probably start to smoke very near the end. Assuming the smoke isn't rolling out of the pot, don't worry, it is just the spices cooking and you'll be turning off the heat soon. It adds a real lightly smoky character to the spice flavor.- bb

update: after just having some leftovers 2 days later, this is one of those meals that while still delicious doesn't improve the next day. It loses a bit of the über-fresh cilantro-mint punch. Like I said, still good, but not quite the impact.- bb

Family secret revealed: Vij Family's Chicken Curry

I've written before (click here to read all the salivatory details) about our trip to the North American mecca of Indian food that is Vij's Restaurant in Vancouver, BC. There all is sub-continental and sublime. Before we had left w had picked up a copy of the Vij's Cookbook, which until our visit we hadn't cracked. Since then I am constantly looking for inspiration within. Last week w stated that she had the desire for Indian. Me, always being eager to please, knew just where to turn. But when so much opportunity presents itself, where to start? This seemed as good as anyplace. I mean if it is good enough for Vij's family, and his own mother made it, you think it isn't worthy? Me neither. One bite in, you'll agree. With the other things I've made from the Vij's Cookbook (like this fabulous coconut curried vegetable side), this has remarkably complex flavors that are coaxed out of very few ingredients (that is a few of the key spices at right). The key is each ingredients is so flavorful, that the whole coats your tastebuds in savory pleasure. This is tremendously easy to put together, and so rewarding. One final word: be prepared as feelings of inner peace and happiness are soon to be yours!
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Vij Family's Chicken Curry

ingredients:
½ cup canola oil
2 cups finely chopped onions (2 large)
3-inch stick of cinnamon
3 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
2 tablespoons chopped ginger
2 cups chopped tomatoes (2 large)
1 tablespoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon garam masala
½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
3 pounds chicken thighs, bone in
1 cup sour cream, stirred
2 cups water
½ cup chopped cilantro (including stems)

method:
1-In a large pan, heat oil on medium heat for one minute. Add onions and cinnamon, and sauté for five to eight minutes, until onions are golden. Add garlic and sauté for four more minutes. Add ginger, tomatoes, salt, pepper, turmeric, cumin, coriander, garam masala and cayenne. Cook this masala for five minutes, until the oil separates.

the masala coming together.... and smelling SO good!

2-Remove and discard skin from the chicken thighs. Wash thighs and add to the masala. Stir well. Cook chicken thighs for 10 minutes, until the chicken looks cooked on the outside. Add sour cream and water and stir well. Increase the heat to medium-high. When curry starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring two or three times, until chicken is completely cooked. Poke the thighs with a knife. If the meat is still pink, cook for five more minutes. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick. Cool curry for at least half an hour.

the chicken after the addition of sour cream & water

3-Transfer cooked chicken to a mixing bowl. Wearing latex gloves, peel chicken meat off the bones. Discard bones and stir chicken back into the curry. Just before serving, heat curry on medium heat until it starts to boil lightly. Stir in cilantro. Divide curry evenly among six bowls.
Serves 6

in His footsteps: Vij's at home!

If you missed my posts from our eating odyssey in Vancouver, B.C. last month, then you missed the story of our dinner at the temple of all things Indian and out-of-this-world that is Vij's. There, Vikram Vij, acting in the role of a sub-continental svengali, and his staff produce food that mere mortals such as I thought could only be dreamt of. That is until I opened our copy of the Vij's cookbook. What? You mean the secrets contained within the soothing walls have been let out amongst the rabble. Well, as we in the rabble like to say "Right the fuck on!!" So many wonderments to try, but needing a vegetable dish to go with some curried duck legs (more on that soon, I promise. A wow dish for sure, and NOT from Vij's!), we decided on his Coconut Curried Vegetables. What a fantastic dish, so complex, with a crossfire of flavors coming at you from every direction. Crazy! This would actually make a terrific entrée on its own, and as a side this recipe will easily serve 6-8. Feel free to sub other veggies into it, as well, especially with all the inspiration available at the farmer's markets.
If I can't be at Vij's, at least I can eat like I am....sort of............

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Coconut Curried Vegetables
from Vij's

We had the leftovers for dinner the next night, and if anything it was even better. The flavors came together beautifully, so while not necessary, if you can make this the day before you plan on serving it, it's worth it.- bb
addendum: in response to a comment, I got curry leaves at Fubonn, an Asian market here in PDX. Check one near you and you'll probably find them.-bb


ingredients:
1/2 cup canola oil
25 to 30 fresh curry leaves
1 tbsp black mustard seeds
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
1 tbsp + 1 tsp chopped garlic
2 cups chopped tomatoes (2 large)
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 12 ounce can coconut milk, stirred
1 lb eggplant, chopped into 1-1/2" pieces
1 lb cauliflower, cut into 1-1/2" florets
2 green or yellow bell peppers, seeded and chopped into 1" pieces
3/4 cup cilantro, chopped

method:
1. In a large pot, heat oil on medium heat. Keeping your head at a distance from the pot, add the curry leaves and mustard seeds and allow them to sizzle for about one minute or until a few seeds pop.
2. Immediately add onions and sauté until golden brown, about 8 minutes
3. Add tomatoes and remaining spices and sauté for 8 minutes or until oil glistens on top.
4. Stir in coconut milk and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low. Add eggplant. Cover and simmer to five minutes. Add cauliflower and bell peppers, cover and simmer for another five minutes. Stir in cilantro.

Serve over basmati rice.
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one year ago today @ E.D.T.: a myth busting marinade you need to know about!

Eating Vancouver '09: food insanity, pt.2-the Church of Vij's

We've all had Indian food. Probably fairly decent Indian food. It's one of w and my favorite cuisines. Complex flavors, pungent spices...even the vegetarian dishes are some of the best things I've eaten. Then there's Vij's in Vancouver, BC. I thought I had a pretty good handle on how good sublime sub-continent cooking could be. Turns out I'm not so well informed and I blame our dinner at Vij's for bursting that bubble. We'd read about Vij's and the incredible food rumored to be flowing out of the kitchen. We have the Vij's cookbook. Many of our friends who had been to the 'Couv were salivating as they told us we HAVE to go. So we went. We knew about the "get there at opening or you wait 1-1/2 hours" thing. We didn't and we waited (although a good part of that wait was spent in a very cool nearby wine bar, Bin 942). There are very few dinners worth waiting 90 minutes for, but I would wait for this again in a heartbeat. In fact, going to Vij's alone is almost worth an overnight trip from Portland. Crazy food, absurdly flavorful, awesome service. One thing we noticed as we looked around is that the whole staff is women. Kitchen, floor staff, host. Our server explained that when Vikram Vij opened the restaurant, he put his new wife Meeru in charge of the kitchen. In a confined space where bodies are constanly bumping into noe another, it wouldn't have worked to have men being in contact with women, so an all-woman kitchen staff evolved, and it seems to have carried over to the front. Now I don't know if this is the reason or not (it is according to our server), but the whole restaurant exudes this calm aura. There's no tension in the air, just seamless attention to detail. I've always said if I opened another restaurant I would absolutely hire a female chef. It's a rare male chef who doesn't let his testosterone-driven ego get in the way. This only reaffirms that observation.

Enough of that, it's time to focus on what's important. So here's the Vij's show-and-tell. May I suggest you lean away from your keyboards to keep from drooling all over your keys.....

Our first appetizer, Spicy Ground Cricket Paranta with tomato-onion chutney and celeriac salad. The flour for the flatbread is actually made partially from ground crickets! It was delicious, and the chutney was so flavorful, and they gave us a little bowl of whole fried crickets (pic at top left) which we sprinkled on top. They were delicious, witha salty crunch. Here's a pic of the way to get your insect on (take that Bourdain!):

next up....

This was a pungent, incredibly spiced Jackfruit in a black cardamom and cumin masala. The jackfruit had pineapple-like texture, and the sweet fruit and spiciness were, of course, perfect together.

Our server highly recommended we order this app, BC Spot Prawns (fresh off the boat that morning she said) with spinach and mung sprouts in a coconut and lemon curry. She was correct. The shrimp was so bright and fresh, and a lemon infused curry is obviously something I need to experiment with!

w ordered the Marinated and Grilled Sablefish with grilled zucchini in a mango reduction. Read that again and you'll know all you need to know about how amazingly delicious this was: "grilled fish in mango reduction". Of course when you have a mastery of Indian spices and know just what to add, it helps. A beautifully cooked piece of fish, moist and tender, dredged through the sauce it absolutely pops in your mouth!

My pick was their Wine Marinated Lamb Popsicles (what do you think of that dds? The Greek's don't have a monopoly on lamb "popsicles"!) in a fenugreek cream curry on turmeric spinach potatoes. This was simply stunning (although w said the same thing about her sablefish, and it was). The lamb was a wonderful, juicy medium-rare, the cream curry was silky smooth and defines "understated", yet it filled my mouth with so much flavor. A ridiculous combination that as I look at the picture, I know it is something I MUST have again!

For wine we ordered a bottle of Hugel Sylvaner, a crisp, delicious Alsatian white that was spot on with all the different flavors. w considers, and I can only agree, that this is one of the best meals of any kind we have ever had. Brilliant, stunning cooking in a serene settting. This is why I can only feel blessed to be able to have an experience like this. If Tojo's was food as art, this is food as religion.