Jamie All Week

A meal fit for the Taj Mahal. Sort of. Chicken Tikka Masala, Aloo Gobhi, Stacey’s stove top rice and purchased naan.

I’m a creature of habit. Once I find a recipe I like, I often stick with it, to a T. Then, when I feel totally comfortable, I might start doctoring it up with my own tweaks. I’ll also eat or make a winning dish a couple of days in a row. Sucks to be my kid.

With that caveat in mind, my account of a somewhat unsuccessful Jamie experience will make more sense.

Since I’m a tikka masala newbie (see previous posts), I decided it was necessary to restrict myself to what Jamie instructs in the recipe. There was that coconut milk addition that I was a bit wary of since most tikka masalas I have had were made sans coconut milk. And, there was a serving of water used in the dish that just seemed odd. With coconut milk in the mix, another “can” of water seemed like a superfluous amount of liquid. But, Indian cooking isn’t instinctual for me, so I erred in second-guessing myself. It didn’t help that I was chatting it up with Stacey while supposedly cooking in earnest.

The whole over-submerging the meat in liquid was pretty much the theme of the night. Everything smelled great: the onions sautéed with the meat browned ever so slightly, the homemade tikka masala paste was flavorful, though not as spicy as I would like. Next time when I do this, I will probably use “REAL” chilies, and not the red jalapenos I get from Whole Foods. Those are terribly weak-sauce.

I kept the tikka masala cooking for a pretty long time, but it didn’t reduce much. It felt a bit like tikka masala-soup and the heavy salting I did in the sautéing part felt null and void with all that water and coconut juice. When we “ladled” it over our rice, the watery particles took over the plate, which is nice if you like that sort of thing. I would have preferred something a little drier. All in all, with a little more salt to pass and lemon juice, the food tasted good. That store-bought naan really gave me the gut-bust though. I could barely move after the meal. I guess the beer didn’t help either!

Sidenote: I’m also a creature of perfectionism so due to my dissatisfaction with the turn-out, I will probably revisit this recipe. Sorry Jamie- hope I didn’t let ya down.


Chilies, spices, home-made tikka masala paste getting a good sauté.


It’s rare that I get an action shot in the mix. Thanks Stacey.


Berkeley looking for eats, and looking real cute while doing it.


While I didn’t make my own naan, the one I bought from India’s Sweet & Spices tastes homemade. It had the most incredible chew and was slightly sweet.


Devin, Stacey, and I are just tearing our food apart. The Taj Mahal beer in the back paired nicely with the food.

COOKED FROM



SHOPPED AT
New India's Sweets and Spices
1245 S Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90019-4437
(323) 936-6736