Saveur: The New Comfort Food (17 page)
Read Saveur: The New Comfort Food Online
Authors: James Oseland
The winning combination of succulent chicken and creamy, spice-laden tomato gravy known as chicken tikka masala has, over the years, become a comfort-food staple on Indian restaurant menus and in home kitchens around the world. Its beginnings are murky, though it likely originated in Great Britain in the 1970s, when an Indian restaurant cook attempted to replicate a famous Delhi restaurant’s signature dish, murgh makhani (butter chicken): tandoor-baked chicken in a sauce made with butter and tomatoes. Though some condemn the British riff on the dish, known as chicken tikka masala, as inauthentic (many recipes call for canned tomato soup, after all), I would argue that it belongs to a long and illustrious line of South Asian dishes that have been reinterpreted throughout the colonial and postcolonial eras, giving rise to a distinct, Anglo-Indian style of cookery. The dish’s main component, chicken tikka, or boneless chicken pieces marinated in a mixture of yogurt and spices and then cooked in a clay tandoor oven, is itself a classic Punjabi dish. The tandoor imparts a smoky flavor to the chicken, which acquires a vivid orange or scarlet hue from turmeric, cayenne, or, often, food coloring in the marinade. Today, many chefs opt for fresh tomatoes instead of tomato soup; some also enrich the sauce with ground almonds and substitute more-fragrant coconut milk for cream. Home cooks, too, have furthered the evolution by grilling or broiling the chicken to reproduce the tandoor-baked flavor. While the exact lineage of chicken tikka masala remains a subject of debate, I regard it with affection as an example of the dynamic nature of Indian food.
—Lizzie Collingham
Paprikás Csirke
When saveur reader Isabelle Zgonc of Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, sent us her family recipe for paprikash, Hungary’s famous paprika-spiced braised chicken dish, she also shared some of the happy childhood memories it evokes for her. “It was good, hearty food that pleased all our senses,” she recalled. Soft dumplings, sautéed with butter and parsley just before serving, are perfect for soaking up the paprikash’s thick red sauce.
1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
2½ cups plus 2 tbsp. flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 3- to 4-lb. chicken, cut into 6–8 pieces, skin removed Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
¼ cup canola oil
2 tbsp. sweet paprika
1 Italian frying pepper, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, peeled, cored, seeded, and chopped
1 large yellow onion, minced
1½ cups chicken stock
¾ cup sour cream
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tbsp. minced flat-leaf parsley
Serves 4
1. First, make the dumplings. Bring an 8-qt. stockpot of salted water to a boil. In a bowl, whisk together 2 cups of the flour and 1 tsp. of salt and form a well in the center. Add the egg and ½ cup water to the well and stir to form a dough. Knead dough in the bowl until smooth, about 1 minute. Using a teaspoon, scoop walnut-size portions of the dough into the pot of boiling water. Boil the dumplings until tender, 6–8 minutes. Drain the dumplings and rinse in cold water; cover with a tea towel and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, season the chicken with salt and pepper. Put ½ cup flour on a plate, dredge the chicken in the flour, and shake off the excess. Heat the oil in a 6-qt. Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken, turning once, until brown, 8–10 minutes. Remove the chicken and set aside.
3. Add the paprika and half the frying peppers, along with the tomatoes and onions, to the Dutch oven and cook, stirring, until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the reserved chicken and the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, turning the chicken once, until fully cooked, 12–15 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 tbsp. flour and the sour cream. Whisk in ¾ cup of the sauce from the pot. Stir the sour cream mixture back into the sauce in the pot. Remove from the heat.
4. Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat, add the reserved dumplings and the parsley, and cook, tossing occasionally, until hot, about 2 minutes. Serve the chicken garnished with the remaining frying peppers and dumplings on the side.
Opor Ayam
In this dish, based on a recipe in saveur editor-in-chief James Oseland’s cookbook Cradle of Flavor, cinnamon and lemongrass lend vibrancy to the silky sauce.
1 tbsp. coriander seeds
½ tsp. crushed red chile flakes
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 4-inch piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tbsp. peanut oil
5 fresh or frozen Kaffir lime leaves
4–6 4-inch sticks cinnamon
1 stalk lemongrass, smashed and tied into a knot (shown in photo)
3 lbs. mixed chicken thighs and legs
2 cups coconut milk
¾ tsp. kosher salt
4 cups cooked jasmine rice, for serving
Serves 4–6
1. Finely grind coriander and chile flakes in a spice grinder. Put spice mixture into a small food processor with garlic, onions, and ginger; purée to a paste. Add 1–2 tbsp. water, if necessary.
2. Heat oil in a 5-qt. Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add paste; cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 5–7 minutes. Add lime leaves, cinnamon, and lemongrass. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cinnamon is fragrant, about 2 minutes. Increase heat to medium, add chicken, and cook, turning once, until golden brown, 8–10 minutes. Stir in 1 cup coconut milk, 1¼ cups water, and salt. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until chicken is tender, 40–50 minutes.
3. Add remaining coconut milk to the curry; cook for 2 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes before serving with the rice.
Lemongrass is a tough-fibered aromatic herb that’s used as a flavoring in countless dishes in Southeast Asia, including ones like Indonesian chicken curry. A stalk or two of the pale green herb infuses soups, braises, and curries with a citrusy taste. Lemongrass can be pulverized to make an ingredient in spice pastes or finely sliced for stir-fries, but it’s often used in its whole form, in much the same way a bouquet garni is: dropped into the pot as a dish cooks and then removed at the end. First, trim the tip and the root end and peel away the stalk’s fibrous outer layers. Next, use a meat mallet (or, in a pinch, the back of a kitchen knife) to smash and bruise the stalk until it’s pliable. Finally, tie the stalk into a knot and put it into the pot.
Yangnyeom Dak
The South Korea–based, internationally popular Kyochon restaurant chain guards its recipe for fried chicken closely, but we think we’ve managed to crack the code. Our version has the same spicy-tangy flavor and incomparable crunch.
Canola oil, for frying
5 cloves garlic
1 ½ -inch piece peeled ginger
3 tbsp. soy sauce
3 tbsp. gojujang (Korean chile paste)
1½ tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. Asian sesame oil
1 tbsp. honey
2
/
3
cup flour1 tbsp. cornstarch
16 chicken wings or drumettes (about 1¾ lbs.)
Serves 2–4
1. Pour oil into a 6-qt. pot to a depth of 2 inches and heat over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer reads 350°F.
2. Mince the garlic and ginger in a food processor. Add the soy sauce, gojujang, vinegar, sesame oil, and honey and purée. Transfer the sauce to a bowl and set aside.
3. Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, and
2
/
3
cup water in another bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Working in 3 batches, fry the chicken until golden, 6–8 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
4. Return the oil to 350°F. Fry the chicken until crisp, 6–8 minutes more. Drain again. Toss the chicken in the sauce and serve.
Twice-fried sweet-spicy chicken has long been a favorite in Korean homes and restaurants. Nineteen years ago in Gumi, South Korea, a restaurant owner named Kwon Won Kang added his own savory garlic-soy dressing to double-fried wings and drumsticks, and the specialty known as yangnyeom dak (Korean fried chicken) took off as a fast-food phenomenon. Today, the business Kwon founded, called Kyochon, has more than 1,000 outlets worldwide, and Korean fried chicken has a global following. The restaurant’s popularity is no surprise. Its wings and drumsticks are unfailingly juicy inside, crunchy outside, and glazed with one of two delicious sauces: hot-sweet or garlic–soy. A totally addictive food, it’s lighter, less salty, and less greasy than American-style fried chicken. The key is in the precision frying. When an order comes in, a cook takes a batch of unseasoned wings and drumsticks—pared from small, fresh chickens and chilled overnight to decrease their moisture before frying—and dunks them in a thin batter of wheat flour, water, and cornstarch. Then he gives the wings and drumsticks a 9-minute sizzle in a deep-fryer containing 350°F canola oil, which cooks the meat and forms a light crust. Next, he tosses the chicken in a wire strainer to shake off loose bits of fried batter before plunging it into a second fryer, which contains oil left over from the previous day; the darker oil gives the skin a deeper flavor and hue. Three minutes later, the chicken emerges with a delicate texture and crackly crust that is ready to be sauced.