Moghul Chicken Dilruba

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This rich, spicy-sweet chicken dish from northwestern India has distinct Moghul influences. “Dilruba” means “sweetheart.” The Moghuls controlled most of India from 1526 until 1839, leaving behind some of India’s most famous architecture, including the Taj Mahal. The Moghul emperors loved to eat, and twenty-course meals were common in the royal courts. Not surprisingly, Moghul rule had a greater influence on Punjabi cuisine that that of any other conqueror.

Ingredients

  • 2 medium onions

  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger root

  • 6 tablespoons butter or vegetable oil

  • 1 3 to 4 pound chicken, skin removed, cut into small serving pieces

  • 1 cup fresh plain yogurt

  • 1/4 cup almonds

  • 1/4 cup walnuts

  • 1/4 cup melon, pumpkin or squash seeds (optional)

  • 1 cup milk

  • 2 tablespoons garam masala

  • 1 teaspooon ground turmeric

  • 2-3 fresh green cayenne peppers, minced, or substitute any small, hot chiles such as serranos or jalapeños

  • Salt and ground cayenne to taste

  • A few strands whole saffron, soaked in two tablespoons warm milk

  • Minced fresh cilantro and whole almonds and cashews for garnish

Instructions

Put the onions and ginger into a blender or food processor and process to a smooth paste (about the consistency of apple sauce). Heat the butter in a heavy, deep skillet and gently brown the onion mixture, stirring often.

Add the chicken and yogurt. Combine well and cook over medium heat until the mixture becomes rather dry and the chicken begins to brown.

Grind the almonds, walnuts, and melon seeds until quite fine. Stir them into the milk. Add this mixture to the chicken along with the garam masala, turmeric, chile peppers, salt and ground cayenne pepper.

Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the chicken is very tender and the sauce is very thick (about 10 to 15 minutes). Stir in the saffron and milk mixture and cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer.

Garnish with cilantro and nuts and serve hot.

Gravlax with Spicy Mustard Sauce

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This Swedish dish takes two days to make, but it’s well worth the effort. After curing, the gravlax is sliced as thinly as possible, placed on black bread, and served with a little of the mustard sauce spread over it.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup sugar

  • 1/3 cup kosher salt

  • 2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper

  • 2 small bunches dill, coarsely chopped

  • ½ bunch chervil, chopped

  • 1 bunch Italian parsley, chopped

  • 1 bunch lemon balm, chopped

  • 2 tablespoons prepared hot mustard (with chiles)

  • 1 tablespoon mustard powder

  • 2 tablespoons sugar

  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar

  • 4 tablespoons canola oil

  • 2 tablespoons freshly chopped dill

  • 2 salmon fillets, about 1 ½ pounds each

Instructions

In a bowl, combine the sugar, salt, and pepper to make the sugar mixture. In another bowl, combine the dill, chervil, parsley, and lemon balm to make the herb mixture. In a third bowl combine the mustard, mustard powder, sugar, vinegar, oil, and dill to make the mustard sauce. Cover and refrigerate the mustard sauce.

Place 1 fillet skin side down in a shallow bowl. Sprinkle ½ the sugar mixture over the fillet, ½ of the herb mixture, the rest of the sugar mixture, and the rest of the herb mixture. Place the second fillet on top of the first, flesh to flesh, and wrap with plastic wrap. Place the wrapped fillets in a shallow pan and weigh them down with something heavy, like bricks covered in aluminum foil or a cast iron skillet.

Refrigerate for 24 hours, then flip the fillets, weigh them down, and refrigerated for another 24 hours. Serve with the mustard sauce.

 

Fish Steaks with Secret Scilly Cay Grilling Sauce

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Gorgeous insists that his sauce is secret, but if he wanted to keep it that way, he should never have told me the ingredients. We experimented in Dave’s and Mary Jane’s kitchen until we got the sauce right. It can also be used on chicken. It is a grill sauce, designed to be brushed on during the grilling process, but it has a lot of sugar in it, so take care that it does not burn. The sauce yield is about 1 cup.

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
½ cup orange marmalade
1 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon ground dry roasted peanuts
2 tablespoons Scotch bonnet or habanero hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 thick fish steaks, such as shark or tuna

Instructions

In a sauce pan, heat the olive oil and saute the garlic. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and cook over medium heat until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate if not using it immediately.

Add wood chips (such as pecan or mesquite) to the grill fire. Brush the sauce over the steaks and place them on the grill. Keep brushing the steaks with the sauce until they are done. The time will vary according to the heat of the fire, the thickness of the steaks, and their proximity to the fire. Try not to turn the steaks more than twice.

Grilled Chicken Parts with Tasty’s Barbecue Sauce

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The ingredients for this sauce were given to me by Dale Carty and I must say that I admired him for making his sauce from scratch rather than buying a commercial one. That’s probably why his restaurant is named as it is. This sauce is added to the chicken during the last half of cooking, and the chicken is best when it’s smoke-grilled (used wood chips soaked in water), so keep it quite a distance from the fire, close the lid on the barbecue unit, and grill it slowly. The sauce yield is about 3 cups or a little more.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

  • 1 clove garlic, chopped

  • 1 medium onion, chopped

  • 1 green or red bell pepper, chopped

  • 3 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped

  • 1 cup water

  • 2 tablespoons mango chutney

  • 1/4 cup pine nuts, dry roasted and ground

  • 1 teaspoon thyme

  • 1/4 cup Scotch bonnet or habanero hot sauce

  • 1 medium chicken, cut into 8 pieces (2 wings, 2 thighs, 2 legs, 2 breasts)

Instructions

In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the garlic in the olive oil for about 2 minutes. Add the onion and saute an additional 5 minutes. Add the pepper and saute another 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and saute, covered for 20 minutes. Uncover, add the remaining sauce ingredients and simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer to a blender and puree.

Smoke grill the chicken until half done, brush the parts with the sauce, and continue smoke-grilling until done.

Caribbean ‘Crayfish’ with Tasty’s Wet Rub

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I was served what the Anguillans call crayfish, but they’re considerably larger than the Louisiana kind yet smaller than a spiny lobster. Don’t ask me their scientific name. Substitute large lobster tails for them if they don’t live in your neighborhood. The wet rub or marinate is from Dale Carty at Tasty’s and it’s quite unique. The yield is about 1 cup.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup freshly chopped basil

  • 1 1/2 inch long piece of ginger, peeled and grated

  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano

  • 1 teaspoon thyme

  • 1/4 cup olive oil

  • 2 tablespoons Scotch bonnet or habanero hot sauce

  • 2 large lobster tails, removed from the shell

Instructions

In a bowl, combine all the ingredient for the rub. Add the lobster tails to the rub and coat well. Marinate for at least one hour in the refrigerator. Grill over medium heat for about 7 to 8 minutes a side, turning once. You will have to re-coat the tails with the rub when they are on the grill.