This is what I made this cold rainy day.
It was either this or chicken and dumplings. When I read the spices
that went into this dish I knew it was no contest, I could roll around
in these spices and be perfectly happy.
http://i42.tinypic.com/bhwsxi.jpg

If you don't want to click through it's on my blahdy blah blah blog.

I was very happy I had all the spices called for in the recipe, but
not all of them were ground. So I got out my trusty little mortar and
pestle and got busy. The first spice I had to grind was...
cardamon. I cracked open the pod and was given the gift of tiny little
black seeds.
http://i43.tinypic.com/2helrnn.jpg

Some needed chasing around the cutting board but all were present and
accounted for before being smashed to smithereens.
Believe it or not, I ground the exact amount needed.
http://i43.tinypic.com/2448rdi.jpg

Next was the coriander.
http://i43.tinypic.com/k4t7ro.jpg

Talk about chasing seeds all over the place. At least these little
buggers were bigger. They were ground up quickly.
http://i44.tinypic.com/24bq4qt.jpg

Now that all the spices are ready, it's time to round up the rest of
the ingredients.

The recipe calls for heavy cream to be added. Now, I've tried to like
tomato based sauces that milk or cream were added to and I just can't.
There's not much I don't like, I just can't do it. To me pink sauces
are very off putting, I can't even eat that Vodka Pasta Sauce. I'll
spare you the reason why, I don't want to ruin your appetite for this
dish. Trust me you'll thank me.
I substituted the cream with some of my wonderful homemade chicken
stock I made yesterday. I just had to reduce the sauce a little toward
the end.
http://i44.tinypic.com/n6upzt.jpg

I started by cooking some onions in butter, once they were cooked and
staring to take on some color I added the garlic and ginger.
http://i42.tinypic.com/2dgu78m.jpg

When the garlic and ginger became fragrant I added the spices to the
onion and cooked them gently until they became fragrant also.
http://i43.tinypic.com/2lwlnva.jpg

Then the tomatoes were added and cooked until blended with the spices
and onion.
http://i41.tinypic.com/jztyyh.jpg

I considered not adding a whole cups worth of chicken stock, reasoning
that it's not equivalent, texture wise, to heavy cream and that the
sauce might suffer by adding it. I then reasoned that if I let the
sauce reduce it would concentrate and richen the sauce.
I really hate reasoning with myself because at times I can be so
unreasonable.
http://i39.tinypic.com/e6a7tu.jpg

The sauce simmering and bubbling away to reduce a little.
http://i41.tinypic.com/fdsvw0.jpg

It's great topping some couscous.
http://i40.tinypic.com/33jo2e8.jpg

I didn't add the chicken to the sauce, I sauced some chicken. I want
to try the sauce with some other things, shrimp for one and maybe some
pork.

This is just great and I'll make this again for sure. Thank you Cindy.
koko
--

There is no love more sincere than the love of food
George Bernard Shaw
www.kokoscorner.typepad.com
updated 02/16

On Feb 16, 6:18*pm, koko > wrote:
> This is what I made this cold rainy day.
> It was either this or chicken and dumplings. When I read the spices
> that went into this dish I knew it was no contest, I could roll around
> in these spices and be perfectly happy.http://i42.tinypic.com/bhwsxi.jpg
>
> If you don't want to click through it's on my blahdy blah blah blog.
>
> I was very happy I had all the spices called for in the recipe, but
> not all of them were ground. So I got out my trusty little mortar and
> pestle and got busy. The first spice I had to grind was...
> cardamon. I cracked open the pod and was given the gift of tiny little
> black seeds.http://i43.tinypic.com/2helrnn.jpg

Next time, just throw the cardamon pods in whole. When they've given
up their goodness, you can fish them out (lest someone bite down on
one and get a big surprise). I originally used whole cloves and
cardamon,
but got tired of raking through the finished dish to remove them.

> Some needed chasing around the cutting board but all were present and
> accounted for before being smashed to smithereens.
> Believe it or not, I ground the exact amount needed.http://i43.tinypic.com/2448rdi.jpg
>
> Next was the coriander.http://i43.tinypic.com/k4t7ro.jpg
>
> Talk about chasing seeds all over the place. At least these little
> buggers were bigger. They were ground up quickly.http://i44.tinypic.com/24bq4qt.jpg
>
> Now that all the spices are ready, it's time to round up the rest of
> the ingredients.
>
> The recipe calls for heavy cream to be added. Now, I've tried to like
> tomato based sauces that milk or cream were added to and I just can't.
> There's not much I don't like, I just can't do it. To me pink sauces
> are very off putting, I can't even eat that Vodka Pasta Sauce. I'll
> spare you the reason why, I don't want to ruin your appetite for this
> dish. Trust me you'll thank me.
> I substituted the cream with some of my wonderful homemade chicken
> stock I made yesterday. I just had to reduce the sauce a little toward
> the end.http://i44.tinypic.com/n6upzt.jpg
>
> I started by cooking some onions in butter, once they were cooked and
> staring to take on some color I added the garlic and ginger.http://i42.tinypic.com/2dgu78m.jpg
>
> When the garlic and ginger became fragrant I added the spices to the
> onion and cooked them gently until they became fragrant also.http://i43.tinypic.com/2lwlnva.jpg
>
> Then the tomatoes were added and cooked until blended with the spices
> and onion.http://i41.tinypic.com/jztyyh.jpg
>
> I considered not adding a whole cups worth of chicken stock, reasoning
> that it's not equivalent, texture wise, to heavy cream and that the
> sauce might suffer by adding it. I then reasoned that if I let the
> sauce reduce it would concentrate and richen the sauce.
> I really hate reasoning with myself because at times I can be so
> unreasonable. *http://i39.tinypic.com/e6a7tu.jpg
>
> The sauce simmering and bubbling away to reduce a little.http://i41.tinypic.com/fdsvw0.jpg
>
> It's great topping some couscous.http://i40.tinypic.com/33jo2e8.jpg
>
> I didn't add the chicken to the sauce, I sauced some chicken. I want
> to try the sauce with some other things, shrimp for one and maybe some
> pork.
>
> This is just great and I'll make this again for sure. Thank you Cindy.

Well, now I feel like I've really made a contribution to r.f.c, after
all these
years. <glow>

Cindy