Culinary Arts 1: Curried Chicken

I absolutely love chicken curry, and can make it pretty well, using this here recipe. It tastes good and isn't bad for you at all. In this healthy conscious craze we're having now, what with Michelle Obama and Dr. Nancy on MSNBC and all that, I don't think anyone can say that's a bad thing, right?

INGREDIENTS

1 pound of cubed chicken breast
1 big can of tomato sauce
1 cup of plain yogurt
1 onion, chopped fine
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of fenugreek
1 tsp of tumeric
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of ginger
1 tsp of coriander
1 tsp of cardamon
1 tsp of garam masala
1 tsp of black pepper
1 tsp of salt
1 tbs of red curry powder
1 block of ghee or regular butter


Fry the chicken out nice and fast over high heat, and then set it aside. In a sauce pan, melt the ghee, and in another, toast your spices but don't let them burn. Nothing on earth smells or tastes worse than burnt spices, not even the freezer that had died for two weeks during a 100 degree heat wave that I had to clean out! Well, maybe that, but not much else. After the spices are nice and war, put them and the ghee together and saute for a while, until everything is cooked down together nice and gooey. Add the tomato sauce and yogurt, and stir them together. Allow everything to gel together into a nice, thick curry gravy, getting good and hot but not boiling. When it looks like it's about to boil but not quite, put the chicken in. Simmer for about ten minutes and then devour it. And believe me, this is so good that devour is definitely the right word! Best served over basmati or jasmine rice, alongside na'an and a few Indian vegetables. Chicken can be substituted with lamb, pork, shrimp, fish, blocks of tofu or chick peas. I guess you could use beef, too, but using beef in a dish eaten mostly by Hindus just feels wrong to me, somehow, even though I'm not a Hindu myself. Go figure.