Minh's Chicken Tikka Masala with homemade Naan bread and Cilantro Chutney

 

My journey this time continued to India, where I made some chicken tikka masala, naan bread, and cilantro chutney. It was a very long and hard process as I spent about 4 hours and 45 minutes in total: 2 hours and 28 minutes to prepare and cook, 7 minutes to clean up, 55 minutes to make the video, and 1 hour and 25 minutes to write down the recipe. For the chicken tikka masala, I marinated the chicken in the fridge with different spices for about 40 minutes before frying it on the pan. Then I made the sauce with many different spices again before letting it simmer. 

In the meantime, I had to make bread dough for naan bread. I had never made bread dough before so it was a battle and a mess. My yeast, water, and sugar flew everywhere when I mixed it with the flour. Luckily, I somehow got it back in control and created a good-looking bread dough before letting it rise in a warm oven. After that, I divided the dough and rolled them flat. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a dough roller therefore I had to improvise. I had to use my dad’s vodka bottle to roll them and it wasn’t a bad idea. Finally, I just cook the doughs on a pan until they get some burnt spots on both sides. At the end of the first week, I have spent up to 25 hours and 25 minutes on the project. 


  


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Minh's Fried Rice

Image
  Today I worked on my Vietnamese fried rice recipe and ahead starts for my next noodle dish. It was easier compared to the spring rolls yet still very flavorful. I spent about 4 hours total: 1hour and 25 minutes to prepare and fry the rice, 5 minutes to clean up, 55 minutes to make the video, 1 hour and 10 minutes to write the recipe, and 25 minutes to prepare the ingredients to make chicken stock. Making the fried rice is pretty simple, all you have to do is finely chop the ingredients into nice cuts and stir fry it on a medium-high heat pan. However, I learned a few things during the cooking process. First, it would be better to use cold leftover rice because freshly made rice can be mushy at the end. Secondly, constantly stir the rice and try to keep it away from the center of the pan to prevent the rice from being burnt.  For the cooking video and the cookbook, I decided to make some adjustments. I made the cooking video shorter by mainly focusing on the cooking process m...
Read more

Minh's Manhattan Clam Chowder

Image
  Today I worked on New England’s clam chowder twin sister, Manhattan clam chowder. With my previous experience on New England clam chowder, this should be a bit easier for me to work on. I spent about another 4 hours in total: 1 hour and 50 minutes to prepare and make the clam chowder, 5 minutes to clean up, 55 minutes to make the video, and 1 hour 15 minutes to write down the recipe.  For the Manhattan clam chowder, I didn’t have to stir as much as the New England one. I let the clam chowder simmer for about an hour to really get the flavor in there. I checked it every 10-15 minutes to make sure nothing goes wrong. Between the two chowders, I would say the New England one is the better twin. 
Read more

Bean Thread Noodle Soup

Image
  With my chicken stocks ready after simmering from the previous night, I began to make the bean thread noodle soup. I spent about 4 hours in total: 1 hour and 45 minutes to prepare and make the noodle soup, 5 minutes to clean up, 55 minutes to make the video, and 1 hour and 15 minutes to write down the recipe. During the cooking process, I had to pay close attention to the chicken stock the most because the stock was the main star of the dish. All the flavors came from the stock, so it was mandatory to simmer it for at least 8 hours.  Nonetheless, when I boiled half of my chicken in the stock, I had to make sure that it was bone-in chicken because the bone and the chicken juice will add more flavor to the stock. The rest of the process was pretty easy. I just had to boil the noodles and other toppings to make sure they were cooked and present them in a bowl. For the cooking video and the cookbook, I kept them short and the same style as the fried rice recipe. I have spent a t...
Read more