Tandoori Chicken with Jeera rice, Mint Raita and Naan

Well, I went on an kick this weekend and thought I would put on a little SARGAM by Pandit Tarun Bhattacharya and cook up a little tasty Indian dinner.

Lets start with the Tandoori to get it marinating. This is a little complex so I will just go over it quickly. you can find many recipes online.

combine garlic gloves, fresh ginger, hot green or red chilies, peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom pods, cloves, bayleaf, cinnamon add plain unsweetened notfat organic greek style yogurt and marinate 2-24 hours. Remember eating is about your eyes and most people like Tandoori red so hit a little red food coloring in there... Tandoori tastes way better when you actually grill it. Try to replicate the high heat of the Tandoor without killing your chicken.

For the Mint Raita mix yogurt with a little water, add 1 small onion chopped finely, some salt and 1/tsp mint sauce. garnish with chopped fresh mint leaves.

Don't forget the Naan! brush with melted butter or preferably Ghee if you have it.

Now whip up some Jeera rice. I got this recipe out of Ismael Merchants wonderful Passionate meals.

1 1/2 cups Basmati rice, 3 tbsp Vegetable oil, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 2-2" Cinnamon sticks, 4 Cloves, 1/4 tsp salt. First you bloom the spices slowly in the oil making sure they don't scorch and then you boil the rice. Real simple, Real tasty.

I served this all with onion and tomato slices and a nice Pale Ale