Indian chicken dish makes good excuse for a crowded kitchen

Today we kick off Back in the Day, a new feature by cookbook writer Lynette Lo Tom spotlighting old-style dishes of various cultures and traditions. Look for an installment monthly in the Star-Advertiser food section.

"I can hear my mother’s voice right now saying, ‘Always use warm water to wash chicken, never cold water,’" said Shakil Ahmed of Kahala. "I don’t know why, but I still just use warm water." The founder of PDC Systems, a leading IT consulting firm, has been an island resident for 27 years since he moved to Hawaii to attend graduate school at the University of Hawaii. But he still remembers vividly the smells and sounds as his mother, aunts and grandmother would prepare meals every Sunday in one of the family homes near Calcutta.

"People in India are very family oriented like those in Hawaii," he said. So, each Sunday, the family would gather to spend the entire day together, with the men focused on cricket or discussing politics, and the women talking about movies while cooking Sunday Special Chicken.

The dish is the embodiment of a perfect blend of seasonings that turns common chicken into magical chicken. The meat is tender and the sauce is delicious, worth the hours invested in simmering. It is perfectly complemented by rice or naan (Indian bread) and mango chutney.

Sunday Special Chicken is a popular dish, cooked throughout the Indian state of West Bengal, once the capital of British India. Thanks to daylong simmering, the chicken absorbs the many spices required, which are added in a specific order. It is a dish that cannot be rushed without compromising its flavor. Onions, which take 30 minutes to turn translucent without burning, are simmered with turmeric, salt, vegetables and mustard oil, the smell of which is reminiscent of the jolt you get when whiffing hot Chinese or Coleman’s dry mustard. (Find mustard oil in Hawaii at Indian and Asian stores.)

Most Americans would call this preparation a curry. But in India there are thousands of curries, each distinct for its protein — goat, chicken or lamb, plus vegetables — and the ratios of spices used, not to mention the variations by region. Coconut is used in southern India cuisine, for instance, but not so much in the north, where dishes such as tandoori chicken reign.

Sunday Special Chicken employs classic Indian spices, such as cardamom (Ahmed says black pods are preferable to green), yellow turmeric (called "olena" in Hawaiian), cloves, cinnamon bark or sticks, and garam masala, a ground Indian spice blend. Though the blend varies, it usually includes black pepper, cardamom, cloves, cumin and cinnamon.

Ahmed serves the chicken with an Indian rice pilaf, called "polau" in the Bengali dialect, and a vegetable salad made with fresh cilantro and dressed with salt and lime juice. The colorful salad is similar to the fresh salads served at truck stops, called "dhabas," where dishes are cooked to order and customers bide their time in hammocks while waiting for their meal.

After nearly three decades in Hawaii, Ahmed has made a few adaptations to the recipes. He adds a Hawaiian chili pepper to the chicken, includes daikon in the salad, and has figured out how to make the rice pilaf in an automatic rice cooker. When the fragrant and fluffy rice is mixed with sauteed garlic and onions, the polau takes on a beautiful yellow hue, a perfect accompaniment for the Sunday Special Chicken.

His grandmother and mother surely would be proud.

Lynette Lo Tom is fascinated by "back in the day" cooking and is dedicated to keeping our food memories alive. Call her at 275-3004 if you know of someone who still makes a heritage dish.

4-hour dish is best made with many helping hands

Sunday Special Chicken is a perfect dish to make while friends and families are in the kitchen, since it at times requires stirring the chicken every 2 to 3 minutes. Why not socialize while the chicken is cooking? And consider doubling the recipe, as it takes nearly four hours to complete and you will want leftovers. I can testify that this tastes great the next day.

Bengali Sunday Special Chicken (Murgi Mangsho’r Jhol)

» 8 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs
» 2-3/4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
» 2-3/4 tablespoons mustard oil, divided
» 3 cups onions (about 2 medium), chopped
» 4 cardamom pods (black preferable, but green acceptable)
» 4 whole cloves
» 4 strips cinnamon bark (1-by-1/2 inch)
» 4 black peppercorns, whole
» 3 bay leaves, divided
» 1-1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
» 1 teaspoon ground cumin
» 1/2 teaspoon sugar, divided
» 3 ripe medium tomatoes, diced
» 1 Hawaiian chili pepper, stem removed
» 1-1/2 tablespoons garlic, minced
» 1-1/2 tablespoons ginger, minced or grated
» 1/2 teaspoon salt
» 1-1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
» 1 teaspoon ground garam masala
» 1 tablespoon butter
» 1 tablespoon sour cream or yogurt
» 3 to 4 cups hot water
» Cilantro, for garnish

>> Marinade:
» 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
» 1 teaspoon white vinegar
» 4 tablespoons plain yogurt

>> Potatoes:
» 4 medium white salad potatoes, peeled and quartered
» 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
» 1/2 teaspoon salt
» 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
» 1 tablespoon mustard oil

Wash chicken pieces in warm water and set in bowl.

To make marinade, combine turmeric, vinegar and yogurt. Add to chicken and mix thoroughly. Let sit for 45 minutes.

For potatoes, in bowl, mix potatoes with turmeric and salt.

In pot on medium heat, add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon mustard oil. Add potatoes, reduce heat to medium-low and stir often for 30 minutes, until potatoes start to brown. A fork should be able to pierce about half of potato with ease. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in another large pot on medium-low, heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and 2 tablespoons mustard oil, add onions and stir often until onions are translucent, about 20 minutes. Add cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and peppercorns. Cook 10 more minutes. Onions should be a golden color. Add 2 bay leaves, coriander, cumin and 1/4 teaspoon sugar, and cook another 15 minutes.

Drain chicken in colander and squeeze out as much yogurt marinade as possible. Add to pot with onions and increase heat to medium. Add 3/4 tablespoon vegetable oil and 3/4 tablespoon mustard oil. Stir every 2 to 3 minutes for 30 minutes. Onions will dissolve into a paste.

Add tomatoes, chili pepper, last bay leaf, garlic, ginger, salt and tomato paste. Cook 30 minutes, stirring often. When tomatoes have dissolved into a paste, add potatoes (if making pilaf, retain potato pot), garam masala, butter, sour cream, 1/4 teaspoon sugar and 3 cups water. Simmer at least 20 minutes. Stir constantly. For more gravy, add additional cup water.

Test for doneness by poking chicken with fork. If chicken slips off, it is done. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with rice and Indian breads such as chapatti or naan. Serves 4.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving (not including rice or Indian breads): 680 calories, 36 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 140 mg cholesterol, 800 mg sodium, 57 g carbohydrate, 8 g fiber, 12 g sugar, 33 g protein

Rice Pilaf (Polau)

» 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
» 1 cinnamon stick
» 1 clove
» 1 bay leaf
» 1/8 teaspoon sugar
» 1/4 teaspoon salt
» 1/4 cup butter
» 2 cups basmati rice (use regular measuring cup), rinsed
» 4 cups hot water
» 1/2 cup frozen peas, defrosted

>> Topping:
» 2 cloves garlic, minced
» 1/4 cup onion, chopped
» 1 tablespoon butter

In a rice cooker, add turmeric, cinnamon, clove, bay leaf, sugar, salt and butter. Turn on cooker. When butter melts, add rice and hot water. After 10 minutes, check cooker. When water hits the level of the rice, add peas.

In pot — preferably the pot used to cook potatoes for Sunday Chicken — on medium-low, heat garlic, onions and butter until browned.

When rice cooker clicks off, add toppings to pot and mix well.

Serve with Special Sunday Chicken. Serves 4.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving: 500 calories, 15 g fat, 9 g saturated fat, no cholesterol, 300 mg sodium, 82 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 2 g sugar, 9 g protein

Dhaba Salad

» 1 cucumber, peeled and cut in
» 1/4-inch rounds
» 2 inches of carrot, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch rounds
» 2 inches of daikon, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch rounds
» 1/4 red onion, sliced thinly in
» 1/2-inch pieces
» 1/2 packed cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
» Juice of 1/2 lime
» 1/2 green jalapeno pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
» 1 ripe tomato, chopped
» 1/2 teaspoon salt

In bowl, mix ingredients and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving. Serves 4.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving: 35 calories, 300 mg sodium, 7 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 4 g sugar, 1 g protein, no fat or cholesterol

Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S.