happy news and kerala chicken

The dinner party was a big success (see below) but the week got off to a bad start after that, and has only redeemed itself in the last day or so with some happy news. First, I found out that I've been invited to give a paper at this conference (and that the organizers will pay for at least some, if not all of the ticket). This is academically pleasing, but the real reason I am so delighted is that it will allow me a week-long Oxford reunion coinciding with Summer Eights (but how sad it will be to stand on the banks and not be in a boat, for the first time in four years) and dear S's birthday. Oxford is (usually) at its green enchanted loveliest in late May, so there will be punting, and outdoor drinking, and I'll steal someone's bicycle and race up & down Broad Street in an insubstantial sundress like I always did in late spring. Of course, now I have to go turn the paper proposal into an actual paper....

Also, this morning the friendliest employee of the United States Postal Service that I've ever met delivered the two heavy parcels of books sent to me cross-country (for amazingly little money; God bless the media mail rate). I tore the boxes open like a kid on Christmas morning, and am revelling in my reunion with academic tomes, poetry, and a few novels, but above all my art and photography books--especially my gorgeous birthday presents from thariel this year and last, and the Ara Güler retrospective published by Y-G-S recently.

So, the dinner party: many lovely people and what SF calls "stupid amounts of food!" plus the great fun of introducing a range of friends from different facets of one's life and watching them hit it off. We had the necessary quorum of Oxford-linked people present for salacious gossip, and there were several other startling small-world moments, including the discovery that SF's co-worker (the only desi present, so I was pleased when he gave high marks to the food) turns out to know a former Seattle housemate of mine from their undergrad years at Wesleyan. Both he & I have been nearly-arrested with her more than once at protests of various sorts. There's been a lot of this sort of thing lately--last weekend I was in Patel Bros. in Jackson Heights to buy groceries and someone called out my name; it was one of dear S's oldest friends, who spent a week in Oxford visiting last year and recognized me on the spot. But back to eating: we had a cheerfully hybrid north-south subcontinental meal, including Chana Masala, the famous "Kerala" Chicken, thariel's mom's Tomato Kura, the Cumin-Lime Carrot salad from Suvir Saran's "Indian Home Cooking" (fantastic cookbook, quickly becoming one of my favorites), rice, raita, pickle, imperfectly-made chapatis (I'm getting better at it, slowly, esp. given only a ginger-beer bottle for a rolling-pin), and kesar kulfi (store-bought, but I'm going to try making it myself soon). Despite a good-faith attempt to tone down the heat of some of the dishes, due to a new batch of cayenne the chana was about its usual spice level, which left me apologizing to K and G (thankfully, we had enough beer and kulfi to soothe the burn). The big hit of the evening, though, was definitely the chicken, so that's the recipe I'll post.

Kerala Chicken

This dish is not at all authentically Keralan; we just call it that because of the coconut. Thariel gets credit for the invention: when trying to make his mother's methi chicken without any methi, he had the bright idea of pouring in half a can of coconut milk. I've made some further adjustments, but this is essentially the same dish. The combination of turmeric, tomato, and coconut milk gives it a lovely saffron color.

About a pound of chicken, chopped into smallish pieces (I like to use a mixture of breast and thigh/leg meat)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large onions, finely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste (or about 2 cloves garlic & 1 sq. inch of garlic chopped very fine or pureed)
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cayenne or chili powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 can coconut milk (a regular sized 13 oz. can, not one of the little ones)
salt to taste (probably at least a teaspoon)

Heat the oil in a large wok/karhai/frying pan. Fry the onions until golden-brown. Add the ginger-garlic paste, the coriander, chili, turmeric, and salt, and fry for about a minute. Add the cut-up chicken and stir-fry for about 5 minutes. Mix in the tomato puree and the garam masala until blended. Then pour in the can of coconut milk. Cook slowly on very low heat for at least 30 minutes, if not a hour or two, adding a little water if needed, until the coconut milk is reduced to a thick gravy. Serve with rice. It's even better heated up the next day, should any actually last that long.