Gingered Chickpea and Chicken Curry

IMG_6872Yum!  Homemade curry is a wonderful thing, fresh and fragrant.  Lately I’ve been able to convert my curry indifferent husband into a curry loving husband with dishes like this.  Such is the power of good home cooking.  Chocked full of ginger, this spicy dish will make your taste buds sing.  The recipe calls for 3 cups of cooked chickpeas which is approximately equal to 2 (15-ounce) cans, drained and rinsed or 1 cup of dried chickpeas.  You don’t need to pre-soak dried chickpeas either, they cook up fine without bothering.  Just put 1 cup of dried chickpeas into a saucepan, add lots of water and some salt.  Bring to a boil,  turn the heat down to low, cover and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours.  Easy, peasy.

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Indian Fish Curry

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Have you ever had one of those days where you just aren’t inspired in the kitchen?  Recently I have been going through this fairly often.  Nothing sounds good and I’m sick of chicken but that’s all that is in the freezer.  One weekend, not long ago, I was having one of those indecisive days and my husband suggested fish for dinner.  He even volunteered to go to the grocery store and pick up whatever we needed.  I thought he had a great idea but I didn’t want to have a plain fillet that was baked or sautéd.  In the back of my mind I remembered seeing this recipe in one of my Williams Sonoma cookbooks.  After reviewing the ingredient list, I sent Jeff off to the store to buy a firm white fish that was fresh and reasonably priced.  What I got was Alaskan cod which was delicious.  You could substitute halibut (which is never reasonably priced here), catfish or tilapia.

I will be the first to tell you that I don’t have much experience with curry and wouldn’t know an authentic one if it bit me on the butt.  However, I have made a few that use easy to find ingredients and have always been pleased with how they taste.  This fish curry is certainly no exception.  It is full of flavor and the perfect dish to relieve the kitchen blahs.  Continue reading