Chicken Tikka Masala Fills Your Senses

If I knew a good love song about dairy products, I'd be putting a link to it here. If you read my last post about our discovery of a line of organic, lactose-free dairy products, you'll know what I'm talking about.

It's been years since I've been able to contemplate making recipes that contain any fresh dairy products like butter, yogurt, sour cream, cream or any cheese younger than about six months. Looking through cookbooks or recipe sites, I automatically screened out anything that had any significant amount of those ingredients. Sure, I'd been able to substitute margarine for butter in a few, and tried tofu sour cream and cream cheese on occasion, but…sorry to say this…they were pale imitations when the real deal was called for.

Roasting spices for garam masala.

The cuisine of India is generally fine for the lactose intolerant, since vegetable oil is often called for (or can be substituted for ghee) in many instances. But the creamy, lovely curried yogurt sauces have been off limits. Until now.

As mentioned previously, Green Valley Organics makes lactose-free sour cream, yogurt, cream cheese and butter, and they're widely available here in Portland. So to celebrate this life-changing—or at least dinner-changing—occurrence, I decided to do a trial run of a tikka masala, which uses copious amounts of ghee and yogurt as the body of a curry sauce that blankets the chicken, lamb or whatever meat you choose in a lusciously rich coating.

Lovely aroma, fabulous flavor.

I was intrigued by the description I ran across in a recipe for a Punjabi-style tikka masala by Samin Nosrat on the New York Times cooking site, but decided to substitute fresh chicken thighs for the cooked turkey called for. (I also made homemade garam masala—easy and so much more flavorful than store-bought—using a recipe by Craig Claiborne.)

Long story short, with a few tweaks and adjustments to the recipe, sighs and moans were heard emanating from the diners gathered around the table, for the return of these much-missed gifts from our bovine friends as much as the incredible aroma and flavor of the dish itself.

Chicken Tikka Masala

For the garam masala:
9 green cardamom pods

1" length of stick cinnamon
1⁄2 tsp. whole cloves

1⁄2 tsp. black peppercorns

1 Tbsp. cumin seeds

1 Tbsp. coriander seeds

For the marinade:
2 tsp. garam masala
2 tsp. ground coriander
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. paprika
4 tsp. ground turmeric
1 tsp. kosher salt
6 cloves garlic, crushed in a garlic press or pounded in a mortar and pestle
1 c. whole-milk yogurt
3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on is fine, too)

For the masala:
4 Tbsp. ghee, butter or neutral- tasting oil
1 onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
6 cardamom pods, crushed, with seeds reserved and husks disposed of
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. paprika
1⁄2-1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. garam masala
1 1⁄2 tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
2 Tbsp. finely grated fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic, crushed in a garlic press or pounded in a mortar and pestle
2 serrano peppers, finely minced
1 qt. roasted tomatoes or a 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
12 oz. sour cream
1/2 c. whole-milk yogurt
3⁄4 c. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro, plus sprigs for garnish
Steamed basmati or jasmine rice, for serving

Break open cardamom pods and reserve the small seeds, discarding the outer shells. Roughly crush the cinnamon stick into small pieces in a mortar and pestle. Combine all the spices in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook spices briefly until they emit a roasty aroma, but be careful and don't allow them to smoke. Empty into small spice mill or small coffee grinder and grind as finely as possible. Store in airtight container.

Make the marinade: In a medium bowl, stir together garam masala, coriander, cumin, paprika, turmeric, kosher salt, garlic, ginger and yogurt. Fold in the chicken thighs. Cover and chill for 4 hours or overnight.

Make the masala: On the stove top, heat a Dutch oven or similar pot over medium-high heat. Add 3 tablespoons ghee, butter or neutral oil, then add onion, cardamom, bay leaf, paprika, pepper flakes, garam masala and a pinch of salt. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are brown and tender, 10 to 15 minutes, adjusting temperature as needed so the onions don’t burn.

Make space among onions in center of pot, and add 1 tablespoon ghee, butter or neutral oil. When it sizzles, add ginger, garlic and serrano peppers, and sizzle for about 10 seconds. Stir into the spiced onions, then add tomatoes and their juices. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until the liquid is almost gone, 8 to 10 minutes.

Stir sour cream, yogurt and chopped cilantro into the mixture in the pot. Season with 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, about 40 minutes. Discard bay leaf.

In the meantime, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil, turn on oven broiler, and arrange an oven rack about 6 inches from broiling unit. Lay the marinated chicken thighs on the parchment in a single layer. (Stir any remaining marinade into the sauce.) Broil thighs until they begin to blacken in spots, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the browned thighs to the masala sauce, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

Just before serving, taste and adjust salt as needed. To serve, garnish with cilantro sprigs. Serve hot, with steamed basmati rice.

Lactose Freedom!

It was a sad day more than a decade ago that my husband discovered he was lactose intolerant. For years he'd had bouts of gastrointestinal issues, and finally narrowed it down to those times when he'd consumed dairy products. As I wrote at the time:

"It was a very bad day. One of those days that forever changes you. A day that delineates a definite 'Before' and 'After.' The life-altering occurrence? My husband found out he was lactose intolerant. And, no, not just the 'take a Lactaid pill and have some cheesecake anyway' kind of lactose intolerant, but the kind where it's inadvisable to partake of butter, fresh cheeses or any product containing milk without risking...ahem...shall we say 'explosive repercussions.'"

Not being inclined to use someone else's intestinal tract as a personal science project, I decided to eschew dairy in family meals and focus on those that could be made with oil or margarine instead. Fortunately many of the world's most delicious cuisines are not heavily dairy-based, including most Asian cultures and those of Italy, Spain and other countries of the Mediterranean.

I was able to cheat at times, since he seemed to tolerate well-aged cheeses, anything that had more than six months or so of aging. So extra-sharp cheddar and the then newly available lactose-free milk products went into making a pretty decent version of macaroni and cheese.

We dreamed of the day when more lactose-free products would start appearing on store shelves. A part of that desperate wish was granted when lactose-free whole milk, rather than just two percent, became available, expanding our culinary universe a smidge. But butter and cream were still beyond our reach.

Then, miracle of miracles, my sister-in-law announced that she had found lactose-free butter at the store and, even better, it was certified organic. Dave immediately went out and bought a half-pound chunk, planning to slather a few pats on his morning toast—and declaring it an official (and delicious) great leap forward. He even started dreaming of making buttery, flaky, lighter-than-air croissants.

Come to find out that the same company, Green Valley Organics in California's Sonoma County, also makes cream cheese, sour cream, yogurt and kefir. And that meant I could once again make long-missed desserts like—Be still my heart!—cheesecake and indulge in dishes like Indian tikka masala. Even better, it turns out Green Valley products are available in stores around town and, while definitely more expensive than other organic products, are well worth the price for those special dishes that are so much better with (real, organic) dairy.

(PS: We're still waiting for the heavy cream.)

Cheese for the Cheeseless

It was a very bad day. One of those days that forever changes you. A day that delineates a definite "Before" and "After." The life-altering occurrence? My husband found out he was lactose intolerant. And, no, not just the "take a Lactaid pill and have some cheesecake anyway" kind of lactose intolerant, but the kind where it's inadvisable to partake of butter, fresh cheeses or any product containing milk without risking...ahem...shall we say "explosive repercussions."

In my usual state of denial, I suggested trying different cheeses and dairy products to see which, if any, his system could tolerate. But, considering the discomfort involved, he declined to let me use his digestive system as a science lab for my experiments (sheesh!). So we adjusted, switching to a more Mediterranean diet, using margarine instead of butter in desserts and becoming vigilant label-readers at the grocery store. A friend even dubbed certain foods "Dave-safe" to give us a heads-up about what was okay to eat.

After doing some reading and consulting with other families making this adjustment, we found that aged cheeses like extra sharp cheddar and parmesan or romano were acceptable, as were great substitute products like Tofutti cream cheese and sour cream (see note, below). So when he was craving a creamy-cheesy fix, I figured out a recipe for macaroni and cheese that came close to replicating the super-rich pasta dish that had been removed from our table on that fateful day. And for those of you who may have a use for something like this, here's the recipe:

Dave-Safe Mac'n'Cheese

1 lb. dried pasta
4 Tbsp. stick margarine (see note, below)
4 Tbsp. flour
2 c. lactose-free whole milk
3/4 lb. extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
8 oz. Tofutti cream cheese (see note, below)
1/2 tsp. hot pepper sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil large pot of water. While water is heating, melt margarine in medium-sized saucepan. Remove from burner and add flour, stirring to combine. Place back on burner and cook on low heat for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add milk and stir until it thickened, then add cheese in handfuls until melted. Add cream cheese and stir until sauce is thick and creamy, then add hot sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

Add pasta to boiling water and cook till al dente. Drain and put in casserole dish, pour cheese sauce over top and stir gently to combine. Bake in 350 degree oven 30 minutes.

NOTE: In the interim since this post was written, a new line of products has come on the market that has changed everything. Green Valley Organic Lactose-Free butter, cream cheese and sour cream are now on our go-to list. If you have access to them, give them a try in this recipe! (BTW, we're not thrilled with their plain yogurt at this point, but it's fine in recipes like Chicken Tikka Masala.)