Tonight I tried out a tandoori chicken recipe I found on the blog of renowned chef and pregnant woman Angel in the Kitchen. Within 30 seconds of mixing up the approximately 17 pounds of spice needed for the recipe I smelled like a Calcutta health inspector, so I knew I was doing it right.
Donna and I made a trip to the Asian market in Fargo to get our favorite noodles for the completely awesome (if I do say so myself) stir fry I usually make as part of our Lost-watching ritual. While there we decided it would fun to buy some cous cous to make with the chicken, rather than taking the wusses' way out and make white rice.
The directions seemed pretty straightforward: brown the cous cous (which resembles tiny white rabbit turds) in oil until it turns golden brown (and smells like tiny golden brown rabbit turds). Add some chicken stock, simmer for 12 minutes then let stand to soak up the rest of the liquid. How can I say this... oh yeah: It didn't work.
After simmering for about two minutes I realized that all the liquid was gone so I added more. After 15 minutes the cous cous was still hard as a rock and all the liquid was again gone. At this point I figured I had missed something so I went back and re-read the directions. Nope. I should have been eating mushy brown rabbit turds by now.
There was nothing left to do but add more water and simmer. Once all this latest dose of liquid had evaporated, we decided to make some rice after all (way to wuss out, Donna). I realized immediately that I knew how to get the cous cous done: I should have started cooking rice back at the beginning, because, you guessed it, as soon as the rice was done the cous cous was ready too! Yay!
All I can say after tasting it is, ehhh. It's not horrible, but it was not worth the 40 minutes and 900 cubic meters of water needed to turn those steely hard rabbit pellets into something edible. Next time I'm just going to make white rice and cook it with the seasonings the cous cous recipe called for. Yes, I'm going to take white rice and cous cous-ify it. Kinda like trading rabbit turds for mouse turds.
I love Indian food.
P.S. The tandoori chicken was excellent. Served it was some curried squash and baked bread. Really good stuff; I'll be making that again. Go to the link above and try it sometime.
My couscous takes 5 minutes -- boil the broth and some salt, add it to the couscous, cover with plastic wrap, and let it sit. Maybe I'm cheating and using instant, and I've just never paid attention. :) Glad you liked the chicken!
ReplyDeleteI too would be curious to see what you bought as couscous. Since it is actually semolina pasta I can't imagine it taking 40 minutes. I'd say give it another try.
ReplyDeleteIt was quite the adventure. I obviously did something wrong, but I may go to my grave not knowing what it was. Whatever. It made for a good story. Or at least a story.
ReplyDeletemaybe angelinthekitchen and anonymous like crunchy cous cous.
ReplyDelete--D
Crunchy Cous Cous just made my list of Awesome Band Names That Should Exist But Probably Don't.
ReplyDeleteI will add couscous to my list of upcoming blog posts. The non-crunchy kind.
ReplyDeleteSure, go ahead and announce my shame to the world. ;)
ReplyDelete