Chicken Curry and Naan

For writing group tonight, we workshopped Nathan's latest book. And what better way to celebrate than with delicious food? We made a fabulous spread centering around chicken curry and naan bread (with a potato side dish, mango lassi for drinks, and two kinds of rice).

The remains of the naan bread.

Writing group: 1, Curry: 0. So delicious.

And now, for the recipes:

Indian Chicken Curry*

Ingredients

- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion (1 medium)

- 1/2 cup finely chopped celery

- 2 tablespoons butter

- 3 tablespoons flour

- 1 teaspoon curry powder

- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth

- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

- 1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken

- 1/2 cup tomato juice

- 2 cups cooked rice

Directions

In medium saucepan cook onion and celery in hot butter until tender. Stir in flour and curry powder. Add chicken broth and Worcestershire sauce. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in cooked chicken and tomato juice; heath through. If desired, season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over hot rice. Makes 4 servings.

*I got this recipe from a friend, so I'm not sure where it originated. If you know, tell me in the comments!

Naan*

Ingredients

- 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast (I used a bit more than 1/2 Tbs)

- 1 cup warm water

- 1/4 cup white sugar

- 3 tablespoons milk

- 1 egg, beaten

- 2 teaspoons salt

- 4 1/2 cups bread flour

- 2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)

- 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough.  (If you add too much flour, it makes it hard to roll out later.  Plan on it still being a little bit sticky.) Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.

Punch down dough, and knead in garlic  (I skip the garlic). Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.

At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. (I use a lot of cooking spray to make sure it doesn't stick on anything.) Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. (If you don't want really buttery naan, just don't brush with butter... I promise they are good either way and I acutally preferred them when I didn't brush with butter, just used a bit of cooking spray as needed.)  Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

*recipe from here.