Garam masala-crusted chicken with basmati rice

The time right after the holidays is a time ripe with promise: a time for me to reflect on what worked for me in the old year and what didn’t, and a time to think about where I am going and what I want to accomplish in the months to come. The dark of the year is also a perfect time to open some space in my life for different patterns of thinking and acting and being, and one of the most powerful ways I have found to help this process along is to change my routine ~ to spice things up a little. This lets my mind walk a little different path than its worn old wagon trail, and I never cease to be amazed by the surprises that emerge when I simply step out of the same old habits.

While it’s too early yet to see just what surprises lie in store for me in 2009, I am already stepping out of old habits just a bit to get the ball rolling. Instead of staying at home yesterday doing the housework I knew I should get done before I head back to the ol’ day job next week, I took Miss Pat’s invitation to go to lunch in town at a relatively new Ethiopian restaurant. The food was delicious, and our host was just the most delightful gentleman. I am always most impressed with those brave souls who, like my ancestors, risked a great deal by starting a new life in a foreign country. I am even more impressed by those who manage to navigate the business license and health department red tape to open a business here!

In any case, our lunch inspired me to start thinking about spices and ingredients I have woefully not used in years ~ and these thoughts led us to visit an international market near the restaurant so I could pick up a few goodies. The garam masala struck my fancy, and I figured this might be the seed of something delicious this weekend. I love the warm, sweet spiciness of garam masala, and it’s one of those delicious spice mixtures I really should use more often. The combination varies a great deal depending on where you are and where you purchase it (or what your personal preferences are if you mix your own), but the mixture generally includes some arrangement of coriander, cumin, ground ginger, red chili, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf, nutmeg, and perhaps other spices. When heat is applied to the mixture through cooking, the beautiful perfume and flavor of the spices is released and the effect is heavenly.

While recipes featuring garam masala can often include thickened sauces, I decided to start with a simple garam masala-crusted chicken. While my imagined meal was to be cooked over an open flame, we ended up using the oven since the weather here is not cooperating today. This morning RT split two small (3.5- to 4-pound) chickens in half, and we rubbed the chicken down with the garam masala-oil paste and set the chicken in a pan in the refrigerator to marinate for a few hours.

Pretty ladies relax with their herbal body masques ~

When we couldn’t wait any longer, we cooked the birds until the outside was good and crispy. I dug out the long-unused rice cooker and whipped up some fluffy, delicate basmati rice ~ and I steamed some soft, fresh flatbread from the market as well. A nice cucumber and tomato salad with plain yogurt is a cool foil for the warmth of the spiced chicken, and you could also fold the flatbread over and enjoy the whole thing as a wrap for lunch the next day. While I added some fresh-ground spices to the garam masala to my own taste, you may find the basic recipe for this garam masala-crusted chicken here on my main website.

The sky was Wuthering Heights-dreary today, but we happily stayed inside and enjoyed our warm crusty chicken with its pungent spiciness. While I might have tried a Grenache with this chicken if I had planned ahead, I found that a nice 2006 Chianti Classico stood up beautifully to the warmth of the spice without losing a bit of its sour cherry fruit or structure. I love it when a new path works out!

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You may find a delicious family-recipe garam masala from my very favorite spice merchant here:

http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysgarammasala.html

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