I am still looking for that one person that has no problem eating meat during the summer.
Ok, alright, hands down, I get it, it’s only me. Still, when the day gets hot, my appetite for meat diminishes to zero level. With the temperature nearing 40 degrees Celsius (sometimes higher), one has no choice but to eat light, in order to keep cool. So the challenge for me is to make meat as tasty and light as possible.
This is where spices come in. I don’t know if it is true, but in my mind it goes something like this: India is hot, Indians eat spices –> spices are good during heat waves. I choose to not look it up and just go with this forever!
In the interest of making meat appealing to me, I employ a curry powder recipe taught to me by a friend, more than a decade ago, in NYC. I am pretty sure I have changed the quantities dramatically in the course of the years, but this is how I have been making it and how we have come to like it.
Today, I seasoned half a chicken breast with salt, pepper and our curry powder and simply cooked it on a non-stick pan with not a drop of oil. You can use oil if you want, but I’m keeping everything light.
Along with the chicken, we had a nice lettuce salad, with lots of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil, and a dill-less tzatziki, made with:
1 cup 0% yoghurt
1 very small cucumber, diced
1 clove garlic
2-3 TB lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
salt, pepper
Curry powder
The curry powder recipe includes coriander, cumin, turmeric, ginger, dry mustard and paprika. I am sure she gave me the right quantities, but the way I now make it is this:
The curry powder is made of ten parts.
5 parts ground coriander seeds
2 parts ground ginger
2 parts ground cumin
1 part turmeric
1 part (or maybe a bit less) dry mustard
1 part (again, if you want, a bit less, or noticeably less) paprika
Mix all the parts well. Store it in an airtight container. It goes fast, especially if you are anything like me and use it everywhere.
Remember that everything is best enjoyed with good company.
The cats were begging
All That Cooking 