Next: warm green bean and pancetta salad
Back to main
food review: Indian cooking sauces from Patak’s
It’s no secret that I love Indian cuisine, a love that began more than 10 years ago when, as a student at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, I make the one-hour drive into Pittsburgh on Sundays for the lunch buffet. Mmm. But when I moved back to Massachusetts, my only option was driving into Boston unless I wanted to make it at home. With that I tried some some cookbooks and recipes of the Net, which were fine—when I was able to secure all the exotic spices—but time-consuming. So I turned to prepared and pre-packaged foods.
The first that I tried were boxed dry packages imported from India, but the weights and measures were metric (I did the conversions, but it wasn’t as convenient) and the ingredients included Indian-style yogurt and other unusuals like mutton. It worked somewhat, but was unsatisfying.
That’s when I found the line of cooking sauces from Patak’s at my local grocery store. (And which are also available online at WorldFood.com for a reasonable price.) Here we have two choices: simmer sauce, which comes in a jar, and cooking sauce, which is canned. Now don’t be fooled; both are labeled “cooking sauce”, but I’ve found a qualitative difference in the two. I’ve found that I preferred the canned sauce.
This stuff is great. When I was single, I used to make it three or four times a week, not because I didn’t know how to cook—I’ve been a good cook for a long time—but because it’s so tasty and easy to make. You only need three ingredients: onion, chicken breast, and the sauce. Of course, if you want that could be just the starting point for your creativity.
They offer several varieties, labeled both with the traditional Indian names and American equivalents. Thus “tikka masala” is also called “tangy lemon and cilantro.“ There’s also rogan josh, madras, vindaloo, dopiaza, and korma. Tikka masala is my favorite, and when I’m in for something spicier I grab vindaloo or rogan josh, while madras has a deep smokiness to it.
Keep in mind, these sauces may not taste a lot like the real thing you’ll find at a decent Indian eatery in your neighborhood, but they are very good in their own right.
To cook it, chop up and saute a medium onion over medium high heat, then when they’re just turning brown at the edges, add about 1 pound of diced chicken breast. Saute on both sides until golden brown, add the sauce, about a half-can of water, turn to low and let simmer between 10 and 45 minutes. (Within 10 minutes it’s ready to eat, but the longer it simmers, the more intense the flavor. I generally add a little more water for a longer simmer, about another one-quarter to one-half can.) Serve over rice.
Never one to leave well enough alone, I tend to fiddle with the recipe when I cook. Instead of using plain oil or butter, I use ghee, an Indian clarified butter that is shelf-stable at room temperature and doesn’t need to be refrigerated. It has a slightly nuttier taste than regular clarified butter because it’s cooked just a little longer in the pan. While some supermarkets stock it, I usually get mine from my other favorite source for all things Indian: Namaste.com. This is a site mainly intended for Indian ex-pats so it’s got a lot of stuff besides groceries, but I’m not interested in that sort of thing.
Sometimes I’ll add another aromatic with the onion, like celery. And when I add the chicken, I sprinkle about 1 Tablespoon of garam masala spice mixture on it. In general, you’re supposed to add it at the end of whatever recipe you’re cooking to preserve its flavor, but I find that sauteing the chicken with it really makes the flavors pop. I’m guessing that there are some fat-soluble flavors in the spice.
When it comes time to add the sauce, I’ll add whatever other ingredients I like that don’t require high heat, such as zucchini, tomatoes (de-seeded to keep it from making the sauce too watery), mushrooms, and the like. In fact, the sauces are like pantry glue, able to take just about whatever you have on hand. Cauliflower and potatoes would be good choices too.
I suppose you can tell that I’m a fan of Patak’s cooking sauces. By the way, the company is British in origin (Here’s their web site), which is interesting because Britain has become as well-known for its Indian cuisine as it is for any native cuisine. They also offer more recipes using their various products, although they are once again in metric measurements. Still, I think I might try some of them out.
Meanwhile, I’ve got Melanie hooked on Patak’s Tikka Masala and other cooking sauces and I hope to pass the love on to another generation soon.
COMMENTS
-->Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.
Comments are being moderated. After you submit your comment it could take up to a couple hours, but usually only a few minutes, before it will appear. Thank you for your patience. If you have any questions, you may contact Domenico Bettinelli.