kathleen440's Profile

Joined: March 29th, 2010

Harvest Roast Chicken with Grapes, Olives and Rosemary from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

Yum. Next time I will probably increase the quantity of grapes and olives a bit, so that I can have a little bit of each ingredient in each bite. It's a great combination. read more >

recipe reviews (60)
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useful review votes (11)

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kathleen440's Reviews

45 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 45Sort by: Title | Date | Rating

660 Curries

By Raghavan Iyer
Workman Publishing - 2008

This spicy-sweet blend is dominated by mint, which makes it a perfect match for lamb dishes. I don't think it would be out of place sprinkled on breads, either!

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I loved the flavor of this - very earthy. The Balti masala is wonderful. I did end up with a lot of extra liquid, though - next time I'll start out with 3 cups of water instead of 4.

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Very coarse texture - I mashed it up a bit. The flavor was fine but not as vibrant as I'd hoped.

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This recipe is deceptively simple, but the flavor is vibrant and balanced. Like pretty much every other chicken recipe in this book, I prefer to make this with bone-in thighs and legs.

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Another solid, straightforward curry that's a great introduction to Indian flavors. Very simple flavor profile.

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Terrific. The sauce is on the thin side, but it's really flavorful.

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Sometimes you just want a rich, restaurant-style curry, and this hits the spot. I prefer to make it with bone-in thighs.

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Outstanding! I upped the amount of mace a bit. Use the really small, thin-skinned bell peppers (from the farmer's market) if you can get them. I also used skinless bone-in chicken thighs, as I typically do with chicken stews in general, and thought it was great with the dark meat - moist with extra flavor from the bone.

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Straightforward but good - I like the balance between the coconut and the chiles, the coconut keeps it from being too hot.

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Love the flavor of this. It's a big hit at dinner parties. It's also easy to cook in combination with other dishes (doesn't require a lot of babysitting) and it's compatible with the most common dietary restrictions (vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free).

The sauce is thin compared to a restaurant-style chana masala, so I often cut the water by a third or even half.

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Yum. I used half spinach and half chard, and it was delicious, but it would be great with just spinach too. I like to puree the curry in my food processor before adding the chickpeas to get a more restaurant-style texture in the sauce.

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Yum. I mashed the potatoes a bit at the end to create a more uneven texture. I also reduced the chiles by half - it was a little too spicy! This curry is better after it sita for a day or two.

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My favorite of the spice blends I've tried so far - use it for mutter paneer.

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I really enjoyed this one - it's aromatic and mild (in terms of heat) but has a lot of pungency from the oil and black cardamom. Definitely seek out mustard oil for this dish - it wouldn't have nearly as much character with canola oil.

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Yum. I used half and half in place of the cream, as I do with pretty much every recipe in this book, and it was still yummy.

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Wonderful flavor - love the prominence of the cloves. I found it a bit too spicy, I'd reduce the cayenne by half next time.

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This is really different, smoky from the black cardamom and anise-y from the fennel. Delicious with lentils.

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Who knew? This sauce is so tasty - in addition to using it for recipes in this book, I've used it to build pasta sauces - anywhere you would use caramelized onions.

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Mmmmmm. I used half and half instead of cream and it was still great. The flavor is sweet, nutty and spicy all at the same time.

Edit: My boyfriend proclaims this "the best side dish you've made so far" out of this book. Try it, you won't be disappointed.

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Quite good! What seems like an odd assortment of ingredients (potatoes, onions, bell peppers, sweet spices, raisins, and cashews) comes together in a delicious whole. I did feel that there was a bit too much liquid left at the end, so next time I think I will cook the curry uncovered for the last 5-7 minutes. This recipe is a great use for the Balti masala, which I love.

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The author wasn't kidding about this curry being tart! I didn't love the flavor. It was a bit strange, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I used the Punjabi garam masala.

I also used canned/drained/rinsed kidney beans, which ended up with a strange rubbery texture. Next time I will dry this with dried beans.

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Hot damn. This may be the best thing I've made in this entire book. It's rich, sweet, and fragrant, but has a great savory quality from the lamb. The lamb leg in my market was very expensive so I deboned, trimmed, and cubed several shoulder chops with very good results. This recipe also gave me an excuse to make the Rajasthani garam masala, which was excellent. I highly recommend this dish.

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The flavor of this dish is pretty good, but the sauce ended up gritty and gummy. It didn't keep/reheat as well as the other curries I've made from this book.

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Very flavorful - the bell pepper dominates the taste. I thought 2-inch cubes of chicken worked better than the large slices.

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Holy crap, I love this soup. I made it for our Seder this year and it was a huge hit. The instructions are really easy to follow, and the matzo balls themselves turned out great.It's rather spicy, so tone down the chiles if you prefer.

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I love savory/sweet dishes, and this is one of my favorites. Who would have thought to eat spinach and raisins together? As with all of the chicken recipes in this book, I use chicken thighs instead of breasts for extra richness.

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I loved this! The rice cooked up perfectly and the flavor was great.

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The pork was a little dry, but the flavor was great. The sauce was very thin.

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I love this dish. I've made it according to the recipe but I think it's better with half and half instead of cream and cayenne instead of Thai chiles - the sauce ends up looser and a little spicier. Also, I do not have Asian markets in my area and have successfully substituted Mexican frying cheese (queso para freir).

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This is a really interesting technique, and I like the dish a lot, though I think I would prefer to fry the spices in oil first.

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This blend is very aromatic; the flavor is heavy on cinnamon.

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I wish the saffron had been more prominent, but the flavor of this stew is really good.

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Delicious. I had been looking for a different way to eat green tomatoes, and this is it. I used tiny eggplants, both globes and long skinny ones, from my farmer's market. I wouldn't use a big eggplant from the supermarket, it won't be as flavorful. I like eggplant skins, so I'll always make this recipe with small eggplants.

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Wonderful flavor, and so simple. I couldn't get the potatoes to crisp particularly well, but it still turned out really tasty.

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Wow - I found this to be a totally novel way to put together two ingredients that I think of as traditionally Southern. You have to like okra in all its goopy glory to eat this stuff, though. Embrace the slime!

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Keep it simple, stupid. A good, basic raita recipe that will never fail you.

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Wonderful. The panch phoron gives this a great bittersweet flavor, and I loved the texture. A great accompaniment to any of the other mustard-based curries in the book.

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Oh, man. This might be my favorite recipe in the whole book. The greens are incredibly sweet, and the texture of the cheese is a great contrast. A couple of notes:

I substituted frozen spinach and turnip greens (8 oz. of each) for the fresh spinach and mustard. Just thaw them a bit and add them in step 3. You could hypothetically substitute any leafy green - collards, swiss chard, kale - for the mustard greens, provided the sauce is still half spinach.

I also pureed the sauce in my food processor before adding the paneer and cream, to give it more of a restaurant-style texture. I loved it prepared this way.

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This curry is kind of bland compared to the others I've tried. The recipe is also huge - no need to make more than a half batch.

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Yum. The beef wasn't as soft as I would have liked, so I'd up the braising time to 1.5-2 hours. Otherwise, I loved it.

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Very good - but you have to be a fan of beets to like this, it's still very earthy. Use the beets the same day you buy them so the greens won't be too wilted.

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So yummy! The paste gummed up my blender, so I could never get it down to a smooth consistency, but the flavor was great even with a somewhat chunky sauce. Use really fresh cauliflower for this one.

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Simple, mild curry that's great for people who are new to curry, but still satisfying for those who make it at home every week.

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I love this one. Creamy and balanced, with a lot of sweetness. This is a good one for dinner parties, it's a crowd pleaser. I reduce the salt by half, though - 2 tsp. is too much.

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Yummy, and easy. The Maharashtrian garam masala makes this one just a little different. I like to reduce the amount of water just a bit - I think it's plenty saucy with the juices from the chicken.

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