Braise Culinary School - Indian Food

It's no secret, one of my favorite places back in my home town of Milwaukee, WI is Braise.  Their creative use of local ingredients never disappoints.  How I came to know Dave and his passion is through his classes when he started the Braise travelling culinary school.  My first class with him was in the back of the Outpost about chocolate.  I know you can't go wrong with chocolate but he used it in some interesting ways...  I'll cover more of that later because today I am craving Indian food!  At Braise I took "Braise Basics:  Indian Food"  in April of 2015 and learned some great basic skills that I thought I could only get at my favorite Indian restaurants. 

Getting ready to make some Chicken Tikka Masala at Braise Culinary School in Milwaukee, WI

Chicken Tikka Masala
Serves 6

1/4 cup garlic puree
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup peeled ginger, grated
2 teaspoons ground tumeric
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
4 teaspoons sweet smoked paprika
1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups whole milk yogurt
2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into strips lengthwise
1/4 cup ghee or vegetable oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
36 ounces whole peeled or crushed tomatoes
2 cups heavy cream or coconut milk
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Create spice mixtures by combining garlic, ginger, turmeric, lime juice, garam masala, coriander, cumin and cardamom in a small bowl.  Whisk yogurt, salt and half of spice mixture in a medium bowl; add chicken and turn to coat.  Cover and chill overnight or 4-6 hours.  Reserve remaining spice mixture.

Heat ghee in large heavy pot over medium heat.  Add onion, tomato paste and crushed red pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, until tomato paste has darkened and onion is soft, about 5 minutes.  Add remaining half of spice mixture and cook, stirring often, until bottom of pot begins to brown, about 4 minutes.

Add tomatoes with juices, crushing them with your hands as you add them.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often and scraping up browned bits from bottom of pot, until sauce thickens, 8-10 minutes.

Add cream and chopped cilantro, simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, 30-40 minutes.

Puree sauce until smooth.  Add back to pot.

Optional:  preheat broider or grill.  Grill or broil until chicken starts to blacken in spots.

Add chicken to sauce and simmer until chicken is cooked through and tender.

Moong Dal Curry - Creamy coconut based vegan Indian stew. Recipe by Dave Swanson of Braise, Milwaukee WI.

​Moong Dal Curry
Serves 4

1 cup split yellow mung bean, rinsed
2 cups water
1 tablespoon curry
1 cup coconut milk
​
TADKA:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons yellow brown mustard seeds
2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds
1 small red onion, peeled and minced
1-2 whole dried red chilis, crushed
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic
1 small tomato, finely chopped
salt, to taste
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, minced

Pick through the dal and remove any debris.  Rinse the dal thoroughly under running water in a fine mesh sieve.  Drain thoroughly.

In a deep saucepan, bring water, curry powder and 1 tablespoon of oil to a boil over high heat.  Add dal.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until dal is very soft.  If the water starts to dry up, add another 1/2 cup water.  Remove from heat and set aside.

In a medium skillet, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat.  Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds; when they begin to sizzle, add onion.  Saute for 7-8 minutes, until onions are well browned.  Add ginger, chilies and garlic (tomato if using).  Cook, stirring occasionally, for another 8 minutes; add onion mixtures, coconut milk and salt to dal.  Bring to simmer, check seasoning and add cilantro, serve.

Garlic & Herb Naan, Braise Culinary School Milwaukee WI - in class we used parsley!

Garlic & Herb Naan
Yield:  approx 20 2oz flat breads

​4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons yeast
1/3 cup herbs, chopped
4 teaspoons salt
1 egg
2 3/4 cups milk
2 tablespoons garlic puree
2 ounces butter, melted
HERB OIL
2 tablespoons garlic puree
1/4 cup herbs, chopped
1/4 cup oil

Combine flour, salt, sugar, yeast, and herbs in bowl of mixer.  Whisk together milk and egg and add to dry ingredients.  Mix with paddle on slow until a rough ball of dough is formed.

Combine melted butter and garlic puree, then add to dough and mix with paddle on slow until fully incorporated.  Place ball of dough into a bowl and place in proofer.  Proof until 2-2 1/2 times the original size, about an hour.

Portion dough into 2 oz balls, then roll out with rolling pin until 4-5" in diameter and about 1/4" thick.  Place onto floured parchment lined sheet pan and place back into proofer and proof 20 minutes.

Drizzle liberally with oil and place oiled side down on grill.  Grill on a low flame.  When the bread is easy to handle and is set and browned on one side, flip over.  After grilling, brush both sides of naan with herb oil.

Lime Yogurt

Yogurt
Lime Juice
Lime Zest
Salt

Mix to taste.  Top any of these dishes with this!