Chicken Sukha on the Menu

Tonight I tried a new food suggested as a favorite of my friend Rufus.   He linked me to a recipe on Facebook for Chicken Sukha.  http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150208306425570&id=810775646&ref=nf.  If you can't see the link, let me know and I will paste it in here and give credit to the author.   I halved the recipe.  I often only make half a recipe if it is something new in case I don't like it.  But this one I enjoyed.  I can never follow a recipe to the letter :)  I have to make changes.  In this recipe, I used dried and reconstitued coconut - easier for me and I always keep it on hand.  And I did not use the tamarind directly - but soaked it in just enough water and then got it all mushy and used the thick juice and no pulp.  After roasting and grinding the dry spices, the smell was fabulous!  But if you look at the number of dried red chili peppers, you''ll understand that I curbed my impulse to taste it :)  I use a coffee grinder that I bought especially for my spices.  Don't share the grinder - both of these aromas are very strong and you don't want your food to have a coffee taste!  I also added more salt than this recipe calls for.  I like my namak!  So here is my finished result.  And thanks Rufus and Sarita for the recipe!

Garden time

My gardens are now complete.  NOTHING beats the taste of a tomato fresh from the garden.  I have two small gardens in my back yard.  Garden one is now planted with 12 Juliet grape tomatoes, 2 Roma tomatoes, 4 Jalapeno peppers, 4 Thai Hot peppers, 4 Hot Hungarian Yellow Wax peppers and my find from the Farmer's Market this morning:   Ground Cherry.  I was intrigued by the plant so I bought it, knowing I had one spot left in my garden.  Just looking it it, it looks a bit like an eggplant plant but produces something along the line of a small sweet tomatillo.  I can't wait to pick the little husked fruit and give it a try.  The flavor has been compared to smoky pineapple.

Garden 2 is stocked with 6 Roma tomatoes, 1 Early girl tomato, 3 English cucumbers, one finger eggplant, 4 green bell peppers, 3 zucchini, and a thyme plant I'm trying to resurrect after spending the winter indoor.

My herb garden, which I grow in 3containers, has 2 kinds of mint in one container, rosemary and another Farmers Market find from today...Globe basil.  It;s a round bush, almost resembling a Bonsai, with tiny basil leaves.  I just had to have it.   The biggest container has parsley, sage thyme, 2 kinds of oregano, basil, arugula, and chives.  Fresh vegetables and fresh herbs...mmmmm.  It makes me sad to live in a colder climate so that I can't grow things all year round.

Stay tuned for garden stories.  The day after I planted most of the garden we had lots of rain and my back yard doesn't drain very well.  So my plants are getting a wet start.  The weather is supposed to turn hot tomorrow so the tomatoes will certainly get started growing and forgive the cool spring nights.