It was kind of a perfect storm. There was a little étouffée left in the fridge... but all the shrimp were gone.
There was some thawed chicken that needed to be used...
Also half an onion, a bit of wild rice pilaf with butternut squash, and some open Pomi (my go-to packaged - but not canned - tomatoes)...
And then, while indulging in a favorite Sunday activity... watching the PBS food shows... There was a whole show about Indian foods with the legendary Madhur Jaffrey!
Now, as TOC readers, you know that I am helpless to resist Indian foods... but I had all of this food that needed to be used! And none of them actually screamed "Indian..." So some thinking and improvising was in order...
I thought I might just use some spices to make an Indian schnitzel! And top it with the étouffée!
Nah, that didn't seem right. Plus, there wasn't enough wild rice to be a side for two.
Back to the drawing board. Then an idea started to take shape.
I brown-fried the chopped onions in a little oil... then added some microplaned garlic and a good tablespoon of my homemade Indian spice blend... added that to the étouffée with some red pepper flakes, et voilà...
A very strong, and just a little harsh, but very Indian sauce with surprising depth. So, to mitigate the harshness a bit... a splash of cream.
Instead of schnitzel, I pounded the chicken breast pieces as thin as I could without tearing them, placed a small amount of the wild rice/butternut squash on each breast, and rolled them up. I salted, peppered and floured them, dipped them in egg, coated them in breadcrumbs and fried them in a little oil and butter.
My Indian craving was more than satisfied. It didn't taste like some odd multicultural mash up... and the depth of the sauce was shocking. There's also the added bonus that rolled, stuffed meat of any type just makes me smile... It's delicious but silly and so old-school that it makes any meal special. With a few sautéed potato dice, this meal hit the spot in ways I hadn't imagined just half an hour earlier, when I stood staring hopelessly into the fridge, dreaming of the sub-continent...
Note to self and the TOC community: Just a continual reminder... Already cooked things in your fridge should be looked at not as a pain, but as if you had a sous chef helping you get ready! AND... those raw bits (half an onion, opened tomatoes, a chicken breast, etc.) may just be the surprise building-block for a spectacular improvisation...