My New-Found Talent

This evening I had cause to do something I have never attempted to do in my life: replace a burnt out headlight. Over the weekend, my boyfriend discovered that his driver's side headlight had gone out. Lest he break the law, he rushed to buy a new bulb, assuming that it couldn't be too hard to replace himself.

At his behest, I found a video on YouTube detailing how to replace said bulb. We watched it together, noting the intricacies of sticking your fingers into things.* Given my long spider fingers, he commented that I might have to help him with it.

What ensued was some Total Kimber Domination. I fixed the crap out of that headlight! I really enjoyed doing it, and I have a new skill! I also learned about the fuse boxes inside of cars and that pulling the fuse for my radio did not fix my CD player problem, but that's a conversation for another day.

My takeaway from tonight's adventure is that I have an innate ability to fix cars and/or I love following directions. I think it's the latter. As a child, my favorite part of playing with Legos was always the complex instructions, as opposed to making up my own things. Then again, once you've learned the fundamentals, there's no end to what you can do! Next stop: rebuilding the engine for no particular reason!**

Fixing a car in a dress = Classy! 

*That sounds vaguely gross. Sorry.
** No, not really. But I might tackle that CD player thing!

Chicken Korma = Nostalgia

Way back when I lived in Edinburgh, one of my favorite things was the chicken korma at Tikka Mahal. I have never had a korma as good as they made there, but in an attempt to capture a taste of those times, I've found and modified this korma recipe. I can't speak to its authenticity, but it's pretty tasty. It's super involved but worth the work in the end.

Chicken Korma

Ingredients 

¼ c cashew halves

¼ c boiling water

3 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp pureéd ginger

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 large onion, minced 

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp chili pepper

½ tsp ground cinnamon 

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp curry powder

4 skinless chicken breasts, diced 

¼ c tomato sauce

1 c chicken broth

½ c coconut milk

½ c plain yogurt

2 tsp cornstarch, mixed with equal parts water

Salt

Directions

1. Place cashews in a small bowl, and pour the boiling water over nuts. Set aside for 15 to 20 minutes. 

2. Place garlic and ginger in food processor and blend until smooth; set aside.

3. Heat oil in wok over medium heat. 

4. Stir in onion, and cook until soft, about 3 to 5 minutes. 

5. Mix in garlic/ginger paste, and season with coriander, garam masala, cumin, turmeric, brown sugar, curry powder, and chili powder. 

6. Stir in chicken, and cook for about 5 minutes. 

7. Pour in tomato sauce and chicken broth. 

8. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

9. Meanwhile, place the cashews, along with the water in which they were soaked, and the cream and yogurt into food processor. Process until smooth.

10. Stir the cashew mixture into the chicken and onions. 

11. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

12. Stir in the cornstarch mixture, and continue cooking for 1 to 2 minutes.

13. Serve over basmati rice.