There are certain places that you travel to where the use of spices is quite abundant. Needless to say, with rare exceptions all food has some sort of spices in it, even if it is just salt and pepper. Some places, though, go way beyond a few common ingredients and use a wide variety of spices in them. We really enjoy eating foods that have a variety of spices and have a sense of being exotic. Clearly it isn’t for everyone and we also enjoy foods that are spicy in the sense of heat as well. Since we try to recreate dishes from places that we travel, here are a few of the spicy dishes that we have previously prepared, in no particular order.
- Asian Roasted Duck – Not as complicated as it sounds and truly delicious.
Asian Duck - Spicy Chicken Curry – Definitional a traditional favorite.
Spicy Chicken Curry - Indian Butter Chicken – Cooking it in a slow-cooker makes it tender and flavorful.
Indian Butter Chicken - Tandoori Chicken – An exotic reminder of our trip to India.
Tandoori Chicken and Fried Eggplant - Spaghetti Arrabbiata – One of our favorite meals from, of all places, Frankfurt.
Our Version of Spaghetti Arrabbiata - Lamb Biryani – Well worth the effort and we decided to give it a little bit of heat.
Lamb Biryani over Basmati Rice - Moroccan Chicken – Cooked in a tajine, it is a one pot meal that is perfect for two.
Moroccan Chicken in a Tajine
Interesting. Because a biriani contains rice in my experience… It’s a rice dish with added meat or vegetables or seafood, rather than a curry like dish on top of rice. Do you normally encounter it as the latter then? I wonder if it’s a question of regional differences (unlikely i would say) or just terminology.
This is how they served it in India.
Interesting. Are you sure it was biriani, and that it wasn’t just the rice? Because the suggestion is that biriani originated as a pilav type dish, which means the meat and other ingredients should be incorporated into the rice, not served separately. I’m intrigued now. I’m now wondering if it was just done as a way of keeping the rice suitable for non-meat eaters perhaps. Was it in a hotel?