Day 8 - Grazing + Chicken Curry dinner - 235 lbs

Weekends are always weird for me food-wise, since I do not have to adhere to a strict schedule. In the past, I would often skip breakfast, and even forget my coffee, sometimes getting a caffeine withdrawal headache! (I admit it - I'm an addict)

Today was no exception, but the knowing I was going to write about it, kept me in the game. I ate a light breakfastof goat cheese on whole grain bread and a banana before heading to the hospital, but lunch was mostly nuts and dried fruit, which I nibbled while during chores around the house. Not surprisingly, I was extra hungry before dinner. Diet error #16 - don't skip meals.

Chicken curry - shortcut style

Boneless chicken thighs had been on sale, so I had a big pack in the fridge which I decided to turn into a chicken curry. Normally I try to be a purist & cook exactly as directed by my guru Madhur Jaffrey (though she doesn't know I'm her disciple - I highly recommend her book Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking, my copy of which is dogeared and curry stained), measuring all freshly ground and toasted spices myself, but today I punted. Thanks to a jar of Patak's curry paste I spied on a back shelf, the prep time was reduced considerably, but the taste was only passable, IMO.

I did take the time to slowly fry a mix of finely diced onions, ginger and garlic, which is the essential base to many curries. The commercial curry paste, some plain yogurt, the chicken and a can of tomatoes were added and the lot simmered for a couple hours. Serviceable result, but not as "bright" tasting as the scratch version.

I served this with cardamon scented basmati rice (just toss a few cardamom pods in the rice cooker - nice), some basic raita (yogurt with diced cucumber, cumin, and mint leaves - I leave out cayenne in deference to my bride) and a pseudo-Indian cabbage dish I came up with. This was simply chopped cabbage steamed with about 1/2 inch water in the pot, and seasoned with  a teaspoon of mustard seeds and a pinch of asafetida which I fried in canola oil, and poured over the cabbage. Pretty mild, but a decent accompaniment. Would appreciate any ideas for unusual cabbage dishes, as I love the stuff, and would like to jazz it up sometimes.

I used little plates for dinner, which helped to moderate my serving size, but I still had a pretty hearty sized portion. Still, given the high veg content, low fat yogurt, etc, not too decadent.

No post dinner excursions to the kitchen either, so I have to say a very good week for me. Let's see if I can keep it up.