What to Cook Right Now – The New York Times

Good morning. Happy Presidents Day. Ligaya Mishan had a lovely essay on the origins of country captain in The Times last week, tracing the fragrant, curried chicken dish from its home in the Lowcountry of the American South to its origins in Britain and India, a legacy of colonials with palates newly awakened to the possibilities of spice.

Im intrigued by Ligayas recipe (above), which comes from Rohan Kamicheril, the founder and editor of Tiffin, a website devoted to the regional cuisines of India. Kamicheril grew up eating country captain in Bangalore, his mothers recipe, handed down by his grandmother, who was of Anglo-Indian descent. There are none of the soupy tomatoes that define the dish in America, only the juice and fat of the chicken, spice-darkened onions, golden potatoes. Its a dish meant to be eaten right away. I cant wait to do that.

Later you can compare it to this recipe I learned from community cookbooks and some of the finest kitchen hands in and around Charleston, S.C. The chicken is fried, then stewed with tomatoes and served over rice with crumbled bacon, slivered almonds and dried currants, occasionally with sliced bananas. Its very Junior League. Also, super delicious.

Country captain for dinner tonight, then! Maybe with Melissa Clarks new recipe for pineapple-ginger coffee cake for dessert and tomorrows breakfast?

And we are standing by to help, should something go wrong in your kitchen or with our technology. Just write cookingcare@nytimes.com and someone will get back to you. (If not, write to me: foodeditor@nytimes.com. I can take a punch. I read every letter sent.)

Now, its a long drive over rough terrain from anything to do with celery root or maple syrup, but I loved Alexandra Jacobss wry review, in The Times, of Heiresses: The Lives of the Million Dollar Babies, by Laura Thompson.

Equally entertaining is Molly Youngs recommendation, in her Read Like the Wind newsletter, of Han Suyins 1962 novella Winter Love. This rec goes out to all my lesbian zoologists, Molly wrote. Make some noise, ladies! Others will thrill to the prose as well. (I found a copy online for about $12.)

Check out the Chris Martin show at the Anton Kern Gallery in New York, with its big Brooklyn-in-the-Catskills energy. (Roberta Smith likes it!)

Finally, Richard Fausset put me on to William Beckmanns cover of Volver, Volver, which Beckmann played live in Texas last year. Listen to that, cook a lot, and Ill be back on Wednesday.

See original here:

What to Cook Right Now - The New York Times