Year of the Bento: Bento No. 4: Chicken Korma Bento
Chicken in a korma, I know it’s serious.
Seriously delicious, that is. Follow the jump for more, and a gallery.
The wonderful thing about a surfeit of chicken parts is that there are endless possibilities for edibility. This one features some shredded-up chicken thigh in a korma made with tomatoes, onions, and black beans. Served over piping hot jasmine rice with a side of kinpira vegetables, it was fabulous.
Chicken Korma
Rather simple, as I didn’t go crazy with the yogurt. The key to doing a good korma (besides the spices, obviously) is making sure your yogurt doesn’t curdle. I stirred in a dollop toward the end, just enough to make the sauce rather creamy, as you can see here. Spices were a bit of garam masala, some madras curry powder, a wee bit of salt (just to taste, added toward the end), ground coriander seeds, and turmeric. 16 oz. can of whole tomatoes, drained, and some onion. I thought the two cups of black beans I had sitting around would go well, so in they went as well. If you like, you can of course turn the spice up a little with some chillies. I added a tiny bit of molasses toward the end of cooking for a little sweetness, too.
Canned Tomatoes?
While I’m all about fresh, unripe tomatoes are seriously disappointing. Tomatoes also probably can the best out of the fruit and veg kingdom, so much so that you’re usually a lot better off with canned tomatoes for cooking purposes in January in Chicago. Just because you can find something in a store year-round doesn’t mean you should. Just say no to pallid, bitter tomatoes that look as though they’ve been attacked by vampires.1
Jasmine Rice
As demonstrated here, some delicious jasmine rice made it into this bento. I have a bazillion kinds of rice in my cupboards, but am currently out of basmati, so jasmine was substituted instead. Need to get more basmati next time I’m at the store.
Kinpira Veggies
What is kinpira? It’s something I could possibly live on happily. More than that, it’s a Japanese method of cooking root vegetables that’s a bit like a cross between a saute and a stovetop braise. Traditionally, burdock root (called gobo in Japanese) is involved, but really, any root vegetables you like can go into it. I am particularly fond of parsnips. From there, you need to use a little sesame oil in your pan, and you need to toss your root veggie strips with some soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and crushed chili pepper flakes. At the end, some sesame seeds make the whole thing pop. They’re good hot, cold, or at room temperature. They’re also good as part of a meal, or as a snack by themselves—over rice, or on their own. Korean TSiR readers might recognize this as something commonly served as banchan. No matter what you call it, it’s delicious, and I may possibly do a tutorial later on because EVERYONE needs to try this. It’s that good. :9
Our total for today:
Chicken korma: 395 calories
Jasmine rice: 200 calories
Kinpira veggies: 206 calories
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TOTAL: 801 calories
A bit more than some of what I’ve done previously, but still reasonably healthy. If I’m going to eat a meal that’s larger, I’d rather eat it earlier in the day so I can use the food as it was intended: as energy for my body. Much better than eating a huge amount of food and then going to sleep directly afterward. 
No, Morrissey most emphatically DOES NOT condone the eating of said chicken. However, the temptation to muck with Smiths lyrics was just too much. I'm sorry for the horrendous pun, but if you know me, I doubt very much that you believe me! 
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- No, Morrissey most emphatically DOES NOT condone the eating of said chicken. However, the temptation to muck with Smiths lyrics was just too much. I’m sorry for the horrendous pun, but if you know me, I doubt very much that you believe me! ;)
- No, no Bunnicula reference, mainly because bunnies don’t eat tomatoes. James Howe rocks, but the tomato thing is a fallacy. Don’t feed your bunnies tomatoes, kids. [↩]
Janaki
on January 25th, 2010 at 11:00 am
Hrm, I have a bunch of parsnips and that sounds like a lovely application for them…
on January 25th, 2010 at 11:02 am
Oh, DO IT! Have you done kinpira before? It’s seriously easy and tasty. I honestly believe I could happily snack on these forever. Later today, as part of my massive prep for the week, I’m going to be doing kinpira burdock, parsnips, rutabaga, and carrots. (That’s also probably when I’ll shoot a few photos for my tutorial.) I can’t wait. :9