Black Cod with Chili Sauce from Gogo Tea Cafe.  More details here.

I really like Chicken Tikka Masala and would like to try it at home for the first time. This recipe -- http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Tikka-Masala/Detail.aspx -- got really good reviews, but I am a bit squeamish about the amount of heavy cream, butter, and yogurt that it calls for. Those of you who have experience with Indian food will probably tells me that this is the way to go... and I know how good it tastes! -- but we try to stick to a low-fat diet at home. So:

1) I wanted to ask if some of you have experimented with using milk instead of some of the cream, or using half-and-half. If so, does it turn out runnier? Do you thicken it somehow?

2) Does this work out if you marinate the chicken in low-fat yogurt instead of the full-fat yogurt that you can get at an Indian grocery store?

Finally, if any of you have any favorite recipes (one that is better in some way than the one I found, above?), I'd love to hear it.

Many thanks for your help!
x-posted to asian_cooking, sorry for any overlap.

The recipe's here

I was in Barbados back in May, and had some of the best damn food I've ever eaten at a tiny little restaurant called Mustor's in Bridgetown. A fish steak practically as big as my head, a giant pile of peas and rice, green banana salad, and sliced dasheen, topped off with Bajan hot sauce that would blow the top of your head off.

Mmm.

So, now I want to make some Bajan food for friends of mine, and the internets are failing me. All I'm finding is the same three recipes for flying fish and cou cou with very vague references to the types of spices used.

I'm a pretty improvisational cook anyway, so I don't mind making things up as I go along, but I would like to keep the taste as close to traditional Bajan cooking as I can.

What are some common spices used in Barbados? I remember tasting curry in the peas and rice and perhaps on the fish, too, but that can't be the only thing on there. Do you have any favorite Bajan recipes? Or just stories about the fabulous food? :)

Thanks in advance!

Some recent dishes I've made...

( Stilton sandwich, plum tart, french toast...oh my )

 A couple of weeks ago when I posted a link to the recipe for Hunan Salted Chilies, I promised that when my batch was finished fermenting I would post some recipes using this salty, tangy, fiery condiment.

Well, as of Sunday night, it had been two weeks, so I had to haul off and make something with the chilies whose progress I had been eyeing (and sniffing) for fourteen long days.

So, I adapted another recipe from Fuchsia Dunlop's Hunan cookbook, Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook, and made a delicious rice noodle stir fry.

It was awesome--the chilies had been transformed by the fermentation process from an "in-your-face" heat to a more subtle "sneaks-up-on-you" bite, which permeated the dish while still allowing the fresh flavors of the chicken, garlic, ginger and vegetables to shine. It is going to become a permanent favorite for a quick meal at our house.

Here is the recipe with photos and commentary, as always.

Also, I posted a 101 on how to cook with rice noodles recently on my blog--if anyone is interested.

Last night, I made a tofu, pork and chard stir fry seasoned with the salted chilies. When I write about it in a couple of days, I will be sure and put a link here.

I just created this dish:

One third of an aubergine (eggplant) with the slightly mouldy bit cut off, chopped into rough chunks and fried over in olive oil.

4 large spring onions (scallions?) from the back of the fridge, but just the white ends because the green bits were a bit funny looking, chopped into fine rings and added to the aubergine.

A large scatter of dried chopped garlic from the jar.

A handful of rather shriveled cherry tomatoes, quartered

Half a can's worth of lonely looking cannelini beans.

A squirt of tomato puree, and a splash of water to blend it all together.

Some dried oregano chucked in at the last minute.

Once this was all nicely cooked down, I tossed in a good amount of freshly cooked spaghetti.

And the surprise? It was really damn good!

I have been cooking A LOT!! Directly copied from my own LJ...