Nothing like traipsing around a new foodie store to perk up the old taciturn spirits! I had been dying to venture over to The Silk Road Spice Merchant Store store in Inglewood. First a quick detour to the bottle depot (ewww, now that was a reality check after my mope day) and then off I went, latte and gingerbread biscotti in hand.
They even had free parking right out front (at least, I think it was free… oops)! That was awesome, just in case I felt the need to “back the truck up” for my haul.
There was a trove of treasure inside.. just what I had imagined. Rows and rows of neatly stacked crates and canisters beckoned. Of course they had salt: pink, red and black crystalline nuggets and flakes glistening in glass jars like treasure plundered from the sea. Aleppo Chiles, Sumac, Tonka Beans, Juniper Berries, Grains of Paradise, South Coast Jerk Spice, Lovage, (I need to stop now) all freshly transported… so that your senses can be transported as well!
Thinking of making pumpkin pie? (well, maybe I should try again) They had an array of cinnamon from every corner of the planet. Each spice had a little tester so you could inhale with your sniffer and relish in the tumaceous scrumptiousness.
If you wanted something more convenient, the owners offer their signature blends that would help simplify any recipe (think barbecue rubs, pumpkin pie spice, etc)!
One couldn’t help being drawn in by their garam marsala spice, the cardamom pods, the cumin… and so it was settled. I’d decided it was high time I dove back into Meena Pathek’s “Indian Cooking” recipes. Not to bash fall and turkey dinners, but there’s nothing like adapting one of her dishes and letting it bubble away in the kitchen, redolent with the bouquet of a curry…
One day I shall venture out on an expedition to explore some of the exotic countries on the Silk Road, but for now I’m content to plunder the Spice Merchant’s treasure!
I thought this recipe could have used some hot sauce to spice it up! Also, if you have a nut allergy, it would be delicious without:)
Sesame Garlic Chicken with Peanut Sauce and Coconut Rice
- 2 packages skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 16)
- 2 tbsp olive oil (or canola)
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp black freshly ground pepper
- 1 tsp ginger, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 large or 3 smaller tomatoes, diced
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 3/4 tsp paprika
- 100 g baking peanuts (shelled, chopped)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp green onions (garnish, optional)
- Heat oil in a large frying pan, saute pan or wok.
- Sear and brown the chicken thighs on all sides. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside on paper towel.
- In the same pan, fry the onion until it is softened and translucent.
- Add the sesame seeds and allow to brown. Stir in pepper, ginger, garlic and allow to slightly brown.
- Add tomatoes, coriander, cumin, turmeric, paprika, peanuts and salt. Bring to a simmer.
- Add back the chicken thighs and simmer, covered for about 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink inside.
- If the sauce dries and the chicken starts to stick to the pan, splash with water or a dash of coconut milk to loosen.
- Serve with coconut rice.
- 2 cups Kokohu Rose rice or long grain white rice
- 1/2 tbsp butter
- 1 14 oz can coconut milk
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup coarse unsweetened coconut
- Mix all ingredients together in a rice cooker or a large saucepan with a fitted lid. Bring to a boil then reduce and simmer until rice is tender and cooked through, about 10-15 minutes.
I wanted to fly there. What a beautiful store, I can be lost in there. Loved so much, Thank you and “Sesame Garlic Chicken with Peanut Sauce” sounds delicious, I haven’t tasted before. Have a nice weekend, with my love, nia
🙂 Thanks Nia! You have a wonderful weekend as well.
This is my kind of store! Your sesame garlic chicken would be quite good on its own but, adding the peanut sauce, takes it to another level completely. What a great dish!
It was a delish dish, lol! Yes, I’m scouring my kitchen for recipes that require exotic spices just so I have an excuse to go back. Then I thought, maybe I should throw out all my stale grocery store spices and replace them. But that would be pretty $$$.
Gingerbread biscotti! Oh I must try. Wonderful photos and great recipes to boot.
Yes, I am addicted to those little treats. I should learn how to make them and save a pile of money:) Thanks, Greg!
So jealous you visited a store like that. I love the star anise in the photo! I actually saw a wreath made out of star anise at Target, of all places. Oh and it smelled delicious. 🙂
A wreath? Wow, that would be so beautiful and fragrant! That would make a very cool wreath just by adding some to the traditional ones… guests would have a heavenly smell when walking up to your door:) Very cool!
Oh, this looks delicious! Your post reminds me that I have a gift certificate to a similar local spice store… 🙂 I need to go and enjoy them before it expires. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Thanks for stopping by my blog, Yudith. I’ll be on my way to visit yours in a minute. We are lucky, gift certificates are not allowed to have an expiry date any more which is so helpful (because I am so forgetful!).
What a lovely shop – I can’t imagine anything nicer than slowly browsing through there, coffee in hand. A the resulting chicken looks so yum!
Thanks, Aimee, Calgary is finally getting a few more of these shops. Apparently we’re the Cultural Center of Canada now, who knew;)
I just love a new food market. It’s always fun to see what places have. And the spices in that shop are making me think of different dishes I could make. I also LOVE this Sesame Garlic Chicken with Peanut Sauce recipe. Peanut sauce is my fav.. can’t wait to try this
It was really delicious. I think I’m going to try out a few more spices today… I’ve got to post tomorrow before I leave on a mini vacation with my girlfriends:)
Hey, I am in Burbank! Guess you are in my neck of the woods…somewhere. I can’t thank you enough for posting this! I have never heard of this store and it looks amazing and would love to go there with my mom. What a fun place! Your recipe looks equally superb. Can’t wait to try all of the above! 🙂
Sadly I don’t live near Burbank… we are heading into a mean, cold winter here in Alberta, Canada. It’s a fun store, I bet you have something like it. I just never thought to google it and drove by it one day:)
Excellent recipe today thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed reading today’s post.
Check out this healthy recipe – Cheese Topped Vegetables
Thank you!
I would so be in trouble if there was a store like that near here. Hubs and I could do some serious damage! And I adore coconut rice. 🙂
Hey, you’re lucky your Hubs will go with you… haven’t got mine interested in anything more than just eating the end result:)
I usually cook boneless chicken thighs once/week, love it so much! This recipe will be on our menu this coming week for sure! Will let you know how it goes…. sounds delicious….
I do too. It’s difficult to have a rotation of “every day” dinner recipes that doesn’t get boring too quickly. Thanks for stopping by:)
Goodness me, what a beautiful post! I can almost smell all those spices! And that photo with the star anise and pink peppercorns deserves a frame!
I’ve not framed a photo yet, that’s a great idea. It would be pretty all framed up:)
This recipe sounds fantastic. And I think I’d about faint in a store like that…I’ve never been in a spice shop and I’d love to! I have a recipe that calls for Grains of Paradise that I’ve never made due to the fact that I have never found it…though I probably could find some on-line I’ve just never tried…I really ought to!
I’ll look for it there.. if I find it I’ll let ya’ know:)
What a fantastic store! Can I move in? The tester/sniffer jars are the best idea, I hate being presented with a variety of the ‘same’ ingredients but without the means to find out which one I prefer, genius! Great recipe too, I love a good curry.
Yum 🙂
The chicken and the rice look awesome (especially since I love love love coconut). I wish there was a spice shop like that around here!
Hi, Kathryn…Seattle… Penzey’s… Dallas/Ft Worth… so many exotic places I need to travel to see before I seek out the Silk Road:) I hadn’t thought,but ordering for delivery for foodie stuff is a great idea. Do you have any website you love?
Well, my dear, when you do hit DFW you have to be sure to visit us. Denton TX is about as exotic as it gets! 😉 (But we do have a guest room for you and easy access from here to the Big Cities.)
Oddly, I’ve found a surprising number of cookery goodies through good old Amazon at the best prices, but most of the time I just Google-hunt ingredient by ingredient anyway when shopping online, as I rarely need to ‘fill my cart’ all at once with things I can’t get somewhere nearby. There are an amazing number of cool specialists out there in everything from metallic food paints to wild game charcuterie to flours made from acorns and mesquite pods and god-knows-what (two thirds of the stuff I stumble across I wouldn’t even know how to *use*!); I can so easily get immersed for hours in just surfing all of the specialty groceries and drygoods purveyors out there in the ether!