Some chicken curry!!!!
It doesn't make much sense to apologise for a mistake, that keeps on occuring after a period of time. Let's just take it as a behavioural pattern and perils of today's hectic modern lifestyle. I am for sure talking about my longer than-usual break from this platform.
But, Hola............ I am back!!
Friends are the elixir of life, since love has disappeared for many & me.
And when friends come over for dinner, no matter how relaxed you want the environment to be, the flavours cannot be compromised. yet since it's dinner, food had to be light. Com'on, no one likes to make multiple trips to the washroom, middle of the nigh, after a heavy greasy dinner!!.
While, it was a working day for me, so prep & cooking had to start a day before, which did. By principle (might not be yours, but mine for sure) I cook meat or poultry a day before the event, reason being allowing the gravy to infuse the meat with flavours well, also that resting time somehow always works it's magic, well it works for me for sure!!! And though the chicken curry didn't win so much love as the Doodh-Pabda ( whole Padba fish cooked with kalojeers i.e, nigella seeds, ginger and milk), but I completely loved it. So here's the humble recipe for you to follow, in case you want to cook up something with minimum effort & maximum pleasure aka flavour.
Around 2 kg chicken was marinated in 4 tbsp ginger-garlic paste + 3 cloves of fat garlic ( I have no shame in admitting, this was store bought, the paste,. You can for sure pound it yourself or whizz it up in your processor or mixer) and a paste 6-7 green chillies+ 2 dalle (mortar & pestle is my love, always!!). don't forget to pound all of these together. also add in 1 tsp turmeric powder, to the chicken,for that deep yellow tinge. Keep aside for 30 mins to an hour. for me 45 mins worked.
In a small bowl, soak 35 gm Melon seeds or charmagaz + 2 tbsp poppy seeds+ 7-8 almonds in water for 30 mins. Make it into a paste.
Whisk 250 gm yoghurt with some salt+ sugar in a bowl and keep aside.
Heat 4 tbsp mustard oil+ 1 heaped tbsp ghee in your pan of choice.
Once it gets hot (not smoking), add 3 broken dry red chillies, followed by 1.5 tsp black pepper-cons, 3 green cardamoms, 6-7 cloves and fry till fragrant (I add in all of this to he oil when its is mildly hot, saves them from burning). Once the aroma fills up your senses, add in 4 medium onions sliced (I add in a fat pinch of salt at this stage. Mom says it helps them caramelise well.), and cook on reduced flames for 10-15 mins. (I had covered it fr good 7-8 mins in the begining).
Once the caramelised, add in the chicken pieces, along with 3 tsp of red chilli powder.
On high flame "bhuno" the marinated chicken well till they start changing colour. Do not be alarmed if you see a the bird giving out a lot of water ( maybe, it's the bird's way of thanking us for allowing it to bask in the glory of such lovely aromatic spice blend. Lol!!). Once they start changing colour, add in the poppy seed paste and give a good mix. Once mixed well, add in the yoghurt paste (Tip: mix in 1 tsp of flour to the yoghurt before adding it to the pan, saves the yoghurt from separating) and mix well once again.
Time to add in some warm water to the chicken, depending on the consistency of gravy you want and adjust seasoning at this stage. Add in 2 tsp of coriander leafs and stems, and allow it to disintegrate into the curry (you can avoid it if you wish to). Cover and allow it cook till the chicken is done.
After about 10 mins, remove the lid, and finish it off with a good sprinkiling of shahi garam-masala (storebought as well) and 1 tsp of ghee. done!!
Steamed rice will pair well with it. Also some nice flaky paratha can be a good companion to this gravy. I served it with a failed attempt of simple Pulao kind, made with Dehradun rice and some dry fruits.
Friends enjoyed the fare, it seemed.
And feel free to use potato, if you wish to. Bong genes are bound to love some potatoes, but just that the nut paste, I feel doesn't pair well, with the waxy potatoes.
TIP: Try to get your chicken pieces cut into medium portions and not big chunks. Do not worry, about being a less generous host or hostess, chicken takes lesser time to cook that way . Know it, this is the time of finger foods!!
Looking forward to many more of such dinners.
In case if you find little window of time and manage to cook this, do leave in a comment. I would love to know your views and thoughts on this.
P:S: Please suggest a name for this recipe!!!!
But, Hola............ I am back!!
Friends are the elixir of life, since love has disappeared for many & me.
And when friends come over for dinner, no matter how relaxed you want the environment to be, the flavours cannot be compromised. yet since it's dinner, food had to be light. Com'on, no one likes to make multiple trips to the washroom, middle of the nigh, after a heavy greasy dinner!!.
While, it was a working day for me, so prep & cooking had to start a day before, which did. By principle (might not be yours, but mine for sure) I cook meat or poultry a day before the event, reason being allowing the gravy to infuse the meat with flavours well, also that resting time somehow always works it's magic, well it works for me for sure!!! And though the chicken curry didn't win so much love as the Doodh-Pabda ( whole Padba fish cooked with kalojeers i.e, nigella seeds, ginger and milk), but I completely loved it. So here's the humble recipe for you to follow, in case you want to cook up something with minimum effort & maximum pleasure aka flavour.
Around 2 kg chicken was marinated in 4 tbsp ginger-garlic paste + 3 cloves of fat garlic ( I have no shame in admitting, this was store bought, the paste,. You can for sure pound it yourself or whizz it up in your processor or mixer) and a paste 6-7 green chillies+ 2 dalle (mortar & pestle is my love, always!!). don't forget to pound all of these together. also add in 1 tsp turmeric powder, to the chicken,for that deep yellow tinge. Keep aside for 30 mins to an hour. for me 45 mins worked.
In a small bowl, soak 35 gm Melon seeds or charmagaz + 2 tbsp poppy seeds+ 7-8 almonds in water for 30 mins. Make it into a paste.
Whisk 250 gm yoghurt with some salt+ sugar in a bowl and keep aside.
Heat 4 tbsp mustard oil+ 1 heaped tbsp ghee in your pan of choice.
Once it gets hot (not smoking), add 3 broken dry red chillies, followed by 1.5 tsp black pepper-cons, 3 green cardamoms, 6-7 cloves and fry till fragrant (I add in all of this to he oil when its is mildly hot, saves them from burning). Once the aroma fills up your senses, add in 4 medium onions sliced (I add in a fat pinch of salt at this stage. Mom says it helps them caramelise well.), and cook on reduced flames for 10-15 mins. (I had covered it fr good 7-8 mins in the begining).
Once the caramelised, add in the chicken pieces, along with 3 tsp of red chilli powder.
On high flame "bhuno" the marinated chicken well till they start changing colour. Do not be alarmed if you see a the bird giving out a lot of water ( maybe, it's the bird's way of thanking us for allowing it to bask in the glory of such lovely aromatic spice blend. Lol!!). Once they start changing colour, add in the poppy seed paste and give a good mix. Once mixed well, add in the yoghurt paste (Tip: mix in 1 tsp of flour to the yoghurt before adding it to the pan, saves the yoghurt from separating) and mix well once again.
Time to add in some warm water to the chicken, depending on the consistency of gravy you want and adjust seasoning at this stage. Add in 2 tsp of coriander leafs and stems, and allow it to disintegrate into the curry (you can avoid it if you wish to). Cover and allow it cook till the chicken is done.
After about 10 mins, remove the lid, and finish it off with a good sprinkiling of shahi garam-masala (storebought as well) and 1 tsp of ghee. done!!
Steamed rice will pair well with it. Also some nice flaky paratha can be a good companion to this gravy. I served it with a failed attempt of simple Pulao kind, made with Dehradun rice and some dry fruits.
Friends enjoyed the fare, it seemed.
And feel free to use potato, if you wish to. Bong genes are bound to love some potatoes, but just that the nut paste, I feel doesn't pair well, with the waxy potatoes.
TIP: Try to get your chicken pieces cut into medium portions and not big chunks. Do not worry, about being a less generous host or hostess, chicken takes lesser time to cook that way . Know it, this is the time of finger foods!!
Looking forward to many more of such dinners.
In case if you find little window of time and manage to cook this, do leave in a comment. I would love to know your views and thoughts on this.
P:S: Please suggest a name for this recipe!!!!
Always a pleasure to go through your write-ups,- blame my not-so-fussy taste buds!👍
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