Chicken Korma

Chicken Korma , said to be originated in Central Asia is consisting of meat or vegetables braised in a spiced sauce made with yogurt cream, nut or seed paste. I have had this dish many times in restaurants but never tried at home. Yesterday when I was chatting in a whatsapp group of my home town in Assam, one of our friend has posted a chicken korma recipe. It was so easy and simple when I went through it that I decided to make it for lunch today. Moreover PB is down with fever and as obvious wanted some spicy food which would suit his taste bud now. Very minimum ingredient , very simple steps to follow. And the taste is just so amazing. In this recipe there is no use of nuts or cream as the traditional way of making korma requires.

Ingredients:

Chicken: 500 gms
Curd: 4 tbsp
Milk: 1/2 cup
Onion: 1 medium size finely chopped
Garlic,ginger & onion paste: I used one small piece of ginger, 5-6 cloves of garlic & a small onion & made a paste altogether
Green chillies: 2, cut into halves
Bay leaf: 3
Cardamom: 4-5
Cinnamon : 4
Cloves: 3-4
Raisin: 1 tsp
Sugar: 1/2 tsp
Ghee: 4 tsp
Salt to taste
Garam Masala: 1 tsp
Coriander & cumin powder: 1 tsp each
Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp (Kashmiri mirch)
water if required
Fresh coriander to garnish

Method:

Clean & wash the chicken. Marinate with the curd and salt. Keep it for abut 15 minutes.

In a pan heat ghee, add the bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and allow them to crackle. Now add the chopped onion first & fry. Then add rest of the ingredients, fry them and add some portion of the milk and mix everything well. Cook till you get a creamy gravy like consistency. Add the marinated chicken now and mix well. Cook for about 5-10 minutes in low to medium heat with lid on. Finally add the remaining milk , stir and cover with the lid and let the chicken cook in low to medium heat.. Check & stir in between till the chicken gets  tender (approx. another 10-15 minutes) .In case you find the gravy becoming dry add some water. Check for seasoning.

Transfer the chicken korma to serving bowl and garnish with coriander. Serve  hot with rice or roti.

 

Shahi chicken or shahi murg

Shahi chicken/murg a mildly spiced creamy gravy with the richness of cashew & almond. This particular chicken preparation is different from the regular chicken curry and taste a bit sweet and sour. If you want a variety in your chicken dishes from the regular spicy ones then this will a be wonderful choice for you. You will see a variety of recipes for shahi murg if you search for it. I often make shahi paneer/nawabi paneer at home which we all like very much but never thought of preparing chicken this way. As its weekend and we always like to have something special and this weekend I had less time as I am a bit busy with little girl's exams. So I  thought of not cooking the same chicken butter masala or regular chicken curry and decided to cook shahi chicken with some tawa roti & pulao. I quickly took out my shahi paneer recipe from my blog and started preparing for the same.

Once I tasted the chicken I was just wondering why I didn't think of doing this before. It looked superb, tasted very nice with the aroma of whole garam masala, the rich nutty flavour & the creaminess. Do try this dish in your kitchen and if you do , share your feedback.




Ingredients:

Chicken: 1 kg
Onion: 2medium sized
Ginger: 1 medium sized
Garlic: 5-6 pods
Green chilli: 1 or 2
Cardamom: 4-5
Cinnamon: 2 sticks
Cloves: 3-4
Bay leaves: 2-3
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Curd: 2-3 tbsp
Ghee: 2 tbsp.
Milk: 1 or 2  tbsp.
Fresh cream: 1-2 tbsp. (optional)


Dry Ingredients:
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp
Garam Masala powder: 1 tsp
Kasoori methi: 1 tsp (I didn't use it as was not available)
Salt to taste


To soak & grind: soak for about half an hour
Almonds: 12-14
Cashew: 12
Poppy seeds: 1 tbsp.
Melon seeds: 1 tbsp
Raisins: about a handful.


Water as required.

Method:

Clean and wash the chicken. Keep aside.

Cut the onions and make a paste with ginger, garlic and one green chilli .

Now make a smooth paste with the ingredients mentioned under to soak & grind with milk and some water. Do not forget to peel off the skin of almonds after soaking it for about half an hour.

Heat ghee in a kadhai/pan. Add cumin seeds, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves and allow to splutter. Add onion ginger garlic chilli paste and fry till it turns slightly brown. Add the masalas mentioned under "Dry ingredients" except garam masala. Fry them for a minute or two.

Now add the chicken and break the remaining chilli & throw into it. Mix everything well and cover with lid in low flame.

Slow Cook the chicken for about 10-15 minutes, checking and stirring in between. Now add the curd and pour in the almond-cashew paste, add the garam masala .

 

Give it a nice mix. Cover with lid keeping the flame low to medium. Keep checking in between and add half cup of water , stir and again cover and let it cook. After some time when you see the gravy thickening put the flame off. Add the cream and stir once.

Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with coriander leaves & some almond flakes (optional). Serve hot with rice /roti.

 

Mutton in a tomato gravy

Mutton curry goes so well with Indian bread (roti/ naan ) or even with a hot bowl of steamed rice. Though eating mutton is not a regular affair at home keeping health concerns in mind and also because of the long preparation and cooking time I am reluctant to cook mutton very often. And whenever I do , I cook it in pressure cooker only to save my time. This sunday I cooked the mutton in tomato gravy with lot of garlic. It came out awesome with the perfect colour and taste. We had it with our garlic naan. Oh what a lip-smacking meal it was !! This is again a pressure cooker version only.

Do check this recipe and try in your kitchen.

Ingredients:

Mutton: 1/2 kg
Onion: 3 large sized
Garlic: 10-12 pods (keep aside few as whole)
Ginger: 1 medium sized
Green chillies: 1 -2 or more depending on your taste bud
Tomato: 2 nice red large sized
Bay leaves: 2
Cinnamon/cardamom/cloves : 3-4 of each
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp
Freshly grounded cumin : 1 &1/2 tsp
Meat Masala: 2 tsp
Garam Masala powder: 1tsp
Salt to taste
Mustard Oil: 3 tbsp.
Chopped coriander leaves for garnishing
Water as required

Procedure:

Clean & Wash the mutton . Heat one pan/kadhai and dry roast the mutton till all the water evaporates and the mutton becomes dry and take a brownish colour. Keep aside.

Make a paste of onions, garlic, ginger, green chillies in a mixer. Keep aside.
Cut tomatoes and make a puree out of it in a mixer.

Heat oil in a clean kadhai/pan. Add the Bay leaves, Cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and allow to splutter.

Now add the onion/garlic/ginger/green chilli paste, fry them till turn into golden brown. Add the tomato puree and mix everything well.
Add all the dry masala (except the garam masala) & salt as mentioned above and keep frying till the tomato is cooked.

Time to add the mutton. Mix everything well and stir for few seconds in medium to low flame. Add the whole garlic pods that was kept aside in the beginning.

Cover with a lid keeping the flame in low. Keep checking in between. After repeating this for few minutes say 4-5 minutes, add hot water , give it a nice stir and cover with lid in low-medium-low flame. Slow cook the mutton for about say 15-17 minutes or so. Keep in mind to stir in between.
Once the gravy starts thickening put the gas off.

Transfer the mutton with the gravy to the pressure cooker (add water if required) and put on gas stove and pressure cook upto 5-6 whistles. This will again depend on the mutton quality and softness you want of the meat. Mine one took 7 whistles to get the softness we like. Let the pressure releases on its own.

Now transfer the mutton gravy to the same kadhai/pan, add garam masala and bring it to boil. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves , transfer to a serving bowl. Serve with hot rice/naan/roti.

 

Chicken Afghani

Afghani chicken is a delicious dish mildly spiced recipe of chicken with lot of curd and few spices. I just love the tanginess of this dish because of the use of lot of curd and lemon. This was the first time that I have cooked afghani chicken. If you search on net you will get hundreds of ways to prepare this afghani chicken. I was reading the newspaper on a particular sunday when I saw this recipe there and found this quite easy & interesting and I followed the same. This dish has gravy version as well as grilled. If you wish to grill then go for boneless chicken. I used chicken with bones as I wanted to make it in gravy form.
We had this with some paneer paratha and onion slices dipped in vinegar. However PB suggested me that this was not going very well with the parathas, so I am thinking the next time we should have it with rice or some plain roti.

Ingredients:

Chicken: 1/2 kg
Onion: 1 large sized chopped finely
Curd: 1 & 1/2 cups
Garlic coves: 20
Crushed black pepper: 1 tsp
Oil: 3 tbsp.
Salt to taste
Lemon juice: 3 tbsp.

Method:

Clean and wash the chicken pieces and keep aside. Keep 4-5 garlic cloves aside and thinly slice rest of the garlic cloves.

Heat oil in a pan.  Fry the chopped onions till it turns into golden brown. Now add the sliced garlic cloves and fry. Add chicken , mix them well, cover with lid and cook the chicken keep checking in between. Finally add the black pepper, salt, lemon juice, curd and mix everything well and cook till tender. Add some water at this point of time and let it thicken a bit. In another pan saute the remaining garlic cloves and add it to the chicken. Serve hot with rice or roti.

 

Mutton Curry my style

For me mutton is THE most tastiest meat of all if you cook it with strong spices, lot of oil and in a slow cooking process. Be it mutton keema , curry or even a mutton chop tastes heaven. Though we don't eat this meat more often due to health reasons, this sunday we decided to cook mutton curry almost after 5 years. And we realised we still love to eat this meat a lot. House was smelling great with the aroma of all spices and the curry tasted just finger-licking  with the awesome colour. Once in a month or two this kind of indulgence is definitely allowed irrespective of my health issue ;)

I am definitely very happy today to share my recipe of mutton curry with all of you dear friends.

Ingredients:

Mutton: 500 gms evenly cut pieces cleaned and washed properly
Onion: 5 medium sized roughly chopped
Garlic: 1 whole medium sized
Ginger: 1 pc medium sized
Dry chillies: 2-3
Bay leaf: 3
Cinnamon stick, Cardamom & clove:: 4-5 of each pitted a bit
Turmeric powder: 2 tsp
Red chilli powder: 1 1/2 heap tsp
Cumin Powder: 1 1/2 heap tsp
Coriander powder: 1 heap tsp
MEat Masala : 3 tsp
Garam masala powder: 1 heap tsp
Salt to taste
Mustard oil: 1 tbsp. for marination & 4 tbsp. for the curry
Fresh coriander leaf: add as much as you like once it is ready. I was out of stock that day :)

Method:

In a bowl take the washed mutton pieces and marinate with 1 tbsp. mustard oil, salt & 1 tsp turmeric and keep aside for about half an hour.

Grind the onion, garlic, ginger in a grinder . Don't make a runny paste.

Heat a deep bottomed kadhai/pan. Put the marinated mutton in it and mix well and keep it on medium flame stirring in between until and unless all the water from the meat dries out and  the mutton gets dry & take a dark brown colour. Once done keep this in a bowl.

In the same kadhai/pan, heat the mustard oil. Add dry chillies, bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, clove and allow them to splutter. Now add the onion  & ginger-garlic mixture into this. Fry  them until they become brown in colour. Don't skip this step please. Start adding the dry masalas - turmeric, coriander, cumin, red chilli powder and mix all well. Fry them till they release oil. Now add the marinated mutton, combine all well keeping the flame from low-medium. Cover with lid and let it cook slowly. Keep checking & stirring in between so that the mutton doesn't get stick to the bottom of the pan. This will really take a lot of time so you need to have patience at this stage, so don't add water to fasten the cooking process. After some time add the meat masala and mix all well. This will take you about say 15-18 minutes. This slow cooking process will help all the masala to go inside the meat and also slowly gives that colour to it.

Add about 1 & 1/2 cup of water, stir and cover with the lid. Bring it to boil, add the garam masala , salt, mix and keep on medium flame for about another 7-10 minutes. Now transfer this to the pressure cooker . Add some water again if you find it dry or thickened up. This will require around 7-8 whistles in the cooker depending on the quality of the mutton. Mine took exactly 10 . First I allowed it to whistle 6 times. As it was not cooked properly I put it back on the flame again for another 4 numbers of whistles.  Once done, allow the pressure to release on its own. Now if you want to thicken your gravy more, then transfer it to the pan/kadhai and keep on flame, keep stirring in between till you get the desired thickness of the gravy. We like it as curry only so I didn't thicken it. 

Serve this delicious mutton curry hot with rice or chapati and enjoy.

Paneer/cottage cheese in a gravy of Cashewnut & almond

Though I am not a big fan of matar paneer/palak paneer/kadhai paneer etc but I love this paneer preparation ..all white white . Whenever I have guests at home over dinner, I certainly prefer to make this dish when it comes to a vegetarian preparation . Always happy with the outcome . You may call it a shahi paneer or nawabi paneer as the ingredients required are almost same. The very first time I tried to make this dish was when I had a family over dinner and unfortunately or fortunately the husband was vegetarian. I was in a confused state of mind while thinking of paneer , whether to make with matar/peas or paneer butter masala or palak paneer. But then I thought these are something that I actually do not enjoy cooking (donot like to eat as well). Finally the idea for this white gravy came to my mind. And as obvious I did a mess with it. Do not know how come I thought of peanuts instead of almonds. And when I was grinding the roasted peanuts then only I realised that I should have used almonds not peanuts. As I was running short of time, I quickly put some almonds along with the peanuts and made  the paste with some water. Yes it was white !! It tasted good as well with the richness of dry fruits. With time passing by I started preparing this dish by adding /subtracting ingredients and I found this cashew nut & almond paste taste just awesome with paneer. Do check the rich delicious recipe and try it in your kitchen. You will love it its a promise :)

Ingredients:

Paneer: 200 gms cut into equal sized cubes
Onion: 1 large size
Ginger garlic paste: 2 tbsp.
Green Chillies: 1-2
Cashew nut & almond: 1/2 cup
Chopped coconut: a handful (you can replace this with coconut milk as well)
Bay leaf: 2
Dry red chilli: 1
Mace: 1-2
Cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick: 2-3 of each slightly pitted
Fresh cream: 2-3 tbsp
Refined oil: 3-4 tbsp
Salt to taste
Garam Masala: 1 tsp
Saffron/kesar: few strands soaked in half small bowl of hot milk

Method:

Soak the cashewnuts, almonds and chopped coconut in water for about 5-10 minutes. Then make a paste out of it in a mixer and keep aside.

Make a paste of onion and green chillies and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the dry red chilli, bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, mace and allow them to crackle. Add the onion paste and saute for about a minute . Now add the ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute or so. Add the cashew, almond & coconut paste , mix with the masala and fry for about 2 minutes in low flame. Add 1 cup of water to it , stir and cover with a lid in medium-high flame. Cook this for about 2-3 minutes, checking in between. Now add the paneer cubes, garam masala, salt and combine everything well and simmer for another 5-7 minutes or till the gravy thickens. If you see the gravy dries up, you can add some more water. Finally add the fresh cream and the saffron along with the milk in which saffron was soaked in, give the gravy a nice stir and put the flame off. Now the paneer in white gravy is ready.

Serve hot with rice or roti.

 

 

Very famous chicken Do-pyaza

Its been a week or so that I was just not in touch with my second baby- my blog. Had to share something here today. So when I was buying chicken today, thought to prepare chicken do-pyaza as its been like many months that I have not cooked this dish. This is a delicious Indian recipe served as curries is basically cooked with two types of onion  & two types of tangy agents. Little sweet and sour this dish goes well with rice/roti/nan.

Ingredients:

Chicken: 500 gms (you can use boneless as well)
Onion: 2 (1 medium sized finely chopped & 1 medium sized cut into cubes)
Tomato: 1 medium sized pureed
Ginger garlic paste: 3 tbsp.
Carmdamom/clove/cinnamon: 2-3 of each pitted
Curd: 2 tbsp.
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder: 2tsp
Red chilli powder: 2 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder: 1 tsp
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Garam masala powder: 1 tsp
Black pepper powder: 1 tsp
Green chilli : 1-2 for garnishing
Fresh Coriander & mint: for garnishing
Mustard oil: 3-4 tbsp

Method:

Cut the chicken pieces in equal size, wash properly. In a mixing bowl, marinate the chicken with 1 tbsp. of ginger garlic paste and 1 tsp chilli powder and keep aside for about half an hour.

Take the curd in a bowl and mix 1 tsp turmeric powder & 1 tsp chilli powder and beat well and keep aside.

Heat oil in a kadhai/pan. Add the pitted cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and remaining 2 tbsp. of ginger garlic paste and saute. Now add the finely chopped onions and fry till translucent. Add the tomato puree and cook till it cooks and release oil. Add the beaten curd into this and add salt. Add remaining 1 tsp turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, remaining 1/2 tsp chilli powder, black pepper powder.  Mix them all very well and fry for about a minute or two.

Add the sliced onions and combine well with all the ingredients. Now add the chicken and garam masala. Mix everything well and cover with a lid. Keep the flame low to medium. Add half cup of water and cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked properly.

Now your chicken do pyaza is ready. Transfer it to a serving bowl and garnish with coriander leaves, chopped green chillies and mint leaves. You can add fresh cream for garnishing as well.

Serve hot and enjoy with your rice or chapatti.

 

Stuffed pointed gourd in coconut milk gravy

 

 

 

 

The first time ever I went correct with this dish with my own inputs ..I tried cooking this dish many a times as my mother & sister both makes it quite often and shares their recipes while we talk over the phone. I tried & failed !!

 

This time on last sunday somehow I made up my mind and I did it. And it turned out as it should be. Variations I did with this dish were I added some nutritional value to this dish by stuffing the pointed gourds with soya chunks and the gravy I made was with coconut milk. Coconut milk anyways makes a dish super delicious with its unique flavour which I like very much. Do try it in your kitchen and share your feedback too.

 

Ingredients:

For the stuffing

Pointed gourd: 5 (I used 5 numbers of potol. You can change as per your servings)

Onion: 1 medium sized grated

Garlic & ginger : 1 tbsp. grated

Soya chunks: 3-4 tbsp. (washed & cooked)

Salt to taste

Garam Masala: 1tsp

Cumin powder: 1 tsp

Turmeric powder: A pinch

Oil: 2 tsp for making the stuffing

Oil deep frying the gourds (you can bake the stuffed gourds/potol if you want to keep it healthier)

 

 

For the gravy:

Black Mustard Seeds: 1 tsp

Curry leaves: 5-6

Dry red chilli: 1-2

Onion: 1 medium sized grated

Ginger & garlic: 1 tbsp. grated

Salt to taste

Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder: 1 tsp

Coriander powder: 1 tsp

Garam Masala: 1 tsp

Coconut milk: 1 cup

Oil : 1 tbsp

 

Method:

 

Wash the pointed gourds and scrap its outer skin lightly. Cut off the tips from both ends.  Scoop out the seeds from the broader end of the potol without breaking/damaging the other end - I used a knife to do this. You can use a spoon as well. Keep the seeds to use in the stuffing if you want. Else you can discard. I used it along with the soya chunks. Now keep them aside.

 

 

 

For the stuffing

In a pan heat the oil, add the onion and saute till translucent. Add  the ginger garlic and rest of the ingredients except the soya chunks & the scooped out seeds from the gourds. Saute the masalas for a minute or two and add the soya chunks and the seeds and mix them so that everything combines well. This will take about 3-4 minutes to get cooked. Put the flame off and keep it aside to cool.

 

Once cooled, stuff these in the gourds/potol and deep fry them and keep in a tissue paper.

 

For the Gravy:

Heat the oil in a pan/wok/kadhai. Add the mustard seeds, dry chillies, curry leaves and let them splutter. Add the onion and saute till translucent. Now add the ginger garlic and saute. Then add turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and fry for a couple of minutes till they leave oil. Now add the coconut milk and stir well. Add salt, mix & Simmer for about 2-3 minutes covering with a lid checking in between. As the gravy thickens, add the fried potols/gourd and combine everything well. At this point if you think the gravy has thickened more, you can always add water. Add the garam masala powder, mix well and keep it in medium flame for about one or two minutes.

 

Now in a plate , arrange the potols/gourds and pour the gravy on them. Serve hot with rice .

 

 

 

You can give variation to the stuffing with chicken keema, prawn keema, cottage cheese, mashed potato as well.

 

Coconut chicken

A Chicken dish is a must for us non-vegetarians on weekends. This sunday the husband is away for some work and we the mommy and daughter duo are alone at home. So I got a 200gm of boneless chicken for two of us. First I thought of preparing some grilled chicken but then I realised I have a lot of curry leaves lying in the refrigerator and a packet of dry coconut. So I just cooked this chicken with lots of curry leaves and coconut. Do not know if any dish like this is already exist, but I named this version of mine as coconut wala chicken. Its a semi-dry preparation which we enjoyed very much with our regular plain rice, yellow dal, brinjal fry and salad. Some times things just turn out so well even when you experiment it for the first time and specially when my little one says "mamma its yummy" then I surely know that this was worth preparing in every way.

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken : 200 gms washed and cut into medium sized cubes
Onion: 1 large sized finely chopped
Garlic & Ginger: 1tbsp crushed
Salt to taste
Black mustard seed: 1tsp
Curry leaves: 10-12 leaves
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder: 1 tsp
Cumin powder: 1tsp
Chicken masala:1 tsp
Slit Green chillies: 1-2
Oil: about 3 tsp
Tomato puree: 1 tbsp. (I used the store bought)
Dry coconut : 4-5 tbsp


Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds and allow them to splutter. Add the chillies, curry leaves.  Add immediately the chopped onions and stir till translucent. Now add the ginger & garlic and saute for few seconds. Add the tomato puree, turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, chicken masala and fry until mushy. Now add the chicken pieces and combine properly with all the other ingredients. Cook the chicken for about 7-10 minutes covering with a lid , checking in between. As I have used boneless one so it did not take much of time to get cooked. So just before the chicken gets cooked completely, add the dry coconut and mix well. Cook for another 5-7 minutes with the lid covered, keep checking in between. I did not add water separately as the chicken releases its water and also addition of the tomato puree helps to form the semi-gravy texture. Put the flame off once the chicken is cooked left with little gravy.

If you want a proper gravy/curry of this dish, you can always add water.

Garnish with grated fresh coconut (I did not use as I was out of stock), onion rings and serve hot with rice/roti and enjoy.

 

My deadly Dal fry total restaurant style

I am always thrilled by  the strong aroma and flavour of dal fry of  our Indian restaurants. Wonder how they make this so tasty that you can have it with your roti or rice simply and you actually do not need anything else. But somehow this was never been tried in my kitchen until few days back when I was thinking of not to cook dal that very night for dinner. It makes me sometimes very boring to have dal every day in lunch and dinner. Then suddenly it strike my mind..why not dal fry tonight. That's it !!I quickly searched in internet for a dal fry recipe and got back to my kitchen and did this small wonder. Its was very delicious with the strong aroma of the masalas used just the way I like -yes the restaurant style !!!

Ingredients:

Arhar Dal: 1 cup
 Onion: 1 medium sized finely chopped
Garlic: 1 tbsp. crushed and chopped
Ginger: 1 tsp finely chopped
Tomato: 1 medium sized finely chopped
Curry leaves: 10-12
Mustard seed: 6-7
Cumin seed: 1 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Green chillies: 1-2 slits
Dry red chillies: 1-2
Kashmiri Chilli powder: 1tsp
Hing/asafoetida: 1/4 tsp
Ghee: 2-3 tbsp.
Garam Masala: 1tsp
Chopped fresh coriander for garnishing
Water as required


Method:

Wash the dal properly and cook them in a pressure cooker with sufficient amount of water upto 7-8 whistles, or cook until the dal is cooked completely and very soft. Once cooked , mash the dal with a spoon or with masher if you have it available at home. Keep aside.

In a pan heat ghee and add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Let them crackle and then add the onions and saute them till translucent and golden brown. Now add the ginger & garlic and saute them. Into this add the curry leaves, red & green chillies and mix. Immediately add the turmeric powder, hing/asafoetida and chilli powder and fry them for sometime and then add the tomatoes. Once the tomatoes started leaving the mixture put garam masala and give a nice stir.

Now to this mixture add the boiled mashed dal and mix well. You would notice that the dal got a very thick texture like a paste at this point of time as we have mashed the dal completely. Add sufficient water and some salt. Stir the dal nicely and let it simmer for 4-5 minutes till the dal gets a smooth and thick consistency. Now your dal fry is ready to be served . Transfer it to a bowl and garnish with the chopped coriander and enjoy with your roti/nan/rice.

 

Mind-blowing Dal makhani

Don't we enjoy the spicy piping hot Dal Makhani in those road side dhabas!! I miss that taste so much since I left Assam post my marriage & Delhi  as we hardly get a chance to drop by any dhaba and enjoy  this speciality of the Punjabi dhabas. Few days back only it came to my mind to try this dal makhani at home with rice. It was a Friday night and I quickly arranged whatever little ingredients required for making the dal. Few searching on the google and some own ideas and the Dal Makhani is ready.

Ingredients:

Whole Black Gram: 1/2 cup
Rajma: 2 tbsp
Tomato: 2 medium sized pureed
Ginger & Garlic crushed and chopped: 2 tsp
Onion: 1 big onion grated
Bay leaf: 2
Red dry chillies: 2
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Garam Masala: 1 tsp
Green Chillies :1 Slit (optional)
Cumin Seeds: 1 tsp
Fresh Coriander chopped: 2 tbsp.
Fresh Cream: 3 tbsp
Butter: 3 tbsp 
Oil: 1tsp

Method:

Wash and soak the black dal and rajma overnight in sufficient amount of water. Next morning drain the water and pressure cook black dal and rajma in three cups of water with salt for 3-4 whistles. In case its not cooked within mentioned whistles then cook on low heat till the rajma becomes totally soft and keep aside.

  Heat 2 tbsp butter and oil in a pan. Add bay leaf, red dry chillies & cumin seeds. Once  they start spluttering add ginger, garlic and onion and sauté till golden. Add slit green chillies, tomato puree and sauté on high heat. Add the red chilli powder and sauté till the tomatoes are cooked. Now  add the cooked dal and rajma along with the cooking liquour. Add some water if the mixture is too thick. Add garam masala powder and check for the seasoning and give it a nice stir. Now add the fresh cream and the remaining 1 tbsp of butter for that extra glaze and stir and simmer on low heat till the dal gets a thick texture and becomes soft. Now remove from gas and transfer to a bowl and sprinkle the chopped coriander and few onion rings and serve hot.
 

Paneer Butter Masala

The method of preparing Paneer Butter Masala is just the same as Chicken butter masala. Varies only the marination time & overall cooking time. So here it goes

Ingredients:

1. Take 200 gms of fresh Paneer
2. Kashmiri Mirch - 2tsp
3. 1 Lime juice
4. Tomatoes - 8-10 nos.
5. Butter - 2tbsp
6. Ilaichi - 3
7. Mace/Javitri - 1gm
8. Ginger Garlic Paste - 2tsp
9. Hung Curd - 1/2cup
10. Garam Masala - 1 tsp
11.Salt to taste
12. Kasoori Methi - 1/2 tsp
13. Honey - 1tsp
14. 2 tbsp. cream
15. Coriander twig & fresh cream for garnishing



Cut the Paneer into medium sized cubes . Marinate the Paneer with salt, 1tsp Kashmiri mirch, 1 lime juice, hung curd, ginger garlic paste-1 tsp each, 1/2 tsp garam masala. Mix well and keep this in refrigerator for 10-15 minutes

 

For the gravy:

Roughly cut the tomatoes into cubes and then blend them with little bit of water in it to make a nice puree. In a hot deep pan put 1tbsp of butter. Do not let the butter to get burn. Add immediately the ilaichi, 1gm mace (javitri), ginger garlic paste 1tsp each and stir. Now pour the pureed tomatoes, add salt to taste, 1tsp kashmiri mirch powder. Mix well and let it cook for 7-10 minutes covering with lid.


After 10-15 minutes of marination, take out the Paneer from the refrigerator and cook the pieces in normal pan/grilled pan/tawa whichever is available with you with little oil. Cook them till they are golden brown.

Now back to the gravy - Into the gravy add 1/2tsp kasoori methi, 1tsp honey, 1tbsp butter and give it a mix. By this time the gravy should have been cooked properly. Finish with 2 tbsp fresh cream and 1/2 tsp Garam Masala..Give a nice stir and you will be noticing the body and thickness the gravy gets after pouring the cream.  Now add the Paneer pieces into the gravy, stir and cook for another 4-5 mins. Transfer the Paneer Butter Masala into a bowl and garnish with fresh cream and a fresh coriander twig.

Butter Chicken / murg makhani (Recipe from Sanjeev Kapoor show)

Butter chicken is one dish that we all love in the family. Though I cook this very rarely because it needs a good amount of time in marination and then grilling etc etc. I am sure all my friends out there would definitely love to try this recipe out once atleast at home.

Ingredients:

1. Take 400 gms of boneless chicken
2. Kashmiri Mirch - 3tsp
3. 1 Lime juice
4. Tomatoes - 12 nos.
5. Butter - 4tbsp
6. Ilaichi - 4
7.  Mace/Javitri - 1gm
8. Ginger Garlic Paste - 6tsp
9. Hung Curd - 1/2cup
10. Garam Masala - 1 tsp
11. Mustard Oil - 2tsp
12.Salt to taste
13. Kasoori Methi - 1/2 tsp
14. Honey - 1tsp
15. 3 1/2 tbsp. cream
16. coriander twig for garnishing



There are two types of marinate for the chicken in butter chicken recipe. Method given stepwise

1st Marinate:

Cut the boneless chicken into medium sized cubes and wash properly. Marinate the chicken with salt, 1tsp Kashmiri mirch and 1 lime juice. Mix well and keep this in refrigerator for half an hour or so.

While the marinated chicken is in the refrigerator , start to prepare the gravy for the butter chicken. It is said that its all about how you cook the gravy to make a perfect butter chicken.
Take 12 med sized nice red tomatoes n cut them into cubes and then blend them with little bit of water in it to make a nice puree. In a hot deep pan put 2tbsp of butter. Do not let the butter to get burn. Add immediately 4 ilaichi, 1gm mace (javitri), ginger garlic paste 1tsp each and stir. Now pour the pureed tomatoes, add salt to taste, 1tsp kashmiri mirch powder. Mix well and let it cook for 7-10 minutes covering with lid.

2nd marinate of the chicken:

Take 1/2cup of hung curd in a bowl , add 1tsp kashmiri Mirch powder, salt to taste, ginger garlic paste 2 tsp each, 1/2 tsp garam masala and mix all these ingredients well and now add the marinated chicken pieces which was kept in the refrigerator. Now pour 2tsp of mustard oil into this and again give them a nice mix and keep it in refrigerator for atleast 2 hours.


After 2 hours of marination, take out the chicken from the refrigerator and cook the pieces in gas tandoor/normal pan/grilled pan/tawa whichever is available with you with little oil. I use my grill pan for cooking the chicken pieces. Cook them till they are golden brown and soft.

Now back to the gravy - Into the gravy add 1/2tsp kasoori methi, 1tsp honey, 2tbsp butter and give it a mix. By this time the gravy should have been cooked properly. Finish with 31/2 tbsp fresh cream and 1/2 tsp Garam Masala..Give a nice stir and you will be noticing the body and thickness the gravy gets after pouring cream.  Now add the cooked chicken pieces into the gravy, stir and cook for another 5-7 mins and you are done with your butter chicken. Transfer the butter chicken to a beautiful bowl and garnish with cream and coriander twig. :)