Kasoori Methi Chicken Curry (Fenugreek Flavoured Chicken)

Winters are setting in. So, I finally get in the mood to blog again. this week I made the Kasoori methi Chicken curry that is a big favorite in my house. It's pretty easy to make and taste so yummy with bread/ rotis.

Kasoori methi is none other than dried fenugreek leaves that are easily available all over India in grocery stores and Indian stores overseas. Even a paste of fenugreek leaves can be used instead. If you do not find kasoori methi at all, just make this chicken curry without it. However, I love adding this spice for the lovely aroma.

Also, this gravy is white in color. So, no turmeric.

Ingredients:

Chicken: 500 gm (cut into medium size pieces)

Curd/Dahi/Yoghurt: 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons

Ginger-garlic paste: 1 teaspoon

Crushed black pepper: 1 teaspoon

Shukno lonka/dry red chilli: 1

Kasoori methi: 1 and a half teaspoon

Salt to taste

Chilli powder/ cayenne pepper powder: 1/2 teaspoon

Onion (chopped): 3 medium ones

Tomato (chopped): 1 (optional)

White oil (any refined oil): 1 tablespoon

Milk: 1 cup

Ghee/butter: 1 teaspoon

Procedure:

1. Take the chicken pieces in a bowl. Add the curd, half teaspoon ginger garlic paste, crushed black pepper, salt. Mix well and keep the marinated chicken in the fridge for 2 hours.

2. After 2 hours take out the chicken and let it come to room temperature. Heat oil in a wok/kadahi. When oil is hot, add the red chili and kasuri methi. Once you get a lovely aroma of the methi, add the chopped onions and stir fry. The onions should become transparent. Do not over-fry. Add chopped tomatoes (if using) and half teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste. Fry for a minute.

3. Add the marinated chicken along with the marinade. Just dunk everything into the wok.

4. Mix well and add chilli powder + salt to taste.

5. Add milk and let the gravy come to boil. Make sure that you do not add any turmeric because this is a white gravy.

6. Now keep on low flame and cook covered. Occasionally, open the cover and stir the gravy so that the meat does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Add some more water/milk if needed.

7. Once the chicken is cooked and tender turn off the gas. Garnish with a teaspoon of ghee and a teaspoon of kasoori methi. Serve not with rotis/ parathas. :)

Mutton Curry in a Hurry!

So refreshing to write a blog post again. It's been such a long time that I have opening the Drafts to write a recipe again. Feeling delighted!

This weekend, we were in a festive mood. My daughter got an award at her school. So, on Sunday morning, the hubby-man casually remarks that today I will be cooking the mutton curry for lunch. Helllooo! I had so many tasks and zero time to cook this dish.

By the time, it was 12.30 pm I was jumping about like a headless chicken folding clothes and doing a hundred tasks around the house. By the time, the mutton was not even marinated!!!


Finally, I decided to make the mutton using this easy and fast recipe. Here it is:

Ingredients:

Mutton: 500 gms

Curd: 3 tablespoons

Onion paste: 2 tablespoons

Ginger-garlic paste: 1 teaspoon

MDH meat masala: 2 heaped tablespoons

Mustard oil: 2 tablespoons

Ghee: 2 teaspoons

Haldi powder: 1/2 teaspoon

Chilli powder: 1/2 teaspoon

Onions: 2 medium (chopped fine)

Potatoes: 3-4 (peeled and cut in half)

Tomatoes: 2-3 medium sized chopped

For the mutton stock:

One inch piece of ginger, one onion cut in half, 3-4 cloves of garlic, small piece stick of cinnamon, 2-3 green elaichi, 1 big elaichi, and 2-3 cloves.

Process:

1. Place the mutton pieces in the pressure cooker along with the other ingredients for the mutton stock. Pour enough water to cover the mutton. Pressure cook for 5-6 whistles. Let the steam escape on its own. Remove the steamed mutton pieces and keep the stock aside.

2. In a wok/kadhai, heat mustard oil. When the oil is smoking hot, add a teaspoon of sugar. Now fry the potatoes. Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon and keep aside. 

3. Add a handful of whole garam masala (cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves) to the oil. Now fry the onions. Keep some fried onions aside.

4. Add the tomatoes and fry for 2-3 minutes. In a bowl, add the curd, meat masala, onion paste, turmeric powder, and chilli powder.

5. Add the wet paste to the kadhai and fry the masala till oil separates.

6. Now add the steamed mutton pieces and fry some more. Add slight amount of mutton stock so that the masala does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

7. Repeat this step. Keep adding the mutton stock and frying the meat till it turns red in color. this will take much less time since the meat is pre-cooked.

8. Once the meat takes on a red color, add the remaining mutton stock till the meat pieces are submerged. Add salt and sugar to taste. Cover the kadhai and let it boil for 7-8 minutes.

9. Take off the gas and add ghee on top.

10. Serve hot with hot rice.

This is not a typical way of mutton preparation but you can try it out if in a hurry! :)

Orange Cake

Sunshine on my window and winter is ready to bid adieu from Kolkata.

Before the winters are gone wanted to bake some cakes with oranges. Oranges are an universal fave during winters. Throughout the winters, me and daughter have been snacking on oranges. I don't like orange juice. I love to take the small bite size pieces in my mouth. The sweet natural juice that oozes out from each piece is pure heaven.

This winter we made and orange chocolate cake and today I baked a simple orange loaf cake.

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:

All purpose flour: 1 and a half cups

Sugar: 1 cup

White oil: 1/4th cup

Vanilla essence: 1/2 tsp

Baking powder: 1 tsp

Baking soda: 1/2 tsp

Eggs: 2

Oranges: 2 big ones

Chilled milk: 1 cup

Process:

1. First peel the oranges and take the pieces out. Discard the seeds and the white fibres.

2. Just squeeze the pieces with your hands to make a pulp. Mixer not required. Gather all the ingredients.

3. Mix the orange pulp, sugar and eggs. Mix well. Now add the milk, vanilla essence and oil.

4. In a bowl add the flour and baking soda + baking powder. In case you want to make a chocolate orange cake, add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder.

5. Add the flour to the wet mixture in batches. Mix well to make a lump-free batter.

6. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C for 10 minutes.

7. Grease a baking pan. Pour the batter in the pan.

8. Bake for 40 minutes at 180 degrees C.

9. Take out of oven. Cool till cake is warm to touch.

10. Slice the cake and enjoy.

When Hunger Strikes...Healthy Onion Crackers (Eggless)

(Adapted from a video recipe on Youtube)

Once the baking bug strikes, it is very difficult for me to keep away.

Today's recipe is a healthy one. Crispy crunchy eggless onion crackers with whole wheat.

You can find the video link here: video link

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour: 1 and a half cups

APF (Flour): 1/2 cup

White oil: 1/4 cup

Caraway seeds: 1 tsp

Unbroken wheat dalia: 2 tablespoons

Salt: 1 tsp

Sugar: 2 tsp

Baking soda: 1 tsp

Onion (chopped): 1/2 cup

Green chillies: 2 (chopped)

Process:

1. In a bowl take all the ingredients. Add enough warm water to make a stiff dough. Try to as less water as possible.

2. Take a portion of the dough. Roll it into a thin roti. Using cookie cutter/ a glass cut out circles.

3. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C for 10 minutes. Place the cookies on a tray and bake for 22-25 minutes. The underside of the cookies should be golden - brown. (After 10 minutes, you should flip the cookies for even cooking.)

4. Serve hot with a cup of tea.

Winter Evenings....and Chicken Pot Pie

(Adapted from Niru Gupta's Chicken Pie Recipe)

After a lot of dilly-dallying winter is finally here in Kolkata. I was also in the deep freezer mode as far as cooking and blogging was concerned. Haven't tried any new recipe in quite a while.

With the advent of winter, the hubby man has been giving me gentle reminders that I need to bake regurlarly. (Since, I am on the weight loss mode, I was trying to avoid baking yummy goodies.) Cakes and cookies though fabulous in taste are not good for one's waist. (Hee! haw!)

Anyway, I was planning to bake something savory this time. And to answer my prayers, the hubby man bought me a pie-tin this weekend. I tried my hand at making a simple chicken pot pie. This is the pie in all its golden glory.

You can find the original recipe here: recipe link. 

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:

To make the dough:

2 cups refined flour (APF)

3/4 cup butter

1 tsp vinegar in an egg or 1/4 cup cold milk

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

To make white sauce:

2 cups milk

2 Tbsp refined flour

1 Tbsp butter

1 tsp salt

To make chicken filling:

500 grams chicken- boneless, cooked and diced

1/4 tsp white pepper/ black pepper powder

A pinch of rosemary (optional)

1 Tbsp slightly beaten egg or milk to glaze the pie

Process:

1. In a mixing bowl/plate add flour and butter. Mix the butter thoroughly with the dry flour using your fingers. The flour texture will become like breadcrumbs.

2. To the flour, add vinegar, egg, salt. Add some milk to knead the dough. The dough will be soft. Keep aside in the fridge.

3. Now, heat butter in a pan. Add 2 tbsp APF and stir fry. Now slowly add milk and stir till the sauce becomes thick. Do not let lumps form.

4. To make the chicken filling, heat 2 tsp white oil. Add half teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste and 1/2 cup of chopped onions. Saute lightly and add some chopped vegetables of your choice. I added chopped carrots and tomatoes. Now add the chicken mince. Stir fry for a minute. Add a dash of mixed herbs and rosemary. Add salt and pepper powder to taste. 

5. Once the chicken mince is cooked, add the white sauce to it and lower the flame. Keep stirring from time to time. The sauce with thicken further and you will get a thick creamy filling. Turn off the gas.

6. Take the dough out of the fridge. Divide it into two parts. One part should be bigger than the other.

7. Roll the bigger ball of dough into a thick roti. Here is my 8-year-old rolling out the dough.

9. Grease the pie tin. Place the roti carefully on the tin.

10. Pour the chicken filling on top of this base (roti).

11. Now roll the other piece into a roti and place it on top of the pie.

12. Prick tiny holes on the pie surface using a fork and brush with egg white. Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees C for 10 minutes.

13. Bake the pie in the oven for 45-50 minutes. The top crust should turn golden.

14. Remove form the oven and serve hot!

The No-Grind Bombay Chutney

(Adapted from VysyasRecipes: Bombay Chutney)

I have been missing in action for nearly six months now. My laptop conked off and since then I have hardly been  posting recipes.

Today was an exception. I got a lovely chutney recipe from the net. I simply had to make it at home and blog about it. This recipe is simple to make, all the ingredients are readily available at home...and whats more...it does not involve any grinding at all.

This versatile chutney can be eaten as a side dish with poori/paratha/dosa and of course with idli too.

I found the original recipe here.

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:

Besan flour - 2  tbsp

Green chillies - 2.

chilli powder - 3/4 tsp.

salt - to taste.

turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp.

onions - 2. (cut lengthwise)

tomato - 1 (chopped medium).

ginger - 1/2 inch

For tempering:

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp,

curry leaves: 3-4

chana dal - 1 tsp.

curry leaves - few

white oil: 1 and half teaspoon

Process:

1. First mix the besan with some water to form a thick, lump-free mix.

2. Next, heat oil. Add all the ingredient for tempering and green chillis. When the mustard seeds start spluttering add chopped onions and fry for a minute.

3. Add the tomatoes. Also add salt, turmeric, and chilli powder. Fry for some time. The tomatoes will turn mushy.

4. At this point, add the besan mixture. Keep stirring till the besan does not have a raw smell.

5. The mixture will become thick.

6. Take off the gas and serve. 

I served it with rava idlis that I made at home. Enjoy!

Dates and Raisin Sweet Loaf

(Source: A TV programme)

I often watch cookery shows on TV but hardly get around to re-creating them at home. I saw this recipe on a TV program and it was so simple that I loved it.

This bread has chopped raisins and dates. So its a real nutritious bread. The bread is sweet and aromatic. Kids love it!

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:

Chopped and de-seeded dates: 1/2 cup
Chopped raisins and cashews: 1/4th cup
Whole wheat flour: 1 cup
All purpose flour: 2 cups
Instant yeast: 1 and a half teaspoon
Sugar: 1/4th cup
Salt: 1 teaspoon
White oil: 1 tablespoon
Lukewarm water: 3/4th cup + 1/2 cup

Process:

1. First take the lukewarm water in a bowl and add the sugar.
Next add the yeast and keep undisturbed for 10 minutes.
2. Now take the APF and whole wheat flour in a pan. Add salt and mix well. Add the chopped dates, cashews, and raisins.
3. Pour the yeast mixture into the flour mix. Add oil.
4. Now knead a dough for about ten minutes. Use more lukewarm water if required.
5. The dough should be smooth and firm to touch. It should spring back if pressed. Dunk the dough in a greased deep bottom pan.
6. Cover with a kitchen towel and keep in a warm, dry place for one and a half hours. The dough will double up in size.
7. Take the dough out. Press lightly to release all the trapped air.
8. Shape into a log shape. To learn how to shape the bread dough, view this video here. Place inside a greased loaf tin.
9. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Place the loaf inside the oven. You can cover the loaf with foil to prevent hardening of crust. Bake for about 40 minutes.
10. Take the loaf out of the oven. Brush with butter.

11. Let the loaf cool completely till room temperature. Slice and have direct or slathered with butter/jam.