Chicken Roast - A Family recipe and memories galore!

  

I know. I know. I have been missing in action. Don't ask me why because even  I don't know the whys and the hows! Lets just say that my mojo went for a hike! This particular recipe I made long ago but wasn't getting the enthusiasm to write the post. And I just couldn't have posted the recipe because this belongs to my Thama - my paternal gradmom - a great cook with zamindars lineage from Dhaka. So you can well imagine the kind of food she made. Everything was royal about her! This Chicken Roast recipe belonged to her Baaper bari - fathers home and she made sure that she made the family cook learn it well and also pass on the recipe to her daughter in laws. I have grown up eating this royal dish on every special occasion and also made sure that I learn how to make it while growing up. The most important ingredient is the use of country chicken - small sized deshi murgi  stuffed with a mash of potato and boiled eggs  and served on a bed of rich onion gravy,made all the difference. So while I decided to recreate this legendary dish in my kitchen  - my biggest set back was the unavailability of small sized country chicken and had to make do with the farm ones we get here. Thus I have kind of deconstructed the dish but it tasted awesome nevertheless. Heres presenting my version of my family's favourite recipe - Chicken Roast.

 

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1 medium sized - cut into 4 pieces - cleaned and washed

Onion - 1 large - finely chopped

Tomato - 1 large - finely chopped

Ginger - garlic paste - 1 tbsp.

Turmeric/Haldi  powder - 1tsp + 1tsp

Red chilli powder/laal mirch powder - 1 tsp

Roasted cumin powder / bhuna jeera powder - 1 tbsp.

Boiled potato - 1 large - roughly mashed

Tomato puree - 1 tbsp.

Sugar - 1 tsp

White pepper powder - 1 tsp

Cashewnuts - 8-10 - lightly roasted

Raisins /kishmish - half of a handful

Garam masala powder - 1 tbsp. - make a powder of green cardamom,cloves and cinnamon

Boiled eggs - 2 nos - for garnish

Ghee - 1 tbsp.

Refined oil - 1 tbsp. + 1 tbsp.

Salt  - taste

Fresh coriander leaves  - finely chopped - for garnish

Method:

Preparing the chicken:

Make a few slits in the chicken pieces and par boil it till a little soft. Drain and keep the water for later use.

Now marinate the chicken with salt and 1 tsp turmeric, keep aside. Heat a tbsp. of refined oil in a flat pan and sauté the chicken pieces till golden brown in colour.
Drain and keep aside.

Preparing the gravy:

In a kadahi - deep bottomed pan - heat 1 tbsp. ghee along with a tbsp. of refined oil. Add the ginger- garlic paste and sauté lightly. Add the chopped onion and fry till golden brown in colour. Make sure not to burn the onions.

Now add the chopped tomato, tomato puree, turmeric powder,roasted cumin powder,red chili powder,white pepper powder and the mashed potato. Mix everything well together and roast the masala well.Keep adding a little warm water to help the mixture from not burning.

Next add the cashewnuts, rasins and the garam masala powder. Add the sautéed chicken pieces and a cup of the water kept aside from boiling the chicken.let everything simmer for 5-7 mins. This dish has a gravy of thick consistency so check accordingly.

Garnish with chopped coriander and sliced boiled eggs and serve with naan/roti /paratha.
Or mop it up with toasted slices of bread just like me!

 

 

 

 

Notes:

• Keep a constant watch while making the gravy so as not to burn the masalas.
• This dish has a gravy of thick consistency so add water accordingly.
• Originally this dish is made with whole country chicken - stuffed with potato mash , fried till light brown in colour and then added to the gravy.
• Instead of frying the chicken pieces ..one could also grill it in the oven.

Posto Murgi - Chicken with Poppy seeds

While wondering what to make for lunch yet again..I remembered that my dear friend Sarani of Cocoawind had made this beautiful chicken dish with poppy seeds - a Bengali staple. Since chicken is the go to meat for easy weekday meals I decided to go ahead with the recipe. Now which Bengali will not like posto(poppy seeds)- give me simple posto'r bora(fritters) with daal-bhaat..and I am happy. Or don't forget the amazing Jhinge Posto,I can finish a big plate of rice with just this! Coming back to the recipe, again very basic ingredients are used here and you can rustle up this dish anytime in your kitchen.

Ingredients:

Chicken - 500 gms - cut into medium sized pieces

Onion - I medium - finely chopped

Poppy seeds paste - 2 tbsp.

Cashewnut paste - 1 tbsp.

Ginger/garlic paste - 1 tsp

Whole cardamom,cloves and cinnamon-  2 of each - lightly crushed

Bay leaves - 2 nos

Turmeric powder- 1 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

salt - to taste

Sugar - a pinch

Green chillies - 3-4 slit

Refined oil - 2 tbsp.

Method:

In a heavy bottomed pan, add the refined oil. Splutter the lightly crushed cardamom,cloves and cinnamon and the beay leaves.

Add the ginger garlic paste and the chopped onion and fry till the onions turn brown.

Now add the chicken pieces - fry till the chicken also changes colour and turn lightly brown.

Next add the turmeric powder,chili powder, salt and sugar and give it all a good mix.

Cover and let cook for 5 mins.

Now add the poppy seeds paste and the cashewnut paste. give it a good mix and then add half a cup of warm water. Cover and cook for another 5-7 mins. Once done , remove cover and check if the chicken has cooked through. If not add some more water , cover and cook for 2 mins more.

The gravy would thicken up by now, adjust gravy consistency by adding a little warm water if reqd. Garnish with green chillies and serve with rice/roti.

 

Lamb Curry with Sweet potatoes - An experiment that turned out great.

                                                                                                                                                                                

 

I am not going to start with my usual story of why I was missing in action because by now the whole world knows that I was on a month long vacation! It was my son's summer vacation but I was the most excited one to be getting away from the heat wave that the city was facing at that time. Few days in my favourite city Delhi, then a few in  the picturesque and peaceful town of Kasauli and then finally few weeks at my mom's den.What more did I want..I was a happy soul. Ate a lot ,slept a lot, shopped a lot and spent a lot of time with my loved ones..I have come back with a lot of energy to get into everyday chores and be happy and busy.

 

Now this dish Lamb curry with sweet potatoes  is something I made before I went away but did not have the time to share with you all. It so happened that I was watching a show by Rachel Allen and it was an episode on robust meals and she made this lamb curry. Sweet potatoes is something we so use in our cooking but maybe would never really put it in a lamb curry. In my heart I felt that it would turn out good and I should give it a try. After all we Bengalis love our meat - Kosha Mangsho , Mongshor Jhol - we love all of that. This turned out to be a successful experiment so here I am sharing it with you all. Its different but it is nice. Very clean flavours, a little tang from the yoghurt and soft meat from the slow cooking. I skipped adding sugar as I was using sweet potatoes and it went perfectly with steamed rice.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

Lamb/mutton - curry cut - 500 gms

Onion - 2 medium - thinly sliced

Ginger - 1 tbsp.- grated

Garlic - 1 tbsp.- grated

Cardamom pods - 4-5 crushed

Roasted cumin powder - 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 tbsp

Sweet potatoes - 2 medium - cut into big chunks

Fresh mint leaves - a handful - finely chopped

Yoghurt/Curd - 1 cup

Red chillies/green chillies - 2-3 - finely sliced - adjust acc to taste

Salt - to taste

Refined oil - 2 tbsp

Warm water - 1 cup

Toasted almond flakes - for garnish

Method:

In a heavy bottomed pan heat 2 tbsp. of refined oil. Once done add the mutton pieces and sear on high heat for 10 to 15 mins. Its important to keep it on high flames so that the moisture is sealed in. Remove from pan and let it rest.

In the same pan add the grated ginger,garlic and the crushed cardamom. Saute lightly and add the finely sliced onions. Fry on low heat till slightly golden in colour. Tip in the seared mutton and all the dry spices - roasted cumin powder ,turmeric and Kashmiri chilli powder. Mix well with the mutton.

Next add the chunks of sweet potatoes.Add a cup of warm water,add salt,cover and let it cook for almost 45 mins on low heat. By now the meat would be soft and tender and the gravy would thicken.

Whisk the yoghurt well and add it to the pan.Also add the chopped mint leaves.  Mix well while adding the yoghurt so it doesn't split or curdle. Sprinkle the chopped chillies on top.
Remove from heat, garnish with toasted almonds and serve hot with rice.

 

Chingri Narkel Shorshe - Prawns in a coconut mustard gravy

Sunday lunches are special. Its that one day of the week when we do nothing, watch mindless television, don't get out of our pajamas and are generally very lazy! But that doesn't mean we like to compromise on our Sunday lunch ritual. It can be a one dish meal but it better be good. And for such days I am always on the lookout for easy tasty recipes that doesn't require me to slog in the kitchen - its my Sunday too u see! With some prawns lying in my freezer I knew exactly what I wanted to make. Nopes not the usual Chingri Malai kari but something new this time - Chingri Narkel Shorshe - Prawns in a coconut mustard gravy. The recipe again uses just a few ingredients and goes very well with some hot steamed rice. Its light and fragrant gravy is a sure shot winner and making this hardly took anytime. I could simply breeze in and out of the kitchen - la,la,la

Ingredients:

Prawns - 500 gms - medium sized - deveined and cleaned

Mustard paste - 2 tbsp

Coconut milk - 1 cup

Grated coconut - 2 tbsp

Kashmiri red chili powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp + 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Sugar - 1 tsp

Mustard oil - 2 tbsp for frying the prawns + 1 tbsp for the curry

Nigella seeds / Kalojeera / Kalonji seeds - a pinch

Green chillies - 4-5 slit

Method: 

Wash and clean the prawns. Mix well with 1 tsp turmeric and salt. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and saute the prawns till they turn opaque. Remove from heat and keep aside.

In another pan , heat 1 tbsp oil. Add the kalojeera/nigella seeds. Once they splutter add the mustard paste and the grated coconut. Once the coconut starts to brown add red chili powder , turmeric powder , salt and sugar. Mix well and add a little warm water to prevent the masala from burning. 

Next add the coconut milk , stirring continuously . Add the sauteed prawns and the green chillies and let the gravy simmer for 2-3 mins.

Remove from heat and serve hot with plain rice.

This I think is one of the easiest way to cook prawns. Traditionally this dish is steamed , ideally wrapped in a banana leaf. My original plan was to do it the real way and i had even arranged a banana leaf but then I got lazy and tried it out this way and it came out yumm!

You all try it out and tell me about it , till then have a great week!