Chicken Tikka Jhalfrazie

I love cooking with whatever is available in the pantry. The challenge lies in making something out of nothing..well not really nothing but whatever is handy! I had a packet of ready to fry chicken reshmi tikka and I ended up making a jhalfrazie out of it. As Wiki pedia states - Jhalfrazie is a type of curry that involves frying marinated pieces of meat, fish ,veggies in oil and spices to produce a dry thick sauce. It also essentially includes bell pepper,onion and tomato - seemed perfect for what I had in mind. Can be made in a jiffy, perfect for week night dinners, low fat with goodness of veggies and great on taste.Well what else do you need. Few hot rotis and you are in food heaven!

 

Ingredients:

Ready to eat - Chicken tikka  - 1 packet

Onion - 1 large - diced

Tomato - 1 large - diced

Bell pepper/capsicum - 1 medium - diced

Ginger - garlic paste - 1 tsp

Roasted cumin powder - 1 tbsp.

Roasted coriander powder - 1 tsp

Red chili powder - 1tsp

Tomato puree - 1 tbsp.

Fresh cream - 1 tbsp. - I used low fat  Amul cream

Sugar - a pinch

Salt - to taste

Refined oil - 1 tsp + 1 tsp

Dry red chillies - a few

Fresh Coriander - a handful chopped for garnish.

Method:

In a pan heat 1 tsp oil, tip the ready to fry tikkas and fry till lightly brown in colour. Or follow the instruction on the packet. You could even microwave a few varities. Drain and keep aside.

In the same pan , add another tsp of oil. Tip in the ginger - garlic paste and the dried red chillies. Fry till slightly brown in colour and it doesn't smell raw. Add the diced onions, tomatoes and bell pepper and quickly sauté on high heat.

Next add the red chilli powder , roasted cumin and coriander powder , sugar, salt and the tomato puree. Mix well and fry for 2-5 mins. Add a little warm water to prevent the masalas from burning. Now add the cooked chicken tikkas. Give everything a good mix, turn down the heat and add the fresh cream.  Garnish with fresh coriander.

Remove from heat and serve hot with a bread of your choice.

Notes:

•  The chicken can be prepared at home too. Just take some boneless chicken and marinate with a little yogurt , ginger - garlic paste, salt, white pepper powder and some lime juice. Follow the rest of the process.
• Since Jhalfrazie is essentially a medley of ingredients - you could make a vegetarian version by adding carrots,green beans,baby corn etc.
• This dish also uses a lot of green chillies that I have not used. So feel free to adjust the spice levels according to taste.

Launch of Sunday Brunch at Durbari @ Swissotel

To begin with Durbari at the Swissotel, Kolkata is my actually my son's most favourite restaurant. So whenever we find ourselves craving for that creamy Dal makhni and soft fluffy Naan we head there. The fact that it is close to where I live only adds to the cause! In the last 2 years we have lost count on the no of times we've been there. So when KFB got an invite from Swissotel asking us to be a part of the launch of their Sunday Brunch there was no saying no. On a Sunday afternoon, myself along with  fellow bloggers Kamalika, Amrita,Anwesha, Sayantani,Pritha and Sammya Brata, we found ourselves comfortably seated in the private dining area of the restaurant ready to sample to delicacies on offer.

We started with the usual fresh lime soda and soon the array of dishes started arriving at our table. The very first dish served to us was the Dahi ke Kebabs. Crunchy on the outside with cold youghurt mix oozing out from inside did wonders to the taste buds.I have tried this out a couple of times on my earlier visits and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Dahi ke kebabs
 

From now onwards there was a steady trickle of dishes - appetizers and starters and each dish stole the show. Chef Pranay and Chef Aditya was constantly by our side explaining the essence of the dishes. The Gondhoraj Mahi Tikka was the show stealer for sure. I am not much of a fish eater but totally loved this dish. Soft pieces of bhetki delicately flavoured with quintessential Bengal's gondhoraj lime and its Asian counterpart Kaffir lime leaves was a perfect match. Or take the Naaza ( Naan - Pizza) so innovative,so tasty! Butter chicken spread over naan base topped with some generous dollops of cheese - my god it was fantastic. Next time I am going to go back for just this!

 

Gondhoraj Mahi tikka

Naaza

Another of Chef's creation for the afternoon was the Murgh Balai Kebab( Chicken breasts stuffed with cheese,onions and pomegranate) grilled to perfection. Personally I would have liked a little less onions as the stuffing but it was good nonetheless. A special mention of Aashish - the restaurant manager here who shared his vision of the food they present at Durbari. You will find a little of everything here - Mughlai , Bengali as well as South Indian. They ensure that they are open to feedback and customise the dishes to suit the palate of business travellers mostly visiting the city from other countries. To make sure that they get a taste of India they are open to modification which is a wonderful gesture.

Murgh Balai kebab

No my friends this was not the end! The entire buffet spread replete with more starters, salads and main course awaited us. The spread was awesome and they would have a new menu every sunday. How could I go to Durbari and not eat their Dal Durbari and Cheese Naan(stuffed with swiss cheese). I was full up till my neck but the greed got better of me! In the meanwhile I will leave you with some images.

Dalcha Kebab
 

Cheese Naan

All these yummy dips are in house made

Well what more can I say. The dessert counter was calling out to me and my love for Indian desserts got the better of me. So I promptly filled up my plate with Mango Ras malai , Rabdi and my most favourite Mihidaana. For the uninitiated what mihidaana is, please refer to the picture below! There was a balanced mix of traditional and modern desserts as you can see.

So there! Once again the food ( not to forget the hospitality) at Durbari stole my heart away and I ended the meal promising myself to be back very soon with the son and husband in tow.

Functional from Tuesday to Sunday between 1900 hrs to 2300 hrs,the restaurant is open for lunch from 12:30 hrs to 15:00 hrs on weekends as well. Mondays are closed.
 
The Sunday Brunch is available every Sunday and the packages start at INR 1000 plus taxes.

For people living in New Town/ Rajarhat and Salt Lake it is imperative that you visit them atleast once for their Dal Durbari - they make it the best in town. And for those of you who live in the other side of the city - one trip can surely be made soon!

Disclaimer - This was an invited review and no compensation monetary or otherwise was involved.

Restaurant Review - Chawlas 2

When we had moved to Kolkata 6 years back what I terribly missed was good north Indian food. I would desperately want to eat some daal makhni or butter chicken like they would make in Delhi but there wouldn't be a single place barring the 5 stars fine dining restaurants where I could gorge on such yummies. Over the years however things have changed and many watering holes have cropped up around the city that serve good north Indian food.The other day we at KFB got an invite from Chawlas 2 - the famous Ludhiana based restaurant to review their menu.So on a cloudy winter Sunday afternoon a few of us bloggers landed up to savour some rich north Indian spread.

It was pretty easy to locate Chawlas 2 , nestled in one of the by lanes of south kolkata close to Gariahat.A flight of stairs, walls adorned with antique pictures took me to the restaurant.On arrival we were greeted by one of the partners Sutapa and made comfortable in one of the tables with a view of the lane below.

What followed was a steady flow of food - drinks, starters, main course and dessert- all meticulously pre ordered by Sutapa and her team.
We started off with a Soda Shikanji ( Rs.40) - very refreshing and perfectly balanced.We found out that the masala mix was indigeniously prepared and sent from Ludhaina!

This we had along with the Masala Papad(Rs.25) - a melange of onion,cucumber,tomato, carrot and paneer on roasted papads made a good accompaniment to the Shikanji.It was a bit on the spicier side but good nevertheless.

 For starters there were quite a variety - Bharwaan Tandoori Aloo ,Chicken Malai Tikka ,Tandoori Chicken and Mutton Adrakhi Panje.

The Bharwaan Tandoori Aloo (Rs.165) came along with some grilled onions, tomatoes and capsicum as well. The potato was well cooked with a mild stuffing of paneer and was good on the palate.The veggies provided the required crunch to the dish.

The Tandoori Chicken (Rs.320- full plate)is a Chawlas speciality and rightly so as it did not have the quintessential red colour that one would associate with Tandoori chicken.The chicken was juicy and moist and had subtle flavours. All the kebabs were served with a side of cream salad - juliennes of cabbage and carrots dressed with sweet cream. Must say it went very well with the grilled goodies.

The Mutton Adrakhi Panje (Rs.255)was surely my pick of the day.Succulent mutton chops , char grilled to perfection. The meat was totally melt-in-your mouth kind with just the right hint of gunnery flavours - not too spicy - not too bland!

By this time to be honest I was full - so much so that I thought of giving the main course a miss..but food kept flowing in and it was too hard to resist the heady aromas.For the main course we were served the quintessential Butter Chicken (Rs.450 - full plate)and Daal Makhni (Rs.135)- without which any punjabi meal would be incomplete along with Chawlas in house speciality dish Cream Chicken (Rs.450- full plate)and Mutton Rogan Josh(Rs.250). All of this served with an array of breads - Garlic Naan, Butter Naan, Laccha Paratha and Tandoori Roti.

The Dal Makhni was more of a dal tadka.It lacked the creaminess of a good dal makhni but tasted good nevertheless with the roti. The butter chicken was the boneless version and tasted very good - it had the perfect balance of tangy creaminess. Personally I like butter chicken with bone but I enjoyed this one too.

The Cream Chicken is a Chawlas speciality with Sutapa telling us that the spices are brought from Ludhiana where they have the original restaurant. This again had boneless chicken in a white peppery gravy - not spicy at all but left behind a trail of spices after you tasted it. I can't quite put my finger into what exact spice it was.

The Mutton Rogan Josh was again a winner dish for me.Good quality mutton cooked to perfection and dunked in a rich brown gravy with perfect spicing. I usually don't find great lamb dishes when I dine out but here they truly make it very well. Will surely be going back for this one.

The breads served along with the dishes made for a good accompaniment but I would have liked a fluffier butter naan! Howver keeping with the tradition of finishing a meal with dessert we decided to share a plate of Gajar ka Halwa - my absolute all time favourite.

The Gajar ka Halwa didnt disappoint us I must say.  Well made with little chunks of khoya and lots of nuts and raisins it was the perfect way to end a rich punjabi meal.The halwa is not listed in the menu - i guess its a seasonal speciality so please check with the staff when you go.

Me along with my fellow bloggers had a great afternoon savouring the good food. There were definitely more hits than misses and I would strongly recommend that one checks out Chawlas 2 if you live in the vicinity and want to eat some authentic Punjabi food! The kebabs are surely to be tried.Its a nice, clean , cozy joint where one could enjoy a peaceful meal with the family.The staff too are very attentive and meticulous and made sure that we are served well.Btw they also have home delivery!!

Chawlas 2
43, Ballygunje Gardens,
Near Golpark
Kolkata

Meal for two would cost approx 700-800 without alchohol.

Disclaimer - This was an invited review and no compensation monetary or otherwise was involved.


Read what my fellow bloggers for the afternoon say about their experience

Kamalika @ Silence Sings 

Amrita & Vishal @ Sweet n Savoury