Chicken with Fennel – Mouri Murgi

This post goes out to my friend ‘Appy’. I should have posted this a long time ago, but I just never got to click the pics. Usually on weekdays I cook regular stuff for lunch and anything ‘good’ for dinner. And I like to click mostly in daylight, the lighting in my kitchen is not that great so evenings don’t work for me. Weekends are, therefore, the best time when I cook elaborate meals for lunch and have the perfect light for the shots. The only problem is that I never seem to get much time for the shots as we both are eager to devour the food rather than wait for the perfect shots. So most of the times I have to be satisfied with the ‘not-so-good’ clicks and try to make it up with post-processing.

Appy gave me this recipe a long time ago and since then I have made it innumerable times and served it with parathas or various rice preparations. And every time I have sent a short note of thanks (silently) for this wonderful recipe that we have come to love so much.  If I remember correctly she had told me this was originally a recipe for mutton. Since we hardly buy mutton and its mostly chicken for us, I never tried out the mutton version of this, but if anyone out there tries it out do let me know how it turns out to be.

Now, I must tell you about this friend of mine, as this post is actually her recipe. When I ventured into the world of cooking she played a very significant role in inspiring me. I have gathered so many recipes and tips for cooking from her kitchen. We have shared so many discussions about cooking and kitchen + home management. I had also envisioned us cooking together like Hetal and Anuja from Showmethecurry – hah..! Guess that will have to wait for some other time – maybe – when we both stay close by and that does not seem very likely to happen anytime soon. Till then I am very happy with my blog and that I get a chance to compile all the recipes which I can pass on to someone someday….

I was not sure what name to give to this recipe, so I just named it the first thing that came to my  mind. But feel free to suggest some good name for it, if anyone can. Also since we Bongs love to have aloo/potato with chicken I often add it. It up to you, go ahead and add some potatoes if you want it, or skip it if you don’t.

Hope you try this recipe and like it. Look forward to your feedback and suggestions.

Bon Apetit!

Ingredients:

• Chicken – 600 gms (approx). I used half of a whole chicken
• Fennel seeds – 1 tbsp
• Black Peppercorns – 1 tbsp
• Yogurt, well beaten – 1/2 cup
• Ginger paste – 1 tbsp
• Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
• Onions, thinly sliced – 1 large or 2 small
• Green Chillies, slit length wise – 7-8, adjust according to your preference. Can also add red chilli powder if you want.
• Bay leaf – 1 large
• Salt – to taste
• Oil – 3 tbsp
• Green chillies finely chopped – (optional) to garnish
• Lime juice – to garnish
• Cilantro, finely chopped – to garnish

Method:

1. Dry roast fennel seeds and black peppercorns. Let them cool down and then grind to a powder.
2. Marinate chicken with well beaten yogurt, ginger garlic paste, and half of the ground spice powder. Keep the marinated chicken in the refrigerator for anytime between half an hour to 10 hours. The more you marinate, the better.
3. Heat oil in a deep pan.
4. Once hot, add a bay leaf and the onions. Fry them with a pinch of salt.
5. As the onion starts browning add the remaining ground spice powder and mix well.
6. Next add the marinated chicken and fry on high for a couple of minutes.
7. As the chicken starts browning reduce the flame to a medium and cover and cook. Keep stirring in between and if required add a few drops of water. Usually I don’t have to add any water as this is not a curry dish and there will not be much gravy.
8. Adjust salt and if required add red chilli powder. I usually add a lot of green chillies.
9. Once the chicken is completely cooked garnish it with lime juice and finely chopped cilantro. Add some extra chopped green chillies if you want it to be extra hot.
10. Serve it hot with Paratha (Indian bread), or rotis or with pulao.

Chicken Kebab

With the Oscars going on live I decided not to cook and live off the leftovers from the day before. Somehow, and I am not sure if it is just us, we are not enjoying the presentation that much and are only waiting for the awards and of course Adele ! So to accompany me with the ‘not so impressive’ (sorry to say that!) show I have a recipe that I prepared and clicked a very long time ago for a pot luck. It is an all time favorite for all of us – Kebab, here Chicken Kebab. Usually kebabs or kababs or kebobs are associated with mutton but the chicken version is also equally popular. Cook it on a stove top or in the oven or grill and you have a wonderful dish to greet your guests with. Hope you all like it and have a great time making it.

Hope the Oscars end on a better note than it started with!

Ingredients:

• Chicken, minced – 1 lb (500 gms)
• Onions, very finely chopped – 1 medium
• Ginger paste – 1 tbsp
• Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
• Green chillies, finely chopped or red chilli powder – to taste
• Garam Masala powder – 1 tsp
• Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
• Shan Chicken Seekh Kebab Masala – 3 tbsp (You can only use this masala and skip the above two in which case you may want to use the mentioned amount or more of it if you want it spicy. Or you may use this masala in combination with garam masala and coriander powder in which case adjust the amount. You may also skip it completely. Just remember this is a spicy mix and the amount of other spices and green chillies need to be altered accordingly).
• Lime juice – 1 tbsp
• Cilantro, finely chopped
• Salt – to taste (if using Shan Kebab masala please note that it already contains sufficient salt so adjust accordingly; please refer to notes below)
• Egg – 1
• Bread crumbs – only to be used if required for binding. Can also use whole wheat flour in small quantity if bread crumbs are not available.
• Oil / melted butter – for baking or stove top frying and basting

Method:

1. Wash and drain the minced chicken before hand. If using frozen, thaw it and drain it with a paper towel to get rid of most of the moisture.

2. Mix the chicken with all the other ingredients – chopped onions, ginger garlic paste, green chillies / red chilli powder, Garam Masala powder, Coriander powder, Seekh Kebab Masala, Lime juice, cilantro, salt, egg – and mix well.

3. Refrigerate the mixture for 1/2 an hour to an hour. If in a hurry skip refrigerating though this helps in better marination and makes it firm enough to shape into kebabs.

4. Take out from the fridge and take a small mixture and try to form small balls out of it. If the mixture seems to be “too wet” then add bread crumbs to tighten it up.

5. Shaping the kebabs:

• On a skewer – Oil your hands and wrap the chicken mixture around the skewer to form kebabs of desired length. If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 30mins before using, that will prevent them from burning.
• On a toothpick – Though not a frequently used technique but you can use toothpicks and wrap the chicken mixture around it to form kebabs. Avoid the coloured toothpicks and soak them in water before putting them on the grill or oven.
• With hands – Take a small amount of the mixture and using your hands shape it into an oval or cylindrical shaped kebab as shown in the picture.

6. Cooking the kebabs: Do not forget to baste them with oil (and lime juice if desired) so that they do not dry up. Do not over-cook them which might lead to the kebabs turning very dry.

• On a grill – Cook the kebabs on the both the sides till done. Baste with oil / melted butter on each side when you flip them.
• In the oven – Preheat oven to 400 F and bake them on both the sides till they are cooked. This should take 15 – 20 mins (10 mins approx. on each side) depending on the oven size. Baste them with oil / melted butter on both the sides when you flip them.
• On the stove top – Alternatively you can also cook them on stove top. Heat a skillet and spray some oil on medium flame. Place the kebabs and cook them well turning around for even cooking. Keep spraying oil or drizzling melted butter on each side as they get cooked.

7. Once cooked , serve them hot immediately and garnish them with some lime juice if you want to.

Note: How to check for salt:

It is very difficult to check for salt and spices in the uncooked chicken so this technique might come in handy. Take a very small portion (say a pinch) of the chicken mixture and cook it on stove top for a couple of minutes, then taste it to check for salt and other spices. Adjust accordingly.

Lehsuni Murg

While growing up, I remember, Sundays were always special. It was a holiday for the whole family. As in any Bengali household all special days are celebrated with food, lots of food and even more food. So while there were luchis (poori) being fried for breakfast to accompany the ‘shada alu’r chochori’  (a side dish made with potatoes and no turmeric), somewhere the father would be getting freshly cut chicken and loads of vegetables from the Sunday market, masalas being prepared for the lunchtime chicken curry, tomatoes mashed for the ‘tomato chatni’, while we brother and sister watched our weekly Ramayan / Mahabharat. We could watch cartoons till mom took each of us for our cleaning… yeah it was the shampoo day and we would be scrubbed till our skins were burning, our ears cleaned till the eardrums filled with water and we jumping around to get it out of our ears. Once we had stuffed our selves with the sumptuous lunch and helped mom to clean the table (this was never applicable to my brother) we could do anything we wanted other than watch TV, would occasionally have some ‘mishti pan’ and doz off to sleep. If it was summer we would wake up to have ‘Frooti’ in its distinctive green colored tetrapack that dad always got as Sunday special. Evening spent by watching movies and catching up on studies and in no time Sunday was over.

This was a very long time ago and eventually we learnt to clean ourselves, we would in fact scream with embarrassment if anybody wanted to check our ears, Ramayan / Mahabharat long ago gave way to ‘Chandrakanta’ or maybe no TV at all (specially during high school). ‘Luchi’ was replaced with noodles and idlis, chicken curry preserved its position at lunch table, frootis were replaced with Thumbs Up and Pepsi. What remained constant was the celebration with food.

Now decades later  I realise this was a ‘mom-made ritual’ we all had religiously followed without any complaints till we left home.

Times have changed and now we have a 5 day work week. Which means Friday evening marks the beginning of the weekend and lasts till Sunday night. For me and Hubby-B Sundays are lazy days when we lament the end of the weekend, try to hold onto the last few hours before we have to face the week again. Sundays have long ceased to be the Special days being replaced by Fridays. And so I try to jazz up most of the Friday evenings with something special. I too have almost made a ritual out of it, just like my mom. Guess somethings are passed on without our being aware of.

One such Friday, more than a month ago, Lehsuni Murg or Spicy Chicken in Garlic was prepared (courtesy BongMom’s Cookbook) which never got posted till today. Am sure everyone has their own version of Lehsuni Murg and so do I. Hope you like my version. Enjoy!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ingredients:

• Chicken – 800 gms, cut into bite size pieces
• Yogurt – 1/4th cup
• Ginger paste – 1 tsp
• Garlic paste – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp + 1/2 tsp
• Salt – to taste
• Oil – as required
• Onions – 1 large, thinly sliced
• Garlic cloves, grated or paste – 1 large whole head
• Sugar – 1/2 tsp
• Tomatoes, pureed – 1 large
• Ketchup – 1 tbsp or to taste
• Hot Sauce – 1 tsp or to taste
• Green chillies – 3 to 4 slit or to taste
• Red Chilli – 2 or to taste (you can omit this if you want)
• Panchphoron / Panch puran – 1/2 tsp
• Lime juice – 1 -2 tsp
• Coriander leaves – for garnishing

Method:

• Marinate the chicken with yogurt, ginger garlic paste,1/2 tsp turmeric, salt and a few drops of oil.
• Heat a pan and add oil to it. Add the finely sliced onions and fry them on moderately high flame till they turn brown. Do not burn them. Drain the fried onions on a paper towel and set aside for later use.
• In the same hot oil add sugar and let it melt.
• Add the paste of 1 whole garlic and fry on medium flame for a few minutes without burning them.
• Next add the pureed tomatoes with green chillies, salt and 1/2 tsp turmeric . Cook till the raw smell and color is gone.
• As the tomato gravy thickens add the marinated chicken pieces and mix well. Cover and cook on medium flame till the chicken is half way cooked and the liquid released from the chicken evaporates. Keep stirring in between.
• Add the sauces (if desired) and mix well. Cover and cook for couple more minutes till the chicken is completely cooked and the gravy thickens to the desired consistency. This is not a gravy dish so the gravy needs to be thickened considerably, but again it is according to your preference.
• In a separate pan dry roast red chilli and panchphoron. Cool and grind to a fine powder. Sprinkle this powder, lime juice and the fried onions to the chicken preparation and mix well.
• Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves.

Serve with parathas or rotis.

Chicken Chettinad

Today’s post is a much awaited recipe that I have been thinking of trying for a very long time. But considering the varied ingredients which were not available always at any given point of time in my kitchen, I had kept it aside all this while. Actually I have very limited exposure to the way non-veg is cooked in South India and I really wasn’t sure if I wanted the long list of ingredients into my chicken which tastes so awesome even in its simplest form. So last weekend when I had the chance to try this dish in an Indian restaurant I realised I wanted to give it a shot. Fortunately I had all the required additives just waiting to be used desperately as well as a recipe at hand waiting to be tested and uploaded in my almost dormant blog. This too, along with many others, is the reason I have started blogging again after such a long break. Anyways, Chettinad recipes, though now available everywhere, originally is a South Indian (from Tamil Nadu mainly) cuisine and is usually very hot, spicy and flavorful. And not to mention a delightful change from the usual chicken preparations. If you are a spice lover, go ahead and try this and don’t forget to add extra hotness/heat to it if you want.

Ingredients:

For Masala:

• Poppy seeds – 3 tsp
• Cinnamon – 1 inch piece
• Cardamom – 3-4
• Cloves – 2
• Cumin Seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Coriander seeds – 1 tsp
• Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
• Grated coconut or Coconut powder – 4 tbsp

• Chicken – 800 gms
• Onions – 1 medium, finely chopped
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
• Ginger paste – 1 tbsp
• Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
• Curry leaves – 8-10 (add extra if desired)
• Red Chilli powder or green chillies – to taste (I used 5-6 hot green chillies finely chopped for extra spice)
• Tomatoes – 1 medium, finely chopped
• Lime juice – a few drops (optional)
• Salt – to taste
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Water – as per desired consistency
• Cilantro – to garnish

Method:

• Heat a pan and add 1 tsp oil, once hot add the masala ingredients for grinding i.e. – poppy seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and grated coconut.
• Keep stirring a couple of minutes till the seeds change color. If using grated coconut stir till the coconut looks dry and changes color. Transfer to a bowl and let the masala cool.
• Once cooled grind it to a smooth paste. You can either grind it along with the ginger and garlic or you can mix the ginger garlic paste with the ground masala at this stage and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan or wok.
• Add the finely chopped onions and fry them with little salt. Cook till they turn translucent.
• Add turmeric powder, chopped green chillies, curry leaves, ginger garlic paste, ground masala paste and mix with 2-3 drops of water. Mix well and cook for minute or two.
• Add the chopped tomatoes and cook till oil starts separating.
• Add the chicken and mix thoroughly till the chicken pieces are coated with the spices.
• Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring in between.
• Add little water or as required as per the desired consistency of the gravy.
• Mix and let it cook covered till the chicken is done and the gravy is of desired consistency.
• Add a few drops of lime juice if required and mix.
• Garnish with cilantro. Server hot with roti or naan or even rice.

Chicken Pasanda

When I started looking for variations in chicken recipes I realised that the most popular ones use the basic preparation and ingredients like onions, ginger, garlic and tomatoes. However some spices here and there, changes in cooking time, one step here and there  and you have a whole new dish. Yes, that is so true and Chicken Pasanada is one of them! Though to be honest, I have used small variations in the actual process, omitted some steps (as usual) and here is my version of it. This preparation uses no turmeric at all, instead uses paprika powder so it has a reddish-brown color. Also there is no gravy and the masala is dried up so that it sticks and coats the chicken pieces. Best served with Naan, roti or parantha.

Ingredients:

• Chicken – 1 kg
• Lime juice/Vinegar – 1.5 tbsp
• Yogurt – 1 small cup (4 oz approx.)
• Salt – to taste
• Garam Masala – 2 tsp
• Paprika/Kashmiri Mirch powder – 1 tsp
• Red Chili Powder – 1 tsp or to taste
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Onions, sliced – 2 medium
• Whole Garam Masala
  • Green Cardamom – 4
  • Cloves – 2
  • Cinnamon – 2 one inch stick
• Ginger, grated or paste – 1.5 tbsp
• Garlic, grated or paste – 2 tbsp
• Tomatoes, crushed or finely chopped – 1 medium
• Cilantro – to garnish

Method:

• Wash the chicken thoroughly and cut into big chunks or pieces. Poke small holes using a fork or a knife and add lime juice or white vinegar to it and set aside for 5-10 minutes.
• Make a marinade of yogurt, salt, garam masala, paprika and red chilli powder. Marinate the chicken with this mixture and keep it aside in a refrigerator overnight or for 3-4 hours/more.
• Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan.
• Fry the sliced onions till browned. Then remove from oiland set aside for cooling. Once cooled make a paste of the drained fried onions in a grinder.
• In the pan, (heat the oil again if required) add whole garam masala, ginger and garlic and saute for a minute.
• Add the chopped tomatoes and fry till the moisture evaporates. Cover and cook till oil starts leaving.
• Add the chicken pieces along with the marinade and mix well. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add the fried onions paste, adjust salt and red chilli powder to taste.
• Cover and cook, stirring in between. Add water in small amounts in batches if required. Cook till the chicken is done.
• Uncover and let the excess moisture if any evaporate. and the masala is well coated on the chicken pieces.
• Garnish with cilantro and serve hot!