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Showing posts with label indian chicken recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label indian chicken recipe. Show all posts

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Chicken Saagwala ( Chicken in a Spinach Gravy )

Most of us would have come across a green colored chicken curry being served at restaurants. While the green hue looks irresistible to some, others may be hesitant to give it a try. My husband belonged to the latter category. That is, until I introduced him to this wonderful dish. A very interesting thing about this dish is that the taste kind of changes from region to region. I have sampled this curry in Hyderabad, Pune and Bangalore whereas my husband also had a chance to taste it during a trip to Gurgaon.

The variation stems from the local greens that go into this recipe along with the staple palak or spinach. For example, they add fenugreek leaves in Hyderbad . In Pune, it is coriander whereas in the Northern regions they add mustard greens (sarson ka saag). I personally prefer going solo with baby spinach, though I do add a fistful of fresh methi leaves if I have some in stock.

Read on for my recipe -




















Preparation Time - 40-45 mins

Ingredients -


  • 400 gm Chicken legs ( one can use regular pieces too )
  • 2 cups shredded baby spinach leaves
  • 1 large onion (finely chopped)
  • 1 1/2 tsp GG paste
  • 3-4 garlic flakes ( chopped )
  • 2 medium sized tomatoes ( finely chopped )
  • 2 green chilis ( finely chopped )
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1/2 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp red chili powder
  • 1/3 tsp turmeric
  • 1/5 tsp garam masala
  • 2 green cardamom
  • 2 inch long cinnamon stick
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3-4 peppercorns
  • 2-3 cloves
  • 1/2 tsp lemon juice
  • 3 tsp oil
  • 2-3 tsp butter
  • 1 tbsp kasoori methi
  • salt to taste
  • cilantro for garnishing


Preparation - Clean the chicken pieces. Add a pinch of turmeric, lemon juice and salt. Rub all over the pieces and keeps aside for 20 mins.

Blanch the spinach. Grind into a smooth paste and keep aside.

Cooking - Heat the oil and 1 tsp butter together. Add the whole spices and fry till fragrant. Then add the onion pieces and fry till light brown.

Add the GG paste, garlic slices and green chili. Fry for 2 mins before adding the powdered spices along with the tomatoes. Sprinkle a pinch of salt. Cook till the tomatoes are done and the oil starts to separate.

Add the marinated chicken and fry on a high flame for 2 mins. Then reduce the flame, cover with a lid and allow the chicken to cook till it is 3/4th done.

Add spinach paste/puree, mix together and cook for another 5 mins.

Finally add the kasuri methi ( rub it between your palms before adding ) and the butter just before removing from the flame.

Garnish with onion rings and cilantro. Serve hot.









Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Chicken Bharta

Chicken Bharta is one of those easy recipes that taste great even though you do not put too many spices in it. Though it gets a little time consuming as one has to boil the chicken first, carefully shred it once cooled and finally cook it with the spices, tomatoes and egg yolks, the wonderful melt in the mouth texture is worth all that effort. As the meat has been cooked on the bones, it has that wonderful flavour that most boneless chicken recipes lack.

And the best part is that it yields a delicious 'Shorba' or chicken soup as a by-product ( or atleast the stock that you get while boiling the chicken makes the task of preparing a 'Shorba' very easy ). Will get to that recipe soon enough. But first read on the recipe that has been a blockbuster hit with everyone in my house  -




















Preparation Time - 40 mins

Ingredients -

For boiling the chicken -

  • 200 gm chicken (on the bones)
  • 1 small onion (peeled and cut into 4 halves)
  • 3-4 garlic flakes
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 inch cinnamon stick
  • 4-5 black pepper corns
  • pinch of turmeric
  • salt to taste


For the final dish -

  • 1 small onion (finely chopped)
  • 1/2 tsp GG paste
  • 1/4 tsp coriander powder
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp chicken curry/tandoori chicken masala
  • 2 pinch garam masala powder
  • 1 medium tomato (finely chopped)
  • 2 tbsp yogurt
  • 1 tbsp kasuri methi
  • 1 boiled egg
  • 1 tbsp fresh cream(optional)
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • salt to taste



Preparation - Wash and cook the chicken pieces in a pressure cooker along the the onion, garlic, bay leaf, cinnamon, pepper, turmeric, salt and 2 1/2 cups water.

Allow steam to escape before opening the lid. Strain and keep the stock aside. This can be later made into a shorba.

Carefully shred the chicken into thin long strips. Though it takes time, this step is what gives the wonderfully layered texture to the bharta.

Separate the egg yolk from the white portion.

Cooking - Heat the oil in a wok.

Add the onions and fry till they start to turn slightly red on the edges. Add the GG paste and stir fry for 2 mins.

Add all the powdered masalas along with 2 tsp water at this stage. Fry for a minute before adding the tomato. Cover with a lid for 1 minute to soften the tomatoes. Fry for another 1-2 minutes before adding the beaten yogurt.

Rub the kasuri methi between palms to warm it up before adding to the chicken.

Finally, when the oil starts to separate from the masala, add the shredded chicken and fry for for 2-3 minutes before adding a little of the stock. Adjust the salt and cover it with a lid. Allow to cook for 5-6 minutes.

Add the mashed egg yolk and cook for 2 minutes before adding the cream and taking it off the flame.

Garnish with the egg white and some cilantro. Serve hot with naan or rotis.


Saturday, May 31, 2014

Picnic Chicken ( Picnic er Murgi )

This is one bookmarked recipe that had somehow gone off my To-Do list. Please do not ask "why ?. Maybe the simplest explanation is that it got lost in the huge ocean of notes that I keep making all the time. But I had fallen in love with it the very first time I read it on Bong Mom's Cookbook. In case you are curious about that name, you have to read Sandeepa's blog to believe her flair for story telling. She just makes the most everyday recipes seem so special. Do check out the original version at Bong Mom's Cookbook. When I finally decided to try it out yesterday, I found that I had run out of a few ingredients so I had to make good with whatever was available. Still it was finger-lickin good. Makes me wonder "what if..................".

Read on for the recipe -
















Preparation Time - 30 mins

Ingredients -

For marination-

500 gm skinless chicken
2 large red onions
2 tbsp GG paste
2 green chillis
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp kashmiri chili powder
1/5 tsp garam masala
3 tsp mustard oil
juice from 1 lemon
salt to taste

For cooking -

3 tsp mustard oil
2 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 inch long cinnamon
1 black cardamom
1 Kashmiri chilli
1 big tomato ( freshly pureed)
2 sachets of tomato sauce/kethup ( the kind that they give at KFC or dominoes )
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
2 cloves
4-5 crushed garlic flakes
2-3 slit green chillis


Preparation - Wash and clean the chicken. Transfer into a mixing bowl. First prep it up with salt, turmeric and lemon juice.

Chop one onion and half of the other into chunks. Slice up the remaining half onion.
Heat 2 tsp oil in a wok. Add the onion chunks and saute till translucent. Transfer into a grinder and puree them. Add to the chicken along with the onion slices.

Also add the remaining ingredients mentioned under "For marination". Mix well and keep aside for 1/2 hour.

Cooking - Heat 3 tsp mustard oil in a pressure cooker Allow to smoke. Then add the dry spices (broken dry chilli, cinnamon, bay leaf, 2 cloves and cardamom).  As soon as you get the fragrance, add the tomato puree along with sauce/ketchup. Fry till oil starts to separate.

Add the chicken and turn up heat. Fry on HIGH for 4-5 mins.

Then add the cilantro, garlic, green chilli and remaining cloves. (I ended up drizzling some more mustard oil at this point ) Mix and then add 1/4 cup water. Close lid and cook on low to medium flame for 2 whistles.

Remove from flame and allow steam to escape.

Serve hot with white rice and dal fry ( or with Luchis ).




Saturday, March 1, 2014

Chichen Salna (or Chicken Chalna)

Before I ventured into blogging, I was a total stranger when it came to South Indian cuisine. Ofcourse, there was the occasional dosa, idli, uttapam and the usual accompaniments like sambhar and chutney. But that is just about the tip of the iceberg. Everything was labelled 'South Indian' with no distinctions being made between regions like Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Karnataka and Kerela, leaving no scope or mention of the diversity that exists within each region.

But the exposure that I recieved over the last 5 years has truely transformed me.  Today I know what people mean when they say that food knows no language or barriers. Now when I prepare some of these dishes at home and enjoy them, I truly appreciate and admire the people who created them. Small details like why some cuisine uses an abundance of a particular ingredient or why a curry is so laden with spices and condiments become clear when you have more insight on the lives/culture of the people belonging to that particular region. For example, the very rich and aromatic Chettinad curries owe their origin to the opulent Chettiar traders who obviously had very deep pockets to be able to afford such luxury. But the Chicken Salna in contrast was meant for the working class people and hence the sparing use of spices, a
watery consistency and sometimes the use of potatoes to add volume. (The roadside stalls obviously do not use expensive poppy seeds or cashews to thicken the gravy but instead use thickening agents like besan/cornflour).

A few years back, I could only think of a Macher Jholo/Besara or a Mutton/Chicken Kasa/Jholo when I needed to cook for a Friday dinner or a Sunday lunch. But now my repertoire of non-vegetarian dishes has only been enriched by the addition of such delicacies. Hence I feel the need to share/blog such dishes as I believe that food would win hands down as the medium of national integration (but how do we sell such an idea to our politicos who are busy playing the caste/regional card ??). Read on the recipe for my version of the Chicken Salna:

















Preparation Time - 40 mins

Ingredients - 1/2 kg chicken cut into medium sized pieces, 1 large onion finely chopped, 1 small tomato finely chopped, 1 tsp GG paste, 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1 sprig curry leaves, 2 tbsp oil, salt to taste, fresh coriander leaves for garnishing.

For the masala paste - 5 shallots, 1 1/2 tbsp coriander roots, 1 green chilli, 4 tsp freshly grated coconut, 5-6 cashews + ( 3 cloves, 1 inch cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp poppy seeds, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, 1/2 tsp peppercorns - to be dry roasted first )

Preparation - Wash and marinate the chicken pieces with salt and turmeric.

Heat a tawa or any flat bottomed vessel. Dry roast all the ingredients mentioned in the masala paste.
Allow to cool down. Transfer to a grinder cup. Grind into fine powder (as fine as possible).
Add the remaining ingredients of the masala paste along with 3-4 tsp water. Grind into a paste. (Add little more water if needed)

Cooking - Heat oil in a kadai. Add the curry leaves first and allow to crisp a bit. Then add onions and fry to a medium brown.

Add GG paste and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the marinated chicken along with chilli powder. Roast/Fry on a high flame for 4-5 minutes. Then lower flame and cover with lid till half cooked.

In the meantime, fry the tomato pieces with a little oil till it is completely mushy.

Add the cooked tomatoes to the chicken along with the masala paste. Mix well and fry on medium to high flame for 3-4 minutes.

Add 1 1/2 cups boiling water and adjust salt. Cook on a simmer till chicken is completely cooked through.

Serve hot with parottas/rotis or even with white rice as I did.

















Note -  You can make the gravy still watery if you like, especially when having it with hot rice.


Monday, November 11, 2013

Easy Chicken Vindaloo

Sunday was the last day of feasting on Non-veg items before Panchuka commences (11th Nov 2013). Panchuka is the period starting from Aamla Nabami to Kartika Purnima. Most people in Odisha religiously give up non-veg during this period. Even the crane ( a long legged bird whose primary diet comprises of fish ) is rumored to give up fish during this period. Kartika Purnima also marks the beginning of the Balijatra, a huge fair on the banks of river Mahanadi. This fair lasts for seven days and one can find a plethora of food stalls, furniture shops, handicrafts and other stalls here. More on the topic later.

Today i will be sharing the recipe for an easy Chicken Vindaloo. It has been sometime since i cooked something new with chicken. But since I am with my Mom, she is in charge of the kitchen and i am happy to play second fiddle. This is one of her recipes.

Vindaloo is a very famous non vegetarian preparation that was originally made from pork. It has Portugese-Goan origins and since then has morphed into many avatars. Restaurants usually serve it very spicy ( read HOT ) and add in some potato or 'aloo' (taking a cue from the Aloo in its name). But the original recipe does not call for potatoes and you can take wish to skip it if you want. Read on:
















Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients - Chicken ( 300 gms ), 1 large onion (finely chopped), 4 tsp oil, 2 tbs chopped cilantro(coriander).

For the marinade - 2 tsp black mustard, 1 tsp cumin, 5-6 flakes garlic, 1/2 inch ginger, 2 green chillis, 4 tbs curd, 1 tsp vinegar, 3-4 cloves, 1/2 tsp turmeric, salt to taste.

Preparation - Grind the mustard, cumin, cloves, green chilli, ginger and garlic into a smooth paste.

Wash the chicken. Add salt and 1/2 tsp vinegar. Rub and keep aside for 5 mins. Drain off the excess water.

Add the above paste along with salt, turmeric, curd and remaining vinegar. Allow to marinate for 2-3 hours.

Cooking - Heat the oil in a pressure cooker. Add the onion and fry till light brown.

Add marinated chicken along with the marinade.Mix in with onions and close the pressure cooker lid. Cook for 1-2 whistles.Remove from flame and allow steam to escape before opening lid.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with rice/rotis.

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