Kashmiri Chicken Korma

Finally a Chicken recipe after a long time!! Had been cutting down on its intake because of summers but the sporadic rainfall during last weekend gave us a chance to indulge in some yummy chicken gravy. Wanted to make something new and this bookmarked recipe came to my mind. Quite easy and takes minimal effort.

Made a few changes in the preparation method. The original recipe calls for sauteing the onions and spices in ghee/oil and them making a smooth paste out of it. But I chose to boil/cook them in water till tender and then make a puree out of it. This saves quite a bit of butter/oil from going into the dish (and finally adding up on the waistline). This is a distinctively sweet-sour gravy with the added pungency of the dry Kashmiri chilis. But one can reduce the sweetness if one is not very fond of it.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 40 mins

Ingredients -

• 500 gm chicken pieces ( use boneless if you wish )
• 3 tsp oil
• 2 tsp butter
• 3 green cardamom, crushed
• 1 tbsp kasuri methi
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 cup thick yogurt
• salt to taste
• freshly chopped coriander for the garnish

For making gravy -

• 1 medium sized tomato (fully ripened)
• 1 large sized onion (optional)
• 4-5 garlic flakes
• 1 inch long ginger
• 2-3 dry red chillis
• 2 tbsp broken cashews
• 2/3 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/4 tsp pepper seeds (optional)
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• a fistful of raisins ( optional, add only if you want it more sweet )
• salt to taste

Preparation - Roughly chop the onion, ginger and garlic. Cut the tomato into 4 pieces.

Marinate the chicken with salt and turmeric.

Cooking - Bring 1 1/2 cups of water to boil in a saucepan. Add all the ingredients mentioned for the gravy. Boil for 7-8 minutes. Allow to cool down and then transfer to a blender. Make a smooth paste out of it.

Heat the oil + butter in a wok. Add the marinated chicken pieces and fry on medium to high flame till they turn brown on the outside. Then add the masala paste along with chili powder and cook for 7-8 minutes till it starts getting thick and oil just starts to ooze out.

Add 3/4 - 1 cup hot water and bring to boil. Simmer for a few minutes.

Rub the kasuri methi between your hand to warm it and then add to the wok. Also add the crushed cardamom and sugar. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Switch off the flame. Stir in the beaten yogurt . Switch on the burner and cook for 3-4 minutes on a low flame and adjust salt if needed. Remove from wok.

Garnish with the coriander and serve hot.

Note - One can also add some more cream/use milk instead to water to make the gravy rich. 

Kashmiri Dum Aloo

Kashmiri Dum Aloo is a very popular dish that is among the first options for a vegetarian side dish. A spicy semi-dry curry with a distinct reddish orange color (due to the presence of the Kashmiri red chillis), it goes well with almost every Indian bread and even the rice/pulao varieties.

Quite different from the 'Alu dum' that is popular in Odisha, I had to refer to Tarla Dalal's cookbook for an authentic version of it. Of course, I tweaked it a little to suit my requirement but without compromising on its authenticity. Read on for this super easy version:

Preparation Time - 35 mins

Ingredients -

• 15-16 Baby potatoes
• 3 tsp oil
• 2 tsp butter
• 3 green cardamom
• 1 tbsp kasuri methi (dry)
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 1/2 tsp honey
• 1/2 cup milk
• salt to taste
• freshly chopped coriander

For making gravy -

• 2 medium sized tomatoes (fully ripened)
• 1 medium sized onion (optional)
• 3-4 garlic flakes
• 1 inch long ginger
• 2-3 dry red chillis
• 2 tbsp broken cashews
• 2/3 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• salt to taste

Preparation - Roughly chop the onion, ginger and garlic.

Cooking - Bring 1 1/2 cups of water to boil in a saucepan. Add all the ingredients mentioned for the gravy. Boil for 7-8 minutes. Allow to cool down and then transfer to a blender. Make a smooth paste out of it.

Cook the potatoes for 1-2 whistles in a pressure cooker. Allow steam to escape before opening lid. Peel the potatoes.Prick them with a fork and keep aside.

Heat the oil + butter in a wok. Add the peeled and pricked potatoes and fry till light brown. Remove and keep aside.

In the same wok, add green cardamoms and fry for 30 seconds. Then add the masala paste along with chili powder and cook for 7-8 minutes till it starts getting thick.

Rub the kasuri methi between your hand to warm it and then add to the wok. Cook for 2-3 minutes. The gravy is almost done by this time.

Add the milk and honey. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from wok.

Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with hot roti/naan/kulcha.

Note - Add some fresh cream instead of milk for a richer texture.

Mutton Rogan Josh

Cooking Time Required: 40-45 mins
Cost of preparation: 200-250 rupees

Ingredients: Mutton ( cut into small pieces, 500 gm ), onion ( 1 no., large ),
ginger-garlic paste ( 2 tsp), Dried Ginger/Soonth powder - 1 tsp, cumin powder - 1 tsp, coriander Powder - 2 tsp, Kashmiri Degi Mirch - 1 tsp, turmeric ( 1/2 tsp), asafoetida ( 2/3 tsp), fennel powder ( 1 tsp ), green cardamom - 2 pods, cinnamon - 1-inch stick, cloves- 2 nos, bay leaf - 1 no, peppercorns ( 8-9 nos), mace ( few strands ), whole red chillis ( 2 nos), yogurt ( 1/2 cup ), mustard oil ( 6-7 tsp ), salt.

Preparation: Wash and clean the mutton pieces. Drain all excess water. Add 1 tsp of
mustard oil and mix well. Keep aside for 10 mins.

Add the yogurt, salt and turmeric. Mix throughly and keep aside for 3-4 hours.
















Cooking: Heat 1-2 oil in a pan. Chop the onion into small pieces and add to the pan.
Fry till to nice brown shade. Grind into a smooth paste.

Heat the remaining oil in a wok ( one with a heavy lid ). Add the asafoetida along with dry whole spices. Fry till they give off a nice fragrance.

Add the onion paste and fry for 2-3 mins. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry till raw smell goes off.

Add all the powdered spices to the marinated mutton and mix well. Transfer the mutton pieces to the wok along with any remaining liquid and salt to taste.

Fry for 10-15 mins. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and cover with lid and allow to cook till the mutton is very soft and ready to fall off the bones.

Serve with white (Basmati) rice and a simple cucumber-tomato salad.

















Note: I have not used Ratanjot which gives the distinct red color to the original Kashmiri dish which is not freely available nowadays. Neither have i used red food coloring.

The gravy is a little thin and not very hot in the Original recipe and i have followed suit. One can add more chillis according to ones' preference.