Kadai Chicken

I always lookout for new chicken curry recipes whenever there are guests coming over. For one, I like to experiment and secondly, to feed my blog. When Deepa of Hamaree Rasoi posted this, I was absolutely drooling over the dish. And she also wrote in that post that she had cooked this dish many times and each time the strike rate was 100%. She has some amazing collection of recipes, takes a lot of effort in presentation and her creativity brings out beautiful pics of the food she cooks. Every time she posts, I just wish if there could be a mechanism to eat right from the monitor. 

Coming to the recipe, I made it when we had 3 guests coming. I made the curry with a kilo of Chicken and there was no leftover, mind you. The bowl was clean. I took the above pic just before they arrived in a hurry and thought I'll click later. That explains how delicious this dish is. Thanks Deepa for sharing your signature recipe.

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1/2 kg, cut into medium pieces

Onions - 3 big, ground to paste

Garlic - 3-4 pods

Ginger - 1" piece

Green Chillies - 2-3

Tomatoes - 3, ground to paste

Kasoori Methi - 2 tsp

Kashmiri Chilli Powder - 1 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

Garam Masala - 1 tsp

Capsicum - 1, diced

Cream - 1/2 cup

Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp

Oil - 3 tbsp

For marination:

Curd - 3/4 cup

Garlic 5-6 pods

Ginger - 1", chopped

Green chillies - 3-4

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Garam Masala - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Wash and pat dry the chicken pieces. Make a paste of ginger, garlic and green chillies with curd. Add all the ingredients called for in the marination. Mix well and keep aside for atleast half an hour.

2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in kadai and fry marinated chicken till all the curd liquid is soaked up and its crisp on the outside. Keep aside.

3. In the same kadai, add remaining oil and fry onion paste till raw smell disappears. 

4. Add ginger garlic paste and green chillies.

5. Add salt and stir well for another 5 mins.

6. Add tomato paste and fry till it leaves oil. Add red chilli powder, coriander powder and combine.

7. Add chopped capsicum, chicken, kasoori methi and sprinkle garam masala and combine.

8. Add 1/2 cup water if you want gravy. Cover and cook for 10 mins or till chicken is cooked.

9. Add cream, mix well and cook for 2 mins before removing from heat. 

10. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with flavored rice or Indian bread.

Kancha Lonka Murgi - Green Chilli Chicken

I recently saw this recipe posted by Pree and mesmerized by the minimal ingredients which yielded such a beautiful outcome. It was love at first sight for me. When I actually set out to make it, I realized that Abbas is gonna wrinkle his nose at the sight of chicken dish without potatoes in it. Also, all of us need some gravy in a chicken dish unless it is fried and served along rice and dal. So I removed it from flame when it was in a semi-gravy condition. I had prepared this dish in meager quantity as it was my first time at cooking chicken without red chillies. But the dish got rave reviews by my 'hard to impress' critics - Ma and Abbas. Abbas asked me to prepare it again very soon. So I made it again after 2 days. And Ma came into the kitchen and asked me "Are you preparing the same dish that you prepared the other day?" When I nodded, she left the kitchen happily.


Ingredients:
Chicken pieces - about 500 g, cut into medium sized pieces
Potatoes - 3 medium sized, peeled and cut into halves
Onion - 2, finely chopped
Green chilies - 8-10, halved lengthwise
Green chili paste - 1 tbsp (I substituted with green chilli sauce)
Ginger paste - 2 tbsp
Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Black cardamoms - 2-3
Bay leaves - 2
Mustard Oil - 4-5 tbsp (Substitute with any other cooking oil, I would highly recommend mustard oil though)
Salt - to taste



Method:
1. Heat oil in a pan. Add a pinch of turmeric powder and salt in the oil. Fry the potato pieces till they are golden brown from the outside. Remove from oil and keep aside.
2. Heat the remaining oil in a until almost smoking and add the onions, bay leaves and black cardamom to sauté till the onions are lightly browned. 
2. Now add slit green chillies and saute on medium heat for 4-5 mins.
3. Add chicken pieces and saute till they are well combined with onions and chillies. Also make sure they get well roasted to attain a light brown colour.
4. Now add ginger-garlic-green chilli paste, turmeric powder and coriander powder. Combine and saute till the raw smell goes off.
5. Add fried potatoes and salt. Combine.
6. Add half a cup or a full cup of water and pressure cook for 1 or 2 whistles.


Note:
1. When I prepared for the second time, I pounded 2 cardamoms, 1/2" cinnamon and 2 cloves and added before cooking in pressure cooker.
2. I had shared this recipe with one of my ex-colleagues, a good friend, a big time foodie who cooks for pleasure. He made this today and said it was finger biting tasty! Well, he made a few changes like adding a pinch of sugar in mustard oil and Grinding a small bit of cinnamon along with ginger garlic green chillies. I will try these additions next time for sure.

Chicken 65

Talk about origins of Chicken 65 and there are so many stories which narrate the reason this dish got it's name. Well, what's in a name? Chicken 65 is a famous appetizer mostly in Southern India. And personally I prefer it to Chicken Manchurian as I love the flavour of curry leaves in this dish.

Recipe Source:

Ria's Collection, her recipe source was Monica Bhide's Modern Spice

Ingredients:
Thick plain yogurt - 1 cup
Cornstarch - 2 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Red chile powder - 1 tsp
Lemon/lime juice - 1 tbsp
Red food colouring - 2 drops
Salt to start - 1/4 tsp
Boneless chicken - 1 lb, cut into 2” pieces (Please avoid chicken breasts, use boneless skinless thighs or chicken tenders)
Oil for deep frying

For tempering:

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Green chilies - 4 small, finely chopped
Curry leaves – 20

Oil – 2 tbsp

Method:
1. In a large bowl, combine yogurt, cornstarch ,ginger garlic paste, chile powder,lemon juice, food colour & salt. Mix well. (The marinade will look pink now which will turn into a luscious red when the chicken is fried.) Add the chicken pieces and mix to combine.
2. Heat about 2 cups of oil in a deep saucepan. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add a few pieces of chicken and fry till they are crisp on the outside and cooked on the inside, 2-3 mins. Remove the pieces using a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Continue until you are done with all the pieces.

3. Place chicken on a serving platter.

4. In a small pan/skillet, heat 2 tbsp oil and when it begins to shimmer, add the mustard seeds. When the seeds begin to sizzle, add the green chilies & curry leaves. Fry for about 30 secs. Pour over the chicken and serve.

Spicy Chicken Meat Balls

Boneless chicken pieces lying in the freezer are life savers at times. It’s when I’m in no mood to chop or sauté and sweat in the kitchen for a long time. I just let rice and dal cook on stove top, while the frozen chicken pieces left to thaw. Spiced chicken meat balls like these add a special touch to the otherwise bland meal. I am absolutely in love with these balls ever since I first caught sight of them in Sailu’s blog. According to her, these balls could be grilled as well but I have always deep fried them. Try these, they are too easy to prepare and the blend of spices that go in are sure to create an outburst of flavours in your mouth when you munch on these balls!!!

Ingredients:

1/2 kg boneless chicken pieces, cleaned and washed

8-10 fresh green chillis

1/4 kg onions finely sliced

8-10 fresh green chillis

5-6 dry red chillis (adjust according to your choice)

15-20 garlic flakes

3″ piece ginger chopped

small bunch coriander leaves, chopped

4 tbsps coriander seeds

1 1/2 tbsps cumin seeds

2″ cinnamon stick

3 green cardamoms

5-6 cloves

20 cashewnuts or you can add peanuts as well

salt to taste

oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cardamom, cloves, cinnamom, red chillis and cashewnuts and stir for a minute till a nice aroma emanates the whole kitchen. Be careful not to burn the spices. Cool.
2. First grind the roasted ingredients along with ginger, garlic and green chillis to a coarse paste. Next add the chopped raw onions, coriander leaves, chicken and salt and grind further to form a smooth paste like shown in the picture above.
3. Add a tbsp of oil to the ground mixture and mix thoroughly before shaping into small lemon sized balls.
4. Heat oil for deep frying. Once it’s piping hot, reduce flame to medium and place these balls in the oil and fry them to a crisp, golden brown color.
5. Serve hot with tomato sauce or green chutney.

Chicken Anonymous

Whenever we bring home Chicken, I neatly classify the pieces under different heads. Chicken legs are separately placed for kids as they will turn into lollipops. Chicken breasts or the boneless pieces are kept aside for them to be later used for making appetizers. Liver and wings for making stew for children, and the rest of the pieces will be dunked into a spicy curry…

Boneless chicken pieces lying in the freezer come very handy during times when I have to rustle up good food in less time. I frequently go for Chicken Masala balls which require grinding few spices along with chicken, making balls out of the ground paste and deep frying them. Recently when I wanted something easy, tasty as well as something new. That was when my mind went through a flashback where Sindhu (sis) and I had made a starter out of prawns after watching it in a Kannada cookery show. I went ahead to prepare it by substituting prawns with boneless chicken strips (No idea what else I substituted). Abbas was bowled over by the taste. But when he asked me what was the name of the dish, (which he rarely asks) I was taken unawares. I am unable to recollect the name of the dish! Hence I christen it ‘Chicken Anonymous’??? Bless the lady who invented this, I only remember her face vaguely, but she had curly hair!!!

Ingredients

Boneless chicken - 1 cup (cut into bitesize pieces)

For marination:

Egg - 1

Cornflour - 1/4 tbsp

Dark soya sauce - 1 tsp

Pepper powder - to taste

Salt - to taste

For the sauce:

Garlic - 4-5 cloves, finely chopped

Green chillies - 2-3, finely chopped (as per spice tolerance, increase or decrease)

Curd - 1 cup

Curry leaves - 15 sprigs

Kasuri Methi - 1 tbsp

Green chilli sauce - 1/2 tbsp or as per spice tolerance

Soya sauce - 1 tsp

Maggi Cube - 1 nos

Green chillies - 2-3, finely chopped (as per spice tolerance, increase or decrease)

Salt

Green food colour - a pinch (optional)

Oil - for deep frying + 1tbsp for sauce

Method:

1. Marinate the chicken pieces with egg, pepper powder, salt, soya sauce and keep aside for 15 mins.

2. Deep fry in oil till golden brown and keep aside.

3. Beat together curd, green chilli sauce, soya sauce, maggi cube, kasuri methi, salt (soya sauce and maggi cubes have salt, so add salt after checking), colour(if using) and keep aside.

4. Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan. Add chopped garlic, green chillies, curry leaves and saute for a while.

5. Remove from flame, add curd mixture and fried chicken pieces. Combine. Place back on flame and cook until u get a desired consistency.

 

Chilly Chicken

One of the widely spread Indo-Chinese dishes and liked by most! I am lost for words today and hence let's straight away dive into the recipe. This is inspired from Chaitrali's 'I-m-not-a-Chef'.

Ingredients

Boneless chicken - 1 cup (cut into bitesize pieces)

For marination:

Egg - 1

Cornflour - 1/4 tbsp

Dark soya sauce - 1 tsp

Pepper powder - to taste

Salt - to taste

For the sauce:

Garlic - 8-10 cloves, finely chopped

Onion - 1 medium sized, finely chopped or diced

Capsicum - 1 medium sized, finely chopped or diced

Red chilli sauce - 1/2 tbsp

Green chilli sauce - 1/2 tbsp

Soya sauce - 1 tsp

Cornflour - 1 tsp

Chicken / Vegetable Stock - 1/2 cup (I used Maggi Cube dissolved in 1/2 cup water)

Green chillies - 2-3, finely chopped (as per spice tolerance, increase or decrease)

Salt and sugar as required.

Method:

1. Marinate the chicken pieces with egg, pepper powder, salt, soya sauce and keep aside for 15 mins.

2. Deep fry in oil till golden brown and keep aside.

3. Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan. Add chopped garlic and saute for a while.

4. Then add green chillies and continue to saute.

5. Add onions and capsicum and continue to saute. Add all green chilli sauce, red chilli sauce and soya sauce and combine.

6. Add the fried chicken pieces and toss well. Add chicken stock.

7. Mix a tsp of cornflour in a little water and add.

8. Add salt and sugar and combine.

Note:

If you are serving this for a getogether, keep the fried chicken pieces and the sauce ready. Combine just before serving.

Chicken Vindaloo

I have quite a handsome number of items in my “Non-exhaustive To-do” list at any given point of time. How I wish there were more than 24 hours a day or perhaps only 6 hours at work and a mandatory holiday on Wednesdays. No, I don’t wish for weekends to be longer than 2 days. Coz I’m terrified at the thought of spending more than 2 days at home at a stretch. A Monday is always looked forward to as the Sun sets on Sunday. It marks the beginning of a new week and anticipation for Friday’s arrival.

This cycle came to a halt when I was carrying and my doc strictly enforced maternity leave on me about a month and a half before my due date. I was supposed to be on complete bed rest coz any more stress didn’t mean good to my twins. I was frustrated to the core with nothing to do… I started this blog to pen down my experience of this new found journey called ‘Motherhood’. I also would watch TV and note down recipes that fascinated me. Here is one of them. I don’t remember who or which programme it was. I have prepared this 3-4 times now and it turns out good, although the pics are not that appealing.

Ingredients:

Chicken – ¼ kg

Onion – 1 cup, sliced

Ginger paste – ½ tsp

Garlic paste – ½ tsp

Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

Coriander seeds – ½ tsp

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Fenugreek seeds – ¼ tsp

Vinegar – 1 tsp

Chilli powder – 1 tsp

Coriander leaves – 3-4 strands

Oil

Salt

Method:

1.      Grind together ginger, garlic, mustard seeds, red chillies, fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds to a smooth paste. Apply this paste and salt to chicken and keep aside.

2.      Heat oil and fry onions on a low heat till the onions turn dark and crispy. Take them out on a clean kitchen towel to remove all the extra oil. Grind to a paste along with vinegar.

3.      This is the dark paste that gives the color to the dish. Add this to the chicken and leave aside for 30 mins.

4.      Heat a little oil in thick bottomed pan/ Add the chicken with the marinade. Cook till chicken is tender and gravy is thickened.

5.      Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with Indian bread.

Grilled Chicken

Having full chicken translates to 'celebration' for me. When in Chennai, I worked in Ascendas Tech Park. We were a gang of 5 people who named us 'Foodie group'. I was the only one lady among a bunch of men. We would daily taste different dishes from different outlets. There came a time when we had almost tasted everything on each of their menus. There was this eatery called 'San's Kitchen' famous for South Indian Non-veg specialities. They would serve Full Fried Chicken on Thursdays and we would longingly wait for it. When I saw this full grilled chicken on Jaya's blog, I just couldn't wait to try it at home. The only problem was that I got a big chicken and the top got slightly over roasted. Only thing I would change when I prepare this next is that I would get a baby chicken and follow the recipe.

Ingredients:
1 baby chicken

For marination:
½ cup of yogurt
2 tsp of red pepper powder
2 tsp of red pepper flakes
1 tsp of turmeric powder
2 tsp of cumin powder
2 tsp of coriander powder
3 tsp of Shaan Shekh kabab masala powder
1 tsp of dried thyme or any other herb
2 tbs of cooking oil
Salt as per taste
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl with yogurt.Whisk in gently till they blend well.

For the stuffing:
2 slices of whole wheat bread made into crumbs
1 bunch of spring onions chopped finely
1 tsp of red pepper powder
2 fat garlic chopped finely
Salt as per taste

Method:
1. Wash the chicken well in lukewarm water specially inside the cavity.
2. Make the marination: whisk in cumin+coriander+red pepper +turmeric+shekh Kabab masala+dried thyme+red pepper flakes +salt as per taste in yogurt very well.
3. Generously rub it all over the chicken and also to inside the cavity of chicken. Keep refrigerated overnight. (Please do not skip this stage for making roasted stuffed chicken.)
4.Chop spring onions and garlic and then add in red pepper powder,salt and rest of the marination of chicken.
5. Stuff this mixture inside chicken cavity. You may tie or sew the chicken with thread so that the stuffing don’t come out.
6. Preheat oven at 190 deg Celcius for 2mints.
7. Line a roasting tray with foil and then place the chicken stuffed over it. Place in the second shelf of the oven.Bake it for 45 mints without skin and if the chicken has skin, then add in more 4-5 mints. Half way thro ,take out chicken and bast/brush it with some oil.

Note-
You may use any stuffing also, I have used many times celery+mushroom or mushroom+bell pepper as stuffing for the chicken.

Methi Murg

This is one of those dishes that has been lying in my drafts for ages. Dunno why it neever got posted. Now that I'm struggling hard to make appearances in the blogging world, this draft comes to my rescue. The recipe is from Sailu's blog. Whenever I wanna try a new variety of chicken dish, I turn to Sailu and her recipes never fail me. I had prepared this on Abbas' birthday this year and many more times then on. Every time I have got rave reviews coz it's unique flavour bowls over anyone who tastes it. Mindblowing combination of methi leaves and spices, best way to promote consumption of greens by adding them in a Chicken curry that people hardly deny eating. This recipe sure is a keeper.

Ingredients:
1 kg chicken, washed and cut into medium sized pieces
1 cup packed fresh methi leaves, add little salt+sugar+water, keep aside for 15 mts and squeeze out water
2 large onions, sliced, saute in a tbsp of oil till brown and cool
1 tsp green chilli paste (2-3 green chillis)
3/4 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tomato, pureed
1/4 cup yogurt
large pinch turmeric pwd
3/4 tsp red chilli pwd
1 tsp coriander pwd
1/2 tsp cumin pwd
garam masala pwd (2 cloves, 1″ cinnamon, 1 elaichi)
salt to taste
7-8 cashewnuts, soak in warm water and make paste
2 tbsps oil

Method:
1. Make a paste of browned onions and curd. Keep aside.
2. Heat 2 tsps oil in a cooking vessel, add the methi leaves and saute for 7-8 mts or till they turn crisp. Remove and keep aside.
3. Heat the remaining oil in the same vessel, add ginger garlic paste and green chilli paste and saute for 3-4 mts. Add turmeric pwd, red chilli pwd, cumin pwd and coriander pwd and combine.
4. Add the tomato puree and cook for 3 mts. Add the onion-curd paste and cook for another 3 mts.
5. Add the chicken pieces and combine well. Cook on medium high flame for 3-4 mts. Reduce flame, place lid and let the chicken cook till three fourth done.
6. Add the cashewnut paste, garam masala pwd and sauteed methi leaves and combine well. Add few tbsps of water if necessary at this point of time. Cook till the chicken turns soft and you get the gravy consistency of your choice. It should be a thick creamy gravy.
7. Turn off heat and serve hot with white rice, biryani, flavored rice or rotis.

Chicken Rezala

First time I tasted this dish was at my office cafeteria in Kolkata. One look at the dish reminded me of the famous 'Chicken White Curry' from my hometown. When I tasted it, it tasted quite similar except Rezala is very very low on spices. This, I believe is an authentic Nawabi dish and is included in party fares accompanying Biriyani or Indian breads. Somehow this dish never occured in my To-do list. It's been almost a year now since we moved from Kolkata and Rezala had faded away in my memory. When Sandeepa posted Mutton Rezala, my mind was filled with the taste, texture, aroma of it and I simply could not wait to try it out. I marinated chicken overnight and simply loved my long lost Rezala back on my palate.

Abbas is the kind of a person who is non-intriguing when it comes to food. Yes, he does occassionally request to prepare an Omelette for him, but he is never demanding when it comes to food. After the Rezala was pressure cooked and I removed the lid, the mesmerizing aroma filled up my kitchen. Abbas said "Seemu, it does smell like Rezala!!!" Well, I only guessed he must have been very hungry to have uttered those words. I was very elated though!!! The rezala turned out awesome, since we generally have our chicken in fiery hot gravies, I'm planning to add loads of green chillies next time.

Sandeepa, I'm a Konkani and have been intoduced to Bengali cuisine only after marriage. Your blog is like a never failing saviour to me when I'm cooking the Bong way... Not just your recipes, I am an ardent fan of your writing style. You have a mindblowing sense of humor. Been following your blog for quite some time now, must have commented a couple of times. Keep up the good job.

Ingredients:

Chicken  -1 kg
Onion - 21/2 cups of chopped onion
Garlic - 6 cloves
Ginger - 1" piece
Yogurt 1/2 cup for marinade + 2 cups for later

Grind to a Dry Spice powder
Cardamom - 2 big black + 10 green
Mace/Javetri - 1 tsp
Clove - 5
Pepper Powder ~ 1 tsp

For Gravy
Onion - 1/2 of a large thinly sliced (Optional)
Ginger Paste - 1 tsp
Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Cashew - 2 tbsp soaked and then made a paste
Kewra Water - 1 tsp (must for the fragrance)
Milk - 1 tbsp
Saffron - few strands
Salt - to taste
Oil
Ghee - 1/2 tbsp

Whole Spices for tempering
Bay Leaf - 3
Whole Red Chili - 5 -- Do not crack the red chili, use whole, this brings you the smell of the spice without excess heat. Depending on your spice level decrease this quantity
Black Peppercorn - 2-3 tsp whole is better or use 1/2 tbsp of pepper powder
Cardamom - 1 Black + 5 green
Clove - 8
Cinnamon Stick - 2-3

Method
1. Grind to a dry powder the spices listed under "Grind to Dry Powder"

2. Heat Oil. Fry the onion + garlic + ginger until onion is soft and browned at edges. Cool and make a paste.
Add to this 1 cup of yogurt and blend well.

3. In a big large mouthed bowl (or use an aluminum tray) add the washed and cleaned chicken pieces. Add the paste + yogurt from Step 2. Add the dry spice powder from Step 1. Add salt to taste. Mix well. Let it rest for 2-3 hours, overnight is better.

4. Heat Oil + 1 tbsp Ghee in a heavy bottomed large pan. Temper the Oil with all spices listed under Whole Spice. Add about 1/2 tsp of sugar. When the spices sizzle add 1/2 of an onion sliced thin and fry till onion starts to brown. Add 2 tsp of Ginger Paste + 2 tsp of Garlic Paste and fry for couple of minutes.
5. Remove the meat pieces from the marinade, shaking off any excess liquid and add to the pan. Saute the meat pieces till the raw pink coloring is gone. A lot of water will be released at this point and it will smell heavenly.

6. In a bowl beat about 1-2 cups of yogurt + cashew paste. Lower the heat and add this along with the remaining marinade to the pan. Mix everything nicely. Note: Use 3 cups for a lighter gravy, 2 cups for not too soupy one. Add salt to taste.

7. Transfer everything to a Pressure Cooker.If you think that the liquid is not enough, add some water.Add a tsp of Kewra Water. The Kewra Water is important, DO NOT skip it, you can use Rose Water if you don't have Kewra Water.

8. Now close the lid and cook till chicken is tender. Do not over cook. Since I had marinated the meat overnight, I cooked for two whistles on a high flame.

9. In a small bowl heat 1-2 tbsp of milk. Add a few strands of saffron to the warm milk and mix. Once the meat is done and you can open the lid of the cooker add the milk+saffron and close the lid again.

10. Let it sit for 30 minutes and then serve with Rice, Biryani or Naan.

Chicken Leg Roast

It was ManTam's 2nd birthday. I had a self-imposed rule of baking two cakes myself as I did on their first birthday. I don't want them to complain after growing up saying “Ek cake se hi kaam chala liya”. Had they not been twins, we would have celebrated their birthdays on separate days and would have cut two separate cakes, right? When we have rest of the affair confined to a single day :-D why not vest some extra energy in baking one more cake? Anyway, apart from the cakes we had Ghee Rice, Kosha Mangsho, and Payesh on the platter. Thought one more dish would make the main course complete. But was looking for something easy and delectable. Marinated chicken legs with a few ‘always present at home’ ingredients and placed in the refrigerator for more than an hour while the rest of the preparations were on. When one of the gas stoves was free, placed the marinated chicken in a kadai, spilling some oil on top of it, put the lid on, flame on sim and all you have to do is infrequent stirring. I did not know what to name this. My dear readers, its left to you. I had seen this recipe long long ago in one of the Kannada TV shows but didn’t remember the exact ingredients or the proportions. Just instinctual ingredients and eye ball measurements did the magic. Try it by varying the recipe (please don’t skip curd) if you like, but don’t forget to name it…

Ingredients:

Chicken Legs – 4, make small slits all over
Curd – ½ cup
Ginger Garlic paste – 2 tbsp
Red chilli powder – to taste
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Salt – to taste
Tomato sauce – 2 tbsp
Soya sauce – 1 tsp
Oil – 1 tbsp
Browned onions – ½ cup Optional

Method:
1. Marinate the chicken legs with all the ingredients except oil and keep in refrigerator for atleast an hour.

2. Place the marinated chicken legs in a kadai, add oil, cook on a low flame with lid on.

3. Due to curd’s presence, water would automatically ooze out sufficient for chicken to cook. No need to add water.

4. Once the chicken is cooked, increase the flame and cook till there is no water content left.

5. You may garnish with browned onions if you wish. Could be served as an appetizer.

KFC at Home???

Who doesn’t like crispy fried chicken from KFC? At least I have neither heard nor come across anybody satisfying this criterion! Well, it was a “Love at first bite” for me and I have become an unfaltering enthusiast ever since. Every time I indulged into this marvel, I wondered what might be the secret recipe of Colonel Harland Sanders. Ma is equally a fan of KFC and I always take home some crispy fried chicken for her whenever I pass by its outlet. I remember the first time we had taken her to KFC and we were standing in a queue to get in. She is an impatient soul and kept on protesting waiting in a long line just to have fried chicken to fill hungry stomachs that too during lunch time! I still can’t forget her dialogue “Eta to amader machher kabirajir moto na?” (Meaning it’s like our Fish Kabiraji right? – all you non Bengali people, Fish kabiraji is crispy fried fish which mostly makes its appearance on special occasions.) Fortunately for us, it was worth the wait for her.

Now what’s with the title of this post? Does that mean I picked up a bucket on the way home and savored it with family? No folks! I actually made them at home and?? Curious to know the verdict??? It was very close to Sanders’ version. Did I solve the mystery of herbs behind it to prepare it at home? No, all I did was to follow Sailu’s recipe of Crsipy Fried Chicken. Like always, her recipe didn’t fail me. It’s a very easy but not quick to make. Chicken has to be marinated for a total of 12 hours but after that it is a breeze. Oh yes! It was finger licking good too! My niece helped me in dipping the chicken pieces in egg mixture and then rolling it in flour mixture and the sweet little fingers perhaps enhanced the taste!

Ingredients:

3 or 4 chicken legs
oil for deep frying

For first marinade: 8-10 hrs
1/2 cup buttermilk OR 3 tbsps vinegar+6 tbsps water
1/2 tsp salt

For second marinade: 3-4 hrs
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli pwd
3/4 tsp salt

For first coating:
1 egg
2-3 tbsps milk
salt to taste
pepper to taste

For second coating:
3 tbsps cornflour
3 tbsps maida
salt to taste
pepper to taste


Method:
1. Wash chicken legs and make slits all over. Take a large ziplock bag, place chicken and the first marinade and lock it. Place the zip lock bag in the refrigerator for atleast 8 hrs.


2 After 8 hrs, drain the first marinade and add the second marinade to the chicken legs and shake the zip lock bag well. Lock it and place in refrigerator for another 3-4 hours.

3 Remove chicken legs after marination, dip in the first coating mixture (eggs/milk) and then coat with the second coating mixture (cornflour/maida).

4 Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel, once the oil is hot, reduce flame, place one or two coated chicken legs (based on the size of the vessel) and cook on low to medium flame on both sides of the legs for 6-7 mts. Cook on high flame for another 2-3 mts on both sides till golden brown. Drain onto absorbent paper and bake in hot oven at 175 for 10 mts
  

Chicken Lollipop - 'Thai style' Errr........ 'My style'

The title must be confusing, isn't it? Well, this dish was born out of confusion. Being a Capricorn, I take pride in organizing my work efficiently, plan things well ahead of time and try my best to stick to the plan. Every day I plan what I am going to cook the next day (sometimes even next week) and make calculations in my mind as to what ingredients I need and whether I have them at home, if not I buy them on the way back home from the local grocery store. There are times when I give my mind a break and feel myself very relaxed. Today was one such day when I didn't know what to cook. I had got 4 chicken leg pieces in my freezer which as you may guess had a purpose to be there. I had "planned" to prepare Chicken leg roast during the weekend. As per my plan, I would marinate it on Friday or Saturday night. (See I make flexible plans too.) But I was in a mood to break rules after all rules are meant to be broken. My heart hummed 'Kal Ho Na Ho' and there I was all set to prepare Leg Roast then and there. But hey hold on, panic! panic! panic! My heart sobbed "Yeh kya hua! Kaise Hua! Kab hua! Kyun Hua!" There was no hint of ginger or garlic in my entire chicken. My heart hooted "Chale Chalo...Chale Chalo" I was suddenly very determined to have those chicken legs no matter what. While I quickly scanned my pantry to PLAN instantaneously my next action, I saw a packet of Thai Red Curry Paste that I had bought on a whim some time back and it was lying there reassuring me - "Tu chal.... Main aayi". I tasted the paste and found it sour. The instructions called for using coconut milk and palm sugar in the curry. Well that was hint enough for me to add something sweet to balance the flavours. I began thinking at a different level to add very unusual ingredients. I came up with Sweet Chilli sauce and Demerara sugar. I added curd to give body to the roast. Talking about unusual ingredients, I added some fresh sprigs of curry leaves too.

Prior to marriage, Sindhu (my sis) and I used to experiment in the kitchen and my dad would encourage us with kind words - "Don't worry about the results of your experiments, girls. No matter how it turns out there is always someone who would eat it without blurting out a single word". For all those who thought the guinea pig was my dad, you are wrong. He referred to our pet dog!

This recipe was an experiment of the sorts and if you are curious to know how this turned out, scroll down to the last pic in this post.

Ingredients:
Chicken Legs - 4
Onion - 1 medium sizes, finely chopped (optional)
Curry leaves - 8-10
Oil - 2 tbsp

For Marination:
Thai Red Curry Paste - 1 packet
Sweet Chilli Sauce - 2 tbsps
Demerara Sugar - 1 tbsp (You could use ordinary sugar too I guess or smiply omit it)
Curd - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Marinate the chicken leg pieces with the ingredients called for in the 'For marination' section. Leave it aside for 30 mins, the more the better.

2. Heat oil in a pan, add chopped onions and curry leaves. Saute till onions turn light golden brown. Strain and remove them from the oil.

3. In the same oil, add the marinated chicken legs and leave it on a low flame covered. Stir occassionally.

4. Once the chicken pieces are cooked, increase the flame and cook without lid till there is no water in the pan and the entire masala is sticking on to the legs. Add the caramlized onions and combine.

5. Serve hot as a starter/appetizer.

This dish had a very unique taste which I had never ever tasted before. Felt good to be the originator of this recipe. If anyone of you tries it out, do let me know. I would be very glad to hear from you. Kids could nibble on the legs easily coz it was not spicy at all.

Chicken Manchurian

I've been working in night shifts continuously for the last couple of months. Initial days had taken my health on a toll. I would pop in Saridon after Saridon every alternate day due to lack of sleep. Mondays and Tuesdays would be kinda OK. With Wednesday's onset I would drag myself hard to reach Saturday. There were days when I had no interest to cook whatsoever but then simply HAD to. The outcome from my kitchen those days had to tolerate the tied eyebrows, wrinkled noses, disgusting looks and forced consumption for the sake of survival. Abbas, being in Bangalore, would come to Chennai on alternate weekends. His visits earned me nasty comments which were not unfair (honestly) considering the kind of fare I was presenting them with. When Ma finally declared one day that 'Seema, you have forgotten how to cook. You would soon need to hire a cook!', that hit the ego of the cook in me. Since that day, even though I was strained and drained after coming home in the morning, I would put my 100% in cooking to earn compliments as before. When my sincere efforts didn't bear fruits, I assigned myslef to Root Cause Analysis. Root Cause of the disaster was these spice powders I had recently bought which would spoil anything and everything that I cooked. When I filled my masala dabbas with new masalas, I was Sooo back in the game! Well, why am I discussing all this instead of talking about Chicken Manchurian???. That's because this is the first dish that brought me my first compliment after that phase. All thanks to Sailu for the marvellous recipe. Abbas told me after having this that it was even better than any other restaurant's version that he had ever had! The recipe is simply foolproof. I have cooked this several times after that and it has turned out great everytime Yipppeee.

Ingredients:
1/4 kg boneless chicken, cut into fine pieces
6-7 tbsps spring onion whites
3-4 tbsps spring onion greens
1/2 tbsp chopped garlic (I used garlic paste)
1/2 tbsp chopped ginger (I used ginger paste)
2 tsps soya sauce
1 tbsp chilli sauce
2 tsps vinegar
1 tbsp corn flour + 5 tbsps chicken stock or water (I mixed Maggi's Chicken Stock podwer in water and microwaved on high for 30 secs)
1/2 tsp brown sugar (I omitted this as I didn't have at hand)
2 tbsps tomato sauce
1/2 tsp red chilli pwd (preferably Kashmiri)
salt to taste
1 1/2 tbsps sesame oil (I used sunflower oil)
oil for deep frying

For marinade: (marinate chicken with below ingredients for at least 15 mts or 1 hr)
1/4 tsp pepper pwd
1 egg white
salt to taste
1 1/2 tsps ginger-garlic-green chilli paste
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp maida/all purpose flour
2-3 tbsps corn flour
1-2 tbsps of water, if required

Method:
1 Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel, make small balls of the marinated chicken and carefully drop into the hot oil. Cook on low medium flame and towards the end of the cooking process increase flame to high and deep fry to a golden brown shade. Drain with a slotted spoon and place on absorbent paper. Keep aside.

2 Heat a heavy bottomed vessel, add oil, add the chopped garlic and saute on high flame for about 30 secs. Add the chopped ginger and green chillis and saute for a few more secs. Add the spring onion whites and saute for 3 mts on high flame.

3 Reduce to medium heat and add the brown sugar, soya sauce, tomato ketchup, chilli sauce and vinegar. Combine well and cook for 2 mts. Add 1/4 cup chicken stock or water and cook for a mt. Add the deep fried chicken balls and cook for 4 mts. Adjust salt, if necessary.

4 Add the cornflour water and cook, tossing the contents, for 4-5 mts. You will find that it becomes thick due to cornflour.

5 Add the chopped spring onion greens and combine. Garnish with more spring onion greens. Serve hot as a starter/appetizer.

Chicken liver cum kidney Do Pyaza

Here I am with a recipe whose main ingredients are those parts of chicken that are shown disdain by some while some simply honor them. Yes I'm talking about the liver and kidney of Chicken. I was always a fan of Chicken liver but never ate kidney. Recently got to taste this out of the world dish prepared by my Bhabi. I could simply guess how delicious it would be when I saw my 4 year old niece coming on frequent rounds to the kitchen blabbering 'Kocho kochi' (meaning chicken kidney in bengali) and getting impatient to eat it.

It is really an easy to prepare recipe (which I am always on a hunt) with a handful ingredients that one always has in the kitchen. Its a winner recipe thats not gonna fail you. It can be served hot with any of the Indian breads.

Ingredients:

Chicken liver and kidney - 1/2 kg

Onions - 2 medium sized, sliced

Onion - 1 medium sized, ground to a paste

Ginger paste - 1 tbsp

Milk - 1 cup

Vinegar - 1 tsp

Rose water - 1 tsp (optional)

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Oil - 2 tbsp

To pound:

Cardamom - 2 or 3

Cloves - 5 or 6

Cinnamom - 1" stick

Method:

1. Clean the liver and kidney peices well and drain the water. Cut kidney pieces into 1" long pieces using scissors. Basically a kidney piece can be cut into 4-6 pieces.

2. Marinate with milk and vinegar for half an hour or atleast a minimum of 30 mins.

3. In a pan heat oil and caramalize the sliced onions and keep aside.

4. In the same oil, add onion and ginger paste. Saute till raw smell goes off.

5. Add the marinated chicken liver and kidney, turmeric powder and salt to this. Cook on medium flame with a lid stirring occasionally. Liver gets cooked very fast. But kidney pieces consume time.

6. While they are being cooked, your kitchen might get filled with a pungent smell which will force you to judge my sanity. Well don't panic. You may drizzle rose wtaer to avoid the smell at this point of time. The end product will be exclusive of any such smell.

7. Once kidneys are well cooked, add caramalized onions and pound garam masla. Remove the lid and increase the flame till the gravy thickens and achieves your desired consistency.

Kundapur Chicken

Chicken – 500 gms

Onions – 3 medium sized, finely chopped

Tomatoes – 3 small sized, finely chopped

Ginger paste – 3 tsp

Garlic paste – 3 tsp

Curry leaves – 15-20

Tejpatta – 2

Kundapur chicken masala powder – 2 tbsp

Coconut milk – 1 cup

Salt to taste

Coconut oil – 2 tbsp

Method:

1. In a pan, heat oil.
2. Add tejpatta, curry leaves and onions.
3. When the onions turn golden brown, add ginger and garlic paste.
4. When the raw smell of ginger and garlic is no more there, add tomatoes.
5. When the oil starts separating, add the chicken pieces and salt.
6. Let the chicken cook on a medium flame.
7. Cover the pan with a plate that holds some amount of water in it. (One of my friend Vanitha’s mom had told me this. I forgot the reason why it had to be done. But there was some logic  to it, trust me)
8. Once the chicken is done, add the Kundapur Chicken powder. (I do not know the ingredients of this masala. Vanitha’s mom had given me this masala. I would try to get the recipe soon)
9. Add the coconut milk and salt. (I used to not prepare this dish earlier although I loved it, just at the thought of the pain in extracting coconut milk. Recently I bought Maggi’s Coconut milk powder which helped get instant coconut milk done in a jiffy and the taste was good too)
10. Do not boil for long.
11. The longer the gravy exists, the tastier it gets…
12. This is a delight to have with Kori Rotti or ghee rice (Famous Combination in south)