Chicken

Kozhi Molagu Masala – Inspirational Thursday

Chicken, Inspirational Thursdays, Non vegetarian 7 Responses »

Jun 062012

Growing up, chicken used to be my favorite meat to eat. It could be because in many kashmiri pandit families, chicken was not cooked regularly, it was like a special treat. Or it could be because my mom made an amazing Chicken roganjosh. Or it could be both. I have never been able to tell.

Meat is an integral part of Kashmiri food. We like our greens and a few vegetables here and there, but meat is the star and it is mostly cooked in traditional kashmiri style.

Then I grew up, moved away from home and traveled a few parts of the world and my food adventure began. At first it took some getting used to. It is always hard for people like me who have lived in non cosmopolitan places to like anything but Mom’s food.

Gradually I started to not only like different cuisines, but I had this strong desire to learn how to cook dishes from various cuisines at home. I learned to enjoy vegetables and lentils and beans as well. And chicken was no longer the favorite meat.

But that was to change soon for I was to meet a fabulous home gourmet , Reshma. Food is what connected us and her recipes make you want to get off the couch and just cook. And that is what I did with this recipe of Kozhi Molagu Masala and I never looked at chicken with boredom again!

Refreshingly unpretentious and brimming with creativity, Reshma is an awesome cook. She shares her family recipes with much enthusiasm and the best part is that she answers questions on cuisine, technique, methodology with the patience of a saint.

Reshma does not blog. I sincerely hope she writes a cookbook soon. I would buy that cook book and keep it as a keepsake for my daughter to learn and understand Indian cooking. Are you listening Resh?

Here is one of Reshma’s recipes that was published in the Daiji world. And this is the recipe I am posting today for Inspirational thursday. Try making it. You will never look at chicken with boredom. Promise! This is one recipe that you will make again and again.

Kozhi Molagu Masala – Inspirational Thursday

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Kozhi Molagu Masala – Inspirational Thursday

Ingredients

Chicken 2 pounds bone in
Onions 2 cups sliced
Tomatoes 1 C chopped
Curry leaves 15- 20
Oil 5 tbs
Cinnamon 1’’
Cloves 2
Cardamom 2
fennel seeds 1 ½ tsp
Ginger garlic paste1 tsp
Red chilli pwd 1 tsp [hot chilli - avoid if you don't like it too hot]
Kashmiri chilly pwd 1 tsp
turmeric pwd ½ tsp
Coriander pwd 2tsp
Pepper pwd 1 tbsp
cilantro - 1/4 C
Water ½ cup
Salt to taste

Instructions

Heat the oil and add 1" long cinnamon stick, 2 cloves, 2 cardamoms and 1 ½ tsp fennel seeds and cook on low heat until infused.( you will start smelling good aromas)
Add onions and cook until lightly browned. At this stage add curry leaves and fry for a few seconds. From this onion curry leaf mixture, keep aside abt 2 tbsp for using as garnish.
Now add in the ginger garlic paste into the rest of the onions and fry until completely cooked.
Add the tomatoes and cook until the oil floats on top.
Now add in the chilli pwd (hot) , kashmiri chilli pwd, coriander pwd ,salt, turmeric and cook until everything mixes in.
Now add the chicken pieces, cover and let it cook for about 15 minutes.
Sprinkle the black pepper in, top it with chopped cilantro and cover until oil separates and the sauce is reduced to your liking.
Just before serving, top it with the set aside onion mix.
enjoy!

http://www.spiceroots.com/2012/06/kozhi-molagu-masala/

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Dum Ka Murgh and a Special Blogger

Chicken, Hyderabad, Non vegetarian 23 Responses »

Mar 292012

”food is capable of feeding far more than a rumbling stomach. Food is life; our well-being demands it. Food is art and magic; it evokes emotion and colors memory, and in skilled hands, meals become greater than the sum of their ingredients. Food is self-evident; plucked right from the ground or vine or sea, its power to delight is immediate. Food is discovery; finding an untried spice or cuisine is for me like uncovering a new element. Food is evolution; how we interpret it remains ever fluid. Food is humanitarian: sharing it bridges cultures, making friends of strangers pleasantly surprised to learn how much common ground they ultimately share.”

― Anthony Beal

Food is the reason I chanced upon Chef Ajoy’s blog – thoughtsfromajoy and stopped there for quite sometime, to read stories, feel the magic of Indian cooking, learn a few ( more than a few) new things.

Chef Ajoy is an accomplished and a well traveled chef. Founder of the very chic Indian restaurant, Nilgiris in Sydney, Australia and author of quite a few inspiring cookbooks, – A feat that leaves you filled with wonder.

And rightly so. The very first recipe that caught my attention on his blog was the Kashmiri roganjosh. Being a kashmiri, I am always on the fence when people call a dish “kashmiri”. Please don’t get me wrong, but calling anything with raisins and cashews and cardamom in it a kashmiri dish is inaccurate. Wrong ! Not done! But I digress…

So the skeptic in me, gingerly treaded on the blog post called Recipe for Rogan Josh Kashmiri Pandit Style. Intrigued I was, because here was an article heading telling me that the author knew there were different styles of kashmiri roganjosh! Not many people know that. At that moment, I knew this was a unique blog – created by a maestro who had spent years learning the art of Classic Indian regional cooking.

I read on fascinated and loved every bit of the post. It was the quintessential roganjosh with all the right spices, infused in the right order and cooked to perfection . Just the way it is supposed to be.

I had just one word for this blogger – RESPECT!

Fascinated, I looked into a few more blog posts. It was like reading a good book – the one you just can not put down. And I gathered inspirations and learned quite a few new things.

For example, this Dosa recipe. I had been struggling to get my dosa right after I moved to Colorado. And for someone who calls Hyderabad a second home, it was kind of disheartening that my dosa would not be as exquisite as it used to be back home. Sometimes, not enough crisp, sometimes it was not ground right and then sometimes I would lose the battle with the altitude and temperature for the batter to ferment right.

So I tried the Dosa recipe from the blog. Guess what? I don’t think I am ever going back to grinding the batter at home. I made steamed dosa, regular dosa, masala dosa, paper dosa.. I gave the recipe every test I could – and it shined. It couldn’t get any faster and easier than this!

One word for the recipe – ADMIRATION!

And as if this was not enough, I weaved my way through to the recipe for Dum Ka murgh. And as If I was already not a “BIG FAN” I became a big fan all over again.

One word for the recipe – Sheer Brilliance! Ok that was two words. But the recipe is pure Brilliance!

Why ?

Here is why?

As you know by now, I call Hyderabad my second home, which means I have lived there for many a good years. As a very young person, this is the city I fell in love with at first bite because the food tasted like home. Not the exact taste per se, but I felt there was something comforting.

Not only did I enjoy eating Hyderabadi food, I also enjoyed learning to cook it. My friend and then neighbor, who is a Persian by origin and married into one of the most culturally rich Muslim families in Hyderabad, ensured that I get lessons in the Hyderabadi cuisine at her house. So I would watch while she or her Mom in law cooked, helped when they felt assured that I was not likely to mess up the perfect leg of lamb or sometimes just hopped on over to eat a plateful of biryani.

With lessons from the duo and occasional lessons from their family Khansama, I have quite a collection of time tested Hyderabadi recipes.

And then I found the recipe on Ajoy’s blog. Using Tahini instead of sesame seeds .. why did I not think of that? Substituting peanuts with cashews .. thus making it accessible to people with peanut allergies .. awesome!

I made this dish with the recipe from Ajoy’s blog and it was the best ever Dum ka murgh I made. I am sharing the recipe here with his permission, but for a more detailed step by step instruction, you do need to go visit his blog.

Very rarely do you come across a creative and talented chef, who loves to teach and reach out as Chef Ajoy does. And since his blog inspired me so much, I am going to start a ‘Inspiring Thursdays”‘ Feature on my blog. On One Thursday every month, the day of Brhaspati- the god of wisdom and eloquence, I will introduce a talented blogger/ author/ friend/ on my blog and share what inspired me.

Dum Ka Murgh and a Special Blogger

Ingredients

2 tablespoons Garam Masala (Made with 1 cinnamon stick, 5 green cardamoms, 7-8 cloves, 3 star anise, 2 tsp each of fennel seeds and mace blade - all of this is ground into a powder.)
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups onions (thinly sliced)
1/4 cup oil ( I used grapeseed)
2 tablespoons ginger garlic paste
1.5 tablespoons thai green chili paste
1 tablespoon Tahini paste
1.5 tablespoons ground cashews ((or use crunchy unsweetened peanut butter))
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 cups Plain yogurt ((suggested full fat))
2lb chicken (skinless drumsticks, thigh and breast pieces)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped mint

Instructions

Heat up the oil and fry the onions to a golden brown, in small batches
In a mixing bowl, mix the onions and the chicken with the rest of the ingredients except the mint and lemon.
Set this aside for about 15 minutes
Take your best looking big dutch oven, which is big enough to have more than 2/3 of space left after you put the entire chicken and the marinade in it.
Take a griddle/ saute pan and place it on top of your stove on medium heat
Place the dutch oven on top of the griddle and cover.
Cook on low heat, undisturbed and covered for about 35- 45 minutes
The settings in your stove and the heat distribution in your dutch ovens may vary.. use your best judgement.
When ready to serve, dash in some lemon juice and mint and eat with naan or roti.

http://www.spiceroots.com/2012/03/dum-ka-murgh-and-a-special-blogger/

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Chicken Rogan Josh in Kashmiri Veri Masala

Chicken, Kashmir 28 Responses »

Mar 192012

In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. ~Albert Schweitzer

I am thankful for Priti – The person who rekindles my inner spirit by just being there. I have not yet met her in person, but we share a deep connection which started with a food talk on a social network. Really – just a simple talk about a slow cooker and the day’s menu. That talk was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

A few weeks ago, I sent her a batch of my home made garam masala , along with the Kashmiri veri [ Va ( short a sound) ur and short i ] masala. She had asked me the recipe for my garam masala a long time ago, and since I mostly make a quick batch, I never paid attention to how much of what I put in -It is an instinctive thing. So I never got around to develop the exact proportion ratios. And hence never gave her the recipe.

Sending her the masala was my way of apologizing for being slipshod. I mean, I could very well measure as I went and take notes and type it out for her. But I did not. So I had to do something better. I made my Garam masala AND I made the kashmiri veri masala and sent her both.

Here are the pictures she sent me after she made these:

Roganjosh, Dum Aloo, Neni Pulav

In one weekend! She made the haakh, razma gogji, chicken daniwal korma, roganjosh, dum aloo and neni pulao. A true kashmiri feast. That does tell a lot about how big a foodie she is and how much she likes to experiment. I was thrilled to the core. Not because she made the food using my recipes as a guideline, but because she was so blissful about the process of discovering a new cuisine and liking it.

You can’t help but catch on the enthusiasm and the passion. She makes the “joy of cooking” come to life. And unknowingly, she stirs the enthusiasm in me, to cook up a storm and enjoy the adventure.

While we were talking about what else can she make with the Veri Masala, I shared with her my best kept open secret, go to chicken dish – the chicken rogan josh. No fancy ingredients, very little prep and is usually ready in less than 30 minutes, depending on how many people you are cooking for. Weeknight specials? I think its perfect for a weekend too and Priti did too. Here is the picture she sent me of the dish she cooked, with just a few twitter like instructions. Told ya she is just amazing.

Chicken Roganjosh with Hot Rotis

This is one of my go to recipes when my friends just show up. The kind of friends who don’t need, wait for or want an invitation to come see you. They just show up after a quick call which usually goes , ” Hey, are you home tonight?” , “yes” ” ok!! I am coming over and will stay for dinner”. ” Great! See ya.. get some beer on your way here.. will you?”

These are the kind of friends, for whom you want to cook special meals, yet want to keep it homely and simple. You also want to finish cooking soon so you can drink that beer before they hand you the empty bottles to recycle.

This recipe does need you to buy the special Veri Masala which is not readily available. I will soon post a recipe to make this at home. Until then enjoy the chicken recipe.

Chicken Rogan Josh in Kashmiri Veri Masala

Ingredients

1 pinch turmeric
1/4th teaspoon ginger powder
2 tablespoons oil (Preferably Mustard)
1/4th teaspoon Garam Masala (preferably the one without coriander )
2 cloves (ground)
1/4 - 1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons Kashmiri Mirch (or hungarian sweet paprika)
1lb boneless chicken
1/2 cup thinly sliced onions
1 teaspoon fennel powder
1 teaspoon veri masala (powdered - break a small piece and pound it)
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Note
Take extra care when you add the chillies. The idea is to infuse the chilli in the oil for it develop the color and flavor but not burn them. It takes just a few seconds to burn them, so keep a couple of Tbs of water handy to throw in to bring the temperature down.

Instructions

1. As always, bring a pan to heat up and the oil. If using mustard oil, heat it up until it
smokes and then cool it down slightly. This step is important else there will be a very mustard like taste in the food which is not appetizing to everyone.
2. Once the oil is hot, add the onions and chicken and saute on medium heat until onions start browning.
3. Bring the temperature down to a simmer, add the chilli/ paprika and immediately add a couple of Tbs of water to bring down heat and allow the chilli to cook without burning.
4. After you see the oil separate from the chillies add the Veri masala, stir to incorporate and then add all other dry ingredients. Mix it all and let the spice infuse in the oil for a bit.
5. Add 1/2 C of water, stir, bring to a boil, cover and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the oil floats on top.
6. Eat with a Roti or naan or plain brown or white rice and Dal.

http://www.spiceroots.com/2012/03/chicken-rogan-josh-in-kashmiri-masala/

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Slow cooker chicken tandoori

Chicken, Guest Posts & Events, Healthy choice, Non vegetarian, Original Creations 12 Responses »

Dec 182011

I know the word tandoori chicken makes us think about the clay ovens, smoke flavored chicken cooked in pure raw heat. But I am going to take liberty and declare that you can make some great tasting chicken with the same spices as used in tandoori chicken, cook it slow and call it whatever you will – It will taste amazing. So I am calling it slow cooker chicken tandoori !

I created this recipe for a blog event Bonjour hosted at Jabeen’s wonderful blog. The idea was interesting – not only did the guest bloggers have to post a signature dish, they also had to give a scoop on themselves. The scoop I had, the dish I created.

For the adventurous ones, here is the link to the scoop and the recipe : Event Bonjour. And for those of you, who would rather not click on any other links, here is the long and short of it.

Slow cooker chicken tandoori is

-An original recipe from the SpiceRoots kitchen. The original idea was borrowed from Emiril’s slow cooked chicken, but I had to make it my own and just had to make it Indian. So there!

-A slow cooker recipe. Something you can fix when you leave for work and then come home to the wonderful aroma of this dish.

Slow cooker chicken tandoori

Ingredients

1 Whole chicken (organic, skin removed)
2 heaped tablespoons Greek style plain yogurt
1-2 tablespoon Tandoori masala powder (If using prepackaged, i would recommend using Shaan)
1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder
1/2 teaspoon Garam masala
3-4 Shallots (peeled and halved)
2-3 tablespoons Lemon Juice
to tasteSalt
1 Clove (pound to a powder form)
1 tablespoon Ginger garlic paste (can use microplane grater to grate ginger and garlic if you don't have the paste)

For the glaze

1/2 teaspoon Cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon Garam masala
3-4 tablespoons Cilantro (chopped)
1 tablespoon Oil or Butter

Instructions

Wash and dry the chicken
Make incisions in the more meaty parts like breast and thigh to allow spices to penetrate deeper
Mix the tandoori masala, garam masala, kashmiri chili, lemon juice, ginger garlic paste and salt into the yogurt
Apply this mixture onto the chicken
Sprinkle the clove powder on the chicken
Lower the chicken into the slow cooker with the breast side up. Tuck in snugly and throw in the shallots
Close the lid, lock it and cook on high for 1 hour and then on low for 2 hours
If you are leaving this to cook while you are away from home, slow cook for 4 hours
Check for doneness - At this point you can check the thermometer, cut a slice and look for raw signs. A chicken cooked is a chicken white and the juices run clear, or with this kind of recipe.. the chicken will look cooked to the point of falling off the bones
Gently place the whole chicken in a roasting pan leaving the juices in the slow cooker. There would be about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of liquid left
Broil the chicken for about 3 minutes on low and 2 minutes on high for that perfect roasted look
While you are broiling the chicken, heat a pan and add the butter/oil for glaze
Add in the cumin powder and the garam masala
Add the reserved liquid along with any shallots
Reduce this to your desired thickness - about 2-3 min on high
Plate the chicken on a platter and pour the sauce on it. Serve with lemon wedges, salad and buttered rice or any grains or bread of your choice.

Notes

These timings may vary, so base this on your slow cooker. Always undercook, you can cook it further but there is nothing you can do about overcooked food.

I use an internal meat thermometer to check the doneness of the chicken. A temprature of 170F is ideal.

http://www.spiceroots.com/2011/12/slow-cooker-chicken-tandoori/

Until we meet again on the culinary journey !

Stay Blessed

Ansh

Chicken Dhaniwal Korma

Chicken, Healthy choice, Kashmir, Non vegetarian, Original Creations 10 Responses »

Nov 172011

As the weather plays hide and seek and the winter stands at the front door, knocking ever so softly, something in me makes me think of Kashmir. The winters in Kashmir were long, hard and bitter. With little or no electricity to keep homes warm, people usually made do with a Kangri to keep them warm and toasty. A Kangir {pronounced – Ka (as in ca of car) ; ng ( as in ng in any word.. daring caring .. the last ng sound ) ; ur .. as in fur.. so together it makes ca .. ng..ur. Now that you got the sound, see how it looks like :

It’s like a portable fireplace, you fill in the wood charcoal, top it off with burning coals from a coal chimney starter or from a kangir with left over burning coals from the previous night. Then you cover it with some coal ash and let it be a toasty treat in your Pheran. Once you get your own kangir for the day, you set out to do your winter chores – which for me as a kid meant – eating warming comfort food, playing games of carom and cards & read books by the lantern lights . Oh I forgot to add that my siblings and I did create a ruckus every now and then.

Winter is coming – As the Starks in Game of Thrones would say. It sure is! But not before it gives us Coloradans some spectacular and dramatic sunsets.

With the approaching winter and my longing for my birth place Kashmir, I try to recreate the flavors of childhood in my Colorado kitchen. Nostalgia at its best! Dhaniwal korma is made with mutton and cilantro with a generous amount of fried onions thrown in. I recreated the dish using chicken. And the result was really delicious. The citrus fresh aroma of freshly ground cilantro, sweet fried onions and creamy yogurt. What’s not to like!

Chicken Dhaniwal Korma

Ingredients

One pound chicken red meat [drumsticks or thigh meat]
1/2 C onion sliced fine
1/2 C chopped tomato
2 tsp ginger- garlic paste
1 Tsp cumin powder
2 - 3 Thai green chilies
1/4 tsp fennel powder
Salt to taste
2 C chopped cilantro
1 Tbs Oil
1/2 tsp ghee
1 C Plain yogurt (room temperature)
1/4 C water

Instructions

Saute the onions until medium brown. Since we are not using too much oil, this will take quite some time. In a time crunch, saute the onions in more oil and then remove the excess oil.
Once the onions turn a good shade of brown, add the ginger and garlic saute until cooked.
Remove from the pan and puree them.
Blend the yogurt with the fennel and add the water. whisk it all together.
Now in a heavy bottom medium size pan, add the ghee and then add in the yogurt and bring it all to a rolling boil stirring constantly. The yogurt needs to be at room temperature and needs to be whisked well, else it might split.
Add in the onion puree mix, salt, chicken and the rest of the spices
Cook, covered for 10 minutes - 15 on medium heat and check for doneness. Add in the tomatoes and cook for another 5 - 10 minutes, until the tomatoes are completely cooked. add in the cilantro
Cover and cook until you see the ghee floating on top or the meat has a thick sauce covering it.
Usually served with rice, but goes well with bread, roti, naan too.

http://www.spiceroots.com/2011/11/chicken-dhaniwal-korma/

Orange chicken – the spiceroots way

Chicken, From Around the world, Non vegetarian 6 Responses »

Mar 282011

Being a mom is a job that I take seriously. Knowing that there is no “esc” key anywhere in the hardware of the machine called mom, I have resolved that I am going to enjoy every moment of it. There are moments when I totally crash, but I reboot without fuss too. And then I am good as new.

Being the mom also makes you want to put a firewall around your kids and thwart any viruses, bugs and unwanted elements before they even get a chance to have a go. It does not make me a popular mom, but it does make me a good one. And that’s what I was built to be, so I accept the notion of “good” with a wide smile.

I keep away the violent and inappropriate bugs off the TV by screening what my kid watches and mostly watching it with her. The screen time is limited to 3 hours on weekend. That is TV and internet and games all inclusive. Boy! Does that get me votes to be the winner of “best mom on the planet” what do you think! So there… again I am happy being a good mother. I am not getting that popular award in this lifetime. The very hazardous internet is used under guidance. Don’t get me wrong. I am not a nosy mom. I let my kid play games and chat with her friends. We just talk about who the friends are, and we talk about what information and how much of it is appropriate to put on the internet. I respect her privacy, but she also knows that the freedom comes with responsibility and those codes of responsibility are well set out and agreed upon.

So what’s food got to do with my child’s wellbeing? A lot!

How she eats now, what she eats now will form a lifelong relationship with food. So while being easy going when the kid wants fast food, I do limit the number of times in a month when we can eat take out Chinese or the greasy cheesy pizza or the good ol fries from somewhere. Mostly I succeed, sometimes I don’t.

This orange chicken is a twist on the take out orange chicken. It’s not fat free, but I am fine with a day of greasy food, if I know what all went into it. Things like Organic chicken, good oil, choicest orange juice and the works. When I make a takeout version of anything at home, I have the satisfaction of knowing that I put in wholesome good quality ingredients. So, for those days when you can’t win it all – here is a recipe from the Spiceroots kitchen. Give in a little sometimes – to gain a lot later!

Plan:

4 boneless chicken thighs ( organic and cut into thin strips and patted dry with a paper towel)
1/3 C orange juice
4 Tbs whole wheat flour
6-7 Tbs corn starch
1 C peanut oil ( my preferred oil for frying)
½ tsp chili flakes
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tbs brown sugar
Salt to taste
A little water

Procedure

Arrange chicken on a platter and sprinkle salt and chili flakes on it. Pat it on.
Turn the chicken pieces around and sprinkle some more salt and chilli flakes.
Make a batter of pouring consistency with the flour and water. You may add a little salt to this mixture but only if you have not been very liberal while seasoning the chicken.
Get your wok or pan ready with hot oil.
Make a production line in this order: Chicken, batter, corn starch, wok with hot oil on stove.
Now work your way to the wok.. a few pieces at a time. The key is to keep the temperature at medium heat and add a few pieces at a time. No overcrowding and no under crowding will give you crisp crunchy chicken on the outside with a very moist center.
Pick up a piece of chicken, dip it in the batter, tap it once or twice to get excess batter off, dredge it in the corn starch and on to the wok with hot oil. Add a few more pieces and allow it to cook to a crunchy finale.
Remove with a slotted spoon when done and repeat until all the chicken is done.
Now while you are waiting for some of the chicken to get fried, you can put the sauce to cook.
Take a pan and add the OJ, sugar, a pinch of salt and the Worcestershire sauce. Cook on low until the sugar melts and a sheen forms on the sauce.. About 4 minutes on medium heat. Add lemon zest.. stir and keep warm.
Once all the chicken is fried, add it to the orange sauce, stir to coat all the chicken and serve immediately.. with or without some noodles or fried rice or plain boiled rice.