Simple Chicken Curry

Simple Chicken Curry 

I firmly believe there are certain places, books, pages of books, musical pieces which remind you of a particular person and when it comes to certain dishes it not only reminds you but it makes you want to be near the person.

This recipe is one of the simplest recipes that there ever can be and it sure does make me miss someone. This is for the one who loves his ghee , understands the importance of marination, can cook effortlessly without consulting any cook books yet his greatest teaching for me would be independence which is why I have followed my Baba (father's) recipe and have merged it with my own ideas. He is the one who unconsciously inspired me to become passionate about peeling, chopping, shredding, sauteing etc

The one thing I have to say is that this dish should either be prepared in mustard oil or in ghee otherwise the flavour doesn't come out that well.

Serves 2 to 3

450 gm chicken (legs and thigh)
1 tbsp smooth garlic paste
1/2 tsp whole black pepper
Paste made from 4 dried red chili and 1 tsp roughly chopped ginger and 1 tbsp vinegar


1 medium sized onion
1 medium sized tomato
1/2 cup whisked yogurt
1/4th cup water
Salt as per taste

2 green cardamom
1 black cardamom
Cinnamon (3/4th of your little finger)
2 blades of mace
2 cloves

1.5 tsp ghee / mustard oil

1 tbsp freshly minced coriander leaves for garnishing

Make a smooth paste of the black pepper, ginger, dried red chili and vinegar and then mix it with the garlic paste and marinate your chicken for about an hour. Meanwhile give a light pounding to the dry spices (green cardamom, black cardamom, cinnamon . mace and clove)

Now heat the ghee or mustard oil and add the chicken and seal its juices by cooking it on high flame for 2 minutes and then add the onion paste and tomato paste and keep stirring it well coating the chicken and then cover and cook on medium flame for a minute and add salt and the spices which you have pounded. Mix well and add the whisked curd and then add the water and bring to a boil stirring continuously (else the yogurt will split) and simmer covered for 5 minutes till the curry seems thick and coats the chicken . Garnish with coriander leaves and enjoy this hot ,fiery and lip-smacking dish with hot steaming rice or soft hot fluffy chapatis .

Tips

1. The breast and things and legs of a chicken need a different time for cooking which is why we often end up cooking an entire chicken and some pieces of the curry come out soft and succulent while some other pieces come out a bit stringy which is why only thighs and legs have been used. You can reserve the breast for later usage. 
2. Before you add the water to the curry add it to the bowl in which you have marinated the chicken and give it a good stir then add this water from the bowl to the bowl in which you have whisked the yogurt stir and then add to the pot. This way you do not waste any flavours. 
3. Always make sure that you whisk your curd before adding it to the pot else it will curdle. 

Chanar Jilipi (Cottage Cheese Jalebi)

Chanar Jilipi (Cottage Cheese Jalebi) 

 There comes a time of the year when the entire state of Bengal gets intoxicated with celebrating the Goddess Durga.

Now the whole of India loves jalebis , fermented deep fried soaked in syrup ,its crunchy and sweet and delicious but then it is only in Bengal that we have Chanar Jilipi soft and luscious soaked in sugar syrup. To be fair Bengal has its own love affair with ' Chana ' fresh cottage cheese and its other love affair is with sweets. The variety of sweets that you get here amazes everyone.

Makes 8 Jalebis

1 litre full cream milk
1 tbsp to 2 tbsp vinegar diluted with 1 tbsp to 2 tbsp water
3 heaped tbsp all purpose flour
1 tbsp semolina
A tiny pinch of baking soda
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp ghee

Oil for deep-frying

For the syrup :-

1.5 cup sugar
3 cups water
A few drops of lemon juice
3 green cardamom

Start by making the cottage cheese aka 'chena' by first bringing the milk to a roaring boil and then adding the diluted vinegar. You shall see the green whey separate from the white cheese. One must immediately turn down the heat and let the cheese form for about 5 minutes and then switch off the gas and cover the pan and leave it for 5 minutes.

Before I added the whey 

Now gather the cheese aka 'chena' in a cheese-cloth or muslin cloth and drain it of the whey by hanging it for about 15 minutes or so. Do not throw away the whey.

Now make your dough with the chena , sugar, all purpose flour, baking soda , ghee, 1 tbsp whey and semolina. Your dough must be extremely soft. Kneading the dough on a wooden surface gives the best result.

Once you are done kneading leave the dough to rest for 15 minutes and in the meanwhile start preparing the sugar syrup by bringing the sugar and water to a boil and adding the cardamom and lemon juice and simmering for 5 minutes.

Now give a good kneading to the dough and divide it into 4 equal halves and then make eight balls from these halves and roll out each ball gently but firmly to form a cylindrical shape. When you are forming the cylinders make sure you dip your hands in the why and then mash the balls and form the cylinders , but do it gently because if you put too much of pressure it will leave cracks and now form a 6 with the dough bring the loose end towards the head and press it gently to form the shape.

 These must not have any cracks and if the dough doesn't have enough liquid it starts cracking which is why you must dip your fingers in the whey.

Now heat enough oil for deep frying but on low heat. Gently slide the final raw chanar jilipi in the oil and fry it till its a golden reddish colour on both the sides and then soak it in the syrup for 2 hours before serving it.

Very Important tips :-

1. You must use full fat milk else the taste is almost always compromised upon 
2. When you are making the syrup adding the lemon juice prevents crystallization. 
3. When making the dough if you happen to add even a bit of extra bicarbonate of soda your jilipis will break when you are frying them which is why after forming the dough and having it let it rest you should first shape and fry and in case it spreads out use a bit of flour , say about 2 tbsp flour and knead the dough. This will prevent the rest of the jilipis from cracking and spreading. 
4. When you are frying the jilipi it must be on low heat at all times. It will take a frustratingly long time but if you increase the heat it will burn or become golden very quickly and the insides will remain raw.

Nimki (Bengali Namak Pare)

Nimki (Bengali Namak pare) 

Memories can take you in a trance. It makes you do things that you usually do not do. This is actually the first Durga Puja where I am away from my family. To be fair growing up Durga Puja meant 3 things to me, visiting my maternal grandmother on Shasti which is one of the  auspicious days during the Durga Puja , holidaying somewhere and then eating a lot of sweets on Dashami but when I would get tired of the sweets I would run to the 'Bharar Ghor' which means the store-room , take the container which contained crispy, crunchy salty treats and take a handful and keep munching on them.

As far as I can remember there has not been one single day in our family when 'Nimki' was not present in the house. Nimki is a deep fried crunchy flaky crispy snack which is an utter delight to have with your tea or just like that. Its known as Namak Pare in the Northern parts of India but that variant is slightly different.

To be fair lets talk a bit about the lady who was responsible for the year round presence of Nimki at our home. If I were asked to describe my amma 'paternal grandmother' I would say she is intensely independent in all its true sense, extremely strong willed, confident, progressive, former school teacher , traveler and the lady who cannot live without her 'Nimki's . If she would have had her way she would have carried these crispies everywhere be it Europe or Australia or Africa but sadly for her the immigration at various airports have different ideas.

Anyway what has always marvels me is despite being all those things she has this intense interest in the kitchen.  Age might have slowed her down but she refuses to bow down to age and creates a ruckus in the kitchen but then again we can't take the fire away else the candle will stop burning all together.

To be fair the one thing that my grandmother taught me was to take the best of things without prejudice and even though there is no room for prejudice in this case the recipe I followed is my Mimi's (aunt's who never gets one single dish imperfect) and with her tips anyone can make perfect Nimkis such is her ability to teach all which I would share with you. She gets her recipes from her mother which was shared a good 40 years ago.

I decided that this was the day I would make Nimkis which led to a phone call where all I could say was 'I am making Nimkis and I remembered you' to which my grandmother said, 'I will make Nimkis for you when you come back' Well this time I will make her those crispy delight.

I dedicate this to everyone and serving this with all those fabulous sweets on Dashami , Navaratri and any special occasion is sure to win your guests over.

Before we begin one should know that controlling  and temperature and having patience are the key ingredients to this recipe

So here is a recipe which makes enough Nimki for 5 to 6 people

2.5 cups all purpose flour
Pinch of baking soda
Salt as per taste (I needed 1.5 tsp)
Fat pinch of Oion seeds 'Kala jeera'
6 tbsp vegetable oil for the dough
1 tbsp rice flour (the traditional method)  or cornflour
1/2 cup lukewarm  water
1/2 tsp to 1 tsp chili powder
Juice from 1 lemon

Refined Oil for deep frying

Start by making your dough by dumping the dry ingredients along with the spices and salt in a large bowl and mixing them with your clean hands and then make the hole in the center and add the oil and slowly add the water bit by bit working your dough continuously. At first the dough will be a bit sticky but you must keep working it till it becomes a smooth elastic dough. Leave it covered for 15 minutes and now heat the oil (medium flame )  in a deep bottomed pan. Divide the dough and roll it out and then cut it into diamond shaped patterns and deep fry till golden on both the sides.

You must remember that when you put the diamond shaped dough in the oil it must be on medium heat and after  1 minute turn it down to low and fry it on low. It will take you anywhere between 10 minutes to 15 minutes. You know they are almost done when they feel hard to touch with the spatula .

Now you must increase the temperature to medium for 2 minutes and then take them out with a slotted spoon , drain them and then let them cool down before trying them out.Store them in air-tight containers and enjoy with your cup of tea.

Important tips :-

1. The lemon juice and baking soda make the nimkis crispy 
2. Controlling temperature is very very important. If you try frying the nimkis on high heat it will burn them or give it a bitter taste. 
3. Don't be scared to use as many nimkis in the oil as possible because in the beginning they might seem a bit crowded they soon start frying and separating 
4. Testing their done-ness is a bit like testing biscuits where you need them to completely cool down 

This is part of Kolkata Food Blogger's Durga Puja Event 

Fish in Lemon Sauce

Fish in Lemon Sauce

I personally believe that the success of a dish depends 85% on its taste , 5% on presentation and 10% on the emotions attached to it. While dishes do have the power to transform a bad day into a better one I a dish with the special addition of memories makes the experience of having the dish even better.

Lets be clear on one fact though, a dish cannot simply succeed on the emotions attached to it. The base should be its taste.

I funnily come from a strange family where praises are hardly ever given or received other than those rare occasions  . To be fair most daughters will claim that their mothers are the best cooks in the world. I make no such claim. I grew up with a radically independent mother who was good at organizing trips had immense pride not to be confused with arrogance and was honest and tough. She would consciously avoid the kitchen just because she felt like it and then there would be those rare occasions when she would cook which I mostly did not take an interest in because when I was young I had a problem with most dishes until the age of 15 years.


My mother might not have cooked but she gave me some of the most memorable times which usually remains buried and sometimes come out with a force which you cannot look away from be it those Saturdays when she would bring home those sandwiches for the mother and the daughter or the trips to the Museums but then the memories which I love looking at are of our tiny family of three going out for Chinese cuisine once every week. Calcutta can boast of a long and strong association with Chinese cuisine courtesy of the Chinese population who made Calcutta their home centuries ago . As a result you get some of the best Chinese dishes in Calcutta.

Hau Hua was one such Chinese eatery which we loved. Soon I was deeply involved with swimming which sadly put a stop to our beautiful family outings. It was around this time when I was about 11 years or so that my mother suddenly started making Chinese dishes just a few but what I remember was how astonished I was with those dishes. You see while most of the girls at school would bring these lovely lunch boxes prepared lovingly by their mothers I used to carry the same old boring lunch box of bread and butter with some fruit which was sometimes changed for a cake or so. I was honestly jealous of the girls who would brag about how well their mothers cook be it the sandwiches or fried rice and then my mother did something which made me realize that I had a gem of a cook at home.

There she was the one who never entered the kitchen whipping up exact replicas of Hau Hua's dishes. She mostly stuck to 3 dishes but boy were they amazing, neither oily nor with the overpowering taste of garlic and ginger it was just perfect and my mother was definitely not modest about the dishes. Sure she take hours to prepare a dish but when she did they came out perfect.

Much later in life I realized why my mother could make such amazing dishes despite not entering the kitchen too often. Cooking those dishes was not an obligation for her. Of course everyone cooks out of love but her greatest strength was  her desire for perfection without the burden of obligation. She was free , more free than a bird.

She could take hours chopping the carrots as thinly as possible without any hurry or worry. This merry time lasted a short while till I became a difficult teenager and then I developed this intense passion for cooking which I cannot say I got from my mother but then the woman did make some of the best Chinese dishes that there ever can be. So here I am sharing one of her recipes which I altered just a bit and it all comes from memories because my mother never wrote it down and when I recently asked her to make it she said she has forgotten which is a complete lie since her memory is like an elephant's but I guess those times of abandoning  homework on the sly (she would be furious if I abandoned homework) to take a sneak peak at how she makes it  is finally paying off.

She would usually use chicken but I used basa to make Fish in lemon sauce because we Bengalis love our fish and Chinese food and with the famous Durga Puja round the corner this is part of Kolkata Food Blogger's Puja event Durga Puja Bhuri Bhoj 

Here is the recipe which serves 2 :-

200gm to 250gm of Basa or any other boneless fillet
2 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
2 tbsp scallion (the leaves alone)
2 tbsp cornflour
Salt as per taste
2 bird eye chili (My mother would not use this but I found it to increase the flavour)
2 tbsp lemon juice
3/4th cup water

2 tbsp oil

Simply make a course paste of the ginger and garlic and then marinate the fish for 1 hour with salt, 1 tbsp lemon juice and the juice from the ginger garlic paste and reserve the rest of the paste for the sauce .

Now coat the fish with 1.5 tbsp cornflour and shallow fry in  2 tbsp oil till its golden on both sides and in the same pan add the ginger-garlic paste and saute for a while taking care not to burn it. Add half the chopped scallion and saute and add 1/2 cup water. Now take 1 tsp cornflour in the bowl in which you have marinated the fish and 1/4th cup water bit by bit to make sure that the cornflour dissolves without leaving any lump and add a bit of salt and add this to the pan and bring to a boil and check the level of salt and add more if required and then add the fish and chopped bird eye chili and simmer for 5 minutes and add the remaining  lemon juice and simmer for another 3 minutes to 5 minutes  .

Serve with plain white rice

Tips :-

Lemon juice should only be added right at the end of simmering else it might make the sauce bitter.