No Oil East Meets West Chicken Stew

No Oil East Meets West Chicken Stew 

This is my no oil week well to be more precise its a no fry no saute  week so when I wanted to have this chicken stew I remembered a chicken stew my father had made a few weeks ago which was scrumptious and which used no garlic ginger or any spice whatsoever and no oil as well but that turmeric chicken oil and I am guessing tomatoes, he did not give me the recipe :) Well when you decide to follow a healthy diet , know this that you have to be very smart. So you hear everyone around you saying , 'Rice is evil it fattens you up' well that bit is not true. Like any other food if taken in large quantities it is but a single serving of cooked rice which equals to 1 cup contains about 242 calories and lets say you have a big bowl of soup and you cut down your rice intake to 1/2  a cup of cooked rice then you only have 121 calories.

While preparing the stew I realized this has a very nice East meets West connection. So there is turmeric, chopped chilies , ginger , raw papaya from the East and then there is Chives, White wine vinegar from the West and then there are some ingredients which are global be it the chicken itself, cabbage , garlic . This can be enjoyed with both rice and bread or even chapatis

This is kind of perfect for the Indian summers when the heat becomes unbearable. Its light and easy on the stomach yet very nutritious

So anyway this stew is hearty and delicious and is extremely healthy

What you need for 4 servings :-

300gm skinless chicken with bone
3 to 4 small onions
2 cups of diced papaya (You can replace it with carrots and beans or a combination of papaya , carrots , beans and other vegetables)
2 cups of shredded cabbage
6 cups of water
Salt as per taste
1 tsp chives
1.5 tsp White wine vinegar
2 tsp finely chopped green chilies (you can increase of decrease the amount of green chilies as per your taste buds)
Paste made from 3 large cloves of garlic and 1 inch ginger
Pinch of turmeric

The recipe is the simplest one ever. Just boil everything together and then simmer for 20 minutes or so and its ready.

P.S. You can always make the stew more wholesome by adding wholewheat noodles or rice noodles

If you want it to be extra hot you can always make a paste of the garlic ginger and chilies together.

You can always add 1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil when serving because Extra Virgin Olive Oil is healthy and it adds a wonderful flavour

Simple Bengali Cabbage Curry

Simple Cabbage Curry 

Bangalir Sadha seedhe Bandhakopir ghanta 

Now some of the most simple dishes can give you such joy that you feel stumped about what culinary magic can do to you. This one is a simple common dish found in every household. Ranging from yellowish colour (due to love for turmeric) to a beautiful greenish yellow colour it is mildly sweet with a hint of that exotic flavour of cinnamon.

Now the usual norm is to use bodis (lentil which is soaked mashed and then made into tiny mountains which is sun dried and stored) which is fried to bring out that delightful crunchiness. Now having prepared this dish in a different state with no access to the "bodis" I gave it a shot with whatever was handy which was everything else but the "bodis" and yet the taste was amazing.

What you need is simple

I used 3/4th of a large sized cabbage and shredded it finely
1 heaped tbsp ginger  cumin chili paste (I used 1 green chili and Half a tsp cumin seeds)
1 large bay leaf
2 dried red chilies
Salt as per taste
1 heaped tsp cumin seeds
Pinch of asafoetida (one of the key ingredients to bring out flavour)
1.5 inch cinnamon
2 to 3 slit green chilies
Pinch of turmeric since I like mine retaining a bit of green colour.
1 tbsp ghee / clarified butter
Sugar as per taste. (Now Bengalis like their dishes a bit sweet but then your preference for sweetness varies from home to home so use as per your taste) I usually use 2 tsp sugar
Fresh finely chopped coriander leaves

A mild variation



For a bit of variation you can use :-

Half a tomato
1 cup soaked Bengal gram (must be soaked overnight)
1/2 cup water

Start by shredding your cabbage and making your pastes. Now heat the clarified butter and add the asafoetida, the add your cumin seeds and when they splutter add the dried red chili and bay leaf and the ginger cumin green chili paste , saute well and add your cinnamon after giving it a nice pounding and then add the cabbage. Cabbage does not need any water and so simply simmer but after covering it. Check after 7 minutes and you shall find the quantity to have reduced to half its original quantity. Stir well and if required sprinkle a bit of water and add salt, turmeric and sugar. Look till its all done and garnish with slit green chilies and fresh finely chopped coriander leaves. The fresh flavour it adds is hard to beat. Enjoy this simple dish with fluffy white rice.

For the variation

If you are using the tomato and Bengal gram just add the tomato after adding the spices and mix well and add the Bengal gram after adding the shredded cabbage. In this case you need to add the 1/2 cup water and bring it to a boil after adding the cabbage and Bengal gram and then simmering it covered till the water dries up.