Coconut Poppy seed Mutton

Coconut Poppy seed Mutton 

The first time I slow cooked mutton was after reading an article where the author spoke to a member of one of India's erstwhile Royal families who harped on the beauty of a meat dish when it is slow cooked. That was it I slow cooked mutton , loved it and stuck to it and then there was this one time where the Cooking gas was delivered a month late than it was supposed to be delivered and the household was in a chaos. So for sometime I tried reducing the time taken for slow cooking by slow cooking in a pressure cooker for half the time and then slow cooking the meat which suited me not too badly but then again I must have not even known that in the corner of my heart I did miss slow cooking meat.

One of the wonderful things about interacting with people who are passionate about food is that sometimes matters related to cooking becomes even more clear to you. I am lucky to be part of a group where we have professional chefs and passionate home cooks interacting with each other and so I once again realized I had to slow cook meat and so I did and now its either slow cooking meat or no cooking meat. The flavour is amazing as is the texture of meat which is neither tough nor over cooked but sticks to its bones and melts in your mouth when you take a bite.

I love the flavour of coconut and spices so I was set on this spice mix from Lucknow which uses Charmagaz ( a blend of 4 seeds) etc but then alas I was out of charmagaz.

Thankfully I met with a friend who was talking about how people in our neighbourng state makes meat curry with Poppy seeds. And I knew exactly how I wanted my meat curry to be.

Marinating the mutton in raw papaya juice lessened the time of cooking by half an hour and in the end we licked our bowls clean with some piping hot rice.

From my personal experience the meat tastes even better if you leave it overnight post cooking where the flavours get absorbed even better and you have a wonderful breakfast or brunch for the next day.

800gm goat meat / lamb meat

For marination :-

1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp raw papaya juice

130gm sliced onions
100gm yogurt

For the spice mix :-

2 tbsp heaped grated coconut
1 tbsp poppy seeds
2 blades of mace
3 green cardamom
1.5 inch cinnamon
4 cloves
4 whole dried Kashmiri Red Chilies
2 fiery hot dried red chili (choose a variant which is hot)

100gm clarified butter

Marinate the meat in raw papaya juice and ginger garlic paste for about 3 hours to 4 hours.

Heat the ghee and fry the sliced onions on low to medium heat till its golden brown. take care not to overbrown it. Add the meat and immediately lower heat to absolute low , cover and cook for 30 minutes. Keep it on low heat throughout.

Now whisk the curd well and add it to the meat and stir continuously till it forms a homogeneous mixture.

Now take the ingredients of the spice mixture and leaving aside the fresh grated coconut dry roast the rest and let it slightly cool down and make a dry mixture, add the coconut and grind further and then keep it aside.

When you have cooked the meat for 1 hour from the time you started cooking it add the spice mixture and salt  and lower heat sprinkle water and cover and cook for another 45 minutes to 1 hour till the meat is cooked through.

Keep sprinkling water and stirring every 15 minutes.

Once cooked cover and let the meat rest for 15 minutes and serve with hot piping rice

The resting period is crucial for better flavour and texture of meat.

Sesame Chili Garlic Chicken

Sesame Chili Garlic Chicken 

These last 3 weeks have been absolutely crazy for me. I am overworked and that means on most days of the week I am working almost 10 hours to 12 hours. My workout and diet has gone for a toss , my sleep cycle has literally changed but in between all this the only silver lining is the fact that every 3 to 4 days I try and cook something nice and that energizes me and I get motivated to work again though work has no connection with cooking or with food for that matter.

The thing is even when I have a lot of work I always find time to cook. Sometimes when I cook something special even with a mountain load of work I share the photographs on social media but then it becomes impossible to write about the experience because after all those hours of work or a break in between work all I want to do is watch some episodes from my favourite soaps and relax.

So I am yet to share my experience of making this lovely Pork Roast and handmade pasta and then there are some dishes which I didn't even bother documenting.

Anyway finally there is a 2 to 3 day break between 2 projects and I have very little work to complete today and so I finally managed to visit the market in the morning.

When it comes to food I usually listen to what my heart wants. I have been wanting to make my favourite Oriental stir fry which I make quite often . Its extremely simple easy to make and with a simple trick you get juicy succulent chicken which I learnt from Rasamalysia's website. Basically this recipe is something I tossed up taking reference from Oriental cooking but Rasamalaysia's tip on getting juicy chicken is a foolproof method.

Serves 2 :-

200gm boneless chicken cut up in bite sized pieces

2 tsp chili garlic paste (I usually make mine by soaking  1 head of garlic, 70gm dried red chili in enough rice wine vinegar and salt for 2 hours and then blend it to a paste) This stays in the refrigerator for 6 months since it has no water in it and can be used for a variety of Oriental dishes
2 tsp Shaoxing wine
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1.5 tbsp peanut oil or refined oil
2 tsp Oyster sauce which can be repalced by Hoisin sauce
Salt as per taste (Usually I do not need salt because the sauces have salt in them)
1/2 tsp bi-carbonate of soda
1 tbsp cornflour

For garnishing :-

2 tbsp finely minced spring onion
1 tbsp sesame seeds

So chop the chicken in bite sized pieces and its important that its bite sized and marinate with the bi-carbonate of soda and leave it to marinate for 20 minutes and wash the chicken very well. Now pat the chicken dry and marinate with half of the rest of the ingredients  except the sesame oil and peanut oil and let it marinate for 45 minutes.

Dry roast the sesame seeds on low heat making sure it does not brown and leave aside

Heat the oil and stir fry the chicken on high heat for a minute and add the rest of the ingredients from the marinate and then toss for 2 minutes . You should ideally use a pan with a handle and keep tossing it. This comes with practice because toss it for too long and you get tough chicken, toss it for too little time and the chicken remains under cooked.

Garnish with the toasted sesame seeds and finely minced spring onion and let the chicken rest for 3 minutes and serve it as a snack or with hot sticky rice.

P.S. You can always make a version of your own but swapping the ingredients gives a different flavour if you omit some of the ingredients.

Butter Chicken / Murgh Makhani

Butter Chicken / Murgh Makhani 

Cut to 2017 and when I finally tried the butter chicken from Moti mahal Daryaganj, Delhi where this iconic dish had been created donkey years ago .  I realized how the real butter chicken should be like and I also realized that the butter chicken I had created using the recipe from this fabulous cookbook from the house of moti mahal gifted to me by Pritha tasted quite similar to the one I tasted at Moti Mahal.

Be warned that copious amount of butter has been used in the recipe and its meant to be that buttery. This is supposed to be for those are days of indulgence hence a bit of extra buttering is welcome.

Back in 2007 right out of school I was learning to make a lot of new dishes and I had tried the butter chicken masala but since our oven was broken at that time I used the chicken normally after frying it and so I can assure you that the tandoori chicken makes a whole lot of difference.

To be fair the entire process is not difficult at all. A little bit of patience is needed what with the time for marination and the grilling of the tandoori chicken but the end result is magnificent.

I understand if you have just moved into a new house or are yet to buy an oven then of course you have no other option but to use the gas stove for the chicken before it is cooked in the gravy. In that case pan roast it . I don't recommend this wholeheartedly but then again originally the tandoori chicken is made in a clay tandoor 'Clay Oven' so there you go.

What I particularly liked was that the book used chicken with bones. I personally feel when cooking Indian gravies chicken with bones work much better than boneless chicken and then I was assured by many on social media that originally it was cooked with bones but not with the skin on mind you.

Serves 3 to 4

You need tandoori chicken : Recipe Here : Tandoori Chicken


For the gravy you need 560gm tomatoes (firm and ripe)
1 heaped tsp ginger paste
1 heaped tsp garlic paste
85gm to 100gm softened butter
100ml to 120ml full dairy cream
Salt as per taste
1 tsp tandoori masala / garam masala made with green cardamom, black cardamom, bay leaf, black peppercorn and cinnamon
1 tbsp Kashmiri red chili powder

Once the tandoori chicken has been made start with the gravy.

Melt 1 tbsp butter and add the ginger garlic paste and saute for 1 minute and add chopped tomatoes and saute stirring continuously for 3  minutes to 5 minutes on medium flame and add 3/4th of the remaining butter. Now lower the heat and simmer till the oil separates and the cream , tandoori masala or garam masala , some salt and mix well and cook on low heat till its bubbling away. Joint the chicken (cut it up into medium sized pieces using a butcher's knife) and add this to the gravy , cover and cook for 4 minutes and then Mix well , add the remaining butter and serve with hot butter chapati or tandoori roti. Enjoy

Tips :-

1. If using salted butter go easy on the salt in the gravy 
2. In case you are not using the oven for the tandoori chicken . Marinate it as instructed and then heat a bit of ghee or mustard oil in a shallow flat pan and add the chicken and cook on low heat covered for 6 minutes per side. Then one the pan increase heat and cook for 2 minutes per side. Let it rest for 5 minutes and cut it into pieces. 

Potato Ham Salad with Homemade Mustard Dressing

Potato Ham Salad with Homemade Mustard Dressing 

My idea of a delicious summertime salad is quite endless but since we are almost reaching the end of our week of Celebrating salads here is sharing a favourite of mine which is easy enough to be whipped on days when you are drop dead tired.

The cold potato with cubed ham with a mustard dressing works beautifully for me. Here is hoping it works for you as well.

I like using fresh ingredients and hence I used fresh lean ham from the local cold storage and requested that they slice the ham a bit thick keeping this salad in mind.

Makes 2 servings

2 large potatoes boiled and diced
100gm diced ham
Fresh thyme as per taste

For the dressing :-

I used 1 tsp of my homemade Mustard
2.5 tsp Extra Vigin Olive Oil which you may replace with butter
Salt as per taste

Chill the potato and ham . Right before serving toss the ham and potato with the whisked mustard dressing , a bit of fresh thyme and voila its ready.

You may want to add a bit of honey to your dressing. I personally did not want any other flavour to interfere with the sharp taste of mustard and hence I did not add any other flavouring agent.

Grilled Chicken Litchi Salad with Molasses mustard dressing

Grilled Chicken Litchi Salad with Molasses Mustard Dressing 

There is that time for celebration when you are perfectly happy with a particular method of cooking and as long as the results seem perfect to you that is all that matters. Having said that I still believe there are a few rules to be followed when it comes to cooking dishes. For instance its all well and good to make mistakes while baking your tart shell but passing off a soggy bottomed tart shell as perfect just because one has put in the effort in his or her kitchen is a tad too sad. Then again if you like soggy bottomed tarts you should perhaps dance around a bit.

Anyway moving on to my week of celebrating salads. This one is close to my heart because I am finally 100% satisfied with my grilled chicken leg. A few months ago I had shared with you how I had followed this method of basically steaming the chicken for 5 minutes and then grilling it which does give very good results but  while I was more or less satisfied with the result somehow in my mind I still wanted to grill chicken without creating excess steam in my oven.  I wanted to master the technique of grilling in my oven without a shortcut method.

Here I have to mention that I do not own a barbecue stove so my grilled chicken is not fully cooked the way it is supposed to be since it does not involve cooking over coal which gives it that smoky flavour and while there is another method that I have been told about which creates the smoky flavour this whole faux pas method seems a bit like cheating to me.

So here is the most juicy chicken legs that I have ever made in the oven.

Since we are celebrating salad week I rested the chicken for 2 minutes and then sliced the meat, kept the bones for stock to be made later on and tossed it with my greens. The other point is that I simply adore pairing meat with fruits. Give me some Kebabs and fresh fruits and I am a happy girl. In this salad I have used some tropical summer fruits , 'Litchi' and the fleshy sweet fruit was a delight with the fresh salad.


Serves 2

2 cups of mixed salad greens (I used a mixture of Romaine lettuce and red leaf lettuce)
7 to 8 plump litchi skinned and de-seeded
1 chicken leg (thigh and leg)

To marinate the chicken :-

1/3rd tsp fresh rosemary
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt as per taste
2 tsp balsamic vinegar

For the dressing :-

3/4th tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/3rd tbsp Molasses
1/2 tsp mustard
Salt as per taste


I used skinless chicken so I made some slits on both sides and marinated the chicken for 18 hours with the ingredients mentioned for marination.

Preheat the oven at 180C. Place the rack on the top most part of the oven and grill the chicken for 5 minutes per side brushing the chicken with a bit of olive oil when you turn the chicken and then increase the oven temperature to 230C with the mode where the heat comes from the top alone and grill for 4 minutes per side and then let the chicken rest for 5 minutes.

In the meantime toss your greens with the litchi and then slice up the chicken leg and throw in the meat . Whisk the dressing and enjoy a healthy and satisfying lunch or dinner.

Very important tip

1. If your greens have drooped a bit simply fill a bowl with ice cold water and plunge in the greens for 5 minutes and voila you have beautiful crisp salad greens.  
2. The summers of India are terrible and preserving your freshly bought salad greens can be a pain. So here is a tip to store greens and herbs. The day you buy them wrap them in cloth and put them in the refrigerator. they stay fresh for a week. This tip was shared by my kind vegetable vendor and it works very well. 

Murgh Khade Masala Stew (Chicken Stew cooked with Whole Spices )

Murgh  Khade Masala Ke Stew 

(Indian Chicken Stew cooked with Whole Spices ) 

There are times when you want to have your cake and eat it too. Usually when I make chicken stew I use herbs and at times a bit of wine along with the vegetables of the season and that makes it a Western influenced dish.

Today all of a sudden I was craving some spicy dish yet this extreme hot and humid weather is a big deterrent for me to cook spicy rich gravies and then  I suddenly thought of making some Murgh Khade masala Ke meaning Chicken cooked with Whole Spices. In fact while cooking it I decided it should have some soupy gravy instead of a rich thick one and what resulted  in the end  was a delight to have. It had the fragile flavour of all the whole spices. When you dry roast spices and grind them it automatically increases the spiciness of the dish. In this dish because the spices are kept whole it leads to this aromatic flavourful dish. The yogurt used in the dish adds flavour  and because yogurt is a natural coolant it makes the dish perfect for the hot weather.

This is best enjoyed with some rice or handmade flatbread 'Chapati'

The other point is that chicken breasts need a lot of care while cooking because a little bit of extra cooking leads to dry chewy texture. For roasts and other European dishes with the skin on it still does give you some protection but for Indian curries where the chicken is always cooked skinless and doesn't use any batter as coating for protection,  this one problem has always bothered me and then I found a solution from RasaMalaysia's site. She shared the trade secret of keeping chicken breasts juicy moist and delicious by marinating pieces of chicken breast in bi-carbonate of soda for 15 minutes to 30 minutes and washing them well before marinating the chicken or cooking it directly and boy does it work like a miracle. The chicken breast stays juicy , moist and full of flavour and so I applied it for my Indian Chicken Stew cooked with Whole Spices. It did work beautifully in keeping the pieces of chicken breast juicy and moist.

1 Kilogram chicken cut up in medium sizes
1 tsp bi-carbonate of soda
1 tbsp smooth thick garlic paste
Paste made from 1 inch ginger
4 small onions sliced thinly
3 tbsp yogurt beaten well with a bit of warm water
2 cups water
1/2 cup cashew nuts (This is optional but I like it when I use it. If using the cashew nuts simply grind it with half the yogurt till it reaches a creamy consistency)

Spices :-

4 to 5 green cardamom
1 black cardamom
2 medium sized 'Tej Patta' aka 'Indian bay Leaf'
6 whole dried red chilies
2 inch cinnamon
5 cloves
Pinch of turmeric
1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
 Salt as per taste


Take out the pieces of chicken breast and marinate these pieces with bi-carbonate of soda and leave it aside for 20 minutes and then wash it very well and marinate all of your chicken with ginger garlic paste and let it marinate for 1 hour to 2 hours.

Make a smooth paste of the yogurt and cashew nuts. Add turmeric and chili powder to this mixture.

Heat the ghee in a deep bottomed vessel and add the onion on low heat and when it becomes golden brown add all your spices including the dried red chilies and stir for 1 minute and add the chicken all the while keeping the heat on low. Stir for 5 minutes on low heat and then add the curd cashew nut paste along with salt and water and keep stirring on low heat till it comes to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.

For a quicker method once you add the water and salt bring the content to a boil on high heat and immediately after it comes to a boil simmer for 40 minutes.

Enjoy this delicious stew with some 'Chapati' or any type flat bread or even rice.

Bacon Parmesan Rocket salad to Kick start my Salad Week

Bacon Parmesan Rocket salad 

to Kick start my Salad Week 

When it comes to  blogging I follow my heart more than anything else. While there are weeks when I might blog everyday of the week there might be days on the end when I would cook and even click photographs for documentation but not blog about it at all.

Just the other day I was talking with a friend and a blogger about how its our passion for cooking which is actually what keeps us going even on those days when we would just want to drop dead or are tired and then comes the blog for documentation.

Anyway when I met Pritha who blogs from Guilt-Free I remember exactly what had impressed me about her blog and firstly it was this coffee cake. I am a complete coffee lover not an addict though. Well I do need my one cup per day but that's only after waking up otherwise I am good. Anyway so a coffee flavoured cake immediately caught my attention and then when I took out time to read some of her earlier posts. I usually have this habit of going back to a blog's posts when it had taken its baby steps. Anyway the moment I did that what impressed me most was this discipline that she follows when it comes to her blog at times. Her blog itself started on a dessert a week note which impressed me to no end.

And then as the story goes like minds met over an event. We had a potluck . We talked and talked for hours. I went to Mumbai and yet we would talk endlessly about food and in-between she actually took a one month Bengali food marathon project and low and behold she stuck to her promise.

I for one do not have that kind of discipline . In fact when I joined her for her Christmas event I was the one who actually lagged behind. And she is the one who holds a full time job and there I was well working of course and as a freelancer I was swamped with work but still the point is I got inspired by my friend. Do take a look at her blog for possible exciting events this June and there is also a possibility of a joint venture Event by 2 insane girls who love to cook and eat and click .

Anyway so inspired by my friend I decided I should do an event one that is close to me and quite honestly I love salads. My point is salads can be beautiful. They are just not part of diet food projects, In fact a hearty salad can actually fill your stomach and emotions so that you actually do not end up eating a lot of unhealthy food.

So let's kick start my Salad Week with a Bacon Parmesan Rocket salad. The beauty of this dish is that the 3 ingredients used in the dish is all that you need for this beautiful salad. Personally speaking I don't use a dressing for the salad because otherwise the beauty is lost. Its the peppery taste of rocket leaves along with the crisp bacon a bit of crisp fatty portion and a hint of that glorious Parmesan cheese that makes it one of the best salads ever. In fact I don't even use salt since I get all the salt that I require from the bacon and I leave out freshly crushed pepper because the peppery taste of the rockets provides that superb bite to my salad.

Salad that serves 1 person

1 cup to 1.5 cups rocket leaves removed from the stem
100gm bacon cut into bite sized pieces
Parmesan shavings as much as you need


Here is an important tip to make sure your rocket leaves are absolutely crisp and fresh if they seem a bit wilted due to the heat. Plunge them in ice cold water with a few ice cubes and let it soak while you fry the bacon its on absolute low heat turning them once one side has become golden brown. In my experience if you start frying the bacon on low heat it becomes crisp without any burnt parts. Once the bacon is fried drain it well and then assemble the salad.

Simply drain the rocket leaves, arrange them in a salad bowl top it with bacon and Parmesan shavings and voila its that easy to whip up this gorgeous salad.

If you want you may drizzle the salad with a bit of Extra Virgin Olive Oil  but I would steer clear of vinegar or any wet ingredients which would hamper the crisp characteristics of the bacon.

Tandoori Chicken in the Oven

Tandoori Chicken in the Oven 

I have till date avoided making kebabs because I do not own a charcoal grill and while my oven makes delicious grilled chicken I somehow cannot fathom the idea of kebabs without the smoky taste. In the past I have tried using the method where you take a piece of charcoal and heat it up and then put that in a bowl add a few drops of oil or clarified butter and put this with the food you want to smoke covering it. Well to be fair that is nowhere close to a charcoal grill.

Anyway its wonderful to have friends who know exactly what would make you happy and so when Pritha who blogs from Guilt Free gifted me the book , 'On the Butter Chicken Trail' by Monish Gujral from the house of 'Moti Mahal Deluxe' the very restaurant which has supposedly created butter chicken I was ready with my ladle , spoon and spices.

Anyway point is I am quite neurotic when it comes to spice blends. I make my own and do not recall having ever bought garam masala or spcie mix for any dish ever. Sowhen I saw the recipe for Tandoori masala it somehow clicked and then I saw the recipe for Tandoori chicken and I must say that I immediately wanted to make it.

I had all the ingredients at home and so there I was dry roasting the spices so Tandoori chicken to be cooked the next day. Not just that I do not use colour in food on principle and since the recipe did not use any food colour that was just an added excitement for me.

Now I did have to adjust the oven time quite a bit since the original recipe calls for a clay tandoor and even though the book has a method given for oven having made grilled chicken a lot of times the time given seemed way too little and so I adjusted the time and in the end it was juicy succulent spicy tandoori which I made 3 times in the span of a week and I have to say this recipe is for keeps. I did cut down the recipe for tandoori masala quite a bit and even then I have a small jar full of tandoori masala.

The Tandoori garam masala

50gm cumin seeds
50gm coriander seeds
15gm rose petals
8gm mace
8gm cinnamon
10gm black pepper powder
1 tsp green cardamom
2 whole black cardamom
1.5 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Dry roast all the spices on low heat making sure it doesn't burn and then cool and grind to a fine powder. Store in an air-tight jar.

Recipe adapted from On the Butter Chicken Trail

For the tandoori chicken

Serves 4

800gm whole skinless chicken

For the first marination

1.5 tsp salt
2 tbsp lemon juice
1.5 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder

For the second marination :-

200gm curd made into hung curd
2.1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp kashmiri red chili powder
1 heaped tsp tandoori garam masala
3/4th tsp kasoori methi

Melted butter or Clarified butter or mustard oil for basting

Joint the chicken making 4 pieces. Two legs + thigh and cut the breast in half  bone in . Wash , pat dry make 3 deep slits on the breasts and 2 slits on each side of the legs and 3 little cuts at the joint of the leg. Marinate with the ingredients mentioned in the list of ingredients for first marination and let the chicken marinate for 1 hour. In the meantime make hung curd from the 200gm curd by tying it up in a muslin cloth and removing the watery bit.

For your second marination marinate the chicken and leave it aside for 3 hours. In the original recipe a bit of rock salt is added but I hadn't used it for the second marination.

Preheat oven to 180C in grill mode heating both the rods .

While the oven gets preheated boil some water. Once the oven is preheated place the rack on which you are grilling the meat on the top most part of the oven and place a tray beneath is with a bowl of water on the tray. This creates steam and ensures that your chicken is thoroughly cooked. Grill for 10 minutes turning the chicken midway and then take the bowl out and increase the temperature to 230C and grill for another 15 minutes basting with the clarified butter or melted butter or mustard oil every 8 minutes and turning the chicken.

If you want a smoky flavour just heat a piece of coal and place it in a bowl , add a few drops of clarified butter or mustard oil or melted butter and put it on the tray for the last five minutes of grilling.

Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes and then serve juicy succulent delicious chicken. What I loved was how juicy and moist the chicken breast was since chicken breast is notorious for turning out too dry if overcooked.

Spatchcock 'Gondhoraj' Chicken

Spatchcock 'Gondhoraj' Chicken 

I love chicken roasts for many reasons but my favourite reason is the crisp chicken skin and the soft meat. Of course it is given that I am talking about the legs here. The biggest problem with chicken is cooking its breasts. After numerous and I really mean numerous errors and trials I finally know how to poach a chicken breast keeping it juicy moist and delicious. When it comes to grilling I still haven't mastered the technique where the breast meat stays ultra juicy other than when flattened completely which I believe leads to soft juicy chicken alright but alters the texture a bit.

When it comes to whole roasts or grills you don't have the option but to use the entire chicken. Problem is the breasts again.

Well while each family member demands the legs or wings someone has to eat the breasts. The easiest way to ensure that the breasts stay somewhat juicy is to of course truss the chicken and as is always extremely important and I cannot stress on it enough , resting the chicken breast side up is again very very very useful.

The only roasted chicken where the breasts stayed ultra juicy was when I used Jamie Oliver's Milk roast chicken : Milk Roasted chicken where the chicken is roasted submerged in milk and before that it is seared in hot oil and butter but then I am always looking for a variety of techniques.

Spatchcock chicken is one such technique which had caught my fancy.

Here is a video which had helped me spatchcock my chicken : How to Spatchcock Chicken

Now I seldom use flavours on my own without using a recipe as a base for my dishes but this time I tried it with a few local ingredients and boy was this one of the best flavours for grilled chicken that I have had. I used a particular type of lime we get here in Bengal called 'Gondhoraj Lebu' which is mostly used for its aroma and it added a delightful flavour indeed.

Basically spatchocking it makes it easy to grill and gives it a lovely crispy exterior. I used the oven for grilling. It had a beautiful flavour and a delightful crispy exterior.

So here goes the recipe :

Serves 3 to 4

1 whole chicken with skin 1.3 kilogram to 1.5 kilogram

Zest from 1 lime (use the local one available) I used 'gondhoraj lebu'
2 heaped tsp hot sauce (This is one I make at home with equal amounts of garlic and dried red chili and enough apple cider vinegar or any other vinegar to make a smooth paste)
2 tbsp Olive Oil (Again I took full advantage of the oppressive summers of India and sun dried kilos of tomato and stored them in extra virgin olive oil and used 2 tbsp of that oil for extra flavour)
Salt as per taste (I needed around 1 tbsp)

Clean, wash dry and then Spatchcock the chicken . Rub the chicken with salt making sure you massage it under the wings and everywhere and then massage it with the oil. Add the zest from the lime and then the chili garlic paste . At this point if your skin is very sensitive or the thought of your hands burning for a while puts you off use disposable gloves.

Let the chicken marinate for a good 4 hours or more and then put it on a rack and preheat oven using grill mode and then grill the chicken for 40 minutes or so till the skin is browned well.

I would suggest using a grilling tray or an iron skillet.

Remember to turn it after 10 minutes and turn it back after 20 minutes of grilling. Keep basting with  the marinate every 7 minutes or so.

Its every bit juicy and succulent but remember to definitely let it rest for a good 20 minutes after its cooked.

I used a grilling tray for grilling which had some dripping left over and I used a bit of warm water to collect the delightful juices and it made an amazing jus to go with my roast.

 In case you are reheating the chicken put it in the microwave for a mere 2 minutes and you must let it rest for a good 16 minutes or more else the chicken breast will be dry chewy and disgusting

Kancha Lonka Murgi II

Kancha Lonka Murgi II 

I rarely cook a special dish without following a recipe from an old cookbook or a cookbook by a chef I trust and I mostly stick to a recipe when I follow it which is why on that rare occasion when I make a recipe without following any recipe and go with my flow it instantly becomes special to me especially if I love the taste and more so if the people who taste it like it.

Now if you cannot stand heat and I meat hot and spicy food where the heat comes from chili then this particular recipe is not for you. It is called Green chili chicken for a reason.

What I most like about the dishes from my roots that is Bengal is how many of its recipes especially when meat is concerned is cooked sans garlic and onion and it yet turns out delicious.

Last year I made this 'Kacha Lonka Murgi' kancha lonka = green chili and Murgi = chicken following my friend Priyadarshini's recipe which used garlic and ginger paste and green chili.

This time I created my own recipe sans the garlic and I have to say I absolutely loved it. One other factor which is crucial is the use of mustard oil. This dish just simply cannot come out well without that strong flavour of mustard oil.

You must serve it with hot piping rice for a beautiful experience.


Makes approximately 4 to 5 servings :

1 kilogram chicken
40 green chilies made into a smooth paste using water. (The number of chilies depends largely on their strength of heat so start with 30 green chilies and if it doesn't taste hot enough use 40. I used 40 of them)
1 tbsp smooth ginger paste
3/4 tsp nigella seeds
1/2 tsp radhuni (optional)
4 tbsp mustard oil
Salt as per taste

Marinate the chicken with the ginger paste and some salt for 1 hour to 1.5 hours. Now heat the mustard oil and when its smoky turn down the heat and add the nigella seeds and radhuni if available and when it splutters add the chicken and sear it on high heat for 1 minute and stir and then simmer on the lowest heat possible covering the pan and let it cook on low heat for 7 minutes and add half the green chili paste and 1/4th cup of water  and keep cooking on low heat for another 10 minutes or so and add the rest of the green chili and cook for another 5 minutes and let it rest for 7 minutes to 10 minutes and serve with piping hot rice.

Buttermilk Grilled Chicken

Buttermilk Grilled Chicken 

One of the only diets which help me loose weight and stay fit is a high on protein with raw salad and fruit diet. Naturally I look out for recipes for grilled chicken or poached meat and poultry.

Now what I have realized is that flavours are very much subjective. You like ginger I like garlic you do not like thyme I love thyme etc etc. So unless you are recreating a classic recipe the flavour is your playground but the techniques are what matters the most.

I have previously posted about chicken breasts which are pretty hard to work with but once you know the right technique it can be juicy and moist.

Chicken Khirmich Pulao

Chicken Khirmich Pulao 

(Murgir Khirmich Pulao)

If one asks me about the exact moment when I got so interested in the kitchen I would not be able to give the person a straight answer. Part of it was because my mother who always stays away from the kitchen had taken up cooking delicious Chinese food when I was about 11 years old. It was more so delightful for me because I was usually an ostracized person in groups where people of my age group would brag about their mother's skill in the kitchen. What amazed was how close my mother's Chinese was to the food of old Chinatown from Calcutta. Unlike my friends who brought greasy Chinese which was doused in soya sauce or lacked the flavour my mother made balanced mild flavoured Chinese food which had amazed me. I had later learnt that she had learnt this from a friend who had studied hotel management. Then came a period when as with many teenagers I had a dramatic relationship with my ma and she stopped cooking and focused on her love of mountains. So perhaps it was to taste her delicious dishes that I started cooking Chinese food the ones she made at home. She had shared the recipes. That will be for another post.

If I close my eyes I see myself salivating while reading Enid Blytons books and the descriptions of picnic baskets and having this urge to taste all of them but the truth is I grew up among my maternal grandmother and aunt (mother's brother's wife) who left a deep impact on my mind about cooking. While my mother was the fiery no nonsense woman who was rough and tough I grew up in a world of drying lentil dumplings and making lip smacking Bengali dishes. My aunt's influence and an urge to imitate her filled me with an intense desire to learn the way she would render her magic to dishes. She is like a mother to me and taught me all that she knew about Bengali cooking encouraging me and appreciating my efforts.

What I learnt from her was mostly what had been passed down by her mother some 40 years ago hence I have the greatest regard for tradition when it comes to cooking.

Much later I realized that if I do really want to know about my Bengali culinary roots I must do what I believe if the only way to gather knowledge, that is read books.

What I discovered has left me brimming with pride for imagine this in Bengal women were publishing cookbooks at a time when emancipation for women was unheard of in most parts of the world.

Bengali Five Spice Chicken (Inspired by Antara's Achari Murgh)

Bengali Five Spice Chicken 

(Inspired by Antara's Achari Murgh) 

This week our star is Antara of ' Antypasti ' I met Antara in my initial days of blogging It was my first Kolkata Food Bloggers' meet and it was great fun to meet this vivacious person. She runs a travel cum food blog and to me it is quite apparent that she loves the landscape and food from the North East region of India which is very fascinating for someone such as myself who has neither been to the land of the Seven Sisters and has practically no knowledge about the cuisine from North East except for the fact that one gets excellent pork in Meghalaya and as I have learnt from her blog and other food enthusiasts that the entire region makes excellent pork dishes.

Having said that the only time I have been to the North east was way back in 1996 as a child and what I remember is staying at a family friend's house where the grandmother of the house made some excellent dish out of squash which is a type of vegetable.

Anyway moving on to our star of the week. I had initially decided on her Pork curry which was extremely simple and which reminded me of the chicken curry that my friend Elizabeth from Mizoram had prepared for me a long time ago.She is my college friend and when she was studying in Kolkata I had the good fortune of visiting her in her hostel where she made this lip smacking chicken curry and I was extremely surprised when she shared the recipe which hardly contained any spice at all and yet it remains one of the tastiest chicken curries that I have ever tasted. Antara's pork curry is exactly like Elizabeth's chicken curry and so initially I had decided on that but then I am traveling to Delhi for a trip and so I had to opt for some other dish and the Achari Chicken caught my attention mostly because it uses the Bengali five spice and I have never used Bengali 5 spice to make chicken curry and this intrigued me greatly and so I quickly adapted the recipe to suit the ingredients I had at home and the result was lip smacking chicken curry which vanished in no time.

To be fair the way I prepared it makes it appropriate to be taken with Rice  but then you can always adapt this to suit your requirements. I wanted it really hot and used a lot of yellow chili power which happens to be my latest obsession.

Do take a look at Antara's Foreign Returned Achari Murgh .

Before I begin let me assure you that the Bengali five spice varies from home to home and while some use cumin seeds others use a local spice 'Rahuni' which has its own unique flavour

400gm chicken with bones (preferably from the leg an thigh)
1 tbsp Bengali five spice( An equal amount of mustard seeds ,Fenugreek seeds, Rahuni , Kalonji and Fennel seeds)
2 tbsp mustard oil (I used spice mustard oil since I always keep a jar of homemade Spice mango mustard oil 'Aaam tel' at home but otherwise the normal mustard oil would do)
1 tbsp smooth ginger garlic green chili paste (I used 2 hot green chili)
2 heaped tsp yellow chili powder or Paprika or Kashmiri red chili powder
Salt as per taste
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp whisked curd
Pinch of turmeric
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander leaves

Marinate the chicken with the curd  ginger garlic chili paste  freshly crushed black pepper and salt for 2 hours. Heat the oil and when it reaches its smoking point reduce the heat and add the 5 spice and once they splutter add the chicken and seal its juices on high heat for 1 minute stirring it constantly and then add the yellow chili powder and a bit of water and cook  covered on low heat till the oil separates taste an a salt if required and add the finely chopped cilantro and enjoy it with hot steaming rice.

Tip

Reducing the heat once the oil reaches its smoking point ensures that the spice does not get charred

Bengali Scotch Eggs (Dimer Devil)

Bengali Scotch Eggs (Dimer Devil) 

I have this particular fascination with family recipes especially one that has survived 2 generations. When my fellow blogger and friend Pritha told me that she has some family recipes for chops and cutlets handed down by her grandmother to her aunt and mother, I was immediately excited with the prospect of family recipes. I knew that I had to get my hands on these recipes. For me, a recipe is a treasure and a recipe which survives 2 generations or more automatically becomes a part of history and culture and slowly heritage.

Pritha is an extremely dedicated person who sticks to her culinary challenges which she takes up every other month. Not that she doesn't keep preparing lip smacking dishes all round the year but every other month she takes up a challenge of creating  one recipe after a other for a particular time span on a theme she chooses.

I completely stuck to the recipe except for using coriander leaves aka cilantro rather than parsley leaves  .

Here is a little tip for you guys. In the recent past a very experienced lady who is part of the facebook Food group Ranna Bati brought this to light that the term Garam Masala is a very generalized term which makes so sense when it comes to Indian cuisine due to its vast range of cuisines. For instance a Punjabi would use Bay leaves and Black cardamom in his garam masala while a Bengali usually sticks to cinnamon, green cardamom , cloves and for special occasions there is the additional mace and nutmeg and usually we Bengalis do not grind our Garam Masal for most dishes  . Now in many of my previous recipes I myself have used the term 'garam masala' without specifying the spices used.

In this recipe's context since its Bengali when I was making the mince meat filling since I had halved Pritha's recipe I had used 2 green cardamom, 2 cloves , 1/4th inch cinnamon . I dry roasted it and then used a mortar and pestle to make a finely ground powder.

So go check out her recipe here : Dimer Devil

Here is a tip which might help you :

When you fill the cavity of the egg whites with the mince meat and then use a bit of mashed potato to coat the egg make sure the coating of potato is not too much because if you make a very large oval shaped Dimer Devil to be fried when you fry it , chances are that the coating of batter would break on both the sides.

I would suggest serving the dish with the classic 'Kasundi' (Bengali Mustard condiment) and in its absence any mustard condiment is the ideal choice for the condiment.

Spinach Oats Chicken

Spinach Oats Chicken 

Quite honestly I feel food tastes best when it is cooked in butter, clarified butter, bacon fat or duck fat or anything which is actually far from healthy but then on a daily basis after the last morsel of that ghee laden pilaf gets over after 2 days of revelry you have to go back to eating healthy. 

Now different diets work for different people and for me a low on carbohydrate high on protein diet works best but then there are those times when you feel you crave a bit of carbs and so here is one which is not only extremely tasty but is extremely healthy and filling.

For the dish a good pot of chicken stock is an absolute must though. So before you begin make sure you have chicken stock at home. The easiest way to make it is to save the chicken bones every time you buy chicken and then the day you make the stock just throw in the bones with water and along with a few cloves of garlic, an onion, bayleaf , salt and whole peppercorn and simmer for about 2 hours or so adding a bit of water from time to time making sure that it never comes to a boil .

Remove the scum which will form on your stock.

Coming back to the recipe this serves 2 or 1 depending on how hungry you are :-

1/2 cup of oats
250gm of spinach leaves
500ml of chicken stock
2 large cloves of garlic
1 ripe red chili or Pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt as per taste
Half a chicken breast weighing 200gm

Bring the chicken stock to a simmer and blanch the spinach leaves in it for 3 minutes and then make a smooth paste of the spinach leaves with the garlic and chili and keep aside.

Make 2 to 3 pieces of the chicken breast and just simmer  the stock and chicken for 2 minutes and then cover and let the chicken rest in the stock for 7 minutes. This should yield the softest chicken ever. Shred this and keep aside.

Strain the stock and add 300ml of the stock to the oats with a bit of salt and simmer stirring frequently till it almost seems cooked and then add the spinach paste and simmer stirring continuously till it starts bubbling and splattering and just add the shredded chicken before serving and you have a bowl of goodness which is extremely filling.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken (Anwesha's Recipe)

Bacon Wrapped Chicken (Anwesha's Recipe) 

This week our (Kolkata Food Blogger's)  star is Anwesha who runs this beautiful travel cum food blog, Peanutsontheroad.
I personally have a strong believe that she or he who travels is always a blast to talk to because you can never run out of conversation with travelers who have so many stories to share and Anwesha despite having a very busy schedule takes out time to document her travels and once in a while shares a few foolproof and delightful recipes.

She is a researched with IIT Kharagpur and is an avid traveler and food enthusiast.

When her week approached I had initially decided on one of her recent recipes of mince meat stuffed buns but then again I went on reading her recipes one after the other and suddenly I was confused between the Bacon Wrapped Chicken, Meat Ghugni and Fish Cake.

I had initially made her Fish Cake but adjusted it to my needs my replacing the flour with mashed potatoes , omitting the cheese and mostly using milk instead of butter but then just as I was about to start writing my experience I saw that one of our other members has already made written and raved about the Fish Cake and I instantly felt joyous because it meant I was going to make the Bacon wrapped chicken.

Ah Bacon, well as a bacon lover this dish is an absolute delight. And its difficult to go wrong with a tangy apple filling inside succulent chicken breasts wrapped with crisp bacon.

I mostly stuck to her recipe which you can take a look here : Bacon Wrapped Chicken. 

I am not writing the  recipe because like I said , I mostly stuck to it.

Here is a helpful hint though :-

1. When you are wrapping the bacon around the chicken make sure it just about wraps it and bacon does over overlap its own layer because then the layer of bacon beneath the layer of bacon outside won't crisp up. 
2. Once baked let the bacon wrapped chicken rest for a good 10 minutes because then the chicken beneath the bacon will become absolutely juicy and succulent without a trace of dryness. 
3. Using granny smith apples (greenapples) gives a delightful tangy taste .

This is part of :-

Milk Roasted Chicken

Milk Roasted Chicken 

At times there happens to be that one recipe which you had your doubts on and then after you create it , it turns out to be one of the best dishes ever. Such is the case with what I would like to call 'The Milk Roasted Chicken'

This recipe is extra special for a number of reasons and to start with the chef who shared it on his website is one of the first chefs I almost fell in love with as a wide eyed high school student. That was a good 8 years ago but his charm remains. Yes its the charming Jamie Oliver. You see before I swore by Larousse Gastronomique and raved about Raymond Blanc's recipes I was an out and out Jamie Oliver Fan not that I still am not. I love some of his stellar recipes.

My first roast turned out fabulous thanks to the guidance of this one celebrity chef. His method of making gravy got me hooked and booked forever. Its one of those stellar recipes. I had almost overlooked this dish and to be fair wasn't too impressed with it when I saw it on his website. Later I came across an article on The Kitchn where the writes raves about how this is the best roast ever and I was yet to buy into the idea.

Then this one lazy afternoon this January I re-read the article on The Kitchn and somehow it seemed intriguing. I casually mentioned it to my good friend and fellow blogger Poorna who assured me of its mind blowing results. Well the assurance from a friend whose taste I respect was reason enough to try it and thank the Lord that I decided to give it a shot because it truly is one of the best roasts ever. Juicy, moist succulent with a lovely crispy skin and this amazing milky gravy with a lemony taste. In fact this was the most succulent and moist roasted chicken I have ever had and I would definitely recommend it to one and all.

The only change I made was using Fresh Parsley instead of sage since we do not easily find sage in most fo the markets of Kolkata.

Before we start I must make it clear that a chicken without its skin wouldn't work for a proper roast. Chicken meat is extremely delicate and without the skin you end up with dry chewy chicken no matter how much you bast the chicken.

Serves 4 to 5

1.5 kilogram chicken with the skin on of course
Zest of 2 lemon
500ml whole milk
3 to 4 tbsp olive oil (You might need a bit of extra oil)
A good handful of fresh Parsley
Salt as per taste
Freshly ground pepper (black) about 2 tsp
10 cloves of garlic with the skin left on

Clean the chicken and take out the giblets and liver and wash and pat dry and then massage it well with salt and freshly ground pepper and leave it for 1/2 an hour and then massage with olive oil and leave it for another 1/2 an hour.

Preheat the oven to 190C . Take a wide bottomed pan which snugly fits the chicken and heat olive oil and sear the chicken till well browned on both sides and decant the pan and take the extra oil out. Place the chicken breast side down and add the milk and then the zest of lemon, garlic and parsley. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes. Bast the chicken with the milk it is roasting in every 20 minutes or so. After an hour of baking take out the chicken and carefully turn it on its back so that you get the crisp skin.

Take out the chicken and wrap it well with aluminium foil and a tea towel and rest it for a good 15 minutes to 20 minutes and carve the chicken. It is extremely important to rest the chicken so that you get moist soft chicken.

Enjoy it with roasted baby potatoes or wilted greens or mashed potatoes and the lip smacking gravy of course.

Pan Roasted Chicken Legs

Pan Roasted Chicken Legs 

Inspired by Urmi's Roasted Chicken drumsticks 

This week Kolkata Food Blogger's star is the quiet beauty, Urmi. I have met Urmi only once during Kolkata Food Bloggers' Bake Sale and the image I had of her before meeting her fitted her perfectly. A sweet gentle gracious person.

She was the first Kolkata Food Blogger to have guest starred in a cookery show which you may find on her blog and is ever so the humble person. Do check out her blog Ume's Kitchen. 

I particularly liked her Roasted Chicken Drumsticks and loved the story of how her mother would pan roast it and then use the traditional method of cooking the chicken on coal fire to give it the smoky affair. What I personally love about such family recipes is that yesterday's customs become today's and tomorrow's heritage. So instead of following Urmi's method of grilling or baking the chicken I pan roasted it. I do not own a traditional coal fire and had to sadly exclude it from my preparation.

I followed her recipe with a few tiny alterations and the result was juicy succulent delicious pan roasted chicken with Indian flavours. I used dark portions of chicken (thigh + leg without the skin) instead of the drumsticks alone.

As for the time for marination I used to think that the greater the number of hours the better the marination. Then someone told me that over marinatino can actually harm the flavour of fish. I immediately looked up the topic online and found this useful article : A Marinade Timing and realized that due to over marination my fish does actually turn mushy when over marinated.

Ever since that day other than some tough cuts of goat meat or pork I stick to round about 2 hours for chicken legs.

This time I put the theory to test by first having a chicken after 2 hours of marination and the other one was left to marinate overnight in the refrigerator. In the end what I personally found out was that while there isn't much difference in flavour with the extra marination the one which marinated overnight cooked faster and rendered softer meat. So for chicken legs (dark portions) I would suggest the long hours of marination when not using acidic agents.


Serves 3

3 Chicken (leg + thigh)

1st phase of marination :-

Salt as per taste
Juice from 1/2 a lemon

2nd Phase of marination :-

Wet ingredients :-

6 medium sized garlic cloves (if you are using the large cloves of garlic 2 would suffice)
1/2 an inch ginger
I usually have homemade red sauce ready at hands made with ripe red chilies, garlic and vinegar and I used 1 tsp of the very hot sauce but otherwise I suggest that you stick to the recipe and use 2 to 3 green chilies which give the chicken a lovely flavour which I know from previous usage
1 tbsp sour cream or heavy cream

Dry ingredients :-

You can check our Urmi's blog for her homemade recipe for tandoori masala . I stuck to the following ingredients :-

1 green cardamom
1/4th inch cinnamon
1/2 tsp whole black pepper
3 cloves
1 blade of mace
Pinch of nutmeg
1/4th black cardamom
1/4th tsp cumin seeds
1/4th tsp coriander seeds
1 whole dried  Kashmiri chili

1.5 tbsp mustard oil / ghee


Start by first cleaning the chicken well and then pat it dry  and using a fork to prick the chicken all over so that the chicken gets well marinated. Rub it with salt and then the lemon juice and leave it aside for 15 minutes. Strain the chicken and go on to dry roast and grind the ingredients for the 2nd phase of marination and grind them to a fine powder.

Make a paste of the wet ingredients and massage the chicken with the wet marination and freshly made spice powder and leave it in the kitchen for 6 hours to 7 hours or overnight.

Heat mustard oil or ghee and seal the juice of the chicken on high heat for 1 minute on each side and then lower the flame to the lowest and cover and cook the chicken for 4 minutes to 5 minutes per side and open the cover and brown it a bit and then let it rest for 5 minutes and then serve it with some raita made with yogurt , rock salt , cumin powder and roasted brinjal.

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