North Indian

Hariyali chicken

| Rekha Vengalil
Wishing all my readers and friends a very happy and prosperous TWENTY FOURTEEN …
 
“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” –Edith Lovejoy Pierce
 
Winding up 2013 with this delicious and yet easy to make chicken curry. 

You need –

  • Chicken – 1/2 kilo, cut into bite size pieces
  • Coriander leaves – 1.5 cups
  • Mint leaves – 1/2 cup
  • Garlic pods – 3 big
  • Garlic – 1’ inch piece
  • Green chili – 4-5 or per taste
  • Onions – 2, finely sliced
  • Yogurt – 1/2 cup, beaten
  • Lemon Juice – 2 teaspoon
  • Green cardamom – 2
  • Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
  • Cinnamon – 1 stick
  • Clove – 1
  • Ghee – as required
  • Salt to taste

How to –

Clean and wash the chicken well. Drain the water completely and marinate the chicken with salt and lemon juice for 30 minutes.
 
In blender, make a fine paste of ginger-garlic, cinnamon, cardamom, clove. Set aside. Blend together the green chilies, coriander leaves and mint leaves to a fine paste.
Heat ghee in heavy bottom pan. Add the ginger-garlic and whole spice paste and fry till raw smell is gone. Add the onion and cook till translucent. Add the turmeric powder and sauté for a minute.
 
Add the chicken and mix well. Cover and cook till chicken is half cooked. Now add the coriander-mint paste, 1/2 cup water or as required and cook till done.

Reduce the flame and add the yogurt, salt (remember you have marinated the chicken with salt so add accordingly). Bring to gentle simmer and turn off the heat.
 
Serve hot with rice or Indian flat bread.
 
P.S – I have made the gravy thick so please add water accordingly.

 

Sindhi dal

| Rekha Vengalil


Recipe source – Sanjeev Kapoor

You need –

  • Bengal gram/Channa dal – 3/4 cup
  • Turmeric powder- 1/4 teaspoon
  • Chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon
  • Garam masala powder – 1/4 teaspoon
  • Amchur/dried mango powder – 1/2 teaspoon
  • Cumin seeds –1/2 teaspoon
  • Asafetida – A good pinch
  • Green chili – 2. slit length-wise
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Onion – 1 small thinly sliced
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil as required
  • Fresh coriander leaves to garnish
How to –
Wash and clean the dal in several changes of water. Pressure cook the channa with turmeric and salt with 1.5 cups of water till done.
 
In sauce pan add the cooked dal,  chili powder, amchur powder. Add water if the dal is dry.  Stir and cook over low heat.
 
For tempering, heat oil in a small pan, tip the cumin seeds. once they start to splatter add the green chilies, curry leaves, asafetida, garam masala powder. Stir briefly and add this to the dal . Mix well and turn off the heat.
Garnish with chopped onions and coriander leaves and serve hot with Rice or roti.
 
 
 
 

Malai Kofta

| Rekha Vengalil

A North Indian specialty where cottage cheese is delicately spiced and simmered in a Creamy Sauce.

Recipe source – Vahrehvah

You need –

  • For the Kofta
    • Paneer /cottage cheese – 1/2 cup, grated
    • Potato –2 large, boiled and mashed
    • Green chili –1, minced
    • Coriander leaves – finely chopped, 2 tablespoons
    • Garam masala – 1/4 teaspoon
    • Salt to taste
    • Oil for deep frying
    • Corn flour – for coating the koftas
  • For the gravy
    • Onion –1 medium, finely chopped
    • Ginger-garlic paste -1 teaspoon
    • Tomato  – 2 medium sized tomatoes, Chopped
    • Turmeric powder -1/4 teaspoon
    • Coriander powder – 3 teaspoon
    • Red chili powder – 1.5 teaspoons or to taste
    • Cumin seeds – 1/4 teaspoon
    • Garam masala powder – 1/2 teaspoon
    • Dried fenugreek leaves – 1 teaspoon
    • Fresh Cream -1/4 cup
    • Cashew nut – 30 grams, soaked in water
    • Salt to taste
    • Oil as required
How to –
 
Kofta
 
In bowl, put all the ingredients under “For Kofta” and make a lump free and soft dough (Do not add any water). Make equal sized ball and roll them on the corn flour to coat.
 
Heat oil in deep frying pan and fry them till golden brown/light brown. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Set aside.
 
Gravy
 
Heat oil in a pan. Add the onions and cook till soft. Tip the ginger-garlic paste and sauté till the raw smell is gone. Add coriander powder, turmeric powder, chili powder and cook till the oil start to separate.
 
Now add the tomatoes and cook till it mushy. Turn off the heat and once the onion-tomato mixture is cool, blend into a smooth paste.
Heat the sauce pan, add 2 teaspoons of oil. Add the cumin seeds and allow to crackle. Add the onion-tomato paste, fenugreek leaves. 1/2 cup and salt to taste and cook for 3-4 minutes.
 
Add the cashew paste, cream and water if needed to adjust the consistency and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the Koftas and turn off the heat. Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves and garam masala. Cover and allow to sit for a few minutes before serving.
 
Serve with Flavored rice or Indian flat bread.
 
Please note – The original recipe uses shahi jeera instead of cumin seeds. Since I didn’t have them I used cumin seeds.