The Recipes: Part 1

Taking the cooking post ahead; I’m putting up the recipes for Chicken Gravy and Fried Rice. I call this gravy Chicken Moghlai-Mom’s Special. There could be number of variants to this Moghlai dish, so please don’t crucify me for it :-) It’s a home-made recipe. Mum often used variety of names to please me so that I ate the dish. I was way too fussy and loved eating out. This was her way of making me love home food better :-)
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CHICKEN MOGHLAI (MOM’S SPECIAL)

Ingredients:
Chicken: 1 Kg
Kashmiri Dry Red Mirchi (Red Chillies): 15 *
Dhana(whole)(Coriander seeds): 1 tablespoon
Jeera(whole)(Cumin): 1 tablespoon
Onions(Medium–sized): 6
Curd: 6 Tablespoons
Ginger-Garlic Paste: 2 Tablespoons
Garam Masala Powder*: 11/2 Tablespoon
Salt: As per taste

* Any kind of red mirchi would do, but Kashmiri mirchi is preferred as it is less spicy and gives lovely red colour to the gravy. If any other kind of mirchi is taken depending on how spicy it is cut down the no. to 10-12.

*Garam Masala Powder is available readymade in the market. It is basically a powder that is mixture of the following spices: Kali Miri (Pepper), Lavang (Clove), Elaichi ( Cardamom), Dalchini (Cinamon), TamalPatra( Bay Leaf)

Preparation:

Red Mirchi Paste:
Soak the 15 dry red chillies in water for 15 minutes. Chop 3 onions vertically, thin and long. Take dhana (not grounded, but whole as mentioned above) and jeera (not grounded, but whole as mentioned above) and along with the soaked chillies and chopped onions put the ingredients in a mixer. Grind it and add little water to get paste, then grind it again till you get a fine thick paste with no particles left.

Ginger-Garlic Paste:
You get this readymade these days, or else take an entire garlic flower, heat it in microwave for a minute, it’s easier to take off the coverings. Then add ginger(around half a piece) along with garlic in the mixer, grind it and add water and grind it further till you get fine paste.

Marination:
Chop the remaining 3 onions again vertically, long and thin and deep fry them in oil in the vessel you will cook the chicken in or in a kadai. Fry till they turn brown. Remove once they are done. Crush them into finer particles. (Marathit you say “kuskarne”)

Wash the chicken clean and add to it curd, ginger-garlic paste, the red mirchi paste (entire), haldi, crushed brown onions and salt(as per taste, ideally 11/2 teaspoons would suffice) in the proportion mentioned above. Mix properly and leave the chicken to marinate for an hour.

Add the entire marinated chicken to the oil in a vessel. Add just a couple of tablespoons of water to prevent it from sticking to the vessel. Keep a lid on the mixture and let it cook. Keep it on medium gas initially till it boils. When you first see the bubbles; add 11/2 tablespoons of garam masala powder. Then slowly keep mild gas. Leave it on till chicken is cooked properly and gravy is thick.

Garnish:
Once the chicken is done, garnish it with finely chopped coriander leaves and add a tablespoon of pure ghee from above. Serve along with hot parathas, vegetable raita & fried rice:-) Your Sunday treat is ready.

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FRIED RICE

Ingredients:
Basmati rice: 2 small bowls (300-350 gms)
Kali Miri (Pepper): 16
Lavang (Clove): 12
Elaichi ( Cardamom): 15
Dalchini (Cinamon): 5-6 small sticks
TamalPatra( Bay Leaf): 3-4 leaves
Onion (medium-sized): 2
Salt: As per taste
Boiled Water: 4 small bowls (Double the amount of rice)
Kesar(Saffron): For taste

Preparation:
Soak rice in water for 1/2 hour. Then rinse the water form the rice.

Take 4 tablespoons of pure ghee and heat. Add Kali Miri (Pepper), wait till it sizzles. Then add Clove, wait till it sizzles, add entire Elaichi(pound it slightly, add along with leaves) wait till it sizzles, add Dalchini, wait till it sizzles, then lastly add Tamal Patra, wait till it sizzles. Once you get the smell of the masala, the seasoning is done and add finely chopped onions in it. Add a pinch of salt to the onions, keep frying till onion turns brown. Add ghee if you think a little more will be needed.

Add rice to this mixture. Mix properly till the rice gets dry i.e. the wetness goes. Then add 4 small bowls (same size as the ones you took for measuring rice) of boiled water. Stir properly. Add salt. Around 2 teaspoons should suffice. Add a bit of Kesar. Make the gas high and let the rice boil. Once all water evaporates and rice settles, turn the gas mild, and put a lid on top and let it cook for 15 minutes. If vessel is not non-stick keep a plate below the vessel as well.

Garnish:
Once the rice is done garnish it with finely chopped coriander. Serve along with Dal Fry/Chicken Gravy and Vegetable Raita.

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Try these and let me know. More will follow :-) And why don’t you all put up your recipes on your blog as well. It would be really nice to share such stuff. Sujatha shared the same view :-) So Sujatha I’m waiting :-)