Mushroom Pesto Pasta

Hi buddies,, now if you are only into hot-spicy food then pesto is something NOT for you. Its quite mild, rich, not too creamy and very very yummy. The smoothness of extra virgin olive oil, nutty taste and aroma of roasted pine nuts and herby flavour of basil leaves will make you fall in love with it.

Ingredients for Mushroom pesto pasta

couple of medium sized mushrooms (sliced or cut into wedges)
500 gm spaghetti
salt, to taste

Pesto:
100 gm basil leaves
30-40 gm roasted pine nuts
around 50 ml extra virgin olive oil
3-4 garlic cloves
pinch of salt
pinch of crushed black pepper

For the Sauce:
1. put basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic and half of the olive oil in food processor and make smooth paste.
2. pour some more olive oil and again give it a go.
3. mix salt and pepper.

For Pasta:
1. Saute the sliced mushrooms in 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan. Here you can put more or less quantity of mushrooms according to your choice.
2. Add boiled spaghetti, lil bit salt, pesto sauce and toss it well.
3. Add fresh basil leaves on top and serve right away.

Authentic style of making pesto is to do it in 'mortar n pestle', u can do it in food processor if therez shortage of time or if u want completely smooth texture. When I tried it first time, I made it manually, in mortar n pestle, next time I tried in food processor but found the manual one better as it has little grainy texture due to crushed pine nuts.

Kerala's Fish Fry

For one reason I love winters is nature's permission to eat fish, like it better than chicken/meat. Fish so delicate that it cant be preserved for long period, so here we fish-fans have this advantage of getting served only fresh fish in restaurants ;) This Kerala styled fried fish is so yummy that i can have it everyday (seriously)





Stuff needed

500 gm fish (fillets or simply cut into pieces)
3-4 tbsp coconut oil

For the red chilly-garlic chutney:
8-10 fresh red chillies (remove seeds if you want it mild)
12 medium sized garlic cloves
salt, to taste
1 tsp lemon juice

Marinade:
salt, to taste
1/4 tsp red chilly powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp tamarind paste
1 tsp garlic paste

1. clean, wash and pat dry the fish
2. Mix all the marinade stuff and rub the mixture on fish pieces, keep in fridge for 10 mins.
3. heat oil in a frying pan and add fish pieces.
4. Stir the frying pan quickly but carefully, it prevent the fish sticking at the bottom.
5. Turn the fish upside down after 1-2 minutes and repeat stirring, if needed.
6. Remove the pieces from pan and serve hot.

For the chutney:
1. mix all the ingredients and make fine paste in either food processor or mortal-n-pestle


Fish is high in Proteins so if you want something healthy then go for it instead of meat. It goes quite well with mint or coriander chutney also.
Plus few things we must keep in mind while cooking fish:
use ONLY fresh fish
DO NOT over cook as it dries the fish and spoils the texture
cook on slow-medium heat only..

Black Chickpea Curry

People say that Black Chickpea Curry or Kaale Channe are good for health, even dietitians say the same. Well whether its plain roasted or in the form if curry they are lot better than white chickpea. And herez the traditional or Punjabi way of cooking Kaale Channe..

Ingredients:

500 gm black chickpea
3-4 medium sized onions (finely chopped)
2-3 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 medium chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup curd
1/2 fresh cream
1 cup coriander leaves
3-4 chopped green chillies
2-3 tbsp ghee/oil

Spices
1 tsp cumin seeds
1" cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
2 green cardamoms
2-3 cloves
pinch of mace
salt, to taste
1 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp coriander powder

1. Boil the chickpeas in a pressure cooker, its even better to soak them in lukewarm water for 10-12 hours earlier.
2. heat ghee in a thick bottomed pan, add cumin seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and mace. cook them till they start crackling.
3. Add ginger-garlic paste and saute for some seconds.
4. Add chopped onions, add a pinch of salt as it will speed up the cooking. saute till the onions are golden brown. sprinkle lil water if onions stick at the bottom.
5. Add tomatoes and green chillies and cook them till the oil starts seprating. add some more salt, turmeric powder and coriander powder.
6. Sprinkle some more water and cook for 1-2 minutes.
7. Turn off the gas and add curd, stir quickly and again turn on the gas burner. (here its better if the temperature is lil lower while adding curd)
8. Cook again for some minutes and add boiled chickpeas, bring it to boil and add cream.
9. Simmer for 25-30 minutes. add coriander leaves and serve hot with rice/flat bread.


Boiled Black Chickpeas or its soup is natural remedy for cough/cold in winters. If you have good metabolism or cooking for guests, just top it with some butter or ghee, trust me it tastes really amazing.

Afghani Murgh Malai Kebab

As the title suggests, these Kebabs are so creamy and spicy and totally melt in your mouth..

Stuff::
500 gm roughly minced chicken
3-4 chopped green chillies (optional)
Marinade:
1 tbsp magaz
1 1/2 cashewnut paste
1/2 cup cream
salt, to taste
1 tbsp poppy seeds

1. mix all the ingredients and keep in fridge for an hour.
2. divide the mixture into small equal sized balls and grill them for couple of minutes.

Risotto con pomodoro e basilico

Risotto is a beautiful and yummy rice based Italian dish, somewhat similar to our Khichdi. The rice used in Risotto are thick and small in size. Using Basmati or long-grained rice wont do justice with this beautiful delicacy. Plus using fresh herbs will make you LOVE it..

Ingredients::

250 gm rice
3-4 tbsp olive oil
1 small roughly chopped onion
1-2 cloves crushed garlic
2-3 tbsp butter
salt, to taste
5-6 fresh basil leaves (you can put double if you want)
1/2 cup pomodoro (or red sauce)
vegetable stock water

1. Heat oil in a pan, add garlic and onions. saute for 2-3 minutes.
2. add rice and stir till they are coated with oil.
3. Meanwhile heat veg stock water on separate burner.
4. Take a ladle full of stock water and pour in the rice, cook on medium flame and stir gently to avoid sticking at the bottom.
5. Repeat step 4 and cook Risotto on medium flame till the rice are tender.
6. Add some more salt (if needed as stock water already has some salt in it), butter, chopped basil leaves and pomodoro, cook for some more minutes on medium flame.
7. Serve hot in a plate instead of bowl.

Stock water instead of plain water is quite essential for some dishes but we usually dont have it ready at home. So one good substitute of veg stock water is: heat 1 lt water and mix 1 tbsp veg soup powder (either only veggie soup, sweet corn soup or any type you can use) as stock water is mainly for flavour and little taste. Ive tried it and it works awesome!!

Bengali Fish Curry

Im trying to think and i guess ive never cooked anything Bengali yet. Well Bengali people are big fans of seafood and their cuisine has wide range of dishes that contain fish and prawns. The fish curry ive made for dinner tonight actually contains Surmai fish but due to the small range of seafood in Punjab, i picked Dome/Dom (pardon me i dnt really know how its spelled right) as its salt-water fish.

Ingredients::
500 gm fish pieces
1 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 cup whisked curd
3 tbsp onion paste
1 tsp sugar
salt, to taste
5 tbsp mustard oil

Spices:
1 bay leaf
1 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 green cardamoms
3-4 cloves
1/2 inch cinnamon

method:
1. Rub 1/2 tsp turmeric and salt on fish pieces and set aside for 5-10 mins
2. Put curd, ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder and 1/2 tsp turmeric in a bowl and mix well.
3. Heat oil in a frying pan upto smoking point and stir fry the fish pieces on both sides for 2-3 minutes. take them out of the pan and set aside.
4. Use the same oil for further cooking, pour it into a thick bottomed vessel and heat again.
5. Add bay leaf, cumin seeds, cardamoms, cinnamon and cloves. add onion paste after some seconds.
6. When the mixture turns light brown, add little bit salt and rest of turmeric powder. add curd mixture after some seconds.
7. Add water and sugar. when the gravy starts boiling, add fish pieces, stir gently, cover the vessel and turn off the gas after a minute.
8. Now leave it like this for 3-4 minutes and serve hot with steamed rice.

For most Bengali dishes, mustard oil is quite essential. If you just want fried fish for snacks then simply marinate the fillets with salt and turmeric and deep fry in mustard oil. Here double frying is not really necessary but doing it will improve taste and looks.

Kung Pao Chicken

This sexy thing belongs to Szechwan cuisine under the label of Chinese dishes. Like other Szechwan dishes Kung Pao Chicken is quite colorful, spicy and has beautiful aroma. Personally im a huge fan of Szechwan food as compared to Huaiyang, Cantonese or Peking dishes. I cooked it last week when we had guests for dinner and i was really really happy and excited to hear that my uncle who tasted Kung Pao for the first time really loved it and even suggested me to open an exclusive outlet for this chicken :D


Here are the ingredients

Marinade:
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp oil
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine

Sauce:
1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp black vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar (shakkar)
2 tbsp water
1 tsp cornstarch

Other:
1 kg boneless chicken pieces
3 tbsp peanuts
8-10 dry red chillies
3 tbsp oil
5 thin slices of ginger
3 cloves garlic, sliced diagonally
1 stalk scallion
1 red bell pepper (option)
1 yellow bell pepper (option)

howwwwwwww

1. cut the chicken into small cubes and marinate with above written stuff for 30 minutes.
2. mix all the sauce ingredients and set aside.
3. heat 2-3 tbsp oil in a wok and fry the chicken pieces upto 70% done.
4. put chicken pieces on a paper towel and set aside.
5. clean the wok and heat 2 tbsp oil, heat it up to the smoking point.
6. Add ginger, garlic, peanuts and red chillies. cook all these for couple of seconds and add chicken pieces.
7. Add sauce, mix gently and cook on medium flame for couple of minutes.
8. Add bell peppers and scallion. give it a quick stir and serve hot.


While cooking Chinese, say NO to ajinomoto as its not safe for kids n pregnant women. If you put sauces, vinegar and sugar in right amount, you wont need ajinomoto to improve any taste or flavour.

Farfalle with Stir Fried Veggies

Hello friends,.,., tonight's dinner is a quite quick dish thats pasta boiled and tossed with stir fried vegetables. For this we can also use penne, spaghetti, fettuccine, elbow macaroni, conchiglie (shell shaped pasta), rotini (spirals) etc.

Ingredients

500 gm pasta
2 medium yellow bell peppers, diced
2 medium red bell peppers, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, again diced
30-40 gms olives
100 gm mushrooms
few pieces of broccoli
salt
1/4 tsp crushed peppercorns
1/4 tsp dry oregano
pinch of red chilli flakes
2 tbsp olive oil


how how howwwwwwwwww

1. Boil the pasta in salted water, drain out liquid and rinse with cold water and set aside.
2. heat some olive oil in a pan and quick fry the mushrooms and broccoli upto half done.
3. add little bit salt and pepper, add bell peppers and olives. cook for some minutes and keep tossing in between.
4. add pasta and toss again, sprinkle some oregano and red chilli flakes on top.


This way of cooking pasta is quite healthier than the ones we have with sauces, plus you can increase or reduce the quantity of veggies, even meatballs or any sort of cooked/grilled chicken chunks can be added.

Sloppy Tom

Sloppy Tom is the kind of thing i just came to know about yesterday and had today for the first time. Basically its a kind of burger that is filled with mince turkey, but i have used lamb instead coz i cudnt get turkey from the nearby butchery. Its quite easier to cook and takes less time than a typical burger.

Ingredients for Sloppy Toms
250 gm mince meat/turkey/beef
2 medium sized bell peppers, diced
2 medium onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp chilli sauce (more or less according to ur taste-buds)
salt
1/2 tsp crushed peppercorns
1 tbsp oil
4 burger buns

1. Heat oil in a pan and add garlic, followed by onions and bell pepper after some seconds. cook for aprox 3-4 minutes.
2. add mince meat, followed by salt, pepper and few drips of chilli sauce. mix thoroughly, cover the pan and cook for 20-25 minutes on medium flame. Saute on high flame in the end if mixture is soggy as we need it to be dry in order to fill in the burger
3. now toast the buns on griddle or hot plate and brown them slightly.
4. fill the meat between buns and serve with fries or wedges. ENJOY!!!


If you want to cook Sloppy Toms for somebody whos vegetarian then use crushed cottage cheese and soy chunks instead. Still the meat one tastes better but dont tell it to the vegetarians ;)

Pan Seared Sole

I dont think anything taste better than fried fish and creamy sauce after a long tiring n cold day. Personally I prefer chicken and fish over red meat and Sole is my favorite, love it whether its fried or with gravy, cooked thru indian or continental style.

things needed:

For Fishy:

Fish fillet (sole)

4 tsp lemon juice

salt

1 tsp crushed peppercorns

1-2 tbsp oil

50gm baton cut carrots

50 gm beans

2 tsp butter

1 tbsp mustard cream

1/2 cup fresh cream

1 onion, sliced

Sauce:

1. heat 1 tsp butter in a pan and add onions, as they turn pink, add cream, salt, mustard paste, pepper and 1 tsp lemon juice.

2. simmer for some minutes and its ready.

Fishyyyyy:

1. rub some salt, pepper and lemon juice on fish fillets and set aside for some minutes before frying.

2. now heat 1-2 tbsp oil in a frying and cook fish on medium heat. Turn upside down when bottom side is cooked. it will hardly take just couple of minutes.

Veggies:
1. boil carrots and beans in salted water up-to half done, drain out all the water and wash the veggies with cold water.
2. Heat 1 tsp butter in a frying pan and stir fry the veggies, sprinkle some salt and crush peppercorns on top and remove from gas after 2-3 minutes.


Finally put some sauce on top of fish and serve with veggies.

Some people dont like the smell of fish (including myself) so always rub little bit salt and pepper on it and set aside for 5-10 minutes. It reduces the unpleasant smell.

Punjabi Channa Masala

Now when it comes to North Indian vegetarian delights, Punjabi style Channa Masala is something one must try. Boiled chickpeas further cooked in tangy spicy gravy topped with chopped onions, green chillies, tomatoes, fresh coriander and butter. Goes perfectly well along with steamed rice, naan, puri or kulcha.

Ingredients

500 gm chickpeas

4 medium onions, chopped (grind half of them)

4 medium tomatoes, chopped (make paste of half tomatoes)

1 tbsp chopped garlic

1 tbsp chopped ginger

4-5 chopped green chillies

1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped

1 tsp butter

4-5 tbsp fresh cream

1/2 cup curd

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp sugar

1 bay leaf

2 green cardamoms

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp cumin powder

2 tsp coriander powder

2-3 cloves

1" cinnamon stick

salt, to taste

1. Boil the chickpeas in salted water, along with a teabag to give it dark colour.

2. in a thick bottomed pan, heat some oil and add cumin seeds, cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon and bayleaf, when all this stuff start crackling and color starts to change, add chopped garlic and ginger.

3. add onion paste, followed by tomato paste when onion paste turns light brown. when oil starts separating, add cumin powder, coriander powder and salt. sprinkle some water if the mixture sticks at the bottom.

4. Add boiled chickpeas along with its juice and stir thoroughly. Add whisked curd and stir well.

5. cook on medium flame for 25-30 minutes and keep stirring in between.

6. Add cream, followed by sugar and lemon juice after short while.

7. Add chopped green chillies, rest of the onions and tomatoes. (spare little bit for garnish)

8. Its ready when the gravy is somewhat thick. Add some chopped onions, green chillies, tomatoes, ginger, coriander leaves and butter on top and serve hot.

No Punjabi platter is complete without butter, raw onions and green chillies. During old times people used to bang a full onion with their fist and used to eat it along with green chillies and homemade white butter in the meal. These days our health does not allow all that in huge quantity but we can have it as garnish to enjoy some of the authenticity. Also if you want some kick, try using green chillies instead of red chilli powder.

Murgh Kebab

Ingredients

1/2 kg mince chicken

1 cup chopped mint-coriander leaves

1 onion, finely chopped

2-3 chopped green chillies (add more for more kick)

1-2 fresh red chillies

salt, to taste

1/2 tsp crushed peppercorns

few drops of rose water

pinch of green cardamom powder and cinnamon powder each

2-3 tbsp refined flour

1. mix all the ingredients

2. form into any easy shape and dust with refined flour gently.

3. deep fry on medium-high flame till the pieces are golden brown.

4. serve hot with mint chutney

Spaghetti à la sauce rouge

Pasta as we all know is a famous Italian delicacy, usually enjoyed with or without sauce and there are more than 101 ways to cook pasta. The one i really love is with red sauce, has tangy spicy taste and its pretty easy to cook.

ingredients pour le sauce rouge ;)

2 kg tomatoes (blanched, peeled and finely chopped)

2-3 garlic cloves, roughly crushed

2-3 fresh basil leaves, chopped

1/2 tsp dry oregano

1/4 tsp dry thyme

1/4 tsp red chilli flakes

salt, to taste

1/4 tsp crushed black pepper

1-2 tbsp olive oil

1. in a dutch oven heat some oil, add garlic and take it out when there is beautiful aroma of garlic.

2. add all other ingredients and cook on medium flame for about an hour, keep stirring in between.

For Spaghetti:

1. boil spaghetti and drain all the water

2. heat 1 tbsp oil, add some spaghetti and 2-3 tbsp sauce, toss well and sprinkle some oregano.

3. add some stir fried vegetables and toss carefully.

Guess what?? PASTA IS READY :)

Sewiyan

Usually im not a dessert person so its rare for me to cook any dessert, but i love Sewiyan (sweet caramelized vermicelli) :) night before yesterday I was watching World Cafe Middle East n my favourite guy Bobby Chan was roaming through the streets of a beautiful middle eastern city and tasting their food. When he entered an ice cream parlor they also showed some sweets. At that time my sis n I had huge urge to eat something sweet so we cooked these Sewiyan together.. Btw we cooked at around 11.30 pm so I wanted to hurry up and cudnt take photos.

Ingredientssss

250 gm vermicelli

1-2 tbsp clarified butter(ghee)

250 ml water

150 gm sugar

few drops of rosewater

roasted almonds, raisins, pistachio, cashews

1. Heat ghee in a kadhai and roast vermicelli for couple of minutes until it gets golden brown.

2. Add water and cook on medium heat for a lil while.

3. Add sugar when only little bit of water is left and keep stirring gently.

4. Remove the kadhai from burner when vermicelli is almost dry.

5. Add rosewater and dry fruits. Serve hot and enjoy!!!

Aloo Shorba

Aloo Shorba is a quick dish, combines both North and South Indian taste. Diced potatoes cooked in tangy curd mixture. 

Here we go.....

Ingredients

1 tbsp gram flour

1 cup curd

500 gm diced potatoes

salt to taste

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/4 tsp red chilli powder

pinch of asafetida powder

1-2 tbsp coconut oil

1-2 bunch curry leaves

3-4 medium onions, roughly chopped

3/4 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 tbsp chopped ginger

3-4 chopped green chillies

1. in a bowl, mix curd, gram flour, salt, red chilli powder and turmeric powder, set it aside.

2. in a deep pan heat some oil and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, ginger and curry leaves, all one by one, by the gap of few seconds.

3. Add curd n gram flour mixture and cook for couple of minutes.

4. Add potatoes and mix gently. Cover with the lid and cook on low flame till its ready.

5. Fry the onions separately till they r pinkish brown, sieve and add them to the potatoes.

6. Add some chopped green chillies and serve hot with paratha/flat bread..

Gosht Dopyaza

dear buddies, this beautiful dish we gonna have now is followed by a short but quite interesting story, and personally i love such mistakes that lead to beautiful results. well the story is once Emperor Akbar's Shahi Khansama (royal chef) was cooking Gosht (meat curry) for the Emperor and his family. When the dish was in its final stage the khansama accidently put some cooked onions in the vessel. It got him worried but it was impossible to prepare the dish again at such short notice so the Gosht was served in the royal dining as it was. While eating, Emperor Akbar realised there was some difference in the Gosht than its usual taste but actually liked it. The Khansama was quite relieved at positive feedback and since then he was told to cook it quite frequently.

So basically in Gosht Dopyaza we put onions in two lots, one in the start and the other while the dish is in its ending stage. What most people do is either chop or slice all the onions and divide them into two batches, but the wise thing to do is chop 2/3 and slice 1/3 of the onions, or make it half-half if you like.

Ingredients..

500 gm lamb pieces

1 cup curd

5 medium onions (2 sliced and 3 finely chopped)

2 tbsp ginger garlic paste

salt to taste

1/4 tsp crushed black pepper

1/4 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1/2 tsp garam masala powder

1/2 tsp meat masala

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 green cardamoms

2-3 cloves

1" cinnamon stick

little bit mace

4-5 tbsp ghee/oil

1. first of all mix 1/2 cup curd, lil salt, black pepper and 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste in a bowl and marinate lamb pieces in it, for 4-6 hours.

2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a deep pan/vessel and fry the sliced onions. Remove them from the pan when they are done and set aside for later use.

 

3. in same pan put little more oil and add cumin seeds, cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon and mace.

4. Add lamb pieces and cook them for around 10 minutes on high flame. Set them aside as well.

5. again in same pan, add some more oil and add ginger garlic paste and chopped onions. Cook on medium/high flame till they are somewhat brown.

6. Add some salt, cumin powder and red chilli powder, followed by 1/2 cup curd. now while putting curd be careful and add spoon by spoon and keep mixing thoroughly.

7. Add 1/2 cup water and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

8. Add lamb pieces and cook for about one hour on low flame, covered with a lid.

9. now add some garam masala and meat masala. Add fried onions and 1/2 cup water and cook for another 5 minutes, uncovered. add some fresh coriander leaves before serving. it usually goes well with flat bread/naan but if serving with rice, add some extra water and cook for about 5-10 minutes more.

Methi Murgh

so yep for dinner tonight ive made Methi Murgh (Chicken cooked with fenugreek leaves), well the similar dish i cooked earlier had some differences, this time ive put fresh fenugreek leaves and curd instead of cream which makes it quite health friendly :) 

Usually when we think of any Methi dish we imagine all dark green stuff but most people dont appreciate it due to its slight bitterness so here ive reduced the amount of methi and increased onions and tomatoes instead. Now one thing you gotta be careful about is DO NOT put onion paste and tomato puree, instead use chopped onions and tomatoes as it brings out tangy n slightly sweet taste which is 'heavenly' :) also if ur not much worried about gaining weight then put some cream instead of curd, it will taste even better..

Ingredients

1/2 kg boneless chicken

1 bunch fresh fenugreek leaves

4-5 medium onions, sliced or chopped

4 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 tbsp chopped ginger

1 tbsp chopped garlic

1 cup curd

1-2 bay leaves

2 cardamoms

2-3 cloves

2" cinnamon stick

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

salt to taste

1 tsp garam masala

2-3 tbsp oil/ghee

1-2 tbsp oil/ghee (for chicken)

For marination:

1 egg

salt

pinch of black pepper

pinch of turmeric

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1. first of all marinate the chicken pieces with above written stuff and set aside for an hour.

2. meanwhile heat some oil in a kadhai and add cumin seeds.

3. Add bay leaves, cloves, cardamoms n cinnamon and wait till they crackle 

4. Add chopped ginger and garlic. Followed by onions and tomatoes after some seconds. Mix it well to soften the mixture.

5. Add salt, red chilli powder(optional), turmeric, cumin powder and garam masala. sprinkle some water if its sticking at the bottom and cook till oil starts separating.

6. Now add chopped fenugreek leaves.

7. Mix well and add curd to the mixture. here you can add cream instead if you want.

8. in a separate wok, heat 1-2 tbsp oil and cook the chicken pieces upto 90% done.

9. Add chicken pieces into the mixture and cook on low flame for another 5 mins. serve hot with naan/flat bread/paratha.. ENJOY!!

Murgh Hari Mirch

Hi guys,, well now im back home after almost 3 months, was in Delhi n worked as part of catering team at CWG Athletes' Village. It was quite challenging job n we all had lotsa fun n now im back to updating this tiny blog of mine :) so yeah tonight ive cooked Murgh Hari Mirch aka Chicken marinated n cooked in green chillies n spices, its hot n goes perfectly well with naan or parathas..

Stuff needed for this beautiful dish::

1 kg chicken pieces (either boneless or with bones)

couple of green chillies

2-3 medium size onions

2 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves

1 tsp cumin seeds

pinch of turmeric powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp garam masala

salt to taste

2-3 tbsp ghee or oil

1. now first of all grind n make paste of 3-4 green chillies, onions, ginger garlic and coriander leaves.

2. rub the paste on chicken pieces and set aside for an hour

3. Heat oil in a wok/kadhai and add cumin seeds, add turmeric powder when cumin seeds start crackling.

4. add chicken pieces along with juices and mix well.

5. Add 5-6 chillies after a while.

6. Add some cumin powder and garam masala.

7. Mix well and cover with lid.

8. Cook on low flame until the pieces are tender.

Murgh Methi Malai

Hi all, well this time i wont go into much details coz its past midnight n i gotta catch train for our capital city Delhi at 6 am. well Murgh Methi Malai is a famous Mughlai item-chicken cooked with whole spices, fenugreek leaves, cream n cashew nut paste.. sounds quite tempting n creamy huh ??

Ingredients

500 gm boneless chicken pieces

250 gm sliced onions

50 gm soaked cashews

2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

4-5 tbsp fenugreek leaves

50 gm cream

1 cup curd

3-4 green chillies

200 ml milk

whole spices (bay leaf, 2-3 cardamoms, 3-4cloves, 2" cinnamon stick, little bit mace, 1 tsp cumin seeds)

1/2 tsp pepper powder

salt, to taste

oil/ghee

1/2 red chilli powder

1. Marinate chicken with curd, salt, pepper powderand ginger-garlic paste for 1hour or just 20 to 30 mins.

2. Heat some oil and fry the onions upto light brown.

3. Grind the fried onions along with milk, chillies and cashews

it should be smooth paste

4. Heat some oil/ghee in a thick bottomed pan and add whole spices and wait till they splutter.

5. Add fenugreek leaves and marinated chicken along with its liquid content. Add cumin powder, black pepper powder and red chilli powder. Cook on medium flame until the pieces are almost tender.

6. Add onion-cashew nut paste and cook on medium flame for couple of minutes.