Kosha Murgi Posto (Bhuna Chicken Khus-khus)

Do you have on your mind something special this weekend? Look no further because this is the dish you have been searching for. An awesome dish grand in texture and amazingly delectable, flavourful, will give your palate a heavenly feeling with each bite. Was thinking of making a completely different kind of chicken dish for some time which will go well with both rice and roti/parantha and will spurt surprises both at lunch and dinner table. Came across this recipe in a recipe book after enormous search, but made some changes here and there to suit my requirements.

The way I made it:
 

Shorba-E-Tangri

This is one of the most delicious chicken recipes I have tasted so far. Innovation in the non vegetarian dishes has become a necessity now to meet my family expectations. I fail to figure out at times whether this is a positive or negative aspect of food blogging. Every time I rack my brain to come up with something new or google for some simple and new ideas which I have not experimented with as yet in my kitchen. This time I managed to dig up a recipe called Shorba-E-Tangri which seemed to be pretty interesting to me. Happy with myself to have saved my face, I started with going to the market to get hold of some fresh chicken leg pieces needed for the dish.

Chicken Stew

After a marvelous vacation in Goa and gorging on spicy Goan cuisine my heart was craving for some home cooked simple and delicious chicken stew and rice. Though pretty much excited about relishing some exotic and awesome seafood for about a week, there is nothing like some homemade soul food I thought to myself. So the last Sunday was a simple and wholesome 'chicken stew day' with minimum spices. This stew is a solace to those who are looking for a break from continuous consumption of rich and spicy food. It’s very nutritious and easy on your stomach when the heat is relentless, soaring above 40 degree Celsius and though less spicy it’s not at all bland.

Chilli Mutton

Mutton is my weakness and I have tried various mutton recipes, experimented with many till date. Each time I got amazed with the zing that mutton can bring to a dish whatever the recipe might be. This time I tried an Indo Chinese version of mutton. Chilli Chicken is loved by everybody all over the world, thought of substituting chicken with mutton to see if it enhances the flavour and this time also I was astonished with the result. Chilli Mutton is an exotic dish, superlative in taste and texture, and it was a real wonder for me. This is a must try mutton dish and just relish it with whatever you wish, its bound to get polished off in seconds.

Summer Special ~ Methi (Fenugreek) Chicken

Methi/Fenugreek Chicken is one of the easiest and yummiest of chicken recipes I have made. So befitting to these scorching summer days this cooks real fast and requires a very few ingredients and above all not too fiery or spicy. I was introduced to this dish a long time ago during my school days by a very dear friend of mine. I fell in love with the taste instantaneously. But I vaguely remember the exact recipe now. I could only recall the main ingredients required to cook the dish, rest I substituted with mine and it turned out to be a winner!!

Sausage Fried Rice~Indo-Chinese Cuisine

Sometimes we get bored with cooking and eating the same food everyday…rice/roti, dal/lentils, one vegetarian dish or a non vegetarian dish. What about trying something else rather than these routine stuffs which will be a complete meal by itself, both nutritious and delicious at the same time? This is a rice dish but not the usual pulao or biryani but a kind of fusion dish with Chinese flavours. Sausage fried rice as I love to call it, is a very easy and simple dish for which you need good quality aromatic long grained basmati rice, some assorted chopped veggies and chicken sausages/frankfurters and soy sauce (light or dark whichever you prefer). Though always a hit among kids this dish is bound to please you as well.

 

Nepali Bhutwa~ An Exquisite Mutton Dish From Nepal

What about celebrating the coming holidays with an absolutely awesome mutton dish? This is one of the best mutton dishes I have tasted in a long time. It’s flavourful, incredibly delectable, goes equally well with roti/parantha or even rice/pulao. I came across this interesting dish in one of the food groups that I am a member of. It requires an exotic herb called Timur, difficult to get hold of in the regular grocery stores, but if not available you can cook without it, the mutton will taste delish anyways.  Timur is a kind of pepper available in Nepal/China also known as Sichuan/Szechwan pepper used mostly in the Nepali, Tibetan or Chinese dishes.

 

Nepali Bhutwa

Rajasthani Jungli Laal Maas (Red Meat)

Hi Friends!!! How are you all doing? After a long time, finally managed to shake off the lethargy that bugged me for several months and return to blogging. Have cooked quite a few dishes in this stretch but most of the time either forgot to take pictures or was too indolent to write up a recipe and post. Here’s one of them that I cooked on the day of Kali pujo/Diwali which tasted absolutely brilliant. It’s an authentic Rajasthani dish…the popular Laal Maas or Red Meat.

Rajasthani Laal Maas

Hyderabadi Mutton

Hyderabad, the land of the Nizams has the flavour of Royal Gharana in its cuisine. All the exquisite flavours thus incorporated into the various dishes originating from this part of India mirror the glamour of the Nawabs. This dish is no exception either. The mutton is most beautifully cooked with the choicest of spices resulting in an outstanding flavour and incomparable texture. Obviously you don’t have to go by my words only, you just have to try it out yourselves. This region adopts ‘Dum’ cooking in most of the dishes including Biryani. ‘Dum’ means steam, the food is cooked in its steam. Here I have pressure cooked the mutton instead of slowly simmering it following Sanjeev Kapoor’s way of cooking this dish.

Hyderabadi Mutton

Manpasand Chicken Korma

What do you call a dish that’s lovable to all? Yes, ‘ManPasand’. ‘Korma’ or ‘Kurma’ is a very popular dish you can find in the menu of almost every restaurant in North India. This dish which finds its roots in the Mughal cuisine means braised chicken in assorted ingredients. To be more specific the dish took birth in central Asia from the Turkish word ‘kavurma’ meaning ‘cooked meat’. Like most of the North Indian dishes this too got introduced to the Indian palate via the Mughal kitchen. It was a ‘Shahi’ dish for the Mughals meaning something special which did not feature in the day to day cooking. It was imperative that the dish had a satin smooth richness of nut paste, cream, yogurt, coconut and an accompaniment of Pilaf or pulao for a special dawat/meal.

Manpasand Chicken Korma

Railway Mutton Curry

This is my hundredth blogpost and contains a very special recipe ‘The Railway Mutton Curry’. The recipe is special in the sense that it’s not the typical Bengali mutton curry we generally make on Sundays. Moreover, this mutton curry brings to mind the train journeys of childhood, the immense fun, awesome food, the call of the hawkers, making new friends on each journey, beautifully green countryside strewn with paddy fields, quivering ponds and mud huts,  you may say, as a whole the journeys were celebrations in themselves.

Railway Mutton Curry

Chicken Kosha (Spicy Bhuna Chicken)

How about an awesome chicken dish today after two consecutive postings of vegetarian dishes? Chicken Kosha is a Bong culinary treasure that has caught up with the rest of the world as has its mutton counterpart. It’s a favorite any day especially if you have luchi/puris or paranthas (Indian Flat Breads) on your mind as the choice of bread. Delectable is the least you can say about this dish! It is rich in color, texture and flavor, even a great dish to enchant the entire spread if you are hosting a lunch or dinner.

Chicken Kosha

Mutton Stew

There was a time, during my childhood days in Kolkata when the panacea to all illness seemed a hot steaming bowl of mutton or chicken stew. “Oh my God you are running a temperature!! Caught a cold didn’t you? Have Crocin now. Will make you mutton stew today….” my Maa used to say. At other times Baba used to ask, “What happened? You are looking pale!! Not feeling well?…Take rest…Will bring some chicken from the market and Maa will make you chicken stew…don’t have anything else…you’ll be okay in no time.” I waited eagerly for that deliciously wonderful stew cooked by Maa. So lovely were those days of being nestled in the warmth of love and care of parents…..and the sheer magic of home remedies!!

Mutton Stew

Healthy And Tasty Stir Fried Hariyali Kebab Masala

This is a quick fix meal when you are feeling out of sorts or simply in no mood to cook at all. It’s a delish dish ready in less than 15 minutes without much labour. Just put in the ingredients stir fry and its ready!!!!

Hariyali Kebab Masala

Kolhapuri Mutton/ Tambada Rassa ~ a Maharashtrian delicacy

Happy New Year to all my readers!!

Kolhapur, situated in the southernmost district of Maharashtra is an ancient city on the banks of the river Panchaganga and is also known as Dakshin Kashi. It was the main centre of power in the Shilahara dynasty and one of the important cities of the Maratha Empire, just to give you a brief brush up of Indian history.

Kolhapuri Mutton

Chicken Dak Bungalow ~ An Anglo-Indian Delicacy

The name itself takes you back to the British colonial era, you can picturize a quaint loghut with British architecture amidst a dense forest. The Dak Bungalows or the bungalows on the postal (dak) route served as rest houses during the hunting trips or long journeys to the remote places for the British officers who spent some days in the serenity of the woods and enjoyed country fowl curry whose more popular Bong term is ‘Bon Murgir Jhol’ cooked by the caretakers or the ‘Khansamas’ of that bungalow. This special curry was cooked with the elementary spices freshly ground, potatoes and boiled eggs.

Chicken Dak Bungalow

Bikrampuri Murg Salaan ~ A Simple, Aromatic Chicken Dish From Bangladesh

I came across this palatable recipe in one of the food groups. As you all know by now that I’m always attracted to the simplest of recipes with a new twist. This is one such chicken recipe I felt worth trying, a delicacy of Bikrampur in Bangladesh… and the new angle given to it is by a smooth paste of roasted spices called ‘Chhaag’. This makes the dish wonderfully aromatic and lends a lovely brownish texture.

Bikrampuri Murg Salaan

I was introduced to this magical blend of rustic yet flavorful dish by Purna Chowdhury, a friend, fellow blogger and foodie. For the past week seeing all celebrating thanksgiving in their own special way… here is my thanksgiving to Purna di for such a beautiful dish. Wouldn’t have known the taste and flavour if I hadn’t made it!!

I have come to know from Purna di’s introduction about this dish that it was influenced by the union of many cultures which chronologically enriched Bikrampur and its cuisine. Among them were Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist. The special blend of roasted spices named ‘Chhaag’ came into being as a result and brought a revolution in the gravies and curries of the region.

Bikrampuri Murg Salaan

Bikrampuri Murg Salaan

Now sharing with you the recipe….

Ingredients:
 

• 1 kg chicken with bone regular cut
• 6 onions roughly chopped/grated
• 1 inch ginger grated or coarsely chopped
• 8 pods of garlic coarsely chopped/grated
• 2 tablespoons of red chilli flakes, you can use according to your own taste
• 2 slit green chillies, I used for additional flavour
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• Mustard oil as per requirement

For the ‘Chhaag’:

• 2-3 bay leaves
• 2-3 tsp cumin seeds/jeera
• 1 heaped tablespoon garlic chopped or grated

Process:

Step:1

Marinate the chicken with onion, ginger, garlic, mustard oil, turmeric, red chilli flakes and salt. Keep it for 45 min-1 hr.

This is the chicken with the marination

Step:2

Prepare the ‘Chhaag’ in the mean time. Put a little oil in a skillet and roast bay leaves, cumin seeds and garlic until brown. Remove from heat and let it cool completely. Now make a smooth paste in the blender by adding a little water.

This is how the 'Chhaag' will look like

Step:3

Heat the same skillet again and add the marinated chicken. Cover and cook. Stir once or twice in between.

Step:4

Now when the chicken is almost done add the ‘Chhaag’. Stir to mix it well with the chicken. Now cover and cook it again and let the flavors mingle for an additional five minutes until the chicken is fully done.

Bikrampuri Murg Salaan

Note: No souring agent or water is needed except for the pasting of ‘Chhaag’. The chicken gets cooked in its own juices.

Mutton Rogan Josh ~ A Kashmiri Delicacy

#Mutton Rogan Josh #Kashmiri mutton curry recipe #Popular Indian Curry Recipe

This dish needs no introduction. Rogan Josh is a signature and the most popular dish from the land of ethereal beauty and fabulous cuisine, Kashmir. Though most of you know about the origin of this dish I would like to resonate the same lines for those who don’t know. Rogan or roughan means ‘fat’ in Persian and Josh means ‘cooked at a very high heat’.  So its presumed that the dish was brought to Kashmir by the Mughals whose cuisine was again influenced by the Persians. Another interpretation of the word Rogan is ‘red color’ and Rogan Josh is meat with a red color. But Rogan Josh got a different dimension altogether later from the Kashmiri Bramhins who cooked this meat without onions and garlic. So if you come across a recipe of Rogan Josh with onion and garlic or tomatoes that’s not Rogan Josh though many eateries you come across nowadays rarely serve the authentic one. It’s best made at home.

Mutton Rogan Josh

This dish essentially is accentuated with the flavours of soonth (dry ginger powder), saunf (fennel seeds) powder, hing (asafoetida) and mustard oil. Another important spice for this dish which lends to the striking red color of the mutton is ratanjot. It’s very difficult to get hold of ratanjot in the regular grocery stores. So you can use Kashmiri red chilli powder in generous amount in lieu of ratanjot to bring the same color. But no tomatoes please. This dish is not cooked with tomatoes and neither has the red color anything to do with it.

For making this dish I have followed Sanjeev Kapoor’s recipe which seemed to me the authentic one, with a few variations here and there. While buying mutton for this dish choose the portions with more fat and preferably meat from a baby goat. I have marinated the mutton with yogurt for over two hours for that soft, juicy and succulent meat. Rogan josh is best when accompanied with plain hot steamed rice but you can also serve it with naans or pulao.

Here comes the recipe of this amazingly aromatic and delectable dish….

Mutton Rogan Josh

Mutton Rogan Josh

Mutton Rogan Josh

Ingredients:

• 800 gms mutton
• 200 gms yogurt whisked to a creamy texture
• 8 black peppercorns
• 6 green cardamoms
• 2 sticks 1 inch each cinnamon
• 5-6 cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 black cardamoms
• 4-5 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
• 2 tsp saunf powder
• 2 tsp soonth powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp asafoetida
• Salt n sugar to taste
• Mustard oil as per requirement

 

Mutton Rogan Josh

Process:

Step:1

Marinate the mutton pieces with yogurt for 2-3 hours

Step:2
 

Heat oil in a thick bottomed skillet and throw in the whole spices cardamoms, cinnamon peppercorns, bay leaves and asafoetida. Wait for the crackle.

Step:3

Add the marinated mutton and stir on high flame for quite sometime. Add the powdered masalas, salt and keep stirring for a few minutes more.

Step:4
 

Add water about 2 large cups and let the mutton get cooked covered until it gets tender. The dish should ideally have a thin gravy with a layer of fat/oil on the top.

Dhaba Mutton Curry

Traversing north India through roadways I had the privilege of experiencing the taste of this delectable dish quite a number of times. Stopping by a roadside dhaba (small food joints along highways) and enjoying the lip smacking rustic flavours of the countryside is something sublime, divine. That is why I always prefer dhabas to plush restaurants/resorts while driving on highways.

 Intrinsically the dhaba flavour is associated with desi ghee/clarified butter, spices, tadka dal/lentils, mutton/chicken, hot chapatis which wafts around and tickles your taste buds making each moment of wait for the food seem like a year. The taste of a dhaba dal tadka and mutton/chicken curry is to die for because of the unparallel freshness. I searched the net for the authentic recipe of Dhaba Mutton Curry which will bring out the flavour of  rural Punjab and found Moumita Roy’s (a friend and fellow foodie, blogger)  recipe. Adjusted the recipe accordingly with some modifications to suit my requirement…here’s the recipe….

Dhaba Mutton Curry

 

Dhaba Mutton Curry

Dhaba Mutton Curry

Dhaba Mutton Curry

Dhaba Mutton Curry

Recipe:
 

Ingredients:

• 800 gms mutton cut in medium sized pieces
• 6-7 onions chopped
• 1 ½ inch ginger
• 1 whole garlic
• 2-3 green chillies
• ½ cup tomato puree/paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 5-6 green cardamoms
• 2 sticks of cinnamon 1 inch each
• 5-6 cloves
• 1 tsp Deghi red chilli powder
• 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• ½ cup ghee/clarified butter
• Salt n sugar to taste
• Some chopped green chillies and fresh coriander leaves for garnishing

Dhaba Mutton Curry

Procedure:
 

Take ginger, garlic and green chillies, make smooth paste in a blender. Heat ghee in a thick bottomed skillet and fry the mutton pieces till they get a brownish hue. Take them out and keep aside. Toss the whole garam masalas and bay leaves in the same ghee or add more if you need. Wait for the crackle and add onions. Fry the onions golden and add the ginger-garlic-green chilli paste. Saute and add the powdered masalas. Fry well. Add salt and the mutton pieces, mix with the masalas. Add 2 big cups of warm water and cover the skillet with a lid. Let the mutton cook on low flame till tender. This may take 1 hour to 1 ½ hours depending on the quality of mutton. Now add the tomato puree and sugar and cook for further 5-6 minutes. Serve hot garnished with chopped green chillies and coriander leaves.

Note: Add tomato puree after the mutton gets fully cooked or it will turn stiff and chewy.

Golbarir Kosha Mangsho (Spicy Bhuna Mutton of Golbari)

Wish you all Shuvo Bijoya and Eid Mubarak!! :)

Today I’m posting a very special, popular and traditional Bengali recipe Golbarir Kosha Mangsho. Bongs have weakness over mutton apart from fish and when it’s Kosha Mangsho (Spicy Bhuna Mutton) the name that’s spelled in the same breath is Golbari.

If you chance to visit the rich cultural and gastronomic heritage of Kolkata and want a comprehensive tour of its gourmet world, Golbarir Kosha Mangsho (Spicy Bhuna Mutton Of Golbari) and Parantha must feature in the list. Situated at the five point crossing of Shyambazar behind the Netaji Statue in North Kolkata, Golbari (‘Gol’ means round and ‘Bari’ means house) is a small restaurant which boasts of the best mutton in town.

People used to flock to this place from different parts of the city and queue for long hours just to get a taste of this delicacy. But I have heard sometimes back that the place had shut down and taken over by another owner (New Punjabi Hotel) who has failed to live up to the age old reputation of the place. They do have kosha Mangsho in their menu list but the old taste, class and flavour are all gone, the succulent juicy divine mutton chunks, the soft  well cooked meat falling most delicately off the bone, got replaced by chewy rubbery tasteless mutton.

 I was despondent about the news, the childhood memories, glimpses of my favourite, much loved restaurant quivered in my mind. This post is dedicated to all those who inspite of the grime and grease, plastic chairs and table more like a wall mounted desk, space crunch and walls blackened with soot, loved the place for the incredible taste it created and were deeply saddened by the termination of its operation. This is my humble effort to recreate the taste of Golbari in my kitchen, to stir up a nostalgia and was successful to a great extent in doing so according to my husband.

Now, providing you with the recipe of the famous dish….

Golbarir Kosha Mangsho

Golbarir Kosha Mangsho

Golbarir Kosha Mangsho

Golbarair Kosha Mangsho

Golbarir Kosha Mangsho

Golbarir Kosha Mangsho

Golbarir Kosha Mangsho

Golbarir Kosha Mangsho

Recipe: 

Ingredients:

·        1 kg mutton (goat meat), be sure to have quite a few nalli pieces ( pcs with bone marrow)

·        7-8 onions

·        12-14 cloves of garlic

·        2 inch ginger

·        6-7 green chillies

·        6-7 green cardamoms

·        4 sticks of cinnamon (1 inch each)

·        6-7 cloves

·        2 bay leaves

·        1 tsp turmeric

·        3 tsp coriander powder

·        2 tsp of cumin powder

·        300 gms of yogurt beaten to a creamy consistency

·        Salt n sugar to taste

·        Mustard oil as per requirement

Golbarir Kosha Mangsho

Procedure: 

For Marination:

First make a smooth paste of two onions, garlic, ginger and green chillies. Marinate the mutton with yogurt, the paste, salt and 2 tblspns of mustard oil for at least 7-8 hours in the refrigerator.

For Cooking:

Thinly slice the remaining onions. Heat oil in a thick bottomed skillet and splutter the whole garam masalas and bay leaves. Add a little sugar and caramalise it. Add the sliced onions and fry them golden. Add the powdered masalas, stir and add the marinated mutton. Fry on high heat until the mutton is sealed and changes color to brownish. No red chilli powder and tomatoes please, because we want the colour to be dark/ blackish brown. Now cover with a lid. Let the mutton get cooked slowly on low flame. Do not try to pressure cook. The mutton will get cooked with its own juice and fat. It will take about 45 minutes – 1 hour for the mutton to get tender. Check at a gap of 10 minutes and stir.  Sprinkle a little water in between if the mutton gets too dry. Serve with hot paranthas/luchis/pooris and onion rings.