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.

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.

 

Prawn Tikka Masala

When Indians in every nook and corner of the world are celebrating Makar Sankranti/PoushParbon/Lohri with sweets, coconut, jaggery, rice flour here’s something deliciously savoury for you to be enjoyed with steaming Gobindobhog or Basmati rice. Prawn Tikka Masala is a taste of divinity on your palate with a creamy sauce of yogurt, tomatoes and fresh cream much similar to its chicken and paneer (cottage cheese) counterparts with a bonus of the flavour of prawn. Though many restaurants have this dish on their menu, I think it tastes best when home cooked. Quite an easy peasy, hassle-free recipe, it can be made with medium to king sized prawns for the desired outcome.

 

Prawn Tikka Masala

Fish Pakoda~A Super Delectable Snack

Happy New Year to all my readers…lets start this year with something crispy, munchy and blissful. Very suitable as winter bites these crunchy fish pakodas are a delectable snack any time of the day. Moreover quite hassle free they do not need a dip in the egg or a roll in the bread crumbs, can be prepared with rohu/katla/seabass/prawns… the choice is yours. It’s a perfect dish to entertain your guests.

Fish Pakoda

Stuffed Potato/ Aloo

This is a rather uncommon dish because you generally come across stuffed capsicum/simla mirch, stuffed lady finger/vindi/okra, stuffed chillies/ hari mirch, stuffed tomato, stuffed karela/bitter gourd and our oh-so-good Bong delicacy stuffed pointed gourd/potol/parwal famously called ‘Potoler Dolma’. But have you ever met with stuffed potato/aloo?. 

Stuffed Potatoes

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

Green Egg Curry

Sonny’s exam is over and I’m relieved. Waiting for the results and making some dishes on his request. This is one of them, Green Egg Curry. It is a delicious egg curry with coriander and green chili paste. Tastes quite different from the regular egg curry and we loved the flavour of coriander and green chilies with eggs. This should be served with steamed rice for the most awesome experience. You can make this curry with potatoes too if you want.

Green Egg Curry

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

Milk Pulao With Prawns (Chingri Maacher Dudh Polao)

This is another exotic rice dish I found blog worthy. It is stunning enough to adorn a party table as well as a quiet private lunch with your family. The brilliance in aroma, taste and texture was quite amazing, difficult to put in words until you have tasted it. This is the season of fresh prawns as you know it. All of them will vanish from the market in a month or two with the rise in temperature. So I’m trying to make the most of the hay time cooking the prawn dishes I have on my mind. Those who are allergic to prawns or looking for a vegetarian option can cook it with the seasonal veggies like cauliflower, carrots, peas etc. Will give that recipe another time.

Milk Pulao With Prawns

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

Doi Golda (Lobsters In Rich Creamy Yogurt Sauce)

Sunday is the day of making a special dish for lunch. Sonny awaits with expectations of something new, different and delicious. He suggested a few days back, “Maa  why don’t you make a special prawn dish this Sunday?” I pondered, yes has been a while I made a prawn dish. Went to the market in the morning to try my luck in getting some fresh large prawns for lunch. Had come across an awesome prawn recipe quite a few days back and was dying to give it a try. But the fish market disappointed me. Couldn’t find any large prawn, only some stale small ones lying with one vendor. Suddenly something caught my eye. At one corner was a boy about fifteen years of age, selling some minnows along with some fresh medium sized fresh water lobsters or Indian scampi heaped at one side. Walked up to him and after a good bargain bagged a kilo of those lobsters. Though my recipe needed tiger prawns, I couldn’t resist buying them to see how things turn out.

Doi Golda

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

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.