Chicken Kadhai

Gravy-based thick dishes delight me so much. They have simple ingredients, are easy to make and make you feel 'home' instantly. Any problem on your mind can be solved with a bowl of curry and some fresh chapatis to scoop and dunk into it. The dark consistency, the right blend of spices and add to that some fresh ingredients and your curry is ready in less than an hour.

North Indian at heart, Chicken Kadhai is a dish that is cooked in so many ways by adding capsicum and whole spices like cloves, bay leaf, cardamom. I think after Dal Makhani (see the recipe for making restaurant-style Dal Makhani here) and butter chicken, this should be the most-ordered dish in any restaurant serving Punjabi or North Indian food. The simplicity of this recipe makes it stand out and is the reason why most of the times when we have chicken at home, I end up cooking this or the biryani.

Chicken kadhai is one such curry-based dish that we enjoy scooping with soft chapatis. I abstain from eating it with parathas since I find this dish a bit on the heavier side. It doesn't have any milk-based thickeners such as cream or milk or yoghurt but the amount of spice powders in this dish can make it hard to handle if you eat too much of it. Albeit once tasted, its simply hard to resist another serving. Go ahead and try it with naan or paratha or even mix it up with some steamed rice and immerse yourself in other interpretations of this dish.

Here is how I make my Chicken Kadhai which is a favourite at home and this recipe guarantees a love-filled whatsapp from husband when I pack it for him in his lunch!

Prepping Time: 15 min
Cooking Time: 30 min
Difficulty Level: Easy

Ingredients:

Chicken pieces: 1 kg (skinless, bone in)

6-7 onions, sliced or quartered

4-5 tomatoes, pulped

6-7 green chilies

4-5 tbsp garlic, finely chopped

2-3 tbsp ginger, finely chopped

4-5 tbsp Cooking oil

1 tsp red chili powder

2 tsp coriander powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp chicken masala

salt, to taste

Method:

1) In a thick bottom and wide wok, add oil, fry the chopped garlic until translucent stirring all the time, add chopped ginger. When that browns slightly, add sliced onions. On a low flame, fry onions until brown. Keep stirring to make sure they don't stick to the bottom or they might burn.

2) Add in pulped tomatoes and green chilies. I grind the green chilies but you can add it chopped or sliced into two. When the tomatoes gravy separate from the oil, put red chili powder, salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder and chicken masala. Let the masala cook with the gravy for a minute.

3) Finally put the chicken pieces, a small bowl of water and cover with a lid for 10 min. Open and check if the the chicken is done. If chicken still doesn't leave the bone, cover and cook for 10 min more. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with hot chapatis.

 Thanks for reading! :-)

Dal Makhani

Raise your hand if you have not tasted this epic North Indian dish - Dal Makhani yet! Raise both hands and go run like this to a roadside dhaba or a small Indian restaurant near you and dig in to this divine dish. 

Believe me this is no punishment, only a reward. Dal Makhani is a creamy Punjabi lentil curry simmered and slow cooked until the black gram lentils and kidney beans almost turn to a mush. 

It is generally cooked with lots of butter and then finally smooth layers of cream are added to finish this aptly titled 'Dal Makhani'.

Makkhan in Hindi translates as butter in English and in India, especially Punjab, a lot of dishes have "Makhani" added to their name.

Their are some very rich gravy dishes with Makkhan cooked in Punjabi style like Paneer Makhani (cottage cheese cooked in butter and cream and tomato gravy) or Murg Makhani (Chicken in a thick creamy buttery sauce).

Usage of dairy products like milk, cream, butter, ghee (clarified butter) and paneer (cottage cheese) is profound in Punjabi cooking. Almost all Punjabi dishes have either one or more of these dairy products in them.

Before I share the recipe here, let me say that like many slow-cooked recipes, Dal Makhani turns out best when you take your time to cook it at leisure. It is not a dish in a jiffy and making it is time-consuming but once you scoop it with pillow-y bites of layered parathas (pan-fried flatbread), you forget about the time and effort put into making it.

I love eating my dal out of the fridge next morning served with hot parathas fresh off the tawa. Believe me, it tastes even better the next morning. This is the way breakfast has been happening at my naani's (grandma's house) since my childhood. Leftover dal from the night served with hot fluffy parathas.

Since it takes long for the black gram lentils and kidney beans to cook, I use a pressure cooker and soak both overnight in water.

Prepping Time: 8 hours
Cooking Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

Black lentils (whole): 3/4th cup
Kidney Beans: 1/4th cup
4-5 tbsp butter
2-3 cloves
1tsp cumin
2 green cardamom
1 black cardamom
1 bay leaf
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tomatoes, pulped
4-5 green chilies
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
salt, to taste
coriander leaves, for garnish
cream 3-4 tbsp

Method:

1) A night before or at least 4-5 hours before cooking soak black gram and kidney beans in enough water to speed up the cooking.

2) In a pressure cooker, heat four cups of water. Add some salt, turmeric powder and pressure cook for on medium to low flame for about 30 min.

3) Take a pan, heat butter with just a tbsp cooking oil to avoid it from getting burnt.

4) Now add bay leaf, cloves, cardamom.

5) Put in the cumin seeds and stir until it changes colour and you smell a nice roasted fragrance of cumin.

6) Add chopped onions. Stir fry.

7) Until the onions brown, prepare ginger-garlic paste. Keep aside.

8) Keep checking on the onions and stir. Meanwhile, blend together tomatoes and green chili.

9) Set aside the tomato-green chili paste.

10) Stir the onions.

 11) When onions look like such....

 12) ...put in the ginger-garlic paste and stir fry until the raw smell disappears.

13) Now add in the tomato-green chili pulp.

14) Stir well. When tomatoes seem to be cooked and left some oil on the side, its done.

15) Now add in the red, chili powder, coriander powder, salt. Stir and saute for 2 min.

16) When it looks like this, your tadka is ready! Once the pressure cooker releases its steam, open carefully and add the dal to the tadka. Do not add all the remaining water. You can add it later in parts when the dal is simmering with the tadka. It should be thick and not runny so add little water every then and now. When the dal seems to be mixed well with the tadka, add in the cream and turn off the gas.

Serve hot with paratha or fuluffy phulkas (chapati)!

How do you like to eat your dal?

With parathas or naan? 

Tell me all, I'd love to read what you think!

Thanks for reading! :-)

Daal Palak

There are some dishes we all used to run away from as kids. We would hold fights, make faces, put up arguments and when none of it works we would literally beg mom in order to escape eating those "healthy" dishes. Do you have some such dishes coming to your mind? The recipe for the dish that I am sharing here today is one such recipe I used to shrug seeing in front of me most of my childhood and teenage life. Daal Palak!!

Strange enough, but it is the same dish I can't wait to lick off my plate once I am done cooking it. Yes it is funny that the same dish my mother used to make and as a child/teen I would be hell bent on not eating, that I now yearn for and find perfect to eat with hot and fluffy phulkas or chapatti for lunch. Do you also find yourself in the same spot as I do? :-)

Another gem of a dish from North Indian cuisine, Daal Palak is a powerhouse of nutrients such as iron, fibre, protein and vitamins. The green colour of this curry/gravy is proof enough to show how healthy and nutritious this dish is! Many people do not like spinach especially children but if you cook spinach with moong daal or yellow lentils and masoor daal or pink lentils, it will be a creamy green sauce/curry that everyone will want to lick their fingers off! You can adjust the chili if making for children!

I have learnt this recipe from my mother and over the years have developed a knack of putting it together without much effort on the table in under 30 minutes. This recipe is healthy and easy to make and requires very little ingredients. It has the subtle rich aroma of ghee or clarified butter, tiny bits of soft onions and a pungent flavour of garlic and creamy texture of the lentils and spinach.

Prepping Time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 20 min
Difficulty Level: Easy

Ingredients:

Spinach leaves, 1 bunch, washed
Moong Daal, 2 tbsp, washed
Masoor Daal, 2 tbsp, washed
2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Onion, 1, finely chopped
Tomato, 1, grind to paste
4-5 green chilies
4 tbsp ghee
1 cup water
turmeric powder 1 tsp
red chili powder 1 tsp
salt, to taste

Method:

1) Start by washing spinach leaves in a colander. And wash the daal too.

2) In a pressure cooker put the washed spinach leaves, daal, 1-2 green chilies (whole), 1-2 cloves of garlic, 1 cup water along with some salt and 1/2 tsp turmeric powder. Put the lid on and pressure cook until it whistles. Turn off the gas and let the steam escape.

3) Meanwhile, in a wok put ghee and add chopped garlic and let it sizzle until the raw smell disappears.

4) Now put in the chopped onions.

5) Until the onions brown, grind 1-2 tomatoes and 2 green chilies with a blender.

6) Once the onions seem brown add in the tomato-green chili paste. Saute until you see oil releasing from the sides of this mixture.

7) Open the lid of the pressure cooker and using a blender grind the spinach, daal, garlic and green chili. You will get a dark green paste.

 

8) When you see oil has separated from the tadka add in the turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt. Mix.

9) Now add in the dark green paste to the tadka. Mix well. Add in half a cup water of you find the daal palak too thick. Boil it.

Serve with a dollop of butter along with fresh chapatti or parathas!

How do you incorporate spinach in your diet?

Tell me all the tips and tricks you use to hide it in the kids meals to make sure they are eating this healthy green leafy vegetable! I'd love to read and be enlightened.

Thanks for reading! :-)

Baingan Bhadta or Roasted Eggplant

Punjabi cooking is interesting as a number of methods are used in cooking different kinds of food. From deep-frying in huge woks to roasting a flat round chapatti in a tandoor (clay oven), unique methods used in North Indian cooking make the process intriguing and leave the dish tasting authentic and unique.

 

There is no other way Punjabis would have their brinjals than making a bhadta out of them! Baingan ka Bhadta is prepared by slow roasting the oval dark purple large varieties of brinjals on an open stove and then mashing up its roasted pulp to mix it with a tadka of tomatoes and onions.

Known in India as Brinjal, this smooth skinned, shiny deep purple vegetable is rich in vitamins, minerals and fibre. Alternatively called aubergine or eggplant, this is healthy enough for weight watchers as it is low in calories and has no cholesterol or fat. Buy the long oval shaped deep purple ones. The ones with lesser seeds in them will have a smooth shiny skin and will be long and light-weight.

Baingan Ka Bhadta is cooked every week at any North Indian house, and all at home can take in the fragrance of stove-top roasted brinjals. The roasted brinjals smell just so awesome! It is a spicy, dry main course eaten mostly with chapatti or paratha (griddle-fried flat bread) for lunch accompanied by raita (yoghurt-based side dish generally made with boondi or chopped/grated veggies like cucumber, onion, tomato etc). Baingan Bhadta is made in two ways. My late grandma used to make a salad dish version by mixing roasted and mashed brinjal with freshly chopped onion and tomatoes, green chili with only salt and red chili powder in it. We called it kachcha or raw bhadta and used to relish it with phulkas or chapatti or just like that with a sprinkle of lemon. Sadly that dish is no more made these days. I will try and share the full recipe for it!

Baingan Bhadta is worth all the mess it creates and the time it takes to prepare it. We need to roast the brinjal well till the purple skin chars well changing to a flaky black and the skin starts curling. My golden rule to check if the brinjal is roasted perfectly or not is by inserting a knife into roasting brinjal, if it comes out clean and without any effort its done.

Prepping Time: 10 min

Cooking Time: 30 min

Difficulty: Medium

Messy: Yes

Tip: To reduce the mess I like to line my stove top with foil paper.

Ingredients:

2 medium brinjals (600gm)

4-5 onions, finely chopped

3-4 tomatoes, finely chopped

4-5 green chilies, finely chopped

3-4 tbsp Cooking Oil

1 tsp red chili powder

salt, to taste

Method:

1) Roast over an open flame for 10-15 min or until the brinjal turns black, while turning occasionally.

 2) Keep aside to cool.

 3) Heat cooking oil in a wok and add chopped onions.

4) Until onions brown, chop the stem and discard. Now peel the skin pinching it off the brinjals and mash the brinjals. Keep aside.

5)  Keep on checking the onions and stir fry until golden brown like this.

5) Now add chopped tomatoes, green chilies and stir.

6) When tomatoes are mushy, and turned into a paste-like consistency, add red chili powder and salt. 

7) Mix and stir fry for 2 min and when you spot oil has separated from the tadka....

....add the mashed brinjal. Mash and mix properly with the kadchchi or large spoon.

Serve with hot phulkas (chapatti) or make these yummy parathas (griddle-fried flat bread) like I did!

Have you ever tried this wonderful dish?

How do you like to eat it? At home with a fluffy phulka or dhaba-style with lots of green chilies? 

Tell me how do you make your brinjal recipes? I'd love to know you cook this wonderful vegetable!

Thanks for reading! :-)