Italian Style Chicken Stew

Sometimes I need to make lunch for my daughter and her friends of European origin. It’s hard to get something to plate which both would equally enjoy. This chicken stew seems to fit the bill. It has both Indian spices as well as Italian herbs.

 

Ingredients

• 1lb. chicken on bone
• 1/4th cup onion juice
• 2 medium sized onion sliced thinly
• 1 large tomato sliced lengthwise
• 5-6 baby potatoes
• 1/4 cup minced garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped leek (optional)
• 1 tbsp. chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp. whole pepper corn
• 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper powder
• 1 tbsp. saffron
• 1/4 cup fresh cream
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 2 tbsp. olive oil (you can use any vegetable oil)
• 2 tsp. all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste

Procedure

 

Wash and pat dry chicken pieces and marinate them with onion juice, black pepper powder and salt..

Keep it aside for an hour or two.

 

Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a pan and fry the chicken pieces on medium low heat till all sides take a light brown hue. This way you can seal the juice of the chicken.

 

In another pan take butter and allow it to melt on very low heat. You need to be careful not to burn the butter. Add whole peppercorns to it followed by minced garlic. Sauté till you start getting a nice aroma.

 

Add sliced onions and leek and fry on medium heat till the onions turn a little brown.. Next to go in are the tomato slices.. Fry on medium heat till the tomato starts to melt.. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool down and come to the room temperature..

 

Put the fried mixture in a blender and blend it for half a minute.. Now strain the blended mixture through a strainer and reserve the pulp.

 

In a separate pan melt another spoon of  butter on very low flame and add flour to it.. Fry for a little while. Add the reserved pulp to it and pour about 4 cups of water to it. Mix well. Bring the mixture to a boil before you add the fried chicken pieces to it. Add the baby potatoes. Season with salt and sugar. Cover it. Allow it to simmer on low heat to infuse all the flavors together. When the chicken and the potato is just done sprinkle saffron strands and mix it well. Let it simmer for another minute before you add 2 tbsp. of  fresh cream to it. Turn off the heat and garnish with parsley. 

 

You can serve with garlic bread or plain bread.. 

Chole Gosth

Generally I make Chole Gosth when I have little left over meat. Not enough for everyone at home but at the same time the folks want to eat something non-vegetarian. It’s like cheating a little bit, but not really because it tastes awesome (if I may say so myself ).

Ingredients

• 2 lb. mutton cut into medium pieces on bone
• 1/2 lb. chickpeas soaked overnight
• 2 large onion finely chopped
• 1 tsp. ginger paste
• 1 tbsp. garlic paste
• 2 large tomatoes chopped
• 5-6 green chilies
• 1 tsp. cumin powder
• 1 tbsp. red chili powder
• 2 tbsp. chole masala
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• 4 tbsp. oil
• Handful of freshly chopped cilantro for garnishing

Procedure

In a pressure cooker take soaked chole and add 2 cups of water along with a pinch of salt. Cook till two whistles come. Let the pressure settle down on its own. Open the lid and transfer the chole in some other container. Keep an eye not to overcook them. They should retain their shape.

Add 4 tbsp. oil in the pressure cooker and add chopped onions. Fry on low heat till you can see the edges turn brown. Add mutton pieces to it and fry them along with onions on medium heat till the meat takes a light brown hue. Add tomatoes, green chilies, ginger garlic paste. Sprinkle cumin powder, chili powder,chole masala, salt and sugar. Sauté on medium flame till the oil starts getting separated from the edges.

Pour half a cup of water and give a nice mix. Close the pressure cooker and cook the mutton on medium heat for 15 minutes. Let the pressure release on it own. Open the lid add add the boiled chick peas to it.

Mix once again and allow them to simmer together on low heat till you have a thick gravy.Turn off the heat.

Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro and green chilies.

Serve with Naan, chapathi or Paranthas.

Red Snapper with Pyajkoli

Traditionally we make Maacher Jhol with sweet water fishes. Since here in US we have limited access to rui, katla in their frozen forms, I keep trying with various local fish. When I first found Red Snapper, instead of attempting light jhol I tried to put it into a tomato garlic based gravy with pyajkoli which I bought from the same Asian store. I was quite satisfied with the result.

Next time I am going to try this with cauliflower and bori.

Ingredients

• 4 pieces of red snapper cut into steaks
• 2 ripe red tomatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup pyajkoli or green shallot cut into 2” pieces
• 1 medium potato cut into thick wedges
• 2-3 green chilies
• Few coriander greens chopped
• 1 tsp. kalonji seeds (Nigella)
• 1 tsp. red chili powder
• 1 tsp. + 1tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste

Procedure

Clean the fish steaks and pat them dry. Rub them with 1tsp. turmeric powder and salt and keep aside.

Make a paste of garlic and tomatoes.

Heat oil in a wok and shallow fry the fishes till they are golden yellow. Remove and keep aside.

If the oil turned black discard them and use fresh oil. Temper with kalonji and green chilies. Once they stop sputtering add tomato garlic paste. Sprinkle turmeric and red chili powder. Add potato wedges to it. Sauté on medium heat till oil separates out.

Add half cup of water and bring it to a boil. Season with salt and sugar. Mix everything well. Cook it covered on medium heat till potato wedges are 3/4th done. Now add the fried fish pieces and pyajkoli to it. It will now stop boiling. Increase the heat and wait for it to come to a boil again. Add chopped coriander greens and turn off the heat.

Serve with white rice.

Salmoner Jhaal

When we first arrived in the US we were not aware of local Asian or Bangladeshi stores. So we used to buy local fish and either bake or fry them. However, soon the Bong in us won over and we switched to jhol and jhaals with local produce like Salmon.

This fusion works remarkably well when you know how to blend it with Indian spices. Since Salmon has a strong taste it doesn’t work with milder recipes. So when I initially tried potato-cauliflower based curry with Salmon, it was a flop. In contrast mustard works very well with salmon and it’s pungent taste mellows down that of Salmon.

Ingredients

1. 4 pieces salmon
2. 1 ripe tomato
3. 1 tbsp. mustard paste ( I used yellow mustard )
4. 2 tssp. turmeric powder
5. 1 tsp. chili powder
6. 1 tsp. kalonji seeds ( Nigella )
7. 2, 3 whole green chilies slit lengthwise
8. 1 tsp. sugar
9. Salt
10. Mustard oil
11. Few coriander leaves

Procedure

Take salmon pieces and marinate with little salt and turmeric powder for 15 minutes. Heat oil in a wok and shallow fry the fish pieces till all their sides turn golden yellow. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep aside.

You can use the same oil for gravy or if you find it too less you can add little more to it. Temper oil with kalonji seeds and green chilies. When they stop sputtering add tomato to it. Fry tomato on medium heat till mushy.

In a small bowl mix mustard paste with turmeric and chili powder. When tomato is done add this spice paste to it and sauté on low heat till oil oozes out.

Add a cup of water to it and season with salt and sugar. Stir it well and let it come to a boil. Gently slide the fried fishes in the boiling gravy. You will see the gravy stops boiling after you have added the fried fishes. Wait for another boil to come. Turn off the heat and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve with plain rice.

Hakka Noodles from My Mom In Law’s Kitchen

If I landed at my husband’s (my then classmate’s) home around evening, I’d always find him gorging on this Hakka noodles. Obviously I’d get my share :). She uses a bunch of non-traditional ingredients like cauliflower and green peas that are not common in the actual Indo-Chinese recipe. I used to say such good things about it in my circle that they demanded to try it out as well. On request my mother-in-law made two boxes for me to take to my friends. They loved it!!

I never really tried to make it myself. I always thought it’d never turn out to be the same. Sometime back in my visit to the local Indian grocery store, I saw some egg noodles (which isn’t common around here). I picked them up and called my mother-in-law. With her recipe I made this seemingly simple yet deceptively tasty dish which has a bong twist to it.

Ingredients

1. 1pkt noodles boiled as per package direction ( I used Ching’s egg noodles )
2. 2 eggs
3. 1/2lb shrimp cleaned
4. 1/2 cup small florets of cauliflower
5. 2 baby carrots cut into thin sticks
6. 1/2 cup green peas
7. 1/2 cup chopped green onions
8. 2 green chilies chopped
9. 1tsp. dark soya sauce
10. 1tsp. black pepper powder
11. Salt to taste
12. Vegetable oil

Procedure

Take a frying pan and heat 1tsp. oil. Break both the eggs and scramble them. Cook for a minute and remove.

In the same pan heat another spoon of oil and fry the shrimps on medium heat till they are cooked. Remove and reserve.

Take water in a sauce pan and bring it to a boil. Add all the vegetables other than chili and green onion  to it. Cook them on high heat for 2-3 minutes. Drain the water and dunk all these vegetables in cold water. This will help to retain the color and shape of the vegetables.

In a wok heat rest of the oil and add green chilies to it. Fry on low heat for about a minute. Drain the water of the boiled vegetables and throw them in the wok.  Fry them on high heat for another one to two minutes before you add boiled noodles and shrimps to it.

Add salt, soya sauce and black pepper powder. Stir fry on medium high heat till all the cooked ingredients and noodles are well combined and the noodles are no longer soft but little crispy. Garnish with chopped green onion and serve hot.

Chicken Tikka Wrap

I had made chicken tikka the day before we were flying to Boston to meet up with some friends. Flight food is bad everywhere but the food served on the US flights are pathetic. Travelling to the East coast from the West is upwards of 7 hours of flying and so I decided to make some quick take away food. I wrapped the chicken tikka I made, in tortillas. They turned out to be a great option and I think I’ll be able to pack it for my daughter’s school lunch as well.

Ingredients

1. 4, 10” flour tortillas
2. 2tbsp. grated cheese (I used cheddar)
3. 4 skewers of chicken tikka
4. 4 leaves of iceberg lettuce
5. 4tbsp. thick curd or plain Greek yogurt
6. 4tbsp. green chutney (You can use mayonnaise or ranch dressing instead)
7. Salt

Procedure

In a bowl stir together yogurt and green chutney. Season with salt.
Place tortillas on a flat counter and start building up the layers. Spread yogurt mix just enough to cover the surface.Top with lettuce, one skewer of chicken tikka. Don’t forget to take out the skewer from the chicken. Drizzle a spoon of yogurt mixture over it.

Carefully fold one side over and roll it up tightly. Place the wrap on a plate with the seam side underneath and cut into halves.
Your lunch box is all set to go!

Desi Asparagus Curry

One of the better aspects of living in a different part of the world is that I can blend the local produce with our traditional Indian cooking. Asparagus was not a part of my regular Indian cooking. My daughter picked up the taste of steamed asparagus at school. I initially started using it with continental main course. However, having recently read an article about the goodness of this vegetable I decided to introduce it into our regular food.

You can try this with okra as well.

Ingredients

1. 1 bunch asparagus
2. 1 medium onion coarsely chopped
3. 2 medium tomatoes finely chopped
4. 1 tsp. grated ginger
5. 1 tsp. grated garlic
6. 2 tbsp. scrapped coconut
7. 1 tsp. turmeric powder
8. 1 tp. chili powder
9. 1 tsp. mixed masala powder made by dry roasting and coarsely grinding
1. 1 tsp. whole cumin seed
2. 1 tsp. whole fennel seed
3. 1 tsp. fenugreek seed
10. For Tempering
    1. 1/2 tsp. whole cumin seed 
    2. 1/2 tsp. fennel seed 
    3. 1/2 tsp. fenugreek seed
11. 1 tsp. sugar
12. 2-3 tbsp. oil
13. Salt to taste

Procedure

Wash asparagus and trim off the hard bottom part. Now cut them into bite size pieces.

Heat oil in a pan and temper it with all the whole dry spices listed under tempering. Let the spices sizzle for a while before you add chopped onion to it. Sauté on medium heat till they turn pink. Add grated ginger,garlic,coconut and fry on low heat for about a  minute or two.

When you get the nice aroma of fried ginger and garlic add asparagus to it. Sprinkle turmeric and chili powder. Fry everything together on high heat for a minute.

Add chopped tomatoes and season with salt and sugar. Mix them really well. Cook it covered on medium heat for till the asparagus becomes tender. Remove the lid and cook it on medium high heat till the moisture dries up completely.

Turn off the heat and sprinkle a teaspoon full of roasted dry spice powder. Keep it covered till you serve to retain all the flavor.

Enjoy it with hot phulkas.