Chicken curry...ma's special recipe

In this hot sizzling summer, we all prefer to have something simple and light. The curries I make during summer is less oily and spicy. So last Sunday when the kid and the man asked to have a simple chicken curry for lunch I went for my Ma's special chicken curry recipe.

The curry my Ma makes is very simple, chicken on bone slow cooked along with onion, garlic and other few common spices. I have tried to recreate this curry so many times, but unable to achieve the exact flavor like my Ma does. May be mothers have magic in their hand, that makes something simple to be very special.

For few reasons I never ask recipes from my mother. Either she will say it is too simple why you need a recipe? or in between the narration of a recipe she will ask me whether she uses that particular spice or the other!!! So better stand quietly next to her while she is cooking that particular dish, ignoring all her attempt to send you back to your own room and watch precisely what's going on actually. What I have learnt from these observations is that you may know what spices go in which curry but you should know when to add them and how much to add. And I learnt this chicken curry that way, by watching her.

The lightly spiced thin curry with chicken and potato is simple yet delectable. A chicken curry that used to be our Sunday special lunch, along with some Gondhoraj lebu (an aromatic Lime) and steamed white rice. I still remember how we used to enjoy the leftover curry for dinner with freshly made ruti (whole wheat flat bread). And this curry is still a part of my regular menu, specially when we are in a mood for something simple. Though I know it is not possible to replicate the same taste as ma's, but after trial and error for 10 years it's somewhere very close. And to my outright pleasure my daughter loves this curry too.

Things needed to make Ma's Special Chicken Curry:

• Chicken (on bone): 700 gm (cut into 12 pieces)
• Potato: 5-6 small or 2 large cut into quarters
• Red Onion or shallots (finely chopped): 1/2 cup
• Garlic (crushed): 2 tbsp
• Ginger (grated): 1 tbsp
• Tomato (grated): 1 large
• Cumin powder: 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
• Red chili powder: 1-2 tsp
• Kashmiri red chili powder: 1 tsp
• Garam masala powder: 1 tsp
• Cinnamon stick: 1
• Green cardamom: 4-5
• Cloves: 5-6
• Green chilies: 5-6
• Mustard oil: 3-4 tbsp*
• Vinegar: 2 tbsp
• Sugar: 1 tsp
• Salt to taste

*Mustard oil is a must ingredient for this dish.

Steps of making Ma's Special Chicken Curry:

1. Clean the chicken pieces, pat them dry. Marinate the chicken pieces with vinegar and red chili powder. Peel the potatoes, if you are using large potatoes then cut them into quarters. I prefer to use small potatoes and keep them whole.

2. Heat mustard oil in a pan, fry the potatoes till nicely brown from all sides. Keep aside.

3. Add more oil to the same pan, when the oil is hot, reduce heat and add a teaspoon full sugar. Add crushed garlic. Cook for 1 min, or till the garlic starts to change red, add the whole spices cinnamon, green cardamom and cloves. Cook for 1-2 min.

4. Add finely chopped onion and cook till nicely brown. Add grated ginger, mix well and cook for 2 min. Add grated tomato (discard the seeds), mix well and cover the pan, cook over medium flame for 2-3 min.

5. Add the dry spices, turmeric powder, cumin powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, along with a spoon full of water, mix well. Cook over low heat for 3 min, keep stirring. Add the chicken pieces. Discard any excess vinegar. Add salt and mix well. For the first 5-6 min cook over high heat and keep stirring continuously. Reduce heat to medium and cover the pan and cook for 10 min. The chicken will release a considerable amount of water. Uncover and cook till oil separates from the spices. At this point there will be very less water, so be careful not to burn the meat pieces.

6. Add 1.5 cups of hot water. Let it boil. Add the fried potatoes, cover the pan and cook till the potatoes are done. Check seasoning and adjust accordingly. Add garam masala powder, green chilies (use whole, this to impart a distinct flavor), switch off the heat. Cover the pan and let it rest for 10 min. Serve hot with steaming hot rice.

If you like to get regular updates from me go to my Facebook page and click on the Like button. You can also follow my blog on NetworkBlogs. Thank you..!!!

first anniversary...and some rajbhog

It's surprising how time flies, last Sunday I completed a year of blogging. 365 days, it seems like just yesterday, I decided to start my blog to share my love of food and cooking. I had been asked by so many friends to publish my own blog, but never took it seriously. Blogging happened just suddenly. It was not planned, like many other things in my life.

Growing up in a Bengali joint family, I have seen my mother and aunts cooking everyday food at home. From steaming hot cup of tea in the morning to Ruti (soft puffed flat bread) for dinner, all made at home. Eating out was considered to be unhealthy and waste of money. My mother had her strict instructions, no food from street stalls. Though we used to satisfy our taste buds with those unhealthy fuchka, jhalmuri and rolls etc & etc, that's a different story.

The transformation of raw ingredients to something finger-licking good is like magic, the magic of cooking that fascinated me always. The sound, the aroma, the taste are treasured food memories  I grew up with.The spluttering sound of vegetables going into hot oil, the flat stone mortar pestle grinding spices or the pressure cooker announcing the Sunday special meat curry were the acoustic of my food memory. Where as the smell of frying fresh fish, or boiling Gobindobhog (an aromatic rice) rice were pleasure to the olfactory perception.

The regular food I grew up with was mostly Bengali, with few exceptions of Indo-Chinese food or Mughlai dishes. I remember as a kid the most surprising thing for me was my mother making 'luchi'. I never understood how a flat flour disk can change into such a perfect crispy delicious rounds. Luchi is one of the top ten reasons that I used to wander into my mom's kitchen and very strongly sent back to study table.

Other than the curiosity of what's going on the kitchen, I was a very fussy eater. I never enjoyed same old rice and curry, always in search for something different, something new. And that let me start quite young in the kitchen in comparison to my other cousins at home who hardly bothered to know what's happening inside the kitchen.

Collecting recipes from cookbooks and magazines became one of my favorite hobbies. Instead of watching TV serials I enjoyed cookery shows. Then came a time when I was allowed to enter the kitchen and cook something by myself. It started with some simple cake, flan, with my mother's guidance of course. Though every time I occupied the kitchen my mother complained how clumsy I was. But mom's are for that, aren't they..?

My father and brother, both were my constant support. My elder brother being the most critical critic I have come across in my life and my father being just the opposite. My father never found any fault in my cooking, even if I completely forgot to add salt in a curry.

There are so many cooking disasters, I look back and laugh at those, memories are sweet indeed.

The love of cooking become a daily activity after marriage. Moreover being a mother myself, I spent a considerable time in kitchen. It's indeed rewarding when your little one hugs you and says 'you are the best cook mom', and the man declares the food is far better than the restaurants.

To cook is a pleasure to me. To recreate the traditional dishes I have grown up eating as well as experimenting something very new gives me a satisfaction. I found cooking to be very creative, an art itself. To spread that love and joy of cooking I started blogging. Blogging taught me so many new things; the aesthetics of food presentation, to click a good food photo. And most importantly blogging has given me so many friends. Thanks to all you for being there, constantly supporting me and encouraging me.

So to celebrate the first anniversary I made a special sweet, Rajbhog. As the name says it is the food for kings, Raj means king and bhog means food. These large round cheese dumplings cooked in sugar syrup is a delicacy from Bengal. Homemade cottage cheese balls stuffed with pistachio and milk solids are cooked in sugar syrup flavored with saffron and rose water. The procedure is very similar to  making Rosogolla.

Things needed to make Rajbhog:

(To make 12 Rajbhog)

For the cottage cheese dough:

• Milk: 1 gallon / 1.89 lt
• Lime juice: of a whole large lime
• Sugar: 1 tbsp
• Semolina/ Sooji: 1 tbsp
• Flour: 1 tbsp
• Saffron: a pinch soaked in 1 tsp milk

For the stuffing:

• Milk powder(unsweetened) or mawa: 1/4 cup
• Saffron: a pinch soaked in 1 tbsp
• Green cardamom powder: 1/4 tsp
• Pistachio (blanched and chopped): 1 tsp

For sugar syrup:

• Sugar: 2 cups
• Water: 5 cups (divided)
• Green cardamom: 6-7
• Saffron: few strands
• Rose water: 1-2 tbsp

Steps of making Rajbhog:

1. Boil milk in a heavy bottom pan, keep stirring so the milk does not scorch to the bottom. As the milk rolls to boil gradually add lime juice till the milk curdles. Line a colander with cheese cloth, strain the curdled milk. Tie up the cheese cloth containing the solid curdled milk, wash under cold running water. Hang the cheese cloth to drain excess water.

2. After no more water drops from the cheese cloth bag, transfer the cottage cheese to a flat tray or plate. Add sugar (1 tbsp), semolina, flour and saffron to the cottage cheese and mix very well.

3. Mix all the ingredients very well.  Knead the dough with heel of your palm for 4-5 min, to make a smooth dough.

4. Divide the dough into 12 equal parts. Cover the dough with a wet kitchen towel.

5. Mix all the ingredients for the stuffing.

6. Divide the stuffing into 12 small balls.

7. Stuff the cheese balls with the stuffing.

8. Make smooth round balls. Cover the cheese balls with a wet kitchen towel. Boil sugar(2 cups) and water(4 cups) for the sugar syrup, in a large deep container. Keep the other extra cup of water warm. Add green cardamom, saffron to the syrup, let the syrup boil. As the syrup rolls to boil add the cheese balls carefully. Reduce heat, cover the container and cook the cheese balls. Keep as eye so the syrup does not spill. Cook the cheese balls for 40-45 min. In between add ladle full of warm water(the extra one cup) to keep the consistency of the syrup right. Make sure you are using a large enough container to accommodate all the cheese balls and as the cheese balls are cooked they will swell up to double their size.

9. After 40-45 min, switch off heat, remove pan from heat and let the Rajbhog cool down for at least 5-6 hrs. I prefer to serve them after 24 hrs, so they can soak the syrup well. Serve hot or cold.

If you like to get regular updates from me go to my Facebook page and click on the Like button. You can also follow my blog on NetworkBlogs. Thank you..!!!

Prawn Paturi for Elephants and the coconut trees...

I have made a bunch of new friends during last one year while blogging. The like-minded foodie friends, who thinks about how to plate the dish while they cut the vegetables and spend hours to click a simple homemade cake and are always looking for some new props to enhance the food photo. But above all encouraging each other all the time. Meena from elephants and the coconut trees is one of them. Though I have not met her personally, but she is always there to support me. So when she asked for a guest post on her space I said yes without any hesitation. She has wonderful recipes in her blog from day to day regular simple dishes to exotic biryani.

I wanted to make something traditional for this special post. So here is a Bengali speciality, Paturi for you all. Paturi is a palate tantalizing dish, where the fish is marinated with mustard-green chili paste and wrapped in banana leaf and cooked. The banana leaf imparts an exotic flavor to the fish, and the pungency of mustard paste and mustard oil give it a different dimension.

I used fresh large prawns. I kept the head and tail intact for more flavor. I added coconut paste along with mustard and poppy paste to accompany the sweet taste of prawn. Paturi can be made from different fishes, Bhetki or Bekti is the first choice for the Bongs while making paturi. But one can use hilsa, rohu, prawns, or other small fishes as well to make paturi. For vegetarian option one can try fresh paneer and vegetables. Whatever you are using do make sure to add Mustard oil to the marination, a must ingredient for any paturi.

Now it over to Meena's blog Elephants and the coconut trees for this must do prawn recipe. You will need some steaming hot rice to enjoy this Bong delicacy. Meena has sent this cute little thank you card to me. Thank you Meena.

If you like to get regular updates from me go to my Facebook page and click on the Like button. You can also follow my blog on NetworkBlogs. Thank you..!!!

Chicken marsala...

Whenever we visit Olive garden, the Italian restaurant, the man always orders Marsala for himself. So I was thinking to try my hand on that. I searched for the recipe of chicken marsala in the Internet, and to my surprise it is a very quick and easy dish one can make. Marsala is a simple Italian dish where sauteed chicken cutlets are served with mushroom and Marsala wine reduction sauce. In the restaurant they served it along with some potato wedges, I went for the potato wedges as well as some freshly made angel hair pasta. It was our last night dinner and we enjoyed it so much.

This button mushroom image is going to be my entry for "Color Me Photography Challenge Series". The month of June is for 'Color Me White Month'. I'm really excited to join this event. This wonderful event is hosted by Priya Elias of The Humpty Dumpty Kitchen.

Now back to the Chicken Marsala recipe.

Things needed to make Chicken Marsala:

(Recipe adapted from epicurious.com)

For the chicken cutlet:

• Chicken breast: 1
• All purpose flour: 1/4 cup
• Dried parsley: 1 tsp
• Salt
• Black pepper powder
• Butter: 1 tbsp
• Olive oil: 1 tbsp

For the Marsala sauce:

• Button Mushrooms: 100gm
• Shallots/red onion (very finely chopped): 1/4 cup
• Butter: 2 tbsp
• Marsala wine: 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp
• Chicken broth: 1 cup
• Heavy cream: 2-3 tbsp
• Dried parsley: 1 tsp

For pasta and potato wedges:

• Angel hair pasta
• EVOO: 1/2 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper powder
• Green pea (blanched): 1/4 cup (optional)
• Fresh parsley chopped to garnish
• Potato cut into cubes with skin
• Oil to fry potato

Steps of making Chicken Marsala:

1. Wash and pat dry the chicken breast. Cut the chicken breast into two equal halves. From a single breast piece you can make 2 servings.

2. Cover the chicken breast pieces with cling film and gently pound with the flat side of a meat mallet or rolling pin.

3. Season the chicken pieces with salt, black pepper and dried parsley, on both sides.

4. Take all purpose flour on a flat tray or plate, dredge the chicken pieces with the flour.

5. In a flat pan heat butter and olive oil, shallow fry the chicken pieces to red-brown color. Drain excess oil and keep it on paper towel lined plate.

6. Keep the cooked chicken on a hot oven to keep it warm.

7. On the same pan add more butter and oil, add chopped onion. Cook till the onion turn red-brown in color. Add sliced mushrooms. Cook for 4-5 min. Add chicken broth and cook over high heat for 3-4 min. Add wine and heavy cream and cook till the sauce reduces to thick. Switch off heat, add extra 1 tbsp Marsala wine to the sauce and mix well.

8. While the sauce is getting ready, cook pasta according to the directions on packet. But never wash the cooked pasta. Toss the pasta with EVOO, salt and black pepper powder. Add blanched green pea, if using.

9. Fry the cubed potato till evenly browned. Keep the skin of the potato.

10. Place the pasta and the chicken cutlet on the serving plate. Pour the Marsala sauce over the chicken cutlet. Put some potato wedges, garnish with fresh chopped parsley.

If you like to get regular updates from me go to my Facebook page and click on the Like button. You can also follow my blog on NetworkBlogs. Thank you..!!!

Grapes for BWW#88

This is my contribution to edition #88 of Black and White Wednesday -  A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now managed by Cinzia of Cindystar, and hosted by Sreevalli of Ammaji Recipes.

This is an image of simple humble grapes, they were patiently lying on the fruit bowl. I took a shot specially for this black and white Wednesday event. The original Image I took was a color image I converted it to a black and white image using Photoshop.

On this page you can find who are hosting the current and future editions of the event.

Chicken tandoori pizza..

It is easier to pick up the phone and order a pizza from a pizza outlet than making a pizza at home from scratch. We all are used to with pre-packaged, convenience food available in the store. If you think deep and look at the preservative-filled, chemically enhanced, sugar-filled foods, you will understand they do more harm than good. 

Other than the health hazard, store bought foods are much more expensive than homemade one. A homemade pizza crust and sauce can hardly cost you $2. The topping may cost between $5-6, but again if you use all the possible toppings those pizza outlets offer you. 

And I'm sure you have noticed how a delivery pizza leaves a big greasy spot on a paper napkin, where as a homemade one can be made absolutely oil free and you can choose the best quality healthy ingredients for you and your family. Moreover the options for toppings becomes so wide, anything of your choice can be the pizza topping.

It is not that I don't have those store bought food once in a while, but they are not  part of my daily diet. I always enjoy making everyday food at home, from jam to juice, bread to curries as well as special occasion sweets or fancy cake. Today it was a pizza for dinner, topped with my favorite tandoori chicken. I already had a pizza recipe in my blog, but this time the crust I made came out so good I wanted to share it with you all. As a self taught cook, with frequent baking I did learn the finer details.

For the chicken tandoori recipe please go to this link http://www.colorandspices.com/2012/07/tandoori-chicken.html

Things needed to make Pizza Crust:

(This will yield 2 large, 14 inch pizza crusts)

• Bread flour: 3 cups
• Warm water: 1 cup
• Active dry yeast: 2 and 1/4 tsp
• Sugar: 1 tsp
• Salt: 1 tsp
• Olive oil: 1/4 cup (divided)
• Garlic powder: 1 tsp
• Extra flour to dust

Steps of making Pizza Crust:

1. Proof yeast. In a deep bowl add water (just warm to touch), yeast and sugar, mix well. Cover the bowl and wait for 10 min or till the yeast bubbles up.

2. In a deep large container or the bowl of a standing mixer add 2 cups of flour, salt, garlic powder, olive oil and mix well with a spatula for 2-3 min or till well incorporated. Make a well at the center, add the proofed yeast and mix. Gradually add the rest of the flour and keep mixing till all the flour comes together and no longer sticks to the wall of the bowl. You can use a stand mixer, I used a spatula and worked the dough with my hand.

3. Dust the working surface, drop the dough on the floured surface. Knead the dough for 10 min with hand (you can use a standing mixer). Dust the working surface as needed but do not use too much of flour. I generally use 3-4 tablespoons.

4. As the dough becomes pliable, grease a large deep container, put the dough in that container, roll the dough to coat with oil from all sides. Cover the container and keep in a warm corner in the kitchen. The dough will rise to double by 1-2 hrs.

Punch down the dough, divide the dough into two equal halves. Work with one part at a time. You can keep one half wrapped in cling film for future use. Dough can be refrigerated for 2-3 days, take it out from the refrigerator 2 hrs prior cooking.

5. Take a round 14 inch pizza pan or a large baking sheet, dust with flour or corn meal, I used whole wheat flour. Stretch the dough on the pizza pan or on the tray. Use finger tips to stretch it evenly. Brush the dough well with olive oil. Cover with a cling film and let it rise for 30 min at room temperature.

6. As the dough is rising prepare the sauce and toppings and pre-heat oven at 475 F. For the sauce recipe check this link http://www.colorandspices.com/2012/11/pizza.html To compliment the flavors of chicken tandoori, I added honey and freshly chopped coriander leaves to the sauce.

7. After the dough rise for 30 min, spread sauce (of your choice) on the dough. Arrange topping and cheese. I used the tandoori chicken I made specially for this pizza, along with some bell peppers, red onion and few black olives(due to popular demand from the little one at home).

For the topping I pulled small pieces from the tandoori chicken, and added some chopped fresh coriander leaves to the tomato sauce for a different flavor. I used mozzarella cheese, you can always use cheese of your choice.

8. Cook the pizza on the middle rack on the oven, for 12-15 min, or till the cheese melts and turns brown on the side. Take the pizza out from oven, let it rest for 5 min, cut with a pizza cutter and enjoy your pizza.

If you like to get regular updates from me go to my Facebook page and click on the Like button. You can also follow my blog on NetworkBlogs. Thank you..!!!

Pita and roasted red pepper hummus...

Pita and hummus, a Mediterranean food combo that has turned global now. As I'm already tardy on posting this particular post I don't want to discuss about the history and details of pita and hummus. If you are interested please go through this link below, it has a nice discussion both on pita and hummus. http://www.criticalskeptic.com/2012/05/08/post-4-the-history-of-pita-bread-and-hummus/ 

When I started baking bread at home, pita was the first bread I began my journey into the world of bread baking addiction. Thanks to Subrata da, who explained the process of pita making to me and provided endless encouragement to bake the first one. 

One can bake pita using an oven or on stove-top, I have explained both the options. I found the stove-top pitas retain their softness much longer and better than the oven made pitas.

Things needed to make Pita:

• Bread flour: 2 cups
• Active dry yeast: 2 tsp
• Warm water: 1 cup
• Olive oil: 1 tbsp
• Salt: 3/4 tsp
• Sugar: 1 tsp
• Extra flour to dust

Steps of making Pita:

1. Proof yeast. Add yeast and sugar to the warm water, mix well and cover for 10 min. It will turn frothy and will bubble up. Use a deep bowl to prevent spilling.

2. In a large deep container, add flour, salt and olive oil, mix well with a spatula. 

3. Make a well at the center, add yeast and mix.

5. Turn the dough to a floured surface. Knead dough, dust flour as you knead. But do not use too much of flour. Knead for 10 min.

6. Grease a large deep container, put the dough in the container. Turn dough to grease from all side. Cover and let the dough rise for 1-2 hrs or till it doubles. After the dough rises to double punch it down.

7. For the oven method: Divide the dough into 8-10 equal portions. Keep the dough in a greased container, cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough rise for 30-40 min. As the dough is rising pre-heat oven to 400F. It is preferable to use a pizza stone to bake pita, but a baking tray is also good enough. Put the baking tray or the pizza stone inside the oven while it is heating up.  Dust working surface with flour, roll each dough into round flat disk of 1/4 inch thickness. Put the rolled dough on the hot baking tray or pizza stone. Bake for 3-4 min, it will puff like a football. If you want brown spots on the pita, broil for 1-2 min.

8. For the stove-top method: Divide the dough into 12-14 equal portions. Keep the dough in a greased container, cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough rise for 30-40 min. Dust working surface with flour, roll each dough into round flat disk of 1/8 inch thickness. Heat a heavy bottom pan, a cast iron skillet works best. Put the rolled dough on the hot pan, it will start to bubble, turn the bread and wait it puffs up to a round football.

I made roasted red pepper hummus to go with the pita breads. You can make a plain hummus also. the process in same. Adding extra flavor like roasted red peppers, or jalapeno, or sun-dried tomato, chipotle, artichoke makes the hummus more versatile. Flavoring options are endless, try different flavors each time you make them.

Things needed to make Roasted Red Pepper Hummus:

• Canned chickpea/garbanzo beans: 1 can
• Tahini: 2 tbsp*
• Lime juice: 3 tbsp
• Garlic: 1 clove (chopped)
• Olive oil: 2 tbsp
• Red bell pepper: 1
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper powder to taste

(*Tahini is a paste made from toasted white sesame seeds and olive oil, I have added the recipe for your reference)

Steps of making Roasted Red Pepper Hummus:

1. If you are using canned chickpea, strain the chickpea and reserve half of the liquid.

2. If you are using dry chickpea, soak the chickpea overnight, wash them well, cook till soft (preferable using a pressure cooker). Strain the chickpea and let it cool down and reserve the liquid.

3. Roasting a red pepper. Pre-heat oven to 350F. Wash a large red pepper, wipe it dry with a kitchen towel. Grease the pepper with olive oil. Cook the pepper in the pre-heated oven for 20-25 min, turning once or twice. Broil for 5-7 min, till black spots appear on the pepper.

Take it out of the oven, keep it in a paper bag for 15 min. Cut off the stem, peel the skin, discard seeds and membrane from inside. Chop the roasted pepper into small pieces.

4. For the hummus grind all the ingredients in a food processor, till creamy and smooth. Add the reserved liquid as required while grinding, but not in excess.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tahini recipe:

(Recipe courtesy about.com)

Sesame seed: 5 cup

Olive oil: 1 and 1/2 cup

Toast sesame seeds for 5-10 min, take care not to brown the seeds. Cool down and make a paste with olive oil. Make thick but pour-able paste. The above mentioned measurement will yield 4 cups of tahini. Store tahini in an air tight container in the refrigerator. It will stay good for 3 months. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can cut the pita bread into small pieces and serve along with hummus or other dips. Or you can cut the pita bread into two halves, put filling of your choice inside the pockets and enjoy your pita pockets.

If you like to get regular updates from me go to my Facebook page and click on the Like button. You can also follow my blog on NetworkBlogs. Thank you..!!!