Chicken Kurma With Melon & Sesame Seeds

I had read this somewhere long back. A line that stayed in my mind. 

The little seed knew that for it to grow it had to be dropped in dirt and covered in darkness and struggle to reach the light.

Seeds of ideas. Seeds of thoughts. Seeds of actions. Seeds of work. The little beginnings that those things are. Seeds. I love this recipe. It uses two kinds of seeds. Musk melon seeds and sesame seeds. And cashews. So I bring to you my nutty seedy gravy of a little bird!

Chicken Kurma, An inspired variation. 

At first take a kilo of chicken on the bone, wash well and marinate with 2 tbp ginger garlic paste, juice of 1 lime, salt to taste, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and 1 tsp red chilli powder. Marination time ought to be about 4 hours. 

When you get to the cook, in a blender jar take 4 tbsp yogurt, 2 heap tsp sesame seeds, 2 heap tsp magaz or musk melon seeds and 1 heap tbsp cashew nuts blitz to a smooth paste. 

Step next is that you chop 2 large onions and warm 2 tbsp oil in a wok. Add the onions till they turn pink and then add 1 chopped succulent tomato. Stir well for 2 min and pour in the yogurt paste. Keep your flame at medium heat and keep stirring. You will see the oil separating. At this step you add in the chicken with all its marinade and fold everything in gently and smoothly. In about 3 minutes, add 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, salt to season and 1 tsp red chilli powder. Stir well and lid the wok for a good 6 mins. In the 7th min please check if the chicken has cooked through. Keep the lid on if the chicken is not perfectly cooked.

Chop fresh mint leaves and coriander leaves and set aside. In a skillet pour in 1 tbsp ghee. When warm spoon in 1/2 tsp cumin seeds and 1/2 tsp shahjeera. When both sputter glide into the main wok adding the fresh leaves. Stir well.

Enjoy with parathas. It is pure perfection. Yes, you are welcome.  

Mixed Daal

Sharing a mixed daal recipe. But before I do, one cute trivia I wish to share is that split pulses or daal/dal gets its name from the Sanskrit word "Dhal" which means "split". Though in India and Pakistan we do eat un-hulled pulses as in the ones with the skins intact, hulling I think adds to the digestive ease of pulses though the skins do have high dietary nutrients. 

I am going totally Indian for this recipe. Using Indian names for the pulse varieties. This quantity serves about 6 to 8.

So you will need 1/2 cup Toor or Arhar daal, 1/2 cup yellow Moong daal, 1/4 cup Chana daal, 1/4 cup Urad daal and 1/4th cup Masoor daal. 

For this, chop 2 mid sized onions and 4 pods garlic. Wash the pulses well and mix with the chopped onion and garlic. Add water in your andaaz or say about 2 glasses and pressure cook till one whistle goes off. Reduce the heat and keep in the lowest flame heat for 20 minutes. 

For the tadka, heat 2 - 3 tbsp oil in a wok. Add 1 heap tsp Hing. Immediately pop in 12 curry leaves and 3 whole green chillies. Stir. Add 1 large chopped onion and 1 large chopped tomato. Stir again and then add 1 tsp red chilli powder, 11/2 tsp coriander powder and salt to taste. Stir well for 3 minutes at medium heat. Now add the boiled daal and about 1 large cup of hot water. Bring to a simmer.

Time to spike the yellow bubbling gravy with a tsp of garam masala powder, a squeeze of lime juice and freshly chopped coriander leaves. In a pan warm a tsp ghee and fry half a chopped onion till pink and garnish the daal with this. 

That is it. Please make it. Everyone will savour it. 

No Fuss Chicken

I bring to you a keeper recipe. 

My ex-neighbour aunt messaged me this one recently and this could be one of the simplest non fussed and non prepped chicken preparations I know which turns out piquant, delicious and quirky. Great to eat with breads like pararthas or paos. Of course, please use wheat paos or if I may suggest methi parathas. 

Sharing the recipe for a kilo of chicken. Marinate the chicken on the bone after washing well with a whole lime juice and salt to taste. Marinate for 5 to 6 hours. 

In a warm wok add 2 tbsp ghee. Fragrant 2 tsp Hing or asafoetida in the ghee will add to the kitchen aromas. Now add a tsp cuimin seeds and when they sputter add 3 whole green chillies. Stir and add 3 cups of gently beaten curd stirring constantly. Next add 2 tsp freshly ground pepper and 2 tsp coriander powder. In a minute after stirring at low to medium heat add the chicken. Gently stir all over and cover the wok with a lid.Every 3/4 minutes toss till the chicken is cooked through. 

Take a generous bunch of mint leaves, wash well and add to the chicken. You can now increase the heat and generally stir well. 

Simple, well seasoned and appetising chicken on your table!

Stuffed Spiny Gourd or Stuffed Kakrol

For some strange pompous reason I assumed Momordica dioica is Bengali. Kakrol is what we call it in upstate West Bengal and I kind of thought no other community even knows of this bristly balsam pear commonly called spiny gourd. Well, please do not take offence as honestly it is not really a luscious piece of lamb or a white juicy piece of fish that we are talking about. The hero here is an oblong prickly slightly mildly bitter Asian vegetable. No great flavour lender to a curry but with the traditional scoop out & scoop in recipe I am about to share, it is, my friends a delightfully traditional and classy little piece of cookery art.

Wash the gourd well and cut them by half through the centre longitudinally. Then with a spoon scoop out the fleshy seedy centre till the vegetable looks like an open boat. Next in salty water parboil it for about 5 minutes or so. Set aside on a tissue and allow it to lose any water droplets. 

In a small blender jar, make a mustard paste with black mustard seeds, a green chilly, a dash of salt and a tad bit of water. For 4 gourds, take 2 tbsp mustard seeds. Next take half a dry coconut and make a white wet paste again in a blender. Also chop one large red onion finely. 

In a warm iron wok, take one and a half tbsp mustard oil and allow it to warm. Gently slide in the onions and cook till pink and transparent. Time to add the mustard paste, salt to season, a dash of chilli powder and turmeric and cook it all for 2 to 3 minutes. Next add the coconut paste and stir well and in another 2 minutes add the scooped out flesh of the gourd. Cook everything well, stirring all the time for about 4-5 minutes in medium to low flame. Taste the filling. It should be sharp and delicious. 

Now spoon in this filling when at room temperature into the depth of the open boats of the spiny gourd and fill them right upto the brims or the edges. 

In a bowl, take 4 tbsp gramflour, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp nigella seeds, salt and chilli powder to season. Spoon everything around well and make a thick paste adding water. Remember the paste needs to be of a 'pakora' consistency. 

In an open deep pan, warm any white oil. Now dunk the filled boats into your gramflour paste and fry like a 'pakora'. The whole half gourd should be coated with the gramflour paste. Fry till golden on all sides. While frying keep the pan covered for a bit as the skin cooks a little more at then step. 

Enjoy hot with plain white rice. Just squash the 'pakora' and the mustard coconut filling will ooze out and merge with the rice with the crisp skin adding to the palate senses. It is a village imagery I am creating for you which I assure you will make you feel loved, warm and fuzzy. 

Enjoy the way I like my kakrols!