Butter Chicken Masala / Murgh Makhani

The other day I had extra chicken after making chicken fried rice, so the next thing that popped on my mind was butter chicken masala. Known for it's North Indian flavor, butter chicken doesn't necessarily have to accompany naan/roti/chapati. It goes best with rice too. Here it goes:

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken (cut into small pieces) - 1/4 kg
Cooking oil - 2 tbsp

For marinating the chicken:
Thick curd - 2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Tandoori color (optional) - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp

For the gravy:
Tomato (pureed) - 3-4
Cashew nut (boiled with water, drained and blended into a paste) - 10 
Garlic paste - 2 tsp
Green chilly (finely chopped) - 1
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Tomato ketchup - 1 tbsp
Fenugreek leaves (hand crushed) - 2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Milk (at room temperature) - 1/2 cup
Cream - 2 tbsp
Water - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Buter - 2 tbsp
Salt - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Mix chicken with the ingredients listed under 'For marinating the chicken' and leave aside for 2-3 hours.
2. Heat butter in a pan and add garlic paste. Saute for half a minute.
3. Add chilly, cumin powder, red chilli powder and mix well.
4. Add tomato puree and salt and saute well till the raw smell of the tomato goes.
5. Lower the flame. Add cashew nut paste, tomato ketchup, sugar and water and give it a good stir.
6. Meanwhile, heat oil in another pan and shallow cook the marinated chicken pieces. Drain and keep aside.
7. Now add the chicken pieces to the gravy once the gravy comes to boil. Cook for a minute.
8. Add milk and stir well for another minute before adding the cream and mix well.
9. Throw in the garam masala and fenugreek leaves and give a final stir.
10. Garnish with cream or fenugreek leaves or finely chopped coriander or even more cream! Your choice!☺

Chicken fried rice

The mention of chicken fried rice makes my mouth water! This is a recipe I'll hog on anytime of the day. And my whole family knows what I'll order every time we eat out. Yes! Chicken and fried rice together = Total bliss!

Ingredients:

For the rice:
Basmati rice - 3 cups
Carrot, beans, cabbage (finely chopped into thin strips) - 2 cups
Capsicum, spring onions (finely chopped) - 1/4 cup each
Soya sauce - 2 tbsp
Ajinomoto - 1/4 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Pepper powder - 1 tbsp
Salt - To taste
Oil - 2 tbsp

For the chicken:
Boneless chicken - 1/4 kg
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1/4 tbsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - To taste
Oil - 2 tsp

Method:

For the rice:

1. Clean and soak rice for about 15 minutes.
2. Cook rice (either in a pressure cooker or in a non stick tawa) with 4 cups of water.
3. Once the rice is cooked, spread it on a plate with the help of a fork so that the grains do not stick to each other.
4. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a wok and add cumin seeds.
5. When it splutters, add chopped spring onions (white part alone) and saute well.
6. Add the remaining vegetables and saute till they are half cooked.
7. Add ajinomoto, soya sauce and salt and saute well.
8. Slowly add the cooked rice and mix well. Add pepper powder and sprinkle spring onion greens over this.

For the chicken:

1. Pressure cook the chicken along with turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste and salt.
2. Once it's cooked, cut the chicken into small strips using a knife or forks.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add chilli powder to it. Add in the chicken pieces and saute well.
4. Add garam masala and mix till the chicken is coated well with the spices.
5. Remove from heat and add the chicken pieces to the rice and mix well.

Relish with Butter chicken masala! 

500+ views!!

Wow!! It feels so amazing that my blog finally hit 500+ views! Thanks to all those lovely people who stopped by purposely or accidentally! ;) This means a lot to me! Thank you so much :) 

Do you want to know what I cooked to celebrate this? Here it is:

Chicken fried rice and Butter chicken!
Bon appetit! :D

My surprise visitors

I have a small roof-top garden at home where I grow a variety of roses and a few other common flowering plants. I remove the weeds once in a while to ensure the plants get the most of it all from the manure. As I was doing it one day, I noticed a few tiny seedlings of what it appeared to be of the same plant. The tiny leaves were elongated with a tapering tip and resembled those of a chilly plant. Curiosity I blame, wanted them to stay for a longer time till I actually come to a conclusion of what that was.

A week passed and the seedlings were shooting out very well and there was a slight modification in the shape of the leaves. The newer leaves were tooth like and the small stem had tiny hair like structures of what I remember seeing on the tomato plants. So are these the tomato plants? Wow! My joy knew no bounds. I was literally jumping out of surprise and happiness because I had never actually sowed them. I assumed those seeds were in the manure I had got from a friend.

I watered them well, spoke to them every day (No, I ain't retarded) =P and the flowers started blooming after a month, tiny tomatoes started peeping out and this is how they are today:

Just when I was having this dying urge to start an organic terrace garden of my own and have been quite researching into it, this comes as a great boost to me! Hoping to grow more of them sooon!

And yes, will make something out of this after the harvest guys! ;) Cheers!

P.S: Did you notice the tomatoes by the way? =P

Mushroom Munchurian

I've always thought mushrooms tasted slimy until my cousin forced me to taste this at a restaurant a year back. I had it along with fried rice, which I think by far is the bestest combination for this Indo-Chinese dish.

Ingredients:

Mushrooms (cleaned and quartered) - 10-15
Cooking oil - for frying

For the batter:

Maida - 1 cup

Corn flour - 2 tbsp

Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp

Red chili powder - 1 tsp

Pepper (powdered) - 1 tsp

Water - 1 cup

Salt - to taste

For the sauce:

Garlic cloves (sliced thin) - 6-8

Ginger (finely chopped) - 1/2 inch

Green chillies (finely chopped) - 3-4

Spring onions (sliced thin) - 4-5

Tomato ketchup - 3 tbsp
Sweet chilli sauce - 3 tbsp
Soya sauce - 1-2 tbsp
Ajinomoto - ¼  tsp
Corn flour (dissolved in ½ cup water) - ½ tbsp

For garnishing:
Spring onion greens/coriander (finely chopped) - as required

Method:

1. Add all the ingredients mentioned under 'For the batter' in a bowl. Mix them well without any lumps. Make sure the batter is of dosa batter consistency.
2. Heat oil in a wok. Dip the mushrooms into the batter allowing it to coat well and slowly drop them one by one into the wok.
3. Deep fry the mushrooms in batches until they are crisp. Drain and keep them aside.

To prepare the sauce:

1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wok. Add garlic and saute till it turns golden brown.
2. Add ginger, green chillies, spring onions and saute for a minute or two.
3. Add tomato ketchup, sweet chilli sauce, soya sauce, ajinomoto and mix well.
4. Add the cornflour dissolved in water slowly in low flame and keep stirring till the sauce starts to thicken.
5. Allow the sauce to boil and remove from heat.

Serving:

1. Add the deep fried mushrooms to the sauce and mix well.
2. Serve garnished with finely chopped coriander or spring onion greens.

Instant curd vada / Dahi vada

Hello guys! Hope you are melting in the summer heat just like me :D I've always liked the way summer is in the movies... The sunbaths, bikini strolls, surfing! But Chennai heat leaves me with ONLY one option - To sit indoors and hog on something cool with the normal snack being a bore! So here's a cool evening snack that's  not only finger-licking-good but also with just the minimum ingredients and hold on... Did I tell you this vada is made out of bread? Sounds cool, doesn't it? ;)

Ingredients:

Bread - 5-6 pieces
Onions (finely chopped) - 1
Carrots (grated) - 1/2 cup
Green chillies (finely chopped) - 1-2
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves (finely chopped) - 2 tbsp
Curd/Dahi (beaten smooth) - 1-2 cups
Cooking oil - To fry
Salt - To taste

Method:

1. Remove the sides of the bread slices and break the bread into small pieces in a bowl.
2. Add the onions, 1/4 cup of carrot, chillies, cumin seeds, 1 tbsp of coriander, salt and mix them well along with sufficient curd so as to get a batter consistency.
3. Heat oil in a pan. Wet your hands and take a small ball of the mixture and pat it gently on your palm to flatten it.
4. Gently put it into the oil. Deep fry till they turn golden brown.
5. Repeat the same for the remaining mixture. You can do it in batches. 
6. Drain the vadas and keep them aside. Pour some curd over them and refrigerate for half an hour.
7. Garnish with the remaining grated carrots and coriander leaves while serving.

Just out from the pan

After garnishing

Crab fry

Okay! So here goes my first non-veg recipe. One of my favorite too. Who doesn't love seafood, or crab to be more specific? Here's a very simple recipe that will keep you wanting for more!

Ingredients:

Crab - 2
Onion (finely chopped) - 2
Tomato (finely chopped) - 2-3
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - For garnishing
Coriander leaves - For garnishing
Salt - To taste
Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Boil water (1 to 2 cups) in a vessel with salt and turmeric powder.
2. Add crab to this and cook for 3-4 minutes. Drain water and keep it aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add onions. Saute till they turn golden brown.
4. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute.
5. Add tomatoes, chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and water from step-1. Fry till oil separates.
6. Add the crab and cook till the spices get mixed well with the crab.
7. Garnish with coriander and curry leaves.