Murgh Kaaju Ghee Roast

( Tender chicken cooked in Cashew paste & clarified butter)

My Mom & I mostly have our conversations around food. My mom is a great cook & the only difference between our style of cooking is, she loves to make rich & elaborate dishes. whereas I try to cut down on richness & make quick fix meals. Nevertheless my moms food is amazing, I am not saying because she is my Mom, but she definitely is a talented chef. She can cook in large scale & still make perfect dishes. Well I don't have so much courage to cook for more than 10 people. 

Earlier I have shared Chicken Ghee roast recipe, which is a true Mangalorean dish. While talking to Mummy, she told me that she experimented something & it was more delicious than the regular Ghee roast. Now that I have tried this recipe, I must admit that this is more tastier than the regular ghee roast. A big Thank you to Mummy for coming up with such a tasty recipe. The best part of the recipe is its simplicity. This recipe has very few ingredients & gets done under 20 mins. Here is the recipe & enjoy it! This is how I made it 

Making time: 20 - 30 mins

Serves: 5 people

Ingredients:

• 1 kg whole chicken cleaned & cut into medium size pieces
• 1 Tbsp Kashmiri Chili Powder
• 1/4 tspn Cumin Powder
• 1/4 tspn Turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp Black pepper powder
• 15 whole cashew nuts
• 1 Tbspn lemon juice
• 1 Tbspn minced ginger & garlic
• 1 Tbspn cooking oil
• 2 Tbspn Ghee (Clarified Butter)
• Salt as per taste
• Coriander leaves to garnish

Directions:

1. In a heavy bottom Kadai/ Pan add 1 tbspn of cooking oil, fry the ginger garlic for a minute.
2. Add the chicken pieces, salt, turmeric powder & saute well until well combined.
3. Now covered the lid & cook the chicken on low flame for about 8 to 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Saute in between to avoid chicken from sticking to the bottom. (Add 1/4 cup of water only if required)
4. Once the chicken is cooked the water in the chicken needs to drain off. Turn off the flame & set the chicken aside.
5. In a mixer/ blender, make a powder of Cashew, cumin powder & chili powder.
6. Now add in 1/4 cup of warm water to this cashew powder & set aside.
7. In a Pan add 2 tbspn of ghee & add the cashew paste in it. Cook this on low flame for about 2 minutes, until fat separate.
8. Now mix in the cooked chicken into this fried cashew paste & give it a good mix. 
9. Finally garnish the dish with some lemon juice & coriander leaves.

Note:

1. In Singapore we get tender chicken so cook time is lesser. Well back in India the chicken is very hard, so you may have to cook the chicken for longer.
2. Since chicken has a lot of water in it, no need to add extra water. Just in case you feel the chicken is drying out & not cooked yet, only then add water.
3. If you want you can marinate the chicken with salt & turmeric powder & keep. I dint as I am always in a hurry to cook:)

Butter chicken Masala

 

Yesterday I was feeling so lazy that I dint feel like posting any recipes or being active on my blog. I was also feeling lazy to dress up & go out shopping. So I decided to watch some movie which is very unlikely of me. I love to watch horror movies but at the same time I am very scared to watch alone sometimes. I found this movie "Naina" on you tube so thought will watch it. The movie is very slow & a OK movie for time pass. Not a very scary movie but can watch once types.

coming back to today's post "Butter chicken" This is one preparation I make more often but always at night for dinner. Since i make it at night, I never was able to take a decent click of this dish. Although this one also was made for dinner but I prepared it in the evening so I got some evening light to click some ok ok shots. I somehow find it very difficult to take curry shots. I always try to give a very close up shot for my food coz I really want people to see the real texture & colour of food. I don't spend much time in plating it but concentrate more on getting the right texture of food. BTW food photography is not my cup of tea but since i love cooking, I am slowing learning to take better pictures. I feel very good when someone complements my food pictures & blush:) This is the best Butter chicken, very creamy tasty & yummy.

Cooking time: 30 minutes
servings: 4 people

Ingredients:

• 1 large onions chopped
• 2 large tomatoes chopped
• 1 Tbspn ginger garlic paste
• 500 gms boneless chicken cubes
• 1/4 cup cashew nuts
• 1/2 Tbspn coriander powder
• 1/2 tbspn cumin powder
• 1/2 tbspn chili powder
• 1/2 Tspn garam masala powder
• 1/2 Tbspn kasoori methi
• 1 Tspn cumin seeds
• 2 Tbspn thick curd
• 1/4 tspn chili powder
• 1 Tspn lemon juice
• 1 cup hot water or more if required
• salt as per taste
• 1 tspn sugar
• coriander leaves & green chili's to garnish
• 1/4 cup cream or milk
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1 Tbsp butter

Directions:

1. Marinate the chicken in curd. salt & 1/4 tspn of chili powder for at least 2 hours.
2. In a pan add a tbspn of oil & fry the chicken cubes until all water is drained off or 80 % cooked. Once cooked set the chicken aside.
3. Soak cashew nuts in hot water for at least 20 mins & then make a paste of it.
4. Boil chopped onions in 1 cup of water until they are translucent & make a paste of this.
5. Soak the tomatoes in the hot water, peel the skin & puree the tomatoes in the blender or mixer.
6. In a heavy bottom pan, add oil fry cumin seeds for few seconds. Now add in ginger garlic paste, onion paste & tomato puree.
7. Cover the lid of the pan & cook this on low flame for about 5 to 6 minutes. Add a little water if required.
8. Now add in all the masala's except kasoori methi & saute well. Throw in 1 tbspn of butter & sugar now in to the pan. Mix this well & keep sauteing for around 3 to 6 mins
9. When the raw smell goes off & when you see fat separation, you can add in cashew paste & 1/2 cup of hot water. Saute this for a minute until its well combined.
10. Finally add in the cream, chicken, Kasoori methi, lemon juice & mix well. Cook on low flame for about 5 mins.
11. Close lid & allow it to rest for at least 10 minutes before you dig in:) Add more water if you want.
12. Garnish the dish with coriander leaves, chopped green chili's & some fresh cream.

Note:

• Make sure you keep the pan closed or else you will have a messy kitchen.
• You can add in some red colour if you want. This will make the chicken look like the restaurant style.
• Always cook the chicken seperately in a pan or you can even bake them at 250 degree for 20 mins