Stuffed Roast Chicken

FINALLY!!! Finally I could debone and stuff a chicken. Feels like a dream come true. Even though in the process I might have hurt my finger a little bit, the bird looked fantastic, and I earned some brownie points as a good cook. :)

Please do let me know if you want to learn how to de-bone a whole chicken.

Here is my recipe

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken with skin (de-boned! :-D )

For marinating

• 1 cup thick yoghurt
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 3 tsp red chilli powder
• 3 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 3 tsp lemon juice

For stuffing

• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1 cup chopped mushrooms
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped capsicum
• 1/2 cup garlic pods (whole)
• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tbsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp pasta seasoning
• 1 tbsp oil
• salt to taste

Mix all ingredients of the marinade and apply generously to the chicken both from outside and within the cavity. Cover the chicken with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the chicken for as long as possible (at least for 2 to 3 hours).

Heat the oil in a wok. Add the ingredients for the stuffing and flash fry for a minute or two. Turn off the heat, and allow the stuffing to cool down.

Remove the bird, and put the stuffing into its cavity. Truss the chicken with kitchen yarn and a needle. (I used a crochet needle to do the same. Works fine, I say, so long as you don't use the same for crocheting any more hahaha!

Line a baking tray with aluminum foil, and spray a little olive oil on it. Place the chicken into the tray and spray a little oil on the chicken to avoid it going too dry. Place a few pods of garlic all around for their beautiful aroma.

Place in a preheated oven at 175 degrees. Bake uncovered for 40 minutes to an hour. Baste frequently
with oil spray. Prick the thickest part of chicken to see if it is cooked. If a  clear liquid oozes out, it has been cooked. Any more time in the oven, and your chicken will taste dry and rubbery.

Serve hot!

Happy cooking!

Chicken and Dumplings Casserole

I first saw this recipe on Rachel Allen's Home Cooking, and I have been dying to make it ever since. But I also realized that the ingredients in the original recipe didn't account for Indian palates. So I increased the hotness factor of  the recipe and tweaked it a bit here and there, but the end result was really good.

It tastes as a variation somewhat of the East Indian chicken curry I have had so many times at so many good friends' homes.

Ingredients

For the gravy

• 1 kilo chicken
• 100g streaky bacon
• 3 medium carrots, peeled but not chopped
• 2 medium onions chopped into large pieces
• 4 large mushrooms sliced
• 2  tbsp ginger paste
• 2 tbsp garlic paste
• 2 tbsp red chilli paste
• juice of 2 lemons
• 1 tbsp rosemary
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tbsp tarragon (tastes amazing with chicken)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt to taste
• a dash of vinegar

For the dumplings

• 2 cups plain flour (maida)
• about 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4th tsp soda bicarb
• salt to taste
• 2 tbsp mixed chopped herbs  

Mix the ginger, garlic and red chilli pastes. Add the juice of two lemons to it and marinate the chicken pieces in this paste. I marinated the chicken overnight, but an hour of  marination is good enough.
 Heat the oven-safe pot in which you are going to make the chicken casserole. Pour only 1 tbsp of olive oil in it. Roughly chop the streaky bacon into large pieces. Place them in the pot at some distance from each other. Brown them well on both sides. Then remove them and place them in a separate plate.

Now dry the chicken pieces (Do not worry, not much of the marinade comes off). I cannot stress on this point too much, that drying the chicken pieces thoroughly before frying them allows them to brown better. Place the dried pieces of chicken into the pot, again at some distance from each other. Don't crowd the pieces otherwise they won't brown. Brown them well on both sides and then remove them in the same plate as the bacon.

Now place the mushroom slices in the same pot. With the same principle of not crowding them, brown them evenly on both sides and remove them on a plate.

Finally you will have a little fat remaining in the pot. Toss in the onions and carrots till they are evenly coated with the blissful pork fat, olive oil mixture. Add the mushrooms to it, topped off by the chicken and bacon pieces. Pour any remaining oil in the plate back into the pot. Add about half a tsp of vinegar, and the remaining marinade.

Add salt and two cups of stock to the pot. (This is how I make stock. I remove the bony pieces from the raw chicken, which no one likes to eat, like the neck piece for example. I boil these bony pieces with three cups of water, 1 sliced onion and whichever herbs I have till the water reduces by one third. Finally I remove the pieces of chicken, onions and sieve the stock. I store it in a bottle in my refrigerator.)

Place the pot on heat and bring the gravy to a boil. Now cover the pot and place it in your oven at 180 degrees C for about 20 minutes.

In the meanwhile, make the dumplings. Take the chopped herbs in a mixing bowl. Sieve together the flour with the soda bicarb and salt. Now make a well in the center of the flour and add buttermilk, slowly. Make a claw of your hand and mix the flour. Do not knead the dough, only mix all the ingredients till they are just combined. Press down lightly till the mixture is about an inch thick.

Dust your cookie cutter with flour and cut away small portions from the flour mixture till you have none left.

After the casserole has been in the oven for twenty minutes, remove the pot and place the dumplings on top of it. (Optional: You can add shredded cheese on top of the dumplings for added flavor). Place it back into the oven, lower the temperature to 150 degrees C and bake it for fifteen more minutes. When you touch the top of the dumplings they should feel springy to touch. That way you will know that they are done well.

Serve hot!

Happy Cooking!

Steamed Chicken Dim sums

There was some problem using blogger from my home computer. This post is therefore being posted from the clinic. I'll just jump to the recipe

Ingredients

For the filling

• 250 g minced chicken
• 5 spring onions finely chopped
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp minced ginger
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• salt to taste

For the wrapper

• 3 cups plain flour
• salt
• 1 tbsp oil
• water as needed

Mix all the ingredients for the wrapper and knead into a soft dough. Knead well for about ten to fifteen minutes. Cover the dough with a damp towel and let it rest for fifteen minutes.

For the filling, bring together all the ingredients and then zap them up for two minutes in a blender. This way the filling won't peep out of the wrapper.

Divide the dough into small balls about two centimeters in diameter. Apply dry plain flour on the dough balls and roll them out into flat round discs. The discs should be thin enough to let light pass through them.

Now spoon out the filling into the center of each wrapper. Imagine the wrapper, placed in front of you, to be a clock face. Start from the 8 o'clock position. Make folds into the edge of the wrapper and pinch each fold shut at the edge. Keep pleating till the entire circumference is done. Now bring the folds together in the center. (This is one of the easiest ways to make a dim sum).

Steam the dim sums on a greased perforated tray for about ten minutes.

Serve them hot with a sauce made by mixing soy sauce, oyster sauce, minced garlic, chilli oil and honey.

Happy Cooking!

Chicken and Lentils Stew

Cooking chicken with yellow lentils was something I had never done until last night. Frankly, I didn't think it would work. But I saw a stew made by Nigella Lawson on her show on TLC (something which I have become addicted to now) and thought, yeah why not? The stew she made, though, had lamb shanks in it. My husband doesn't like lamb meat, so I made the stew with chicken drumsticks instead. The result was good. I did make a few alterations which were not there in the original recipe. Something to make it my own recipe.

Ingredients

• 4 chicken drumsticks
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium onions
• 8 cloves of garlic
• 1 inch piece of ginger
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/4th tsp nutmeg powder
• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 tsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp honey
• 3 cups chicken stock (or plain water)
• 6 tbsp yellow lentils (masoor dal)
• salt to taste

First make a coarse paste of onions, garlic and ginger. Keep it aside.

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Dry the chicken drumsticks on kitchen towel. Lay them side by side in the oil. Don't crowd them. If your pan is small, fry two drumsticks at a time. Fry them till they are golden brown on each side. Remove them from the oil and keep them aside. 

In the same oil, saute the onion, garlic and ginger paste for 5 minutes with a pinch of salt. The salt helps the onion to cook faster and makes the onions moist. Once the paste has fried well, add the dry spices and the sauces. Stir one or two times, and add the honey. Mix the paste well.

Place the chicken pieces back into the pan. Add the chicken stock or water and add the seasoning. Bring the gravy to a boil. Now add the yellow lentils and cover the pan. Cook on a slow flame for 20 to 25 minutes. The lentils cook and become swollen and softened. They add the thickness to this gravy. Taste once and adjust the seasoning if required.

Serve hot with soft white bread or steamed rice.

Happy Cooking!

Kombdi Sagoti - Chicken Xacuti - East Indian Chicken Curry

I don't know if this recipe is Goan, or East Indian. I have eaten slight variations of this recipe in the interiors of Vasai where I grew up, and even in Alibag. The curry is surely spicy, but the spiciness is alleviated to some extent by the gargantuan amounts of coconut, that goes into making this curry what it is. A perfect blend of ingredients. You will be left wanting the gravy more than the chicken itself!

Ingredients

• 400 g chicken
• 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 and 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 small onion and 2 medium onions 
• 2 large or 3 medium tomatoes
• 8 tbsp oil
• 6 red chillies
• 20 cloves
• 25 - 30 peppercorns
• 1/4th mace
• 1/4th nutmeg
• 2 inch piece of cinnamon
• 1/2 star anise
• 5 cardamom pods
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 and 1/2 tsp poppy seeds
• 1 and 1/4th cup fresh grated coconut
• 1 cup chicken stock (I made mine from Maggi Magic Cubes)
• salt to taste

Wash the chicken pieces and dry them with kitchen towels. Apply ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, lemon juice and salt onto them and rub it into the pieces gently for a minute.  Set aside for marination. (I kept mine in the refrigerator for over 8 hours. Believe me the difference is dramatic!)

Slice the smaller onion and finely chop the larger onions. Finely chop the tomatoes. Keep them aside.

In a small plate gather all the dry spices. Keep them separated from each other though. Keep all ingredients handy.

Heat a heavy bottomed griddle and pour 3 tbsp oil in it. Place the griddle in a slightly lopsided manner. Not slanting, but the burner of the stove should be heating only one part  of the griddle. This is so that while one spice is roasting, the previous one should not burn, but rather remain just warm.

First place the red chillies on that area of the stove which is directly on the burner. Once they have begun to change their color, use a spoon to slide them to the area which is not directly on top of the burner. Next do the same to peppercorns. Slide them aside. Put the cloves. Slide them aside. (Tip: While the peppercorns and cloves are roasting, invert a large spoon on top of the griddle just over the cloves or the peppercorns. This way if there is a splash of hot oil when the clove bursts, it won't scald you. A trick my mom taught me.)

Do the same for the star anise, nutmeg, mace, cinnamon and cardamom, and coriander seeds. Finally add the cumin seeds and poppy seeds. Once the cumin begins to change color, add the sliced small onion and mix all the spices together on the griddle with the onion. Saute well till the onion changes to a golden brown color. Now add the coconut and saute again till the coconut takes on a golden brown color too. Turn off the heat and let the spice mixture cool.

Once it cools, grind it to a smooth paste with 1 cup of water. Keep the paste aside.

 Heat the remaining oil in a heavy bottomed wok or vessel. (Tip: I use a pressure cooker for cooking chicken. Put the lid with the whistle on once all the ingredients have been assembled, and cook the chicken on the lowest heat possible for 20 to 25 minutes. The meat becomes much more tender this way.)

Once the oil has heated, add the chopped onions and saute them for about 3 minutes till they change color. Now add the tomatoes, and cook well for about three more minutes till they have turned completely soft. Now add the marinated chicken pieces, and the marinade into the  cooker. Cook for about two minutes till the chicken is tender.

Add the stock and cook again for five minutes. Now add the ground coconut and spices paste to the chicken. Taste the gravy and adjust the salt. Now cover the cooker and cook on a low heat for twenty to twenty-five minutes. By this time folks at home will have started asking what is cooking!

Serve really hot with bread, or steamed rice!

Happy Cooking!

Chicken Lasagna

When I bought the lasagna sheets from the store, Shrikant had no inkling what I was going to do with them, or even what they are for. He thought it is just another one of my buying spree where I buy all these exotic ingredients for cooking. So yesterday I made Lasagna finally and served it to him. And wonders of wonders! He liked it! He doesn't have too much of a leaning for pasta, but here he was telling me, "I don't know why we have to go out and eat, when you can practically cook everything better here!"

Now that was a complement! But sorry boss, even the chef needs time-out sometimes :-)

Here's the recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 cup chicken pieces
• 4 lasagna sheets
• 1 cup mozarella cheese (or more if you like)

For the tomato sauce

• 4 large tomatoes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4-5 pods of garlic
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1 bay leaf (tej patta)
• 1 small sprig of tarragon
• 2 basil leaves 
• 3 tbsp tomato ketchup
• dry red chilli powder as per taste
• salt and sugar as per taste

For the white sauce

• 3 tbsp plain flour (maida)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup chicken stock (you can buy maggi magic cubes from the market, and make a stock with one cube in half cup water)
• salt and pepper to tast

Rub some garlic paste and lime juice onto the chicken pieces and keep them aside for marination.

Finely chop the tomatoes, onions and garlic. Heat olive oil in a wok, and place a bay leaf in it. Now put the garlic and onion and saute till they are evenly cooked. Now add the tomatoes, basil and tarragon and saute for about seven minutes till the tomatoes are tender. Finally add the ketchup, dry red chilli powder as per your taste, salt and sugar as per your taste. Taste it once to see that all the flavors are evenly balanced. Nothing should overpower the other.

Keep it aside and make the white sauce. Mix a little cold water in the plain flour till you get a smooth paste. Heat the stock and bring it to a boil. Now add the flour paste in it and whisk quickly or you will get lumps. Now add the milk and seasonings and bring it to a boil once. (In case lumps do form, do not panic, cool the sauce and put it in a blender. Whisk it once or twice in the blender and you have a smooth-as-a-baby's-bottom white sauce.) Keep it aside.

Cook the lasagna sheets as per the manufacturer's instructions.

Preheat the oven for ten minutes. In a baking tray, first layer the tomato sauce. Place the pieces of chicken on it. Now put t lasagna sheets on the chicken layer. The next layer will be the white sauce and some of the mozarella cheese. Line two more pasta sheets on top of the second layer and put the remaining tomato sauce on top. Coat the top evenly with mozarella cheese and then push the baking tray in the oven for twenty five minutes. Remove from the oven, cut into wedges and serve hot!

The vegetarians can replace the chicken with pieces of cottage cheese (paneer) or tofu. Alternatively they can also use veggies of their choice.

Those who do not have lasagna sheets, can also use any other variety of pasta to layer the lasagna.



I have no picture. I thought my hubby must have clicked some pictures, but he didn't. And now the lasagna is all gone. Sorry folks.

Anyway...

Happy Cooking!

Chicken and Mushroom in Cream Sauce

I saw this recipe in Julie and Julia and have been dying to make it since then. It didn't fail me. It was yummy and the chicken was so soft!

This recipe is not for those who like their chicken spicy, or masaledar! This is for those who like subtlety. It has the right undertones of tarragon and chives and the  garlic... oh, the garlic!

Try and let me know if you liked it.

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts cut into small cubes
• 10 to 12 pods of garlic
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup button mushrooms sliced
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh chives finely chopped
• 1 tbsp tarragon
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup fresh cream
• salt and pepper to taste

Crush 4 to 5 garlic pods with 1 tsp sea salt in a mortar and pestle. Apply this to the chicken pieces. Apply some lemon juice and rub the mixture into the chicken pieces. Keep the chicken pieces aside for an hour.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Dry the chicken pieces thoroughly on kitchen towels and place each one on the frying pan. Keep some space between the chicken pieces. (Drying the pieces of chicken before frying them makes them brown evenly)

Fry them on both sides till they are evenly golden brown and slightly springy to touch. This takes about 3 minutes on each side.

Once all the chicken pieces have browned, remove them from the pan and drain them on kitchen towels once again. Now place the mushroom slices in the frying pan, again keeping space between each piece.

Once the mushrooms have browned well, remove them and drain them.

Remove all the remaining oil into a wok, and place the wok on heat. Add the butter. Crush the remaining garlic with the balance sea salt and put it in the butter-olive oil mixture. Throw in the chopped onions and saute for 2 minutes. Add the tarragon, chives, dry white wine and chicken stock. Boil the mixture till it reduces to about half the original volume. Now add the fresh cream and mix it well. Taste it and then add salt and pepper.

Put the chicken and mushroom pieces in the sauce and serve hot with bread.

Bon Apetit!

Oh, I mean... Happy Cooking!

Chinese Chicken Noodles

Sorry folks! I haven't been well the last couple of days. Sunday morning saw me waking up, seeing the world with a slightly skewed perspective. My neck was tilted to the right side, thanks to a massive spasm in some muscle.

Now that I felt slightly better, and that my mom was getting increasingly tired, I decided I would make something today. Still in no position to make chapatis, I decided the easiest thing to make would be chinese noodles. My husband helped me to cook noodles. Thanks sweetheart!

Overall, the average rating for the recipe was : 7.8 (Based on ratings given by three members of my family on a scale of ten)

Here's the recipe

• 1 packet of egg noodles
• 1 cup boneless chicken pieces
• 4 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp oil (preferably sesame oil)
• 3 spring onions finely chopped
• 1/2 cup shredded cabbage
• 1/2 cup capsicum chopped
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp fish sauce
• 2 tsp green chilli sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the egg noodles according to the manufacturer's instructions. Keep them aside.

Now heat the oil in a wok and add the minced garlic to it. Saute on high heat for a minute and add the chicken pieces (drying the chicken pieces with a tissue paper before frying them helps to brown them evenly).

Saute the chicken for about 4 minutes on high heat till it is evenly cooked. Now add the whites of the onions, cabbage and capsicum and saute for only half a minute. Add the soy, fish sauce and the green chilli sauce, salt and pepper. Add the noodles and toss them around for a minute. Finally add the green onion leaves and saute for half a minute.

Turn off the heat and serve hot!

(I do not have my camera here, at mom's house, so there are no pictures. Sorry :-(  )

Happy Cooking!

Mince and Mushroom Hot Pot

I have been meaning to make this recipe for  a long time. Ever since my friend Jayanti posted her recipe to me and Laxmi posted it on her blog, I have wanted to  have a bite of it. I finally got a chance today. My brother-in-law Makrand is visiting and I decided that this would be a no-fail formula. And was  I right!

The mince by itself was yum! I could just dip a bread in it and eat it all by itself. But the potatoes, mushrooms the sauce, everything just added to the flavor. I did make a few changes, but they are really very minor changes. Try this recipe, all you mutton eaters and tell me if you liked it.

Ingredients

• 250 g mutton mince
• 4 tbsp oil
• 1 large onion chopped
• 2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• 7 cardamom pods
• 1 badi elaichi
• 5 peppercorns
• 5 cloves
• 1 javintri (Mace)
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 3 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 cup white wine
• salt to taste
• 1/2 pack potato croquettes (or as in my case herbed potato wedges)
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• Cream of Mushroom soup powder (Knorr or Maggi)
• 2 tomatoes sliced horizontally
• 1/4th cup peas
• 1 cup grated mozarella cheese

First make the mutton mince.  Heat the oil in a wok and throw in the cardamom, badi elaichi, cloves, and peppercorns and saute for about two minutes. Now remove the whole spices from the oil and tie in a muslin cloth. (What I did was to empty a tea bag, put the spices in it, seal it once again and put it in the mutton mince once again.) This is to be able to remove the spices as a whole in the later stage.

Once the spices are removed add the onions to the oil. Saute for two minutes and add the ginger garlic paste. Saute well for about four minutes and add the mutton mince. Add the salt and the dry spices and cook till the mince is almost done. Now add the white wine and cook for few more minutes.

Make the mushroom sauce. Mix half the soup powder in one and half cup of water. Bring to a boil slowly. Stir all the time. This makes the soup become a thick sauce.

Grease an oven proof baking tin and pack the mince in it. Level it. Now add one layer of the potato croquettes. Layer the sliced mushrooms on it. Layer the sauce on top of the mushrooms. Line another layer with the tomatoes and peas.

Slide the tin into the oven and bake it for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, add the grated cheese as the final layer and once again put it in the oven. Bake for five more minutes until the cheese has melted. Serve hot as a one-dish meal!

Happy Cooking!

South Indian Chicken Stew

I love stews. I  love the simplicity and vivaciousness of stews. They need no elaborate preparation and are ready in minutes. I read this recipe in one of my cookbooks. I did make a few changes, but you could skip them if you wish.

Ingredients

• 100 gms chicken (boneless or with bones, whichever way you prefer)
• 1 large onion chopped  into large pieces
• a few curry leaves
• 1 large potato chopped into large pieces
• 1 carrot chopped into large pieces
• 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 inch piece of cinnamon
• 3 cloves
• 4 to 6 pepper corns
• 2 to 3 green chillies slit lengthwise
• 3 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 a cube of chicken soup (or 1/2 cup chicken stock)
• 1 cup thick coconut milk
• salt to taste

 The coconut oil brings out the characteristic flavor of this recipe. Heat the coconut oil in a wok and throw in the cinnamon, cloves and peppercorns. Saute for half a minute.

Add the onions. Cook them till they are soft, but not till they turn brown. Add the chillies, curry leaves, ginger garlic paste, chicken pieces and potatoes. Saute for two minutes, and then cover and cook for a further five minutes.

Remove the cover, and add the carrots and a cup of water. Add the soup cube to the stew and cook well for three to four minutes.

Now add the coconut milk and salt. Bring the stew to a boil. Now turn the heat down and simmer once again for a few minutes.

Serve hot with rice!

Chicken Paratha

It is ridiculously hot and humid here in Mumbai. I heard that it is raining sporadically in Pune and other regions of India. It is phenomenally unfair that Mumbaikars should swelter in heat while the rest of the country enjoy at least spurts of rainfall. :-(

Then again, I live on the top floor of my building. It gets hotter than ever here, and May hasn't even begun. Damn! :-(

Normally I derive immense pleasure from seeing my phulkas puff up on the gas. But in this weather it seems like an inhuman torture of gigantic proportions to stand in front of the stove and make chapatis. I also take pride in the fact that my husband eats a good number of chapatis. Parathas are easier to roll, and faster to make. So today's recipe was going to be parathas.

Now that I am free to experiment with chicken, I decided what could be better than making chicken parathas? They turned out great. The taste was just right. Subtle and zesty in the same breath. Saee loved the parathas enough to eat one and one fourth of it. (Mind you, a paratha is heavier on the stomach than the regular chapatis!)

Ingredients

• 3 cups wheat flour
• 4 to 5 eggs
• 2 cups minced chicken
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• salt to taste
• Oil for frying the parathas
• 1 tsp oil for the dough

Make a soft dough of the wheat flour using enough water.  Keep aside.

In a wok heat a tsp of oil. Add the onions and saute them well for a minute or two till the onions turn golden brown. Add ginger garlic paste and the dry spices and fry well for a minute. Add the minced chicken and cook on low heat, covered for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep aside to cool.

Once the chicken filling has cooled down, grind it without any water in a blender till it becomes somewhat homogeneous.

Divide the dough into 7 to 8 parts. Press down the center of the dough with your thumb and create a depression. Spoon out a portion of the filling into this depression. Bring the edges of the dough together and seal them together. Roll out the paratha till it is about 3 mm in thickness. Do not roll out too much you run the risk of getting the stuffing spilling out of the paratha.

Heat a tsp of oil on a frying pan and fry the paratha well on both sides. You can keep the parathas in a container.

Just before serving, heat the frying pan, add a teaspoon of oil and place the paratha on it. Spoon out a portion of the beaten egg on each side of paratha and fry it for half a minute.

Serve hot with chutney or tomato ketchup!

And yes... even in this sweltering weather...

Happy Cooking!

Murg Jugalbandi

My kid has secured admission for nursery today. The playgroup where we are sending her is an amazing one with several pets like rabbits, ducks, a dog, two turtles, a parrot and several fish! Being an animal lover myself, this came as a really pleasant surprise. Saee, too, loves animals. I guess she got that from me as my husband does not take too kindly to animals.

I also remembered my school days. There was a house adjacent to my school where there was a cage just inside the gate. There were several rabbits in there. I am sure Jayanti, Vidya, and Rhythm remember. Do you?

Anyway, this is another chicken recipe after a long time, and I guess there will be more to come in the coming few months. It was not too difficult to make as much as time consuming. As far as the taste goes, you will have to slightly increase the chilli part as otherwise the recipe tastes a little bland.

The chicken breasts in this recipe weren't marinated. But I reckon that marinating the chicken for at least an hour with salt and lemon juice will make a heaven and hell difference to the taste.

Saee, though loved it as it was. She ate one whole piece sliced from the chicken breast. Try it with the few changes I suggested.

Ingredients

• 2 Chicken breasts 

For the filling

• 100 g minced chicken
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 3 to 4 curry leaves 
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 2 tsp fresh grated coconut 
• Salt to taste

For the curry 

• 4 tsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/4th cup whisked curds
• 1/4th cup tomato puree
• 1/4th cup brown onion paste 

Clean and wash the chicken breasts and keep them aside. (Marinate with salt and lemon juice for about half an hour to one hour).

Meanwhile, heat 2 tsp oil in a wok and add the mustard seeds. Once they start crackling add the curry leaves. Now add the minced chicken and saute for about 5 to 6 minutes. Add the salt, red chilli powder and garam masala and saute for a minute or two more. Keep aside to cool.

Make an incision into the base of the chicken breast to create a pocket. Or you can make a long slit along the side of the breast and then tie it up after you have stuffed it. Now stuff the filling into the receptacle in the chicken breast and if you have made a slit, tie the chicken breast with a string to make sure none of the filling comes out.

Heat 4 tsp oil in a wok and fry the stuffed chicken breast till it turns golden brown on both sides. Keep it aside.

Now throw in the cumin seeds into the oil and saute for a minute. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute again for a minute. Add the dry spices and salt, and saute well for a minute or two. Now pour in the curds and the tomato puree and saute well on medium heat. Add the onion paste and fry till oil leaves the masala. Add water and bring the curry to a boil.

Add the chicken breasts to the curry and cook well for ten to 12 minutes.


To serve: Remove the chicken breasts from the plate and slice them into smaller pieces. Place the slices on a plate and pour gravy on top. Garnish with curry leaves and peppercorns. 

Serve hot!

Happy Cooking!!