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!

Corn and Potato Stew

This recipe is my own. And while I can't vouch for all, indeed many, of my recipes, this one can safely be called a good one by fluke! Having searched high and low for good recipes without onion and garlic, and found none, I was left to my own devices to come up with a concoction that incorporated all or some  of the vegetables that I am harboring in my refrigerator.

The corn is a gift from my mother, who didn't have use for them since she was going to Udipi for a couple of days of well-deserved vacation. The potatoes are no gift, but a safe bet to have in your kitchen. When everything else fails you, the humble potato comes to your rescue. The pumpkin, I just had a tiny bit left over from yesterday. It wasn't going to find any other use, so in the stew it went.

I did rue the lack of capsicum, as it would have brought out the flavors well. But not one to worry for long, I used ground pepper instead.

Here goes.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sweet corn kernels
• 1 large potato boiled and peeled
• 1/2 cup peeled and chopped pumpkin
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 4 cloves
• 2 cups of water
• 1/2 cup double cream
• salt and ground pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a wok. Add the cinnamon and cloves and wait till the cloves pop. Now add the corn, chopped potato and pumpkin pieces. Saute on high heat for three minutes.

Now add two cups of water and bring it to a boil. Add the salt and pepper and turn down the heat. Cover the wok and simmer for ten minutes. Remove the cover and add heavy cream. Taste and adjust the seasoning if required.

Serve hot with bread.

(If you like it hotter, you can add a couple of shots of tobasco sauce to make it water your eyes along with your mouth!)

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!

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!