Sunny’s Dhania Chicken

This chuddy buddy of mine, swears he can cook, and cook well. After much deliberation, he shared his secret Dhaniya Chicken recipe- which I have now made public :D. Good food can’t be kept a secret- no no.

Here goes:

(Mayur's/Sunny’s Spl. Dhaniya Chicken)

Ingredients:

1.> 1/2 Kg Chicken
2.> 1 cup Curd
3.> 2 cups chopped Coriander
4.> 5 or more Green Chillies
5.> Ginger-Garlic Paste
6.> Turmeric
7.> Red Chillli Powder
8.> Coriander Powder
9.> Salt
10.> 1/2 Lemon
11.> 1 cup chopped Onions

Method:

Wash the Chicken and then rub a tsp of salt and half a lime and leave for 10 mins
then drain out all liquid and add 2tsp Turmeric and 2tsp Red Chilli Powder and cup of Curd and mix well. Leave for 1/2 hour.

Make a paste of 2 cups chopped coriander and Green Chillies and little water in a blender.

Take a kadai or preferably a Pressure Cooker and heat some oil/butter/ghee.
add cup of chopped Onions and fry till colorless.
Add Coriander Powder and Ginger-Garlic Paste and fry till oil separates.
Add the paste to kadai/cooker and cook till all ingredients mix well.
add Salt to taste, mix. Then add the marinating Chicken.
If in Pressure Cooker, close and wait for 2 whistles or just mix and cook in kadai till chicken is done.
voila! yummy yumm yum!

Monroe Magic

Supah cool packaging

In Kylie Minogue’s words - ‘ Hold me and control me, then melt me slowly like a chocolate’

Chatpata afternoon siesta breaker

 

Have you ever tried mixing Haldiram’s Bhujia with dahi, imlli chutney, red chilli powder? Well, mix them together and chill it for 10 minutes in the fridge.

While it gets chilled, look for a 2 pm world movies show, take the mixture out of the freeze. Dig in.

Its a must try. Especially on a sleepy Tuesday afternoon.

Don’t forget to keep some cha ready.

When you are tired chicken curry

When I  am tired but still want to have chicken:

 

Take 1/2 cup yoghurt, add 2 tsp dhania powder, lots of red chilli powder (coz that’s how i like mine), 1-2 tspGinger garlic paste, garam masala- whatever you’ve got, 1 tsp mustard oil, salt to taste, sugar- 2 pinches, 1/2 kg chicken,1 diced tomato, diced/grated/ground onion. Mix all. keep aside for an hour or two. Then place the mixture on a non stick pan. Ensure the gas is on very low flame. Cover the pan and go watch a film. Take a break in about 20 minutes- check if chicken is done. If yes, add water as desired, add chopped coriander. Cook it for another five minutes. take off the flame. Devour it with hot rice and a green chilli.

 

Hot tip: Add two big potatoes to your marinade. :) No bong food is complete without potatoes.

The quintessential bong meal

Last night, I got to think, how much we eat. Don’t you think this is way too much for one, very regular meal? But my  bong husband doesn’t feel that way. He thinks if I am embarking on a bong meal, it must be complete. Even the meal below is incomplete- there should have been aamer-chatney.

In the photo, and now in the many bulges of my body:

1. Gala Bhaat with rice (Over cooked rice with clarified butter)

2. Doi Maach – jhaal version (Fish in yoghurt)

3. Moong daal-er Dalma (pulses with vegetables)

4. Saag begun aar phoolkopi diye (Spinach with eggplant and cauliflower)

5. Alu-r Bora (Potato patties, pan roasted not deep fried)

6. Lebur Achaar (lemon Pickle)

Thakumaar Maacher Jhaal (Bengali style chilli fish, Grandmom’s recipe)

Poo nudged me yesterday to say this blog was slowly dying. Not as dramatic, but  yes,  she did say that she missed seeing newer posts.  I wonder if she ever ventured into trying out any of the featured recipes here.
I have been meaning to add some fun stuff to this space and go beyond recipes. But just don’t have enough time. Oh, who am I kidding? I have all the time in the world, have just been procrastinating. And before this post turns into a personal rant, here goes my favouritest fish recipe. This one originates from my paternal grandmom- she insisted my mum learnt this recipe and cooked it for her whenever she came visiting. now the recipe is handed down to me.
Ready?
we’ll need -

• 3-5 medium pieces of  white fish- Rohu/katla/or any firm white fish fillet
• 1 BIG tomato – grated (yes grated or pureed. tastes best when freshly pureed)
• 11/2 tsp Jeera powder
• 1 1/2tbsp – garlic –crushed (u need a little more than usual)
• 1 –2 tsp red chilli powder – as per your taste
• 1/2 tsp – Turmeric
• salt to taste
• 1/2 cup water
• Coriander leaves for garnish
• Oil- 4 tbsp

Method:
Rub, salt and turmeric to the fish and keep aside for 10 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix the tomato puree, garlic, jeera powder and salt. Mix it well and set aside.
In a pan heat oil, and shallow fry the fish. Take them out when they turn  light brown on both sides. Set aside .Do not fry it too crisp.
Add the tomato mixture to the remaining oil in the pan. on medium flame cook it, till oil separates. Add the  fried fish to this and coat the fish with the masala. Now add  water. Cover with lid and simmer for 5 minutes. Add chopped coriander. Serve with hot steamed rice.
Its a very very simple recipe, which can be made in parties too. I guarantee you at least 5 compliments when u serve this!
Hot tips: DO NOT add dhania powder and ginger. It changes the taste. For more masala, double the tomato puree , jeera and garlic.  Do not add too much water to the gravy. Follow this recipe to the t. :)

Fish in barbeque and Mushroom sauce

Cooking was never easier. Ever since we’ve moved to Sydney, I have been spending an insane number of hours in the kitchen. Not that I have a choice. So thought, I might as well enjoy what I have to do. I have never really enjoyed fish all that much. But the fish fillets you get here are oh so convenient to make and really tasty. At least they appeal to my palate as the river fish varieties we get here are not smelly and great tasting.

Here is something I tried recently-

You need:

1. 1 full Fish Fillet (I used Bahsa)

2. 1/2 cup Barbeque Sauce

3. 4-5 Button/medium sized Mushrooms diced

4. Steamed Vegetables of your choice- I used broccoli, beans, carrots, corn, capsicum, Asparagus

5. Salt to taste, lime juice 1 spoon

6. 1 spoon Garlic- crushed

7. 2-4 teaspoons Olive oil

Method:

Rub salt and lime juice to the fillet. Leave aside for 15 minutes. In a pan take some olive oil, add the whole fish fillet to it. Pan fry it until golden brown. keep aside.

Pour the remaining oil in the pan, add the crushed garlic to it, add the diced mushrooms and sauté it for about 2 minutes. Pour the barbeque sauce and add some salt to it. If the sauce is very thick, add a little water, depending on the consistency you like.

You have two options: either you add the fish to the pan and roll it in the sauce or, place the fish on a plate and pour sauce over it.

Stir fry the steamed veggies in a little butter (optional), or just have it steamed.

Tastes totally out of this world!