KASURI METHI TANDOORI MOSHOLAI MURGI

I am truly very busy today. I have two friends coming over for lunch tomorrow, I did some preparation work; the sandesh & cake, those which would be offered as sweet something to end the meal. They have to be done simultaneously while I write today's blog post. That I will blog about a chicken dish today was decided earlier. It cannot be any rice & chicken combination dish however; I must put in my heart & soul into cooking, when guests are at the door. Sandesh making also takes time and concentration; an easy to go chicken curry is what suits the blog today. What else to eat here except for some selective fish varieties & chicken? I say this from the perspective of a primitive Bengali like me who failed to get out of her life long food habits even after a decade of stay here. 

Cooking the family vegetarian dishes in a foreign land is not a problem. The mutton variety available here comes nowhere near the taste of what we get in Kolkata. Same is the case with chicken. I definitely do eat, in fact love to eat chicken on my visits to Kolkata; here I cannot eat. The quality may be supremely good here but the taste is very different to my taste buds, prawns too I do not find as tasty as in Kolkata! It is not about the quality of food, which is definitely top class here, it is something else that a KASURI METHI TANDOORI MOSHOLAI MURGI done with Kolkata's chicken  variety is more acceptable to me than that made with any chicken variety available here. Kasuri methi is dried fenugreek leaves and I like it any day more than fresh fenugreek leaves or seeds. Are the Bengalis in Bengal too much in the habit of having fenugreek greens in particular? I doubt. We eat a lot variety of greens however; even "beto shaak", "bathua" which is bitter too but not really fenugreek.

Because I cannot get my choice of meat & fish much here; few of my old time favourites  made a come back; see I am eating "muri-narkol-chini"; puffed rice with shredded coconut & sugar. 

Some days, I do not keep any tab on what I eat; I ate a plateful of rice for lunch and within two hours, this! The entire morning was a tense situation. Every Thursday morning it will be so. Wednesday night has our son's fencing class in that distant land; until he is back in his dorm, I feel terrible. He is not the kind who would send messages every half an hour as told, I have to keep knocking him, try to make him understand how important his message is for us. Yes, this non-vegetarian chicken curry with Tandoori Masala and Dried Fenugreek Leaves KASURI METHI TANDOORI MOSHOLAI MURGI was done when the son was here, both him and his father love these kind of curries with their share of breads or fried rices; even the rest in the family too! I am the only one who ferociously is getting back to old family recipes of the bygone days; I may not have liked them then but I totally love them now.

 INGREDIENTS :

CHICKEN : 1KG [MEDIUM CUT]

CHOPPED TOMATO : 2 SMALL TEA CUP

SLICED ONION : 1MEDIUM TEA CUP

TANDOORI MASALA : 2 TBSP [YOU GET IN ANY ASIAN STORE OUTSIDE INDIA]

TURMERIC POWDER : 1TSP

RED CHILLI POWDER : 2 TBSP

GINGER PASTE : 2 TSP

GARLIC PASTE : 2 TBSP

LEMON JUICE : 5-6 TBSP

DRIED FENUGREEK LEAF / KASURI METHI : A HANDFUL

CINNAMON STICK : 2-3 ONE INCH LENGTH

GREEN CARDAMOM : 2-3

CLOVE : 3-4

STAR ANISE : 1

BAY LEAF : 1

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 5-6 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

Wash the chicken pieces thoroughly and drain any amount of excess water.

Wash  the dried fenugreek leaves taking in a strainer. Soak them in water.

Marinate the pieces very well with the washed & chopped tomatoes, ginger & garlic paste, tandoori masala, lemon juice, salt, turmeric.

 Keep it covered for 2 hours. Thereafter, heat the oil in a wok and temper it with green cardamom, bay leaf, cinnamon sticks & star-anise.

Add the washed, sliced onion and fry at low heat until golden brown.

Then, add the marinated chicken and the red chilli powder. Fold in well.

Cook it covered at minimal heat for 20-25 minutes, uncover & give a stir every 5 minutes.

This is the time to add about 3 coffee mugs of water; preferably warm water. Give a stir.

Now, cover cook at low heat for 10-12 minutes; discard the water and add the dried fenugreek leaves to the curry. Adjust the salt if required. Cook for 5 more minutes.

Transfer to a serving bowl and serve hot with any bread, plain or flavoured rice!