palak murgh

Palak murgh.

Description: this is a preparation of chicken with spinach. It goes very well with rice or ruti or parathas. You can also use it as a burrito fill.

Ingredients: boneless skinless chicken breasts (2 pounds/1kilo), two large onions, one can spinach (palak/shaak), half a can sweet peas, haldi, garam masala, lonka guro, gota jeere, chicken masala, ginger garlic paste, pepper paste, tomato puree, curd (dahi).

Method: marinate the chicken with dahi, haldi, lonka guro and a tablespoon of olive oil (if u are feeling posh). Store in the fridge for at least 24 hours.

If the spinach comes from a can, it is pre washed, if it does not, it has to be washed and chopped.

Chop the onions into small pieces (use mixer if needed). Fry the onions till golden brown. Add jeere, lonka guro, chicken masala and let the masala fry for a minute or two. Add a tablespoon each of ginger garlic paste and pepper paste. Let the mixture cook for a few minutes. Add tomate puree, and mix to make a thick paste. Let this cook for a minute. Add the chicken. Mix thoroughly. Cook on low heat for half an hour. Keep stirring so that the base does not char. Add the spinach and the peas. Mix, and add a little garam masala. Let this simmer on medium heat for fifteen minutes. Keep stirring. Add salt and water (depends on whether you want a thick jhol, or not) and heat for another five minutes.

keema daal

Keema/dal.

Description: this is a mixed dal and keema preparation which is an excellent sandwich fill and also tastes great with ruti/paratha.

Ingredients: one pound/450 gm of keema/ground turkey. ¾ cups of arahar dal, one onion, tomato puree. Shukno lonka (dried chilli), haldi, lonka guro, chicken masala, dhone guro, gota jeere. Ginger garlic paste.

Method: pressure cook the daal and set aside. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a kadai, when the oil starts simmering, add the gota jeere. After a minute, add chopped onion and stir until golden brown. Add haldi and other masala to taste and allow the masala to roast. Add ginger garlic paste(one tablespoon) and tomato puree. Mix thoroughly and let this simmer. After two or three minutes, add the keema and cook on low heat for at least twenty minutes. When the keema has cooked, add the daal, top up with water and mix thoroughly. Let this simmer for ten minutes or so. Add salt to taste. To dry this and make it a sandwich fill, let it simmer on low hear for more time.

mushroom and capsicum torkari

items needed: one pound/450 gms/1 tin of mushrooms in water.(no washing
needed)

one large capsicum(also called 'green bell pepper')
one medium sized onion
50 ml of thick tomato puree/ one tomato
quarter teaspoon each of haldi/lonka guro, garam masala, 'tava fry'
masala, panch foron, gota
jeere, dhone guro.

modus operandi:
chop the onions into as small pieces as possible. use a blender/mixer if
needed. heat 2 tablespoons of oil inthe kadai until it simmers, add gota
jeere and panch foron and let it sputter. add the chopped onions and keep
stirring until the onions turn brown. in the meantime, wash and chop the
capsicum into strips about 2 inches long and half an inch wide. the
mushrooms have to be chopped into small pieces. after the onions turn
brown, add the masala powders and cover the kadai. wait for a minute to
let the masala fry well and then add the tomato puree (or chopped tomato).
mix well and let this simmer. after two minutes, addthe mushrooms and the
capsicum and stir well. add salt/sugar to taste. lower the
heat and let this cook slowly for
atleast 20 minutes. stir occasionally to make sure that 'tola ta jeno na
dhore jaaye!!'