Chicken Curry

• At March 30, 2014
• By Nowreen
• In Bangla Cuisine, Go To Dishes
• 0

Chicken Curry

A basic chicken curry – for your dorm room, apartment or general gastronomic pleasure.
Ingredients

• 2 lbs medium size chicken pieces
• 2 large potatoes, cut into half
• 1 medium to large chopped tomato
• 1-2 onions finely chopped (you can use 1 if adding onion paste)
• ½ onion either made to a paste OR 3 tablespoon onion paste
• 2 tablespoon coriander powder
• 2 tablespoon cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 tablespoon Kashmiri red chili powder (or more depending on how spicy you like it)
• 2 tablespoon garlic paste
• 2 tablespoon ginger paste
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 4 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
• Salt to taste
• Warm water

Directions

1. Put the oil in the pan and warm up on a low heat.
2. Finely chop the onions and add to the pan.
3. Add the potatos (cut according to your preference).
4. Add in garlic paste, ginger paste, and onion paste. Add 1 cup water.
5. Cover the pan and simmer on a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions go soft and brown. Add a touch of water if it starts to dry out and burn.
6. Add the chili powder, turmeric, cumin and coriander powder to the pan and mix together with a wooden spoon. It may be quite dry so add 1 tbsp of water, if needed. The water should turn golden brown.
7. Add the chicken and chopped tomato and add the garam masala and salt to the pan. Stir until all mixed in and covered with the mixture.
8. Cover the pan and leave to cook on a medium-low heat, until the chicken juices come out (approx 30-35 minutes).
9. Check occasionally on whether the curry is turning too dry or wet and adjust as necessary. I prefer to use a bit less water so I can add more throughout the process (‘koshano’). The process of adding and evaporating until the curry is at desired consistency should take another 20 minutes.

An Easy Chicken Korma

• At March 30, 2014
• By Nowreen
• In Go To Dishes
• 0

Short-cut Chicken Korma Curry
This is probably the easiest chicken korma curry recipe you can use. My mom used to make chicken korma at almost every dawaat so for me its a comfort food that also reminds me of a Saturday dinner! I have made it when I was living alone and missing my moms cooking but also wanted a little something more interesting then chicken curry. Try it and I hope it works for you like it did for me! Goes best with pulao.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs chicken, cut into pieces
1 ½ chopped onion 2 1/2 tablespoons butter, ghee or oil
Spices:
2-inch cinnamon stick, lightly bruised
1 teaspoon cumin powder (and can add 1 tsp extra whole cumin seeds for smell and flavor) 1 1/2 teaspoons Garam Masala 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder 1 teaspoon coriander powder 2 tsp black pepper 2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon ginger paste 1 garlic paste
6 oz of plain or vanilla yogurt (if you want it SWEETER or in place of sugar), note, lowfat is more likely to curdle.
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
Optionals:
Sugar (per taste if not using vanilla yogurt)
2 cardamoms
2 cloves 2 bay leaves
2/3 cup Fried onions to top and garnish
Sliced Almonds – 1 tsp
Raisins – 1 tsp
Rose Water (1 tsp)
Garnish:
2 green chilis
1 tblspn cilantro
IF you have time, marinate the chicken for 30 minutes – upto a day with and ADDITIONAL 1 tsp lemon juice (to tenderzie), yogurt (enough to cover), gorom masala powder, 1 tblspn onion paste, 1 tblspn ginger, and 2 teaspoon of salt.
 Instructions:

1. Heat oil/ ghee in an wok. OR You can use equal parts oil and ghee together as well (If trying to impress the ghee will add better taste). Add bayleaf, Cinnamon in it and fry a little. If using cumin seeds add in this step and roast them on the pan. If using optional spices roast them in this step.
2. Add chopped onion and fry until soft and golden brown.
3. Add the chicken pieces and sauté until it starts to brown and chicken is starting to release water.
4. Now add all the dry spices, lemon juice and garlic and ginger paste. Let it all mix in and cook. Approx. 10 minutes on medium heat.
5. Cook the chicken by adding water little by little (1/3 cup at a time, let it cook, and add more) what we call in Bangla “koshano.”
6. Sdd another ¼ – ½ cup water (will differ depending on how much water the chicken has relased), add in beaten yogurt and cover the lid. Cook on medium until the chicken nearly done (30 minutes) and the gravy appears much thicker.
7. Finally, add in raisins, almonds and rose water if desired and cook with lid on for 5 minutes to allow it to mix and infuse.
8. Adjust to taste with lemon, salt or sugar if necessary. People have varying thresholds and I prefer mine to be more sour than sweet.

Keema (Spicy ground Beef)

• At March 30, 2014
• By Nowreen
• In Go To Dishes
• 0

This is one of the first thing I learned how to cook. Keema (ground beef) can go with anything – paratha, rice, or with vegetables on the side! No matter how you eat it, it tastes AMAZING with plain or greek yogurt. Many people will cook this with peas or potatos but I prefer it without as it is more versatile that way.
Ingredients:

• 2 Lbs Ground Beef (note, if trying to impress then less lean is always tastier!)
• 3 Medium finely chopped onions
• 5 Cloves of Garlic (finely chopped)
• 3 tomatoes
• Garam Masala powder
• Ginger paste
• 1 tblspn coriander powder
• 1 tlbspn cumin powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 to 1 ½ tbspn Red chili powder (depending on how spicy you like it)
• 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 3 green chilies (chopped)
• 1 tblspn cilantro (optional for garnish)

Instructions:

1. In a skillet heat 1 tsp of oil and then add the chopped onions and garlic. Saute for a few minutes and then close the lid to allow the onions to release their own water and cook (about 5 minutes). The onions should look a bit melted and clear.
2. Add in the chopped tomatoes and using a wooden spoon mash the tomatoes a bit (in the end the tomatoes and onions will not be visible).
3. Add in all the dry spices and ginger paste and allow it to cook.
4. Add in the ground beef and mix well with the onions and spices. Let it brown for about 5-10 minutes on medium heat.
5. Once everything is mixed in, allow the keema to cook on medium heat for 30-35 minutes with the lid on. The onions, tomatoes and spices will infuse the keema with flavor.
6. When the beef looks well done add in the chopped green chilies and cover the lid, allow it to infuse for a few minutes.
7. Final touch, add 1 tbspn of oil and re-fry the keema. It will darken and at this point there should be no trace of tomatoes and the onions have basically mixed in with the keema.

If adding peas, add frozen peas after step 5.