Thursday, March 7, 2013

WHAT'S LIFE WITHOUT "CHICKEN"


Yeaahh whats life without this cock-a-doodle-doo bird.  You wouldnt have eggs, you wouldnt have butter chicken, you wouldnt have chicken pakoda, you wouldnt have ............the list is endless.  Isint it?

When I got married to a guy who is a preferred vegetarian, I out of sheer love decided I too would follow suit and discard the "meat" variety from my palate.  Rajeev never asked me to do so, but I volunteered. 

The pain started when I walked into mum's house and saw her making delicious chicken fry!! Hmmmm, "beta kha lo".  "Nahi mummy mein nahi khaoongi".  Translated into English for my friends who dont understand Hindi "daughter, please eat this" "No mom, I wont".  All this while my stomach was rumbling and grumbling.  My hands were jumping up and down to just pick up on peice and pop into my mouth.

I came home that night, sad, but still determined not to give up.  I stood upto my decision for............all for 6 months!!!! Yes, that was all that my will power could stand.  My mom's wonderful chicken dishes, I could not hold myself back!!  If that was funny.

Now I am a mom myself, and I have a 2 year old who digs into chicken like Popeye digs Spinach!!! Mamma chincken want!!! Yes that's what she says, somedays as soon as she opens her little brown eyes in the morning.

Well, so I really cant imagine what life would be without CHINCKEN

I had Methi Chicken lately at Open House and was determined to try it at home, and so I did for a gathering of friends, and it sure was delicious.

Here's my version

Ingredients :-

500 gms - boneless chicken
2 big onions - grated
6-7 pods of garlic
2 big tomatoes - pureed
1 cup - methi / fenugreek leaves
1/2 tspn - garam masala
2 tbspn - thick yoghurt (you could add cream if you dont like the sournes which is actually negligble)
2 tbspn - dhania / coriander seed powder
1 tspn - turmeric powder
2 tspn - chilli powder
2 pods - cardamom
bay leaves

Method :-

Clean, clean, clean the chicken (very important)
In a wok add about 3 tbspn oil
Add the cardamom pods and the bay leaves
After about 1/2 a minute add the grated garlic.
Then add the onions and a big pinch of salt
Fry well, till about reaching golden brown
Add the turmeric powder, mix well till the raw smell is gone
Add the dhania powder and fry well
Now add the tomato puree
Fry till the oil starts showing indicating that the masala is cooked
Now add the yoghurt and the chicken
Fry on high for about 5 minutes
Now cover and cook till the chicken is done
If want a little gravy you could either add some more beaten yoghurt or plain water
Lastly add the cleaned fenugreek leaves and cook on high for about 2-3 minutes.
Finish off with garam masala and green chillies

Enjoy!!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Shella!

My husband would totally agree with your "what's life without chicken" theory!
My story is reverse; I am a preferably vegetarian and him an avid non-vegetarian so after marriage I started experimenting with non-veg cooking mainly chicken and so far so good! :)

Cheers!
Ashima

Suresh Urs said...

Exactly wat's life without chicken. Nice dude. Then the recipe is superb, fantastic. Awesome post. Here while searching i came across this ClickCuisine.

Manju @ Manjus Eating Delights said...

Had a good laugh reading your kid's statement "mama chincken want!" :-) even my kid loves chicken , specially grilled! Lovely recipe.

Luv,
Manju
http://manjuseatingdelights.blogspot.com/

Nilu A said...

Wow! Looks delicious Shella.. Bookmarked it :-)