Chicken Curry - Traditional

Ah chicken curry!

Each cook has his/her unique way of making chicken curry at home. Even if I give you the recipe here, it will never taste the same - so don't worry- make it a couple of times and you will hit upon the magic proportions that you and your family love. It never has to be exactly the same as someone else's. The biggest fan of my chicken curry is my little one- Anagha...this is especially for her.

I use either whole chicken,cut up or chicken thighs for chicken curry. That's simply because the leg meat always tastes better when braised and personally I love the chicken thigh meat. But feel free to use breast meat if that's what you like. The only rule is that it should be skinless and bone IN. Never boneless.

1 medium chicken cut into medium sized pieces.
2 cups yellow onion chopped
2 bay leaves
2 TBS chopped coriander leaves
3 TBS oil

For the marinade:
1 TBS turmeric
1 1/2 TBS chili powder
1 TBS salt
1 cup yogurt

Clean the chicken and pat dry. Apply the marinade and make sure all the pieces are covered. Ideally this should be marinated overnight in the fridge, but if you don't have the time, at least an hour or so.

Green Masala paste:

15 cloves of garlic
1 TBS ginger
2 TBS sliced onion
3-4 cloves
5-6 peppercorns
2 star anise
2 black cardamoms
4 green cardamoms
2 TBS coriander seeds
1 TBS cumin seeds
1/2 TBS fennel seeds
2 inch piece cinnamon
2 bay leafs
1/2 tsp black cumin seeds

Grind all of the above to a fine paste.

Brown masala paste:

4 TBS sliced onion
2 TBS grated coconut
1 TBS poppyseeds
1 tsp oil

Roast the onion in 1 tsp oil till brown, add the coconut and poppy seeds and roast till coconut turns brown. Grind to a fine paste.

Heat oil in a large thick bottomed pan, add the bay leaves and the chopped onion. Saute till onion is browned. Add the green masala and saute till oil separates. Add the marinated chicken with the marinade. Saute the chicken pieces till they turn white. Add 1 cup of water, lower heat, cover and cook. Stir frequently to make sure the chicken does not stick to the bottom of the pan. You may need to add a little more water, but do not add too much.
Once the chicken is cooked, Add the brown masala and then adjust the thickness of the gravy to your liking. Taste for seasoning. Add the chopped coriander leaves and bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

Serve with cucumber raita, chapati or paratha and basmati rice.

Cauliflower rassa...curried cauliflower

This takes a bit of TLC...so made when I have some time on my hands. It's creamy and has just a bit of bite from the garam masala. If you use Kashmiri chili powder you get the perfect colour. A treat for all the senses.

2 cups cauliflower florets. (keep them all the same size)
1 cup green peas
1 tbs of poppy seeds (khus khus) - soaked for at least 30 minutes
1 TBS grated ginger
2 cloves
2 pepper corns
2 green cardamom
1/4th inch piece of cinnamon
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
8-10 fenugreek seeds
1/2 cup chopped tomato
1/2 cup thick coconut milk
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp red chili powder (depending on how spicy you want it)
1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder or  sweet Hungarian paprika
4 TBS oil
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp hing
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
2 TBS chopped coriander

Grind together the soaked poppy seeds, ginger, cloves, peppers, cardamom, cinnamon, fennel seeds and fenugreek seeds to a smooth paste. Keep aside.

Heat the oil, temper with mustard seeds, hing and turmeric. Add the cauliflower, peas and the poppy seed paste. Saute till the cauliflower is completely coated with the paste and the tempering oil. Usually about 3-4 minutes. Add salt, chili powder and sugar and cover and cook. Do not add water at this point. The cauliflower will leach out water as it cooks. Once the cauliflower and peas are cooked, add the coconut milk and tomatoes. Add water to get it to the consistency you want. Check for seasoning. Bring to a rolling boil. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.



Notes:
You can use canned coconut milk here, actually works very well. You can soak fresh grated coconut in warm water...just enough water to barely cover the coconut shreds. Keep for 15 minutes. then squeeze out the coconut milk. This first extract is really thick and creamy. Keep aside to use in the curry.
Make sure you soak the khus khus or poppy seeds for at least 30 minutes so they can be blended into a smooth paste or your curry with be very rough.
To make it even creamier or richer throw in a handful of cashews in the paste. You can also fry some cashews and add them to the curry at the last minute.

Ambat Varan...CKP style Dal

You will find dal in every Indian household- each area- nay each house has it's own way of preparing dal. Ambat Varan- literally translated means Sour dal. This is due to the tamarind pulp we add to flavour the dal. This is a true panch ras (5 rasas or tastes) dish. Of course- me being a CKP- I make mine the CKP way...though dal any way is awesome
Ambat varan and rice - it's the ultimate comfort food in any CKP household.
Again - rule of thumb- 1 cup of dal will give you about 3 and half cups of the finished product..so check how much you need.
Tamarind pulp is extracted by soaking the tamarind in a bowl of warm water and squeezing out the fibrous part.
You can cook the dal in the pressure cooker- that's the easiest method. COuple of whistles and steam for 10 minutes and it's done. You can also cook it in a saucepan...just takes time.

For the dal:

1 cup tuvar dal
1/4 tsp hing
1/2 tsp turmeric

Cook the dal in a pressure cooker till done. Remove and blend till smooth - not with a blender- just a wooden spoon will work.

For the Seasoning

1 1/2 tsp salt
2 TBS jaggery
1 1/2  TBS tamarind pulp
3/4 tsp red chili powder

Add these seasonings to the cooked dal.

For the Tempering

10-12 curry leaves
5-6 cloves of garlic crushed
2-3 dry red chillies
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/4 tsp hing
2 TBS oil

For the finishing

1 cup of water (or more if required)
2 TBS chopped coriander leaves

Heat oil in a saucepan, add the mustard seeds and hing. Add the garlic and fry till light brown...do not burn the garlic. Add the fenugreek seeds, red chillies and curry leaves and add the dal. Stir till the dal is completely mixed with the tempering.
Add 1 cup water- check the dal is at desired consistency- usually soupy - not watery. Recheck for seasoning...Garnish with the coriander leaves. Bring to a rolling boil and done.

Variations

You can use Kokum or raw mango for the sour ingredient instead of tamarind. It's a different flavour profile but equally delicious.
Serve hot over steamed rice - with anything else your heart desires!

Fried Fish - Ocean Smelts

We get a type of fish in Bombay called Mandeli. These are small fish- fried whole- and chomped down by the plateful with ice-cold beer. Really missed it here in Canada till I discovered Ocean smelts. Thanks to the lady at the fish counter at my grocery store for introducing me to this fish.

You can buy the smelts all cleaned at the fish counter. Just wash them and check that all the scales are off when you bring them home.

6 ocean smelts
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp tamarind pulp
1/2 tsp turmeric
3/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
Oil for shallow frying
rice flour for breading the fish

Clean the fish if needed and marinate in ginger-garlic paste, salt, turmeric, chili powder and salt for at least 30 minutes.
Heat oil in a frying pan, dredge the fish in rice flour and fry till crisp. This is a small fish, takes couple of minutes to fry each fish.
Drain on a paper towel and serve with an ice cold beer :)

Matkichi Usal

This is very very Marathi! Maharashtrians love sprouted beans- very good source of protein- and especially CKP's will cook these on the meatless days!
A very famous Marathi snack food is Misal Pav...basically Usal served with pao (bread) and sides like chopped tomatoes, onion etc...with amti- made with misal masala...details follow at the end of the recipe.

 

This is what matki (or moth or math) beans look like.

you need to soak the beans overnight- then pour out the water and place them- covered- in a warm place to sprout. So making this dish takes a bit of planning. 1 cup of dry beans will yield about 3 cups of sprouted beans.

This is what the sprouted beans look like. 

1 cup of matki beans (sprouted so you get 3 cups of beans)

1 cup chopped onion

8-10 curry leaves

4 TBS oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp hing

3/4 tsp turmeric

1 tsp red chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin coriander powder

1 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)

1 TBS gur (jaggery)

3-4 kokum

1/4 tsp garam masala

2 TBS chopped coriander leaves

Heat oil and temper with mustard seeds, hing and turmeric. Add the onion and curry leaves and saute till onion turns translucent. Add the sprouted beans, chili powder, cumin/coriander powder and salt. Add a cup of water and cover and cook till done adding more water if needed. 

When the beans are soft- NOT MUSHY- add the jaggery, kokum, garam masala and stir till the jaggery is melted. Stir in the coriander leaves. 

At this point you have the basic usal ready. Can be eaten as it is with chapati or pav- or with dal and rice- whatever takes your fancy.

If you want to serve usal pav...here you go

For the toppings

Finely chopped tomato

Finely chopped red onion

Chopped coriander leaves

Green chili chopped

Yogurt

Fresh grated coconut

Shev or farsan (only Indian will understand this ingredient- feel free to omit it :) )

Pav or dinner rolls

Serve the usal topped with whatever toppings you like....way better than a Big Mac!

Enjoy

Here is what shev looks like - seasoned chick pea flour is made into a dough and deep fried into crunchy sticks!

Lentil Curry (masuryachi Amti) - Masoor - CKP style

This one is posted especially for Amruta - it's her absolute favourite. Requires a little bit of prep - making the masala- but otherwise it's as easy as pie!

CKP talala masala (CKP fried masala) also called kaala masala

This is a must have in CKP kitchens. Its made fresh everytime you need it- so the taste of the dish is also unique. Freshly made masalas always taste much better. But in today's world its not reasonable to expect everyone to fry and grind spices everytime they make a curry. So I have listed the spices used - you can dry roast these and grind them in a coffee grinder and store. Just don't make too much at one time.

1/2 cup coriander seeds
1 TBS cumin seeds
1 TBS black cumin seeds
1 TBS fennel seed
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp peppercorns
10-12 green cardomoms
5-6 black cardomoms
2 inches cinnamon
3-4 star anise
1/4 cup poppy seeds
5-6 bay leaves

Dry roast these spices till nice and dark brown. Let cool. Grind in a coffee / spice grinder. Store in an airtight container.

1 small red onion sliced thinly lengthwise
2 TBS dry coconut
1 tsp oil

 Roast the onions in oil till brown, add the coconut and continue roasting till it is toasty and dark brown. Do this on a medium flame so the onion and coconut do not burn.
Blend with a little bit of water to a fine paste

Now on to the curry.


1 cup brown lentils (soaked overnight)
1 large yellow onion - chopped
1 tsp ginger - garlic paste
curry leaves
4 pieces kokum
1 tsp jaggery
oil, hing, mustard seeds, turmeric, red chili powder, salt

Heat oil and temper with mustard seeds, hing, turmeric. Add chopped onion and curry leaves. Fry till the onion is translucent. Add ginger - garlic paste, 2 TBS of the ground masala (spices), the drained lentils and 1/2 tsp of red chili powder.  Saute for 5-6 minutes. Add water just enough to cover the lentils, cover and cook for about 15 minutes. Add salt to taste. Check on the doneness of the lentils. They should be soft and the skin should open to the touch. Cover and cook till done. Add the jaggery and kokum. Add the ground coconut- onion paste and adjust the consistency. Bring to a rolling boil.

garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with chapatis or rice.

Prawns Curry (Kolambiche Kalwan) - CKP Style

Special request for this recipe from Kenya! I promised my daughter it would not be very complicated - so here is a very simple recipe for prawns curry.

1 lb prawns - shelled, deveined
1 tsp ginger paste
1 1/2 tsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp tamarind pulp

1 tsp salt
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves
tiny piece of cinnamon
1/2 cup grated coconut (blended with water) OR 1/2 cup thick coconut milk
chopped coriander
oil

Marinate the prawns with ginger paste, garlic paste, salt, chili powder, turmeric, tamarind pulp.
Heat oil, fry the chopped onion till translucent with the cloves and the cinnamon. Add the prawns, saute for a minute or 2 and add the coconut milk. Adjust seasoning. Bring to a boil just until the prawns are cooked. Garnish with chopped coriander.

Do not overcook the prawns - or you will end up with rubbery prawns. Serve hot with plain rice. 

Sauteed Prawns - CKP Style

Easy- fast- tasty- popular!!!

1 lb of prawns (shrimps) - peeled and deveined)
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric
3/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp tamarind extract
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
chopped coriander
salt to taste
oil

Marinate the shrimp with salt, turmeric, chili powder, ginger and garlic paste and the tamarind extract for about 15-20 minutes.
In a large saute pan, heat oil, fry the onions till they start to change colour. Add the prawns and quickly saute them till done- do not overcook the shrimp or they turn into rubber. That's the reason for a large saute pan...so you have space to fry the shrimp quickly.
Garnish with lots of fresh coriander. Serve and enjoy!!

Fish Curry - CKP style

This curry style can be used for most types of fish, pomfret, kingfish etc. I have also made this style curry with Rainbow trout and Halibut. These fish like Indian spices I think...I tried this with Salmon and that was a failed meal! Traditionally it is made with fresh grated coconut that is ground to a fine paste - but if you have thick coconut cream that works as well. You don't always get fresh coconut everywhere. Frozen grated coconut works too...
 Some people prefer a paste of just garlic and green chillies...I prefer ginger in there and I use more red chili powder instead of the green chili. I like the colour the red chili powder gives to the dish.

So here goes - one of the most simple fish dishes...

1 lb of cleaned fish - pomfret, kingfish, halibut etc
2 TBS garlic paste
1 1/2 TBS ginger paste
1 TBS tamarind extract
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chili powder (cayenne)
salt
2 TBS grated coconut blended to a fine paste or
2 TBS frozen coconut soaked in 2 TBS hot water blended to a fine paste or
2 TBS thick coconut cream
chopped coriander
1 small garlic clove smashed
oil

Clean the fish and wash it, apply salt, turmeric, chili powder, ginger garlic paste and tamarind pulp to the fish and let marinate for about 30 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan big enough so it does not crowd the fish. Put in the smashed garlic clove to flavour the oil. Put in the marinated fish and all the masala with it. Saute this for a couple of minutes till you see the fish change colour.

Put in the blended coconut paste / coconut cream and add water to desired consistency. Let it come to a boil and sprinkle chopped coriander on top.

Serve this with steaming hot rice...enjoy!!!!!!!!

paaplet kalvan

pomfret curry

surmai kalvan

Fried Sole- CKP style

I am from Mumbai and I miss eating the umpteen varieties of fish we get there. But I am a fish eater wherever in the world I am and I learn to cook and enjoy all the local fish from every new place.
When we came to Canada we discovered Dover sole. I searched for recipes and found some very good ones- but I kind of wanted to try it Indian style. I found the texture was similar to Bombay duck, though sole is firmer than bombay duck. But its a delicate white flesh fish which marries well with Indian spices.
You can only pan fry this fish though, no fish curry here- the fish tends to melt into the curry. So here goes...

A pound of sole fillets (about 4-5 fillets)
1tablespoon ginger- garlic paste (very fine paste)
1/2 teaspoon thick tamarind pulp
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
salt and red chili powder as per taste.
rice flour and fine semolina (to dredge the fish)
oil for frying

wash and fry the fillets, and pat dry. Apply the salt, turmeric, chili powder, ginger-garlic paste and let marinate for about 15-20 minutes. Apply the tamarind paste and let sit for 5 minutes or so ( not too long as the tamarind tends to cook the fish and dry it out.)
Heat oil in your pan, mix equal amounts of rice flour and fine semolina, dredge the fillet in the mixture, make sure the entire fillet is coated. Fry on medium heat till crisp. The fish cooks very fast, but you want the coating to crisp up.

Goes very well with a cold beer. Enjoy!!