Minty Saag Chicken Keema Curry - Ground Chicken with Spinach

We needed something really quick for dinner today because I'd been quilting all day and didn't have time to cook.  There were some lentils and stir fried okra which had to be finished so all we needed was a meat dish.  I adapted my Minty Chicken Keema Curry to speed things up.  Chopping onions and garlic would take too long so, for a shortcut, I turned to ready made fried onions and garlic that are available in the Oriental grocery store.

Servings: 6
Preparation time: none
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 lb. ground chicken

1 pkg. frozen chopped spinach

2 tsp. mint-cilantro chutney (used for pani poori)

4 Tbsp. vegetable oil

15-20 curry leaves

Salt to taste

½ cup crisp fried onions, from Oriental grocery store

2 Tbsp. crisp fried garlic, from Oriental grocery store

1 tsp. ginger paste

2 green chilies, sliced

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan and add all ingredients except spinach.
2. Break up the ground chicken until no lumps remain.
3. Stir everything thoroughly.
4. Lower heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes until chicken is cooked.
5. Add spinach and cook on low heat for 10 minutes until spinach is done.
6. Serve with steamed rice, roti or paratha.

Note:

Mint-cilantro chutney (a.k.a. pudina chutney) may be prepared at home or purchased from an Indian grocery store.

I shared this recipe on

Minty Ground Chicken Curry

Minty Chicken Keema Curry

 

 

 

 

Servings: 6

Preparation time: 15 minutes

  Cooking time: 20 minutes

  Ingredients

1 lb. ground chicken

1 cup frozen green peas

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

3 Tbsp. mint-cilantro chutney (used for pani poori)

2 + 2 Tbsp. cooking oil

8-10 curry leaves

1 tsp. garam masala powder (see note below)

Salt to taste

2 Tbsp. crisply fried onions

2 heaped tsp. garlic paste

1½ tsp. ginger paste

¼ tsp. black mustard seeds

1 star anise

1 stick cinnamon

4 green chilies, sliced

Method

1. Marinate chicken for 30 minutes in salt, yogurt, mint-cilantro chutney, crushed fried onions, garlic and ginger pastes and 2 Tbsp. oil.
2. Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, chilies, star anise, cinnamon and curry leaves.
3. As soon as mustard seeds sizzle, add chicken along with marinade and stir thoroughly.
4. Lower heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked.
5. Add peas, cook 2 minutes, sprinkle with garam masala & transfer to serving dish.

Serve with steamed rice, roti or paratha.

Note:

• Mint-cilantro chutney (a.k.a. pudina chutney) may be prepared at home or purchased from an Indian grocery store.
• Garam masala in Bengali households comprises 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cardamoms and 3 cloves that are roasted and ground to a fine powder.

Minty Fish Curry

Minty Fish Curry

This recipe was inspired by a chicken dish Mum used to prepare.  Her father originally came up with the recipe. There are several differences between Mum's recipe and this one - hers uses chicken and yogurt, mine uses fish, tomatoes and tamarind.  It's a very quick and easy preparation and took only 10 minutes for the fish to cook through.

Ingredients
2 lbs. Tilapia fillets (or any white fish)
1 bunch cilantro, leaves and stalks chopped
1 bunch mint, stalks removed
2 green chillies, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
2 Tbsp. tamarind chutney
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup deep fried onions, crushed
Salt to taste
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. mustard seeds
1 tsp. cumin seeds
7-8 curry leaves
4 whole red or green chillies
1 tsp. garam masala
1 cinnamon stick
4 cardamoms
4 cloves
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. ghee

Directions

1. Cut fish fillets in half.
2. Puree cilantro, mint, 2 green chillies, garlic, tomato, tamarind chutney, salt and lemon juice in a blender.
3. Add 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil and rub all surfaces of fish with puree and crushed onions.
4. In a saucepan over high heat, sputter mustard and cumin seeds, curry leaves, 4 chillies, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves.
5. Add fish to saucepan, lower heat to medium and simmer fish until done.
6. Sprinkle garam masala and sugar over fish and garnish with 1 tsp. ghee.
7. Adjust salt to taste and serve with hot cooked rice.