Nagore Chicken Curry

It's "June Potluck" at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) this week. I was craving for some chicken curry, so of course, Madhur Jaffrey's books are the ones that I refer to. Found this Nagore Chicken Curry in one of her books, Curry Nation.

According to Madhur Jaffrey, this recipe is the creation of one of the chefs from Nagore in Tamil Nadu, and is usually made with guinea fowl, and served with coconut rice. Here, the recipe is given made with chicken. I served this with plain jasmine rice.

The spices : roasted fresh grated coconut, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, black peppercorns, dried chillies and fresh curry leaves, which are then process in the spice or coffee grinder to a powder, rather a slightly rough powder. I have added half the amount of all the spices, as usual for more gravy.

There's a whole list of other ingredients that went into making this curry ; green chillies, garlic, ginger, onions, turmeric, tomatoes coconut milk, coriander leaves.

This chicken curry is so delicious and the aroma is fabulous. There was no leftovers, well, except for a small bowl of the delicious gravy, which I'm not letting it go to waste! I had it the next day with some leftover rice, along with a fried egg and sliced fresh cucumbers for my lunch. 

Nagore Chicken Curry
(adapted from "Curry Nation", Madhur Jaffrey)
Serves 4-6
For the spice paste :
4 tablespoons freshly grated coconut
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
4 dried chillies
20-30 fresh curry leaves

For the curry :
6 tablespoons olive oil or sunflower oil
3-4 green chillies
6 finely grated or crushed garlic cloves
1 tablespoon peeled, finely grated root ginger
2 medium red onions, halved and finely sliced
2 medium white onions, halved and finely sliced
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1 whole chicken, about 1.6kg (3-1/2 lb), skinned and portioned into 10 pieces (drumsticks, thighs, wings and halved breasts)
120ml (scant 4 fl oz) coconut milk
4 tablespoons finely chopped coriander leaves

For the spice paste, set a karhai, wok or small frying pan, about 18 centimetres (7 inches) in diameter, over a medium heat and add the coconut, stirring until it browns. Add the cumin, coriander and fenugreek seeds, the peppercorns and dried chillies. Continue to stir for two or three minutes. As the spices release their aromas, drop in the curry leaves. Stir for 30 seconds, then cool. Grind in a clean coffee grinder or spice grinder to a fine, slightly oily powder.

To make the curry, set a large pan, about 25 centimetres (10 inches) in diameter, over a medium heat. When it's hot, pour in the oil. Drop in one whole green chilli. Stir and allow the skin to blister for 30 seconds. Add the garlic and ginger. Stir and fry for two to three minutes, until the garlic just starts to brown. Tip in the onions and saute for 16-18 minutes, until soft and golden. Add splashes of boiling water to prevent any sticking. Stir in the turmeric. Tip in the spice paste and incorporate thoroughly for one or two minutes. Now add the tomatoes and cook, covered, for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally, mashing the tomatoes into the sauce and reducing the heat if the tomatoes seem to catch. Add the remaining green chillies, slit lengthways, and the salt. Mix well, then add the chicken. Brown the meat for about 10 minutes. Pour in 400ml (14 floz) of water and combine well. Add the coconut milk and coriander. Stir, cover and cook over a low heat for about 35 minutes, or until done.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), theme for this week

June Potluck

Fenugreek Chicken (Methi Chicken)

"February Potluck", the theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). For our potluck week, we are free to cook with our current or previous featured chefs. I've decided to cook with Madhur Jaffrey for our Potluck week, with one of her many dishes that I've bookmarked to try (one off the list now!), Fenugreek Chicken.

Fenugreek Chicken is a dish that I've been wanting to cook for ages. This lovely recipe is from her book "Curry Nation" and can also be found here. The recipe uses chicken thighs, but I''ve used chicken breast meat instead as that was what I had. And I've used a small tomato instead of chopped canned tomatoes, as I've ran out of canned tomatoes and only have one small tomato in my fridge. I've added a tablespoon of tomato paste to make up for it. The next time I would make sure that I have some canned chopped tomatoes ready or at least a few fresh ripe tomatoes available, as this dish is really nice, and I'm sure that the gravy would taste even better with more chopped tomatoes. The other changes I've made was to add a little more of chilli powder and garam masala and an additional tablespoon of dried fenugreek leaves, than the recipe calls for, as I'm all for bold flavours in a curry or spicy dish.

Dried Fenugreek Leaves (Kasuri Methi)

Have you used dried fenugreek leaves before? They are called as Kasuri Methi and are the dried leaves of the fenugreek plants. These dried leaves are really nice, they have a strong herby aroma with a distinctive taste, and provides delicious flavour to the gravy, hence the extra tablespoon!  This dish is easy to cook, and delicious! I love the taste of the dried fenugreek leaves in the gravy. The distinctive taste and aroma of the leaves really stands out, but in a very delicious way. This chicken dish is very good eaten with plain white rice and some side veggies. Yum!

Fenugreek Chicken (Methi Chicken)
(adapted from "Madhur Jaffrey's Curry Nation")
serves 4-6
4 tablespoons olive or sunflower oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon finely grated or crushed garlic
1 teaspoon peeled, finely grated root ginger
700gm (1 lb 9oz) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2-1/2 centimetres (1 inch) chunks
4 tablespoons roughly chopped canned tomatoes
3-4 hot green chillies, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1-1/2 tablespoons dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)

Set a 25 centimetre (10 inch) pan over a medium heat. Add the oil and, when it's hot, tip in the onion. Stir and fry for 10 minutes, or until it is light brown, then add the garlic and ginger. Stir and fry for two minutes.

Now add the chicken and brown for two minutes. Put in the tomatoes and green chillie. Stir for two minutes, then add the salt and turmeric. Mix well for five minutes before adding the chilli powder and garam masala. Stir and crumble in the dried fenugreek leaves. Mix in 360ml (13fl oz) of hot water, or enough just to cover the chicken, and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over a low heat for 20 minutes, then serve.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), theme for this week "February Potluck"

Delicious Chicken Bits

It's "July Potluck" at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), and I'm cooking with Madhur Jaffrey for this week's dish, Delicious Chicken Bits.

A very easy dish to make, simply marinade cubed pieces of chicken breast with ground black pepper, ground turmeric, chilli powder, ground cumin, dried thyme, garlic powder, red paprika, salt and a tablespoon of oil, for at least 10 minutes or longer. I left mine for 2 hours, keep covered in the fridge. Madhur Jaffrey's instructions are to fry the chicken pieces in a little oil until lightly browned and finish the cooking in the oven for another 8-10 minutes. My guess is, this method is to keep the chicken breasts moist, without drying them from over-frying. I was lazy to do that, and I fry the chicken pieces over low heat until they are cooked through, turning them a couple of times so that they do not dry out. I used two whole chicken breasts, did not weigh them but have used double the amount of spices listed in the recipe, may adjust to your taste. 

The chicken is really moist, soft and tasty. We had it with rice. And it is good when served warm or cold. 

Even a couple of hours later (there were some leftovers, two whole chicken breasts make quite a lot), the chicken is still tender and moist. According to Madhur Jaffrey, these chicken bits may be pierced with toothpicks and nibbled upon with drinks, added to salads or eaten at picnics. And from the photo in the book, it is "nibbled upon" with a glass of beer! Nice!

Delicious Chicken Bits
(adapted from "100 Essential Curries", Madhur Jaffrey)
Serves 6-8
550gm (1-1/4 lb) boned, skinned chicken breasts (4 breast pieces)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon bright red paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
vegetable oil

Step One

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Cut each chicken breast piece into thirds, lengthways, and then crossways into a 2 to 2-1/2cm (3/4-1in) segments. Put in a bowl. Add the black pepper, turmeric, chilli powder, cumin powder, thyme, garlic powder, paprika, salt and 1 tablespoon of oil. Mix well and set aside for 10 minutes or longer.

Step Two

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok or large, non-stick frying pan over very high heat. When very hot, put in the chicken. Stir and fry quickly until the chicken pieces are lightly browned or turn opaque on the outside. Put in a baking dish, cover loosely with lightly oiled greaseproof paper which should sit inside the dish and directly on the chicken pieces, and bake for about 8-10 minutes or until the chicken pieces are just cooked through. If not eating immediately, remove the chicken pieces from the hot baking dish to prevent them from drying out.

I'm linking this post to I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) for this week's "July Potluck"

and

Cook-Your-Books #14 @ kitchen flavours

Kerala Ka Bhuna Gosht (Kerala-Style Bhuna Pork)

I've got to have my curry fix now and then! Haha! If you are familiar with my blog, you would know how much I love curry, especially pork curry! I am always on a lookout for pork curry recipes, the only thing that is keeping me from cooking it every so often is, it is so "dangerous", cause I would always have second helpings with rice whenever pork curry is on the dinner table! 

I was reading thru my recipe list on my blog, and realized that I have 8 other Indian style pork curries that I've tried, and here they are (click on the name of the dish for the full post) :

Chile-Smothered Pork with Vinegar

Chili Pork with Curry Leaves

Goan Pork with Hot Spices

Goan Pork Vindaloo with Potatoes

Pork In A Mustard Spice Mix

Pork Vindaloo

Red Pork Curry 

Sri Lankan Curry with Coriander

Kerala-style Bhuna Pork. Madhur Jaffrey' got this recipe from a cook who comes from Kerala in south-western India. This dish may be also cooked with beef or lamb. All these meats are eaten by the different religious groups in Kerala. It is the only state where the sale of beef is perfectly legal. This dish may be served with rice or flatbreads.

The toasted spices : cumin seeds, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, dried hot red chillies, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds. Toast for a minute or two, stirring constantly over medium heat and as soon as they start to change a shade darker, quickly empty them out to a plate or a piece of kitchen paper towel. Leave till completely cool. Placing them on kitchen paper towel will make it easier to transfer them to the spice grinder.

Grind the toasted spices to a powder

Once you have toasted and grind the spices, it is easy to cook this dish. This is a delicious pork curry dish, that is really nice eaten with white rice. I cook about 1kg of pork meat, and have increased the amount of spices and other ingredients by half, as we love having some extra gravy for our rice. 

Kerala-Style "Bhuna" Pork

(adapted from "100 Essential Curries" Madhur Jaffrey)
Serves 4-6
2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
4 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
2 teaspoons whole mustard seeds
2-4 whole dried hot red chillies
2 teaspoons whole fennel seeds
2 teaspoons whole fenugreek seeds

corn oil or peanut oil
3 large shallots, about 150gm (5oz)
4cm (1-1/2in) piece fresh ginger
5-6 garlic cloves
10-15 fresh curry leaves, if available
2 medium tomatoes
900gm (2lb) boneless lamb, pork shoulder or stewing veal or beef, cut into 3cm (1-1/4in) pieces
salt

Step One :

Set a small or medium-sized cast-iron frying pan on a medium-high heat. When it is hot, put in the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, chillies, fennel seeds and fenugreek seeds. Stir them around until they are a shade darker. Quickly empty them out and let them cool slightly. Now put them in a clean coffee grinder or other spice grinder and grind to a powder.

Step Two :

Peel and finely chop the shallots, ginger and garlic. Peel and chop the tomatoes. Pour 5 tablespoons oil into a wide, preferably non-stick, lidded pan and set over a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the shallots, ginger and garlic. Fry, stirring at the same time, for 4-5 minutes until they turn a golden brown. Add the curry leaves and tomatoes. Cook, again stirring, until the tomatoes are reduced to a thick paste. Add the ground roasted spices. Stir into the paste and cook for a minute. Add the meat and 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 teaspoons salt. Stir and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add 250ml (8fl oz) water and bring to a simmer. Cover tightly with the lid, reduce the heat to low, and simmer gently for about 80 minutes or until the meat is tender. (Beef will take about 1-1/2 hours). Remove the lid, increase the heat to high, and cook, stirring continuously, until the sauce is reduced to the point where it clings to the meat.

I'm linking this post to I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). 

Cook-Your-Books #12 @ Kitchen Flavours

and

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest - Indian Subcontinent hosted by Chef and Sommelier

Vindaloo

"March Potluck", time for our monthly potluck week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC).  And for this week, I'm cooking with Jamie Oliver, with my selected dish, Vindaloo.

A word of warning from Jamie Oliver on this dish "this is a hot curry and not for the faint-hearted, but you can always remove the chile."  Removing the chili is a no-no for me, vindaloo is supposed to be hot and sour! Just like Jamie says, this is a HOT CURRY, at least for the faint-hearted, not me, not me!  hehe! 

Jamie has given the option of using Patak's Vindaloo paste or make your own by using his Vindaloo paste recipe. I have opted to make my own, which is much cheaper and very easy to make. Whole spices are toasted and process to a powder. They are then processed in a food processor along with the rest of the paste ingredients until the paste is smooth. 

I have cooked about a kilogram of pork meat, and have increased all the spices in the recipes by half. The recipe is meant to cook about 800gm of meat. And go easy on the balsamic vinegar, start with a lesser amount first. I 've used about 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar in total and the sourness is just right. From the recipe, the pork and the vindaloo paste are to be added to the pot at the same time, so I have marinated the pork meat with the vindaloo paste and keep in the refrigerator for about half an hour, then proceed with the instructions in the recipe.

I've used the amount of water stated in the recipe, which is 1-2/3 cups and there's no need for additional water at all during the braising, keep checking and stirring often to prevent the vindaloo from sticking to the pot. By the time the dish is done, the vindaloo has a fair amount of lovely thick gravy. 

We ate this with jasmine rice. How does the family rate? This is too spicy for hubby, he was sweating while eating the Pork Vindaloo with rice! And my son, he loves it, even though it is too hot for him too. He insists on eating this dish, with a big glass of water next to his plate. The daughter, tried a piece, as she was recovering from a cough. As for me, well, it is quite delicious, and since I'm a person who can take a fair amount of heat, this dish is not all that spicy, but moderately so. The spiciness comes mostly from the black pepper and the chillies, though I can feel that mostly the heat is from the black pepper. For a milder taste, reduce the amount for these two ingredients. There was some leftovers, and the next day, in spite of the spiciness, both son and hubby ask for it again! And it tastes much better the next day, as with most curries.

Update on our current weather, it rained heavily two days ago, and again yesterday! Which was a relief to everyone! The haze has significantly reduced and the weather is a little cooler. I got soaked when fetching my daughter yesterday, from the heavy downpour, but I don't mind! Let it rain! Much as we welcome the rain, most importantly, hopefully it rained at the water catchment areas and over at the dams, as the water level has reached a critical stage, and we are experiencing water rationing at the moment. Like today, in my area, we have dry taps which will last until tomorrow. No cooking or baking! :o(

Vindaloo
(adapted from "Jamie's Food Revolution", Jamie Oliver)
Serves 4-6
2 medium onions
4 cloves of garlic
1-2 fresh red or green chillies, to your taste
a thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger
a small bunch of fresh cilantro
4 ripe tomatoes
peanut or vegetable oil
a pat of butter
1-3/4 pounds diced pork shoulder, preferably free-range or organic
1/2 cup vindaloo or hot curry paste, such as Patak's or my vindaloo paste (refer below*)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar (I used 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup natural yoghurt (for serving)
1 lemon (for serving)

To prepare your curry

Peel, halve, and finely slice your onions. Peel and finely slice the garlic. Finely slice the chile. Peel and finely slice the ginger. Pick the cilantro leaves and finely chop the stalks. Cut the tomatoes into quarters

To cook your curry

Get a large casserole-type pan on a medium to high heat and add a couple of lugs of peanut oil and the butter. Add the onions, garlic, chile, ginger, and cilantro stalks and cook for 10 minutes, until softened and golden. Add the pork and the curry paste. Stir well to coat everything with the paste and season with salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, honey and about 1-2/3 cups of water; enough to cover everything, and stir again. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 45 minutes with the lid on. Check the curry regularly to make sure it's not sticking to the pan, and add extra water if necessary. Only when the meat is tender and cooked, taste and season with salt and pepper - please season carefully. (Already spicy, there's no need to season with more pepper!)

To serve your curry

Serve with fluffy rice and with a few spoonfuls of natural yoghurt dolloped on top. Sprinkle over the cilantro leaves and serve with lemon wedges for squeezing over.

Vindaloo Paste
(adapted from "Jamie's Food Revolution", Jamie Oliver)
2 cloves garlic
a thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger
4 dried red chillies
1 tablespoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons peanut oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 fresh red or green chillies
a small bunch of fresh cilantro

Spices for roasting :
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
4 whole cloves
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

To make the vindaloo paste :

First peel the garlic and ginger. Put a frying pan on a medium to high heat and add the spices for toasting to the dry pan. Lightly toast them for a few minutes until golden brown and smelling delicious, then remove the pan from the heat. Add the toasted spices to a pestle and mortar and grind until fine, or put them into a food processor and whiz to a powder. Either way, when you've ground them, whiz the toasted spices in a food processor with the rest of the ingredients until you have a smooth paste.

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To view the potluck dishes that everyone has made, do visit I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC).

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I'm linking this post to Cook Like A Star, All-Stars Anniversary Party, hosted by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids, Mich of Piece of Cake and Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.

(click on any of the hostess blog for further info and to link your posts)

All-Stars Anniversary Party featured chefs :  Ina Garten, Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson, Curtis Stone, Ree Drummond, Bill Granger, Masterchefs, Martha Stewart, Delia Smith, Donna Hay

See you at the Party!

From 1st March to 30th April!

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Cook-Your-Books #10 hosted by Kitchen Flavours

Fish In A Green Sauce & Tomato and Onion Relish

I'm sharing today, Madhur Jaffrey's Fish In A Green Sauce and Tomato and Onion Relish which I served with Lemon Rice, from my previous post.

For the fish dish, according to the MJ, firm-fleshed fish like king fish or salmon are ideal. I have however used stingray instead, since I have some pieces in my freezer which I bought just a couple of days earlier. Stingray is pretty common over here in Malaysia, the most popular method of cooking it, is to marinate it with spices and grill it over a hot fire, and enjoy it with a delicious chilli and lime condiment. We love eating stingray, which I often use for a Nyonya dish. The flesh is firm enough and yet tender and extremely tasty, so I thought I used it for this dish.

The fish is marinated with some spices and then fry on both sides. Remove and keep aside. The sauce is made up of chopped tomatoes, chopped fresh coriander, onion, green chillies, ginger, chilli powder and garam masala, and is seasoned with lemon juice, salt and pepper. For the spices, I have used slightly more than the amount mentioned in the recipe. Madhur Jaffrey has an interesting measurement for the chopped fresh coriander, amount is 1 teacup! I've used a full measurement cup, perhaps a little bit more, as I love fresh coriander. When the sauce is halfway thru cooking, the fish pieces is placed in the sauce, with the sauce spooned over,  cover, and simmer for a few minutes. This is a fairly dry dish, as there is not a drop of water being used. The chopped tomatoes would release its juices and by the time the dish is done, it will be almost dry. A very tasty dish, and an interesting way to cook stingray. There were a few pieces leftover and the next day, instead of reheating it over the stove, since it is already quite dry, I heated it by steaming for a few minutes. The flavours actually improve overnight.

This Tomato and Onion Relish is just so easy, it was done in minutes. A wonderful relish that is just great with any Indian curries.

My weeknight dinner, Lemon Rice, Fish In A Green Sauce, Tomato and Onion Relish.

Fish In A Green Sauce
(adapted from "100 Essential Curries", Madhur Jaffrey)
Serves 2
for the fish
2 good-sized salmon or king fish steaks (about 675gm/1-1/2lb)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp ground turmeric
1/8 tsp chilli powder (1/4 tsp)

for the green sauce
vegetable oil
85gm (3oz) onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 teacup finely chopped coriander
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
2-3 fresh hot green chillies
1 tsp peeled, finely grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp chilli powder (1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp garam masala (1 tsp)

Step One

Rub the fish on both sides with a generous sprinkling of salt, lots of freshly ground pepper and the turmeric and chilli powder. Rub well and set aside.

Step Two

Put 3 tablespoons oil in a non-stick frying pan and set over high heat. When hot, put in the fish and brown quickly on both sides without letting it cook through. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the onion and garlic to the pan. Stir and fry until the onion browns a bit. Add the green coriander, tomato, green chillies, ginger, lemon juice and salt. Stir and cook over medium-high heat until the coriander and tomato have completely wilted. Spread the green sauce around in the frying pan and check the salt.

Step Three

Lay the fish over the top. Now spoon some green sauce over the fish. Sprinkle the chilli powder and garam masala over the top. Biring to a simmer. Cover, lower the heat and simmer gently for about 10 minutes.

Tomato and Onion Relish
(Timatar Aur Pyaz Ka Cachumbar India)
(adapted from "100 Essential Curries", Madhur Jaffrey)
Serves 4
2-3 medium tomatoes
1 medium onion
1 teaspoon roasted, ground cumin seeds
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Step One
Cut the tomatoes into 5mm (1/4in) cubes. Peel and finely chop the onion. Combine the tomato and onion in a serving bowl.

Step Two
Add the roasted cumin, lemon juice and salt, pepper and cayenne to taste. Toss to mix. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

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I am linking this post to  :

I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC),  for February Potluck

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Little Thumbs Up, ingredient for this month is Lemons, an event organized by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite D.I.Y. and hosted by Grace of Life Can Be Simple.

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Cook-Your-Books #9 hosted by Kitchen Flavours

Lemony Chicken with Fresh Coriander : IHCC Potluck

"November Potluck" is this week's theme at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), where we are currently cooking from Donna Hay's recipes. For this monthly Potluck theme, we are however, free to select any recipes from our previous featured chefs, and for this week, I'm cooking with Madhur Jaffrey.

Are you a fan of fresh corianders? I am. I really like eating this herb veggie, either used in cooking or fresh as a garnish, which I would usually use heaps of it. So when I saw this recipe of Madhur Jafrrey's, using fresh corianders, and lots of it, I knew that I just had to make this dish! Especially so when I read an excerpt from the recipe that says : 

"Taken from the expanded new edition of her classic best-selling book, Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking, this is the recipe that Jaffrey says took the spice out of a major city in England. As she explains it : "My new book was first published in England, by the BBC. Shortly after it came out, The Manchester Guardian ran a story which said that the city had run out of fresh spices : Everyone was making Lemony Chicken with Coriander"! 

Curiosity got the better of me, and I just had to try this popular dish!

Lemony Chicken with Fresh Corianders

A big bunch of coriander leaves and tender stems goes into the dish.

The roots with the bottom stems stills attached, do not waste these! These can be frozen, wash them clean thoroughly, dry them and place in a zip-lock bag, keep in the freezer. Great for Thai recipes, which uses these extremely fragrant roots in many of the recipes. I have one Thai recipe which I've wanted to try, and these will come in handy!

This is a fairly easy dish to prepare. Chicken pieces are browned in a little oil and kept aside. Minced garlic are sauteed till light brown, add the ginger paste, stir and add in the chopped corianders, cumin powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilli powder, chopped jalapeno, salt and stir for a minute. The fragrance of the coriander and the spices are extremely aromatic at this point. Add in the chicken pieces, some water and lemon juice to taste. Stir, bring to boil, cover pan, turn heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, turn chicken pieces over and simmer for another 15 minutes. 

Note : I have however used a little extra of all the spices, like I always do, as I love dishes like this with bold flavours and usually with a little more sauce or gravy.

The dish should be fairly dry with the chicken pieces coated with the coriander sauce.

Very nice eaten with white rice. This is a fairly mild dish, the amount of chiili or cayenne powder can be increased for a spicier dish. The next time when I make this again, I would skip the frying of the chicken and cooked it directly into the sauce instead, it's just that I prefer the chicken meat to be more tender and soaked up all the flavours from the spices. And yes, this is one dish that I would make again.

Lemony Chicken with Fresh Coriander
(adapted from here)
2 - 1" cubes fresh ginger root, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup water
2/3 cup water
1135gm chicken breasts - skinned (half a chicken + 2 drumsticks)
5 cloves garlic, minced
200gm cilantro, minced (250gm)
1/2 jalapeno, minced (1 whole jalapeno)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (1/2 tsp chilli powder)
2 teaspoons cumin powder (3 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon coriander powder (1-1/2 teaspoons)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (3/4 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice (juice from half a lemon)

Put the ginger and 1/4 cup water into a blender or processor. Blend until you have a paste.

Put the oil in a wide, heavy, preferably nonstick pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in as many chicken pieces as pan will hold in a single layer, and brown on both sides. Remove the chicken pieces with a slotted spoon and put them in a bowl. Brown all the chicken pieces this way.

Add the garlic to the hot oil. As soon as the pieces turn a medium-brown colour, turn heat to medium and pour in the ginger paste. Stir-fry it for a minute. Now add the fresh coriander, jalapeno, cayenne, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and salt. Stir and cook for a minute.

Put in all the chicken pieces as well as any liquid that might have accumulated in the chicken bowl. Add 2/3 cup water and the lemon juice. Stir and bring to a boil. Cover tightly, turn heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes.

Turn the chicken pieces over. Cover again and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the chicken is tender. If the sauce is too thin, uncover the pan and boil some of it away over a slightly higher heat.

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This post is linked to I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). Do drop by IHCC to see what my friends are cooking for this week's Potluck Theme.

And I'm sharing this with :

See Ya In The Gumbo @ Ms. enPlace

Pork In A Mustard Spice Mix

"June Potluck" is the theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), where we are currently cooking from Yotam Ottolenghi's recipes. However, for our Potluck themes, we are allowed to choose any of our previous featured chefs' recipes. And again, I have chosen one of Madhur Jaffrey's curries!

Those who have been following my blog would probably know how fond I am of Indian cuisine. I have several books on Indian cooking and each time when the craving for Indian curry sets in, I would find myself reaching out for the queen of spice, Madhur Jaffrey's book. I have been eyeing this particular dish, Pork In A Mustard Spice Mix, for a while now, and finally cooked it last week. I served this dish with Lemon and Curry Leaf Rice from my previous post, and a vegetable dish, Cauliflower and Aubergine Cooked In A Bengali Spice Mix.

What can I say? Get your spices ready and cook this! This is delicious!

The spices used :

Mustard spice mix : coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, black peppercorns, dried chillies, cloves. Dry fry the spice mix in a saucepan over medium heat until a shade darker and emit a roasted aroma. I have replaced the brown mustard seeds with black mustard seeds.

Immediately transfer the spices onto a plate or kitchen paper towel to cool. Using kitchen paper towel is easier to transfer everything into the spice mill.

Grind the spices as finely as possible. 

I have doubled the recipe, since this dish needs to be braised for about an hour or so, might as well make more! Besides, a single recipe of 550 gm of meat  is not much really once the meat has been braised. And besides doubling on the amount of spices, I have added in an additional 2 teaspoons more, of the mustard spice mix.

Your house would have this lovely curry aroma while this curry is slowly braising on the stove, and you would be impatient to eat it, just like me! Haha! Really delicious served with rice and would be good too with some Indian bread. The pork meat is soft and tender, and full of flavour from all that spices. Delicious!

Comparing this to another of Madhur Jafrrey's curry which I made a while back, Red Pork Curry, I could not decide which one I like better, as both are rather different in taste but equally good! 

This post is linked to I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) for this week's "Potluck", with recipes from any of the seven previous featured chefs

Please do stop by I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) to view what my friends have made for the theme of this week, "June Potluck" , and if you are interested to join us, please find out more details from IHCC.

and I'm sharing this post too with :

Little Thumbs Up event where the theme for this month is Curry Powder/Curry Paste , hosted by Everybody Eats Well in Flanders, organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen from my little favourite D.I.Y.

and ....

"Cook-Your-Books #1" hosted by me, Kitchen Flavours. Cook or bake any recipes from your cookbooks or magazines and link them up at "Cook-Your-Books", full details from here.

Pork In A Mustard Spice Mix
(adapted from "100 Essential Curries", Madhur Jaffrey)
for the mustard spice mix :
2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon whole fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon whole brown mustard seeds
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
2 whole dried, hot red chillies
5 whole cloves

for the pork :
550gm (1-1/4lb) boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2-1/2 cm (1 in) cubes
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed to a pulp
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
3 tablespoons corn oil or peanut oil
1/2 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
15-20 fresh curry leaves, if available
255gm (8oz) tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped

Step One

First make the mustard spice mix. Put all the spices in a medium, cast-iron frying pan and set over medium heat. Stir and fry until the spices are just a shade darker and emit a roasted aroma. Empty the spices into a bowl or on to kitchen paper and allow to cool. Then put them into a clean coffee grinder or other spice grinder and grind as finely as possible. These quantities make more than you need for this recipe but you can store the spice mix in a tightly lidded jar, away from sunlight and moisture, for use in other recipes.

Step Two

Rub the pork cubes well with the ginger, garlic, salt and turmeric. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes, or up to 8 hours if desired, refrigerating if necessary.

Step Three

Pour the oil into a large, preferably non-stick, lidded pan and set over a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in the whole mustard seeds. As soon as they pop, which will be in a matter of seconds, add the curry leaves and, a second later, the pork, together with its marinade. Stir for a minute. Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and let the meat cook for the next 5 minutes, stirring now and then and replacing the cover each time. The meat should brown lightly. Add 5 teaspoons of the mustard spice mix and stir for a minute. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring, until the tomatoes are pulpy, about 2 minutes. Now add 250ml (8fl oz) water, stir, and bring to the boil. Cover, reduce the heat, and cook very gently. lifting the lid occasionally to stir the contents, for 50-60 minutes or until the meat is tender. Check for salt before serving.

kitchen flavour's notes :
I have cooked about 900gm of meat, double the spices, and added an additional 2 teaspoons of the Mustard Spice Mix during cooking. 

#54/100

Cauliflower and Aubergine Cooked In A Bengali Style

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When I go to any Indian restaurant for a simple meal, the veggies that I would go for will be the cauliflower or cabbages. So, when I saw this Cauliflower and Aubergine recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's book, "100 Essential Curries", it was bookmarked for my next homecooked Indian meal at home.

Cauliflower and Aubergine Cooked In A Bengali Style

This recipe is rather different, it uses the watery liquid from the soaked mustard seeds which is to be grounded till fine and soaked in water for 20-30 minutes. And the spices used, is a Bengali spice  mixture called Panchphoran. 

1. Panchphoran is a Bengali spice mixture consisting of fennel seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds and kalongi (nigella seeds) mixed in equal proportion. The recipe uses only 1 teaspoon, so I have used a pinch of each to make up 1 teaspoon.
2. The second picture is a combination of turmeric powder, chilli powder and some water.

1. The recipe requires brown mustard seeds, but I have used black mustard seeds (2 tbsps).
2. Ground the mustard seeds in a spice mill to a fine powder (it would still be a little grainy).
3. Add 175ml of water and leave undisturbed for 20-30 minutes. Do not stir.
4. After 30 minutes, did not notice any difference at all.
5. Carefully pour the watery liquid into another bowl (or pour directly into the saucepan during cooking). There will be a thick paste at the bottom of the bowl.
6. The watery liquid which is to be used in the cooking.
7. The thick paste at the bottom, to be discarded (it would not be needed for this dish).

The aubergine and cauliflower are first fried till golden brown. I would advise to cut the cauliflower into bigger florets as they seem to shrink a little after frying. And I have used 1 long large Chinese brinjal. Drain on kitchen towel after frying. I did not use any green chillies, simply because I have forgotten to buy it from the market that morning!

Heat some oil in a wok, add in the panchphoran spices and the mustard seeds will start to pop and crackle almost immediately. Add the spice mixture, stir, and add in the watery liquid from the soaked mustard seeds. Add the veggies and salt and continue to cook, covered, for a few minutes until most of the liquid has reduced. Serve.

This is a very tasty and delicious vegetable dish. It goes very well with the Lemon and Curry Leaf Rice (from my previous post) and another of Madhur Jaffrey's pork curry, coming up in next post.

I'm linking this post to Little Thumbs Up event, hosted by Everybody Eats Well in Flanders, organized by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen from my little favourite D.I.Y.

and ....

"Cook-Your-Books #1" hosted by me, Kitchen Flavours. Cook or bake any recipes from your cookbooks or magazines and link them up at "Cook-Your-Books", full details from here.

Cauliflower and Aubergine Cooked In A Bengali Style
(adapted from "100 Essential Curries", Madhur Jaffrey)
Serves 4-6
2 tablespoons brown mustard seeds (I use black mustard seeds)
vegetable oil for deep-frying
4 small, slim Japanese or Italian aubergines, each weighing about 250m (9oz), halved lenthways and cut into 4-5cm (1-1/2 to 2 in) segments
1 large cauliflower, weighing about 800gm (1-3/4 lb), cut into delicate florets
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons mustard oil or any vegetable oil
1 teaspoon panchphoran (see note below)
6 fresh green chillies
1-1/4 teaspoons salt

Step One :

Put the mustard seeds in a clean spice or coffee grinder and grind to a fine powder. Empty into a small bowl. Add 175ml (6fl oz) water and set aside to soak for 20-30 minutes, do not stir.

Step Two :

Put vegetable oil, about 5cm (2in) deep, in a wok, deep frying pan or deep fryer and set over medium heat. When the oil is hot, put in the aubergines and deep-fry for about 8-10 minutes, until they are golden brown. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Turn the heat to medium-high to reheat the oil, then put in as many cauliflower florets as the pan will hold in a single layer. Fry until they are golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Fry all the florets. (The oil can be strained and reused).

Step Three :

Combine the turmeric, cayenne pepper and 2 tablespoons water in a small cup. Set this spice mixture aside.

Step Four :

Put the oil in a frying pan and set over medium heat. When very hot, put in the panchphoran. As soon as the mustard seeds in the panchphoran begin to pop - a matter of seconds - add the spice mixture. Stir once or twice. Carefully pour the watery top of the ground mustard seed mixture into the pan, making sure to leave all the thick paste behind (you do not need the thick paste). Add the aubergines, cauliflower, green chillies and salt. Stir to mix well. Bring to the boil. Cover, turn the heat to low and simmer for 3-4 minutes, or until there is only a small amount of liquid left at the bottom of the pan. Serve hot.

Panchphoran is a Bengali spice mixture consisting of fennel seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds and kalongi (nigella seeds) mixed in equal proportion.

#53/100