Yet another Saturday and yet another guest post!!! Seriously, I have been thinking of giving this series a break for sometime, however when I see so many talented bloggers across the www, I wish I could accommodate all of it into this!!! Ever since I started this series in March, except for one Saturday as I had a guest post to publish, every Saturday, a new blogger has been coming up with their lovely creations, beautiful words and awesome pictures. The whole point is to recognize people who do so much better than me, whether it is content, pictures or recipes. However, it makes me feel so nice to see that despite having very good blogs, most of the bloggers are really very humble. Just like everybody who has featured in here, today we have another down to earth character, who is joining me on my little space.
. A peek into her blog and you have a very simple blog with lip-smacking recipes and stunning photography. As usual, seeing her beautiful blog, I was tempted to jump in and ask a question as to whether she could guest post and she did instantly respond. What she gave me in return was this drool-worthy Badami Chicken. Seriously, I am really sad that I am seated behind this screen and all I can do is to stare at the curry and allow my mouth to water!!! Hehe...
Off to Shbi, and her awesome recipe...
Cooking
was never taken seriously till I had to walk in the shoes of a
wife. Frequent calls to get the advice of my Mom to make anything in
the kitchen tempted me to cook with passion. There goes my saga of
cooking, collecting recipes and experimenting. Even though I am not
an expert I do have a passion for styling and photographing food too.
Hey
it’s not all about me.…I am here to do a guest post for Rafeeda…so let me stay
focused. When she sent me an invitation I was thrilled as I had
never done a guest post before. We exchanged a few emails to decide
on what to post and she gave me the full freedom to pick the
recipe. Isn't she sweet as her blog name suggests? I
was really amazed how she managed kids, work and blog. Her blog had
grown tremendously in this short period of time. Kudos to Rafeeda!!!
Here
is the recipe for Badami Chicken/Almond Chicken.
Ingredients
1 1/2 lb - boneless
chicken cut into bit size pieces
1 - medium sized
potato cubed
20 - blanched almonds
(refer notes)
1/4 cup - thick
coconut milk
1 1/2 tsp - ginger
garlic paste (freshly made)
1 cup - onions chopped
5 - green chili splits
1 tsp - coriander
powder
1/2 tsp - kashmiri
chili powder
1/4 tsp - garam malasa
1/2 tsp - turmeric
powder
1/2 cup - low fat
plain yogurt
1/4 cup - chopped
Cilantro
1 tsp - lemon juice
1/4 tsp -
dry fenugreek/Methi leaves
Whole spices
1 - small bay leaf
1 - star anise
3 - cardamom
3 - cloves
2 cm - long cinnamon
stick
1/4 tsp - fennel seeds
1/8 tsp - cumin/jeera
seeds/powder
1/4 tsp - whole
peppercorns
2 - 3 tbsp - oil
Directions
· Clean the chicken cubes and keep it aside to
drain.
· Grind the blanched almonds to a fine paste
using 1/4 cup of water and mix coconut milk to it and keep it aside.
· Take a deep non-stick dish and heat 2-3 tbsp
of oil. Add the ingredients from whole spices list to the oil and cook
for 1 minute.
· Add ginger garlic paste and cook till the raw
smell is gone. Now add onions and cook till they are translucent,
followed by green chili, coriander powder, turmeric powder, chili powder and
garam masala. Cook for couple of minutes.
· Add the coconut milk, almond paste and
yogurt to the pan. The gravy will look thick.
· Add potatoes and chicken to this thick gravy
and give a good stir. Add 1/2 - 1 cup of water as needed per the
consistency you desire.
· Cover and cook till the potatoes and chicken
are well cooked.
· Add chopped Cilantro and crushed dry
Methi leaves and cook for another 3 minutes. Turn off the burner.
Add the lemon juice. Let the dish sit for 10 - 15 minutes to infuse the
spices on the chicken well.
· Serve the warm Badami Chicken with steamed
rice or Indian flat bread (Roti, Naan, Paratha).
Notes
· To blanch almonds - take a
microwave safe bowl and add 20 almonds and 1/2 cup water to it.
Cook on high heat for 1 minute. Let it cool completely. Gently slip the
skin off of the almonds using your fingers.
· Don't overcook the potatoes as it tends to
lose its shape.
· Make sure you don't add excess water, so that
it takes for ever to get thick gravy. As it sits, the gravy with thicken.
· Using whole spices gives the zing to this
dish, so try to use whole spices.
· Adjust the spices and green chili according to
your taste.
Thank you Rafeeda for giving me the opportunity to pen something for your blog!!!!
Thank you so much Shibi for a mouthwatering guests post. I guess she is the fastest guest post I have ever received - in less than a week!!! ;) I enjoyed posting this, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this post as well...
Wishing you all a happy weekend...