As soon as I saw this as an FB post, I couldn't help smiling. With all the bragging that I do, day in and day out, boring some of you who would really want to go straight to the recipe than to read through my ramblings.... I thought it was so apt! The only reason I write down lots is to clear up my mind of my thoughts in the most abstract manner possible... all of us go through internal struggles and all of us have different ways of giving it up - some people bottle it, which I feel is extremely dangerous! Some like to diversify towards their talents, depending upon how they are able to do it, which may be productive as well as destructive... I like to give it up through penning in. This blog has helped me a lot in that way... To settle down my thoughts, to read a lot as I like to share links with my readers if I find something interesting that is very much linked to the topic and more than that, it is a source of learning for me as well... So I like to see the positive in it and keep going till I can... And for people who think like me, yes, please do know that you are not alone... :)I guess I have been wandering around my umma's cooking for sometime now. Till now, I have been fortunate to have her around with us at long stretches of time. The time is getting closer when she and my D will say their farewells to this country, to settle down in "God's own country". Maybe that is why, I am putting in a lot of her cooking of late, I guess. I don't want to think about it for the time being and get unnecessarily worried... hehe... This is, I guess, the first dish I learned from her during my early married days. Not knowing what to do in the kitchen, she taught this basic chicken curry, which is something I turn to each time I don't want to make anything elaborate, or even when I have guests coming around and I don't want to goof up! It is that simple and basic... I am sure many of us have some recipes like this from which we have taken up our cooking journey forward...
Umma's Chicken Curry
Serves 4
Ingredients:
750 gm chicken, cut into medium sized pcs
1 tbsp oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
3 green chillies, slit
1 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp garlic paste
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1-1/2 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
3/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp fennel powder
1/2 cup water (approx)
Salt to taste
Curry leaves for garnishing
Method:
Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add the onions and chillies with some salt and saute till soft. Add the ginger and garlic paste and saute till the raw smell is gone. Add the tomatoes and cook till mushy. Now add the powders from coriander to fennel powder and mix well. Cook for a couple of minutes. Now add the chicken and the water, mix well for the masala to incorporate. Close the lid, cook on high flame for one whistle and then leave it for five minutes on low flame. Switch off and let the pressure go by itself.
Open the cooker, adjust salt and garnish with curry leaves. Serve warm with rice, rotis or aleesa.
Notes:
1. You can cook the chicken normally without using pressure cooker in a normal saucepan. Definitely it tastes better than the pressure cooked version!!!
2. Do not add more water than above, even if you add less it is fine. Chicken tends to release its water and if you add more, then you may have a watery curry as the final result.
3. I love adding potatoes to this curry, as it give a lovely flavor... but since I don't have a potato-friendly family, I avoid it.
4. You can even substitute water with coconut milk - that makes it tastes just too good!
Method:
Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add the onions and chillies with some salt and saute till soft. Add the ginger and garlic paste and saute till the raw smell is gone. Add the tomatoes and cook till mushy. Now add the powders from coriander to fennel powder and mix well. Cook for a couple of minutes. Now add the chicken and the water, mix well for the masala to incorporate. Close the lid, cook on high flame for one whistle and then leave it for five minutes on low flame. Switch off and let the pressure go by itself.
Open the cooker, adjust salt and garnish with curry leaves. Serve warm with rice, rotis or aleesa.
Notes:
1. You can cook the chicken normally without using pressure cooker in a normal saucepan. Definitely it tastes better than the pressure cooked version!!!
2. Do not add more water than above, even if you add less it is fine. Chicken tends to release its water and if you add more, then you may have a watery curry as the final result.
3. I love adding potatoes to this curry, as it give a lovely flavor... but since I don't have a potato-friendly family, I avoid it.
4. You can even substitute water with coconut milk - that makes it tastes just too good!