Be My Guest – Mughlai Haraa Murgh (Green Chicken Curry)

PinI am sincerely happy that despite not taking much effort to do the guest posts every month, I am getting interested bloggers coming in to be a part of this little space of mine. It makes me humbled and I sincerely thank the Almighty for making all of you think my blog worthy of being in! 🙂 Presenting to you the second guest post for the year after Ramya’s…

 

There is something with blogging – how it pulls other bloggers towards you, especially because of love for food! Today, I have a foodie whom I have never known before, but she popped up on my space thanks to Yummly. She left a comment on one of the posts and that was how we hit off. The very next day, she dropped in an email asking if she could be a guest on my blog, and my answer was definitely a yes. And why would I not say yes? Her blog is a gem in itself…

 

Meet Bibi Maizoon, who blogs at Keep Calm and Curry On and just like her blog name, her background is really interesting. If you go through her blog, you will be thinking that it belongs to a natural Indian but no! Do go on to read her post and discover more about herself. And do not forget to drool over all of her exotic dishes that concentrate mainly on Kashmiri cooking – now you all know where to look for to get a kick of that beautiful heaven on earth! I got so confused what all I should be trying from her blog, but definitely that red Punjab Dhabba Mutton and the Maharani Rajma, made of my favorite bean is going to the mile long to-do list of mine! I am just going to let Bibi do the talking and tell you why her space is special…

 

PST: Before going on, please don’t forget to peep into her cute Bachcha Khan! And this one really had me in splits… 😀

 

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Hi.

 

Such a pleasure to be able share one of my recipes from my new blog with the readers of The Big Sweet Tooth. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Bibi Maizoon, an American married to a Kashmiri Indian. My Kashmiri husband and I live in Nepal where we own a chain of gift shops. (Yes, I have lots of gorgeous Kashmiri shawls.)

 

I have always loved to cook having been inspired by my mother who owned a restaurant. To me, cooking is an art, the only art that involves all five senses – taste, touch, sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound. When I first moved to South Asia 15 years ago I was amazed at all the different cultures and cuisines from the high Himalayas to the island nation of Sri Lanka. After mastering many Kashmiri dishes from watching my Kashmiri mother in law, I wanted to learn more about the cuisines of the Subcontinent. That is why I started my blog, Calmly Cooking Curry featuring Desi recipes from all of South Asia as well as Western dishes adapted to suit Subcontinental tastes and dietary preferences. All the recipes on my blog are easy to follow and suitable for beginners as well as experienced cooks.

 

Many of my readers are expat wives married to Indian husbands, so I’ve included brief educational essays on the wide variety of Desi ingredients, cooking techniques, and cookware. My specialty is Kashmiri, Mughlai, Punjabi, and Nepali dishes now, but I hope to learn more of the cuisines of South Asia by reading all of your fascinating blogs. I’ve had so much fun learning about all the cuisines of the Indian Subcontinent, I hope you come along and join me on my culinary adventures on my blog!

 

Mughlai Haraa Murgh (Mughal Style Green Chicken)

 

Mughlai cuisine began in the opulence and splendor of the Delhi sultanate during India’s age of Islamic rule. Persian and Indian flavors were fused to perfection in the Imperial Moghul kitchens. This dish is mildly spiced, but bright with the flavors of cilantro/dhania and pudina/mint. Ground browned onions, almonds, and yogurt make for a rich gravy. Whenever you see a Mughlai recipe you know it’s going to include lots of steps- marinating, frying, cooling, grinding, more frying and probably then some. In this recipe I’ve minimized the steps using a few modern techniques but achieving the same traditional flavors-

 

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Ingredients:

 

1kg/2lbs chicken, skinless and cut into 8 pieces, bone in preferred

2 onions, finely sliced into half moons

1/4 C ghee

1/2 C fresh tomatoes, pureed

2 inch piece of cassia bark/dalchini

5 cloves/laung

3 C water or stock/shorba

2 tsp lime juice

15 blanched almonds (optional for garnish)

1 tsp kewra water (optional)

Grind to smooth paste for marinade:

30 almonds, ground to fine powder

1 C yogurt/dahi

1 TBS garlic/lahsun paste

1 TBS ginger/adrak paste

3 green chilis/hari mirch, chopped roughly

5 green cardamoms

15 black peppercorns/kali mirch

1 TBS ground coriander seeds/dhania

1 tsp garam masala

2 tsp ground cumin/jeera

1/2 tsp turmeric/haldi

1/3 C fresh mint/pudina leaves

1/3 C fresh cilantro/dhania leaves

1/4 C onion, chopped roughly

2 tsp salt

 

Here’s what to do:

 

1) Grind almonds to fine powder in mixie or food processor. Then blend ground almonds, yogurt, garlic ginger, powdered spices, green cardamoms, black peppercorns, green chilis, and salt together in mixie or food processor for marinade.

2) Coat all chicken pieces with marinade paste. Allow chicken to marinate for at least 2 hours up to overnight sealed in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

3) When ready to cook, heat ghee over medium high heat in a deep, heavy bottomed skillet or kadhai for 5 minutes. Add thinly sliced onions and fry for 8 to 10 minutes until browned. Set fried onions aside to cool for 10 minutes.

4) Grind cooled onions in mixie or food processor to smooth paste. Over medium high heat return ground onions to pan. Add pureed fresh tomatoes, cloves, and cassia bark/dalchini to the onion paste in pan.Stir well and allow llow mixture to simmer for 4 to 5 minutes or until most of liquid from tomatoes has evaporated.

5) Add marinated chicken pieces to the mixture in the pan. Reserve marinade. Cook chicken pieces for 2 minutes on each side, the chicken should just be turning white.

6) Add reserved marinade. 3 C water or stock, and lime juice to the mixture in the pan. Stir well and bring to a simmer over medium low heat. Stir every 5 minutes to ensure chicken cooks evenly and gravy does not stick or scorch. If mixture begins to scorch or stick add 1/4 C water and reduce heat.

7) Allow dish to simmer for 20 to 25 minutes uncovered or until chicken is cooked through and ghee separates from the gravy. Salt to taste, garnish with blanched almonds and sprinkle with kewra water if desired.  (This dish also reheats well if you’d like to make it a bit in advance of serving.)

 

I promise most of my recipes are not as involved or posh as this one, this is definitely a “special occasion” type of dish. Most of my recipes are much easier as my family and I prefer to eat simple dishes in our daily meals. Once again, I’d like to thank my new friend Rafeeda for allowing me to do this guest post on her blog and I hope all of you will come visit me on my blog as I explore the cuisines of South Asia.

 

Shukriyah,

Bibi Maizoon

 

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Thank you so much Bibi for being on my space, it is definitely my pleasure having you in this space of mine. Wishing all of you a great weekend ahead… 🙂