Chatpata Murgh Tangdi Kebab

A unique recipe from Old Delhi, Purani Dilli ki Jama Masjid ki galiyaan. I have literally known that area almost by heart. Okay, may be not the whole area, but definitely the famous restaurants, Kareem and Jawahar happen to be my father’s favorite. I remember as a young child looking forward to going to Jama Masjid just for the food and how much I wished those days that we should have lived in Delhi. My idea of living in Delhi soon changed as I got older thanks to the heavy traffic, but my taste buds still crave the lovely food. I think that might be the only reason most of my Kebabs are inspired by the flavors i experienced as a kid.

It’s one of the kebabs made specially during Ramadan. As much as Jama Masjid is popular for its non vegetarian cuisines, but some dishes are exclusively for this special month. This dish happens to be one of those special ones. The marinade is easy to do and it adds a lot of flavor to the chicken legs. The best part about the marinade is that it leaves the Kebab moist from inside with a crunchy exterior. I cooked these in the oven, but you can always barbecue them or even cook them on a pan. An oven though is always preferred. The second best thing after an oven would be a Gas Tandoor.

I would recommend you to marinate the kebabs for at least 3 hours, but if you happen to be in a rush, an hour in the refrigerator would also be fine. The result might not be as amazing, but still good.

This Kebab chatpata as the name suggests and makes a wonderful side dish to your regular dishes and will also amaze your guests.

Tandoori Pomfret

My hometown, Jodhpur never got a lot of seafood. In fact, I grew up eating only one kind of fish, Surmai or King Fish and that too in just 2 ways, one in a curry and second was fried without any marination with a little masala sprinkled over it. And, I never liked fish curries.

Things changed when we had our more frequent Delhi trips and since we were old enough to venture out, my father introduced me to some delicious variety of fried fish in Jama Masjid and if you have ever been to Delhi and you are a non vegetarian, then you have to visit Jama Masjid and try the food there. Some old restaurants still serve the authentic and  traditional Mughlai dishes which are hard to resist for a Non vegetarian foodie.

Coming back to the fish, though trying different kinds of fishes,  I never tasted a tandoori pomfret till my trip to Mumbai in 2003. I still remember the place not being that nice but serving some great food. I loved the pomfret but we didn’t spend a lot of time for me to remember the taste for long. A few years later, I get married to Mr. Parveez and my Father in law had this special place from where he would bring Tandoori Pomfret and Tandoori prawns….God bless his soul, he is the reason behind my husband’s exclusive and awesome taste buds. And my father in law made me enjoy and understand the flavors of Tandoori Pomfret better.

And since then Tandoori Pomfret is a part of our seafood special.