Methi Chicken Curry

This curry is one of my most initial curries. My love for cooking during my earlier cooking days never had curries on the menu. I have always been more of a Biryani and Kebab person. It was much later that I started making curries and Methi chicken happened to be one of the first ones that I tried following a recipe I read in the book.

Now just to be clear, my mom does not make Methi Chicken, so honestly, I had no idea whatsoever if this dish will even come out and be edible. The dish really surpassed all my expectations and it became a must for special and not so special occasions, but with time, as I improved in my cooking skills, I felt few changes here and there would make it more flavorful.

The initial recipe required only tomatoes for Gravy, which I feel if made a few hours before tends to get a little dry. See, it’s simple logic, protein does tend to absorb moisture in the curry over time, therefore if you make a curry always make slightly saucy. Even with curries that are supposed to be thick in gravy, while making the curry should not be kept too thick, specially if you are cooking a few hours in advance. Once the curry is cooked, or for that matter when you cook any dish, it tends to get thicker as it cools down. Therefore, to make the consistency of the gravy a little thinner, I add Yogurt along with the tomatoes. Secondly, most recipes, actually almost all recipes where I see methi leaves as an ingredient for the dish, the recipes use kasoori Methi and as much as I like the way Kasoori Methi works its magic in curries, it can never beat fresh green Methi leaves. From my point of view, for curries where methi leaves are one of the main ingredients, we should use the fresh ones as opposed to the dry kasoori methi. Curries such as Butter Chicken or Malai Kofta require kasoori methi since its only needed for flavor enhancement and balancing the creamy texture of those curries.

I marinate the chicken in this recipe, for around 15-20 minutes, which is enough time for you to finish chopping the onions and start with the initial process of cooking this curry. A wonderful recipe and one of the best Methi Chicken curry that you can ever have. Enjoy!!!

Tikka Masala Powder

To make the most authentic Chicken Tikka Masala I always tried a store bought ready made masala but then I decided that I should try and make it at home, since I started feeling that I smelt something weird in the mix. No, I don’t judge people who use it, it’s completely cool but then once I decided that making the masala at home, I felt it was so easy so, I decided to share it with everyone.

Gathering spices from your pantry would be easy to make this super delicious masala that can be kept in a cool dry place for up to 2 months. So within minutes, I gathered up all the spices for making this masala that could be used whenever you feel like making any Tikka with or without gravy. Tikka Masala Spice Mix is a fine motley of aromatic and strong spices that end up granting the quintessential flavor to any delicacy for which it is used!

The masala is prepared using the fine mix of Coriander seeds, Cumin seeds, Cloves, Cinnamon stick, Green cardamom, dry Kashmiri red chilli & whole black pepper. After dry roasting the whole spices, add Turmeric Powder, Red chili Powder and Tandoori Powder. Mixing everything together Tikka Masala Powder creates a royal treat of flavors for your palate without a doubt.

Chhole Tikki Chaat

I belong to Rajasthan, the land of flowing ghee, beautiful people and the most colorful state of India. Marwaris love chaats, specially the ones that are fried and warm and trust me, no one can make chaats and sweets better than Marwaris. That’s the reason we always see most sweet vendors and chatwalas as Marwaris.

I have been a big fan of chaats and this happens to be one of my favorites. It takes a little time to make it, but one bite into this awesomely delicious food and all the effort seems totally worth it. This chaat is also close to my heart because this was the first dish that portrayed my culinary skills and he felt proud that he is getting married to a promising cook.

Now, I learnt to make this chaat through a family friend, who would offer to cook food for us every Ramadan. Honestly, that was the first time I realized that such good street food can also be cooked at home as well. I was 11 then, and I would always be a little helper. With time, I learnt how to make it by myself and it always has pleased everyone who tried it.

The tikkis are made with boiled potatoes mixed with spices and rolled in mix of Maida and Corn Starch Powder, before pan frying. The corn starch makes the tikkis super crunchy and that is exactly how you want them to be. Specially once you add on hot chhole, the tikkis can get soggy very quickly. Corn starch helps it stay crunchier for longer.

The chhole have to be spicy and tangy, giving that perfect chaat taste to the tikki chhole. Adding Tamarind and dry pomegranate powder to chhole makes it taste just like the street foods in India. I usually soak my chickepeas, boil them and once cooled down, I pack them in separate ziploc bags and freeze them. I like to make loads of chaats that include chickpeas and this is one of my favorites. So, not having chickpeas, since they need to be soaked overnight, is the last thing I need to worry about if I feel like making chaat.

Assembling this chaat is what makes it taste more delicious. You can make the best Tikkis and chhole, but if you don’t assemble the chaat the right way, it wouldn’t give you flavors you are looking for. It has to be served warm on top of potato tikki and further garnished with chopped onions, coriander leaves, Tamarind date chutney, Green chutney and thin sev.

Chicken Banjara Tikka

It’s just impossible to be Kebab fans and not try different recipes of kebab. It’s sad when I see people liking different kebabs at restaurants, but not being able to make the difference out in flavors. Flavor have so much to say, every spice blends in uniquely with another spice creating delicious stories. Every place has their own f

These kebabs have a very nutty flavor with low to moderate spice level. They are great as side dishes or for a coffee/tea party.  This dish is very different from the regular kebabs. The marination is very earthy, fresh and the taste of each spice can be distinguished.

I believe some of the best, healthiest and quick kebab or tikka recipes come from the Nomads and I have a valid reason for it. Nomads were travelers, never settled at one place for long. So, basically they always had fresh food, since they didn’t have ways to store their meat and they must be grinding their spices right before it needs to be used. A fact that most of run away from these days is that frozen food tastes as good as fresh, which isn’t true at all. But, what breaks my heart even more is when I see people knowing something deep down but still not agreeing to it.
You could be in the best shape of your life, but your internal organs might be reacting to all the junk you feed it, the preservatives, the chemicals are taking toll and ruining your internal mechanism and the only way for you to set it right is by eating good and clean food.

Well, now the story…So, generally when I try a dish for the first time, its always an experiment and since I hate wasting food, I make sure the quantity is little. I made these kebabs and my little one was barely 4 years old. But, unlike most 4 year old, he had very strong taste buds and was very vocal about his food choices. So, Banjara tikka was served and he loved them, but since I had not made much, they finished faster than I could blink. My little one started throwing a tantrum for more and started crying when told that we didn’t have any more. That’s when I realized that I had some left over kebabs from previous day, which looked similar in color. I put them on the skewer the same way and got them to the dining table. He stopped crying, picked up the skewer, smiled but didn’t look too sure, so, he smelt it, Yes! you read it right, he smelt it and put it back saying,”its not the same kebab” and started crying again. We couldn’t stop laughing and I promised him to make the same kebabs for dinner the next day, which I did.

This dish is simple, it contains peanuts so you will have check for a substitute if you are allergic to nuts.