Chicken in the Egg

This is a fluke dish, like so many other ones. My boys love eating Tandoori chicken and during the covid 19 stay at home days, their super inquisitive minds always came up something new and they were adamant that I implement those ideas and make something for them.

So, one day my older one said, can’t you make Chicken rolls in something that isn’t Roti or bread. I first thought of adding them to Lettuce and making Lettuce wraps, but I was out of Lettuce or Cabbage, so I came up with the idea of making Omelet and wrapping some chicken in it. I initially couldn’t decide how to spice up my chicken, as in what kind of marinade I should use and then I felt trying it with my Tandoori chicken would be the best idea.

Tandoori Chicken was marinated for an hour with Yogurt, ginger garlic paste, tandoori powder, Red chili, salt and Lemon juice. The omelet was made with whisked eggs, salt and white pepper powder. I cooked the Tandoori chicken on a pan, though you can always grill or bake yours if you want to. This is an easy dish, you can always cook it for a playdate, easy snack, Game time snack or even Lunch and Dinner. Enjoy!!!

Hyderabadi Chana Daal Qabooli

Hyderabad is popular for its lip smacking food. The city of Nizams is just not popular for its gems and jewels and gorgeous buildings, but more for the food. The Hyderabadi Biryani to start with has almost 12 varieties if not more. When it comes Hyderabad and we think of food, I always tend to think of all wonderful non vegetarian dishes, Biryanis, Korma, Haleem…but we all forget that Hyderabad has a wonderful variety of Vegetarian food as well.

This delicious vegetarian Biryani has come down from the Mughals, and is made with rice and split gram lentils. In Hyderabad, its considered a fancy dish and is a great vegetarian option in place of Biryani.

Qabooli is biryani made with spicy chana dal (split pea lentil) and layered with basmati rice. This Chana daal qabooli is very different in flavor and aroma, which combines the pungency of spices, the tanginess of Yoghurt and richness of saffron. It turned out quite tasty and lip smacking. This is a filling and delicious dish that is great to make when you have company. This vegetarian version of Biryani can be made on festival day or even include it in a party menu as well. Enjoy!!!

Tava Kaleji Buns

One of the most important holidays that we have, as Muslims is Eid-ul-adha’a. The concept of sacrificing in the name of Allah, for Allah is divine, holy and extremely purifying. The meat is divided into 3 parts, one for the less privileged, friends and relatives and the last part for us. Sharing what you have with people makes us more humble and makes us care more for the community.

The day also brings in huge varieties of dishes. We, as Muslims are always on a lookout for new meat dishes and the more we go exploring, the more better and more creative we need to be. It always has to get better from the past year. With all that in mind, we are now in time and age where the kids aren’t satisfied with just kebabs and curries. The fusions have become so popular that not trying them at home makes you feel left out. Also, the fact that our generation is more adventurous in trying new ways of consuming foods and new cooking styles are always welcome.

This is basic Kaleji recipe that is served with buns. At my mother’s place, everyone was always excited about consuming Kaleji/ Liver. It was made with overload of Onions, green chilies and spices. Its dry, with little juice or separated Oil that its cooked with. On the other hand, Mr. Parveez’s family prefers consuming Kaleji in the form of a curry. This recipe though cooks Kaleji with curry masala and its cooked in a way till it gets dry. After that the cooked Kaleji is placed between the lightly toasted buns with cheese.

This dish is great for kids play date and tea parties too and are an excellent choice for brunch as well.

Shahi Mutton Raan

Bakra Eid is one of the most important holiday for us Muslims. The month of Hajj is not just sacred, but also very special. Eid inculcates the value of sharing and sacrifice. Most Muslim families offer sacrifice on this day, which is divided into 3 parts, one part being for the less fortunate or poor, second part for relatives and friends and third part to kept for yourself. As much as I grew up with these values, I never tried to understand the reason and philosophy behind them. Now, as a mature adult I understand the deep meaning of how the religious reasons are ways of making us more caring and attentive towards our community and people.

Although, back leg of a goat would be available at your local butcher any day, but there is something about the back leg that is kept from the Qurbaani [animal sacrifice] and is usually cooked after a few days or weeks. Trust me when I say, there is something special about the meat from Eid. A taste that you never get on the regular meat from your butcher. And I cook meat leg from Eid and regular meat back leg from the Butcher too.

This recipe is pretty simple. The thing that needs most attention is the way you make slits in the back leg. The deeper the cuts, the easier it is for the spices to make their way in the meat, making it more flavorful. The main ingredient in the marination will be raw papaya. Raw papaya acts as a meat tenderizer and makes sure your meat comes out cooked well from inside and also stays soft and juicy. In case you do not have raw papaya/ green papaya available, you can also use the store bought meat tenderizer powder and use according to the instructions by the manufacturer.

I always marinate Raan with 2 separate marination. The first one is with basic Raw papaya paste, roasted Cumin Powder, Turmeric powder and salt and set it aside for an hour. The second marination includes Ginger garlic paste, Red chili powder, Tandoori masala, Anardana powder, Yogurt and Vinegar. I also add butter to this marination , but you can always add Oil if you prefer a healthier version. This marination should be kept for at least 8 – 10 hours or overnight. Cooking this on a grill is the best way to have it. I have cooked them on Gas grills and charcoal grills as well. Oven might not be as good of an option though if you do not have an outdoor grill, you can always use the oven with a with the marinated back leg on a mesh tray and a tray underneath to catch any drippings.

This dish will definitely make simple day seem a special occasion and make your dining table look extremely fancy. Enjoy!!!

Shikari Chicken Rice

This is an invention by only hearing about the dish…Yeah I know I can go nuts when it comes down to trying to make a new dish. This happens to be one that I really planned out well and craved to make it.

Like I always say, every dish has a story. This one has one too. While speaking to a close friend about different Biryanis that we get at famous and not so famous eateries in India, I was told that a popular restaurant served something that was close to Biryani, but not Biryani. That really got my interest. Giving me further details, that its mildly flavored bed of Rice served under these awesomely juicy grilled chicken. I mean who wouldn’t want to act on this description and try and make it. It’s actually not just the details of the dish, but the way it was described and the fact that it topped the list of Chicken and Rice. I had not even seen the dish, yet I was head over heels in love with the dish and felt challenged to make it.

When you are aware of a dish, you tend to study it by searching about different chefs who have made it or by trying the dish out at different restaurants or even making the dish a couple of times to achieve the desired flavor or result. But when its a dish, you have never heard of until now, tried, seen or tasted, and you crave to cook it, you are definitely a crazy chef…LOLzzz. I think I fit the bill.

So, I am not aware of the Chicken served is with bones or without, but going according to my Biryani basics, I picked Chicken with Bones and marinated the chicken with spices and Yogurt for around 2-3 hours. Though my chicken came out delicious, I still recommend that a chicken is more flavorful if marinated overnight or for at least 6-8 hours, though in today’s time and age, things happen unplanned and we have a little time before we decide what we need to cook. For all those times, marinate, cover, and place the chicken in the refrigerator. Refrigeration helps blend the flavors faster and better. Once I was ready to cook them, I took them out of the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 400F or 180C. I placed them on the grill with a tray underneath to catch the dripping. The cooking time was around 25-30 minutes, with an extra 5 minutes of high heat grill, since I wanted them to look well done. If you want, you can cook them in the oven and do the latter process in a pan, or on naked fire. Any which way will give you great outcomes.

I made a gravy as well to spike up the layers of Rice. The gravy was made very similar to Biryani Yakhni shorba. For initial whole spices, I added fennel seeds along with cinnamon, cloves, green cardamom, and cumin seeds. I further fried the onions, taking half of it out for garnishing and using them while layering the Rice. That was followed by Ginger garlic paste and spice powders. Further adding tomatoes and Yogurt, combined with green chilies, mint leaves, and coriander leaves. I also added the marination left behind after the chicken is taken out, so it gets a little flavor from the chicken as well since we aren’t cooking the chicken in the gravy.

This is a lovely recipe for a weekend Brunch or to display your cooking skills to those uninvited guests, when you don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen. It’s a pretty quick fix to traditional Biryani and modern-day Chicken over Rice. One of my self invented and the best recipes ever…Enjoy!!!

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!!!

Chicken Cheesy Tikka

Chicken Tikka has always been my go to recipe whether I have to make quick kebabs for the family or friends or even if we decide late in the evening to have a barb-e-cue dinner, Chicken Tikka is always the easiest, safest and yummiest recipe to go to. The flavors can be any which way you want. The boneless chicken pieces easily absorb the flavors quickly and the result always comes out delicious, unless you are determined to mess it up, otherwise its hard to mess up the chicken marination.

This recipe is a chef’s fluke or should I say determination of make sure I make something using shredded cheese, making sure the kebabs are soft, but also making sure that the boys taste no cheese. Isn’t it funny, life as a mom who loves to cook but is restricted by the weird taste buds that won’t allow her to experiment with flavors stressing on the fact that their peculiar taste buds won’t allow them to enjoy their favorite tikka. Therefore, this recipe was a challenge, and if you are sailing in the same boat as me, this recipe is for you.

The chicken I used is boneless chicken breast and Chicken breast tends to go a little dry and cheese helps it stay moist and juicy. I love kebabs that have that crunch top and is super moist inside.

Chicken Chatpata Dry Curry

In the world of flukes, the only things that keep you happy are genuine relationships found in fluke and recipes made in fluke. As much as people who you meet in a fluke become an integral part of your life, some recipes also become super special and your rush time go to save me ones.

A wise man once told me that a relationship should always be crystal clear, with nothing to hide and everything to tell. I think a recipe should always be the same too. And, since I find myself an expert at discussing food, I introduce one of my most awesome fluke recipes Chicken Chatpata Gravy.

So this is how the story goes, my boys on one fine beautiful weekend, stuck at home… Ohh!!! No, this is before the pandemic hit, good old days. We were stuck because one or both had some classes at odd hours and it would take a lot of time for me to drive #1 and then #2 and also feed them junk on the way with the hunger pangs, which seem to appear every hour. And, lets not forget the “can you make something different” demands. So, this dish was invented on one of those “different” making days by a clueless mom aka me, determined to impress my biggest critics and fans, my 2 boys.

I had chicken with bones and I tried mixing in spices with fresh coriander leaves and slit green chilies. Adding Greek Yogurt and ginger garlic paste with Red chili flakes and Vinegar added a lot of spike and flavor to the dish. The start to finish of the dish did not take me too long and this can definitely be made in a 30 minute time limit. And the taste oozes with different flavors in your mouth hence “chatpata”.

Trying to make it look a little different and for some reason the taste reminded me of chicken curry cooked back home during Eid, I tried serving this the same way. While growing up, on an Eid afternoon my cousins would make a curry in a jiffy and serve it on a huge platter with Rotis on the bottom and curry on top and all of us would sit together in eat. I think that was fun and somewhere I do miss it. So, this dish made me try the serving technique with my boys and they had fun eating.

Chicken Tikka Masala Curry

One dish that Indians hold steady fast too, specially when we are far from home is Chicken Tikka Masala. Be it Paneer Tikka masala or Chicken Tikka Masala, it never fails to satisfy our taste buds. And, I think that’s why they are a part of every party buffet.

This recipe is very close to the restaurant style Chciken Tikka masala that you’d find at restaurants and you can always substitute the chicken with paneer and follow the rest of the recipe as is to get the perfect restaurant dish.

This recipe is one of the Best Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe that you can cook with ease. The flavor is smoky and making this dish at home also gives you the benefit of eating clean and fresh. At present my reasons to try this dish is because its the quarantine period and as much as I enjoy cooking, I leave some dishes to the restaurant to enjoy some favorites outside the house. But since we hit the Covid-19 Quarantine period, I had to start cooking at home and with the high spiked taste buds of my kids, I got down to making an at home Chicken Tikka Masala curry.

Ingredients to make Chicken Tikka Masala Curry Recipe, we would require Yogurt, I prefer the thick greek yogurt but you can always use the regular yogurt and hang it for 30 minutes to an hour. The thick yogurt helps adding a lot of creaminess to the curry. Boneless Chicken thighs work best for the recipe. A lot of times I have been asked why I prefer Boneless thighs over Boneless chicken breast and my answer is simple, that chicken breast tends to get dry quickly and specially with gravy dishes, Chicken breast fails to absorb the juices from the gravy.

The chicken needs to be marinated in ginger garlic paste, lemon juice, salt, vegetable oil and tikka masala spice mix to marinate the chicken. You’d require onions, whole spices, tomatoes [chopped and pure’ed] , chilies, ginger garlic paste and the regular spices as red chili powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder and tikka masala powder, along with honey, kasuri methi and cream.

Chicken Kalmi Kebab

The origin of Kalmi Kebab is from the Mughal era, of course, I mean where else will Kebabs so delicious can come from except for the Mughals. The Mughals introduced Kebabs to the Indian cuisine and when their Kebab making skills were fused with the spices of India to give super delicious and scrumptious dishes. This dish now is very popular in Hyderabad and is very prodly an addition to the Nizam cuisine, which of course is greatly influenced from the Mughals.

Tangdi Kebab are everyone’s favorite. Tandoori kebabs are pretty popular amongst people and mostly when we think of Tangdi kebab, the first kebabs that come to mind are the red tandoori kebabs.

With the huge variety that Chicken offers in the “World of Kebabs”, these happen to be one of the easy ones and definitely something beginners can easily cook to impress. The kebabs need marination time, overnight is not needed, 3 hours are enough. If you are running out of time, marinate and wrap them up with cellophane or a tight lid and leave them in the freezer for 15 – 30 minutes. Not any longer or the chicken pieces would freeze.

The chicken can be cooked in the oven as well, but going through the traditional way for cooking Kalmi Kebab, I decided to pan fry them. With pan frying, the besan cooks properly adding crunch to the chicken, which otherwise in the oven to take longer. Again, you might prefer the oven and if you do, its 350F/180C for 20 minutes each side.

As I said before, the dish is great for beginners and super easy to make. If you are a great cook, this dish makes an excellent side dish to your party and the flavors show great efforts. Hope you enjoy making it as much as I did.