Indian Chinese dishes are pretty popular with people. I experimented this dish which c is made with crispy chicken chunks. Its lightly tossed in a spicy chili sauce.
You will like this dish if you like the Indo Chinese fusion dishes. Its wonderfully delicious and the technique in various dishes where the flavors are combined always makes the dishes scrumptious.
If you have never had this dish before then definitely try it out. If you enjoy takeout dishes like sweet and sour chicken, then you will probably enjoy this dish as well. It uses the Chinese takeout technique of ‘deep frying and tossing it in a thick sauce to coat it’ that most of us are very familiar with but uses a dark spicy chili sauce instead of the usual sweeter sauces.
This recipe is a dry chili chicken version, however if you prefer the gravy version of chili chicken then just double up the sauce recipe to make it more saucy. The type of peppers you use in this dish will be your preference, depending on how spicy you like your food. Though my kids are pretty good with taking spice, I used bell pepper and dry Red chilies to flavor it up.
I personally LOVE crispy foods, but find it slightly irritating when it when it is 60% batter and 40% chicken. This dish is lightly coated and therefore has a very light crispy exterior. This makes for a less greasy end product as well.
This is a Chicken curry influenced from the era of Hyderabadi Nizams. I came across this while reading a book on Hyderabadi Nizams which mentioned how their culture, tradition and also the food was so much similar to the Mughals.
The reason why this dish is called a “Chooza” curry and not a “chicken” curry is because in those days curries were made out of baby Rooster’s meat, which was called Murgha or Chooza, it had more meat. Chicken on the other hand was “Desi Murghi”, it was more of bones and less meat and it was mostly used for making Biryani. So, this curry was made with the meaty chicken, hence “Chooza curry”.
The Hyderabadi Nizams were known for their rich choice of jewels, clothes, decorations and food. Even now, if you ever happen to eat Hyderabadi food, you can taste the richness of Ghee, Butter, Cream, Dry fruits and Khoya. Most dishes always have coconut as one of the ingredients as well, which also adds a lot of richness and creaminess. I have always enjoyed cooking Hyderabadi cuisine. I love the use of whole spices in dishes and Hyderabadi cuisine uses so much variety of them that as a cook it makes you feel really good, working with so many different spices and experiencing the fragrance while you cook.
This dish can surely please your guests and its a perfect dish for grand dinners and special occasions. Goes well with parantha or Sheermal.
I love making Chicken curries. they are just every non vegetarian family’s favorite. Most families have a family favorite that is always on the menu for special occasions and popular between friends and distant family. But every once in while, we all need to add a twist to regular curries and come up with something different.
I have tried many different hara masala curries in restaurants and in fact my Mother-in-law makes amazing Hara Masala Gosht, which is something Mr. Parveez cooks for specl occasion like mother’s day and my birthday. Believe it or not, I never got curious to ask him for the recipe and I just let it be one his specials.
So, this recipe was just a quick one that I tried one fine day, when I was all confused and wanted to make a chicken curry, which was quick, didn’t require much effort and was at the same time delicious. This curry is great for beginners too.
My boys prefer home lunches and also love varieties for their lunch. When I use the word variety, I mean that they would not want a dish to be repeated in 2-3 weeks and believe it or not, its a lot of pressure to make something that tastes great and that they would love it as well.
These chicken buns are easy to make and can be easily made by beginners as well. The chicken does not have to marinated for too long and even the process of marination is with pretty simple ingredients. This is great dish if you have boneless chicken available and haven’t thought of anything in mind, and need to get things ready in a rush.
My boys prefer this in the hot dog bun Sandwich, but this chicken would taste great even with a tortilla and Roti wrap too. I have tried them with ciabatta, french long bread and croissants as well.
I usually make this and serve it with a different spicy sauce . The recipe for the spicy sauce is in the sauce section. A blend of mayo, ketchup, hot sauce and mustard sauce goes perfectly with this spicy shredded chicken to give that kick to this sandwich.
When you live in a country far away from home, you tend to
dry more of different cuisines in order to blend in. Ohh yes! You read that
right. We as Indians try our level best to try and blend in sending our
wonderful taste buds on a toss. See, believe it or not, Indian cuisine is one
of the most wonderful cuisines you can come across. So many varieties of food
offered by one country where the food palette from one state to another differs
as much as countries in Europe.
Now, I don’t mean to look down upon other cuisines but I do
feel very proud of my ethnicity. Having tried so many different spices, oils,
vegetables is an experience of its own. So, coming back to living in America,
we tend to please people around us and not or taste buds. Indian food with spices
is actually a very healthy option for guilt free food. Leaving that we indulge
in butter and cheese based cuisines coz that satisfies the masses and we want
to be one of those. But for those of us, who yearn for meals with similar
taste, Italian and Mexican food come the closest.
Being a Muslim and eating only halal, our best bet for food
is either vegetarian or seafood. Also, not trying food made by people who do
not stick to the rules of a cuisine and make it in a fusion way is not my cup
of tea. So, people like me, who want try that authentic Mexican chicken rice
bowl from their favorite Mexican restaurant, eat fish and try to cook same
flavors with chicken at home. I tried my level best to stick to Mexican flavors
to get the authentic taste. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
This Biryani is very close to my heart. This recipe was shared by Mr. Parveez, some 4 years ago and since then it has been a family favorite. My younger son calls it “Mogli Biryani”, since he feels that Mughlai is very close to”Mogli”, and I am sure somewhere he also believes that this recipe came in from the Jungle book…LOLzzz.
Mr. Parveez came across an article about Mughal migration and food and thats when he learnt that the initial use of spices in Biryani was actually white pepper and not the chilies. Though with time, chilies made a very special place in the Biryani recipes and no Biryani recipe seem to be complete without them, but that wasn’t the way it all started.
Black pepper has a very strong flavor and if you use it often, you would know that using black pepper even little more than required makes the taste of a dish bitter, therefore you need to be careful when handling that spice. Unlike, black pepper, white pepper is easier to handle and does not add bitterness if slightly over used.
This dish has flavors from the Middle east. it isn’t too spicy so it matched perfectly with Mirch ka saalan or Baghare Baingan or khatte Baingan. I have made this for my son’s school party for teachers and it was a big hit. You can use regular chicken cut to medium or small size pieces, though I preferred using chicken legs. It doesn’t change the taste but definitely enhances the look. I have used green chilies, but from the article that I read, it wasn’t a requirement so, the use is optional. Also the garnishing with boiled eggs is completely optional. You can also use cashews, and/or almonds to garnish if you feel like.
Biryani ranks at the top of my favorite food list. Whenever there is a special occasion in my house, the very first dish comes to my mind is Biryani. Honestly, Friday dinners are kind of a big deal in my house and Biryani is the main part of the dinner.
Biryani in Kolkata was introduced by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah from Lucknow. With Biryani every region and state added there own flavors, according to the produce they had in their region/ state. Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was dethroned by Britishers and deported him to Kolkata. Luckily, he was accompanied by people who worked for him including his kitchen staff. Once in Kolkata, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah tried to make a little place provided for him to live. You could take a Nawab off the throne but you cannot take the elegance and Royal heart he has. he would ask his Kitchen staff to make Biryani, and would feel low about not having enough grocery specially meat/ chicken. To make th Nawab feel better and to be able to have him feel good about feeding everyone around him with the same love and respect he had in Lucknow, the chef added Potatoes and Eggs to the Biryani. This is how the famous Lucknow Biryani added its flavors and gave birth to Kolkata Biryani.
That’s why Biryanis from different places taste so different. The basic similarity is that every Biryani is cooked with meat and rice in dumm. It’s a dish adored not just all over the sub-continent, but all around the world. Its one of the most popular Indian/ Pakistani dish. However, Vegetable/ Paneer biryani is also well accepted among vegetarians.
Biryani should ideally be prepared in dumm, where the meat and rice are cooked together in an air tight container over low flame. I have posted the recipe of dum biryani and so many different varieties of Biryani from different regions and states of India. Most recipes also have some history/ story of how the recipes were originated, which is always a delight to read, know and share.
So this time I am sharing with you an easier version of dum biryani which is followed in most of the biryani houses in Kolkata. This Biryani is not too spicy. The Biryani has potatoes and the use of Khoya and milk makes the Biryani rich.
While I am always on a lookout for new Biryanis that have been made since the invention of this awesome dish, some recipes are just so fascinating that when you read about how they were cooked in olden days, its just hard to not try cooking them.
The land of Hyderabad offers so many varieties of Biryanis and this Biryani happens to be one of the delicious Biryanis that it offers. The Nawabs are always known to have food that is rich. Using cashews and poppy seeds not only adds a lot of flavor to a dish but also makes the yakhni very creamy and rich.
Biryani is inspired by cuisines from Persia. Recipes that have cashews and poppy seeds resemble the closest since the Mughlai recipes had loads of dry fruits and nuts added to their cuisine. Down south, Hyderabad serves the most Biryanis. This recipe is not like Hyderabadi dumm Biryani and not too spicy either but the taste is still lovely and the flavors are divine.
Coorg is a beautiful hill station in Karnataka. We visited Coorg in 2015 and the place just doesn’t have amazing scenic views, it also has one of the most beautiful Monastery that we have ever visited.
Coorg serves wonderful coffee as well. Coorg has many coffee plantations and it offers coffee powder that is spiced up with cinnamon powder and cloves powder.
During our visit, we tried Biryani at our resort and it was delicious and different. Though the resort chef did not share the recipe of his delicious Biryani, but with little research about the history of Coorg, I was able to discover the secret to their wonderful Biryani.
The chapters of history of Coorg took me to the wonerful era of The Great “Tipu Sultan”. The history shows that he was a big fan of delicious food and loved variety of different cuisines. While visiting his summer palace and museums and seeking details of his lifestyle, one discovers that he was a super wonderful host too, who loved to serve his guests, not just variety of food, but also food in beautiful China and silverware. I believe this explains Mr. Parveez’s love and interest in The Great Tipu Sultan. My hubby is a big fan of Mughal King Akbar and Tipu Sultan and the only common thing between them and him, besides having wonderful wives, is their love for great food.
Keeping that flavor alive from the era of Great Tipu Sultan, I tried making this Biryani as close to how the original recipe must have been. I found a few wonderful stories of the spices and cooking methods that King Tipu Sultan used. This recipe is following the same methods.
You are always welcome to make changes and to contact me if you’d like to have substitutes for the ingredients.
I belong to the desert region of India. The land of forts and palaces, “Rajasthan”. When you think of Rajasthani or Marwari cuisine, ghee, daal baati, churmas and ker saangri are one of the first dishes that come to your mind. Very few people realize that marwari cuisine has loads of non vegetarian dishes as well, which are equally [a little more for me] delicious.
The land of Marwar brings me the memories of Khada masala Gosht, Pathreeli Raan, Laal Maas, Murgh ke Sholay, Rajasthani Malai Biryani and of course the Tangdi Kebab. Rajasthan is the land of Rajput community and most of the non Vegetarian dishes are a gift from them. Even till this date, a lot of Royal families are very fond of good food and you will see the Kings and Queens cooking for leisure.
These Kebabs make a great appetizer and have impressed my guests most of the times and have always been complimented on the great dish. These Tangdi kebabs are spicy, crunchy and flavorful and taste very different from the regular tangdi kebabs. Its a must try for every Kebab lover.
