CHICKEN CURRY – FAMILY RECIPE

Ingredients:
For masala paste:
Onion – 1 small, sliced
Dry coconut – ¾ cup
Roasted chana dal – 1 ½ tbsp
Rice – 1 tsp
Laung – 3-4
Black pepper corn – 8-10
Cinnamon stick – 1”
Garlic – 5-6 cloves
Ginger – 1”

Chicken – 1 kg
Onion – 1, medium chopped
Bayleaf - 1-2
Ginger – 1”
Garlic – 2-3
Coriander leaves – ¼ cup, chopped
Hing
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Red chili powder – 2-3 tbsp
Garam masala – 1-2 tbsp
Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Shahjeera – ¼ tsp
Salt
Coriander leaves for garnishing

Cooking Procedure:
Take some oil in a pan and add onion. Fry the onion till brown, and then add laung, black pepper and cinnamon stick. Fry for a minute. .

Then add the roasted chana dal and rice. Roast till the dal and rice turn brown.

Then reduce the flame and add the dry coconut.

Roast till the coconut gets brown.

Remove the pan and keep aside to cool. Transfer the mixture to a blender, add garlic, ginger and grind to a fine paste.

In another pot, heat some oil and add the bayleaf and chopped onion. Sauté the onions till they get light brown. Then add the ginger garlic paste. Fry for a minute, then add the chicken and fry it on high flame for 10 mins, stirring continously. Then reduce the heat and add 1 tbsp of red chili, 1 tbsp garam masala, all of the coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, hing and shahjeera. Mix everything very well and then add salt. Add boiling water till it covers all the chicken, cover the pot and boil the chicken on medium heat till it get tender. Make sure you add boiling water, it makes nice gravy. It takes about 30-35 mins for chicken to cook.
In the pan in which you roasted the masala, heat some oil. Add the masala paste and fry till the oil starts separating. Then add the remaining red chili powder, garam masala and salt. Fry for 1 min. then add ½ cup of boiling water and continue to cook, stirring continuously. Oil start to separate as the masala gets cooked removing the raw flavor. Then add this masala to the chicken. Add boiling water as required, according to the thickness of the gravy. Let boil for 5-10 mins. Finally add the chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with roti/ chapatti or rice. You can also make mutton/ goat meat curry using the same recipe. This is how my grandmother and mother used to make chicken curry.

You can make the masala paste ahead of time. To do this fry the masala paste in oil till the oil seperates, add little haldi. Let the paste cool completely and store in freezer. It stays nice in freezer for a month. You can use small container to store, so that you can use one container at a time. When you need the masala paste, remove from refrigerator, microwave it or thaw it, put it in pan add red chili powder, garam masala and the paste is ready to go in gravy.

HOW TO STORE ONIONS

Sometimes you buy a big bag of onions from farmers market or any store because it was cheap and when you come home you wonder how to store them so that they can be used for a longer time, without spoiling them.

Onions should be kept in cool, dark and dry place. They should be spread out in the container to ensure proper air circulation. I keep onions in a wooden basket; they last for 2-3 weeks without spoiling. I keep the onions in the basket shown in the picture.

Onion can also be stored in refrigerator. To do this cut and discard the root end and stem end of the onion. Peel off the out layers of the skin. Place the peeled onion on the piece of plastic warp. Tightly wrap the plastic around the onion. Repeat the process for other onions. Now keep these wrapped onions in a ziptop bag. You can use these onions for a week. The great advantage to store the onions in this way is that when cut them you will have no tears. Also due to individual wrapping, you won’t notice any onion odor in refrigerator. Some times the butter and milk can easily catch onion odor.

BEETROOT PARATHA

Ingredients:
Beet root – 2, medium size
Wheat flour as required
Garlic – 3-4
Green chilies – 5-6
Sesame seeds – 1 tbsp
Ajwain seeds – ½ tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Cumin powder – ¼ tsp
Hing – a pinch
Salt
Freshly chopped coriander leaves

Cooking Procedure:
Peel the beet root and pressure cook it till tender. Don’t add any water while boiling. After it is boiled, let the beetroot cool completely. Puree the beetroot, garlic and green chilies to a fine paste. Add little water if required while grinding. Transfer the puree to a big bowl and add the turmeric powder, hing, cumin powder, salt, sesame seeds and coriander leaves. Mix well. Then add the flour as required till soft dough is formed. Dough should not be too hard. Cover the dough and keep aside for 15-20 mins
Divide the dough into small balls. Take one ball, roll in dry flour and roll it into a small circle of 2 inches radius, apply oil on the top surface. Fold the circle in half to form a semicircle. Apply little oil on the semicircle and fold to form a triangle. Then roll the triangle to form the thin paratha. By folding the dough in this way, will make multiple layers and make the paratha soft. Roast the paratha on a heated tawa/ griddle on both sides by applying little oil. Serve with yogurt. The color of the paratha is very attractive, kids love to eat. I have 2 year old son and he likes this paratha very much.