Chicken Curry

It was time for some chicken for soul. I wanted something simple and it has been sometime that I had eaten chicken. There was lots of chicken kept at home and I had to finish it. I was travelling again and my sister is not comfortable cooking chicken.

I am in a train again and it's fun as always. The train journey gives you a lot of time. I watch movies, chat with friends, write, think and observe. Lately I have done so many journeys in train. They were all wonderful. :)

Back to the chicken curry.

This chicken curry is easy to make and taste wonderful. The chicken was well cooked, soft and juicy. The curry was delicious.

It is a quick fix and you don't need to marinate the chicken. It requires basic ingredients which everyone has (if you cook Indian curries). You can use this recipe (and replace chicken) for making other curries as well. Replace chicken with vegetables or prawns or whatever.

Here you go :)

Chicken Curry for Soul
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Makes for 2

Ingredients:
1. 3 tbsp oil
2. 1 tsp cumin seeds
3. 5-6 curry leaves
4. Whole spices - bayleaf, 1 -2 star anisse, 2-3 cloves, 2-3 black pepper corns
5. 1 tbsp  ginger garlic paste
6. 1 whole onion - chopped julienne
7. 2 chopped tomatoes
8. 2 whole chicken breasts - chop as per the size of your liking
9. 1/2 tsp red chilly powder
10. 1 tbsp coriander powder
11. 1 tsp turmeric powder
12. 1/4 tsp dry mango powder (or add yogurt to bring some sourness)
13. 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
14. salt to taste
15. coriander leaves to garnish
16. water

Steps:
1. Heat up a wok. Add the oil and let the oil warm up.
2. Add cumin seeds and whole spices. Let these roast.
3.  Add onion and fry for a few minutes (keep frying even after they turn translucent). Frying onion to a darker color brings in the color and flavor in the curry.
4. Add ginger garlic paste and mix well.
5. Now add all the spices. If using yogurt instead of dry mango powder, then don't add it yet. Fry the spices for a minute.
6. Add tomatoes and let them cook.
7. When tomatoes become squishy add the chicken.
8. Let the chicken cook for about 8 - 10 minutes. You can check if it is cooked by cutting a piece with knife.
9. Add yogurt and cook for a minute.
10. Add water as and when needed. Keep the curry as liquid as you want it.
11. Garnish with coriander and serve hot with chapati or rice.

The taste of the curry is amazing. It is a simple style curry which is the base for other vegetables as well. Whole spices and the ginger garlic paste add a different aroma to the curry. Cook the chicken well and rest all will turn out to be amazing automatically.

Happy cooking and eating guys :)

Sev-tamta-nu-shaak (Sev Tamatar ki Sabji) with Thepla

My brother in law (jiju) had been asking for sev ki sabji (Sev Curry). I had initially planned to make egg mushroom rolls for dinner but then changed my plan. My sister was more inclined towards the rolls but she thought let jiju's wishes be given some importance once in a while ;) . If I was making sev tamatar ki sabji then it made perfect sense to serve it with theplas. So I went ahead and made a Gujarati dinner. Gujarati food has always been fascinating me. I love gujarati kadhi, dhokla, thepla and a lot more. And their food always reminds me of that scene in the bollywood movie 3 idiots in which Kareena Kapur describes Gujaratis as cute and their food dangerous :).

Sev tamatar ki sabji is very famous amongst Gujaratis and is a very crucial part of their cuisine. Sev is popularly used in Indian snack food and is easily available in the market. Sev tamatar ki sabji is a sweet and sour preparation.

Sev-tamta-nu-shaak
Serves 3
Recipe Source: Archana's Kitchen

Ingredients:
1. 4 cup chopped tomatoes (cut the tomatoes in chunks)
2. 1 tsp chopped ginger
3. 1/4 tsp cumin powder
4. 4-5 curry leaves
5. 1 1/2 tsp sugar
6. 1/4 tsp asafoetida
7. 1/2 tsp red chilli powder (as per taste, a little lesser would do)
8. 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
9. 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
10. 1/2 tsp turmeric
11. 1 1/2 cup sev
12. 1 tbsp oil for frying
13. salt to taste

Heat a wok and put the oil in it. Now add the curry leaves, cumin seeds and mustard seeds to the oil. Let the seeds pop and then add the asafoetida. Put the chopped ginger, red chilli powder, turmeric and roast the spices for about 10 seconds. Now add the tomatoes, cumin powder, sugar and salt to the wok. Add about 1/2 a cup of water to this and let it cook. Cook till the tomatoes become soft. Just before serving add the sev and serve hot.

Thepla
Serves 3
Recipe Source: Archana's kitchen

Ingredients:
1. 4 cup whole wheat flour
2. 1 cup chopped Fenugreek leaves
3. 1 cup yoghurt
4. 1 tsp half crushed cumin seeds
5. 1 tsp asafoetida
6. 1 tsp Turmeric
7. 4 tbsp oil
8. 1 tsp salt

Mix the whole wheat flour, salt, turmeric, fenugreek leaves, crushed cumin seeds, asafoetida powder and oil. Now start making the dough by adding the yoghurt. Mix and knead till you get a soft and smooth dough. You can use water if required. Cover and keep for 15 minutes.

Now make small balls out of the dough and start rolling the bowl one by one. Roll out the theplas by applying oil instead of flour to give them a cleaner texture. I made smaller theplas of about 4 inch diameter. You can roll out thin theplas of about 5-6 inch diameter (depends on how many you need to make). Heat an iron skillet and place the thepla on it. Turn the thepla when little air pockets start appearing. In about a minute apply oil and cook the thepla with a flat spatula while turning it around.

The combination of the methi (fenugreek) thepla with the sweet and sour tomato sabji is amazing. Not everyone likes the sweet taste in a sabji and I am one of them but this one tasted really good. The sweetness was complimenting the other flavors. Theplas were so yummy that my niece ate like 3-4 small ones. You can also serve the thepla with just pickle or curd.

Go ahead and make yourself a tasty Gujarati meal. Have fun :).