Cheat’s Guide to Chicken Ghee Roast

Before I write anything about the recipe, I want to say that it’s been more than a couple of years now since I’ve posted any recipes. My son is a little big boy now and I can manage to find some time to blog again! So here I am back with a recipe. 

Chicken Ghee Roast is another popular dish from my hometown Mangalore. And I must tell you, a Sunday Afternoon lunch with Chicken Ghee Roast and Neer Dosa or even plain Steamed Rice is just divine! So here’s my version of Chicken Ghee Roast- the Cheat’s way. 

Traditionally it is made by dry roasting whole spices and then blending it into a paste. Here’s my version where I use powdered spices which saves a lot of time, however the end result tastes exactly the same. Here’s my recipe for Chicken Ghee Roast: 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Lime
• 1 Sprig Curry Leaves 
• 1/2 Cup Curd
• A Pinch of Turmeric Powder 
• 2 tsp Paprika or Kashmiri Chilli Powder
• 1/2 tsp Cumin Powder 
• 1/2 tsp Coriander Powder 
• Salt to Taste
• 1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1-2 tbsp Clarified Butter (Ghee)
• 350gms Chicken 
• 1 medium size Onion chopped 

Method:

In a mixing bowl add the Curd, Lime Juice, Turmeric Powder, Paparika (Kashmiri Chilli Powder), Cumin Powder, Coriander Powder, Salt and Ginger Garlic Paste. Mix well. 

Now Add the Chicken and allow it to marinate for 10-15 minutes.

Heat a pan and add the Ghee ( Clarified Butter) and add the chopped onion. Sauté on medium heat until they turn slight golden. 

Now add the marinated Chicken and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. Lower the heat after 10 minutes and cook on low heat for 10 more minutes. 

Now add the Curry Leaves and cook for 5 more minutes or until the chicken is well cooked. 

Spinach and Potatoes (Aloo Palak)

Aloo Palak is an excellent side dish and goes very well with rotis and parathas. It has however two variants. The one with gravy is similar to Palak Paneer, where you just have to replace the Cottage Cheese with Potatoes. This recipe is the dry version. While following the recipe, just make sure not to over cook the spinach as it’ll lose it’s freshness. This one’s a great vegetarian dish. So, here’s the recipe for Aloo Palak.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups par-boiled cubed Potatoes
• 2 cups chopped Spinach
• ½ cup finely chopped Onion
• 4 cloves of Garlic chopped
• 2 Green Chilies slit in the middle and cut into halves
• 1 tsp. Cumin Seeds
• ¼ tsp. Asafetida Powder
• 2 tbsp. Oil
• Salt to Taste
• 1 tsp. Red Chili Powder
• 1 tsp. Cumin Powder
• 1 tsp. Coriander Powder
• ½ tsp. Turmeric Powder
• ½ tsp. Garam Masala Powder

Method:

• Heat Oil in a Pan.
• Add the Cumin Seeds and allow it to crackle.
• Add the Asafetida, Garlic and Green Chilies and cook for a minute.
• Now add the Onion and allow it to caramelize.
• Add the Par Boiled Potatoes and toss and cook for 2 minutes.
• Lower the heat and add Salt, Red Chili Powder, Turmeric Powder, Garam Masala Powder, Cumin Powder and Coriander Powder and mix well.
• Now add the chopped Spinach mix well and cover and cook for 3-4 minutes.
• Make sure you don’t over cook the Spinach, because it will lose its freshness.

Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken originated in Delhi and has made it’s way all over the world. There are so many versions of Butter Chicken you can find these days. I used the Griller to Grill my Chicken, but you could also cook them on a non-stick pan or use the oven. You can make the milder version just by adjusting the amount of Red Chili Powder and Garam Masala Powder and increasing the amount of fresh cream. Also, if you want the gravy even thicker, just add a tbsp. of Cashew Paste. It will improve the thickness and make the gravy richer. This is how I usually make Butter Chicken.

Ingredients for the Marinade:

• 500 gms Boneless Chicken cut into small pieces
• 2 tbsp. Hung Curd
• 1 tsp. Garam Masala Powder
• 1 tsp. Chili Powder
• 1 tsp. Ginger Garlic Paste
• Juice of Half a lime.
• 1 tsp. Oil
• Salt for seasoning

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and set aside for half an hour.
• Grill the chicken in a griller until it is cooked.
• Keep the grilled chicken aside.

Ingredients for the Gravy:

• 3 tbsp. Butter
• 4 pods Green Cardamom
• 8 medium tomatoes pureed and passed through a sieve
• 1/2 tsp. Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1 ½ tbsp. Sugar
• Salt for Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. Garam Masala Powder
• 1 tsp. Red Chili Powder
• 1 tsp. Dried Fenugreek leaves Powder (Kasuri Methi Powder)
• ¼ cup Fresh Cream

Method:

• Melt the Butter in a Pan.
• Add the Green Cardamom pods and wait for half a minute.
• Add the Ginger Garlic Paste and sauté for half a minute.
• Now add the Tomato Puree.
• Add in the Sugar, Salt, Red Chili Powder and Garam Masala Powder.
• Turn the heat to low and cover and cook for 12-14 minutes.
• Now add the Grilled Chicken, Fresh Cream and Dried Fenugreek leaves Powder, mix gently and then cover and cook for another 2 minutes.
• Transfer the Butter Chicken into a serving bowl and drizzle some fresh cream on top.

Dum Aloo

Dum Aloo is a North Indian, Kashmiri Dish. ‘Aloo’ refers to Potato and the recipe calls for cooking on low heat for a long time with the lid on. This helps all the aroma get captured inside and once it’s done and you open the lid, the fragrance is just blissful. The spice blend is also quite different and therefore I’ve included the recipe for the masala powder as well. My husband usually doesn’t eat Potatoes except for French Fries. But the flavor in this particular dish is so amazing that he ended up eating it. He also promised that he would eat potatoes anytime if it were so flavorful. So here’s the recipe for Dum Aloo.

Ingredients:

• 10-12 peeled and boiled Baby Potatoes
• 1/3 cup finely chopped Onions
• 1 tbsp. Fennel Seeds
• 1 tbsp. Cumin Seeds
• 1 tbsp. Coriander Seeds
• 5 pods of Green Cardamom
• 1 tsp. Chili Powder
• ½ tsp. Garam Masala Powder
• ¼ tsp. Turmeric Powder
• Salt to Taste
• 1 tbsp. Sugar
• 1½ cup Yogurt
• 1 tsp. Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1 tbsp. Clarified Butter (Ghee)
• 1 tbsp. Oil
• Chopped Coriander Leaves for Garnish

Method:

• Heat Oil in a Pan.
• Add the Potatoes and keep tossing them until they are golden brown. (Note: While you boil the potatoes, Peel them before hand and pierce them with a fork all around. This will help them get the flavor from the Masala).
• Once the Potatoes are Golden Brown, keep them aside.
• Now in a clean pan, dry roast the Cumin Seeds, Fennel Seeds, Coriander Seeds and Green Cardamom. Make sure you don’t burn them. You’ll know it’s done once they start releasing the aroma.
• Grind all of them into a fine powder and keep aside. (That’s the Masala Powder).
• Take the yogurt in a bowl and add the ginger garlic paste and mix well. Then, pass the mixture through a sieve.
• Add the Clarified Butter (Ghee) in a deep Pan.
• Add the Onions and cook until they turn golden brown.
• Lower the heat and add Red Chili Powder, Turmeric, Garam Masala Powder, Salt, Sugar and the Masala Power mix you just made.
• Mix well and then add the Yogurt mixture, cover and cook on medium high for a minute and then add the Potatoes.
• Now Place a flat pan under the pan in which you are cooking and cook 2 minutes on high heat and on medium low for 15 minutes. ( Keep the lid in throughout).
• Transfer the Dum Aloo into a serving Bowl and Garnish it with Chopped Coriander Leaves.

Kadai Paneer

Kadai Paneer is a very interesting dish. Unlike other curries where the Masala is ground into a fine paste or powder, Kadai Paneer calls for a coarse masala mix. The tiny bits of the spice mix make you say ‘Wow!’ as you put a spoonful of the curry in your mouth. Anyhow, there are different ways of making Kadai Paneer. But after cooking ‘Dum Biryani’, I realized that placing a flat pan under the pan in which you’re cooking prevents direct heat and helps not to burn the curries. It allows it to cook evenly and the aroma caught inside just blows my mind! It’s more like cooking it in the Oven. But a different way always sounds interesting. So here’s Kadai Paneer, my way.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. Coriander Seeds
• 1 tbsp. Cumin Seeds
• 4 Dry Red Chilies
• 1 tsp. finely chopped Ginger
• 1 tsp. finely chopped Garlic
• 1 tsp. finely chopped Green Chilies
• 2 tbsp. Oil
• 1 tsp. Garam Masala Powder
• 1 tsp. Coriander Power
• Salt to Taste
• 1 tsp. Sugar
• 1 tsp. Dried Fenugreek Leaves (Kasuri Methi)
• 2 cups chopped Tomatoes
• 400 gms. Cottage Cheese (Paneer) cut into large cubes.
• ¼ cup Green Bell Pepper cut into large pieces
• ¼ cup Onion cut into large pieces and separated
• ¼ cup Tomato deseeded and cut into large pieces
• 4 tbsp. Fresh Cream

Method:

• Heat a Pan and then add the Coriander Seeds, Cumin Seeds and Dry Red Chilies and Dry Roast them for a minute.
• Transfer them it to a blender and grind into a Coarse Powder. (Make sure you don’t grind it fine, the Kadai Masala is supposed to be coarse. Also, if you don’t want the curry to be too hot, then deseed the Dry Red Chilies before roasting them.)
• Heat oil in a pan. (The pan has to be wide and deep).
• Add Ginger, Garlic and Green Chilies and Cook for half a minute.
• Now Add the Kadai Masala Mix into the Pan.
• Add the chopped tomatoes.
• It’s time to add the salt and sugar too.
• Add in the Coriander Power and Garam Masala Powder.
• Mix well and cook on medium flame for 10 minutes.
• Add the Cottage Cheese, Bell Peppers, Tomato Pieces, Onion and Dried Fenugreek Leaves and mix gently. Cover and cook.
• Allow it to cook for a minute and then place a flat pan below the pan in which you are cooking. (This will help your curry from getting burnt.)
• Keep the flame on high for a minute and then set it on low and let it cook for 8-10 minutes.
• Add the Fresh cream, mix, cover it with the lid and cook further for 2-3 minutes and you’re done.

Hot and Sour Egg Curry

Mangalore had introduced me to a wide range of regional cuisines. I can still recall my neighbor asking my mom whether or not we had our lunch and if not, she used to rush back to her house and come back with amazing curries. She happened to use vinegar in almost all her curries and that bit of sourness in the curry made it stand out, specially the fish curry. My mom used to make the same curry, but she used tamarind water instead of the vinegar. They both tasted great. The dish is called ‘Puli Munchi’ in Mangalore; ‘Puli’ is Tamarid and ‘Munchi’ is Chili. So it’s basically a hot and sour dish.

I asked Ajay what he wanted for lunch and he said ‘Egg Curry’. So I decided to make the egg curry inspired by ‘Puli Munchi’. I realized that he would find it a little hot, so planned to make it Sour, Hot & Sweet. These three things go very well together. The original Recipe what my mom used to make is using dry red chilies and tamarind blended into a paste, for the gravy. But I used red chili powder instead. And also replaced the tamarind with white vinegar. So how would I get a thick gravy? That’s why I used the Cornflour. The curry turned out great. It’s not exactly what my mom or my neighbor used to make… But definitely inspired by it.

Ingredients:

• 6 Eggs boiled and cut into half
• 2 tbsp. Oil
• 2 medium Onions Sliced
• 1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1 Star Anise
• 1 inch Cinnamon
• 1tbsp. Cornflour
• 1¼ tsp. Chilli Powder
• 1½ tsp. Sugar
• ¼ cup Vinegar
• 2 cups Water

Method:

• Heat Oil in a Pan.
• Add the Cinnamon and Star Anise and sauté for half a minute.
• Add the Onions and the Sugar and cook until the Onions caramelize.
• Add the Ginger Garlic Paste, Red Chilli powder and Salt and cook for a minute.
• Then add the Vinegar and 2 cups of water.
• Dissolve the Cornflour with 4 tbsp. of water and add it into the Curry (This will help give a texture to the curry).
• Cook it in low flame for 5 minutes and then add the Eggs.
• Mix well and cook further for 5 minutes.