Chicken Tikka Masala

If I ask you to describe your favorite gravy, what would you say? Creamy, rich, flavoured with just the right amount of spices and yes, succulent meat or vegetable chunks. Todays, dish is just that. The British claim that they’ve invented it, while we Indians claim to have invented it way back in the Mughal era; and in this “us” versus “them” debate, the fact remains that chicken tikka masala is to Indian cuisine just what fish & chips are to British cuisine.

Historically, legend has it that Butter Chicken and the Chicken Tikka Masala was prepared from the unwanted remains of the chicken like the neck, wings etc left over by the Nawabs. The cooks would then gather the pieces and cook then in a tomato gravy flavored with spices. Needless to say, the dish has been through many modifications and variations down the ages and the version we have today is made popular by a restaurant called “Delhi Darbar”. The actual flavor of the dish comes from the grilled chicken pieces. The other secret is the rich sauce made from tomatoes. One look at the texture and presentation may make you feel that it’s complicated to make but believe me, get everything ready and making this will be just a breeze. The original recipe doesn’t call for capsicums; however, I added a small one just to add some crunch to otherwise smooth gravy.

To be honest, doesn’t matter where or how the dish was invented; simply enjoy the sumptuous Chicken Tikka Masala.

Chicken Tikka Masala

·         450 grams  Chicken tikka (Refer note 1 below)

·         5-6 tablespoons Oil or ghee (clarified butter)

·         1 table spoon cumin seeds

·         Assortment of whole spices (2 green cardamoms, 1 black cardamom, 1 inch cinnamon stick, 1 small bay leaf)

·         2 medium onions—finely chopped

·         3 large tomatoes—finely chopped

·         500 grams good quality curd—beaten well

·         1 small capsicum cubed

·         1 ½ tablespoon ginger—garlic paste

·         1 teaspoon coriander powder

·         1 teaspoon red chili powder

·         1 teaspoon turmeric  powder

·         1 teaspoon garam masala powder (all spice powder)

·         5 tablespoons  Cashew Paste (refer note 2 below)

·         Juice of half lime (small)

·         Salt to taste

·         Chopped coriander—for garnishing

Procedure

·  In a heavy bottomed pan heat oil, and add in the whole spices and the cumin seeds.  Sauté spices till you have a fragrant aroma from them. Once the spices are done, add the chopped onions and cook till the onions are entirely caramelized (brown).

·   Now add the ginger garlic paste and cook well.

·  Add in the chopped tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes are pulpy. This is a very crucial step since if the tomatoes are not well cooked; the gravy will separate and ruin the dish.

·  Once the tomatoes cook, add in all the spice powders (coriander, red chili, turmeric& the garam masala powder) and mix well.

·  Once the spices have integrated well with the rest of the mixture, add in the cashew nut paste and sauté till the oil leaves the sides and the mixture has thickened a bit. 

·  Add the pieces of chicken tikka and mix well so that the pieces are covered well with the gravy and the flavours permeate into the pieces. Add a little water to the gravy to adjust to your consistency. Add salt, curd and cover and cook for about 7–10 minutes.

· Add the chopped capsicum, coriander and the lime juice and mix well.

· Serve hot with steamed rice or parathas.

Important notes:

Note 1

·         To make the chicken tikka

1.   Pre heat oven to 100 C for about 15 mins

2. Clean and wash the cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces and marinate them with curd, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and garam masala powder for half an hour.

3.    Keep the chicken pieces on a grill and bake them in the oven at 175 C for 10 minutes.

Note 2

·         To make the cashew paste

1.    Soak about 20 cashews in warm water for 30 minutes

2.    Grind to a fine paste in a mixer.

Prawns Biryani!!!

Being a South Indian, it would be criminal if I don’t put a post on rice anytime soon; and what better rice dish than the emperor of all dishes “The Biryani”.

The Biryani and the Taj Mahal are the two best things left behind by the Mughal rulers. We will cover the Taj in another post on Mughlai food; this time we’ll cover the all- time favorite “Biryani”. Having a biryani means you don’t need anything else since it is a complete meal in itself.  Layered with fats, carbs and proteins it is not one of the healthier options but come on, who ever heard of a diet biryani or a low calorie biryani hmm….  Indulgence has its own pleasures right? J

Not much is written about the history of this dish, but legend has it that the Persian soldiers (when going on longer journeys) carried with them a dish that was meat gravy topped with a layer of rice. Although there are many varieties of the biryani available world over, in India almost trace their roots to the kitchens of the Nawabs in Hyderabad and Lucknow. It is said that a particular Nawab boasted of 49 varieties in his kitchen. Essentially, biryanis are of two types, “Kachchi (raw) Biryani” as the marinated rice and meat are cooked together & the “Pakki (cooked) Biryani” this is where the rice and meat are cooked separately and then layered.

Preparing a biryani is a long drawn, elaborate and tedious task. But believe me; it will be worth the effort. I guess with some planning and preparation, the task will be simpler and less strenuous.

I had initially planned doing a either a chicken or mutton one; but there were some large prawns in the fridge & my mum felt that the best way to use them was in a biryani. You could replace the prawns with either mutton or chicken. Purists believe that the ratio of rice to meat should be 1:1 that is 1 kg rice for 1 kg of meat. However, I tried 1:0.7 that is 1 kg rice and 700 grams meat and it came out decent. A good biryani is only as good as the quality of rice used. So, make sure to use good quality and long grained rice. Needless to say, no being miserly on the use of ghee and spices.

Well, get set for the grind of making the yummy Prawns Biryani. My suggestion is make a little extra, the aroma will draw all your neighbours and I’m sure they will not leave till they’ve had some.

 Prawns Biryani.

Main Ingredients

§  Long grained Basmati rice                                                       800 grams

§  Prawns (approx)*                                                                     550 grams

§  Large Onions                                                                            3

§  Lime                                                                                         1

§  Desi Ghee                                                                                 4 Tablespoons

§  Milk                                                                                          ¼ cup

§  Salt                                                                                            To taste

§  Oil                                                                                             for frying the onions

For the Marinade

§  Thick curd                                                                                   350 grams

§  Ginger Paste                                                                               1 ½ tablespoon

§  Garlic Paste                                                                                1 ½ tablespoon

§  Green Chillies (finely chopped)                                                  3

§  Kashmiri Chilli Powder*                                                              2 tablespoons

§  Turmeric Powder                                                                        1 ½ tablespoon

§  Garam Masala Powder                                                                1 tablespoon

§  Jeera (Cummin) Powder                                                             1 tablespoon

Whole Masala’s

§  Cinnamon Stick                                                                        1

§  Green Cardamom                                                                    4-5

§  Cummin Seeds                                                                        1 teaspoon

§  Bay Leaf                                                                                    1 Large

§  Star Aniseed                                                                              1

Procedure:

We shall begin by making the marinade:

§  Clean, De-shell and de-vein the prawns.

§  Heat oil in a deep frying pan

§  Slice the onions finely. Fry them in the oil till they turn golden brown; be careful since if they burn they will taste bitter. Once done place them on an absorbent paper to drain the excess oil. Let them rest for a while and allow them to get crisp.

§  Beat the curd well add in prawns and coat them well with the curd. To this add a little salt, ginger garlic pastes and all the other masalas mentioned under the marinade heading.

§  Crush the onions and add to the curd mixture. Remember to keep some aside for garnishing.

§  Add the juice of half a lime to it, finely chopped coriander and tear in a few mint leaves.

§  Mix well (take care not to damage the prawns) and keep aside for at least 2 hours.

For the rice:

§  Soak the rice for atleast 20-25 minutes in water before you begin working with it.

§  In a large pan heat water equivalent to double the quantity of rice. When the water starts boiling, add in the rice.

§  Add some ghee to the rice. This will ensure that the grains don’t stick to each other. Add in the all the ingredients mentioned under the whole masalas heading and some salt.

§  You will need to make sure that you constantly keep watch on the rice to make sure that it doesn’t get over cooked.

§  When the rice is about ¾ done, drain it on a colander and let it cool for a while.

§  Take out a large spoonful of the rice and keep aside.

§  Add ½ teaspoon of the turmeric powder to the milk and stir well. Pour this milk on the rice that has been kept aside. This will give the rice a nice yellow colour. Personally, I don’t like using artificial colouring.

For the assembling:

§  Line a heavy bottomed vessel with ghee.

§  Add in the prawn marinade and spread well. Top this with a few mint leaves and half the coloured rice.

§  Top this with some of the fried onion

§  Now layer this with the white rice. Cover it with the remainder of the coloured rice and top it with the remaining fried onions and the mint.

§  Seal the vessel tightly and cook for about 30* minutes on medium flame and for another 10 minutes on a low flame.

§  Once done take out from the heat and let it rest for about 10-15 minutes.

§  Serve with refreshing raita.

Notes:

§  The Prawns I used were of the large variety. So approximately I used about 12 prawns.

§  Kashmir Chilies are not spicy. But the powder gives a nice, bright red colour.

§  I used prawns so I have mentioned 30 minutes. Chicken or mutton should take about 45 minutes.

Phew!!!! That was long… I’m rushing to enjoy the biryani…