Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Bowling and the Punjab.

Went bowling as usual. Had one pretty good game and that was it. I complained to one of the owners that my friend, a team member, was beating her captain (me) he responded "That's unusually easy these days". Hmmf. All in fun you understand.

We have just been watching a programme called Cook Abroad. This week it was a Sikh from Scotland (he was born there) who is a chef in Scotland and was visiting the Punjab where his family originated. Although the whole programme is very much based on food,  they didn't actually give any recipes. However, I looked up some and the first one I found was Butter Chicken which is a pretty famous dish and which I have never tried. Gotta change that. There were other dishes I found but this was the first to attract my attention. I would like to have had the recipes shown in the programme mind you. One dish they showed used lots of mustard oil, and I mean lots. I used to have mustard oil years ago in the UK and it is as hot (spicy) as Hades.

Butter Chicken



Straight from a Punjabi kitchen, butter chicken has been an instant hit through the years. Marinated
overnight, the chicken is roasted and cooked in tomato puree, cream and masalas.

Ingredients

  • 700 gm raw chicken


    For theMarinade:

    1 tsp red chilli powder

    1 tsp ginger and garlic paste

    Salt to taste

    1/2 kg curd


    For theGravy:

    175 gm white butter

    1/2 tsp black cumin seeds

    1/2 kg tomato, pureed

    1/2 tsp sugar

    1 tsp red chilli powder

    Salt to taste

    100 gm fresh cream

    4 green chillies, sliced

    1/2 tsp fenugreek leaves, crushed
  • Have a great day


Method

For marinating the chicken

1. In a mixing bowl, mix red chilli powder, ginger garlic paste, salt and curd.

2. Add the raw chicken pieces to the marinade and mix well. Keep it in the refrigerator overnight or minimum 6 hours.

3. Roast the marinated chicken in a tandoor or an oven for about 10-12 minutes until it is three-fourth done.


For the chicken gravy


1. Heat half the quantity of white butter in pan.

2. Pour in the tomato puree, and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add cumin seeds, sugar, red chilli powder and salt. Mix well.

3. Add the prepared chicken, white butter, fresh cream, sliced green chillies and crushed fenugreek leaves. Saute for 3-4 minutes and let the chicken cook.

4. Cook till chicken is done. Serve hot with rice or naan


Serves 8




26 comments:

  1. I know Indian food and curry is a big thing in England. I have quite a few friends who love it. For me the smell of curry or whatever spices are used brings about instant nausea. This recipe doesn't look too bad but I've never heard of 'fenugreek'.

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    1. I can sympathise JoJo. My cousin used to live in a nurses home with lots of Indians and she said the smell of all the Indian food being cooked upset her too although she actually liked curry. Fenugreek are seeds which are widely used in Indian food. I have never actually used them myself though.

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  2. I have had butter chicken but have never made it at home. We have an Indian grocery up at the corner where I can buy the fenugreek leaves and I may have to try this. Did not know there were black cumin seeds. I'll have to look up how they differ from the ones I have.

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    1. I just reread this and laughed at the name of the show. 'Cook Abroad' sounds like a show about cannibals. Seems like they could have come up with a better title.

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    2. I haven't eaten it as I said Denise. I actually haven't made any Indian food for a number of years although I used to make a lot. Maybe this is one I should try and get back to cooking curries etc. Mind you I am not into cooking much these last few weeks. Just one thing on my mind

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    3. Didn't occur to me Denise. It is quite interesting. A chef, from the UK, travels to different countries. Last week it was Egypt, this week the Punjab. I would like them to give recipes though.

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    4. I am not sure if I had bed bugs in my house I could think about anything else. Or even cook. What a nightmare.

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    5. Gotta eat Denise although I do feel very much like that.

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  3. Ah, a familiar recipe, Jo. This was a pleasant surprise!

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    1. Well being an ex pat English woman, Indian food is very much part of my life, or was. I am told, these days, there is an Indian food shop on every corner in the UK. Used to cook a lot of Indian food, but not for some years now. I did so want some of the dahl recipes shown on the programme, looked delicious and full of mustard oil so they must have been very hot and spicy.

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  4. I need to live closer to you so I can try all the good food. You know I'm not going to cook it myself!!

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    1. Well you can always emigrate like so many are thinking of doing if a certain person gets elected. Be fun to have you as a neighbour Liz.

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  5. Mmmm. This is one of my favorite recipes, always served with homemade naan and saag. I once made an Indian coworker laugh himself into tears because he had to admit that my Indian cooking was better than his, and his wife was going to faint when he made it for her and she found out he asked for the recipe from a white guy. Good times!

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    1. Think I had better come and visit you as I have never tasted it. Guess I should make it then I will know what it's about. Nor do I know what saag is. Funny story about the Indian co-worker.

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    2. OK I Googled it. Sounds delicious.

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  6. This recipe sounds really good. I am marking this one down but is it really hot, burn your tongue off? My fingers burn when I take toast out from the toaster:) Glad to hear you have a fun time at bowling

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    1. If you are worried about it being too spicy (hot) for you, you could cut back on the chillis Birgit. A lot of Indian food takes getting used to, like Mexican does. Some people never get used to the hotness though.

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  7. Hi Jo. Thursday nights here on SBS we have one cooking program after another from exotic lands...it's as much about the country's scenery and culture as about its food. Love it. Of course on other nights of the week we have My Kitchen Rules, Rachael Koo in various cities around the world and occasionally some Nigella...drool, drool. Love butter chicken! But at my favourite Punjabi Palace restaurant i have a standing order for Lamb korma, my absolute fave dish.

    Hope all goes well Jo. :-)

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    1. This programme is also about the land as well as the food. Unfortunately we don't have a lot of Indian restaurants here, one I have been told is not much good (by my Brit/Indian doctor) and haven't tried the other which is close by.

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  8. I love watching cooking shows, and they've helped me do better in the kitchen, but I couldn't cook my way out a paper bag - compared to all these chefs! Still it's fun to watch. Glad your bowling is still fun!

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    1. They are interesting to watch. Giada di Laurentis used to be one of my favourites. Bowling is fun, yes, now if I could just get rid of the damned bugs, I would be a happy camper Yolanda

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  9. Cook Abroad, I will YouTube it and see if I can find it. I like watching food-related stuff when I'm on the treadmill.

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    1. It's a good show Ivy. British and shown on TV Ontario here.

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  10. I found, A Cook Abroad and A Kitchen Abroad. I will give them both a watch. This is my kind of stuff.

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    1. Don't know A Kitchen Abroad, I will have to look for it Ivy

      You're welcome.

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