Chotoder Chicken Stew -- Chicken Stew with Vegetables

A couple of months back...

Me to BigSis: Have you heard of Isaac newton ? Do you know who he is ?

BigSis : Yes, yes, he is the guy who said we should wash our hands twenty times with soap and water to kill germs.

Me: ????? Don't they teach anything at your school ? Newton was a famous scientist...

BigSis: Yes, that is why he said to wash hands !!!

Me, now confused, maybe Newton said something about washing hands after all, who knows: Well, that is fine but more importantly he was the one who explained gravity, apple falling from tree... F=G..blah, blah, blah

Big Sis: Okay...

A few weeks back, little neighbor girl has come over to play.

Me, with my favorite question: Have you heard of Isaac newton ? Do you know who he is ?

Little NG: Uh, Oh
Big Sis very interested : Yes, yes, he is the guy who said we should wash our hands twenty times with soap and water to kill germs.

Me, now exasperated: Didn't I tell you that he was a famous scientist and apple falling from tree...blah, blah...gravity...blah, blah

Little NG: BM Aunty, Yes, apple will always fall down from tree, will not go up but Hand washing with soap and water really kills germs.

Now really who is this guy. Where in the Principia did Sir Newton tell us to wash our hands ? For now I am washing my hands off this and cooking up a chicken stew with loads of vegetables. You do too. A warm bowl to cool a hot mind.

I make a chicken stew(you can make with mutton too) with loads of vegetables every week. Little S loves chicken and this stew, Big Sis at her current stage not so much chicken but still likes the broth part. Every week the vegetables change, the spices change but the stew is always there.Till about 6 months ago I would puree the vegetables like this egg curry. Now I just put everything in the pressure cooker. The aroma is divine. With a hot green chili, it makes a lovely dish even for the adults.

There is no set recipe that I have. I go along with the flow and some week is just better than the other. The spice mix I used a couple of weeks back was different, a bit unusual and I liked it. That is the only reason I am putting the recipe here. Now tell me, what is your child's favorite everyday food ?

Hope you all had a Happy Eid and a lovely Ganesh Chaturthi.

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Chicken Stew with Vegetables

The measurements etc. are totally eyeballed, go with your instinct.

Marinate 2-2&1/2lb of whole cut up chicken (skinless with bones) with 1 tsp of Garlic Paste, 1 tsp of Ginger Paste, a little turmeric powder, salt and lime juice

Toast
1 tsp of whole Corriander Seeds
1/4 tsp of Cumin seeds
1/4 tsp of Fennel seeds
6 Cloves/Laung

Make a paste of the
above spices
4 cloves of garlic
1" piece of peeled and chopped ginger

Heat Olive Oil or butter in a Pressure cooker or a deep bottomed pan

Temper the oil with a thin 2" stick of cinnamon and 3-4 green cardamom (gently crushed in the mortar)

Add about 1 small onion chopped fine and fry till onion turns brown on the edges. Add the masala paste and 1 chopped tomato. Fry covered till the oil is separating from the masala and the tomatoes are all mushed up.

Add all the vegetables (potatoes, carrots, zucchini, green beans, few leaves of spinach, a beet maybe), sprinkle a little salt and saute for 2-3 minutes.

Next add the marinated chicken pieces and saute till the meat is no longer pink.

Add enough warm water so that the meat and vegetables are fully covered. Add a fistful of fresh coriander leaves.Pressure cook for about 5 minutes at full pressure. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and lime juice. Serve as a soup or with rice.
Note: For grown ups add a couple of hot Indian Green chili for a spicy kick

Bhuni Khichuri -- with a twist of spice

Last week was the season premiere of TWC -- The Weather Channel. There was drama, earthquake, suspense, Irene the tormenting saas making an entry, hurricane, fear, tropical storm, tornado watch and lots of media coverage.

I watched Weather Channel like I have never done in my life. It is usually my Dad's prerogative when he is here and especially if it is winter. But in one week I outdid him. I watched it on the telly, on the laptop, on my iPad, on my phone...you name it and I was watching Weather Channel. And this from me who rarely ever watches television. You will say "House" and I will stare at you blank, you say "Dexter" and I am clueless. Beyond "Friends", "Everybody loves Raymond" and at times "Seinfeld" I don't think I have ever watched any series with so much emotions except of course Barney, Arthur and Dora the Explorer.

If this was India and there was a that thing called TRP, I bet TWC would score huge wins over stuff like "KKKKKKUsum" and "Kyunki Sass Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi" and all this without even starting off with a "K".

So anyway we were all pretty excited and prepared for the hurricane maiden Irene this weekend. In its wake, the earthquake earlier in the week seemed like merely a child in diapers.

When I went to the grocery store on Thursday evening and couldn't find a single bunch of yellow banana and then had to snatch away the last gallon of Organic Milk from another equally eager Mother, I kind of had a premonition of the heady days ahead. I called up at least a dozen friends and told them about "bare shelves" and how we could not find a "single thing" at Wegman's when the truth is I notched up a bill of 125 dollars just buying things I might need in an emergency and this included tubs of Haagen-Daz's Dulche de Leche. They in turn regaled me with their stories of stores bereft of bottles of water and such.

The myths just propagated but honestly we couldn't find a single flashlight in any store on Friday and turned out that was the single most important thing we would need.

Saturday, to mark it special and all I decided to make a Bhuni Khichuri. I am not particularly fond of Khichuris and never eager to make them. But D loves Khichuri to bits so for once I decided to put aside my own selfish interest and cook something that he might like. What with the hurricane and all I thought, I better mend my ways and become a better person.

I was armed with two recipes from folks on FaceBook, a sketchy one from the Mater and my own strong desire to add a twist to the Bhuni Khichuri. Bhuni Khichuri or Bhuna Khichuri is the richer version of the plain old Khichuri. It is more of a Pulao in the Khichdi family than a Khichuri. It can have non-vegetarian components like meat, eggs or prawn added to it. The name "Bhuni" or "Bhuna" comes from the step that involves roasting of the moong dal and frying the rice etc. to make this Khichdi.

My own memories of Bhuni Khichuri is more fictional than practical and is strongly grounded in what Buddhadeb Guha insists that "Rijuda"(of Rijudar Sathe Jongole fame) eats along with delicious venison meat(horiner mangsho) during his hunting adventures.

On Saturday however I was also plagued with memories of Bisi Bele Bhath and I wanted a spice component to the Bhuni Khichuri. So from the Masala Vani suggests I omitted Curry Leaves, Sambhar Powder and Coconut, for a Bong touch added Paanch Phoron  and made a spice powder. The Spice Powder along with the roasted Moong Dal, the Raisins, the Cashwes and the Ghee made for a suitably rich and delicious Bhuni Khicuri. We had it with some Papad and a spicy Chicken dish. By evening we were all ready for the hurricane and when the power conked off after midnight we went off to bed confident of a better tomorrow.

I just read that Swami Vivekananda who apparently was a very eager and experimental cook was fond of Bhuni Khicuri and made one with scrambled Duck Eggs added to it. This makes the cooking over the weekend all the more worthwhile.


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Bhuni Khichuri

Preparations

Make a Spice Powder

This is totally optional and not generic to traditional Bhuni Khichuri. You can use 1 tbsp of home made Garam Masala instead

Dry Roast

3 Dry red Chili(mine is not very hot, adjust according to taste)
4 green cardamom
4 laung/clove
1 big black cardamom(use only pods for grinding)
2" stick of cinnamon
1/4 tsp of Paanch Phoron
1 tbsp of Corriander seeds or 1 tsp of Corriander Powder
a pinch of Hing
Grind to a fine powder

Dry Roast 1 cup of Yellow Moong Dal till you get a nutty smell and some of the lentil is a light brown in color. Be careful, not to burn the lentils.

Wash 1 cup of Basmati or Gobindobhog rice and keep aside

Roast 2 tbsp of Kaju/Cashew in little oil and keep aside.

Start Cooking

In a Pressure Cooker heat 1 tbsp of White Oil OR Ghee

Temper the Oil with
2 small Bay Leaves
2 small green cardamom
2 Clove
1" thin stick of cinnamon (optional, I skipped)
1-2 Dry Red Chili

When the spices sputter, add 2 tbsp of finely chopped onion. Fry the onion till it is brown at the edges

Add 1 heaped tsp of homemade Ginger-Garlic Paste (more Ginger, less Garlic) and fry for a minute.

Puree 1 medium juicy tomato and add to above. Continue frying with sprinkles of water till the tomato is cooked.

Now add 1/2 cup of Peas. I added about 3/4 cup of Frozen Carrots + Peas. You can also add potatoes, cauliflowers etc. Fry for couple more minutes.

Add the roasted Dal followed with the rice. Add 1/4th tsp of turmeric powder  + the dry spice powder  you made. You can use 1 tbsp of the spice powder you made, if you prefer less spicy.
Add 1-2 tbsp of golden raisins. Now fry everything for 3-4 more minutes.

Add about 4 to 4&1/2 Cup of warm water, salt and about 1/2 tsp of sugar. Mix everything. Add 1 tsp of Ghee. Close the lid of the Pressure cooker and cook for 4 minutes at full pressure. My pressure cooker cooks rice in 3 mins at full pressure, I give a minute extra for the dal.

When you open the lid of the cooker, add a tsp more of Ghee if you want. Add the roasted Kaju/Cashew Nuts. Keep container closed and serve piping hot with Papad, chutney, fried Hilsa, Begun Bhaja or any meat dish. Bhuni Khichuri is supposed to be dry and not runny or liquid-y like the regular Khichuri, you can however adjust to your taste.

Pista Pesto Pasta

My garden did not grow this summer. I mean it did, but only the weeds.Tall, willowy, reed like weeds are growing in abundance and I am telling myself it is an unkempt, english garden. Truth be told, there is nothing English about it, there is just a whole lot of crappy weeds. That's it.

Far back in April we had decided that we will not do our tiny veggie patch this year. We had also decided that we will let weeds grow.The reason for this momentous decision on our part was "time" or rather the lack of it. Like very important people on the face of this earth we do not have time any more, the catch is we are not even important and yet we don't have enough time. You know how it is, you are not important, you don't really do anything worthwhile and yet you are "bijee", "bijee" and then you stop every third person in the planet and tell them "Arre, you know na, I don't have any time, I am so bizee".

So anyway after all that decision I had severe hormonal upheavals in May about having no vegetables to eat off the plant and I went and got a basil plant, a banana pepper plant and a beans plant which I potted in planters.

The basil grew and grew and grew and finally I made a Pesto. I had made Miri's pesto earlier. But this time I did not have walnuts only a bag full of pistachios. "Pista Pesto" sounded quiet good, not as good as "Pista Ice Cream" but still...

So I made the Pesto, tossed some Pasta with it and we wolfed it all down hungry. Next I made it again and I still have some leftover in my refrigerator. It is a wonderful Pesto, nutty, rich with a kick from the chilies and a hint of lime reminding you of summer.

That reminds me, does anyone freeze pesto ? For how long ?

Miri's Pesto with Walnuts

My version is here

Basil leaves ~ 2 cups loosely packed
Unsalted Pistachios ~ 1/3 cup
Olive Oil ~ 1/4 cup to start with. Add more if needed
Garlic Cloves ~ 3-4 cloves
Green chili ~ 2 hot Indian green chili
Lime Juice ~ 1 tsp
Salt ~ to taste

Put all of the above in a Food Processor and blend until smooth. Add the Olive Oil gradually.

You can use the Pesto as a spread or you can toss pasta in it.

The Way I made Pesto Pasta

Cook Spaghetti according to Package directions

Heat 1-2 tsp of Olive Oil in a frying pan.

Add 1 tsp of mince garlic. When you get the flavor of garlic add the required amount of pesto, followed by the cooked Pasta. Toss gently to coat the Pasta with the pesto. Serve warm.

This is my neighbor's curry leaf plant. I noticed the fruits for the first time in my life after Sra had posted abut them

Note: While I was midway through this post, my town felt the tremors of an earthquake that was epicentered in Virginia. I could not complete the post then as I fled out to the open. It was a mild tremor but it did shake me up and made me realize how fragile we are in Mother Nature's hands.