Uthapa Aunty’s Coorgi Murgi

Mrs Uthapa was my mother figure during my short life in Bangalore. She lived in the apartment next door and worked in a bank. She wore neatly pleated cotton sarees, and fresh Mallige (jasmine) flowers braided in her wet hair. She rode a Kinetic Honda to work at the State Bank of India.

“Aunty”, as you’d address any elderly lady in urban India, soon became quite friendly with me, and would even discuss things like her two sons’ careers and higher education with me. We would also exchange bowlfuls of freshly cooked food. I would give her a taste of my North Indian cooking fare, while she mesmerized me with her Pandi Curry and sometimes this Coorgi Chicken Curry.

The only thing I did not like was when she came with Bevu Bella (Neem and jaggery) during Ugadi. The neem from her hands brought out my extreme dislike of bitter. But she put a gun to my head and made me eat it and pretend I enjoyed it! My Mama would have been so pleased, because never in her life has she been able to make me eat neem-begun.

Anyway, here is how I made Uthapa Aunty’s Coorgi Murgi.

Ingredients for Uthapa Aunty’s Coorgi Murgi are:

1 chicken, cut into curry pieces
1 large red onion, finely chopped
1 four inch piece of fresh ginger
6-7 tablespoons of freshly grated coconut (I used the frozen variety, Deep brand)
5-6 green chilies (Aunty’s recipe does not have them, but I do add them)
2 tablespoons tamarind extract
Handful of coriander, leaves and stems
5-6 cloves
2 pieces of cinnamon
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon black pepper powder
Cooking oil
Salt

Start by heating the oil in a pressure pan. Add the chopped onions and sauté till they are lightly browned. Add the chicken pieces. Make sure there is no moisture in the chicken. Mix well and cover and cook till the chicken has turned brown.

Meanwhile, finely grind the cloves and cinnamon. You could use whole coriander seeds and dry grind them with the cloves and cinnamon. But I used store-bought coriander powder instead.

Add the powdered cloves, cinnamon, coriander, turmeric and black pepper powder to the chicken and coat the pieces well. Season with salt. Cover and cook for 5-6 minutes on low heat.

Now wet grind together the ginger, fresh coriander, and green chilies. Add this mixture to the chicken and cook for 5-6 minutes, covered. Add enough water to cover the chicken and spices. Cook till done, or you see oil releasing from the chicken and bubbling on the sides. Add the grated coconut now. And mix well. Let it bubble with the chicken for about 5-7 minutes. The coconut adds natural sweetness to the dish and thickens the curry.

Finish the Coorgi Murgi by adding the tamarind extract. Do a taste test and add more salt if needed. Serve with plain rice or with appams. And think how wonderful your life is to be getting your hands to such recipes which are family specials from faraway Bangalore. Thank you, Uthapa Aunty.

Nameless Kaju Posto Chicken

Forget the Kitchen Stadium, for many home cooks it becomes an everyday challenge to rack her brains over dinner ideas. I usually struggle and remain pretty undecided till the time I actually start cooking. Sometimes things fall in place and impressively so. Sometimes I flip through cookbooks, and close them with equal enthusiasm for their list of elaborate ingredients. The rest of the times I look for inspirations in my own cooking.

Last evening I made this Chicken Curry where the base was made with a paste of poppy seeds (posto) and cashews (kaju).

I don’t have a name for this dish, so maybe you can help. For now, lets call it Kaju Posto Chicken. Under no temptation will you suggest I call it Pree’s Chicken.

Another thing I’d like clarify here (before PETA comes knocking on my door) is that I am not trying to cannibalize the hen you see in the picture. Its just a porcelain planter I picked from a downtown store yesterday and thought it makes for a good prop for my nameless chicken dish.

(Though just between you and me, when I was little we had a parrot called Mithu; he loved Chicken Maggi Noodles and wouldn’t eat chana sprouts or chilies as good green parrots ought to. So we were forced to give him Maggi Noodles with real chicken pieces, he wouldn’t have it any other way!)

Ingredients for Kaju Posto Chicken are:

750 grams chicken (I used skinless, bone-in breast portions)
1 red onion, roughly chopped
150 ml ready to use tomato paste (if you don’t have this, purée two ripe tomatoes at home and use)
7-8 green chilies, slit lengthwise
2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste
Handful of cashews and 2 tablespoons poppy seeds made into a thick, smooth paste
1 teaspoon red chili powder
10 raisins
4 tablespoons canola oil
Sugar
Salt

Heat canola oil in a pan and sear the whole chicken breasts till they get a nice brown color on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and when the chicken is cool enough for you to handle, cut them into bite-size pieces. If you are using chicken which is already cut, skip this step.

In the same pan, sauté the chopped onions, with 3-4 slit green chilies, and the raisins.

Once the onions have turned light brown, toss the chicken pieces in and sauté them further; tops five more minutes. Add the kaju-posto paste and the remaining green chilies and give it a good mix. Then add the ginger-garlic paste, tomato paste, red chili powder, sugar and salt.

Cook this on low-medium heat, covered all the time for five more minutes. Add one cup water when the raw spices get cooked. Cover and cook till the chicken gets tender and the extra liquid dries up. The sauce should be clinging to the chicken pieces. Do not pressure cook, please.

So did you think of a name?

Kasoori Chicken Curry

My life these days can be summed up in two words. Sleep. Dream.

In between that sleeping and dreaming, I also buy vegetables. Lots of vegetables. And fruits. Which means P’s gastronomical needs are being ignored. His cliché of “I feel weak if I don’t eat meat”, doesn’t crack me up anymore. Instead, I take him seriously. Very seriously.

After all, I do not know of many husbands who run 10 klicks, five times a week to get back in shape for his upcoming soccer season.

This Kasoori Chicken Curry is another of my impromptu recipes, given the fact that I did have a Cornish hen in the freezer. The other ingredients just played ball.

Unlike my other posts, this recipe does not have step-by-step detailing, because honestly I wasn’t too sure of the outcome and the camera did not seem too appealing to handle when I was in the midst of an impending nausea.

Ingredients for Kasoori Chicken Curry are:

1 Cornish hen, about 400-500 grams
1 medium red onion finely slivered
2 ripe medium size tomatoes
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 tablespoon green chili paste
Quarter cup Balkan-style / plain yogurt
Quarter teaspoon black cumin seeds/ shahi jeera
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
3 heaped teaspoons of Kasoori Methi (I use the MDH brand)
Pinch of mace
2 bay leaves
1+1 tablespoon Canola oil
Salt

I began by cutting curry pieces of the Cornish hen. You can also use regular chicken pieces for this recipe.
 
Marinade the chicken pieces in yogurt, ginger-garlic-chili paste, black cumin seeds, no more than a pinch of mace, turmeric, red chili, coriander, and garam masala powders. Add to the marinade one tablespoon oil. The chicken is good to be cooked after about 30 minutes of marinating.

Heat one tablespoon oil in a pan. Add a couple of bay leaves and add the onions. Fry the slivered onions till they are light brown in color. Turn the heat to the lowest point. This is important as yogurt has high chancing of curdling on high heat.

Now add the marinating chicken. Cover and cook on medium-high heat till all the natural juices are coming out of the chicken.

Add salt to taste and crush the kasoori methi (dry fenugreek) leaves on the chicken. Mix well.
To crank up the tang in the chicken, I added one plump, ripe tomato, roughly chopped. Cook the tomato with the chicken till its done.

Finish off the dish with slices of tomato and few hot peppers, slit lengthwise. 
The Kasoori Chicken Curry is best served with hot rotis/chapatis and a bowlful of salad.