My dear blog, I have a confession to make. I have been disgracefully inattentive of you lately. I have neglected to keep you updated, I have not given you enough food content to keep you going. The numerous beautiful friends that I have made in the blogosphere have started to forget you because I have lagged behind in visiting them.
I am not giving excuses, but just that life happens (it’s been too happening lately), and just because I am someone who likes to take time in forming a post, often times I find I am not making any instead of making a shoddy one (in my opinion. Others might still find it bad, but well, I try). It has since drawn upon me that I might always be one of those bloggers who love you to death, but connect to you just as we connect to old friends, always there, but not always in touch. Share everything, and then nothing.
Good thing is, I have also realized that I will keep doing so, because I love you too much. So if you can bear to have someone who thinks of you all the time but attends to you sometimes, we will do just fine my friend.
To make amends, I present to you an exquisite preparation that is not ‘a pinch of this’ or ‘a dash of that’. Instead, it has been carefully crafted, curated and has evolved for years and years till it was honed to perfection and printed in a cookbook that’s aptly called ‘Art of Indian Cuisine’ by Rocky Mohan. It’s a very pretty book, the coffee table kind that’s luxurious to look at, but it also has a gold mine of recipes that will make it a very pretty book covered with grease and spices. It’s full of rich Indian dishes that have been extensively researched, and presented with love. Recommended by a dear friend, it’s become one of those few cookbooks I sit with whenever I have some time or need to learn a new technique that’s unknown to me.
The great think about this gravy is that it’s makes for a rich gravy without adding any cream.
- 2 lb Chicken without skin, cut into 12 pieces
- ½ cup clarified butter/ olive oil/ refined oil
- 3 cloves
- 2 black cardamoms
- 3 onions, medium sized, slices fine
- 3 tsp garlic chopped
- 3 tsp ginger chopped
- 6 Thai green chilies, without stems
- 2 Tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
- ½ cup yogurt
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
- In a heavy bottomed wok/pan, heat clarified butter/oil.
- Add cloves and black cardamom until they crackle.
- Add onions, stir for one minute.
- Add garlic, ginger, and the green chilies and stir for another thirty seconds or so till they start to glisten.
- Add one cup of water, and bring to a boil. Let the water evaporate.
- Now, add the dried fenugreek leaves. Add another half cup of warm water and let that evaporate too.
- Stir all the ingredients till it is all golden in color and oil leaves sides.
- Add chicken, yogurt, red chili powder, turmeric, and salt.
- Put on low and stir gently to let masala coat the chicken.
- The yogurt will get absobed.
- Add 1-1/2 cups of water.
- Cover and cook on medium to low till the chicken is tender, and oil floats on top.
- Serve with naans or rotis.
Notes:
While I have tried to be faithful to the recipe, I have made some changes. I have added more chicken into the gravy, original recipe calls for only 1 lbs of chicken.
I have also used Olive oil instead of clarified butter. There is a subtle change in taste, and nutritionally, there is not much difference between the two. Yon can lessen the oil, but it will add to the cooking time a lot more. Adding less oil = cooking on low for a long period of time, which might not do justice to the dish. This is an indulgent recipe, but the kind that won’t make you feel too guilty. Enjoy.
32 comments for “Murg Kasoori methi”