Hyderabadi Chicken 65

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 kg boneless chicken,cut into small pieces&

• 25 gm ginger-garlic paste            &

• 15 gm red chilli powder

&• 15 gm turmeric powder

&• 5 gm garam masala powder

• 2 eggs                      

&• 225 gm white flour (maida)&

• 2-4 green chillies&

• 125 gm plain yoghurt&

• A few curry leaves &

• 30 ml lemon juice&

• ½ gm red food colouring&

• 225 ml refined oil&

• 50 gm lemon wedges&

• Salt to taste

For garnish:&

• Coriander leaves, chopped&

• Mint leaves, chopped       

METHOD:

Clean and wash chicken thoroughly, and drain.

In a mixing bowl, add chicken, half of the ginger-garlic paste, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, lemon juice, salt, eggs and maida. Mix well and marinate chicken pieces with the mixture. Refrigerate the marinated chicken for at least 5-6 hours.

In a large oil pan or kadai (wok) add oil for deep frying. Add chicken pieces and fry on medium fire for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel and keep aside.

In a separate saucepan, heat a tablespoon of oil. Add remaining ginger-garlic paste and fry for couple of minutes on a slow fire. Add slit green chillies and curry leaves and let it splutter. Add beaten yoghurt, red food colouring and a bit of salt. Mix well and add cooked chicken pieces and toss it till it is completely dry.

Remove from heat and serve hot, garnished with chopped coriander, mint leaves and lemon wedges.

INGREDIENTS:

For the dough:

&• 1 cup semolina&

• ½ cup pure ghee&

• ½ cup grated khoya or mawa

• ½ cup milk&

• Salt to taste

For the filling:&

• 1 tbsp oil&

• 1 tsp cumin seeds&

• 1 tsp red chilli powder

&• 1 tsp black pepper powder&

• 2 tsp coriander powder&

• ¼ tsp garam masala powder&

• 200 gm grated cottage cheese (paneer)

&• 1 potato, boiled and mashed&

• 20 cashew nuts, chopped&

• 15 raisins&

• 2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped

&• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Before baking:&

• Few pieces of saffron (kesar)&

• 1 tbsp rose water

METHOD:

To create the dough, mix semolina, a bit of salt, pure ghee, khoya and milk in one bowl and knead.

Using a damp cloth, cover the dough and let it stay for at least 2 hours. Knead it again after some time and let it rest for another half hour.

Heat a pan and add the oil and cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds change colour, add the ginger and sauté till it turns light brown. Add the red chilli powder, black pepper powder, coriander powder, salt and garam masala powder and sauté for 2 minutes.

Mix paneer, potatoes, cashew nuts and raisins in the same pan and cook until it is completely dry. Add coriander leaves and lemon juice and mix well. Divide the mixture into equal portions. Set aside to cool. Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 400°F. Take one portion of the dough and spread it out into a katori shape (shell shaped) with your fingers. Place one portion of the filling mixture, gather the edges and roll into a ball.

Seal it neatly, slightly flatten and make it into an oval shape for the perfect tootak shape.

Arrange all the tootaks on a baking tray and let it rest for 10 minutes. Mix saffron in rose water and brush the tootak pieces with the saffron-rose water mixture; bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 kg spinach fresh&
• 500 gm dill/soya leaves&
• 80 gm onions, chopped&
• 15 gm ginger-garlic paste
• 15 gm red chilli powder           
• 4 gm turmeric powder
• 75 ml refined oil&
•  2-3 pieces green chilli           

For Garnish:&

• Chopped coriander leaves           

• Salt to taste

METHOD:

Clean and wash the spinach and dill leaves and drain thoroughly. Roughly chop both and set aside.

In a saucepan or kadai, on medium heat add oil. Add onions and stir until tender and translucent.

Add ginger-garlic paste, and stir for 1 minute.

Add chopped spinach and dill leaves, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, green chilli and stir well. Add salt to taste.

Simmer heat and cover the pan for 15-20 minutes. Leave until all the liquid evaporates and the spinach is soft and tender.

Continue to cook over low heat till the oil separates from the paste.

Then, stir for 5 minutes and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot.

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ kg mutton
• ½ cup oil
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• Salt to taste
• Water (enough to bring meat to boil)
• 2 tbsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp cumin seeds powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• 1 cup gram lentils (boiled)
• 2 eggplants, cut into cubes
• 2 potatoes, cut into cubes
• 1 bitter gourd, cut into cubes
• 4 chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup tamarind pulp

For final garnishing:

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 3 sprigs curry leaves
• 5 dried red chillies

METHOD:

In a pot, heat the ½ cup of oil.

Add onion, ginger-garlic paste, mutton and water.

Let it boil until the meat becomes tender.

Once the meat is tender, add salt, red chilli powder, cumin seed powder, turmeric powder and garam masala powder. Fry until the oil separates.

Add all the vegetables and lentils to the fried meat mixture, and cook for few minutes.

Once the vegetables become tender, add tamarind pulp and leave to cook for about 2-3 minutes.

In a separate pan, heat a little oil then, add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and whole red chillies.

Pour this mixture over the dish. Serve hot.

INGREDIENTS:

• 250 ml milk
• 2 tsp rice flour
• 2 tbsp chopped almonds
• 2 tbsp chopped pistachios
• 2 pieces green cardamom, crushed
• 1 ½ tbsp sugar

METHOD:

In a pan, heat the milk until in boils, then leave it to simmer. Add the rice flour and stir continuously to avoid lumps. Then, add the sugar and stir until the mixture is thick. Pour the mixture into serving bowls and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Mix some of the chopped almond and pistachios and garnish each bowl with the chopped dry fruits and crushed green cardamom. Serve chilled. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 225 gm dried apricots, dried
• 50 gm sugar
• 2-3 gm green cardamom, crushed
• 5 ml lemon juice

For garnish:

• 10 gm apricot kernels
• 10 gm almonds, sliced
• 10 gm pistachio, sliced
• A pinch of saffron
• 125 gm thick or whipped cream

METHOD:

Clean and wash the dried apricot and soak in water overnight. Once the apricot is soft, remove from water and de-seed with a spoon. Wash again and set aside. Store the soaking liquid. Do not throw the seeds away, as you will need the kernels, which you can get by cracking the hard shells.

In a sauce pan, over medium heat, add the soaking liquid and apricots and boil for 12-15 minutes.

Add sugar and stir well until completely dissolved.

Add crushed cardamom, lemon juice and saffron strands, and cook on a medium heat, stirring occasionally.

In a separate pan, heat a little amount of water and blanch all three sliced nuts. Drain and keep aside.

Continue cooking the apricots, crushing a little bit till it becomes thick and mushy, like a compote. Add milk or water if needed to regain the consistency.

Transfer to a serving bowl and leave to cool.

Garnish the dish with thick whipped cream, apricot kernels, nuts and saffron strands.

Serve warm or cold.