Easy Jalfrezi

Jalfrezi is likely a Raj era invention from Bengal side that has morphed into a dish that appears in many interpretations.

For some, it is Indo-Chinese and requires stock powder, corn starch, and soy sauce. For others, it is a protein like paneer or chicken plus a medley of vegetables. Some like it fairly dry, and others like it in a wet tomatoey gravy. Some people use ketchup in their recipe, and in some restaurant style recipes it is creamy.

However it is made, the common factor in chicken jalfrezi seems to be that it must have bell peppers (aka capsicum) in it. Some people also like onions cut into petals in it. I am not a huge fan of lightly cooked onions, so I don't add those. Here is my very simple and easy version. For this you will need a curry powder type mix like Shan Curry Powder or a Kitchen King Masala. I use MDH Kitchen King Masala.

This recipe is as simple as a daily dish in method, but yields a bell pepper-chicken curry that is unique enough to serve at a party. The soy sauce adds an extra layer of flavor.

1 small organic chicken skinless and cut into karhai pieces (bone in)
1/4 cup oil
4 fresh green chiles, slit but intact
1 small onion diced
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp red chile powder
1 tsp ground cumin powder
1 heaped tsp ground coriander powder
2 medium tomatoes roughly pureed
1 tsp MDH Kitchen King Masala
1 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp soy sauce
one and a half cups bell pepper cut into petals (1/2 inch square pieces)...the number of peppers depends on how large they are. About 3 small or 1.5 of those giant ones.
1/4 cup chopped cilantro for garnish

Method: Heat oil in pan. Add in slit green chiles and allow them to fry for a few moments until they start to slightly soften. Remove with tongs or a slotted ladle. Keep aside to use as garnish at the end of cooking. Add the chopped onion to the oil. Cook this until it is turning golden, then add in the ginger and garlic. Cook this until the ginger and garlic also turn golden. Now add in the turmeric, red chile, cumin, and coriander powder. Allow this to sizzle for a moment, then stir in the tomato. Stir the tomato-masala a bit until most of the water has evaporated from it and the oil has risen to the top of it. Now add in the salt, soy sauce, and MDH Kitchen King Masala. Mix in the chicken and stir well until the chicken has completely changed color and is no longer raw looking. Now cover the pot, turn the flame to the lowest setting, and cook about 10-20 minutes until the chicken is just completely done. You shouldn't need to add water because they chicken will release water as it cooks. If needed, add very little water. When the chicken has just reached the point of being done, add in your bell pepper petals and turn up the heat. Stir for a moment, then lower the heat, cover, and cook for 5 more minutes. You want the bell peppers to cook through but retain a gentle amount of crunch and good color. Now stir in 3/4 of your fresh cilantro. Pour into a serving dish and garnish with remaining cilantro and with the four fried slit green chiles.

Serve with white basmati rice or even Chinese style stir fried rice.

Chicken tikka

Tikka comes from Farsi and means a piece of cut meat. Tikka is an interesting word because in Urdu it is always written and pronounced with a dental t as تکه, from the Farsi, but in Hindi the pronunciation varies from being a dental t to being a retroflex T (टिक्का तिक्का) and if you google, both spellings appear to be used, but the retroflex pronunciation and spelling are by far dominant. The distinction is probably due to the fact that tikka with a retroflex T exists in both Hindi and Urdu for a small cake, bar, or patty of something, like a bar of soap or a potato cutlet. So you have a retroflex used for tikka, tikki, and tikkiya when it comes to these words in both languages. But in Urdu, for a meat tikkah, it is always a dental t. Linguistic weirdness, but just some background info.

For this recipe you will need about 2 lbs skinless bone-in chicken thigh or a thigh and drumstick mix...the thighs can be cut in half. I hate chicken breast, especially Indian food made with chicken breast. But that is an option if you like. Make deep slits in the meat without cutting through it. This will allow the marinade to get deep inside the meat. Bone in is preferred for flavor, but you can also use boneless chicken.

Marinade:
1 cup yoghurt
1 tbs ginger paste
1 tbs garlic paste
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tbs lime juice
Pinch/drops of orange or red food coloring
Big pinch of salt

Method:

Mix all ingredients for marination. Marinade chicken for 4 hours or up to overnight. Cook on the grill or bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 mins to one hour. Baste once with marinade while cooking.

Squeeze with lime juice when finished. Serve with a salad of chopped onions, tomatoes, and daikon radishes, a minty raita, and fresh naan.

Lucknowi Chicken Qormah

Lucknowi qorma made for a Ramazan iftaar. This one has a tiny pinch of saffron in it.

This is a Lucknowi style qormah and is fancy and tasted perfumey from
the spices and the keora jal. This is the style of qorma served in my
husband's family...I don't know if you
would regularly use some of these ingredients like keora jal or
roasted ground white poppy seed . If these ingredients are are exotic
for you, just leave them out. Also, you can use almonds instead of
cashews. Feel free to adapt as suits you!

¼ cup oil

1 skinless, bone-in chicken cut into 12 pieces

1 medium onion finely sliced, brown fried, and crushed
(My method for making brown fried onions)

Whole spices:
6 green cardamoms, husk popped open by pressing with knife
2 black cardamoms (bari elaichi)
2 bay leaves (tez patta)
1 piece of cinnamon bark, about 2 inches long

1 tsp garlic paste

Yoghurt spice mixture:
1 cup yoghurt with ½ tsp garam masala , 1 tsp red chile powder, and 1
tbs ginger paste whipped in

12 cashews  soaking in hot water to just cover
1 tbs toasted ground white poppy seed
1/2 cup water

Powdered spiced for finishing
¼ tsp mace powder (jaavitri)
¼ tsp nutmeg powder (jaiphal)
1/4 tsp freshly ground green cardamom powder
pinch of garam masala powder
1 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp of keora jal (pandanus water)

*Have brown fried crushed onions set aside. One fried onion will look
like 2-3 tbs of crushed fried onion.

*Grind cashews with a little of the soaking liquid to make a cashew
paste and set aside. (You can also use almonds if that's what you have
on hand.)

1.In deep pot that has lid: Heat oil and add in all whole spices for a minute.
2. Add in chicken meat and brown well, add in garlic paste and allow
to turn golden, lower flame.
3. On low flame (or even turn flame off to prevent yoghurt from
curdling) add in yoghurt mixture and stir well. When oil rises above
yoghurt, turn up flame.
4. Stir in 1/2 cup water and salt. Bring to boil, lower heat , and
cook for 20-25 min or so until chicken is fully cooked. Stir
occasionally.
5. Almost done: Stir in the crushed brown fried onions, and ground
white poppy seeds, and ground cashew paste. Keep covered on a very low
flame for five more minutes.
6. Finally, turn off flame and add in your finishing spices: stir in
powdered mace, nutmeg, green cardamom, pinch of garam masala, and 1/2
tsp of keora jal. Cover and let sit for 5 more mins, then serve with
naan and/or white rice.

*To make this even fancier, soak 12 strands of saffron 3 tbs  warm water while cooking, and pour this into the dish at the end of cooking when you add in your finishing spices. This will make your qorma 'zafrani' or perfumed by saffron.

Landi Kotal Shinwari Style Karhai Chicken

Shinwari Karhai Chicken

In Pakistan and India there are endless recipes for varieties of karhai dishes. This particular recipe is a prototypical specimen of the karhai chicken of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, the 'original' karhai chicken. You will find this sort of karhai chicken or karhai gosht in Peshawar's Namak Mandi, and it is named along with meat tikka and kabaab as one of the famous dishes of the Pashtoon tribes of the entire Frontier region. This recipe in particular is based on the Landi Kotal style karhai of the Shinwari tribe of Pashtoons. It is known in Pakistan for being highly delicious while containing no ground dried spices besides black pepper. Green chiles and juicy ripe tomatoes give this dish its unique and clean flavor. It makes its appearance on Pakistani restaurant menus and in wedding catering as Shinwari karhai. I had this style of karhai in North West Pakistan, as well as at an open air Pashtoon restaurant in Karachi, and I have always been intrigued by its delicious simplicity. Recently, I had this style of karhai chicken at the DC Metro area's notoriously tasty Ravi Kabob restaurant. Though Ravi Kabob is owned by Punjabis and the cooks are all from Mexico and Central America, the taste of their karhai chicken is exactly like what I remember eating in the Frontier restaurants. It's probably the best and most authentically Frontier style karhai chicken I have eaten outside of Pakistan. I felt inspired to do some deep research in attempt to replicate what I had eaten there and in Pakistan. Here is what I have come up with. My husband says it tastes spot on like Frontier style karhai, and he insists that it is even better than Ravi Kabob's famous karhai chicken.


1 chicken, skinless, bone-in cut into 2 inch pieces (ask for karhai cut from halal desi butcher)
5-6 whole green chiles, slit
1 tbs ginger-garlic paste
2-3 tomatoes roughly pureed
2 tomatoes cut into medium chunks
1 tsp salt or to taste-should be nicely salted
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbs lime juice
1 tbs ginger cut into long thin slivers ( finely julienned)
1/2 cup cilantro chopped
1/2 cup or so oil (traditionally this dish is made very rich with an excessive amount of oil)

In a karhai or deep cooking pot heat oil. Add slit green chiles and stir until they begin to color. Remove chiles from oil with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add in ginger-garlic paste. When this turns golden, add in chicken pieces. Stir on high heat, allowing chicken to brown a bit. When the chicken has got some color, add in the tomato puree. Add in the salt. Stir around for about five minutes, allowing the tomatoes to break down a bit and release their water, but not long enough for the water to dry up. Add in the tomato chunks, stir, and cover with a lid. Lower heat and allow chicken to cook for about 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the chicken is cooked, turn up heat and stir for a few moments more, adding in the black pepper. Turn off the heat. You should have a semi-dry gravy laden with tomato chunks, with quite a bit of oil floating on top. The trick is to cook the chicken through while still leaving some rawness in the tomatoes so that they remain wet and red. They should not fully break down in the gravy and darken as in a typical 'curry.' Now, stir in your lime juice, half of your ginger shards, half of your cilantro, and all of your chiles. Garnish the top with the remaining ginger and cilantro.


*A lighter alternative: Although bone in meat is traditional for karhai chicken, for health purposes, this recipe can be adapted to use with chicken breasts cut into large cubes. (Say, 2 inch cubes, or to your preference.) The cooking time of the chicken will be significantly reduced, as it is important not to overcook boneless breast meat. This will affect the time allowed for the tomatoes to break down and dry up. To adapt, brown chicken breasts in the oil after adding ginger-garlic paste as described above. Next, stir in roughly pureed tomatoes and salt. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or so until your cubed chicken breast is fully cooked through. Using tongs, remove chicken breast cubes from the gravy and set aside. Now, allow the tomato gravy to cook down and dry out a bit more, about 10 minutes on medium heat with occasional stirring. You may need to use a splatter screen. When the gravy has dried up a bit but is still a bit wet and red, add in the tomato chunks. Allow this to cook for 5 minutes more, mashing the chunks down a little bit. When the gravy is of the correct consistency, turn up the heat and stir the chicken cubes back into the gravy. Add in the black pepper and proceed with the above recipe instructions, adding in the finishing touches on the dish.

Shinwari Karhai Chicken made with chicken breast

Serve with fresh hot naan.

Krazy for karhai?
For a Southern Pakistani interpretation of Frontier style karhai, see here.
For black peppercorn karhai, see here.

Lahori Chargha Lahore Style Seasoned Fried Chicken

In Lahore there are many restaurants where you can get this delicious deep fried chicken. I believe chargha is another Urdu word for chicken (hen, like murghi), but for some reason I have also seen this dish called "chicken chargha," which means chicken chicken. Kind of like chai tea and naan bread. Usually it's the goras who say chai tea and naan bread, but I have seen desis saying or writing chicken chargha. I know chargh/chargha is used in Pashto. Maybe chargha as chicken is too obscure since murghi or English "chicken" are so widely used. So maybe it got stuck that way the same way some English speakers say "with au jus." Au jus really means "with juice" so they are saying "with with juice." Long tangent... Anyhoo...in Lahore you can also get this same dish made with quail (batair).

In this recipe, I make use of a pressure cooker to briefly cook the chicken through while causing the marinade gravy to cling nicely to the bird's flesh. The pressure cooker nicely tenderizes the bird as well, so you don't get dry, over-cooked chicken from the double cooking process.

For this recipe you need bone-in, skinless chicken pieces. You can use a whole or halved chicken if you feel brave and have a large vessel for deep frying. In my recipe I usually use a quartered chicken or sometimes just leg-thigh pieces (5-6).

1 cup yoghurt
1 tbs vinegar
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp ajwain seeds
1/2 tsp nigella seeds (kalonji)
1 tsp red chile powder
1 tbs red chile flakes
1 heaping tbs chaat masala (Shan brand is fine)
1 tsp salt or to taste
tiny pinch of orange food coloring (like biriani rangi)
Oil for deep frying

Lemon juice and chaat masala for final garnish

Make slits in the chicken so that marinade can penetrate. In a large deep bowl, whip the ingredients into the yoghurt. Add the chicken and slather it with the marinade. Marinate overnight in the refridgerator.

Place chicken pieces directly into the pressure cooker. There is no need to add water or oil. Cover the pressure cooker and cook on medium-low heat until you get one whistle (about 10 minutes). Lower the flame and continue to cook for five for minutes. Turn off the flame and release the pressure. When the lid opens, remove the chicken pieces and set out to cool down. The chicken should be just barely cooked. Notice the marinade is clinging so nicely to the chicken. These flavor bits will stick to the flesh even when you deep fry later.

When the chicken has completely cooled, heat oil in a deep pan (big enough to submerge the chicken pieces). When oil is hot, deep fry the chicken and remove from the oil. At this stage you are just giving the chicken a spice-crust, the chicken should be fully cooked so there is no need to fry for more than a few moments.Using a strainer or a slotted ladel, scoop out some deep fried bits of marinade and spread these on the chicken as well for extra tasty bits.

Drain chicken pieces and then set on a serving dish. Squeeze lemon juice and sprinkle chaat masala on top of the chicken.

If you have some roghni naan, serve with that, plus raita, tamarind chutney. Shauqeen log can serve this with white bread and ketchup.

Chicken Nihari

I love nihari. Nihari is tradionally a breakfast food. "Nahaar" means day in Arabic, the language of origin of the word nihari. Nihari is a food to start the day with, a morning food to give energy throughout the day. It is eaten with naan in most places, but in Indian Hyderabad it is eaten with the deliciously light and flakey Hyderabadi style paratha. (Nihari recipes vary by region, and niharis of Hyderabad are a bit different than North Indian-Pakistani niharis as well.) Nihari is tradionally made with beef in North India. These days, there are mutton and chicken niharis as well. Nihari is said to be originally from the city of Old Dehli, but outside of its birthplace of India, in neighboring Pakistan, nihari has taken on a life of its own as one of the signature dishes of Pakistani cuisine. In India it is hard to find a dish of nihari at a restaurant, usually a specialty nihari restaurant, after late morning. It is still considered a breakfast food. Nihari is expensive to make at home for common folk, so it is very often bought by the plate at specialty nihari houses. In Pakistan, some people do keep the breakfast tradition. But nihari is more often consumed at any time of day. It is a festive and rich dish associated with Ramadan and Eid.

I will say it again. I love nihari. But, I have been interested in cooking on the lighter side of Pakistani and Indian cuisine, so I had been trying to create a perfect, full bodied chicken nihari since chicken is much lower in fat and calories than beef. I have experimented a bit with online recipes. I have finally settled with a delicious self-created recipe which I am very proud of, and which I hope you will like.

Ingredients:

1 whole skinless chicken, bone in, cut into 12 pieces

1/2 lb of chicken stock cuts, such as necks, backs, and wings

1 onion finely sliced (one American yellow onion or 2-3 small desi pink onions)

2-3 Indian bay leaves (tez patta)

3 pieces of whole black cardamom

1 inch piece of whole cinnamon

6 whole cloves

1 heaping tsp garlic paste

1 heaping tsp ginger paste

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp Kashmiri chile powder (or more to taste)

2 tsp ground coriander powder

1 cup whipped yoghurt

4 cups of water

1 tsp white flour (maida)

2 tsp ground chickpea flour (besan)

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp freshly ground anise seed powder

1/2 tsp freshly ground green cardamom powder

salt to taste (about 1.5 tsps)

1/4 cup oil

2 tbs oil for thickening flours

Garnish: lemon wedges, chopped fresh cilantro, chopped green chiles, ginger cut into match stick sized slivers

Heat oil and brown the chicken pieces (but not the chicken stock pieces) and remove from oil. Set aside. Heat oil again and in bay leaves, cinnamon piece, black cardamom, and cloves. Once the bay leaves begin to change color, brown the onion by first frying on high heat, then lowering the heat until the slices become crisp and golden brown. Alternatively you can use pre-browned onions. Towards the end of the browning process, stir in the garlic and ginger paste and let this turn golden. Turn up the heat and add in the previously browned chicken pieces, and then the turmeric, chile powder, and coriander powder. Stir for a few moments. Now lower the heat and add in the yoghurt. (you lower the heat to prevent curdling of the yoghurt) Mix well, add in the salt, and stir fry for about 7 minutes on medium heat until the oil rises to the top of the yoghurt. Now add in the chicken stock pieces. Stir to coat with the masala mixture, then turn up the heat and add in the water. Allow the pot to boil, then cover and simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.

Once the chicken is done, turn off the heat. Remove the meaty non-stock pieces from the pot and set them aside. Now, without removing the stock pieces, return the pot to a boil and boil on high heat for 10-15 minutes to remove extra water, thicken the gravy, and make the stock rich. When this step is done, you will have about 2.5 cups of gravy. Strain this gravy. You can pick the meat off of the stock pieces and use them for sandwiches laster. Aside from that, all of the spices have done their job, and any undissolved shredds of onion have given off enough of their flavor, and the chicken bones have lent their taste to the gravy. So throw it all away. Keep the gravy ready to use on the side. You can also pour off some of the oil that rises to the top of this gravy. Add water if you have boiled off too much water and have less than 2.5 cups of gravy. Now, heat a clean pan and add in 2 tbs oil. Stir in the white flour and chickpea flour and use a whisk to move this around and smooth out lumps, allowing it to sizzle in the oil and cook through for a minute. Do not allow this to burn. Slowly, 2 tbs at a time, pour in the gravy, continously whisking to avoid lumps. When you have poured in about 1 cup of gravy, go ahead and fully pour in the rest all at once. Allow this to come to a boil to thicken it. Add in the garam masala, anise seed powder, and cardamom powder. Stir this in well. Now re-add the chicken pieces you set aside earlier. Lower heat and keep covered on a very low flame for about 5 minutes. You can also allow this dish to rest a bit and re-heat gently later to allow the flavors to gel for longer.

Decorate with a little of the green garnishes and the match stick ginger, but also serve the garnishes, as well as lemon wedges, on the table with the nihari. Each diner should squeeze in her/his own lemon juice, just a few drops per serving, and add on more of whichever garnishes they like. Eat with whole grain naan to be extra healthy!

Desi style Suraid (shredded bread with broth and meat)

Salmaan (R) said that the Messenger of Allah (S) said: Blessings are found in three things, the Group (Al-Jama'ah), Ath-thareed (a type of food) and As-Sahoor (the Pre-dawn meal)." [At-Tabaraanee, Abu Na'eem]

Al Thareed, meaning literally "small pieces (of bread or food) which have been cut" is a traditional Gulf Arab dish which is even mentioned in the above hadeeth, has its variations in South Asia, too. The Pakhtoons have versions, known as painda, randa chargha, or soobutt. This should ideally be made with very thin Pakhtoon bread. Further south, it is made with shredded wholewheat flat bread or roti, hence it is called "roti ke tukray." It is also known in Urdu as sareed or suraid, the -s- being the Urdu articulation of Arabic -tha-. It is basically a liquidy meat or chicken stew poured on top of shredded bread. Here is a Gulf Arab version, and here is a Pakhtoon recipe. Both recipes are highly worth checking out. There are many versions of this around the world, from fatta or similar dishes in other parts of the Arab world, to Mexican caserola with leftover tortillas, to Italian or French recipes using day old bread. It is basically a way to use up leftover bread and avoid waste. Perhaps that is why it is a blessed dish. The Arabian Gulf versions of thareed or margooga are sometimes eaten as an Eid dish, so it is simultaneously a humble and fancy dish.

I am forever fascinated foods which have distinct yet similar versions all over the world, like barbecued meats, stuffed dumplings, types of pasta soups, pickled vegetables, rice puddings, and of course this dish, suraid.

Below is my home recipe:

12-15 chappatis shredded into large pieces

or

6 giant extra thin Afghan flat breads (pasti), these are available where I live, but you can sub any very thin naan for this if you like. The pasti where I live is roughly the length and width of 2 sheets of A-4 paper put together, and less than a cm thick. But really, any thin flatbread should do.

I enjoy both the chapatti version and the thin naan version, and can't recommend one over the other.

For the shorba:
1/4 cup oil
1 chicken skinned and cut into 12 pieces
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 large onion chopped finely
1 tbs garlic paste
1tsp ginger paste
2 fresh green chiles finely chopped
2 fresh tomatoes pureed
1/2 tsp haldi
1 tsp red chile powder
1 tbs garam masala
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp dried fenugreek (qasoori methi)
2 tbs whipped yoghurt
3.5 cups water
a big dose of salt
1 tbs lemon juice
1 pinch garam masala for final ingredient

garnish: chopped fresh green chiles, chopped cilantro, small chunks of butter or a few tsps ghee, and lemon wedges

Heat oil in pan. Add cumin seeds and allow to sizzle. Add in chopped onions. Fry on high heat, stirring frequently until they become golden and have lost a lot of moisture. Stir in ginger garlic chile paste. When the ginger garlic are golden, add in the turmeric and chile powder. Quickly add in the tomato puree. Cook for a while until the tomatos have lost their moisture and the oil has risen to the top. Add in the chicken and stir, still on high heat, until the chicken has all changed color. Add in yoghurt and stir for a moment. Pour in water. Add in garam masala and coriander powder. Now you can salt the dish. You should add in double the amount of salt that you normally would for a waterless curry. The amount of salt should be enough so that the shorba flavor doesn't become bland when mixed with the flatbread. I'd estimate 2 heaping teaspoons or more. When the water boils, cover and lower heat. Cook until chicken is done, maybe 25-30 minutes. When the shorba (liquidy meat soup) is done, add in the fenugreek, a pinch of garam masala, and lemon juice.

Set the shredded flatbread in a wide flat dish like a casserole dish. Using tongs, place the pieces of chicken on top of the bread. Then pour the shorba on top of the bread. The bread should absorb the shorba but it shouldn't be too liquidy or soupy. Now add the garnish and serve.

You could also do this dish with bone in goat or lamb, adjusting cooking time of the shorba as appropriate. Another variation would be to leave out the tomatos and yoghurt.

A delicious dish full of history and blessings.

Black Peppercorn Karhai Chicken

This dish has very few spices in it. It is a good dish to serve at a mixed desi and non-desi party because it is not red chile-heat hot, though it is loaded with rich flavor and some heat from the deep fried crushed black peppercorns that lace it. It also contains fresh slit green chiles added in the last few minutes of cooking for a bit more heat and flavor. I have no idea if what I present here is authentic or not, but the original black peppercorn karhai chicken is an Afghan/Northern Areas dish. However, I can assure you that this dish is tasty, authentic or otherwise.

Ingredients:

1 heaping tsp black peppercorns

1/4 cup or so oil

1 chicken skinned, bone-in, cut into 8 pieces

1 tbs garlic paste

1tbs ginger paste

3/4 cup whipped yoghurt

salt to taste

5 large sized fresh green chiles (like jalapeno or very small pakora mirch), slit open

Heat oil in a vessel and add black peppercorns. Allow them to sizzle for a few moments. Strain oil and keep aside. Lay black peppercorns on a paper towel to cook and to remove excess oil. When these are cool, crush them coursely. I do this in a coffee grinder. Keep aside a few whole pieces, too. Set your coursely ground black peppercorns aside. In the same oil that you used to fry the peppercorns, brown the chicken. When the chicken looks nicely colored, add in the ginger and garlic and toss with the chicken until the ginger garlic paste is golden. Lower heat a bit and add in the whipped yoghurt and salt (lower the heat to prevent yoghurt from curdling). Allow the yoghurt to come to a gentle boil, then cover your pan and cook on low heat until chicken is done. When the chicken is cooked, turn up the heat for a moment and toss in the slit green chiles and black peppercorns. Gently stir fry to blend the chiles and pepper, and also to remove excess moisture from the yoghurt and chicken. You should end up with a semi-dry gravy, just barely clinging to the chicken pieces. Serve with roti or naan. This dish goes well with a rich, spicy red meat dish or a tomato based vegetable curry, since it's flavors are mild in contrast.

Krazy for karhai?
For 'original' Landi Kotal Shinwari karhai, see here.
For an adaptation of my mother in law's karhai recipe, see here.

Trying to keep it light? Try chicken chappli kababs

Authentic chappli kababs are made with beef or mutton, are full of extra fat mixed into the ground meat, and are shallow fried in large flat "chappal" sized pieces. I do these ground chicken chappli kababs in a patty shape and freeze them to take out for when I don't feel like cooking, or to serve guests.

1 lbs ground chicken

3 tbs chickpea flour (aka besan)

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp red chile flakes

1 tsp whole coriander pods (roast in dry pan to toast for one moment)

1 tbs dried pomegranite seeds ground to a powder

2 finely chopped spring onions

1 tsp garlic paste

1 tsp ginger paste

1 chopped tomato (try to keep out the wet pulp of the tomato, if the mince meat mixture gets too wet, just add a tad more ground chickpea flour)

1-2 chopped green chiles

1 cup cilantro finely chopped

1 tsp ghee or butter (as an alternative to the hunk of dumbey ki charbi !fat of the long earred lamb's tail! that would be in your real Peshawari kabab mixture!!!)

salt to taste

Mix all of these ingredients together. Allow the mixture to sit for about 30 minutes to bind. Shape into patties and shallow fry in a tiny drop of oil. You can literally pour in a teaspoon of oil and use a paper towel to spread it all over your pan if you use a non-stick frying pan. Traditionally these are shallow fried in quite a bit of oil, though. For a party you could press a slice of tomato into each patty and give it a flatter, more irregular shape like an authentic chappli kabab.

Qabili Pullao

I have adapted this recipe from my in-law's family recipe served every eid. The recipe looks complicated, sorry if it is difficult to read...I promise you that it is extremely easy to cook, though.

This dish is simple but has several steps. The first couple of steps can be done a day ahead of serving. You can actually make the whole gravy a day ahead and add it to the rice the next day, as well.

1 chicken skinned, bone-in, and cut into small-medium pieces
1/2 cup dried channa daal (one cup cooked)

Ingredients assembled for the gravy

3-4 onions
2.5 heaping table spoons garam masala
1 heaping tsp red chile powder
3-4 whole dried red chiles
15 aloo bukharay (dried plums from Indo-Pak market)
1/4 cup water
salt to taste
3 tbs oil
3 cups basmati rice
1 tbs ghee or butter
some whole garam masale: 3 bay leaves, 10 black pepper corns, 5 cloves, 5 green cardamom, 2 big black cardamom, 1-2 shards of cinnamon bark, 1 tsp fennel seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds

The daal: soak 1/2 cup channa daal for one hour. Boil water with daal a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then keep on a low flame for 20 minutes. Strain from water. You should have just tender whole channa daal. Keep aside.

The tali hui pyaaz: Thinly slice 3 onions and fry until light reddish brown. Strain from oil and grind (crush or put in a grinder). Mix 1/2 of the ground fried onion with 1 tsp garam masala and keep aside.

The aloo bukharay: soak in water for about 10 minutes before adding them into the gravy. Strain before you add them into the gravy.

Now to make the gravy:

Alu bukhara soaking in water for a few minutes

Heat oil and brown the chicken pieces to seal in the juices. When the chicken looks browned, add in the remaining ground fried onion, the red chile powder, whole red chiles, the remaining garam masala, and salt to taste---be slightly heavy handed with the salting because you will later add the channa daal to this gravy. Stir for a moment and then add the aloo bukharay. Stir again, add 1/4 cup water, allow this to come to a boil, cover and cook until the chicken is done. When it is done and still hot, mix in the whole cooked channa daal. Close the lid and let it sit for at least 5 minutes to allow the channa daal to soak up the gravy flavors. The aloo bukharay should have disintegrated only very slightly, but should for the most part remain whole so that those who consume your dish get one or two in the mouth as they eat. If you serve this to people who have never eaten an aloo bukhara (pity the souls), remember to tell them to not eat the hard seed, lest they crack their teeth! Okay, your gravy is done. You could keep this in the fridge overnight or add it to the rice right away, as suits your needs.

Finished gravy ready to be layered with rice

Dum dad dum dum dum: The rice (this works for any biryani rice and is called the "dum" method):

Soak the rice for 1/2 hour. In the mean while boil a pot of water with the whole garam masalas. Allow to boil for 10 minutes to extract the garam masala flavor. I cheat sometimes and nuke the water with the whole garam masalas in the microwave on high for 4-5 minutes to get out all that garam masala flavor. Strain the water, keep the garam masalay to the side, return the water to a pot, and allow it to return to the boil. You may add in a few of the strained garam masalay such as the bay leaves, cinnamon, and cardamom into the water for looks. Or keep it out if you want and just throw the strained garam masalay away. You should salt the water double the amount you normally would for 3 cups of boiled rice because you will par-boil the rice al dente like pasta, and throw away the water, so the rice will be bland if it doesn't absorb enough salt.

Okay, now that your garam masala seasoned water is boiling, strain the soaking rice and add it to the boiling water. Keep the colander ready in the sink. Allow the water to return to a boil and let it boil away for 3.5 minutes. Watch the beautiful basmati. kernels lengthen. Now strain the rice. Quickly add 1 tbs ghee or butter to the bottom of a deep pot. Keep the ground onion and garam masala mixture on hand. Add in the strained rice, sprinkling it with the fried onion and garam masala mixture, then a layer of rice, then more onion garam masala mixture. Turn up the flame to high and cover the pot. After two minutes of high flame, put the flame to the lowest possible point and cook the pot of rice for 20 minutes. Turn off the flame. Allow the rice to rest for about 10 minutes before you mess with it further to avoid the kernels breaking.

For a party you can put the rice in a large platter and spread the chicken gravy on top of it. Alternatively you can layer the rice and chicken gravy like a biriani (as shown in the pic). It is up to you.

I hope you enjoy!

Qabili pullao

Chicken dopiaaza: Chicken cooked in onion gravy

This dish is also called istew and istew dopyaaza. Dopiaaza is a reference to the fact that the dish incorporates bothe sauteed onions and caramelized (bhuna) onions into the gravy. My recipe was passed along to me by my mother in-law. As she is from U.P. originally, this recipe is yoghurt based and doesn't contain tomatoes. It requires whole garam masala (khara masala), as well as powdered garam masala. I keep fried onions ready in my freezer. You can also buy them ready fried at any desi grocer. The sauteed onions are easy to do, but these days you can also get packets of ready sauteed onions at the desi grocer. I also keep pre-ground ginger/garlic paste on hand in the fridge. These ready done items make this dish easy to make, but it is quite easy even if you start from scratch.

You will need:

1 chicken skinned and chopped into botees (bone in)
1 onion chopped finely for sauteeing
1 onion sliced from brown frying (or just use pre-fried bhuni hui pyaaz)
2 tsp ginger paste
2 tsp garlic paste
1 heaping tsp kashmiri chile powder
1 heaping tsp garam masala powder
1/2 cups yoghurt
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
2-3 tbs sunflower oil

Khara Masala:
1 cinnamon stick
1-2 bay leaves
5 peppercorns
5 cloves
5 green cardamon pods
1-2 large black cardamon pods
1 tsp cumin seeds

Mix all powdered masalas plus 1 tsp of ginger and 1 tsp of garlic paste into the yoghurt and set aside. Pre-fry sliced onions and set aside. Heat oil in pan. Add in khara masala and fry for a few moments. Add in chopped onions and sautee until the are clear. Add in the rest of the ginger and garlic paste and fry for a few minutes. Stir in the caramelized onions and chicken. Stir around until chicken is browned. Add in yoghurt-masala mixture and salt, plus 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Cook for about 25 minutes or so until chicken is done (chicken available where I live cooks very fast...it might take yours longer). The dish is ready to enjoy. Serve with basmati rice and/ or naan.

*Tips: I buy a bad of whole mixed garam masala and pick out the ones I need as pictured above, rather than buying individual quantities of each masala. Life is just easier that way.

An alternative style is to add finely chopped tomatoes and allow the water to evaporate from them when the finely chopped onions have melted down a bit and before you add the chicken to bhunofy. I have tried both ways, and both are equally delicious.

Korean Chicken Stew: Tak Jim

Here is a very simple Korean recipe that I make pretty frequently. I am addicted to Korean food, by the way.

1 tbs sugar
1 tsp Chinese/Korean sesame oil
1/4 cup Korean/Japanese soya sauce
1 tsp Blue Dragon brand Mirin (it is alcohol free)to substitute for rice wine
4 cloves garlic chopped
1 pinch black pepper
1 whole chicken, skinned and cut into medium pieces, bone-in
1 large onion, sliced into medium-thin slices
2 potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 carrot halved and cut into large longish chunks
5 Chinese black mushrooms, the dried kind that you have to soak in water to re-hydrate, soaked, de-stemmed, and cut in half. Reserve your soaking liquid.
3 tbs cooking oil
pinch of roasted sesame seeds
1 spring onion with the green part chopped in long strips

In a large bowl mix the first 6 ingredients and put in chicken. No need to marinade for long, just coat chicken well. Heat oil in large non-stick pot, add in chicken and marinade liquid, stir around on high heat until marinade separates from oil so that the chicken braises in the liquid (about 7-10 minutes). Toss in all your veggies, stir around to coat in sauce, then add in 1/4 cup mushroom soaking water. Cover and cook on low heat for about 25-30 minutes until your chicken and potatos are cooked but not falling apart. At first it will look like there is not enough water in the pot, but the chicken will release a lot of water. Also, due to the large amount of soy sauce there is no need to add salt.To serve, garnish with sesame seeds and spring onion. Serve with Korean steamed white rice, plus a selection of kimchee and ban chan (Korean side dishes).

Bin Masala Chicken: Chicken cooked without a heavy masala

Here is an extremely easy and delicious chicken "curry" recipe from Lucknow, UP. It was shown to me by my mother in-law. It is called Bin-Masala Chicken which means chicken cooked without spices--- although there are spices in the recipe, it doesn't have the usual garlic/ginger paste or caramelized onions that typify many "curries." You can do this recipe two ways: chicken is cut into pieces and cooked stove-top, or whole skinless chicken is cooked partially stove-top but finished off in the oven (pictured above). Here is what you need:

1 whole chicken, skinned and cut into medium pieces, OR one skinless whole chicken
1.5 cups real yoghurt (buy it from desi or Middle Eastern Market)
2 tbs of a good brand of "garam masala" which can be bought an Indo-Pak grocery store
small pinch each (1/4 tsp each) of nutmeg and mace (this is necessary to make it Lucknawi style)
1/2 tsp of Kashmiri chili powder or paprika if you don't like heat
2-3 tbs oil
salt to taste

Fully Stove-Top with Chicken Pieces: First whip the spices and salt into the yoghurt. Add chicken pieces and marinade at least one hour or up to 24 hours. Heat oil in pot, add chicken with marinade and stir on medium heat until the oil separates from the yoghurt (+/-10 mins). Turn heat down very low and cook until the chicken is fully cooked. (around 30-40 minutes depending on how fast chicken cooks where you live, where I am it is very tender and cooks very fast and will fall apart if cooked for more than 30 minutes) When finished, the gravy should be slightly thick. If it is not, remove chicken pieces from gravy, turn up heat and stir for a few minutes till it thickens, then return the chicken to the gravy and serve immediately. You must remove the chicken or it will break apart--the yoghurt marinade makes it extra tender and sensitive also.

Whole Skinned Chicken: Whip powdered spices, salt and yoghurt together in a large bowl. Add the whole skinless chicken to marinade. Allow to marinade from 1 hour up to 24 hours. Heat oil in pot. Add in chicken and marinade at medium heat and cook, stirring around gently until the yoghurt is cooked and the oil rises to the top of the gravy. Once the oil has risen to the top of the gravy, lay the chicken on one side, breast and thigh piece down, and cook covered at a simmer for 12 minutes. After 12 minutes, turn the chicken so that the other breast and leg are at the bottom of the pot and cook covered for another 12 minutes. Stir in a little bit of water if the gravy looks dry. After the 12 minutes is up, turn the chicken so that the breast side is down and cook off for a final 12 minutes, adding a tiny bit of water if necessary. This rotation method insures that the thigh-leg pieces stay in a good shape and don't flail out. Once this 12 minutes is up, transfer chicken and gravy breast side up into a baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes to brown the chicken and make sure that it is cooked through. Baste it with gravy once it is remove from the oven, then allow it to rest for 10 minutes or so. This whole chicken is nice to serve at a small dinner party so that you may cut it up in front of the guests and impress them. :-)

Best with naan or plain basmati rice.

Paalak Chicken

Here is a recipe for paalak murghi. The end result will be the spinach makes a wet gravy clinging to the chicken pieces, not a curry drowning the chicken in spinach. Don't add water to this recipe because both the spinach and the chicken will throw off water into the gravy:

3 tbs oil
1 skinless, bone-in chicken cut into 12 pieces
2 tomatoes chopped
1 onion finely chopped
5 cloves garlic crushed into a paste
1 inch piece ginger crushed into a paste
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 dried red chilies whole
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 heaping tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 packet frozen chopped spinach (it will be 2.5 cups or so)
1 tsp salt or more to taste
1 tbs qasoori methi
pinch of garam masala
1 pat of butter

garnish:
chopped green chiles, fresh cilantro


Heat oil, brown chicken pieces on high heat and remove from oil. Set aside. Heat oil again, add in the whole cumin and dried red chilies, then after about 30 seconds, the onions and saute, stirring frequently on high heat until they start to brown a bit and get soft (8 minutes or so). Add in garlic and ginger, stir for minute till garlic looks cooked, then toss in all the rest of the powdered spices except the garam masala, then after 30 seconds, add in the tomatoes and salt. Keep stirring on high heat for about 5 minutes and allow the tomatoes to melt down a bit. Then add the spinach in and when it is no longer in frozen chunks, add the chicken back in. Allow to bubble up once, then lower heat and cover. Keep covered for about 25 minutes on very low flame (or longer, my local chicken cooks very fast and will fall apart if I cook for longer), stirring occasionally. It is done when the chicken is cooked and the oil separates from the gravy. At this point add in the qasoori methi, garam masala, and butter. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro. Serve with basmati rice or some type of flat bread, plus plain Greek yoghurt on the side.

Karhai chicken I

I love the combo of hot and sour. Luckily there are a lot of Pakistani dishes that hit the spot for me when it comes to chili hot and lemon sour layers of flavor. A karhai is a wok like pot with two handles on either side. You can use an authentic karhai, but it isn't absolutely necessary. I make karhai chicken in a deep non-stick pot, which I use for most of my "curry" type dishes. Karhai chicken is a very typical PK household standard. Originating from the Frontier region, it is made in many interpretations across Pakistan and also in India. You should serve this particular version with chapati (whole wheat flatbread), or naan. This is an adaptation of my mother-in-law's home recipe.

1 whole chicken skinned and cut into medium to small pieces (about 12 pieces), bone-in
1 tbs crushed ginger
2 inches worth of ginger chopped into match-stick sized slivers
1 tbs crushed garlic
3 large tomatoes chopped
1 tsp red chile powder
1 heaping tablespoon Shan brand Curry Powder
1/2 tsp amchoor (dried mango powder)
2 green chilies finely chopped
2 green chilies roughly chopped (large chunks)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp or so lime juice
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
2-3 tbs oil

Heat oil in pan. Add in crushed garlic and crushed ginger and stir on high heat until golden. Toss in tomatoes, Shan Curry Powder, red chile powder, finely chopped green chilies, and salt. Stir on high heat for about 10 minutes until the tomatoes melt down and you are left with a thick gravy paste. Toss in the chicken pieces and braise on high heat for a few minutes until all the chicken turns color. Add in the water---you may need more or less depending on how much water your locally available chicken releases when cooking. Allow to boil once, cover, and lower heat to the lowest setting to cook until chicken is done, stirring occasionally to prevent the bottom from sticking/burning. The chicken available to me here in Dubai takes about 30 minutes. *TIP*: Karhai chicken should have a fairly thick and dry gravy. When you are ready to serve, add in the aamchoor, lemon juice and mix it well into the gravy. The aamchoor and the lime juice both add sourness, but have very different flavor notes, and will add something special to the dish while achieving tartness in the gravy. Garnish with the roughly chopped green chilies, cilantro, and match stick sized ginger slices.

So simple, tangy, hot and delicious. You're gonna luv it!

Here's another *TIP*: You can easily turn this dish into karhai methi chicken. Methi is fenugreek. You need a box of Qasoori methi, which is dried fenugreek. Follow all of the steps and ingredients, but omit the match stick ginger garnish. When the chicken is cooked and the gravy looks good, stir in 2 table spoons of Qasoori methi. Cover the pot and allow the methi to mingle with the chicken for about 5 minutes. Then stir in the aamchoor, lime juice, and garnish with the roughly chopped chilies and cilantro.

Krazy for karhai?
For black peppercorn karhai see here.
For Landi Kotal Shinwari style karhai, see here.