Had this for dinner last night (my wifes favourite):
Chicken Tikka (for starters), Raita and Murgh Mahkani (butter chicken)
Raita
This is perhaps the most common raita served in Indian restaurants and a very popular one during summer months in India. You can use Kakri, instead of cucumber, if you wish. Kakri is a light green, ridged Indian cucumber. Serves 4-6
Ingredients
• 2 cups natural yoghurt or dahi
• 1 cup grated or chopped cucumber
• 1 green chilli-finely chopped (optional
• 1/t tsp. salt,adjust to taste (black rock salt is good, buy from Indian grocers)
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. roast cumin seeds, coarsely ground (dry roast in microwave or in a wok or frying pan)*
Instructions
1. Beat yoghurt, salt, black pepper and cumin together.
2. Add cucumber and green chillies and mix well. Adjust salt. Serve chilled.
3. To garnish, you can sprinkle a bit of roast cumin and chilli powder on top.
*To roast cumin seeds in microwave, place 2 tbs. seeds on a suitable dish. Microwave on full for 3 minutes, stir them up, roast for a minute at a time until a nice aroma of 'roast' cumin arises. To roast in a wok or on a griddle, simple heat a griddle and dry roast until the correct aroma rises. It is very distinctive, you won't miss it! Cool and coarsely grind.
Chicken Tikka
• 3-4 Chicken thighs cut into halves
• 1.5 tbspns Tandoori Masala* (see below)
• 2 tbspns plain yoghurt or the already prepared raita
• 3-4 drop of Red food colouring (if you want to make it look like what you get in an indian restaurant) Looks great when cooked!
Instructions
1. Place chicken in an oven dish.
2. Coat chicken in yoghurt or raita
3. Sprinkle on tandoori masala and stir again to mix it all in.
4. Place on pre soaked wooden skewers
5. Let marinade in the fridge for a while
6. Take out of the fridge, turn the oven on to its highest setting 200-250 and let it preheat for 15 mins
7. Cook chicken in the oven for 20 mins, turn over and brush with any marinade left over, cook for a furher 20 mins until bright and and slighly blackened/charred.
* Tandoori Masala
This makes enough for a small jars worth which can last weeks in an airtight jar.
Ingredients
• 8 tsp. coriander powder
• 4 tsp. cumin seed powder
• 4 tsp. sweet paprika powder (for colour)
• 2 tsp. red chilli powder
• 2 tsp. garlic powder*
• 2 tsp. ginger powder*
• 2 tsp. garam masala powder
• 3 tsp. dry mango powder (amchoor). If you do not have mango powder, either use anardana (pomegranate seeds) powder or add lemon juice to the dish where you are using tandoori masala.
• 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
Instructions
1. Mix all ingredients together in a dry bowl, transfer to a dry, screw-top jar and store.
2. *You can omit garlic and ginger powder and add fresh, when ready to use this mix.
3. ~ If you do not have either of these, add lemon juice when ready to use this mix.
Murgh Mahkani (Butter chicken)
This dish has chicken in a thick, creamy sauce, hence the name. It is not very highly spiced and has delicious, gentle flavour. Makhani means 'buttery' or 'creamy'. Serves 4
Ingredients
• 700 gm. to 1 kg. chicken pieces of your choice, skin removed
• 2 tbs. (30 gm.) butter
• 2 tbs. oil
• 2-3 bay leaves 1 inch piece of cinnamon stick
• 1 level tbs. ginger, finely grated or ground into paste*
• 1 level tbs. garlic, finely grated or paste*
• 1 medium or 150 gm onion, peeled and ground to a paste*
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 500 gm. tomatoes, pureed in a blender (can use 350 gm. tinned, but taste is better with fresh)
• 1 tsp. chilli powder, adjust to taste
• 2 tsp. paprika powder for colour
• 1 1/2 tsp. Tandoori Masala (see above).
• Salt to taste, about 1 tsp.
• 2-3 tbs. cashew nuts, soaked for 1 hour and ground to a paste
• 1 cup or 250 ml. milk
• 1/2 cup or 125 ml. water (less if frozen chicken is used)
• 3 tbs. or 60 ml. double cream. Sour cream can be used
• 1 tsp. Garam Masala
• *Ginger, garlic and onions can be ground all together to a paste in a blender.
Instructions
1. Making gravy:
2. Heat butter and oil in a heavy bottomed pan or karahi.
3. Add bay leaves, cinnamon, ginger-garlic-onion paste and fry. Add sugar when it is beginning to look transparent. Sugar helps to calamalise the onions. Cook until it turns brownish and all the water is gone.
4. Add pureed tomato, chilli powder, salt, tandoori/chaat masala and fry until water is evaporated and oil separates at the edges of the mass.
5. Add cashew paste and fry for a further 10-15 seconds.
6. Add milk and water and bring to boil, stirring all the time. The gravy should be of custard consistency. It is better to add less water to start with and adjust later if the dish is looking too dry.
7. Cooking the Chicken:
8. Add chicken pieces, stir fry for a couple of minutes and cook covered until chicken is tender. At this stage, it can be transferred to a slow cooker. When the dish is ready, the gravy turns to a brighter colour and the fat separates.
9. Turn the heat to minimum, add half the cream and garam masala and half the coriander leaves. Stir well.
10. Adjust salt/chillies/tandoori masala to taste and turn the heat off.
11. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and 1 tbs. fresh cream.
I cook this for about 2 hours
You can cook this dish in an oven too:
Prepare gravy/sauce as above. Place chicken pieces in an oven-proof dish and pour over the gravy. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 180 C or 350 F or Gas mark 4, for approximately 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Oven temperatures and times vary. Add cream and garam masala and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add and mix cream, garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve with fragrant Jasmine or Basmati rice*, poppodoms, naan bread, parathas or rotis.
*Add half a tspns turmeric, 4-5 green whole cardamon pods, 3-4 cloves to the rice before it starts to cook.
Cheers
Steve
