Hyderabadi Chicken Masala

I had some guests over for dinner and wanted to make a chicken curry, but wanted to try something different from the usual masala base I use...For me, its generally the coconut based masala or the onion-tomato based one...

I googled for a Hyderabadi style of making chicken curry and guess what...I found this recipe on a matrimonial site !!
It sounded very different from the usual masalas I use, so decided to go ahead with this one..I am not sure how authentic this recipe is, but it tasted really nice...



The taste was different, I really liked the taste of the ground coriander seeds in this and it tasted way better the next day...

Here's the source of this recipe. I didn't make too many changes, just skipped the ghee and modified the method slightly...

What you need

1 kg chicken
1 cup beaten curd
4 medium sized onions
1 tsp garam masala
10 red chillies
2 tsp cumin seeds
4 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste

What you do with it

Chop three of the onions really fine. Heat a tsp of oil and fry these on a low flame till they turn brown
Grind together the red chillies, one onion, turmeric, cumin and coriander seeds into a thick paste
Best the curd well and add the fried onions, salt, ginger garlic paste to it
Clean the chicken and cut into large pieces
Marinate the chicken with the yoghurt paste for about 20 mins
Heat oil in large pan and add the ground masala. Fry till the raw smell goes away and the paste turns to a reddish brown colour
Add the chicken and fry for 3-4 mins
Add 1 cup water and the garam masala
Cover and cook till done
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with steamed basmati rice

Fafda, jalebis and my 100th post !

The last nine days have been a big celebration in many states in India and in Gujarat, its been a really colourful one, with the nine nights of Garba for Navratri - the dancing starts around nine at night and goes on way beyond midnight. Every evening the enthusiastic dancers are out in their wonderfully colourful traditional costumes, with lots of accessories and chunky silver jewellery...

As with every other festival in India, food is of prime importance and there is special food associated with each religious occasion...In Gujarat, the Dussehra special is fafda and jalebis. On our way back home last night, we saw a lot of shops gearing up to handle the endless queues of customers for the famous fafda and jalebis...
My husband is not the sort who can ever wait for food. If we are asked to wait at any restaurant, we just drive away to the next one...But the temptation of the really hot and crisp jalebis made him go stand and wait for about 45 mins...It was so totally worth it !!

So here's what we had for our breakfast, thanks to the husband's patience with the store called Gwalia, down the road from our place...



crisp hot jalebis, fried in ghee and dipped in sugar syrup - tastes awesome, but you will need few more hours on the treadmill after this !
raw papaya salad / chutney - shredded raw papaya with a lot of green chillies



fafda - besan / chickpea flour and some spices made into a dough, spread out with base of the palm and then deep fried

This is my 100th post !! Though I began blogging with great enthusiasm, the posts havent really been frequent, of late, so I honestly didnt think I'd make it this far...

Thank you all for reading my posts, its a great inspiration to continue blogging...

Wish you and your familes a very Happy Dussehra