Murg Khurchan

On my recent India trip, this is one dish that came appearing to me one way or the other. I tasted it first time in my life in a North-Indian restaurant along with my sister and we both enjoyed it thoroughly with some tandoori rotis. Since then, it somehow continued to capture my attention either through in-flight menus or cookery books and websites. I finally told myself that I have to get done with these ghost appearances and chanced upon a recipe by Chef Marut Sikka. It is a vanishing dish and in fact I had never before heard of it until a few weeks back. Khurchan means scraping and traditionally this dish is made on a tawa/griddle but since my tawa is really small, I made it on a frying pan. The taste is superb and is a close cousin of chicken keema, except that you use roasted and shredded chicken here instead of minced. You must try this dish once and help in keeping its fame alive!! For my vegetarian friends, you can easily replace the chicken in this recipe with paneer except that you need not shred it too finely. 

Ingredients 

For the masala 

6-8 dried red chilies

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

Gently roast the above in a pan and then grind to a fine powder in a mixer grinder.

For the Sauce 
1/4 cup ghee 

6-8 cloves of garlic finely grated

4-5 large ripe tomatoes chopped 

Salt to taste

 3-4 green chillies chopped

For the chicken/paneer/ veggies 

1/2 kg chicken/paneer/mixed veggies cut into one inch cubes

6-8 cloves garlic finely grated

2" piece of ginger finely grated

Juice of one lemon

1 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp white pepper powder

Salt to taste

2 tbsp refined oil 

For the assembly 

50 gm butter

 2 onions sliced

 1 green bell pepper deseeded, cut into strips

1 red bell pepper deseeded, cut into strips

1 yellow bell pepper deseeded, cut into strips 

1 tsp garam masala 

1 tbsp kasoori methi roasted and crushed 

1" piece ginger julienned

Fresh coriander leaves chopped for garnish

Direction 

Keep the dry masala ready as per instructions above. 

Heat the ghee in a pan, add the garlic and saute until light golden brown. Add the powdered masala of chillies, cumin and coriander, stir and immediately add the tomatoes.

Add salt, increase heat and once the mixture comes to a boil, lower the heat and continue to cook the tomatoes until they achieve a sauce-like consistency. Now add the green chilies and cook for another 1-2 minutes, check the seasoning and remove from the fire.

Now start preparing the chicken/paneer/veggies. Mix all the ingredients, except the chicken/paneer/veggies, together and add the chicken/paneer/veggies and marinate for 2-3 hours.

In the case of chicken or any other meat I normally add meat tenderizer or grated raw  papaya (two tablespoons). This acts as a tenderiser for the meat and also gives a gentle sourness. Skewer the chicken/paneer and cook in a tandoor. Alternatively cook in an oven (225°C for 6-10 minutes). The idea here is only to cook the chicken/paneer half way through, yet impart a smoky flavour to it.

Time to assemble. Traditionally it is to be done on a griddle or tawa. Mine is too small to accommodate all. So used a frying pan. 

Add the butter to the tawa/pan and once it melts, add the half done chicken/paneer/veggies. 

Cook on low heat scraping the griddle, just avoiding the chicken/paneer from sticking or burning, for 2-3 minutes. Add the sliced onions and continue to scrape the griddle, cooking until onions are glossy. Add the bell peppers and keep stirring till slightly soft but have a crunch still. Add the tomato sauce and continue to scrape. Cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add garam masala, kasoori methi and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add julienned ginger and fresh coriander. Stir well and remove from fire. Check the seasoning and serve.

Paneer Jalfrezi

Paneer is such an easy ingredient to cook but it is equally easy to get bored with the regular curries and recipes. A change in the recipe is always refreshing and this recipe is the perfect one to go with rotis/naan/parathas. So easy to prepare and so yummy to eat, try this recipe the next time you are making paneer and rest assured, you won't be disappointed. 

Ingredients 

300 gms paneer cubes

1 large onion finely sliced 

1 tbsp ginger paste

1 tbsp garlic paste 

1 green bell pepper cubed (cut the pepper according to the shape of the paneer)

1 large tomato cubed (or 2 small)

3-4 tbsp tomato purée 

1 tsp kalonji/onion seeds 

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp kashmiri chilli powder 

1 tsp coriander powder 

1/2 tsp turmeric powder 

1 tsp kitchen king masala (or garam masala powder)

1/2 tbsp roasted and crushed kasuri methi

1/2 tsp sugar

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves for garnishing 

Oil as required 

Direction 

Get all the core ingredients ready. 

Heat oil in a pan and fry the paneer cubes till slightly golden. Remove from heat and keep aside. 

Heat oil in a pan and splutter the onion seeds and cumin seeds. Add the onions and fry till translucent. 

Tip in the ginger and garlic pastes and fry till raw smell disappears. 

Add the dry spices except kasuri methi and stir well. 

Next add the tomato purée, tomatoes, and pepper and stir well. Fry till the tomatoes are cooked and the pepper slightly softened. 

Add salt and sugar and tip in the fried paneer chunks. 

Cover and simmer the flame and cook for 5 minutes. Add the crushed kasuri methi and stir. Adjust the seasoning and remove from heat. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with roti/naan/parathas or steamed rice. 

Lemon Cake with Lemon Sugar Drizzle

Lemon cakes always sounded quite exotic to me and was synonymous with a cup of freshly brewed English Tea and a beachside villa with a stunning view of the sunset. I have had earlier attempts at making this cake but never succeeded until today including the frosting, which was an absolute shot in the dark as I wanted to experiment before my next order. The recipe was shared by a foodie friend after trying it out from Averiecooks.com and I just picked it up from there and added the frosting to make it more appealing and delicious. Lemon cakes, as easy as they sound, are sometimes quite tricky if you do not have the perfect recipe and rest assured, you can totally rely on this one for the most superbly moist and light lemon pound cake to enjoy your cuppa. So all the lemon lovers out there, do not miss out on this recipe 😋😋

Ingredients 

150 gms hung curd/greek yogurt

1/2 cup white fine sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar (you can use all white sugar. I ran out of white but I think next time I will use all brown)

2 large eggs room temperature 

1/2 cup refined oil (I used rice bran oil. You can use any neutral tasting oil you like)

1 1/2 tbsp lemon extract (it is important not to use lemon juice or lemon oil here as the taste and texture might change)

2 tbsp lemon zest (it is a daunting task and the easiest shortcut is to thinly peel the outer lemon cover and grind it to as fine a powder as possible)

1 1/2 cup maida/all purpose flour (I used cake flour)

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder (I used 1 tsp double acting baking powder)

For the frosting 

90 gms icing sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice 

Few drops of water, if required 

Direction 

Pre-heat the oven at 175 degree celcius and grease a 8" baking pan and line it with parchment paper. 

Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder and keep aside. 

Beat the sugar, eggs, and greek/hung yogurt till smooth and creamy. Add the oil while still whipping. The mixture should now be getting thicker and creamier. Follow this up with the lemon extract and lemon zest. Finally, add the flour in three batches, mixing well after each addition. Do not overmix though. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes or until done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

Remove from the oven and let it cool in the pan for ten minutes and then cool on a wire rack completely. 

Once the cake has cooled down, take the icing sugar and the lemon juice and mix well. The mixture will resemble a thick creamy paste. You can add a few drops of water to it to slightly dilute it (remember, just a few drops!). Drizzle this on top of the cooled cake and let it set. It's okay if some of it drips down the sides. That's the lemon drizzle look!! Serve and enjoy it with your cuppa!