Butter Chicken Masala or Murgh Makhani is an authentic dish from Punjab. It's among the most popular chicken delicacies in India and it is very famous all over the world even. It is a tomato and cashew nuts based gravy garnished with cream and butter. It goes marvelous when served with tandoori roti or butter naan or simply with plain chapati . I make this dish at home often as it's my daughter's most favourite chicken preparation. Honestly speaking, it gives me an extreme pleasure when I cook something to fulfil my little one's desire.
I was thinking of sharing the recipe in my blog since past few months. But somehow it wouldn't work as most of the time I prepared this in hurry and couldn't manage to click photos. Anyway, this time, I didn't forget to take the images while cooking this dish and here goes the detail step by step recipe of Restaurant Style Chicken Butter Masala:
Ingredients:
- Chicken: 250-300gm boneless breast cut in small to medium piece.
- Hung Curd: 1-2 tsp.
- Salt:1 tsp.
- Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder:1/2 tsp.
- Tandoori Masala Powder:1 tsp.
- Tandoori Color:1/4 tsp (optional,I didn't use)
- Onion: 2 tbsp Paste
- Garlic:11/2 Paste
- Butter: 2 tbs.
- Tomato: 4/5 (blanched,peeled and pureed)
- Tomato Ketchup: 1 tbsp.
- Green Chilli: 1/2 or 1( I didn't use)
- Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder:1/2 tsp.
- Turmeric Powder:1/2 tsp.
- Cumin Powder:1/2 tsp.
- Salt:1 tsp or as per taste.
- Sugar:1/2 tsp.
- Milk:1/2 Cup
- Water :1/4 Cup
- Cream: 2 tbsp
- Cashewnuts:10 (soaked in warm milk or water for 30 min to 1 hour)
- Dried Fenugreek Leaves: 1 tsp (crushed)
- Coriander Leaves: For garnishing.
Process:
- At first wash and pat the chicken pieces dry. Now take a big bowl . Add all the spices (mentioned in the marinate heading) and mixed thoroughly with the chicken pieces. Cover and keep it aside for 2-3 hrs.
- Meanwhile make the cashew nut paste and the tomato puree. To save time and fuss you may use the store bought tomato puree also.
- Now take a pan and add little butter. Add the chicken pieces and shallow fry them carefully on medium flame. Don't overcook or over fry them. It will make the chicken very stiff and hard. Fry it in such a way slowly and carefully so that the chicken pieces are cooked ,fried yet remain soft.
- Now heat a deep bottomed vessel and add the butter. Immediately add the garlic paste.Then add the onion paste. (Here I want to mention that in many places butter chicken is cooked without onion , but I always used to add onion and believe me it enhances the taste even. So it's upto you,whether you want to add onion or not. Either process is equally good and authentic .) When the color of the onion becomes transparent add the sliced green chili( I didn't use because my daughter can't eat hot) , cumin powder, kashmiri red chilli powder and salt.Add 1 tbsp of water and mix well.
- Now add the tomato puree and cook very well until the oil starts to release from sides.
- Lower the flame and add the cashew nut paste.Stir continuously.
- Then add the tomato ketchup,sugar and 1/4 cup of water.
- When it starts to boil add the fried chicken pieces. Give a very good stir and cover the vessel. Increase the flame slightly and cook it for just 2-3 minutes. As the chicken pieces are fried previously,it won't take much time to make the chicken pieces very soft,
- Uncover and lower the flame again, add the milk, cook for another 1/2 minutes,
- Add the cream and mix very well.
- Sprinkle garam masala powder and add the crushed fenugreek leaves.
- Now your butter chicken or murgh makhani is ready to serve.
- Serve it with Naan or Tandoori Roti,garnished with fresh coriander leaves and a good swirl of fresh cream.
- Authentic Murgh Makhani is rich in calorie but taste is absolutely heavenly.
Khejur Gurer Kalakand/ Milk Cake with Date Jaggery..! I know it sounds little weird. Even I haven't tasted it before. But the other day, I was just in a mood of doing something different with my date jaggery.
So, after making chena,(cottage cheese) I started experimenting and made this milk cake. Believe me, the cakes were extremely delicious.
So, here goes the process of making Kalakand with Date Jaggery..!
Ingredients:
- Milk: 2 lit.
- Vinegar :2 tbsp.
- Milk Powder: 4/5 tbsp.
- Cardamom Powder:1 tsp.
- Ghee: 1 tsp.
- Date Jaggery (liquid) : 1/2 Cup ( Adjust according to your choice)
- Chopped Almonds,Pistachios and Cashews: 2 tbsp ( Optional)
Process:
How to make Chena:
- Boil the milk at low temperature.
- While boiling add the vinegar and stir it .
- Your milk will start to curdle and chena (chena) will be formed after few minutes.
- When you will see a greenish diluted water which is easily separating from chena, then it's done.
- Now using a muslin cloth drain the water and wash the chena under the running tap water .If you are using lime juice to prepare chena, this wash will remove all the lemony taste or smell.
- Now tied the two ends of the muslin cloth tightly and let it drain all the excess water for at least 15-20 minutes. And at this time you may put a heavy weight on the muslin cloth for better draining.
How to make the sweet:
- Now mash the chena well using your hands and mix the liquid jaggery with it. Once it is mixed properly heat a nonstick pan in the oven.
- Add 1/2 tsp of ghee(clarified butter ) into the pan and add the cottage cheese and jaggery mixture and continuously stir it for few minutes.
- Then add the milk powder and mix well. After few minutes the mixture will become more thick and tend to release from the sides of the pan. Be careful so that the mixture can't be overcooked and burnt.
- Sprinkle the cardamom powder on the mixture and turn off the flame.
- Now take a flat plate or tray. Grease it with the remaining ghee and spread the prepared hot sweet on to it evenly,keeping it about 1/2" thick.
- Cool it inside the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour.Your Kalakand is ready now. Cut it in square and serve garnished with chopped almonds, cashews and pistachios.
Enjoy Your Food..!
Well, I am here again with a new recipe and new topic. Today's recipe is Fish Curry following my Maa's process. But before that let me ask you one thing. What do you cook generally when you don't want to put much effort in your cooking yet want to prepare something delicious ? I know all of you have your own choices & now you are gonna ask me what do I do when I cook lunch for my family on a lazy saturday or on any other holiday. I usually opt for this simple and easiest Fish Curry, generally which is prepared with Rohu or Katla fish. The taste is something heavenly when it is served with steaming hot fluffy white rice and a slice of Aromatic Lemon ( Gandhoraaj Lebu).This combination is not only mine but also my family's Soul Food.
Now I am directly moving to the point , the Recipe. So here it goes.............
Ingredients:
- Katla Fish Pieces: 4/6
- Potatoes: 2 Large (Cut in wedges)
- Tomato: 1 large (chopped)
- Cumin Seeds: 1 tsp for temperaing and 2 tsp for making paste with little water.)
- Green Chilli:2/3 (slitted,)
- Coriander Seeds:2 tsp ( make a paste with little water, otherwise you may use coriander powder too)
- Turmeric Powder: 2 tsp.
- Chilli Powder: 1 tsp, I use kashmiri red chilli powder which has a beautiful red colour yet this is not so hot. (but adjust the amount of chilli powder according to your capacity ;) )
- Ginger Paste: 11/2 tsp.
- Salt: As Per Taste
- Sugar: 1/4 tsp.
- Water : 1 Cup hot water.
- Oil : 4 tbsp.( 2 tbsp. for frying fish and 2 tbsp for cooking. One more thing I would like to say that for authentic taste of the bengali fish curry always use mustard oil but in absence of that white oil can also be used)
Process:
- At first wash the fish and marinate them with a tsp of turmeric powder and salt and keep them aside. I always marinate fish with a tsp of mustard oil or white oil. It will prevent you to avoid the terrible splattering.( actually they do not always terribly splatter, but I am really scared of this) .
- Wash and peel of the potatoes and cut in wedges.
- Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a deep bottomed vessel and fry the pieces of the marinated fish and set them aside.
- On the same oil fry the potato wedges till golden yellow with salt and turmeric powder and keep separately.
- Now discard the fried oil and heat 2 tbsp of fresh oil in the same pan.
- Add the cumin seeds and splitted green chilli. They will start to splatter immediately. Once you feel the aroma of the cumin seeds, add the tomato pieces into the oil. Sprinkle little salt on them. It will help to make the tomatoes mushy very quickly.
- Now add the ginger paste, coriander ,cumin paste, turmeric powder and red chilli powder.
- On medium flame mix thoroughly all the masala and cook for few minutes until oil starts to release from sides.
- Now add the fried potato wedges and mix them with all the spices.
- When you can see that all the masalas are mixed up with the potato wedges and it tends to release from the bottom of the pan add salt and sugar and mix well. Cook for another few minutes.
- Add a cup of hot water . Give a good stir. When the water starts to boil add the fried pieces of fish and cover the pan. Cook on medium flame until the pieces of the potatoes and fishes become soft .
- Uncover and adjust the gravy by increasing the flame according to your choice.
- Taste the seasoning and add more salt or sugar if required.
- Garnish with Coriander leaves.
- Serve hot with steamingly hot fluffy white rice along with a slice of yellow or aromatic green lemon.
Enjoy Your Food....!
I am a self proclaimed tea lover. Even I don't hesitate to declare that I am just addicted to it since my college days. It's such a refreshing drink which survives me in my most miserable moment even. Every morning, a cup of hot tea just recharges me and keeps me on for the whole day. Similarly, almost at the end of the day, when I am fully exhausted, it soothes me completely .In my family not only me, my husband is also very much fascinated to this drink. I generally store different types of flavored tea in my kitchen pantry and keep on experimenting with those with my one and only tea partner , my hubby dear. That is the reason I am going to create a different section in my food blog, where I will be posting various tea recipes.
As an Indian I am starting this with the recipe of Indian Masala Tea, Masala Chai. It is basically black tea, brewed with spices and milk. Even there are different types of Indian Tea masala. I don't like to use any store bought ready made spice mix rather I make it in my own way. Moreover I am very choosy in the matter of selecting milk and tea leaves for my tea. Instead of liquid milk I prefer to use powder milk for my tea. "Nestle EveryDay Dairy Whitener" is my most favourite milk powder brand and "Tata Tea Gold" is my most favourite tea leaves brand.
Here is the process of making my version of Indian Masala Chai.
Ingredients:
For two Cups of Tea:
- Water: 2- 2 1/2 Cups
- Milk Powder: 2 tbsp.
- Tea Leaves: 11/2 - 2 tsp.
- Ginger Paste: 1/4 tsp.
- Cardamom Powder: 2 pinches
- Sugar: 2 tsp ( adjust according to your taste)
- Saffron Strands: A Few.
Process:
- At first boil the milk in a deep bottomed pan. When it starts boiling take out 1/2 cup of boiling water separately.
- Add 2 tbsp of milk powder in the water taken out separately and dissolve properly
- Now add the tea leaves and sugar into the boiling water and brew very well.Add the ginger paste and mix well.
- Pour the prepared milk into the liquor. Mix thoroughly. Add the cardamom powder, Cover the pan and keep the flame low and simmer for few more minutes.
- Strain the prepared tea with a strainer into the cups and add few saffron strands and serve hot.
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# Note: If you are using liquid cow milk, then take 11/2 cups of water and 1/2 cups of milk to make 2 cups of tea.
Enjoy Your Tea.....!
Cookies are my family's one of the most favourite baking stuffs but to be very frank, I don't like to make cookies with egg all the time. This is the only thing which refrains me from making them. Therefore I was looking for a good recipe with which I can make crispy, soft and delicious cookies but it should be without egg.After my different searches here and there, finally, I got one and with that basic recipe I made an effort to make Eggless Choco Chip Cookies. I didn't think that my cookies would be so soft, crunchy, crispy and delicious without egg even.
Here is the recipe for my Eggless Choco Chip Cookies:
Ingredients:
- All Purpose Flour : 1 Cup
- Rice Flour: 2 tbsp.
- Caster Sugar: 4 tbsp.
- Butter: 60 gm.( Keep the butter in room temperature)
- Vanilla Extract:1/2 tsp.
- Milk: 2 tbsp.
- Baking Powder:1/2 tsp.
- Chocochips:1/2 Cup
Process:
- Preheat the oven in 160 degree C or 320 degree F for at least 10 minutes.
- Beat the butter and sugar very well with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add the vanilla essence,milk and beat again.
- Sieve the flour. rice flour and baking powder very well.
- Gently mix in the flour and chocolate chips with butter using a spoon to get a soft dough.
- Shape into small rounds .Flatten slightly.
- Cover the back of a baking tray with aluminium foil and grease it with butter.
- Place cookies 1/2" apart. Bake in the preheated oven art 160 degree C / 320 degree F for 30 minutes.
Enjoy Your Food...!
Poush Sankranti.....Makar Sankranti.... Poush Parbon.....!!the word is umbilically related to Bong people. Bengal is An Abode of Festival... An Abode of Enthusiasm ...AN Abode of Rich Tradition,Spirit and Culture.Colloquially it is said that Bengali Calendar of 12 months celebrate 13 festivals. Even the time when the first grain of the year is stocked up is celebrated in a gorgeous and honourable way .This is known as "Nabanno"( nabo= new, anno= rice) in Bengal. This is the actual significance of "Poush Sankranti" or the last day of the bengali month Poush.According to Hindu Philosophy this particular day is the beginning of the Sun's Northward Journey ,from Tropic of Capricorn to the Tropic of Cancer. This is also called "Uttarayan". According to science the journey starts on 22 nd Dec.
In my previous post ( Soft Sondesh with Date Palm Jaggery), I mentioned already that during this time , in Bengal date palm jaggery is widely available in every nook and corner of the state. So, very obviously this jaggery takes an important role in this celebration. Various traditional sweets basically made with rice, flour, milk and date palm jaggery or sugar are prepared in each and every house. These very traditional and famous sweets are known as "Pithe/Pitha" in bengali.
I was born and brought up in that part of Bengal where I got the opportunity to witness this celebration from my childhood.Though all those beautiful memories are archived in pages of history now but still I can remember those days very well. On that day, early morning after taking bath Maa made beautiful "Alpona" in front of our "thakur ghor" with rice paste and water. That was a holiday in our school and as my father was in Government Service it was his holiday too. So, after puja, we all used to enjoy our lunch with "Khichuri"(Khichdi/Hotch Potch). In the afternoon Maa prepared various "pithe" specially, dudh puli and patishapta as these were our most favourite . Me and my brother eagerly waited for the dinner . Yes, dinner that day would comprise only pithe.
Time changes. Now I am in one of the fast living cities where actually we don't get time or scope to spend Poush Parbon in a leisurely manner. On that day also, my husband stays in office and comes back home after 9 pm. Moreover in my seven years of married life I didn't dare to make "pithe" as I thought it was one of the toughest preparation . But this year, I decided to make atleast one type of "pithe" at home. Credit goes to my Maa only who described me each and every step in detail, through phone and I made "patishapta" for the first time. I should mention that it was not as good as Maa but for the first time in the last seven years I got the chance to celebrate this auspicious day in a traditional way.
One more thing I want to add here that this Poush Parbon or Makar Sankranti is not only celebrated in Bengal but also in almost all the regions of India. Actually the date of Makar Sankranti is regarded as the Official beginning of Spring in India.
Anyway, Here is the recipe and step by step process of making patishapta at home:
Ingredients:
For the Filling:
- Grated Coconut: 2 Cups
- Date Palm Jaggery:1 Cup
- Cardamom Powder:1/2 tsp.
- Khoya ( Mawa):100 gm.
For the Crepe :
- Flour:1 Cup
- Rice:1/2 Cup
- Semolina:1/2 Cup
- Milk:11/2 lit.
- Oil or ghee for frying: 11/2 tbsp.
Preparation:
Sweet Coconut Filling:
- At first grate the coconut properly though I used stored bought dessicated coconut.Take a heavy bottomed vessel. Heat it and add the grated coconut into it.On medium flame keep stirring it. Once it becomes very slightly brownish add the jaggery. To make it quicker break the jaggery into small pieces before adding.
- Mix the jaggery with the grated coconut. It will take little time. But once the jaggery starts to melt it will mix with the coconut very easily.
- Keep on stirring on medium flame and be careful so that the mixture wont stick to the bottom of the pan.
- After few minutes the mixture will be little sticky. Now add the khoya/mawa into it and thoroughly mix . Once it is done switch off the flame and sprinkle the cardamom powder.
- Sweet coconut cardamom filling is now ready. Keep it separately in a bowl and let it cool for sometime.
- Mix the semolina and rice flour in adequate milk and soak it for 30 mins to one hour.
- Sift the maida into the soaked rice flour-semolina mixture .Mix in milk slowly and start mixing the batter with your hand so that no lump can be formed and it will help you to know the consistency of the batter. Dont make it too light or too thick.
- As we don't like sweet crepe at all so I didn't add any sugar or jaggery with the batter . If you like you may bring sweetness in it adding sugar or jaggery but remember that the batter should be of very mild sweetness.
- Now heat a flat pan ( preferably non stick one) in the oven. Add little ghee. Smear it . I used the top of a horizontally cut brinjal with the intact stalk. It will help to smear the ghee easily and the stalk acts as a handle. Otherwise you simply can wipe off the ghee with a tissue paper too.
- Pour a ladle of batter into the pan and rotate the pan to cover the surface of the whole pan with the batter. You have to do it quick before the mix sets.Keep the flame very minimum to medium to ensure the patishapta is crisp yet soft.
- Once you feel one side is done flip it over.
- Now put the filling lengthwise at one edge of the crepe.Fold the crepe with the filling inside and make a roll shape. Add a drop of more ghee into the pan and increase the flame slightly and press it gently and fry it little brown. Finally take it out of the pan.
- Repeat the same process for the remaining batter.
- Serve it hot or cold . Patishapta may be served with condensed milk or rabdi too.
Enjoy Your Food...!
