Dak Bungalow Chicken Curry was very famous and popular during the period of the British rule in India. Dak Bungalow is an inn or house for the travellers along a dak-route. Dak means "mail" in hindi. The British Officers used Dak Bungalow to collect taxes.
Duk Bungalow was equipped with a kitchen, bath with hammam ,bedroom. Its kitchen had a furnace(bhatti) made of clay to burn wood. Bhatti allowed the Khansama ( A male servant who cooks and often is also responsible for taking care of the house and organising other servants) to cook while standing up.
While the British Officers visited these dak bungalows the khansama made various non veg foods for them. Usually , in the morning , fresh water fish from local pond was fried in a skillet and served with hard boiled eggs. Otherwise chicken was butchered. The chicken curry was made according to local practice known to the khansama. With time the chicken curry became very famous and known as Dak Bungalow Chicken Curry.
It was a thick onion-ginger-garlic-tomato based gravy which was made with chicken on bone, whole eggs and potato with garam masala.
But to be very honest, I didn't have any idea of the recipe before I saw my dearest friend and sister Sanchita's post. Though I collected all the informations about this dish from here and there but the entire recipe I got from her only. I did some minimum variations of her recipe but the result was absolutely heavenly.
Ingredients:
- Chicken:750-800 gm.
- Potato:2 Large ( large dice)
- Egg: 3 ( Hard Boiled)
- Whole Garam Masala: Cinnamon Stick(1), Cloves(3-4), Green Cardamoms(3-4).
- Bay Leaves:2
- Onion: 4+1 (Medium size, 4 for making normal paste with ginger and garlic and 1 for making paste separately after frying)
- Ginger: 11/2"
- Garlic:7-8 cloves
- Turmeric Powder:2 tsp.
- Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder:2 tsp.
- Cumin Powder:1 tbsp.
- Coriander Powder:1 tbsp.
- Green Chilli: 2 (chopped or paste),(Optional)
- Tomato:2 medium sized (paste or finely chopped)
- Sugar:1 tsp.
- Salt: As per taste
- Garam Masala Powder: 1 tbsp.
- Unsweetened Yoghurt: 1/2 Cup (whisked in 2 tbsp. of water)
- Oil:5-6 tbsp.(preferably mustard oil, in absence you may use vegetable or sunflower oil.
- Ghee (Clarified Butter): 1 tbsp.
- Warm Water: 1/2 cup(optional)
Process:
- At first peel and dice the potatoes. Fry them until golden yellow in color with salt , turmeric powder and little oil.
- Hard boil the eggs. Shell them and fry until yellow with salt, turmeric powder and little oil.
- Now make a smooth paste with 4 onions, ginger and garlic and keep them aside.
- Then finely slice the remaining one onion and fry them with little oil until brown. Make an another paste of the fried onions.
- Now wash the chicken properly and mix it with half of the onion-ginger-garlic paste , salt , turmeric powder , 2 tbsp. of yoghurt, 2 tbsp. of oil and little garam masala powder and marinate it for atleast 1 hour.
- Now heat the remaining oil in a deep bottomed vessel or kadhai.
- Add the whole garam masala first. When nice aroma comes out add the sugar and fry it until brown.
- Add the rest of the onion-ginger-garlic paste and fry it for 3-4 minutes.
- Meanwhile make a smooth paste of the coriander, cumin and red chilli powder and the turmeric powder with 2 tbsp. of water.
- Add this spice paste into the kadhai now and stir .Cook until the oil comes out from the sides.
- Then add the chopped tomato and salt. Cook until the tomato become mushy and oil starts to release from sides.
- Now beat the yoghurt properly and add to the kadhai.
- Now add the marinated chicken ,cover the kadhai and cook it on a medium flame.
- Cook it atleast for 10 minutes and then uncover it. This time add the fried onion paste.
- Mix well and add the fried potato.
- Usually you don't need to add water as the yoghurt itself contains water and helps to cook the chicken and potato but still I added 1/2 cup of warm water at this time to make it little fast.
- Cover it again and cook until the chicken and the potatoes are done.
- Uncover and add the hard boiled eggs and check the seasoning. If required add little salt or sugar.
- Cook it for another few minutes until the gravy becomes thick .
- Turn off the flame and fry the garam masala with the ghee in a separate pan and pour it into the curry.
- No doubt it's a very delicious curry which is usually served with steaming hot rice, naan, paratha, luchi or roti.
Enjoy Your Food...!
Before I start to write the recipe I have a question to my those friends who have a toddler or a little pre school goer at home. How do you deal with them while feeding? uffff...sometimes I just become tired and exhausted with my 4 year old. In this world she loves only few foods with which I have strong objections. She loves pasta, noodles, pizza, burgers and all the fried stuffs. OMG..! Sometimes I just fail to control her. Therefore I have made some rules at my home just because of her health . I only give her such type foods once or twice in a week. But honestly,on that particular day, I really love to see her gleeful face.
This week, I thought of making Chicken Arrabiata Pasta which she loves very much specially in Pizza Hut. I took a chance to make it at home this time. To be frank, it was not a big deal and it came out wonderful .
Here comes the recipe:
Ingredients:
- Pasta (Penne works Best):250 gm
- Olive Oil:2-3 tsp.
- Boneless Chicken:200 gm.(chopped into bite size pieces)
- Onion:1 Medium (finely chopped)
- Garlic:4-5 cloves (Finely diced)
- Tomatoes:5 (chopped)
- Tomato Puree:1 tbsp.
- Chilli Flakes: A good pinch
- Chilli:1 (deseeded and chopped) (optional,I didn't use)
- Fresh Basil Leaves: Few
- Black Pepper: A Pinch
For the Béchamel Sauce:
- Cold Milk:1 Cup
- Plain Flour:2 tbsp.
- Parmesan Cheese: 2 tbsp. Grated.
- Salted Butter:2 tbsp.
Process:
- How to make the Béchamel Sauce:
- First melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour. When it's done it should be turned into light or medium brown color.
- Slowly add the milk and whisk constantly. The mixture should thicken.
- When it becomes ready, take off the heat
- Add the Parmesan cheese and stir continuously.
Ready to Bake
After Baking
- At first boil the pasta (penne) according to the instruction written on the back side of the packet. Generally pasta should be cooked with enough water and little salt with in 10 minutes.
- Strain the excess water and wash them under the running tap water and sprinkle little oil on the boiled pasta. It helps to keep the pasta non sticky and separated from each other.
- In a frying pan, heat the olive oil and add the garlic and chilli flakes (and fresh chilli if using).
- Add the chicken and when the chicken pieces turns into brown add the onion.
- When almost cooked add the tomatoes and tomato puree and simmer until thickened.
- Add the basil at the last moment and season with black pepper to taste.
- Mix the chicken and tomato sauce with the pasta and place in an ovenproof bowl.
- Pour the béchamel sauce over the top and cook at around 180c until the béchamel sauce is golden and crispy.
- When done, take it out of the oven mix the golden béchamel with all the pasta and serve.
Enjoy Your Food..!
Prawns.....Coconut ....Mustard seeds....!! Aren't these words bringing water in your mouth? Awwwww ! My heart breaths music with these words... hahahaha... ! Joking apart, today I am going to share a beautiful ,easy ,simple prawn recipe which is delectably good and can be prepared with in no time almost. This time I made this in the microwave oven. In absence you may prepare it in pressure cooker also.
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
- Prawns:250 gm.
- Mustard Seed Paste:4 tbsp.
- Yoghurt:2 tbsp.
- Mustard Oil:4-5 tbsp.
- Coconut Milk/Coconut Cream/Scrapped Coconut(either one): 1/2 Cup
- Salt: As per taste
- Turmeric Powder:1/2 tsp.
- Green Chilli:2 (slit from middle)
Process:
- Clean and devein the prawns and mix it with all the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and marinate it for just 10-15 minutes.
- On full power heat it covered (I used a borosil microwave cookware with lid) on the microwave oven just for 8-10 minutes.
- Take it out from the microwave and check whether the prawns are done or not. If needed heat it for another 2-3 minutes only but not more than that. Excess heating may turn the prawns very hard.
- Serve hot with steaming hot rice.
- It tastes heavenly....!
Enjoy Your Food..!
Egg Curry or Dimer Jhol is something which always survives me in those situations whenever I feel lethargic to cook or want to cook something very quickly without any difficulty. But still sometimes it becomes so boring to prepare the usual Egg and Potato curry. Thanks to one of my dearest friend, who posted her wonderful Egg Cap Mushroom recipe in her food community,where she gave a twist to the egg curry with the use of capsicum and mushroom instead of potatoes. The recipe was simple yet very nice and something different which I liked very much. Immediately, I tried that but as mushrooms were not there in my veg basket, I made it with only green bell peppers (capsicum) and potato. The result was indeed good . Capsicums gave the curry a different but beautiful taste. I loved it simply.
Here comes the recipe:
Ingredients:
- Egg: 4 (Hard boiled)
- Potato: 2 (diced)
- Capsicums: 2 (Cut in large pieces)
- Tomato: 1 Medium pc.
- Onion: 1 (Large)
- Ginger: 1"
- Garlic: 4-5 (cloves)
- Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp.
- Salt: As per Taste
- Sugar: 1/2 tsp.
- Chilli Powder: 1 tsp.(Or as per your choice)
- Bay Leaves: 1pc.
- Whole Garam Masala: 1 cinnamon stick, 2-3 cloves, 2-3 cardamoms
- Water: 1 cup (little warm water is preferable)
- Garam Masala Powder: 1/2 tsp.(optional)
- Oil:3-4 tbsp. (mustard or any other cooking oil)
Process:
- Hard boil the eggs and peel off the hard shell. Then fry them until golden with little oil ,salt and turmeric powder.
- Now heat little oil in a wok or kadhai and fry the diced potatoes and capsicum with salt and turmeric powder for few minutes.
- Meanwhile make a paste of onion, ginger, garlic and tomato.
- Then heat little more oil in the same kadhai.
- Add the sugar and the bay leaves .Fry the sugar till brown.
- Add the whole garam masala and wait until the nice aroma comes out.
- Now add the onion, ginger, garlic and tomato paste, salt and chilli powder.
- Stir well and cook for 4-5 minutes.
- Add the fried potatoes and capsicums and cook until oil starts to release from sides.
- Add the warm water and make a stir.
- Cover and cook until the potatoes become soft.
- Uncover , taste the seasoning, add little more sugar or salt if needed.
- Add the previously fried eggs and cook for another 4-5 minutes. You may prick the fried eggs before adding them into the gravy.
- Adjust the gravy according to your choice. If needed add little more warm water and cook for only 2-3 minutes.
- Dry roast the garam masala powder and sprinkle on it and cover for just a minute so that the aroma gets captured by the curry.
- Turn off the flame and your Egg Capsicum Curry is now ready to serve.
- Serve it with steaming hot rice, roti or parathas.
Enjoy Your Food..!!
Chicken is the most common type of poultry in the world, and is prepared as food in a wide variety of ways, varying by region and culture. It is the only meat which can be prepared very easily even. Onion Chicken is one of the most easy recipes which has a great taste . I have come to know about this preparation, from one of my very good friends, Juin di. I did few variations of her recipe but needless to say that it turned out awesome.
Here comes the recipe:
Ingredients:
- Chicken:1 kg
- Red Onion:5/6 large(thin sliced)
- Ginger:112 " (Paste)
- Garlic:12-15 Cloves(Crushed/Paste)
- Yoghurt:4 Tbsp.
- Chilli :2-4 Table Spoon Paste or as much as you want(I used only 1/2 tsp. as my daughter cant eat very spicy and hot food)
- Whole Garam Masala:1 Cinnamon Stick, 3-4 Cloves and 4-5 green cardamoms.
- Salt: As per taste
- Sugar:1 tsp.
- Turmeric Powder:1 tsp.
- Mustard Oil: 5-6 tbsp. ( in absence any other cooking oil is ok also)
Process:
- Heat oil in a deep bottomed vessel and then fry the onion slices with little oil until brown.
- Take them out of the vessel and soak the excess oil with the use of a kitchen napkin.
- Make a paste of the more than half of the friend onion then.
- Now take a big mixing bowl and mix the chicken with the friend onion paste, yoghurt, ginger, garlic paste, chilli paste and turmeric powder .
- Marinate it for about 1-2 hours.
- Then heat mustard oil again in the vessel and add the sugar first and fry it until brown. Then add the whole garam masala. Wait until you feel the frangrance and then add the rest of the fried onions and the marinated chicken and braise it on high flame for few minutes. Add salt and mix well.
- Lower the flame and cover it and cook until the chicken is done.
- Once the chicken becomes soft and tender uncover it and stir the chicken well with all the spices. Then garnish it with little more fried onions. Your Onion Chicken is now ready to serve.
- Keep in mind that this chicken preparation is a little dry dish having a less gravy which only covers the chicken pieces . So you don't need to add water.
- It's best when served with roti, naan or paratha.
Enjoy Your Food..!
Raw Jack Fruit and the Prawns..! This awesome Bengali combo always reminds me of my childhood days. Maa , made this preparation very frequently in summer when raw jackfruits are widely available everywhere. We, eagerly waited for the lunch time whenever she made this curry. Needless to say that she makes this curry extra-ordinarily good like her other Bengali dishes . I am no where near her but try to follow her each and every direction very carefully to bring an almost similar taste.
The process is not very difficult. Here comes the recipe:
Ingredients:
- Green/ Raw Jack Fruit:500 gm.
- Prawns:
250gm( medium sized, shelled, veined)
- Potato:2 Large(Diced)
- Onion:2 Medium( Paste)
- Ginger:1''( Paste)
- Garlic:4-5 Cloves( Crushed/Paste)
- Tomato:2(chopped)
- Bay Leaves:2
- Garam Masala Powder:1tsp.
- Salt: As Per Taste
- Sugar:1/2 tsp.
- Turmeric Powder:1 tsp.
- Chilli Powder: As per your choice
- Ghee/Clarified Butter:1 tsp.
- Mustard Oil:4-5 tbsp.
- Water: As per need.
Process:
- At first peel off the green jack fruit and cut it into small pieces. For me it's really a big deal. Make sure to rub little mustard oil in your hand and then carefully cut it so that the sticky latex cant stick to your hands.
- Peel off and dice the potato also.
- Take a pressure cooker, add enough water and little oil and then add the jack fruit pieces and potato and cook it upto one whistle.
- Drain the excess water using a colander.
- Meanwhile marinate the washed, peeled shrimps with salt and turmeric powder and fry them with little oil until pink in color. Don't fry the shrimps too much.
- Then heat mustard oil in a deep bottomed wok or kadhai. Add the bay leaves and then the garlic paste and sugar.
- When the garlic paste and the sugar become brown in color , add the chopped tomato.
- Cook until the tomatoes become soft.
- Add the onion paste and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the ginger paste and let it fry for another 2-3 minutes.
- Now it's the time to add the boiled jackfruit pieces and the potatoes.
- Then add turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt and cook until the oil starts to release from sides.
- Now add the prawns and mix with all the spices very well.
- Add little water at this time and cook for only 4-5 minutes. You don't have to cook for a long period of time as the potatoes and jack fruits are boiled previously. Cook till your desired consistence.
- Check the seasoning. Add little more sugar and salt if needed.
- Now using a different pan, fry the garam masala with the ghee for just a minute only and add the fried garam masala powder into the curry and cover for a while so that the aroma gets absorbed by the curry.
- Turn off the flame and serve with plain hot rice.
Enjoy Your Food..!!
For the Indian, especially for the vegetarian people Dal or Lentil is the most frequent source of protein. Mixed dal which is prepared mixing three or four different types of lentils ,gives a very distinctive and nice flavour. Moreover, it is a complete protein pack preparation and needless to say that it's delicious, hearty, and full of nutrition.
Here is the process of making Mixed Lentil /Mixed Dal:
Ingredients:
- Masur Dal( Red Lentil):1/4 Cup
- Mug Dal( Yellow Lentil):1/4 Cup
- Arhar Dal( Black Gram ):14 Cup
- Chana Dal(Bengal Gram Lentil):1/4 Cup
- Water: Enough .
- Ghee: 2 Tbsp.
- Bay leaves:2
- Cumin Seeds: 1/2 tsp
- Cinnamon Stick:1
- Cloves:4-5
- Green Cardamoms: 3-4
- Onion: 2 (medium) Chopped
- Green Chilli:3/4(Chopped)
- Tomato:2 (chopped)
- Ginger : 11/2"( Paste)
- Garlic Cloves: 4/5(Paste)
- Sugar:1/4 tsp.
- Turmeric Powder:1 tsp.
- Garam Masala Powder:1/2 tsp.
Process:
- At first mix all the lentils and soak them in water for 1 hour. This time I didn't find chana dal( Bengal gram lentil) in my kitchen pantry and that's why made this with the other three.
- Now pressure cook the soaked dal with enough water up to 4 whistle.
- When it's done keep the boiled dal in a big bowl and heat the ghee in a deep bottomed kadhai or wok.
- Add the cumin seeds and the bay leaves first. When the cumin seeds start to splutter add the whole garam masala( cinnamon sticks, cloves and cardamoms).
- Feel the fragrance and add the chopped onion.
- Saute them until brown.
- Then add the chopped tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes become mushy.
- Add the ginger and the garlic paste. Mix well.
- Add chopped green chilli,turmeric powder, salt,sugar. Stir all the spices very well.
- Cook on medium flame until oil start to release from the sides of the wok.
- Now add the boiled lentils into the kadhai.
- Add 1 cup of water.
- Cook until your desired consistency .Check the seasoning.
- Add little more salt if needed.
- Now in a separate pan with a tsp. of ghee fry the garam masala powder for just a minute.
- Pour this mixture of ghee and garam masala powder into the kadhai and cover for a minute so that the dal captures the aroma of the garam masala powder.
- Now your mixed lentil is ready to serve.
- Serve it with roti,nun,paratha, steamed rice or polao,garnished with coriander leaves .
Enjoy Your Food..!!
