This is one of the easiest and most delicious chutneys to make. It pretty much complements many of Indian dishes from samosas, dosas, pakoras, and everything in between. 

Prep time: < 5 minutes
Makes ~ 2 bowls

Ingredients:
2 cups grated Coconut
1 bunch Cilantro
1 Lemon 
3 Serrano Chilies
1/2 cup of hot water
Salt to taste

Method:

In a food processor add shredded coconut, cilantro, squeeze the lemon juice (if you want it to taste tangy, add more), Serrano chilies (cut them in medium size pieces), salt, and add hot water. Blend it together until consistent paste, add more water if needed, but make sure it is hot water. 

                           

Thats it!
10:58:00 AM




Kolhapur is located in the southwest Maharashta state in India. It is known for beautiful temples, chappals, jaggery, and cuisine,especially the mutton dishes. 

I was going through the one of my mom's recipe books,  and I came across 'Kolhapuri Chicken' recipe. The description made it enticing, and it looked simple to prepare and cook. 

Prep time: ~30 min
Serves: 3-4 people

Ingredients:
2.5 lbs chicken thighs and drumsticks
3/4 cup of plain yogurt
2 tbsp grated coconut
1 tomato (chopped)
2 onions (chopped)
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
*1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp lime juice
5 tsp cooking oil
2 cinnamon sticks
6 cloves 
1/2 tsp crushed black pepper
1 tsp Kashmiri chili
salt to taste
Cilantro for garnish

Method:

Marinate the chicken with turmeric, salt, ginger-garlic paste, yogurt and lime juice. Set it aside for 30 minutes.

Heat oil (2 tbsp), add cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, and the onions. Saute the onions until they are cooked halfway, and then add tomatoes. Saute the mixture until the onions turn translucent. Next add the grated coconut and cook for few minutes. 



Let the mixture cool, and puree it in a food processor. 

Heat oil (3 tbsp), and add the marinated chicken. Cook the chicken on medium heat until it is almost done. Add the blended paste from the food processor, along with Kashmiri chili (for color) and mix well together. 

Simmer the mixture for approximately 10 minutes occasionally stirring the chicken. 



 That's it! Garnish with cilantro before serving. 

 *I added 1 tsp of turmeric, I did not realize that it was pure, and it turned out to be a bit over flavoring. I would recommend only adding 0.5 tsp if you are using pure turmeric.
4:39:00 PM

Over the weekend I was feeling a bit adventurous in the kitchen, which could be due to the holiday season. After going back and forth between various dishes, I settled on smoked coriander chicken. 

 The uniqueness of this dish is coriander cooked with the dhungar (smoked) method. I have not had many protein Indian dish in which the primary spice was coriander. I must say that it tastes pretty good. Dhungar on the hand, is used in many of the Indian dishes from rice, veggies, to meats. My mom often makes dhungar rice dish called dar chawal. It gives a wonderful smoky flavor, as well as a fantastic aroma to the dish.

 Prep time: < 20 min
Cook time: ~30 min

 Ingredients:

 2.5 lbs chicken (I used thighs and drumsticks)
1 whole onion
3 tomatoes
1 serrano chili
2 1/2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
4 tbsp whole coriander
2 tbsp cashews
2 tbsp tomato paste 
2 tbsp jeera
2 tbsp grated coconut
~3 black peppercorn
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
2 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste
Cilantro for garnish

 For Dhungar
1 charcoal
small piece of foil
1 tsp ghee

 Method:

 In a pan add chicken, salt, 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste, chopped onion, 2 chopped tomatoes, chili slit halfway. Bring this to boil (chicken should be almost done).

 Grind tomato, coriander, cashews, tomato paste, jeera, grated coconut, and 1/2 tbs ginger-garlic paste into a fine paste. 

 Heat oil in a pan on high, add black peppercorn, cloves, and cinnamon stick. Transfer the paste and saute for few minutes. Then transfer the chicken mixture slowly, combining it with the paste. Let this cook for minutes.

 Once the chicken is done, turn off the stove, the next step is dhungar. Heat the charcoal on stove until it is red. In the meantime take a piece of foil make it into a small bowl shape and place it in the middle of the cooked chicken dish. Once the coal is ready place on top of the foil, pour ghee, and close the lid tight. Let this sit for 15-30 minutes until the smoke clears.  It is important that you do not open the lid until the smoke has cleared otherwise you will loose the dhungar taste.



Open the lid right before serving, and garnish with cilantro. The dish can be serve with rice, parathas, phulkas, or roti.
9:34:00 PM

The last few months have flown by, with a  new job (yay!) and with other things going on personally it has been hectic to say the least. And I have missed blogging! Now that I finally feel settled in, hopefully I will be more active in my cooking-journey as well-posting more new recipes in the coming year.

 Last weekend, after a few months of hiatus in the kitchen, I decided to make homemade burgers with an Indian twist.  The burgers are fairly easy to make, and the only time consuming part is making the patties.

 Prep time: ~15min
Makes 7 burger patties

 Ingredients:

 2.5 lbs ground beef
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1tsp garam masala
4 slices of dried Bread
1 bunch Cilantro
1/2 tsp Tandoori Masala
2 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt to taste

 Method:

 Soak the bread by running it under water, and squeeze the excess water out.  Add the bread to the food processor with some ground beef and mix it together. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, add rest of the meat, turmeric, ginger-garlic paste, garam masala, tandoori masala, salt, finely chopped cilantro, drizzle olive oil (2 tbsp). Mix all the ingredients together.  Once everything is blended well, section off the meat and start forming patties.

In a nonstick pan add a drizzle of olive oil, and cook patties for about 2-3 minutes on each side. 



That's it!  Now you can assemble the burger with your favorite condiments and fixings.
8:16:00 PM




I must say I'm loving cooking with the pressure cooker. All I have to do is the prep work and the pressure cooker does the rest. This is my third time using the pressure cooker, but I think I will be using it a lot more in the future.

A couple of  days of ago I made peppered lamb curry in the pressure cooker. This dish required minimal prep work, and the pressure cooker cooks the lamb perfectly.







Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serves: 5

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs of lamb leg (cut in pieces) 
1 1/2 onion (roughly chopped)
1 potato
3 tomatoes (roughly chopped)
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1/2 tsp dhaana-jeeru masala
3 tbsp Ghee
1 green chili
Salt to taste
3/4 cup water
Cilantro for garnish

Method:

Add lamb, tomatoes, onions, ginger-garlic, cumin, cinnamon stick, cloves, dhana-jeeru masala, ghee, chili (slit halfway), and salt in the pressure cooker. Cook these ingredients on high heat for about 8 minutes (until the water starts coming out of the lamb). Add water.



 Then close the pressure cooker, and after the first whistle turn the heat to medium. Let it cook for extra 15 minutes. 

While the lamb is cooking, do the following: coarsely grind the peppercorn and set it aside. Also, peel the potato and cut it into thick slices and set it aside as well.  

 After the fifteen minutes are done, set aside the pressure and do not open until the all the pressure is released. Then add the potatoes, cilantro, and black pepper. Let all this cook on high heat until the potatoes are cooked.

You can serve this dish with khichdi,toasted bread (plain or garlic), and naan.

Let me know how it turns out. 
8:04:00 PM
Copyright © 2016 Curry Wise, Kitchen Foolish! | By Designscrazed