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CHICKEN KARAHI

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Chicken_Karahi-4Chicken Karahi is traditional spiced tomato based gravy that is arguably the most popular dish in Pakistan (Lahore). Karahi is a circular, thick and deep cooking pot like wok and originally was cooked in that. Karahi is like kadai or chatti in tamil. Lot of people adds onions to bring sweetness to it. There is a difference of opinion on this from me as I cook it with just spices and tomatoes only which brings that rustic color to it.

I like that there are not too many spices involved.

 Serve with hot rice, chicken biryani, ghee rice or Indian bread like naan, roti.

Other favorite chicken dishes : chicken kurma, chicken roast

 

HOW TO DO CHICKEN KARAHI VIDEO:

 

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CHICKEN KARAHI
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • • Chicken – ½ kg, cut into cubes. (Boneless/with bone works)
  • • Oil/Ghee (clarified butter) – ½ cup
  • • Bay leaf – 1
  • • Clove – 1
  • • Cinnamon stick – ½ inch
  • • Green Cardamom – 2
  • • Ginger garlic paste – 1.5 tbsp
  • (or)
  • Garlic – 3, crushed. Ginger – 2 inch, crushed
  • • Tomatoes – 2 (large)
  • • Water – ½ cup
  • • Yogurt – ¼ cup
  • • Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
  • • Coriander cumin powder – 1 tsp
  • • Pepper powder – ½ tsp
  • • Green chillies – 4
  • • Water – 1 cup
  • • Salt – 2 tsp
  • • Garnish:
  • • Cilantro – 2 tbsp, finely chopped
  • • Ginger - 1 inch, Julienne cut
Instructions
  1. HEAT; MEDIUM HIGH HEAT
  2. Crush ginger and garlic using mortar-pestle. Or blend in a blender. You can use ginger garlic paste.
  3. In a pan over medium high heat, add oil.
  4. Once oil is hot, add the bay leaf, clove, cinnamon stick and green cardamom.
  5. Add the chicken, salt and ginger garlic paste.
  6. Let it get slightly brown on few pieces (pink→white→ white with mild brown roasted pieces)
  7. HEAT: LOW HEAT
  8. Add rough chopped tomatoes , 1 cup water and close the lid. Turn the heat to low
  9. After 10 mins, open and mix well. The tomatoes at this point will be mashed when we mix.
  10. Add yogurt, red chilli powder, coriander cumin powder, pepper powder and green chillies. Mix well. Close the lid.
  11. Let it cook for 12 minutes in low heat.
  12. Open the lid, at this point all the water would gone and the gravy would have oozed out oil.
  13. Now add the ginger and cilantro. Add lime juice if you had also.
  14. Close the lid for 2 minutes and serve with hot rice or Indian bread like naan/roti.
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Kozhi Milagu pirattal / Pepper chicken semi dry curry

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PepperChickenCurryThis is a simple chicken curry that will entice your sense. Pepper gives depth and immense flavour to this dish.

You need very few ingredients to make this recipe, which is not the case for most Indian recipes. I try not to repeat the recipes I make so that I can develop some new good recipes. Most times it’s a hit! 😉 Few times of course it fails and I will end up trashing my pictures. Sometimes I try to make it too simple and I forget to take the step-by-step pictures. This recipe happened that way. I couldn’t take step-by-step pictures 🙂 however, the end result was a hit! 😀 and I do want to share the recipe. I will try to add the step-by-step pictures next time.

 

I am a vegetarian :). If you have read my posts before, sometimes I would have mentioned that. I usually cook meat for my family and friends. However I have a feeling whenever I cook meat curry and if I make it with pepper, people are loving it 😀 (pepper chicken curry, pepper egg roast, pepper lamb curry, Pepper ghee prawn roast). Pepper gives a great flavour to meat I believe.

Have it with plain hot rice or Indian bread like roti or naan. Or make it with Indian spicy tomato rasam. 🙂

My other favourite chicken recipes: Chicken Restaurant Style Biryani, Chicken Noodles, Spicy chicken 65, Madras chicken curry in 30 minutes

PepperChickenCurry-2

5.0 from 1 reviews
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Kozhi Milagu pirattal / Pepper chicken semi dry curry
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • • Chicken - 400gms
  • • Oil – 2 tbsp
  • • Whole Red Chilli – 2, broken
  • • Curry leaves – 5
  • • Onion - 1 cup, 1 finely chopped
  • • Ginger garlic paste - 2tbsp
  • • Turmeric powder - 1 Tsp
  • • Chili powder – ½ Tsp
  • • Coriander powder – ½ tsp
  • • Salt – 2 tsp or as per your taste
  • • Curry leaves – 10
  • • Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp, finely chopped
  • • Water – 100 ml

    To Roast and grind:
  • • Curry Leaves - 6
  • • Pepper - 1 tbsp
  • • Fennel seeds - 1 tbsp
Instructions
  1. Dry roast the ingredient under "to roast & grind” in medium to low flame for 1.5 - 2 minutes. Cool them, grind them together and keep it aside.
  2. In a pan, heat oil in medium flame, when it is heated, add red chillies, curry leaves and when it’s roasted for 5 seconds, add onion and a bit of salt and sauté till golden brown.
  3. Now add ginger garlic paste and sauté for a minute.
  4. Add the chicken, turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder and sauté well for a minute
  5. Add the blended pepper powder with the remaining salt you need for the recipe and sauté well for a minute.
  6. Lower the flame from medium a bit but don’t low it too much, add water and close the lid. It will take around fifteen minutes for it to cook well. Don’t add more water, it may make it rubbery and chicken will ooze some water already.
  7. Open the lid now and you will see its semi gravy now. If you think you need it dry, just keep it open to get the chicken roasted.
  8. Add chopped coriander leaves and switch it off.
Notes
Adjust spice level according to your taste. Reduce pepper if you cant take pepper.
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Parangikai paal Kootu/ Yellow Pumpkin milk based curry

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Paalkootu-3One of the authentic south Indian recipes made from pumpkin and milk. It has a mix of sweet and a spicy taste. It’s a great side to roti/Indian breads or some spicy curry (kuzhambu) and rice.

When I first thought of making this recipe, I was sure I want to have it with something spicy.  I was actually skeptical if I would like it, surprisingly I liked it a lot. So, I made this with some vatha kuzhambu. The combo was perfect. You should try this. It is surely one of the recipes from south India that people don’t do much these days.
Paalkootu

These recipes we should keep doing it just not because it is authentic but also healthy. Pumpkin is good for heart health, eye health and immunity. We think that these days we should have salads more and cut down rice. However I believe we should keep eating these healthy recipes and do more exercises. This will help you make your heart and body fit 🙂

Vegan note: You can use the coconut milk instead of milk.

Other favourite south Indian Recipes: Drumstick masala, Spinach garlic curry, Lemon tomato rasam

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Parangikai paal Kootu/ Yellow Pumpkin milk based curry
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2 cups
 
Ingredients
  • Pumpkin /Parangikai – 450 gms, cubed
  • Milk – 1 cup
  • Rice flour – 2 tsp
  • Sugar – 1.5 tbsp
  • Salt – to taste

    Seasoning:
  • Coconut oil – 2 tsp
  • Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
  • Urad dal – ½ tsp
  • Red chillies – 2
  • Curry leaves – a sprig
  • Asafoetida/ Hing – a pinch

    Grinding:
  • Coconut – 2 tbsp
  • Green chillies – 2
  • Cumin seeds – 1 tbsp
Instructions
  1. Blend the ingredients under grinding.
  2. Peel the skin, discard the seeds and chop pumpkin into small pieces.
  3. Boil ½ cup water and add the cubed pumpkin with some salt.
  4. Add the blended coconut paste, rice flour, salt to taste, sugar, milk and mix well. Let it boil in medium heat for 5 – 7 mins until the consistency becomes saucy. Switch off.
  5. Heat coconut oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves and hing. When the dal turns golden brown, remove from heat, add the seasoning to the curry and mix well.
Notes
You can use coconut milk instead of milk if you want it to be vegan.
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Drumstick Masala/ Murungakkai Masala

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Drumstickcurry-9A south Indian vegan gourmet stir fry made with simple ingredients.

Drumstick/ Moringa/ Murungakkai is a long, green slender vegetable which is commonly found in Indian shops. The flower, the leaves and the whole vegetable is edible and it is been in south Indian for years. When you cook the whole vegetable by boiling in a curry, it remains particularly high in vitamin C (which may be degraded variably by cooking). And also it is a good source of  potassium, dietary fiber and magnesium. The leaves can be used like any other green leaves (like spinach). When you cook the vegetable, chop the ends and trash it. Cut the vegetable, cook them and when you eat it, chew the entire piece, extract pulp and juice while chewing, omitting the fibrous part.  Or you can boil them, use the inside juicy pulpy part in your cooking directly. Let me know if you have questions. The vegetable as a whole is very flavorful, tasty, gives great aroma and you can use them in your favorite part of curry. I made this with as a side dish for rasam and dal. I usually don’t get them anywhere near, have to travel bit to get it in Indian store. Once my sister gave it to me from Toronto and I made this. It’s been really long since I made these, but posting it for you 🙂 as I really don’t want to miss this delicious healthy Indian stir fry.




For Other Indian Stir fry recipes : Carrot stir fry, Beans stir fry, baby potato stir fry, cauliflower stir fry, eggplant stir fry, Bitter gourd stir fry, okra/ladys finger stir fry.

Drumstickcurry-14

5.0 from 2 reviews
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Drumstick Masala/ Murungakkai Masala
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2 cups
 
Ingredients
  • Oil – 2 tsp
  • Cinnamon – 1/ 2 inch piece, 1
  • Cloves – 2
  • Cardamom – 2
  • Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
  • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • Drumstick – 4
  • Garlic – 3 chopped
  • Big Onion – 1 finely chopped
  • Tomato – 1 small, finely chopped
  • Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
  • Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
  • Coriander powder – 2 tsp
  • Jaggery – a pinch
  • Salt – to taste

    To grind:
  • Coconut – 2 tbsp, grated
  • Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
  • Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
  • Garlic – 3
  • Ginger – 1 inch
Instructions
  1. Trim the ends of the drumstick, cut it into 1.5 inch long and set aside.
  2. Grind the ingredients under “to grind”. And set aside.

  3. Heat oil in medium heat, add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and sauté for few seconds. Then add the mustard seeds, when it crackles, add the curry leaves and sauté well.

  4. Now add the garlic, onions, little salt and fry till golden brown. Add tomato and turmeric powder, and sauté well till it becomes soft and pulpy.

  5. Add drumstick, red chilli powder, coriander powder, little salt, ½ cup of water and cover and cook for few minutes until the drumstick turns tender. It took around 8 mins.(medium to low heat).

  6. When it cooked soft and has little water left inside, add the blended paste, jaggery and with little water if it is already dry. Or just add the blended paste with no water. (check salt at this stage)
  7. Let it cook till it becomes semi dry. Switch it off and garnish with some chopped coriander leaves.
Notes
1. You can replace with red chilli powder with coriander powder.
2. You can cook little more and make it super dry, it totally depends on the consistency you want.
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Serve it with some rice and dal/rasam/sambar.

BISI BELE BATH/ HOT SPICY LENTIL RICE

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bisibelabath-7A signature south Indian one pot meal with rice, lentils, shallots & spice powder.

 Bisi bela bath is a hot spicy lentil rice from Karnataka, India. It is one of the famous south Indian dishes made from cooked rice and lentils, mashed and added to spicy tamarind mixture. It is served with raita, mixed vegetable curry, aviyal, papad for lunch or dinner. The authentic recipe does not contain any onions or veggies in fact, it is simply done by grinding those masalas, adding them into the tamarind water and mix it will rice lentil mixture. But these days everybody loves to add vegetables to it. I like it simple with just shallots. The shallots/pearl onions added with curry leaves gives great flavor. Feel free to add any veggie of your choice. If you think, this involves a lot of process, you can always buy the store-bough MTR Bisi Bela Baath powder. It tastes good for sure.  I love my mom’s recipe. She is just a pro in bisi bela bath. When she tempers the ingredients in ghee, I go crazy. I just love it when she makes the bisi bela bath. She prepares it with aviyal, raita and papad. She used to make it often just for me. After I came here, whenever I go to meet her in India, she makes it for me without fail. 🙂 I really miss her and her cooking 😉 . This time when she made it in India, I couldn’t have it ;( Bad me!

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 The tempering of ingredients in ghee and topping it on bisibelabath makes anyone in the house hungry. It gives great flavor. Even the blended masala powder, I would say you could always make the bisi belath bath powder and store it. But if you are planning to do so, store it in air tight container without adding coconut. Many like to avoid ghee/clarified butter because of the fat. But once in a while, I am sure its ok. You can cut down in something else. This is worth it.

Vegan note: If you vegan, please avoid ghee or you can use vegan butter and melt and top it.

 It taste great with Bittergourd Chips,raita,  potato roast, potato sukka or raw banana fry. Even with aviyal or mixed vegetable curry.

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5.0 from 1 reviews
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BISI BELA BATH/ HOT SPICY LENTIL RICE
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • For rice lentils:
  • Rice – 1 cup
  • Toor dal – 1 cup
  • Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
  • Salt – as needed.
  • Water – 5 cups.


    Bisi bela bath spice powder:
  • Chana dal/ bengal gram spilt and skinned – 1 tbsp
  • Urad dal/split black gram – 1 tbsp
  • Cloves – 3
  • Cardamom pods – 2
  • Cinnamom stick – 1 inch
  • Red chillies – 4
  • Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
  • Coriander seeds – 2 tbsp
  • Grated coconut – ¼ cup
  • Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
  • Asafortida powder – ½ tsp


    For bisi belabath:
  • Tamarind lemon size in 4.5 cups water
  • Shallots//Pearl onions – 15, peeled
  • Jaggery – 2 tsp
  • Salt – to taste
  • Oil – 1 tbsp
  • Curry leaves – 6
  • Tomato – 1, chopped finely
  • Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp


    To temper:
  • Ghee – 3 tbsp
  • Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
  • Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
  • Dry red chilli – 2
  • Curry leaves - 8
  • Peanuts – 7-8
Instructions
  1. For Bisi Bele Bath Powder:
  2. Heat a small pan on medium heat, add in the channa dal, urad dal, and stir continuously till they lightly brown. Then add cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom pods, dry red chillies, fenugreek seeds and coriander seeds. Roast until the chilies begin to brown.
  3. Next add the poppy seeds and coconut. And roast for 30 seconds until coconut loses its moisture. Add turmeric powder and asafetida powder finally. Stir and switch off the heat.
  4. When cooled, blend them into a fine powder. Keep it aside. You can store in an air tight container and use for a while.


    For Bisi Bela Bath:
  5. In a pressure cook, add the washed rice, washed lentils, turmeric powder, salt and water. Keep it in medium to high heat and whistle for 5 whistles. Mash it and keep it aside.
  6. Soak tamarind in warm water and keep it aside.
  7. Take a big wide pan, add oil, add the curry leaves and pearl onions, sauté well in medium to low flame.
  8. Then add the tomatoes, turmeric powder and salt and sauté till the raw smell leaves. Add the tamarind water and blended bisi bela bhaat spice powder. Added little extra water as we are going to add rice to it. Add the jaggery and mix well.
  9. Let them boil for 5-7 minutes, then add the cooked rice dal to it slowly and mix well as you add it. Switch off.
  10. Now to temper, heat a small pan on medium heat, add in tbsp. of ghee and allow it to melt, add in the mustard seeds, the cumin seeds. Allow it to crackle. Then add in the red chilli, peanuts, curry leaves, asafetida and roast them. Once roasted, top it on the bibebelabath seasoning with two more tbsp. of ghee. Serve it hot.
Notes
1. Even the blended masala powder, I would say you could always make the bisi belath bath powder and store it. But if you are planning to do so, store it in air tight container without adding coconut.
2. If you vegan, please avoid ghee or you can use vegan butter and melt and top it.
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 It taste great with Bittergourd Chips,raita,  potato roast, potato sukka or raw banana fry. Even with aviyal or mixed vegetable curry.

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Bitter Gourd Chips / Karela Chips / Pavakkai Chips

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pavakkai-3
Crispy, evenly fried bitter gourd with very mild bitterness!!!!

This is one of the simple recipes to make with bittergourd. Whenever you fry this veggie, you will have very mild bitterness or nil bitterness. I have already posted a pavakkai fry recipe without frying in deep oil.  I removed the bitterness by soaking in yogurt. But for this recipe, you don’t need to do that is the plus of the frying part for this bittergourd. I would say the tip to get them crispy is adding rice flour and not any other flour. And also one more tip is to slice them thinly. If you slice them evenly, you will never go to shops to buy them, they are so perfect!

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I used to avoid bitter gourd till my college days, and then started to have it after my mom packed in my lunch box. Then I never bought this veggie here as I have to travel a little bit, and also never felt like having this 😉 ! My boyfried loves veggies in all forms 😀 so I started to make for him and then tried to include these veggies in our meal somehow. And as we all know, it’s really good to include vegetables and fruits in our daily life. I wanted to make it a habit but sometimes I am so bored to chop them as I don’t take frozen vegetables much, I tried to skip them.

They can be served with rasam/sambar/kuzhambu or any gravy with rice. Or as a snack for tea time snack.

pavakkai

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Bitter Gourd Chips / Karela Chips / Pavakkai Chips
Author: 
Recipe type: main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 3 cups
 
Ingredients
  • Bitter gourd / Pavakkai – 5
  • Sambar powder – ½ tbsp.
  • Chilli powder – ½ tbsp. ( or just use any one – chilli powder or sambar powder)
  • Rice flour – 4 tbsp
  • Turmeric powder– ¼ tsp
  • Salt – 1 tbsp
  • Water – 1 tbsp( approx..)
  • Oil – For deep frying
Instructions
  1. Wash and remove the ends of the bitter gourd. Slice and thin evenly the bitter gourd, so that we can cook them evenly.
  2. Add the rice flour, turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt and water to the chopped bitter gourd.Mix well and keep aside.
  3. Heat oil in a pan and when it is hot, add the sliced bitter gourd evenly like in a sprinkled way. Do not crowd the pan as it may reduce the heat of the oil and make the bittergourd oily and not crispy. Cook in medium to high flame until the bitter gourd turns golden brown. Turn it and when both sides are golden brown, drain in kitchen tissue.
Notes
1. Do not fry in low heat or high heat, frying in medium flame will get them cook evenly and will make them crispy.
2. Do not add more water; bitter gourd will ooze out some water too. The water is just to make the rice flour stick to the veggie.
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Taste best with rasam/sambar/kuzhambu.

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