Kadhai Murgh

Couple of months back I bought- J Inder Singh Kalra's (popularly known as Jiggs Kalra) first cookery book Prashad- cooking with Indian Masters. Jiggs Kalra, is the first Asian to be inducted in the International Gourmet Hall of Fame. He is considered to be pioneer in Indian cuisine. 

I'm a huge fan of Jiggs Kalra's restaurant the Punjab Grill. Here in Delhi, the Punjab Grill is located at Saket. I like everything about the Punjab Grill- the food, the ambience, the service, their portion size (its truely Punjabi!!!!!!), the onion lacchas and ofcourse the perfect end to fantabulous dining -their signature Paan shot !!! 

Prashad- is a very old book, first printed in 1986. Don't judge by its name- it has a lot to offer to non vegetarians!!! Everytime I try any recipe I fall in love with this book all over again. It has never failed me. 

If you pick up any Indian cookery book, you are bound to encounter the recipe of Kadhai Murgh.Unlike most of the recipes of Kadhai Murgh, the recipe in Prashad does not have capsicum as one of its ingredient.  However, the recipe of Kadhai murgh as mentioned in Prashad is quite simple and tastes delicious. Do try it.

Recipe for Kadhai Murg 

Adapted from: Prashad- Cooking with Indian Masters- Jiggs Kalra

Ingredients

1/2 kg chicken, cut into pieces of desired size

1/2 kg tomatoes, finely chopped

1 green chilli, deseeded and chopped

3 tbsp ginger, grated

2 tsp garlic paste

3 tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped

4 whole red chillies

2 tsp of coriander seeds

1 tsp garam masala powder

1/2 tsp kashmiri mirch powder

1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)

3 tbsp ghee

salt to taste

Garnish

ginger julienne

finely chopped coriander leaves

Preparation

• Pound the red chillies and the coriander seeds.
• Heat ghee in a kadhai. Add the garlic paste and saute till the gralic changes its colour.
• Add the pounded red chillies and the coriander seeds and stir. Add the kashmiri mirch give it a quick stir and add the tomatoes. 
• Cook the tomatoes. Once the tomatoes come to a boil add the grated ginger, chopped green chilli and the coriander leaves and mix well. Turn the gas to sim and let it cook.
• Add the chicken and bring to a boil. Let the chicken cook till it is tender.
• Once the chicken is cooked add the garam massala powder and fenugreek leaves and stir for two minutes.
• Garnish the dish with ginger julienne and coriander leaves.

Tips

• Though freshly pound red chillies and coriander seeds give a fresh fragrance to the dish, at times, I add red chilli powder and ground coriander powder. In such a case, do not fry the ground spices too long or else they will burn.
• At times I reduce the quantity of red chillies and also add a bit of kasmiri mirch, this balances the spice to suite me and kashmiri mirch gives a nice colour.
• The tomatoes should be juicy.
• Though it’s advisable to cook the chicken in an open kadai, I do tend to cover it for the chicken to cook.
• If the masala dries up add a spoonful of warm water at a time.
• The gravy of this recipe is very thick so serve it with any Indian bread!!!!!