This Valentine’s Day was extra special; it was the first with our most treasured possession and our deepest love, our baby! I wanted to make it memorable.
I sent an evite to the hubby for a formal dinner at home :) (when you have a 7 month old at home, you run out of ideas very quickly). It seemed all personalized and beautiful to my family, but to me, cooking a special meal for the hubby came very naturally and I knew I wasn’t being all that creative after all. I love watching food channels and the idea of presenting a restaurant style multiple course meal has always appealed to me.
So, I planned just that – 4 appetizers and a lip-smacking entree.
The idea was perfect, and the execution couldn’t be any less. After scratching my head with several cuisine and menu options, I thought to myself – now, what does the hubby love that I can’t go wrong with…and I had my menu chalked out instantly – desi!
I decided to make ‘Kadhai chicken’, a recipe I’ve recently learned and is so finger-licking good! (Ah, all my modesty is out of the window now, for the kadhai chicken is just THAT yum)
Ingredients:
2lbs chicken. (I prefer the Indian style cut up chicken and I usually try and get smaller pieces so the spices really get all the way in).
4inch square of ginger (yeah, needs lot of ginger and garlic)
4 cloves garlic
3 Jalapeno peppers (can add more or less based on spice preference)
3 tomatoes
2 medium sized onions
Coriander
Dry ingredients:
Garam masala
Dhania powder (coriander powder)
Turmeric
Red chilli powder
Salt to taste
The recipe:
Sorry, but you need a lot of oil for this preparation and it isn’t for healthy eating.
* Take oil in a kadhai
* Add 3 inch ginger slivers (leave 1 inch for garnishing)
* Add finely chopped garlic
* Cut the jalapeno pepper in circles and add to the kadhai
* Add turmeric and salt to taste. I tend to add more turmeric than usual, because I love the aroma of turmeric in oily preparations.
* Add dhania powder and very little garam masaala. You can do without the garam masaala too.
* Add chicken and let the chicken cook in the oil for around 10 minutes on a high flame. You will need to stir frequently.
Tip – Do not cover the kadhai, you don’t want a steamed preparation. The chicken should primarily be cooked in oil.
* After the chicken gets a nice coating of the oil, ginger-garlic and turmeric, add chopped tomatoes. You can reduce the flame at this point and let the tomatoes cook in for another 15 minutes.
* Once the tomatoes become somewhat homogenous with the rest of the gravy, add finely chopped onions and let it cook for 20 mins.
* Garnish with chopped coriander, jalapenos and the slivers of the remaining ginger.
Kadhai chicken is ready!
Serve piping hot. Pair the Kadhai chicken with hot tandoori naan and a glass of Robert Mondavi, and you’ve got a winner!
Anshuman gave it a thumbs up. And so, my first blog with Kadhai chicken was the best way to start this new endeavor.
