Butter Chicken Masala

Butter Chicken Masala 

This Butter Chicken recipe is quite different in taste from the one I usually make. I had bought the Zaiqa Butter Chicken Masala packet and I wanted to try the recipe as written on the packet. It was very different in taste from the regular Butter Chicken Masala but flavor-wise, though different, it hit all the right spots.

Ingredients for Marination:

2 tablespoons Zaiqa Butter Chicken Masala

1 teaspoon lime juice

1-2 tablespoons curd/plain yogurt

1 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for Gravy:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons oil

2 onions, ground to paste or chopped very fine

4 tomatoes, ground to paste (boiled & de-skinned) or 1 cup tomato puree

2 tablespoon ginger garlic paste

500 grams chicken boneless pieces

1 teaspoon dry kasoori methi leaves/dry fenugreek leaves

3 tablespoons Zaiqa Butter Chicken Masala

1 tablespoon tomato ketchup or 1 teaspoon sugar

Salt, to taste

1 cup milk

2 tablespoon cream

1 teaspoon cream, to garnish

Oil, as needed, for pan-fry/grilling

Method:

1. Marinate chicken pieces in Zaiqa Butter Chicken Masala, lime juice, curd and salt.
2. Leave to marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes.
3. Pan fry or grill. When cooked, keep aside for use in the gravy.
4. Heat 2 tablespoons oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a kadai/wok. Sauté the onion paste, or very finely chopped, till the raw onion smell evaporates.
5. Add 2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste, sauté well.
6. Add ground tomatoes or 1 cup tomato puree. Sauté till the raw tomato smell evaporates and oil separates.
7. Add chicken pieces, sauté for 5-7 minutes on low heat.
8. Add Zaiqa Butter Chicken Masala, kasoori methi leaves, salt to taste, sauté.
9. Add milk (very gradually), and allow to simmer for a few minutes till the gravy reaches the desired consistency.
10. Add cream, tomato ketchup, or sugar, simmer on very low heat for 10 minutes.
11. Garnish with butter and cream. Serve with naan or parathas. 

Chef Notes: 

1. Vegetarians can use cottage cheese/paneer instead of chicken to make a vegetarian version of this recipe. 
2. The recipes asks for boneless pieces but I’m not very fond of boneless chicken hence opted for drumsticks.
3. I used the Zaiqa brand of Butter Chicken masala that I bought online. It’s a spice blend manufactured by Zaiqa – The Spice Store. To buy their spices visit their Face book page ‘Zaiqa - The Spice Store’ and message Anisa Arif for the same. 
4. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism. 

Sindhi Chicken Biryani

                                

Sindhi Chicken Biryani

Deliciously aromatic is how I would describe this dish. This Biryani is quite different from the ones I usually make. The base recipe was on the back of the Sindhi Biryani packet that I used, but I've tweaked a few proportions to my liking. Sindhi Biryani masala contains dried plums. I made Sindhi Biryani for the first time and the plums in the masala took the Biryani to a different high from the regular Biryani. Even my ever fussy Grumpy Tomcat [read: husband ;-) ] loved the flavor it imparted to the dish. If you have Sindhi Biryani masala available in your part of the world, do give this a try.

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons oil

2 cloves

2 cardamoms

2 one inch pieces of cinnamon

5 large onions, sliced

2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste

1 kilo chicken, cut into 10-12 pieces

5 large tomatoes, grated

5 green chilies, very finely chopped

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

5 tablespoons Sindhi Biryani masala (I used Zaiqa brand)

Salt, to taste

450 grams basmati rice

1 clove

1 cardamom

1 inch piece cinnamon

1/3^rd teaspoon black cumin/shahjeera

2 pinches saffron

¼ cup hot milk

2 tablespoons butter

2 onions, sliced and fried golden brown, for garnish

Method:

1. Steep saffron in hot milk. Cover and keep aside.
2. Heat oil; add 2 cloves, 2 cardamoms, 2 pieces of cinnamon and sauté for a few seconds.
3. Add the onions and fry till golden brown.
4. Add ginger-garlic paste and sauté.
5. Add green chilies, turmeric powder, Sindhi Biryani masala, salt and sauté.
6. Add tomatoes and sauté till oil separates.
7. Add chicken pieces and sauté for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Lower heat and cook chicken, covered till 80% done. (You will not need to add any water as because the chicken is covered and cooked on low heat the gravy and the moisture from the chicken will be enough to cook the bird)
8. Wash and soak the basmati rice in water for 20-30 minutes. Drain.
9. Heat a large vessel with water. Add 1 clove, I cardamom, I cinnamon, black cumin, salt and bring to a rapid boil.
10. Add the drained rice and par-boil till 80% done. Drain the rice in a sieve.
11. Layer the chicken and the gravy in a vessel. Cover with the par-boiled rice.
12. Spoon over the saffron and the saffron milk over the rice.
13. Add a few blobs of butter over the rice. Garnish with fried onions.
14. Cover the vessel tightly with a lid. (Make dough with regular plain flour and sealed the entire edge of vessel and lid to ensure it doesn’t lose any of it’s flavor while cooking on low heat / cooking on ‘dum’)
15. Cook this on very low heat for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove the dough from the lid edge.
16. Serve Biryani with plain yogurt or yogurt raita. 

Chef Notes:

1. If Zaiqa spices are not available to you feel free to use any brand of Sindhi Biryani masala. If you do wish to procure Zaiqa spices visit their Face book page ‘Zaiqa The Spice Store’ and message Anisa Arif for the same.
2. For those of you who don’t know, cooking on ‘dum’ means sealing the edges of the vessel with dough to ensure the steam doesn’t escape and it also helps retain the flavor of the dish. Cooking on ‘dum’ is always done on very low heat. 
3. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism. 

                                

Al Faham Chicken with Al Faham Curry Dip

Al Faham Chicken with Al Faham Curry Dip

This same recipe can also be made using paneer (cottage cheese) or baby potato (pricked with a fork) if you’re a vegetarian but of course the carnivore in me just had to go with chicken. ;-)

Ingredients:

500 gms chicken, boneless breast pieces (I preferred to use drumsticks and thigh pieces)

1 cup curd/plain yogurt

2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste

2-3 teaspoons Al Faham Masala (Zaiqa brand)

Ingredients:

1. If using boneless chicken breasts, slit the breast to flatten it to a big flat piece and hammer lightly with meat mallet to flatten. (I put light slits on the drumsticks and thigh pieces as we usually do when making tandoori chicken)
2. Beat the curd to smoothen it. Add ginger-garlic paste, Al Faham masala to the curd. Marinate the chicken in the curd masala for 4 hours (You may marinate it longer. I marinated it for 7 hours)
3. Remove the excess marinade and grill the chicken on a bbq, or under the grill in an oven or pan-grill it on a stove until the chicken is cooked and juicy. (I pan grilled it in a non-stick pan with about 5 tablespoons oil)
4. When the chicken is nearly done baste chicken with butter to heighten the flavor of the chicken. Serve with lemon wedges and salad of your choice. (I used the remaining marinade to made a spicy curry dip and served that with the chicken).
   
   

Al Faham Curry Dip

Ingredients:

Leftover Al Faham marinade in which the chicken had been marinated

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 small green chilies, finely chopped

1 large tomato, cut in half, grated

¾-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or as desired)

Salt, only if needed

1 tablespoon butter

Sugar to taste

2 sprigs of coriander, chopped

Method:

1. Heat butter, gently. Do not allow it to burn.
2. Add onions, green chili and fry till golden brown.
3. Add cayenne pepper and sauté.
4. Add grated tomatoes. Sauté till tomatoes are cooked and specks of butter appear on the surface of the gravy.
5. Add the leftover marinade, mix and allow to cook over gentle to medium heat till gravy thickens to a ‘thick dip’ consistency.
6. Check for salt. Add sugar to balance out the flavor of the gravy.
7. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with Al Faham chicken. 

Chef Notes: 

1. The proportion of marinade was quite a lot after draining the chicken from it, for grilling, and I didn't want the marinade to go waste hence decided to make a spicy dip from the remaining marinade.
2. Al Faham BBQ/Grill is a special blend of spice I bought online. It’s a spice blend manufactured by Zaiqa – The Spice Store. To buy their spices visit their Face book page ‘Zaiqa - The Spice Store’ and message Anisa Arif for the same. 
3. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.