murgh khubani( apriccot chicken )

A classicc chicken dish of Kashmir cooked with dried apricots and aromatic spices. Kashmir is noted for its apricot orchards.In this recipe chicken is cooked with dried apricots to make a fruity and falvoursome dish.The kewada water gives aromatic fragrance.

ingredients

1kg chicken
12 whole dried apricots ,soaked for one hour in cold water
three tablesppon oil
three onion sliced
six clove garlic peeled and ground to paste
two tablespoon fresh root ginger
three green chilli sliced



three green cardamom crushed
one inch cinnamom stick
three medium tomatoes chopped
salt to taste
500mlwater
half teaspoon saffron strands soaked in two tablespoon hot milk or water
half teaspoon kashmiri garam masala
two teaspoon kewada water

procedure

cut the chicken into eight pieces and remove the skin
drain the apricots and remove the stone if necessary
heat oil in pan and fry the onions,garlic,ginger ,chillies, cardamoms and cinnamon until the onions are golden brown in colour



add the chicken pieces,fry unti golden brown



and then add the tomatoes and salt,fry for a few minutes unti the oil separates out



,pour in the water,cover with tight fitting lid and reduce the heat,simmer over low heat for 25 minutes.



add the apricot and saffron to the pan,stir well,cover again,cook for further 10minutes on a low heat ,stirring carefully from time to time.
the apricots should not become mushy.
stir in the garam masala,remove from the heat and sprinkle with kewada water if used.




serve hot with rice or kashmiri roti.
we had with kashmiri roti and the taste was awesome,..

Kashmiri Roti

i am sending this recipe for the roti mela hosted by srivalli



A substitute for the everyday chapatti or phulka ,kashmiri roti are eaten in most households. The spices add flavour and this roti tastes particularly nice on its own.

ingredients

500gm wholewheat flour
one teaspoon salt
one teaspoon ground black pepper
half teaspoon each of ani and cumiseeds
pinch of asafoetida and caromseeds
warm milk for kneading
oil or ghee for frying

procedure

mix the flour with the salt.



add the blackpepper,anissed,cuminseed asafoetida and caromseeds,slowly pour in enough warm milk to make a stiff dough and knead together,sprinkle in a little water if the dough becomes too stiff.
divide the dough in to ten portions and roll out each portion into a disc about 7.5-10cm in diameter and 0.5cmthick.



prick the roti lightly with afork.Cook on a lightly oiled hot griddle or heavy based frying apn,over a low heat.turn frequently adding around 1-2 teaspoons of oil to the pan whilecooking.Cook until both sides of the roti are golden brown.



serve hot with main dish ,or starter or on their own with yogurt



we had with murgh khubani,,and it tasted good,..

Garam masala - Kashmiri style

while reading book " A TASTE OF KASHMIR " BY GEETA SAMTANI i read the recipe of kashmiri garam masala which i prepared as i needed the masala for murgh khubani,..here goes the recipe ,..do notice the difference when added to the recipe

to make 250gm



30gm black cumin seeds
125gm brown cardamom pods
30gm whole blackpeppercorns
30gm cinnamomsticks
30gm wholecloves
12 blades mace
2 whole nutmeg

procedure

dry roast all the spices,except the nutmeg,in a heavy based pan on a very low heat until a stron aroma is released,allow to cool



grind all the roasted spices together in a coffee grinder
grate the nutmeg and add to the mixture



store in airtight container

first experience of mussel,..nd goan style mussel pulao

what a experience to remember,..i had mussel pasta few days back,,really liked the mussel taste..today when i went for grocery shopping with my son i saw green mussels,..couldnt stop myself from buying,..back home i googled for recipes...and got the goan mussel pulao,..easy to make,..i thought of preparing goan mussel pulao for dinner,..but ididnt had any idea how to clean ,whether to cook after opening the shell,..or cook with shell,..i had asked the guy at the shop way to clean mussel and he told me to keep in salt water before cooking,,i had kept for half an hour, but still was closed..hubby was on night call,..so called him up and asked him,,,he told me to slit open the mussel with knife,,i tried but it was to hard to open,.then i googled ways to open mussel,,and i got this it was written that i can cook without opening the shell,,and on cooking the shell will open on its own,..it was like taking bigtime risk,,i thought if the shell dont open i will just eat the rice,..i had to take risk,,,so i followed,,,which goes like this

ingredients
mussel one cup ( i used four)
rice two cups( i used one bowl of cooked rice,,as i already had leftover cooked rice
one onion chopped
one toamto chopped
one tablespoon oil





green cardamom 4
clove 4
cinnamon stick one inch
red chilli 4
salt to taste
turmeric powder a pinch

procedure

heat oil in wok
add cardamom,clove,cinnamon and redchilli



now add chopped onion followed by toamtoes
add the turmeric and salt..and keepfrying till tomatoes lose their shape
now add mussels



voila as soon as i added mussels they started popping up,,i sighed..i was pretty tensed,,

after two minutes add rice



half bowl of water

cover and cook
mussel pulao is ready to eat,..