Shandaar Murgh Rasa

This is an experimental dish inspired by Malvani cuisine. Malvan is the southernmost coastal district of Maharashtra State in India. It has its own standard cuisine which is also most popular along the Konkan region (coastal districts of Maharashtra, Goa and north west Karnataka states). This region follow a distinct way of cooking food and mostly use coconut in various forms such as dry grated, coconut milk, fried paste etc.

Being in the Konkan region, this cuisine is predominantly non-vegetarian and spicy as they use many masalas like red chillies, pepper corns and garam masala. Fish dishes dominate this cuisine and those fiery sea food curries may be too hot to handle for outsiders but definitely worth its taste. The spice level can be altered as per one's preference.

Now let's go to the recipe.....

Cooking Time: 30-40 mins                      Servings: 4 

Preparation Time: 20 mins                      Category:  Main course, Non-Veg

Ingredients:-

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Chicken - 500 gms

Red Chilli powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste (including for masala)

Lime Juice (optional) - 1/2 tsps (Hung curd/yogurt can also be used to reduce the hot spicy flavor)

Cooking oil (groundnut oil for fish/mutton) - 2/3 tbsps

Finely chopped coriander leaves - 1 stick 

For Masala

Shandaar Murgh Rasa

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Onions - 2, chopped

Tomatoes - 2, chopped

Red chillies - 4

Cinnamon (Dalchini) - 1 medium stick

Cardamom (Elaichi) - 4

Cloves (Laung) - 8-10

Peppercorns (Kali mirch)  - 5

Black cumin seeds (Shahi Jeera) - 1 tsp

Fennel seeds (saunf) - 1 tsp

Star Anise (chakra phool) - 2

Grated dry coconut - 1 medium size 

Sesame seeds (thill) - 2 tsp

Cashew Nuts (Kaju) - 50 gms

Cooking oil - 2 tsp

Bay leaf - 1/2

Masala preparation:-

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• Heat oil in a pan and add bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, peppercorn, red chillies, black cumin seeds, fennel seeds, start anise and roast them for 2 mins.
• Then add the grated dry coconut, sesame seeds and roast them for another couple of mins.
• Now add chopped onions and saute until it turns light brown, then add the chopped tomotoes and saute for a minute.
• Turn off the stove and let it cool. When done, blend this into a thick masala paste. Little water can be added to make it into paste.

Preparation Method (curry):-

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• Wash chicken well and take it in a bowl. Add chilli powder, ginger garlic paste, turmeric & coriander powders, salt and lime juice. Mix them well and let this marinade at least for an hour.
• Heat the oil in a cooking vessel and add the marinated chicken, mix well and cook for 15 mins.
• Now add the masala paste and 2 small cups of water, mix well and let it simmer for another 20 mins or until it starts oozing out the oil (which means the chicken & masala is properly cooked).
• Keep stirring at regular intervals to avoid masala sticking to the bottom of the vessel.
• Add another cup of water or cook for some more time as per your required consistency of the gravy.
• Turn off the stove and take it into a serving bowl. Garnish with finely chopped coriander, couple of red chillies and serve hot.
• This dish goes very well with any of the Indian breads (roti, naan, kulcha), chapathi, paratha, jeera rice, bagara rice or steamed rice.

Palamooru Kodi Kura

Palamoor/Palamuru is the old name of the present Mahabubnagar in Telangana state. Many cherished memories of mine are associated with this place as I did my graduation from one of the colleges in Mahabubnagar town. Having spent majority of my college days there with many local friends, I have had the privilege to visit some interior villages nearby. Being a food enthusiast, I had the opportunity of trying few local dishes like Palamuru pottelu kura, nalli mamsam kura, kalchina kura etc. The one dish that stood out most was Kodi Kura that I still remember its taste. So, tried to recreate that dish with a little experiment of my own. It turned out well and my family/cousins have relished this dish. 

Telangana cuisine was unexplored until recently. But now it is slowly gaining its popularity in and around Hyderabad (thanks to few restaurants in the city which have included some local recipes in their menu) and will eventually move to other states. If observed, Telangana cuisine will have equal amounts of chilli and masala in most of the recipes as compared to Andhra cuisine which is more of chilli based.

Here is the recipe 

Cooking Time: 30-40 mins                  Servings:  4 
Preparation Time: 15 mins                 Category:  Main course, Non-Veg. 

Ingredients:
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Chicken (bone/boneless) - 500 gms
Onion sliced - 1
Green Chillies - 5

Palamooru Kodi Kura

Red chillies - 5
Mint leaves - 1 stick
Coriander - 1 stick
Garlic - 5 cloves
Ginger - about an 1/2 inch cube nicely diced
Star anise seeds - 5 or 6
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 small stick
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Lemon juice - 2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Cooking oil - 4 tbsp
Cloves - 4/5
Bay leaf - 1


Preparation Method:
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• Heat a pan and dry roast cumin, fennel, coriander, fenugreek, garlic, ginger, green & red chillies, star anise, cinnamon etc. When they start to pop, add sliced onions, chopped mint & coriander leaves and dry roast for about another 10 mins on low heat.
• Take these out and when cold blend all these into a thick paste and keep aside.
• In a bowl, take the chicken pieces and add half of this paste, turmeric powder, 1 tsp lemon juice. Mix well and let it marinade for 1 hr. (Adding chilli powder is optional. In case you wish to, add no more than 1 tsp as we already have green & red chillies and garam masala)
• Heat the oil in a kadai/cooking vessel. Add cloves, bay leaf and after few seconds add the marinated chicken to it. Mix well and close the vessel with a lid. Cook for 20 mins on high heat (stirring at regular intervals to avoid the paste sticking at the bottom of the vessel).
• Add the remaining paste and lemon juice, salt, 1 cup of water and mix well. Cook until the dish starts to ooze out the oil and the gravy thickens.
• Now add garam masala, stir it well and turn off the stove/heat.
• Take the dish into a serving bowl. Garnish with sliced onion rings & fried green chillies and serve hot. This dish goes well with jawar roti, tandoori roti, naan, chapathi, steam rice and Bagara Rice too.