Murgh Badami : Chicken in Almond Sauce

Today I'm going to share a chicken recipe which falls in the category of Indian Chicken Curry, has similarities with Sahi or korma Chicken as all of them have Mughlai influences. But particularly this one is not so rich or spicy, has a nice flavor of roasted whole spices, almonds and green hot peppers.

Last couple of years I was making this chicken curry by following a specific way. But very recently I found the simpler way which would make your cooking much easier. As the main ingredients is almond, you can consider this one as healthy dish too comparing to its siblings. And what I like most about this dish, you don't have to use much ingredients to get the flavorful dish.  Yet it’s still pleasing, delicate and silky gravy which your family would certainly like, I can ensure. The recipe is adapted from "ecurry", though I have made many changes :-) 

Murgh Badami: Chicken in Almond Sauce


Ingredients : ( 4 to 6 servings )

Chicken pieces ( cut into medium size ) - 2-2.5 lbs

Lemon juice - 2 tbsp

Red chili powder - 1 tsp

Greek Yogurt or Hung Yogurt - 3 tbsp

Oil - 5 tsp

Onion - 2 medium sized and thinly sliced

Ginger paste - 2 tbsp

Garlic paste - 3 tbsp

Green Hot Peppers - 5-6 ( if you want to avoid the spicy kick , use deseed one  but don't skip. It will give a nice flavor )

Milk - 1/2 cup

Whole Spices : green cardamom - 4-5 , Cinnamon - 2 inches , clove - 4-5 ( pound to break them )

Garam masala powder - 1 tsp

Bay leaf - 2

Salt

Sugar

Almonds ( over night soaked and peeled ) - 1/2 cup
Cilantro and roasted Almonds for garnishing .

Method :

1. Wash the chicken pieces. Pat dry with a paper towel. Add lemon juice, salt and red chili powder. Mix it well and rest for half an hour.

 2. Whisk the yogurt with garam masala powder and add it to the marinated chicken. Toss well and give a nice coat on the chicken pieces. Place the marinated chicken into refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours, preferably over night.

 3. Take a large pan with heavy bottom. Roast the whole spices. When nice aroma comes up, add oil and heat it up. Add bay leave, sliced onions, pinch of sugar and little salt. Fry at medium heat until they are soft and slightly brown.

 4.  Add ginger and garlic paste. Give a good stir for couple of minutes until raw smell goes away.

 5. Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and add them into the pan. Add salt and save the marinade. Now cook it well and give some good stirs. The color will soon change into light brown. Keep stirring to avoid burning at the bottom. 

6. In the meantime, make a paste with the peeled almonds, milk, saved marinade and green hot peppers.

7. Now add the paste to the chicken. Let it cook for 5-7 minutes in between give some stirs . Add 1-2 cups of warm to hot water . Lower the gas and cover it. Cook until the chickens are soft or tender . Now you will see oils starting to come up from the side of pan. Check seasoning and add little sugar if you like.

10. Turn off the gas. Murgh Badami is ready to serve !!  Garnish it with some fresh cilantro and roasted sliced almonds. It goes well with all kinds of Naans or Indian flat bread or Pulao.

Note : To make it vegetarian dish, Paneer may be used in the place of chicken .When you add the chicken pieces or the marinade part, make sure they are in the room temperature and in the same time, lower the gas . It would help the yogurt from curdling.

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Malai Chomchom or Malai Chum Chum

Today I am so excited to post my first recipe here !! Starting with a sweet dish which we all Bengali love to make and taste. This one is called "Malai Chomchom", very close to another legendary Bengali sweet "rasmalai" :-) Though there is little difference in shape and texture. Both are equally mouth-watering. 

For last couple of years, I was uploading pictures of my different dishes into Facebook and I feel fortunate that my friends used to appreciate them a lot. This particular one was passed to many of friends. Since there was no plan for blogging at that time, didn't take step-by-step pictures of the entire cooking process for this recipe. Hope detailed description below would be good enough for you to make this wonderful sweet.

Malai chomchom (for 12-16 pieces )

Ingredients

To make Chomchom

1.       Milk - 1 and half liter of whole milk.

2.       Lemon juice - a big lime and mix it with 2 tsp of water

3.       Flour - 1 tbsp

4.       Sugar - 1 tbsp

5.       Sooji (semolina) - 1/2 tsp

To make Syrup

1.       Water -  4 and half cup

2.       Sugar -  1 and half cup 

To make Malai

1.       Milk - 2 cup 

2.       Sugar - 2 tsp (as per your taste)

3.       Few strands of saffron 

Method 

1.       Boil the milk in a pan, stir continuously. Once the milk starts boiling, lower the flame. Pour the lemon juice. Stir the milk. Once the milk starts curdling and changes into chhana  (cottage cheese) and greenish water, remove the pan from heat.

2.       Leave the chhana / cottage cheese in this condition for 5-7 mins.

3.       Put it over a soft cotton cloth / or a cheese cloth (if you have any). Let all the water drain away.

4.       Now put this cloth with the chhana under cold running water for 2-3 minutes. This will help to remove the smell of lemon.

5.       Hang the chhana along with the cloth on the kitchen tap / faucet for 45 minutes to 1 hr.

6.       Now once again squeeze the cloth if there is any extra water. Try to get rid of as much water as possible but note that the chhana(cottage cheese) should not get too dry.

7.       Now put the lump of chhana over flat surface. Add 1/2 tsp sooji, 1 tablespoon flour, 1 tablespoon sugar into it. Knead them nicely together. Press the dough with your palm continuously for about 3-4 minutes. Once you feel dough is oily then you are done.

8.       Now from this dough, make 12-16 balls. First make them into round shape and then give them cylinder shape. Then press them to flatten it. You will get that oval or chomchom shape . 

9.       Take a pan with lid. Put the water and sugar to boil for some time. After 5 minutes, place the chomchom into the syrup carefully. Cover it. Turn your stove on to a medium heat. Let it cook for some time.

10.    After 25 minutes, open the lid to check. The chomchoms will be about one and half times of their original size and become spongy too.

11.    Turn off the gas. Now remove the chomchom from the syrup.

12.    In another pan, take the 2 cups of full cream milk. Boil the milk. When it starts boiling after few minutes turn the gas off. Cool it outside or put it into the refrigerator. Now take the cream off  (“dudher swar”) from the milk and put it in a bowl. Continue the process (boiling the milk, cooling it down, removing the cream from cooled boiled milk ) for 4 to 5 times.

13.    Take the removed cream in a blender. Add 1 tsp of sugar into it. Make a smooth paste of malai. Add this malai to the remaining milk. Soak few strands of saffron in 2 tsp of warm milk.

14.    Turn the gas down to simmer. Make the malai and milk mixture hot. Add 1 tsp of sugar. Add the chomchoms. (when you put the chomchoms, drain the extra syrup out). Let the chomchoms soak for about 10-15 minutes.

15.    Wow, Malai ChomChom  is ready !! You can put them into the refrigerator overnight. Or get the chomchoms out from the malai, put them on the serving plate. Then pour the cream and saffron mixture over the chomchoms and garnish with some sliced pistachios.

16.    Generally you can see all the sweet shops sell malai chomchom garnished with some Khoya but I like it without khoya. Serve it cold. 

    Happy Cooking and enjoy malai chomchom!! 

    Note : you can store it maximum 2 to 3 days, preferably in refrigerator.

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