Kaali Mirch Ka Murga-The Bong Twist

Years ago I had made trip to Lucknow, to attend one of my friend’s wedding. My friend had been born and brought up in Lucknow and anything and everything remotely connected to Luknow was, for him, straight out of heaven. Time and again, whenever he got fed up with eastern India’s food style, he would lament about the kebabs and the dum pukhts that is associated with this city of Nawabs! He also used to speak of a Chicken preparation called “Kaali Mirch Ka Murga”. Apparently the dish was supposed to be out of this world. When we went to Lucknow, we were very eager to try this dish out. To our amazement we found that this dish was very popular in whole of Lucknow and any hotel or restaurant that we went to, this dish was sure to appear on the menu card.

Don’t know why but last Sunday I decided to try out this dish on my own, without taking a page out of the thousands of the recipe books. The idea was to try and see if I could create something unique and different that would be pleasing to the taste buds. What got created in our kitchens last week turned out to be a cross between the Kerala style Chicken stew and the Bengali version of “Doi maach/Chicken.” I do not remember the taste of Lucknow’s Kaali Mirch Ka Murga but my humble effort turned out to be a bit on the sweeter side and would probably find favours with the Bengali taste buds. The recipe is as follows :

Ingredients :

Chicken 700 gms : cut to medium size
Curd : 100 gms
Vinegar : 1-2 TBS
Dry Chillies : 2 Nos.
Onion : 1 medium, chopped fine
Sugar : 1 and 1/2 TBS
Pepper (Ground) : 2 TBS
Cinnamon : 3-4 sticks
Tej Patta : 1-2
Salt : To taste
Mustard Oil : 3 TBS


First clean the chicken and marinate it in vinegar, pepper powder and salt. Leave the chicken this way for about 15 min.

Take the curd in a bowl and pour the sugar in it. Using a spoon or a blender, mix both very well.

Next, heat oil in a deep pan and drop the Tej Patta, Cinnamon sticks and Onion into the hot oil in quick succession. When the Onions begin to turn translucent, drop the chicken into the oil and begin to fry the same. Once the oil has been soaked in by the chicken and it gets lightly fried, pour in the blended mixture of curd and sugar into the pan. Add desired amount of water, cover and let it simmer over slow fire for 20 min approximately. Open at intermittent intervals to check whether the gravy has thickened and the chicken is cooking properly or not. If the consistency of gravy tends to reduce, one may add a little more water. Once the chicken is cooked, it is ready to be consumed with plain rice or Pulao.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Aabar Baithak - Coffee Shop or bor jaatri nibas?

C'mon! Everyone is entitled to a bad day. A day when nothing goes right and try as you might,    everything seems to be like it had just come under the impact of a tornado. Saturday probably was one such day for Abar Baithak and that was the day we decided to pay a visit to this place. Ever seen a marriage hall reserved for the bridegroom's kins to stay? The bridegroom's party is always larger than estimated, making any place reserved by the bride's parents look cramped. Abar Baithak looked, to us, just like such a place. There were people outside the house, young ones mainly, as if they had gathered outside for a smoke, away from the prying eyes of elders  ensconced inside the house. At an arm's length away from the band of these youngsters and sitting on chairs lining the walkway, were a few people, just like the workmen of decorators or lighting contractor who happen to sit down for an unscheduled break from decoration work, their feet stretched out and bodies...
Read more
The monkey bared it teeth in irritation,                             swinging from a branch of a tree. The Macaw’s cacophony-like laughter seemed,                                        To add salt to the injury! Birds of varied feathers, screeched noisily,                          and flew in circles inside the cage. The hippopotamus lazily rose from the water,                      shaking its head, as if in a fit of rage! The noise awoke...
Read more

The boat ride through Alleppy's Back-Waters

We drift on Meandering our way through the numerous canals as if to give company to those clusters of drifting water hyacinth. No hurry, the water goads the boat gently. “Feast on the life that unfolds by my banks”, it seems to say. “Look how the simple lives of these folks Keep them content and gay”! There’s a boy who takes a bath. By the canal banks he keeps a watch. In welcome he waves, in between his wash. And with mock disdain, he lets us pass. The women folk of the village Busy with their chores. Washing the clothes, they beat them sore. Keeping the home fire burning Is no mean a feat. To the banks they come, To retreat or is it some inspiration they seek? Some villages are small with houses of mud and clay. Thatched roofs of coir and dried leaves that keep nature’s elements at bay. The bigger villages have houses so pretty. Painted in bright colours, They appear to house only fun and gaiety. The temples are old but churches bright and painted new. In the land of red brigade, Re...
Read more