Butter Chicken

Everyone loves Butter Chicken, and so do I. I never found a really good recipe before. This recipe was given to me by a good friend. She brought it home one day and everyone loved it...even my boys. She shared the link for the recipe.

Ingredients:
Chicken: 800gms
Lemon juice 1 tablespoon
Kashmiri red chilli powder 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Butter 2 tablespoons
• For the marinade:
Curd 1 cup
Ginger garlic paste 1 tablespoon
Garam masala powder 1/2 teaspoon
Mustard oil 2 tablespoons
• For the gravy: 
Butter 50 grams
Ginger garlic paste 2 tablespoon
Green chillies,chopped 4-5
Red chilli powder 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Dry fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) 1/2 teaspoon
Whole garam masala 1 tablespoon
Tomato puree (I used home made puree) 400 gms
Garam masala powder 1/2 teaspoon
Sugar 2 teaspoons
Cream 1 cup

Method:
1. Make incisions with a sharp knife on breast and leg pieces of the chicken.
2. Apply a mixture of red chilli powder, lemon juice and salt to the chicken and set aside for half an hour. 3. Hang curd in a muslin cloth for fifteen to twenty minutes to remove extra water.
4. Add ginger-garlic paste, lemon juice, garam masala powder and mustard oil to the curd.
5. Apply this marinade to the chicken pieces and refrigerate for three to four hours.
6. Put the chicken onto a skewer and cook in a moderately hot tandoor or a preheated oven (200°C) for ten to twelve minutes or until almost done. 
7. Remove and keep aside.
8. Heat butter in a pan.
9. Add green cardamoms, cloves, peppercorns and cinnamon.
10. Saute for two minutes, add ginger-garlic paste and chopped green chillies.
11. Cook for two minutes.
12. Add tomato puree, red chilli powder, garam masala powder, salt and one cup of water. Bring to a boil.
13. Reduce heat and simmer for ten minutes.
14. Add sugar and powdered kasoori methi.
15. Add cooked tandoori chicken pieces. 
16. Simmer for five minutes and then add fresh cream.
17. Serve hot.

Apple Jam

My boys love jam. And they love fruits. And they were getting bored during their holidays. So we decided to try making Apple Jam. It is so simple, that I wondered why I did not make it before. My six year old helped me to make the jam and I am happy to say that he thinks it tastes better than the Mixed Fruit Jam that I buy him from the store. :)  

Ingredients:

Apples: 1/2 kg

Sugar: 325 gms

Water: 1 cup

Lemon juice: 1 tsp

Glass Bottles: 2 (200gms each)

Method:

1. Sterilize the glass bottles and their lids in boiling water for at least 10 mins.

2. Peel the apples and cut them in cubes.

3. Cook the apples 1 cup water till they are tender. Mash them a bit using a masher.

4.  When the apples are mushy, add the sugar and lemon juice and cook and stir on a high flame, till it becomes thick.

5. Pour the hot jam in the sterilized bottles quickly before it sets. Leave at least 1 cm space at the top.

6. Let it cool and spread it on bread, roti, puri, or eat it just like it is....like my boy!!

Macaroni Chicken Cheeese Bake

Got this wonderful recipe from "Cooking with Chicken. Recipes from East and West". This is a very old book that belongs to my mom. The only difference is that I added carrots, peas and beans along with the capsicum. This recipe was a loved by my whole family, especially the kids, and I will definitely make it again. It is very simple to make. I use macaroni of different shapes so my boys have more fun eating it.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups chicken (boiled and shredded)
75 gms butter
60 gms flour
2 cups milk
seasoning to taste
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites (stiffly beaten)
1 cup chopped, seedless capsicum
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup mushroom
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup beans
3/4 cup grated cheese
120 gms fresh cream
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 cups boiled macaroni
2 large firm tomatoes, sliced
25 gms cheese
25 gms dry breadcrumbs

Method:
1. Saute all the veggies and keep aside
2. Prepare a white sauce with the butter, flour and milk.
    i. Melt butter over a low flame.
    ii. Stir in the flour. Using a whisk, stir the butter and flour mixture until it bubbles.
    iii. Cook and stir for 2 mins.
    iv. Remove from heat and slowly add the milk, stirring with the whisk.
    v. On a slow flame stir and cook till the sauce becomes thick.

3. When the sauce has thickened, add seasoning and beaten egg yolk and cook, stirring constantly, till it becomes a little thick.

4. Add the veggies, 3/4 cup grated cheese and chicken shreds.

5. Whip the egg whites till they are stiff and fold them into the mixture.

6. Cool and add the whipped cream and ketchup.

7. Check for seasoning.

8. In a large greased pie dish, put one cup of the boiled macaroni, then pour half the mixture on it and spread evenly.

9. On top of this, arrange the tomato slices, overlapping each other.

10. Do the same with the remaining macaroni and mixture.

11. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and the breadcrumbs.

12. Bake in an oven for 40 mins.

13. Serve hot.