Methi Chicken / Chicken cooked with Fenugreek leaves & my 2nd and 3rd Awards!

This post is long overdue though I was supposed to work on it few weeks ago.  As the famous saying goes, It is better late than never to have posted at all…isn’t it?

I sincerely want to Thank Preeti from Indian Kitchen for her sweet gesture in sharing with me the Liebster award.  She is such an enthusiastic girl that every day I see her posting so many recipes…I keep wondering where in the world does she have the time to do it?  Because I know it takes hard work and dedication to do so much and keep at it at the same time without getting bored or tired of it.  That shows how passionate she is about her blog! Please do check out her blog and see yourself!

Thanks Preeti  a.k.a PT for your wonderful recipes and your tireless attitude J

I am really honored and humbled by the kind gesture of my new blogger friend Tisa from Blessings from my Kitchen for showering me with my third award …i.e., AWSOME BLOGGER AWARD!  I know it takes a lot to deserve such an appreciation and am bowled over to receive this award for my little space.  In fact Tisa’s blog is such an inspiration to me that I adore her Blog from her title and her style of writing and her versatile recipes with amazing pictures.  Please do visit her blog and I am sure you will love all of it too!

Thank you Tisa Maam for sharing this award with me J

According to the blogging rules, I would like to share the awesome blogger award with five of my favorite bloggers who are doing an awesome job at their blogs! I know there are  too many out there but I will list five of them for now J

1.      Naughty Curry by Deepti - for her friendly spirit.

2.      Tasty Appetite by Jay – for her appetizing menus

3.      Foodelicious by Pari – for her amazing creativity in the kitchen

4.      Plateful by Nashi – for her awesome photography

5.      Good Food Ends with Good Talk by Faseela – for her purely Good Food blog

I absolutely love these bloggers for their enthusiasm and love for food!!

To celebrate the award ceremony I would like to present this delicious Methi-Chicken which is one of my favorite combinations.  I usually experiment with different combinations to make our mealtime enjoyable so that it does not get boring J. I love the taste of Methi leaves cooked with chicken. It makes a perfect combo with hot rotis/chapattis. So without much ado, here goes the recipe ………….

Ingredients required:

Chicken 500 grams

Methi / Fenungreek leaves ½ bunch – cleaned and chopped

Pudina/Mint leaves a handful – cleaned and chopped

Ginger / garlic paste 1 tbsp.

Onions 2 finely chopped

Tomatoes 2 finely chopped

Red chili powder 2 tsp – adjust according to your taste

Green chilis 2-3 slit (omit if you don’t like it too spicy)

Dhaniya/Coriander powder 2 tsp

Turmeric powder ½ tsp

Garam masala 1 tsp

Oil 1 tbsp

Cilantro/Coriander leaves a handful

Salt to taste

How to prepare Methi Chicken:

1.      Clean and wash the chicken pieces

2.      Heat a thick bottomed pan/Kadai, add oil. Once hot, add chopped Methi leaves and sauté for a minute to remove the bitterness.

3.      Then add onions and sauté again till they turn translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and stir and don’t let it burn.

4.      Now add Mint leaves, turmeric powder, chili powder and dhaniya powder and give a stir.

5.      Add washed chicken pieces and little salt and cook covered for 10 minutes. You can add a cup of water if you need more gravy.

6.      Add chopped tomatoes, garam masala powder and chopped Cilantro to the half cooked chicken and add little more salt if required, stir again and cook covered for another 10 minutes or till the chicken is cooked well.

7.      Garnish with Cilantro and serve hot with steamed rice or some hot rotis/chapattis.

So take good care of yourself and ponder over few lines given below! J

Points to Ponder:

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they display knowledge.

There is no speech or language;

where their voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens, He has pitched a tent for the sun,

which is like a bridegroom, coming forth from his pavilion,

like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

It rises at one end of the heavens, and makes its circuit to the other;

nothing is hidden from its heat.
Psalm 19 : 1-6

This is the description of just one of God’s creations by the Psalmist. Look around; and see the beauty of his creations!! Each one of it, is so unique in its own kind. The plants, flowers, birds, sea creatures, our whole universe…all of them speak of his awesomeness.  But what are we human beings doing to proclaim the awesomeness our creator in spite of being created in His own image???

Lamb Kofta Curry - Meat Ball Curry

Being a hardcore non-vegetarian family, I can’t believe that I have not posted any Non-veg recipe on my blog, though it is going to be full four months since starting this blog!!  Though I had the pictures taken couple of months ago, I couldn’t get hold of the recipe or just got too lazy to put it together!

Lamb Kofta Curry or Meatball Curry is my most memorable childhood favourite dish in the Non-vegetarian cuisines.  I remember my grandma preparing this almost every week since my grandpa loved it very much.  Every time I visit my grandma, she would ask me what would I like to eat and without a second thought I would say (in Tamil), “Kaima Kolumbu”  (Meatball Curry). Nowhere have I tasted the way my grandma would prepare.  Only person who can match the taste is my aunt (Mom’s sister).  Even my Mom’s recipe doesn’t turn out like that because Mom cooks with a strong masala base unlike my grandmas preparation which tastes subtle and creamy with a perfect blend of spices!! Hope to get the recipe when I visit her next. My son is blessed to have two precious gems in the form of Great Grandmas - one is my grandma and the other is hubby’s grandma. J  

What I have posted here is my Mom’s version that she had prepared when she visited us couple of months ago! She surprised me with this delicacy, when I went home after a long day at work that day!! The first thing that I did was gobble up two meat balls from the Kadai, without even bothering to wash my hands :P  and quickly took few pictures before it could vanish into our tummy J

This is a must try recipe and you can use ground Lamb/Beef/Chicken meat to prepare this dish! If you are a vegetarian, just replace meat with cooked veges and use the same masala! There you go….you didn’t miss out on tasting this Indian Delicacy J

Here goes the recipe……….

Ingredietns:

500 gms ground/minced meat

50 gm. / about ½ cup fried gram - powdered

2 tsp ginger garlic paste

3 big tomatoes

2 big onions

½ coconut grated/ about 1 cup

1 bunch coriander/Cilantro

3 tsp. Dhaniya powder

2 tsp. Chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

10 cloves / lavang

6-7 cinemon sticks (small) / 3-4 if it is big in size
2 tbls oil

Salt to Taste

How to prepare:

1.   Grind coconut, cloves, cinnamon, onions, Dhaniya powder, chili powder, ginger garlic paste and coriander leaves adding tomatoes instead of water into a fine paste.

2.   Halve the masala and mix one portion with minced meat in a mixer or by hand if the meat is ground finely by adding fried gram powder and salt to taste.

3.   Roll them into medium sized balls and set aside.

4.   Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a kadai and add the remaining masala and salt to taste. Sauté till oil separates and raw masala smell goes away. You can add little water at this stage if you want a thin gravy.

5.   Slowly add rolled koftas into the curry and cook covered for 15-20 minutes. Do not stir till the meatballs are cooked or they may break.

6.   Serve hot with rice/chapattis/bread.

YUMMY…….how simple is that! Just remembered there is stock of mince meat in the fridge and I got to go and prepare this quickly before I forget about it for another two months!! J

Points to Ponder:

“For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.”

                                                                                                                   Psalm 100:5

“And His mercy is on those who fear Him, from generations to generations.”

                                                                                                                  Luke 1:50