* Thanks-giving Chicken Roast with gravy

Roasted Chicken is a simple dish.I wanted to make it for a long time and what can be a better occasion than a Thanksgivings.Well I love to try new food all the time,,Cooking is a big stress buster for me.I have to try new things with same or different ingredients.But really I get bored if I keep making the same things.So I always try to find a chance to make something new.As it was my first time roasting the whole chicken so was little skeptical about the taste and flavour ,so gave twist by marinating the whole chicken with yogurt and spices too along with thyme and basil.
This thanksgiving I prepared Roasted chicken with gravy and had a wonderful private dinner with my hubby.

Ingredients for roasted chicken:

1.Whole chicken(skin on)- 1-2 lb(keep the skin on the chicken ,so that the roasted chicken will
be moist and tender)
2. Fresh Thyme - 3 strands
3. Fresh Basil - 3 strands
4. Plain Yogurt - 2 tb sp
5. lemon juice - 2 tb sp
6. Freshly grounded pepper powder- 1/4 tsp
7. Salt -1/2 t sp
8.Olive Oil - 1 tb sp
9. Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
(Here you can add any spice like,coriander powder,garam masala etc to add flavour to the chicken)
10. Cubed potato - 1 large
11. Cubed Onion- 1 large
12. cubed carrot -1
(Roasting the chicken in vegetable bed makes the veggies nicely flavoured from the juice that comes from chicken while roasting, its optional)

Preparation:

0. Preheat the oven.
1. Make a paste of yogurt,lemon,pepper powder,salt,cumin powder,oil and taste the salt at
this point.
2. Clean and thaw the chicken completely before starting to marinate.
2. Soak the moisture from the chicken with a paper towel .
3. At this point rub the marinate on the chicken,,and pour some inside the cavity too.
4. Insert the fresh thyme and basil leaves under the skin in thigh and breast.
5. Drizzle some olive oil on top of chicken and sprinkle some salt and pepper
6. Spread the veggies on a baking tray and put the chicken on the vegetable bed.
7. Bake for 60 minutes(If your chicken is a different weight, you can work out the timings: allow
20 minutes per 500g, plus an extra 20 minutes.To keep the chicken moist baste at around 30
minutes)
8. Now roasted chicken is ready.Serve it with gravy .


Ingredients For gravy :

1.2 cup chicken broth or you can use the chicken bullion cubes(check the salt while using the
cubes)
2. Collect the Chicken drippings from your roasting pan.
3.Flour - 1- 1.5 tb sp
4. Ground pepper- 1-2 pinches
5. salt (as per taste,you may not need if you are using bullion cubes)

Gravy preparation:

1.In a pan or a sauce pan, heat the chicken drippings at medium high.

2.Add the 2 spoons of flour and keep stirring until blended. Add water, 1/4 at a time until you get the right consistency. Remember to always keep stirring all the way.

3.Add the chicken broth /chicken cube and crush it until it dissolves. Take it out of the fire and add a dash of ground black pepper.

Enjoy your chicken gravy with the roasted chicken.

The best thing about the roasted chicken is , it is very healthy and easy to make without much hassle.

* Chicken curry

Chicken Curry...this a quicky recipe that I make in weekdays when I'm really tired after work and don't want to chop veggies or we want to eat something yummy with less work.Now it explains it is an easy recipe and tastes awesome.This is one type of chicken curry recipe,,there are many variation of a chicken curry.For me this is the simplest of all and my husband loves it.
One more inspiration behind this post is my colleagues who always wanted to know the recipe.

This time I tried to make a movie from the pictures of the preparation steps,didn't have much time to do a good editing as we are busy with our moving to our new place , but still I hope the video will be more helpful .

So here is the recipe:

Marinate the chicken for 30 minutes with the following ingredients:

1.Chopped chicken (1 lb,here for this curry I prefer chicken thighs because the fat in the chicken
adds flavour to the curry)
2. 1 tsp ginger garlic paste(you can make it at home blending equal amount of ginger and garlic
or use the store bought verity-Indian stores in Toronto do have them)
3. 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
4. 1/2 tsp cumin powder
5. 1/2 tb sp coriander powder
6. 1/2 tsp salt

Mix well all the ingredients and keep it for at least 30 minutes.

Ingredients for Chicken Curry:


1. Marinated chicken
2. Vegetable oil - 3 tb sp
3. Chopped Onion - 1 cup
4. Chopped Tomato - 1 cup
5. Green Chillies - 2 (optional)
6. Chopped Cilantro
/Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup
7. Clove - 4
8. Cardamom - 4
9. Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
10. Pepper Corns-8-10 (optional)
11. 1/2 Star anise (optional)
12. Mace - 1 floret (optional)
13. Red chilly powder - 1/4 tsp (optional)
14. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
15. Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
16. Coriander powder - 1 tb sp
17. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tb sp
18. 1/4 tsp garam masala (very aromatic blend of all spices like cinnamon,cardamom,clove,star
anise, mace, need not make at home ,also you can find them in Indian stores,it adds that extra
flavour to the curry,You may find it in no-frills, walmart, if you don't have it still you do
without it)



Preparation of Chicken Curry:

• Place your pot on stove top in medium flame.Once it is hot, pour 3 tb sp of vegetable oil and 1/2 t sp of sugar.Here, sugar is for caramelization which give the extra colour to the curry.It makes the gravy look pretty rich.
• Once Sugar caramelizes(Don't over caramelize), add chopped onions and add a little pinch of salt(Salt help to absorb moisture from the onion and cooks quickly)
• Stir well and when onion turns golden , add the whole spices and green chillies.
• Add ginger garlic paste at this point and stir for 1-2 minutes (or until you can smell the flavour of cooked ginger garlic paste )
• At this point,add the coriander powder,cumin powder,turmeric powder,red chilly powder(red chilly powder is optional) .
• Pour in the chopped tomatoes immediately so that the spices don't get burnt.here keep stirring for 3-5 minutes until the spices get cooked(if it gets too dry then add 2 tb sp of water )
• Now its time to add the marinated chicken.
• Mix the chicken and the cooked spices well .At this point you can add chopped potatoes (adding potatoes is completely optional although I like the curry with potatoes)
• Mix all the ingredients well and cover.Let it cook for 10-15 minutes .Do stir in every 5 minutes.
• Once the required amount of gravy is left in the pot add garam masala and mix well.Stop the flame and sprinkle Chopped cilantro/coriander leaves.It goes very well with Steamed rice or paratha or naan.

Now enjoy the dish and I would be more than happy to get a feed back from you.

*Bhapa Pomfret(Steamed pomfret fish with mustard )

This dish is originally made with Hilsa fish and is a truly authentic Bengali dish and very close to all Bengali's heart.I'm not bengali but I have always lived in a multi cultural environment which let me try dishes from different places and pick my own choice.I love to try out new things in my kitchen always.Other wise life would be so boring.It adds a hint of spice to our life.As here in Toronto,I couldn't find Hilsa I tried this recipe with pomfret.I usually make pomfret with mustard sauce(curry style) but last week end I wanted a change and after hearing from my cousin that his wife makes awesome bhapa hilsa,I was even more inclined to make this dish.

So here goes the recipe......

Ingredients:

1.1 pomfret( I used 1-1.5lb size)

2.2 Pinch of Turmeric

3.2 tb sp Black mustard powder

4.1 tbsp white mustard powder(if you don't have white then you can just use black mustard powder,traditionally they use mustard paste.But I replaced it with powder as it is easy to get and use here in Toronto)

5.2 tb sp fresh grated coconut

6.4 green chillies(or as hot as you want)

7.salt

8.1 tsp mustard oil(Mustard oil has a distinct flavour which goes very well in this dish),if you don't have you can manage with vegetable oil too.

Preparation:

1.Wash the fish well and rub salt and turmeric.keep it aside for 30 minutes.

2.In a blender blend the coconut,green chillies,both types of mustard powders with very little water.So that the texture remains like a paste(not very runny)

3.Spread the fish in a box(I used the round baking dish) in a single layer.

4.Mix a pinch of turmeric in the coconut,mustard,chilly paste and pour over the fish so that the fish is coated well with the paste.

5.Pour 1 tsp of mustard oil on the fish and paste.

6.Now fill the pressure cooker with 1.5 inch depth water(make sure your fish box is taller than water level) and place the fish box inside the cooker.

7.Close the cooker with the whistle on top and cook for 2-3 whistles which may take around 30-35 minutes.

And it is done,,serve with steamed rice and it is a true smell of being at home away from home.I made it with bringal fry and some salad.Weekend lunches are all about relishing memories back home and relax.