Food talk
 Mast murg

  A tandoori or butter chicken addict may prefer the fare at the next door dhaba than
the one prepared at home but this home-cooked spicy curried chicken can
definitely give it tough competition, writes Pushpesh Pant

WHO hasn’t heard the adage Ghar ki murgi daal barabar— there is no difference between home-cooked chicken and the run-of-the-mill lentils that form an integral part of the daily diet. What can be more boring than the plain daal roti.

While it is true that for a tandoori or butter chicken addict there is nothing at home to match the fare at the next door dhabha and it is also true that its next to impossible to pull off a chicken a la Kiev in your own kitchen but there the conventional wisdom ends. There are dozens of chicken recipes you can use to dazzle not only your guests but professional chefs. We have had extremely delightful experiences with home-made chooza chaat, dum ka murgh and pan-grilled tikka, drizzled with assorted herbs.
We mean daal no offence but must insist that the equation with cooked at home family istyle murgi is most unfair. The proof is in the eating- do try this recipe — free of hassles, full of taste.

Chef’s corner

Ingredients

1 medium sized chicken (cleaned and cut into pieces)

100 ml oil

4 onions (medium-sized finely sliced)

5-6 green chillies (chopped)

2 tsp ginger paste

2 tsp garlic paste

½ tsp red chilly powder

½ tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1-1/2 coriander powder

200 gm tomatoes (chopped)

Salt to taste

A sprig of fresh coriander and ginger matchsticks for garnish.

Method
Clean wash and pat dry the chicken. Heat oil in a pan and fry onions till they turn golden brown. Add green chillies, ginger, garlic and turmeric and fry for a while. Add the chicken pieces and fry till moisture almost dries up. Then, add tomatoes, salt, red chilli powder and other powdered spices dissolved in 2 tbsp water, fry till the oil separates. Add some water and cook on medium heat till chicken is tender, leaving just a little gravy to coat the chicken.





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