Tomato Chicken Gravy

When I was back in Chennai I used to long to have Chicken and that hostel of mine never serve chicken enough for a person, one small cup which had 2 pieces of bones with little skin around it and obviously there was gravy... My roomie (Visalakshi), she knows me well and used to save a cup of so called chicken every Sunday (that was when we were served NV), if I dont happen to have food there... Oh my God, these days are really good days (I did have a wonderful time back there too but with respect to food nope)...

Now I have all the time and resource to cook and test on one poor lil, oops tall though, guy this dish turned out really well Krishna and Venkat too enjoyed this...



1. In a large pan heat 2 tbsps of Cooking Oil, add a Cinnamon stick (about an inch), coupla Cloves and Cardamom, few Bay Leaves.
2. Chop in the Ginger and add it along with the spices. Add the Green Chillies and Tomatoes too.
3. After a coupla minutes add some Water and cover and cook for 15 mins or until the Tomatoes are well done.



4. Wash the Chicken and pat them dry with a kitchen towel or with kitchen tissues.
5. Add Ginger and Garlic paste 1 tbsp each then add 1 cup of Yogurt, Red Chilli pwd and Salt.
6. Cover the bowl with a Plastic Sheet and marinate in the Refridgerator for 2 hours.



7. The Tomatoes would have been cooked well and split up, allow it to cool and remove all the spices (Cinnamon, Cardamom, Cloves and Bay Leaves) and paste it thoroughly.
8. Now heat the Tomato paste in a pan on medium flame, in the mean time paste the Cashews with lil Water.



9. Add a tbsp of Honey and a tbsp of Ketchup and stir well now add the Cashew paste and Salt.



10. Now transfer the marinated Chicken to a pan and bake it for 25 mins on 450 degree or Grill it or just fry the Chicken in and pan until Golden brown.

When baked the Chicken looks like this... I prefer baking it cause no more Oil is used but its a time consuming process it takes about 25-30 mins. Frying it will work out though, cause not much of Oil or Butter is used in this dish.

11. Now add the Chicken into the Gravy and chop in some Cilantro and keep it on low or medium flame for about 5-10 mins.

Serve with: Chappathi or Dosa or Naan

Kollakattai

Today is Ganesh Chathurthi and I really dint intent to cook anything special until this afternoon, then some kinda nostalgia crept in and I was desperate to have Kollakattai, I was quick enough and started making it... It isnt really tough or difficult to make but the procedure might seem a little long though...



1. Soak 1 1/2 cups of par boiled Rice for a coupla hours.
2. Grind the Rice to a coarse paste by adding little Water, if its gonna be too fine a paste the kollakattai's will become hard.
3. In a Wok heat 4-5 tbsps of Cooking Oil , add Mustard Seeds and let it splutter.
4. Add the Channa Dhal, let it cook for a while then add the chopped Onions and Green Chillies.
5. I like to add broken Red Chillies too, add Salt and check for taste.
6. Now pour the Rice paste and mix it thoroughly, this is done to bring the dough to a consistency so its easy to roll balls.
7. Roll the dough into oval shaped structures. This is shape will cook well. Place them on the idly plate in a cooker and cook for 15-20 minutes.



Serve with: Coriander Chutney or Coconut Chutney

To check if the Kollakattais are al dente stick a knief, if it slides out well without sticking then its all good to go... It was wonderful to have Kollakattai after quite a long time...