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 Murgh kasuri methi (chicken with dry fenugreek leaves)Hope everyone had a nice weekend! We preferred staying at home this weekend and relaxed a lot. We spent more time with the kids and I know they love the weekends for that! One of my special friends and her family had come over for lunch on Sunday and I made this special North-Indian chicken curry (a perfect party dish) for them. This dish had been a big hit with all my ?special? guests so far, which is why I thought that this recipe would be the best thing to put up as my latest blog post on this beautiful Monday afternoon! Now let me tell you that North India and South India are like North and South poles as far as cooking is concerned. In the South, emphasis is more on rice products, such as idlis and dosas. The famous sambar, rasam and uttappams are now being tasted and appreciated globally! South-Indian cuisine generally uses a lot of tamarind, coconut, curry leaves and mustard seeds. North Indians love to experiment with strong masalas or spices. Paneer or cottage cheese and sarson da saag (mustard leaves cooked in a special way) are a delicacy here. In the North, there is a special emphasis on wheat products, such as the rotis, parathas and the naans. The famous lassi, tandoori chicken and samosas are some of the North-Indian dishes. So what about today?s wonder ingredient? Read on. Methi or fenugreek leaves are a celebrity in North India (especially in Punjab) and Pakistan. The dry ones (pronounced as kasuri methi/quasoori methi/kasoori methi) are extremely aromatic and add a dash of flavour to any dish (especially poultry and meat). If you have not tried using this ingredient called kasuri methi in your North-Indian cooking, please do. You will thank me later for this suggestion. I highly advocate this relatively unpopular herb to all my Indian food aficionados worldwide. I bet, you will be simply amazed by the twist in the taste! In addition, let me tell you that these are extremely nutritious, having certain medicinal properties too! Note: This is my own recipe, perfected over many years. Please stick to the measurements mentioned below for best results. Indian cooking is all about measurements, time of introduction of each ingredient into the dish and the cooking temperature! This is a recipe which needs a little patience but would yield a dish you will be in love with, forever! Dry fenugreek leaves can be bought from Indian stores in your country. You can substitute them with the fresh ones as an alternative, but if doing so, chop these leaves finely and add them a little earlier than the time of introduction suggested in any dish using kasuri methi.  Murgh kasuri methi (chicken with dry fenugreek leaves)Murgh kasuri methi (chicken with dry fenugreek leaves) Ingredients: Whole chicken legs: 6 Unsweetened yogurt (for marination): 8 tbspSalt (for marination): 3 tsp Salt (for gravy): 1 tsp Ghee (preferred) or oil: 4 tbsp Bay leaf: 1 Dry red chilli: 1 Fresh red or green chillies: 4 Whole cinnamon sticks (one-inch): 2 Whole black cardamom: 1 Whole green cardamoms: 4 Cloves: 6 Black peppercorns: 6 Cumin seeds: 1 tsp Nutmeg powder: ¼ tsp Mace (dried flower of nutmeg tree): ¼ tsp Onion (cut lengthwise, thinly): ½ Onion paste: ¾ cup Garlic paste: 5 tbsp Ginger paste: 2 tsp Cumin powder: 1 tsp Turmeric powder: ¾ tsp Dry fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi): 3 tbsp Cashewnut paste: 2 tbsp Red chilli powder (optional): 1.5 tsp Water: 3 cups Method of preparation: Marinate the chicken legs atleast for five hours in the refrigerator with just yogurt and 3 tsp salt. In a heavy-bottomed wok or skillet, add ghee or oil and wait till it smokes. Add the dry red chilli, bay leaf, whole cinnamon sticks, whole black cardamom, green cardamoms, cloves, black peppercorns and cumin seeds into this (the flame should be medium) and wait till the cumin seeds just turn dark brown. Immediately add the finely cut (lengthwise) onions and sauté till they turn brownish.  Turmeric powder and onion paste being added to the browned onionsAdd the onion paste, nutmeg powder, mace and turmeric powder and sauté for 2 min. Add the garlic and ginger pastes now, along with the salt. Sauté till the mixture releases oil (takes 7?10 min on a medium flame).  At this point, add the thick cashewnut paste.  Adding the cashewnut paste enhances the flavour of this dish!Add 3 tbsp water. Give this a stir and cook on a medium flame for 5 min.   Now add the marinated chicken, alongwith the cumin powder and the kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves).  Chicken marinated for hours with just two ingredients: unsweetented yogurt and salt! The dry, aromatic herb kasuri methi works wonders! Smear the chicken with this mixture evenly. Cover the lid and cook over a medium flame for 30 min. You will notice that the chicken would acquire a brown tinge. Add the rest of the salt, red chilli powder (optional) and fresh chillies with 3 cups of water and mix again. Simmer the flame to the lowest, put the lid and go to sleep for 1 hour. Slow-cooking will lead to the perfectly succulent chicken legs with all the flavours reaching down to the deepest part of the chicken. Serve with rice, pulau (pulav or pilaf), roti, poori, paratha or naan! Bon Appetit!! Slow-cooking is highly preferred in this kind of cookingBeautiful awards for Cosmopolitan Currymania!   Okielicious from A Little Lunch and Wan Maznah from Cooking-Varieties have been kind enough to pass the ?Blog on Fire Award? and the ?Sunshine Award?, respectively, to me! ?A Little Lunch? is full of interesting recipes and the blog is done quite tastefully. I love visiting there for mouth-watering cooking ideas! Cooking-Varieties, as the name suggests, is another interesting blog with a variety of delectable recipes across the world. Both are great blogs to visit, in their own respects! Thank you, Okielicious and Wan, for these. These really made my day! I am now passing them to ten wonderful bloggers. Each one of them have established themselves in the blogosphere with there outstanding cooking and baking skills. Don?t forget to check them out! Namiko Chen @ Just One CookbookManuela Zangara @ Manu?s MenuAnne @ From My Sweet HeartIndie.Tea @ Darjeeling DreamsSaffron Streaks Lilly @ Fuzz Free Food Erika @ In Erika?s Kitchen Emily @ Comfortable Home Life Renee @SweetsugarbeanVianney @ Sweet Life Ten random facts about me: I love to teach painting to my kids! They get a bit messy, but enjoy it very much!I am thinking to learn Mandarin. Since I am living in Hong Kong, knowing Mandarin is always a plus!I love Indian villages. They have a charm of their own! I dream of sitting under a mango tree and relishing raw mangoes! I haven?t tried alcohol yet.I am a great believer in hard work, but I believe that luck plays a role in our lives too!I love to make new friends in blogosphere. I choose random blogs from random sources and spend some time every day reading those blogs. It is such fun!My favourite food is seafood (any cuisine).I would rather prefer feeding poor children than throwing up a party!I love travelling and exploring the world! I am in love with Thai Cuisine. I would love to learn more from you all on this!Congratulations, dear bloggers! The criteria to accept these awards are to mention ten things about yourself in your blog post, pass these to ten deserving bloggers (and let them know about these) and of course, mention the person who gave you these awards! Hope you liked today?s post. I would love to know about your views. Keep in touch and happy blogging!! 
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