DHANIA CHICKEN / CHICKEN IN CILANTRO SAUCE

Every dish that we make always have a story associated. Some kindles those childhood memories that gets hidden over years and others are those we picked up over the life from some books or resturants or even television... :) . Restaurants and television are the major places from where I collect my inspirations. The recipe I am sharing today has several stories to it as well. When I was in school, not sure which class, I had gone to visit my maternal uncle and his neighbour had treated us with this dish...although I dont remember how it looked or tasted, I just remember Mom saying..."Need to Try it" :) . My mom is very good in guessing the ingredients just by tasting a dish, so that's how she picked up this recipe. On my 18th birthday , I was having a small party at home and mom made this dish for my friends and everyone loved it....and thats the flavor I remember. :) I moved to Bangalore in the year 2003---I was sent here by my family only cause my cousin sister was here. For the first year I used to stay in a hostel for the name sake at least , most of the time I would be at her place.... :) . A very innovative and creative person thats what describes her. She is a very loveable person and honestly till date I have not met anyone that knows her and dislikes her, thats just impossible. She would help anyone and everyone all you have to do is ask even if that ended in choas for her. She always gave her 100% or even more to whatever she did, when she was working she was great and achieved a lot for her age. Now that she is a homemaker, she has a wonderful blog with breath-taking photos---you all know her as Kankana and to me she is my Didibhai.... :) . She is always more then just a sister, she is my friend--- my comfort pillow :) . We all need someone with whom we can share our secrets and she is that person in my life. There is nothing in my life that she doesn't know and its same with her too.  I have cried and laughed with her several times. My cooking experiments also started while I was with her :) . And one day I decided to treat her and so I made her this dish. She loved it and would often keep taking about the dish :) Times changed and now she got settled in USA . A few weeks back when she told me that she would be coming to India I was so excited and I had thought to make the same dish for her just to remind her of those days. Sadly she told me she wont be coming to Bangalore :( however I thought to make the dish for her ---- its the thought that counts right.   This dish is called ------ Dhania Chicken or Chicken in Cilantro Sauce

FOR DHANIA CHICKEN
Boneless Chicken	500 gms
Cilantro	500 gms
Onion paste	2-3 tablespoons
Ginger-garlic paste	2 teaspoons
Yogurt	4-5 tablespoons
Tomato puree	4 tablespoons
Paprika	2 teaspoons
Salt	As per taste
Ground-Nut Oil	2 tablespoons

    DHANIA CHICKEN / CHICKEN IN CILANTRO SAUCE:-

1. Cut the chicken into small pieces. I used boneless chicken thigh however chicken breast can be used too.
2. In a bowl marinate the chicken pieces with ginger-garlic paste and yogurt. Let it stand for 30 min.
3. Blend the cilantro with slight water till it forms a smooth-green puree.
4. Heat oil in a large pan and add the onion paste. Fry till the water is absorbed and till it gets a slight brown color.
5. Add the marinated chicken pieces to the fried onion. 
6. Add salt to the pan, cover and cook the chicken over low flame till all the water is evaporated and the chicken is soft.
7. Mix tomato puree and paprika with little water and pour it on the cooking chicken.
8. Cook the chicken over medium flame till all the water is soaked.
9. Pour the green puree to the chicken and let it cook. The color changes from green to greenish brown when the dish is cooked.
10. Garnish it with butter poached cherry tomatoes.

         

The dish goes well with Paratha or Chapati. I had it with sesame coated butter naan.

CILANTRO RICE WITH TANGY GRAVY & SPICY FRIED FISH

The Mulligatawny soup with Toasted Bread and Pea Pesto was totally refreshing.....the sweet and tangy taste of the soup with the garlicy pesto was mmmm :) . Now lets move to the main courses and we will start with a FISH dish. People say Bengali cuisine is generally related to fish and sweet---actually they are not wrong :D . Being from a Bengali Family, we ate fish everyday. Infact my Baba(daddy) cannot enjoy his food without it even if there are 5-6 courses still he would need a fish dish :) . Me and my sister are not inclined towards fish (not real Bengalies may be... :D ), when we go out to any party as a family and if we (me and my sister) didn't eat the fish dish....then coming back home Baba would actually take our case---Why did you eat the fish dish? ... his most common question. Although I don't like seafood so much but ones a month I get the craving for fish , we bengalies eat every part of the fish--head to tail. As I have noticed most part of the world people discard the head but we have a lot of awesome dishes with that too -- I know it may sound very unappetizing but for me its UUU LA LA LA...!! :) . Well lets get to the story behind the dish. Recently I have developed a crazy of using fruits in savory dishes and you would be finding me doing that very often...honestly it does enhances the taste of the dishes. This dish is inspired by a cookery show in the TV called 'Twist of Taste with Vineet Bhatia' I like this series coz the chef Vinnet Bhatia uses the local dishes and re-creates a high class dish with the local produce. As I have shared when I decided to make a dish I just have to make it , but unfortunately I could not find all the ingredients he had used and I had not even noted down the process he followed so I added my twist to the already twisted dish :D .  I wanted to use fish fillets for the dish so I tried cooking with Tilapia for the first time.....and I just loved the fish and will be using it in future too. For the gravy the chef used raw mangoes, but where do I get raw mangoes now...so I used star fruit. Well the star fruit we got in my hometown - Shillong would be so tangy that using one would be just enough and we mostly used it for pickle but the ones I got here was not so sour so I used almost 3 of them for the right sourness.  I call my dish Cilantro Rice with Tangy Gravy and Spicy Fried Fish. Star Fruit also known as Carambola is a type of tropical fruit. The fruit has ridges on its sides (mainly 5), in cross-section it resembles a star and that's how it got the name.The star fruit has waxy, green to golden yellow skin with a citricy flavor that resembles the lemon or pineapple. The fruit is rich in Vitamin C and antioxidant. It has some amount of Vitamin B which helps to reduce the risk of stroke and heart attacks.The fruit is beneficial for blood and bones as it contains potassium , iron , calcium and magnesium.The star fruit is rich in soluble fiber, which can be useful to reduce cholesterol levels. Tilapia is a fresh water fish.Its a mild flavored fish that holds the seasoning very well. The best methods to cook the tilapia -- grilling and baking but not that we cannot try out the other options. Tilapia is rich in protein and low in calorie count. Its a great source of omega-3 fatty acid which helps to prevent blood pressure and heart disease. Shared the dish with - Foodie Wednesday @ Frugal Wannabe Cooks ; Real Food Wednesday ; WFMW: An Awesome Tradition ; Welcome Wednesday ; Homestead Barn Hop #32 ; Domestically Divine Tuesday & These Chicks Cooked Link Party - Featuring Your Recipes from All Around Blogland #22

FOR TANGY GRAVY
Star fruit	3 numbers
Ginger(finely chopped)	1/2 tablespoon
Yogurt	2 tablespoon
Mustard seed	1 teaspoon
Jaggery	1 small cube
Salt	As per taste
Oil	1 teaspoon

FOR SPICY FRIED FISH
Tilapia fillets	Fillet from 1 fish
Onion	1 small sized
Garlic cloves	2 numbers
Tomato puree	1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder	1/2 teaspoon
Cumin powder	1 teaspoon
Paprika	1 teaspoon
Salt	As per taste
Oil	1 teaspoon

FOR CILANTRO RICE
Basmati Rice	1 cup
Onion	1 medium sized
Garlic	2 cloves
Cilantro	2 medium sized bunches
Milk	1 cup
Salt	As per taste
Oil	1 teaspoon

  TANGY GRAVY:-

1. Blanch the star fruits. Remove from the boiling water within 2-3 min.
2. Blend the star fruit without any extra water as it would give out a good amount of water.
3. Heat a pan and add the star fruit puree to the pan and let it cook over low heat.
4. Remove the pan from heat after 5 min, whisk the yogurt and pour it to the pan.
5. Stir the star fruit puree, yogurt and salt till it is properly incorporated. 
6. Place the mixture back on a very low heat and let it cook for not more then 5-6 mins.
7. Strain the liquid sauce using a muslin cloth. 
8. Heat a clean pan, add oil and mustard seed. After the spattering has stopped add the chopped ginger. 
9. Add the fresh strained liquid in the pan and cook for 2 min. Then add the jaggery and stir till the jaggery is mixed thoroughly.

  SPICY FRIED FISH:-

1. Blend together onion and garlic.
2. In a small bowl, mix the onion-garlic paste with tomato puree , turmeric powder , cumin powder , paprika and salt.
3. Clean the fish fillets and place it in a zip pouch bag. Pour the marinate on top of the fish fillets and mix it up. Let this stand for 1/2 hour.
4. Heat oil in a pan and fry the fish over medium heat just 5 min on each side or till the either sides get caramelized.

  CILANTRO RICE:-

1. Pressure cook the rice till it is parboiled. Finely chop the onion and the cilantro.
2. In a large pan, heat oil and add the chopped onion. 
3. Fry the onion till it turns translucent, then add the chopper cilantro and salt and cook f0r 3-4 min.
4. Add the parboiled rice to the pan add cook it for another 5 min.
5. Pour in the milk and cook again for 5 more min or till the milk is totally soaked in.
6. The dish is ready to be served. 

                   

A wonderful dish that was ready in a few minutes . Totally enjoyed it .. :)       

PENNE IN CILANTRO SAUCE

My love for pasta started so 3-4 years back. Althought the first I tried it in a resturant i didnt like it much , then I decided to try making it and since then my love for Pasta is going strong :D .  Since then I have experimented with Pasta and they have been quite liked by my friends and my parents. This time when my parents came to visit me my dad so sweetly said "You make that tube type something with cheese and  tomato  , I want to have that again" I felt it so sweet when I made the Pasta for him , I loved to see the way he was having it just like a kid :) . As for this recipe....I had decided to make a cheese free pasta ;) . So upon recking my brain for some time I suddenly remember the menu item I had seen in my fav restaurant , although I don't actually know how they make it but I was determined to try it :D . So this dish was created .

Eggs	2 numbers
Pasta	3 cups
Milk	2 cups
Flour	1 tablespoon
Cilantro	2 bunches
Garlic cloves	3 medium sized
Tomato	1 medium sized
Onion	1 medium sized
Red Bell Pepper	1 medium sized
Red Chilly flakes	1 tablespoon
Oil	2 tablespoons
Salt	As per taste

1. Cut into dices the onion, tomato , red bell pepper.
2. Make a paste of cilantro and garlic into a smooth paste (It will a little watery but its fine)
3. Boil the pasta with some salt and little oil (Seasoning the pasta while boiling is very important. And adding oil prevents the pasta from sticking to one another).
4. When the pasta is cooked remove it on a big bowl that can be used for baking as well.
5. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan , and softy break the eggs on to the pan in such a way that the yolks are not disturbed. Add a pinch of salt on top of it and slightly fry it from both sides and remove it on a plate.
6. Heat oil in the pan , and add the onion when it turns translucent and the diced pepper  and salt and fry when done add the tomatoes and fry .
7. To the pan add the flour and stirring constantly add the milk see that it doesn't form lump.
8. When the sauce is slightly cooked add the cilantro paste and cook it for another 5 min . 
9. Pour the sauce on the pasta and add red chilly flakes and mix everything properly and bake for 2 min.

                     
                   The dish is ready..........and I love it with some garlic bread..... :) !!!!!