MURGH MUSALLAM WITH PADINA PULAV

Every human likes to experiment with food. Either we try a new restaurant or we cook something different. We like to try different ingredients or different cooking techniques or even different cuisines. In spite of all this we all long for a perfect home cooked meal....by home cooked I mean anything from Mom's kitchen....can anything top that...NO WAY :) . Remember those days when we would run home after school and waiting for us in the table would be some delicious and yummy food made by Mom. As you know I cannot imagine Sunday lunch without Chicken. Well this is a hereditary thing I suppose, my Dad says on ever Sunday my grandfather would come back home from his work location with lots of fishes and chicken and there would be a feast so you get my point :) . Even Dad gets Chicken on every Sunday and now that he is retired he even cooks the Chicken.....and let me tell you this.....its delicious and healthy, he never uses too much of spices or oil yet its YUMMY....sadly I can never re-create his dish....this time I will note down all the steps he follows and try again.....TRY TRY AGAIN right. I miss my Mom everyday and just talking to her over phone is not enough but now that I am counting my days to go home I am just waiting to try all of my Mom's creations. Since the last 2 weeks the feeling is so intense that I just wanna eat only dishes that remind me of home.. :) . Last weekend I made Bhapa Dim again and this weekend Murgh Musallam. I know that's not a typical Bengali dish but as I have told my mom is a great cook and she makes several types of dishes and this dish is also from her list of creations. I had made it for the first time some 5 - 6 years back for my birthday party......ya I know I had to cook on my birthday....NO COMMENTS. :( . Anyways this Sunday I decided to try to re-create this dish with my own twist. Murgh Musallam is part of both Lahori Cuisine & Awadhi Cuisine. The Awadhi Cuisine is from Lucknow capital of Uttar Pradesh,India. Awadhi Cuisine has been greatly influenced by Mughal cooking techniques, and this bears similarities to those of Persia, Kashmir, Punjab and Hyderabad. However as far as this dish goes , in Lahori style the chicken is stuffed with rice and dry fruits where as in the Awadhi style the dry fruits are part of the gravy. I selected the Awadhi style for no special reason, just that my Mom made it that way. Serve it with Padina Pulav and it make a great combination.

FOR MURGH MUSALLAM
Chicken , curry cut	750 gms
Yoghurt	3 tablespoon
Onion, red ones	2 medium sized
Ginger-garlic paste	3 teaspoons
Lemon juice	1 number
Tomatoes	2 numbers
Green Chilly	2 numbers
Almonds	5 numbers
Cashew Nuts	5 numbers
Raisin	1/4 cup
Turmeric powder	1/2 teaspoon
Red Chilli powder	2 teaspoons
Garam Masala	1 tablespoon
Bay Leaf	2 leaves
Whole Dried Red Chilli	2 numbers
Salt	Just a pinch
Ground-Nut Oil	1/2 cup

FOR PADINA PULAV
Long grain rice	1 cup
Whole Cumin Seeds	1 teaspoon
Whole Red Chilli	2 numbers
Turmeric Powder	1/2 teaspoon
Green Chilly	2 numbers
Mint	1 cup

     MURGH MUSALLAM :-

1. In a large bowl, mix together ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and lemon juice.To the mixture add the yoghurt and mix well. 
2. Make small slits on the chicken flesh and add the Chicken to the mixture and let it stand for 2 hrs.
3. Make a wet paste of almonds, cashew nuts, raisins and green chilli.
4. Chop the onion lengthwise as finely as possible. Blanch the tomatoes for 10 min , then remove the skin and puree it.
5. Heat oil in a large pan, add the bay leaf and whole dried red chilli.
6. As the aroma is released, add the onion julienne to the pan with salt and fry the onion till its translucent. Add the dry fruit paste and cook till the oil is released
7. Add the chicken with the marinate to the pan with salt and cook over low flame with lid for 15 - 20 min or till the chicken is done.
8. Add the tomato puree to the cooking chicken and cook for 5 min. 
9. Finally add the garam masala and cook till the oil separates out. 

    PADINA PULAV :-

1. Soak the rice in water for 2 hrs.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds and whole dried red chilli.As it start to spatter, add the soften rice and fry.
3. Mix the turmeric powder with little water and add it to the rice and fry well.
4. Chop the mint leaves roughly. Chop the green chilli to small size.Add them to the frying rice.
5. Fry till the minty smell is released.
6. Then add water and cook till the rice is ready.

         

That reminded of home, not that its anyway close to my Mom's but it OK FOR NOW .