Veg Jalfrezi

JALFREZI
A Colourful Spicy Sweet and Sour Stir Fry Dish
By
VIKRAM KARVE

At the customary sumptuous buffet lunch following my niece's engagement at Avion Hotel in Mumbai I was pleasantly surprised to see Veg Jalfrezi on the menu.

My mouth watered as I looked at this appetizingly colourful dish comprising crisp crunchy tempting panoply of vegetables – onions, tomatoes, capsicum, carrots, cauliflower, beans, green peas, potatoes, green chillies…

I placed a generous helping of Jalfrezi on my tongue, closed my eyes…the Jalfrezi was exceptional…the vegetables fresh and crunchy and the distinctive flavoursome, zesty, spicy, sweet and sour taste clearly coming through.

When I was a small boy, Jalfrezi, both the Veg and Non Veg version, was a regular feature on restaurant menus.

It was the onslaught of Punjabi and Mughlai Cuisines, the increasing popularity of the Kormas, the Koftas, the "kadhai" and "butter" makhanwala curries and gravies, the preponderance of the ubiquitous paneer, that gradually pushed Jalfrezi out of most popular menus and now one gets this unique dish only at select restaurants.

The stir-fry Jalfrezi method of cooking is different from the traditional Indian Curry Recipes… in fact, Jalfrezi is an Anglo-Indian dish…a relic, a culinary gift, of the Raj.

Jalfrezi is not a curry or gravy, it a stir fry dish which must look colourful and you must be able to identify the various vegetables (and meats, if any) which be of crisp consistency and taste lip-smacking yummy.
Jalfrezi literally means "hot-fry" but is probably better translated as "stir-fry". The term jalfrezi entered the English language at the time of the British Raj in India. Colonial households employed Indian cooks who would use the jalfrezi method of cooking to heat up cold roasted meat and potatoes. Some say that during the Raj, the British created this method of reheating left-overs, especially left-over meats.

Others say that Jalfrezi has its roots in the Calcutta region of India at the time of the British Raj. They credit the Governor General for the state of Bengal, Lord Marcus Sandys who enjoyed spicy Indian foods for inventing this dish. In Bengal, 'Jhal' means spicy hot. Jhal led to Jal, and to this they probably added "fry" and "jee" which probably became "zee" – jal…fry…zee.

It is easy rustle up a delicious jalfrezi. To put it in a nutshell - Jalfrezi is a simple dish…the Indian version of Chinese stir-fry made with curry spices.

Take a variety of vegetables… onions, tomatoes, capsicum, carrots, cauliflower, beans, green peas, potatoes, green chillies…yes, plenty of green chillies to make it zesty and spicy…cut the vegetables into small pieces…slice a few onions and grate a few onions.

Remember that this a stir-fry recipe so you have to keep stirring vigourously throughout the cooking process.
Heat oil in a pan…add cumin seeds…when they sputter add the grated onions and stir…when translucent stir in ginger-garlic paste, lemon juice, a nice amount of red chilli powder and coriander powder…stir… if you want to the Jalfrezi to be a bit sumptuous you may add some rich creamy paste - roasted cashew-nut, almond and dry fruit paste. Stir the mixture till it starts separating from sides of the pan. Now add all the vegetables, chopped tomatoes, sliced onions and slit whole green chillies, stir continuously till cooked crisp and crunchy…the tomatoes will release adequate moisture but should the vegetables stick to the pan you may add a bit of water…not too much… otherwise the vegetables will lose their crispness and crunchiness.
Season with salt, garnish with fresh green coriander and eat hot with piping hot rotis, chapattis or with fresh soft buns or pav…

As I said earlier, Jalfrezi is not a curry or gravy, it a stir fry dish which must look appetizingly colourful and you must be able to identify the various vegetables (and meats, if any) which must be of crisp consistency and yummy zesty taste.

I prefer not to overwhelm my Jalfrezi with too many spices and chillies, but if you like it nice and spicy go ahead.

You can make this with meats too, but in deference to the wishes of my favourite vegetarian reader (who says that I always give Non-Veg recipes) this time I have given you the Vegetarian version of Jalfrezi.
Isn't the recipe breathtaking in its simplicity…?

Try it… relish the Jalfrezi to your heart's content…you'll love it…

Happy Eating.

VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2010
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

PS – If you liked this recipe I am sure you will enjoy reading Appetite for a Stroll

http://books.sulekha.com/book/appetite-for-a-stroll/default.htm

http://www.flipkart.com/appetite-stroll-vikram-karve/8190690094-gw23f9mr2o

Soul Stirring Food

MOUTHWATERING MEMORIES

A SOUL STIRRING EVENING

By

VIKRAM KARVE

[Mouth-watering Memories of a Yummy Foodie Date]


Falling in love?

Wondering where to go on that crucial Foodie First Date in Pune?

Try “Soul”.

We had a truly soul stirring evening at Soul on a warm Sunday evening last summer. Let me tell you about it.

It’s easy to get to Soul – just drive down North Main Road in Koregaon Park and turn into ABC Farms to your left, let the valet park your car and walk straight ahead into the lovely ambience of Soul.

The surroundings are green, natural, with trees – wonder why they’ve put a cover over the top of the dining area – dining under the clear night sky is much more pleasurable and romantic.

You may find the place full, like we did, even though we reached as early as eight.

There is a mini golf course to keep you occupied while you wait for your table, or you can sit at the impressive well stocked bar, like I did, sipping deliciously soothing “mocktail” Virgin Pina Colada. I am sure I would have sampled something more potent and exciting from their ample cocktail repertoire in my heyday!

I look around the truly contrasting cosmopolitan crowd – young “table-for-two” lovey-dovey couples having a tender romantic candle-lit dinner, a boisterous group celebrating a birthday, lively friends spiritedly wining and animatedly dining and happy families thoroughly enjoying themselves.

The ambience is wonderfully friendly and relaxing – generous use of wood, wrought iron chairs, candle-lit tables – a rather alluring charming atmosphere in natural verdant surroundings.

Soon we sit comfortably at a table, and as if on cue, the music starts – one of my favourite golden oldies.

I listen with rapt attention, lose myself in the nostalgic music, feel rejuvenated, and as the song ends I realize that my vivacious “date” has already ordered Soul Kebab, Rogan Josh, Chicken Makhani and Naan.

I browse through the tempting Italian delicacies on the menu and look at her in mute supplication, but the lovely young lady sitting opposite me is not moved and closes the issue in her typical peremptory manner “My friend told me that the Soul Kebab and Indian dishes are good here!” Period!

The Soul Kebab is indeed really good – in fact it is superb – a really creative innovation I’ve not had anywhere else – a spicy Mutton Seekh Kebab encased in delicious breast of chicken wrap. I wish they’d serve a more generous plateful as the small pieces of Kebab dunked in the tangy green chutney vanish in a jiffy.

The Rogan Josh, Butter Chicken [Chicken Makhani] and Naan arrive.

“Rogan Josh must always be eaten with rice!” I affirm to my foodie companion.

She looks at me curiously, and orders steamed rice, and while it arrives, I dig into the Butter Chicken.

The Butter Chicken looks good and tastes good.

This preparation is in the same league as the celebrated Butter Chicken I’ve relished at the famous original Moti Mahal of Daryaganj and at Gaylord in Churchgate.

The soft Naan drenched in the lip-smacking creamy gravy scintillates my taste buds.

She wants a Roomali Roti. “Sorry,” says the waiter, “No Roomali Roti, only Roti and Naan, there is a shortage of staff.”

She frowns in disbelief. A pity! A real pity for a posh restaurant; but at least they are honest about it!

I look at the Rogan Josh. I am disappointed. It doesn’t look like Rogan Josh, so I ask the waiter whether he’s brought Mutton Masala or some other mutton curry dish instead, maybe, owing to shortage of staff, but he confirms that the thick greenish brown gravy with rather muddy coloured chunks of meat is indeed “Rogan Josh”.

Authentic Rogan Josh is the most visually appealing, passionately tempting and appetizing dish which makes your mouth water and entices you to eat it. I feel it is vital that food must look good, for we “eat” our food twice – first we eat with our eyes, then with our tongues.

I taste the gravy – yes, distinctive taste of pure ghee is clearly discernible and this locally improvised version of Rogan Josh seems quite tasty, the mutton is well cooked and succulent, a decent passable mutton dish, certainly not superb.

We eat our meal slowly, enjoying the delightful music.

It is “open mike” night and spontaneous spur-of-the-moment singers from the diners, egged on by active participation from one and all, enliven, and almost electrify, the atmosphere.

It’s good, real good, a truly unforgettable soul-stirring dining experience.

Wish we could have enjoyed the exhilarating environment much longer, but there are people waiting for a table, and the dessert menu hasn’t much to offer, so off we go to our favourite place for a late night dessert.

I’m glad we visited Soul.

It’s good, real good; we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, good reasonably priced food, invigorating music, breathtaking ambience, a truly unforgettable soul-stirring dining experience.

Dear Reader, if you enjoyed reading this, and want to relish more such delicious foodie adventures, do read APPETITE FOR A STROLL:

http://www.indiaplaza.in/finalpage.aspx?storename=books&sku=9788190690096&ct=2

http://www.flipkart.com/appetite-stroll-vikram-karve/8190690094-gw23f9mr2o

http://books.sulekha.com/book/appetite-for-a-stroll/default.htm

Happy Eating.


VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.


http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/

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A Hearty Kolhapuri Thali Meal

It is really hot in Pune and this afternoon I had a real "hot" Kolhapuri meal which brought back mouthwatering memories of a similar "hot" meal I had relished two years ago.

Here is a excerpt from my Sulekha Blogprint Series Foodie book APPETITE FOR A STROLL

http://books.sulekha.com/book/appetite-for-a-stroll/default.htm

Purepur Kolhapur

Mouthwatering Memories of a Hearty Kolhapuri Meal

by


Vikram Karve



It’s a hot Sunday afternoon in Pune. I am voraciously hungry and am pining for a fulfilling meal. And what can be better than a wholesome authentic Kolhapuri meal to blissfully satiate my pangs of hunger?

So I proceed to my favourite Kolhapuri restaurant called “Purepur Kolhapur” near Peru Gate, the food district, in the heart of PuneCity. It’s a Spartan no-nonsense eatery; the only thing conspicuous is the ‘Kolhapur zero-milestone’ outside the entrance which makes it easy to locate.

I saw a similar zero-milestone somewhere in Kothrud the other day and wonder whether a branch of “Purepur Kolhapur” is coming up there too!

There are just three main items on the menu – Mutton Taat (Thali), Chicken Taat, (which cost Rs. 75/- each), and Purepur Special Taat for a princely Rs. 120/- (I am told that the ‘Purepur Special’ contains everything the place has to offer!).

There is a flurry of activity and a large stainless steel taat is placed in front of me almost instantly.

The Purepur Special Thali comprises the following:

· A large bowl of thick chicken curry with four generous pieces of chicken.
· A plate of appetizingly crisp dark brown pieces of fried mutton liberally garnished with almost burnt deep fried onion strips.
· A Kheema Vati (Katori)
· A vati of Tambda Rassa ( Red Gravy)
· A vati of Pandhara Rassa (White Gravy)
· Kuchumber salad made of onions, ginger, coriander, green chillies and curds
· Lemon pieces
· A fresh piping hot chapatti (You can have bhakri if you want, but today I’m in a mood for a crisp hot crunchy chapatti splattered with pure ghee)
· A bowl of jeera rice garnished with crisp brown fried onion strips and cashew nuts.

I sip the pandhara rassa – it’s invigorating.

Next I spoon into my eager mouth a generous portion of mutton fry. It’s not melt-in-the-mouth stuff (I think it is the inimitable Bolai mutton).

I chew slowly and savor the sweetish taste of the fried onions blended with the lively spiciness of the crisply fried mutton.

I dip a piece of the piping hot chapatti into the tambda rassa allowing it to soak in, place it on my tongue and chew it to a pulp until it practically swallows itself savouring the flavour till the very end. Exquisite!

Now using my right thumb and two fingers, I lovingly pick up a small piece of chicken from the gravy; delicately place it on my tongue and roll it against my palate.

I close my eyes, look inside, and focus on the succulent boneless chicken release it’s zesty juices and disintegrate. Yes, unlike the crispy fried mutton which need a vigorous chew to truly relish its deliciousness, the chicken is soft and tender, almost melt-in-the-mouth.

I sample the Kheema Vati – it’s totally different from the Kheema I’ve tasted at Irani and Mughlai eateries. The Kheema has an unusual taste I can’t exactly describe – a bit sweet and sour– a counterbalancing contrast, perhaps.

Now that I’ve sampled everything in it’s pristine form, I squeeze a bit of lemon on the mutton and chicken and embellish it with kuchumber to give it the right tang, and from time to time I sip the wholesome pandhara rassa.

I thoroughly enjoy the confluence of contrasting tastes. In conclusion I mix everything with the rice and rejoice the riot of zesty flavours.

At the end, as I always do after all hearty spicy meals, I pick up a wedge of lemon and squeeze a bit of lemon juice into my glass of water and sip it down.

Believe me, it improves the aftertaste and lightens the post-meal heaviness sometimes caused by spicy Indian cuisine.

It's an exciting, invigorating meal which perks me up and the sheer epicurean pleasure I experience makes up for the crowded, hassled ambience and indifferent service. Purepur Kolhapur is worth a visit for the quality and authenticity of its food.

For most of us “Kolhapuri” food has become synonymous with the “chilli-hot” self-styled, purported, ostensible Kolhapuri fare served in both highfalutin and run-of-the-mill restaurants whose menus often feature dishes called “Chicken Kolhapuri” or “Vegetable Kolhapuri” which masquerade as Kolhapuri cuisine.

Kolhapuri cuisine is “spicy”, not “chilli-hot”, not “rich” and “fatty” – nothing exotic about it.

A Kolhapuri meal, unique in its simplicity, comprises a variety of lip-smacking, earthy, flavorsome, nourishing dishes and is so complete that it creates within you a inimitable hearty wholesome sense of fulfillment, and is a welcome change from the ubiquitous fatty and greasy-rich Makhanwalla, Masala, Kadhai, Handi, Naan, Biryani Punjabi / Mughlai fare you eat day in and day out. There is a world of a difference between pseudo- Kolhapuri and authentic-Kolhapuri food.

I do not know where you get genuine Kolhapuri cuisine in Mumbai, Delhi or any of the Metros. When we visit Kolhapur, we eat at Opal. I walked all over South Mumbai, experimented, tasted, sampled, but there was no joy. No Kolhapuri Taat anywhere, and even a la carte, nowhere was Mutton or Chicken Kolhapuri the signature dish – it appeared they had put it on the menu just for the sake of it, maybe to gratify the dulled taste buds on the alcohol soaked tongues of inebriated patrons who probably were in no state to appreciate the finer aspects of relishing good food. When queried, the waiters invariably said that Kolhapuri was synonymous with fiery chilli-hot food.

I was disappointed to find not even a single authentic Kolhapuri restaurant listed in various Good Food Guides to Mumbai. If you, dear fellow Foodie, know of an authentic Kolhapuri restaurant in your town or city, will you be so good as to let us all know?

Happy Eating!

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

If you want to learn of such yummy places in Mumbai and Pune and read about some really mouthwatering foodie adventures and lip-smacking recipes why don't you get a copy of APPETITE FOR A STROLL?

Just click the links below:


http://www.indiaplaza.in/finalpage.aspx?storename=books&sku=9788190690096&ct=2


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http://books.sulekha.com/book/appetite-for-a-stroll/default.htm


Remember - There is no love greater than the love of food.

Happy Eating

Vikram Karve

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

vikramkarve@sify.com

Lip-Smacking Mouthwatering Creamy Rich Mutton Gravy

DABBA GOSHT – Exquisite Mutton Delicacy

By

VIKRAM KARVE


I love Dabba Gosht.

It’s a rare, exquisite, delicious, succulent, melt-in-the-mouth boneless mutton delicacy dish and only very few select eateries feature it on their menu.

My Dear Reader, Fellow Foodie, let me tell you how I make it and you will know how it tastes.

I take some good quality fresh boneless mutton, say half a kilo, cut into small pieces, wash it clean, rub it thoroughly with ginger-garlic-green chilli-green papaya paste and keep aside to marinate for a while. [I believe that cooking is a qualitative art, not a quantitative science, so I’ll leave the choice of exact proportions to you as per your experience and taste – I like to use a wee bit of green papaya paste as tenderizer for meat, but if you don’t, and your meat is tender, it doesn’t matter].

In a pan, with a tight fitting lid, I take enough water, say two cups, add whole spices [cloves, cardamom – both badi and choti elaichi, cinnamon, peppercorns, jeera, tejpatta], salt to taste, and add the marinated boneless mutton pieces, fit the lid tightly, put on a slow fire, till the mutton is cooked.

I love to sample and taste from time to time and assure myself everything is fine; and plus-minus as required.

Now I separate the cooked boneless mutton pieces and keep aside. I don’t throw away the spicy stock – we’ll be using it to prepare the cashew-nut gravy.

Now I prepare a dahi-based thick kaju gravy starting off with a generous amount of pure ghee to nicely sauté the spices, herbs, masalas, liquidized onions, tomato-puree, using the spicy mutton stock, I prepare the rich cashew-nut gravy letting my imagination run riot – whisked curds, whipped cream, roasted onion paste, rich cashew-nut paste [fortified with almond-dry fruit pastes], grated cheese, even grated boiled egg.

Sometimes, if I don’t have all the ingredients to make the gravy thick enough, I may boil very small pieces of macaroni or spaghetti in the spicy mutton stock to smoothen and thicken the gravy.

The gravy should be so luxuriant and lip-smacking yummy that you should want to chew your fingers!

I stir in the fragrantly spiced cooked boneless mutton pieces and thicken the gravy to baking consistency.

Now I thoroughly beat four eggs and delicately blend in half into the boneless mutton gravy till they merge well. Now I pour the mélange into a well-greased [with liberal quantity of pure ghee] baking tin, pour ghee on top and bake on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes till almost done.

Then, on top, I pour the remaining whisked egg mixture, add a dollop of pure ghee and bake till glazy and crusty. When ready, I garnish with fresh green coriander and juicy red tomato slices and dig in. I love it as it is, with fresh pav, or roti.

Dear Reader, you must have your own culinary discovery, but let me tell you that I find Dabba Gosht a superb eating experience – generous boneless mutton pieces, soft, juicy, succulent, releasing scrumptious flavor as they melt in my mouth and the yummy, delectable luxuriously thick white gravy made rich, wholesome and nutritious by the sumptuous combination of ingredients like cashew (kaju) paste, fresh cream and eggs.

It is a rare and magnificent eating experience which makes my mouth water even as I write this.

Dabba Gosht is a supreme feast fit for the kings!

Next time you eat out; scan the menu for Dabba Gosht. You’ll surely find it at a few select places in Mumbai. I’ve once savored an excellent Dabba Gosht at Jaffer Bhai’s Delhi Darbar near Metro where I think they don’t bake it but “dum” cook it, leaving the gravy a bit less thick, so you can enjoy it with roti – it was delicious with kameeri roti. I’ve also chanced upon a decent Dabba Gosht at Sadanand in Pune, located opposite Balewadi, at the junction of Baner Road and Katraj Bypass, and I found it excellent.

Wherever you are, search for Dabba Gosht, or cook the exquisite dish yourself, bake it, dum cook it, enrich it, play around with the ingredients, improvising, experimenting, improving the recipe, and then relish it to your heart’s content. And don’t forget to tell us all about it!


If you want to relish more such delicious recipes and enjoy reading mouthwatering foodie adventures please do read my book APPETITE FOR A STROLL – to know more just click the links below:

http://books.sulekha.com/book/appetite-for-a-stroll/default.htm

http://www.indiaplaza.in/finalpage.aspx?storename=books&sku=9788190690096&ct=2

http://www.flipkart.com/appetite-stroll-vikram-karve/8190690094-gw23f9mr2o


Happy Eating!

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

http://www.ryze.com/go/karve

vikramkarve@sify.com

vikramkarve@hotmail.com

APPETITE FOR A STROLL Chicken Curry

MELT-IN-THE-MOUTH CHICKEN CHOP CHOP CURRY

[ A Quick Simple Delicious Rich Creamy Sweet and Spicy Chicken Gravy Recipe ]

By

VIKRAM KARVE

[ Here is a recipe from my mouthwatering Foodie Adventures Book APPETITE FOR A STROLL http://books.sulekha.com/book/appetite-for-a-stroll/default.htm ]


Here is a simple recipe for a delicious melt-in-the-mouth chicken dish, different from the run-of-the-mill curries and gravies, which you can rustle up in a jiffy - "chop-chop".

Clean and cut a small broiler chicken into small pieces.

Slice two onions into rings.

Heat oil in a pan, add a teaspoon of sugar and brown it.

Now add a few cloves [lavang], green cardamom [elaichi], cinnamon, peppercorns. Wait for a moment till they crackle a bit and add the onion rings, stir a bit, add the chicken pieces, and continue sautéing till the onion rings are golden brown.

Add a pinch of red chilli powder [more if you like it hot], and fry for some time till the chicken pieces look nice and browned.

Now pour in a cup of tomato ketchup, place the lid on the pan, and simmer on a slow fire for around ten minutes or more till the chicken pieces are succulent and tender.

At this stage, you must sample the chicken to ascertain whether it is fully cooked, and also taste the gravy and add salt to taste, and stir in some more chilli powder if you want it hotter. Let simmer for a moment longer and gently blend in a cup of whipped cream and cook, without lid, stirring very tenderly, watching the bubbles, for just a few minutes till the cream fully intermingles and smoothens into the gravy. [If you want, you can thin down the gravy a bit by blending in some milk and simmering on slow fire with lid open for a while, but take care that the gravy doesn’t curdle].

Relish hot with fresh soft pav, buns or bread. Dip the pav generously in the gravy, put it on your tongue, close your eyes and revel in gastronomic bliss. Then press a piece of the succulent mouthwatering chicken between your tongue and palate and savor the heavenly experience as the delicious chicken releases its mellifluous fragrance, spicy aroma and luscious juices as it dissolves on your tongue and melts in your mouth.

Isn’t this a yummy recipe breathtaking in its simplicity? And you can make it "chop-chop" in a jiffy, isn't it?

Dear Reader, Fellow Foodie, why don’t you try it tonight and tell us all about it!


VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009 Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

Dear Foodie - if you want to relish more such delights and enjoy appetizing food writing why don't you get a copy of APPETITE FOR A STROLL by just clicking the links below:

http://www.indiaplaza.in/finalpage.aspx?storename=books&sku=9788190690096&ct=2


http://www.flipkart.com/appetite-stroll-vikram-karve/8190690094-gw23f9mr2o

HAPPY EATING
Vikram Karve

SIMPLE COOKING - CHICKEN DO PIAZA

A CHICKEN AND TWO ONIONS

[A Simple recipe for the ultimate Mughlai dish]

By

VIKRAM KARVE


An delicious excerpt from my mouthwatering Foodie Adventures Book APPETITE FOR A STROLL http://books.sulekha.com/book/appetite-for-a-stroll/default.htm


If you want a first impression of the authenticity of a “Mughlai” Restaurant, the first dish you must order and taste is a “Do Piaza” and it will give you an idea of the standard and authenticity of Mughlai Cuisine you can expect there.

Indeed the “Do Piaza” may be considered the culinary benchmark to judge and evaluate a Mughlai Restaurant.

And if Do Piaza [Mutton or Chicken] doesn’t figure on the menu, you better order Chinese or Continental, or stick to the ubiquitous "Punjabi" Butter Chicken-Naan routine!

“Do Piaza” means “two onions” or rather “double onions”.

Now how did this dish get its name?

Maybe it’s apocryphal, but legend has it that this delicious dish was invented by Mullah Do-Piaza, a renowned and celebrated cook at the Mughal Emperor Akbar’s court. One of the Navaratnas (nine jewels), it is said he could conjure up culinary delights using only two onions, and a Mughlai dish cooked in that particular style is called a “Do Piaza”.

Water is not used at all when cooking a Do Piaza.

Onions (Piaz or Pyaaz) are used twice – hence the name “Do” [“Two”] Piaza, or Pyaaza, spell it whichever way you like.

Come Dear Reader and fellow Foodie; let’s together cook a Chicken Do Piaza. It takes time, but it’s easy.


THE FIRST PIAZA

First cut a generous number of onions (the more the onions the sweeter the gravy) into rings, yes separate onion rings.

Now, in a large cooking vessel, put in the chicken pieces, add a liberal amount of curds and mix well. Copiously layer the chicken-curd mixture with the onion rings, cover with a tight lid and set aside to marinate for at least an hour.

Remember, do not vigorously mix in the onion rings; just liberally layer the chicken-curd mélange with the onion rings.

After marinating the chicken-curd-onion ring mixture for an hour or more, place the vessel on a slow fire with the lid on, and let the chicken cook slowly in its own juices and those released by the onion rings, till the onion rings are reduced to a pulp and, finally, the liquid almost dries up.

This is the first “Piaza”!


THE SECOND PIAZA

In another pan, pour in and heat pure ghee and fry sliced onions (the “second” piaza) till crisp brown, add finely chopped ginger and garlic, bay leaf, slit green chillies, cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, and then an adequate amount of chopped tomatoes, stir and fry on slow fire, and when the ghee separates, add the chicken [cooked in curds and onion rings] from the first pot, and stir fry till well browned and the gravy becomes nice and thick.

I don’t like to add garam masala, turmeric, red chilli powder, or any other spice powders; but if you like it, go ahead.

I always find it best to taste the gravy and add the minimal amount of salt as necessary almost at the end of the cooking process.

Remember, do not add water at any stage or you will ruin the dish.

A “Do Piaza” cooks in its own juices – during both the first and second “piazas”.


EATING THE “DO PIAZA”

Place in a serving dish, squeeze a lemon, garnish with fresh green chopped coriander and your Chicken Do Piaza is ready to eat.

But first let’s “visually” savour the Do Piaza in our mind’s eye.

It looks appetizing – nicely browned generous pieces of succulent mutton, in translucent juicy onion rings in scrumptious gravy.

It smells good too – heavenly mouth-watering aroma wafts towards you making you smack your lips and salivate in anticipation of the gastronomic treat that awaits you.

It tastes marvellous – absolutely delicious, not spicy hot, but mild and flavoursome, the unique sweetish zest of onions is discernible and as the heavenly medley of flavours and fragrances synergizes inside you, and you feel a sense of supreme satisfaction.

Relish the Chicken Do Piaza with hot chappties, phulkas or even a piece of soft fluffy pav, and you will experience sheer bliss.

Dear Foodie - if you want to relish more such delights and enjoy appetizing food writing why don't you get a copy of APPETITE FOR A STROLL by just clicking the links below:

http://www.indiaplaza.in/finalpage.aspx?storename=books&sku=9788190690096&ct=2

http://www.flipkart.com/appetite-stroll-vikram-karve/8190690094-gw23f9mr2o


HAPPY EATING

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

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