Ingredients: - 500 grams chicken, 1 medium sized onion, ½ cup mix of tuvar dal(pigeon peas), masoor dal(red lentils), moong dal(green gram), 1 cup pumpkin dices,1 small potato cut into roundels, 1 small brinjal cut into roundels, 1 small tomato diced, 1 small onion diced, 1 tablespoon chopped fenugreek leaves, 2 cups water, ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ tablespoon roasted cumin powder, ½ tablespoon roasted coriander powder, ½ teaspoon curry powder, 1 bay leaf, ½ teaspoon tamarind paste, ¼ teaspoon pepper corns, 2 cloves, 2 cardamoms, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 small dried kashmiri red chilly, 2 green chillies, 4 garlic flakes ½ teaspoon grated ginger, ½ cup chopped coriander leaves, ½ cup chopped mint leaves,1 tablespoon oil and salt to taste.

Preparation time : - 45 minutes     Serves : - 2



HOW TO PREPARE: - Finely chop the onion and keep it aside. Take a blender and add the mint leaves, coriander leaves, grated ginger, garlic, green chillies, red chilly, cumin seeds, cardamoms, cloves and pepper corns. Make a paste and set it aside too. Wash all the dals (lentils) and soak it for four hours. Now take a pressure cooker and add the soaked lentils, red pumpkin dices, brinjal roundels, potato roundels, fenugreek leaves, onion dices, tomato dices, turmeric, water and salt to taste. Cook everything for 10 minutes and then blend it to a puree. Cook all these ingredients till they can be mashed with a spoon itself. Now take a pan and add the chicken, puree, roasted cumin powder, roasted coriander powder, garam masala and mix it up well. Bring to boil, cover and cook on a low flame for 10 minutes. Take a frying pan and pour the oil. Bring to heat and when the oil is hot add the bay leaf, sauté briefly. Now put in the onions and sauté till they are slightly dark brown. Add the paste we ground and sauté till the oil begins to leave the edges of the pan. Put in the chicken with the gravy and add the tamarind paste. Sprinkle salt to taste. Let it boil and cover with a tight lid, cook on a low flame for 15 minutes or till the gravy is thick and the chicken is done. Remove from flame and garnish with coriander leaves and serve.



Ingredients : - 500 grams chicken, 1 cup basmati rice(long grain), 3 cups water, 1 inch cinnamon, 1 big bay leaf, 2 cloves, 2 cardamoms, 5 black pepper corns, 1 tablespoon curd(yoghurt), 1 tablespoon chopped ginger garlic, 1 big green chilly, ½ tablespoon chopped coriander, 1 onion, ½ cup hot water, 1 teaspoon sugar, ½ teaspoon red chilly powder, ½ teaspoon coriander powder, 1 tablespoon ghee(clarified butter) and salt to taste.

Preparation time :- 50 minutes     Serves : - 2

HOW TO PREPARE : - Take a large pot and pour the three cups water. Then add the rice, half of all the spices and salt. Mix it well and cook till the rice is half cooked. Drain the water completely and spread out the rice on a big platter. Let it cool. Finely chop the onions and slit the green chilly in the centre and keep them aside. Now in another pan heat the clarified butter. When the ghee begins bubbling add the remaining spices and sauté till an aroma begins to rise. Now put in the chopped onions and sauté till golden brown. Add the chicken pieces, masala powders, green chilly, coriander leaves, ginger-garlic, salt and sugar. Pour in the hot water. Mix it well and cover, simmer and cook for 20 minutes or till the chicken is soft. Then pour the yoghurt and cook till the gravy reaches your desired level of thickness. Now take a big pot and smear it’s inside walls with melted ghee/butter. Then put a layer of rice, then a layer of chicken. In this way put in all the rice and chicken in layers. Cover with a lid. Now make some dough from wheat flour and with that dough seal the edges of the pan so that its air tight. Then take a tava and place it on the flame. Keep this sealed pot over it so that it’s not directly on the fire. Cook for another 25 minutes on a low flame till the rice is ready. You can cook in a preheated oven too. Garnish with fried cashew nuts and fried onion slices.