BBhasin

Prasad, This Losaonii Gobi sounds very much like Manchurian Gobi. What do you think? Bhasin

When did all this happen? when I was visiting delhi a few years ago no one mentioned it but this morning I quizzed my niece in Delhi and she talked about Chicken 65 with great familiarity and it almost seemed to be a staple in most restaurants. Do you know when it evolved ?

Balli (pyar se), DePauls ki Coffee was excellent till recent times when we have the Baristas, the Qwiky's and the Cafe Nescafe(s) around the corner. Ab woh CP wali coffee has no DUM in it. Neither do the girls frequent that place. I wonder if you had Anjlika's Cold Coffee in Karol Bagh which still maintains its flavor. Sonzy. You are right brother, the last visit to Depauls was a disaster, in both respects. Also too crowded now. Never tried the cold coffee at Anjlika in KB but will take your advise the next time I visit. Know the place since it started as a pastry shop years ago and then expanded upstairs and the street level takeout windows. I know the guy by his nickname. Was his last name aggarwal? Tried his chilli chicken ( the wet version) the last time I was there it was a No No, they serve it with Nothing, no rice or noodles. I had forgotten that in India you have to buy that seperately. Generally Anjlika's offerings are very good. Now that we are in Karol Bagh. How about a glass of thanda jal jeera at the origional MDH store. Or perhaps this does not qualfy as a drink, the Faluda Rabri at the corner of Arya Samaj & Gurdwara ? road. A tall glass filled three forth with shaved ice, topped with faluda, rabri and rose syrup. you seem from my neck of the woods bhasin

Agree. And it may be both. Culture & refreshing. After a while in the US perhaps I am getting weaned towards coffee. Which reminds me Cold Coffee. I remember DePauls in the Indian Oil building in CP in Delhi. Sipping chilled creamy coffee and watching the girls go by and visa versa. Milk Shakes- did anyone mention that Thandai- that wonderful milk beverage with ground almonds, flavored with saunf ( fennel). In Benares I belive you could ask the vendor for plain or with opium.

I want to try your reciepe Episure a couple of questions One Cup yogurt - is it one cup before or after draining? When you say drain do you discard the marinade? 1/2 cup oil to stir-fry and perhaps another 1/4 for the tarka. Just want to make sure as it sound a bit excessive. Thanks Bhasin Prasad did you get your chlli chicken reciepe? which version did you try? dry or with sauce? can you share the reciepe, if you think its good, I havent had decent chilli chicken for ages and this thread has got me craving big time Thanks

seems to resemble something called ' sadajam ' I came accross in calcutta. Where Jamun the purple one was called Kalajam.

Here is my pick Jal jeera ( just use the MDH brand preapre it let it sit in your refrigerator for few hours, stirring once a while. I like to serve from the top sans the spice sediment at the bottom with a sprig of mint and a slice of lemon. It mixes well with Vodka too. Remember Rim Zim from India?) Kanji if you cannot get the black carrots the reciepe calls for use regular ( organic are better) and add a few slices of beetroot for the purple color. Panna raw mangoes baked on a low ashy charcoal ( Angeethi) fire untill they are soft. remove and blend pulp with sugar and water serve chilled, I am not too sure of the reciepe, its been a while. Bhel(wood apple) Sherbet - very refreshing and cooling in summer Sugar Cane Juicea friend told me that you can get it fresh in NYC Nimboo Pani/Soda why leave this one out? add a zip to you sweet nimboo pani with a little salt and black pepper. Rooh Afzareally cooling with chilled water/soda/milk Rose Milk I remember this from my childhood in the summertime a nice cold rose soda poured into cold milk. Phycologically coolong sherbets like the green 'KHUS'remember khus khus ki tatti? and I am sure rksyou know good old lassi and its inumerable variations. Pitchwhen we boiled rice in India we some times saved the drained out 'rice water' this was used for two things 1. starching clothes and 2 making a cooling drink by adding sugar and your favorite flavouring, usually rose or kewra. Thats all this Punjabi knows but thank you for starting this thread. What perfect timing. Got to go and get some kucha mangoes now.

skchai Try a google search for Moti Mahal Daryaganj Delhi Enjoy Bhasin http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-...G=Google+Search

Just remembered, its called Mugal or Mughal Mahal

carrying on with the Butter Chicken saaga... About this ' leftover marinade in the pan'. I do not think it is marinade but rather chicken juices. Busy restaurants like Moti Mahal do not usually start with a raw marinated birds when you order a tandoori chicken but stick a 'half done tandoori chicken into the tandoor to finish it off quickly. Tandoori chickens are prepared ahead in anticipation of the rush hour and kept half done in a pan. They release some juices akin to a demiglaze or 'tandoori jus roti'. It perhaps this 'marinade' to which the tomatoes and butter are added. Anyway I called up New Delhi and spoke to the current owner of Moti Mahal (we were in hotel school together) he told me that he was getting a lot of press in regard to tandoori chicken and butter chicken and Zee TV had also covered then recentlyabout this. I did not quiz him too much about his butter chicken though. You do not call up someone after 20 years, ask him how he is doing and " by the way what is your reciepe for butter chicken?". When I knew this gentleman, cooking was not his forte and we sometimes wondered what he was doing in hotel school ( if he reads this I am dead) , so I am going to wait till I visit India next and post my review hopefully with lots of pictures.

What is 'sangati' ? tryska. I am not much of a south Indian expert, just curious.

WOW. Now we are getting somewhere. Do we have someone from Delhi here who can checkout Moti Mahal and the other place in Khan Market that Anil remembers? Maybe, based on the description we can try and recreate this old version. The version of just roast chicken with melted butter really sounds interesting, though a once in a lifetime experience. If I go to Delhi this year I shall check these out and report back. There is this restaurant behind Sidhartha Hotel in Rajendra Place, near Patel Nagar, New Delhi. They do a version that I love. Basically its the same tandoori chicken in a ceamy tomaroey sauce but their sauce is thinner, more like a gravey, creamy but not abundantly rich and the sauce also has tiny bits of blanched tomatoes in it.

Most Indian desserts tend to get too heavy, are milk based, kind of sweet and flavoured usually with cardamon, saffron or rose. I shall be grateful if anyone would share with me simple desserts that are Indian or Indian inspired but a little light. One easy dessert that comes to mind is an adaptation of Chai Creme Brule from Raji Cuisine. Get one packet of Goya brand Flan. prepare it using the simple directions on the packet but flvour it with a strong decoction of black tea, cardamon, cloves and cinnamon. Just remember to reduce the volume of milk by the volume of chai decoction you use or it may not set.

It appears to lack flavor. In a pan heat one tablespoon of butter. add two cloves and two green cardamon pods. saute for a minute, let the flavors infuse. add a teaspoon of finely chopped ginger. add a one finely chopped deseeded 'finger hot'(or similar) green chilly. cook a few minutes. add the leftover chicken makhani and heat through. add generous pinch of garam masalla and another of methi salt you already say it needs. the whole process should take you 10-12 minutes It would be fun if you would share how it turned out.

That might be one way to descibe it

Enjoyed the link stone. Very interesting story indeed, instead of getting into confrontations, all I will say is that I can only share my personal experiences and it is difficult to change my belief as I have been enjoying CTM for decades in Indian kitchens. Also, the reciepe in the link for CTM is acually two recepies, one for Chicken Tikka and the seccond for makhani gravey in which tandoori chicken is simmered for Butter Chicken. Thanks

Carrying on in this 'masalla' vein of grilling marinated meats and finishing them in a sauce or thick masalla I am surprised that no one mentioned Seekh Kabab Masalla- Seasoned ground meat charcoal broiled on a skewer and then simmered in Version A above or in some left over lamb/mutton gravey or curry. Boti Kabab Masalla- marinated chunks of boneless mutton/lamb/goat charcoal broiled and done as per version A above.

I posted the foll in CTM, in conjuction with skchai's post above it might answer your question CHICKEN TIKKA MASALLA Here is my contribution to this interesting thread Is it authentic Indian cuisine??? That depends on what you consider authentic. As recent as ten years ago more people in the UK than in India knew about Chicken Tikka Masalla, which might lead people to think that it was perhaps concocted in that part of the world. After reading this thread I have been trying to come up with why the name ‘Chicken Tikka Masalla’ and why did this popular dish make its way back to India and Indian Cuisine via the West. Chicken tikka ( Marinated charcoal broiled pieces of chicken) are invariably used. Masalla to an Indian ( specially a North Indian) denotes napped in a thickish mash of gravy with herbs and spices. Busy restaurants in India( especially those with a high tandoori volume) would, to speed up service, charcoal broil skewers of chicken tikka until they were half done. This was then held, usually under a moist cloth to prevent it’s drying off and finished when an order came in. At the end of the day some skewers would still remain as it is difficult to anticipate 100% how many orders of chicken tikka you will get that night. Chicken tikka Masalla I believe, was born in an attempt by the chef to utilize this left over half done chicken tikka and is actually what you might call a rechaufe. At the end of dinner, remember restaurant hours are 8pm until midnight in India, the manager wanted his meal. The manager wanted something different from the stuff on the menu and the chef, tired after the long day, looked around to see what was at hand and what do you know there was this chicken tikka, lying half done that they could not move. He simply dressed it up and chicken tikka masalla was born. In my opinion it is incorrect for the Brits to claim that they created this wonderful dish. I distinctly remember two versions from my Hotels and Restaurant experience in India ( 1971 until 1986, when I came to the US) Version One- Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped onion, ginger, garlic & green chillies. Saute for a few minutes until the onions begin to brown at the edges. Add garam masalla, a little cayenne & sauté a minute. Add Chopped tomatoes and cook till they soften. Add chicken tikka, cook until it warms through and the oil leaves the sides of the pan. Add a bit more garam masalla, a little dried methi and chopped fresh coriander leaves. The result will look a little bit like ‘Bhunna’ Version Two- This version was creamy. Heat oil in a pan add chopped onion and chopped green peppers ( Simla Mirch) sauté till the onions turn translucent. Add pieces of chicken tikka ( cut them up if they are too big) and continue to sauté another minute. Add garam masalla and dried methi sauté another minute. Add a sauté spoon of onion gravey and 1/3 saute spoon of makhani sauce. Cook a few minutes then add diced tomatoes and 1/3 cup heavy cream. Cook till the sauce thickens add water/stock to correct consistency and check seasoning, be generous with the chopped cialntro. My brother in law ( an avid foodie) is visiting. What is Chicken Tikka Masalla I asked him innocently . This is usually sold outside liquor stores in Dehra Doon ( that’s where he is from) he told me and he went on to describe ‘version One’ above with the exception that it was prepared on a tawa ( a large round griddle sloping slightly in the middle) Difference between Butter Chicken and Chicken Tikka Masalla – I have been to numerous places where they have both on the menu and turn out nearly similar, in the same red sauce. But if you prepare tikka masalla as above you note the difference. One of the best versions of Chicken tikka masalla I enjoyed was some time ago off the frozen food shelves of Marks & Spencers in London. But it truly is a very popular dish, see the number of views this thread has had. I do hope I have been able to educate and entertain, as this thread kept pulling me and it took me ( I am a one finger typist) over a week to put all this together. I now await your feedback.

CHICKEN TIKKA MASALLA Here is my contribution to this interesting thread Is it authentic Indian cuisine??? That depends on what you consider authentic. As recent as ten years ago more people in the UK than in India knew about Chicken Tikka Masalla, which might lead people to think that it was perhaps concocted in that part of the world. After reading this thread I have been trying to come up with why the name ‘Chicken Tikka Masalla’ and why did this popular dish make its way back to India and Indian Cuisine via the West. Chicken tikka ( Marinated charcoal broiled pieces of chicken) are invariably used. Masalla to an Indian ( specially a North Indian) denotes napped in a thickish mash of gravy with herbs and spices. Busy restaurants in India( especially those with a high tandoori volume) would, to speed up service, charcoal broil skewers of chicken tikka until they were half done. This was then held, usually under a moist cloth to prevent it’s drying off and finished when an order came in. At the end of the day some skewers would still remain as it is difficult to anticipate 100% how many orders of chicken tikka you will get that night. Chicken tikka Masalla I believe, was born in an attempt by the chef to utilize this left over half done chicken tikka and is actually what you might call a rechaufe. At the end of dinner, remember restaurant hours are 8pm until midnight in India, the manager wanted his meal. The manager wanted something different from the stuff on the menu and the chef, tired after the long day, looked around to see what was at hand and what do you know there was this chicken tikka, lying half done that they could not move. He simply dressed it up and chicken tikka masalla was born. In my opinion it is incorrect for the Brits to claim that they created this wonderful dish. I distinctly remember two versions from my Hotels and Restaurant experience in India ( 1971 until 1986, when I came to the US) Version One- Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped onion, ginger, garlic & green chillies. Saute for a few minutes until the onions begin to brown at the edges. Add garam masalla, a little cayenne & sauté a minute. Add Chopped tomatoes and cook till they soften. Add chicken tikka, cook until it warms through and the oil leaves the sides of the pan. Add a bit more garam masalla, a little dried methi and chopped fresh coriander leaves. The result will look a little bit like ‘Bhunna’ Version Two- This version was creamy. Heat oil in a pan add chopped onion and chopped green peppers ( Simla Mirch) sauté till the onions turn translucent. Add pieces of chicken tikka ( cut them up if they are too big) and continue to sauté another minute. Add garam masalla and dried methi sauté another minute. Add a sauté spoon of onion gravey and 1/3 saute spoon of makhani sauce. Cook a few minutes then add diced tomatoes and 1/3 cup heavy cream. Cook till the sauce thickens add water/stock to correct consistency and check seasoning, be generous with the chopped cialntro. My brother in law ( an avid foodie) is visiting. What is Chicken Tikka Masalla I asked him innocently . "This is usually sold outside liquor stores in Dehra Doon" ( that’s where he is from) he told me and he went on to describe ‘version One’ above with the exception that it was prepared on a tawa ( a large round griddle sloping slightly in the middle) Difference between Butter Chicken and Chicken Tikka Masalla – I have been to numerous places where they have both on the menu and turn out nearly similar, in the same red sauce. But if you prepare tikka masalla as above you note the difference. One of the best versions of Chicken tikka masalla I enjoyed was some time ago, off the frozen food shelves of Marks & Spencers in London. But it truly is a very popular dish see the number of views this thread has had. I do hope I have been able to educate and entertain, as this thread kept pulling me and it took me ( I am a one finger typist) over a week to put all this together. I now await your feedback.

I was once trying to figure out something a little different for our sunday lunch buffet Chicken, Sweet & spicy and mango were the main ingredients I wanted to work with. I researched it a bit and dicided to marry/adapt two reciepes I came accross One was called Mango and yogurt curry from Gujrat by Camillia Punjabi.and the other was called 'Glassy' decribed as sweet mango beef in The Varied Kitchens Of India by Copland Marks. We call this reciepe Mango Tango. It is a sweet and spicy mango chicken curry flavored with dried ginger and ground green chillies and tempered with cumin seeds and curry leaves. Its purely a restaurant style adaptation and consists of preparing a mango concentrate which you add to a Basic Chicken Curry. A. Preapare a basic chicken curry with one 3 1/4 lb bird. Go easy on the tomatoes and don't add any water. B. Mango Concentrate. 1 Mango puree ( Canned) ----3 cup 2 yogurt -----1/3 cup. Homemade is better as it is usually a little sour/tangy.Blended smooth. 3 Besan(gram flour) ----- 3 heaped table spoons 4 Ginger powder ------1 heaped tspn 5 Green Chilli paste of -------2 to 3 chillies more if you like it hot 6 Hing ( asphatedea) ------ a generous pinch 7 Ginger Paste ------ 2 tspn 8 Jaggery or Brown sugar ------- add only if the canned mango pulp/puree is not sweet enough. 9 Cumin Seeds -------- 1 tblspn 10 Curry leaves ---------- 10 -15 I like even more 11 Oil ------------1/4 cup or less Method Blend gramflour to a smooth paste with a little water In thick Bottomed pot add ingredients 1 through 7 ( add sugar in the end if you need it) Add Four cups of water bring to a boil stiring to make sure things remain smooth. reduce to a simmer and cook till its all done and the mixture thickens. Add the prepared basic chicken curry (A) and mix well. in a frying pan heat the oil and add the cumin seeds, fry until they are well browned, then add the curry leaves. When they finish splutering add the entire mixture to your curry and mix it in. Garnish with fresh cilantro and enjoy with fresh steamed rice. We usually prepare it in bulk and I simply converted it on the fly into four portions using one bird. The proportions should be OK but feel free to taste periodically and adjust as you go. Is it authentic? Heck no but my patrons enjoy it whenever its on the buffet and I guess thats what counts. I hope you enjoy it too.

Hello there, Simply put, its marinated charcoal broiled 'tandoori chicken' in a curried creamy tomato sauce flavoured predominantly, besides ginger and garlic, with cardamon and cloves and finished off with garam masalla and dried fenugreek (methi) leaves. Called butter( rather buttery) chicken due to the tenderness of the meat which was very deirable in earleir days as free range birds that were available took some cooking. Also because of the richness of the sauce which does contain a substantial amount of butter. Numerous variations exist, even in India but essentially its as described above

Thank you skchai that was very intersesting. yes you are right things have been quiet here latelely. I wonder why. And Suvir, you never cease to amaze me. Is there anywhere you have not been and anyone you dont know. Amazing!

Hey Bong.......WAKE UP!! I forgot to tell you about my RED TANDOORI CHICKEN experience at the Calfornia Pizza Kitchen. This was actually a few years ago. When I saw the Tandoori Chicken Pizza on the menu, against my wife's better judgement I HAD to have it. Well, it came with strips of chicken on it that were so red ,any self respecting Indian restaurant would hang their head in shame. It did not taste very great ( and I had to hear "I told you so" ten times from my wife) but I wolfed it down with the sweet major grey mango chutney they supplied with it. So what did I think of the experience? All I will say is that I was glad I was not scheduled for a stool test the next morning, as that would definetely have left the pathologist very perplexed.

Vikram, What is this word Luvviedom you use?

Dear Bong, Just so that you can go to sleep. 1. who started this trend of adding red color to the tandoori chicken? I frankly dont know but I am going to hazard a guess.( just so you can get your forty winks) Now there was this Dhabba ( a streetside eatery with an open front with the kitchen also in front with a tandoor etc and marinated meats, including tandoori chicken, displayed on skewers at the front, to attract customers) Banta Singh who operated this place had good food and the place was very sucessful. Along came Santa Singh who set up a similar venture accross the street. How was he to let the world know that his product was better? He added a little Deghi Mirch (akin to paprika) which gave his chicken a reddish hue and customers flocked there. Banta Singh saw this and out came his bottle of red color and the dye war was on until the chicken would not get any redder and they had to go back to competeing on the strength of their food. Which is the way it ought to be. I went to school to learn, among other things, Indian cooking. Have worked in Indian restaurants, including those in hotels. Here is what I learned from my experience - Tandoori Chicken is not really supposed to be red but an orangish red color which a lot of cooks achive by blending eggshade yellow and red dye. - even though some reciepes call for addition of food coloring I believe it to be incorrect. - In the Delhi region red coloring was banned as the dye was a perochemical deivative and considered a carcenogen. If the health inspector caught you, under the food adultration act, you would go straight to jail. - but the red color was desirable because of its visual impact and chefs would restore to disolving paprika like peppers in oil and addin to the marinade to enhance the color. In the Curry Bible by Pat Chapman I believe one tandoori chicken reciepe had betroot powder listed as one of the ingredients. - when I started my little place in Alexandria I decided to buck the trend and go without the color. My customers practically threw the chicken in my face as ' it was not authentic '. I'll bet you can guess my recourse! - Some people ( in the US) believed that cooking in the tandoor turned the chicken red! Thats what they had been told. Thats my red chicken story. Regarding the bussiness of tandoori chicken only being on the menus of restaurants in the US and hotels in India, I am afraid Bong, I am going to have to beg to differ. In the North any restaurant with a tandoor had tandoori chicken. Indian restaurant chains(if you can call them that) like Gaylords, Kwalities, Ambassador etc all had tandoori chicken. Moti mahal in Delhi and Amber in calcutta both had tandoori chicken. I do not know too much about Bombay and the area around there. Who put tandoori chicken on Indian menus in the US? Probably some enterprising Punjabi. Its a great dish. Good taste, good presentation, fairly easy to prepare and universally liked. I am all for it. When the audience tires of it or becomes more sophisticated and demanding you will see restaurants also dropping it in favour of more intricate tandoori kababs etc. But good kababs unlike the simple tandoori chicken require expertise and good tandoori chefs, which majority of indian restaurants lack so dont look for a drastic change just yet. are you asleep yet????