CHICKEN CURRY WITH FENUGREEK…WORLD FOOD DAY

Deeba @ PAB

16 years ago

“Food is a central activity of mankind and one of the single most significant trademarks of a culture.”
Mark Kurlansky

The time has come the walrus said…lines from the poem by Lewis Caroll come to my mind often at the strangest of moments. They’ve been playing in my mind these days; I think it’s stirring my senses because of the change in weather. With winter round the corner, the best winter vegetables are beginning to show up here. No more spinach; there’s more to green leaves now. We’ve lived out the summer with stone-fruits dominating our lives in North India because that’s the only interesting thing around. The less said about vegetables, the better. The fresh food storage & transportation industry is practically non-existent, as are air-conditioned shops at the local level. Fresh & leaves in summer wilt as you even look at them. Come winter, & it’s a whole new food story. Fresh, green, leafy fenugreek or methi is one such awaited green. Fenu-what?

Fenugreek is used both as an herb (the leaves) and as a spice (the seed). It is cultivated worldwide as a semi-arid crop. It is frequently used in curry.The young leaves and sprouts of fenugreek are eaten as greens, and the fresh or dried leaves are used to flavor other dishes. The dried leaves (called kasuri methi) have a bitter taste and a strong characteristic smell.

Fenugreek leaves are a bunch of leaves full of flavour & compliment food from the sub-continent beautifully. They’re used extensively all over North India in different forms. In methi ka parathas, in aloo–methi, in methi ki puris, sometimes in sarson ka saag & in non-vegetarian curries too. I saw it used in a Sri Lankan Red Shrimp Curry by Pschygrad in Equal Oppotunity Kitchen & I was mighty impressed with her spirit of adventure with something she’d never heard of. If you can’t get hold of fresh leaves, you get dried fenugreek leaves (‘kasuri methi‘) too. You can bung them right in just like that, or refresh them in a little water & then use them. Either which way, they add an interesting flavour to Indian cuisine.

This is a recipe I bookmarked the minute I saw it at Mallika’s Quick Indian Cooking. It was so tempting at the time, I just couldn’t wait for the season’s first fenugreek. I’m celebrating the arrival of winter here with this Methi Murgh or Chicken-Curry with Fenugreek. The curry has been adapted a little bit as I used a whole chicken & the original recipe used chicken thighs. The method is different from the way I usually cook, & was a feast for the senses throughout. It smelled so good at every stage…while grinding the fresh garam masala, to the roasting, simmering etc.

Quite an enjoyable journey for me, & the end result was finger licking good. We served it with parathas, but feel free to serve this with plain boiled rice too.

Methi Murgh as adapted from Mallika’s recipe @ Quick Indian Cooking
Ingredients:
Chicken – 1 whole , 800gms (cut up into 8-10 pieces)
Fenugreek – 1 bunch; chop just the green leafy portion, wash well, & leave to drain
Onion – 2 medium; chopped
Tomatoes – 4 medium
Ginger – 1″ piece; minced
Garlic – 4-6 cloves; minced
Garam Masala – Black pepper -8, Small cardamom – 5, Cinnamon – 1-2 stick, Cloves – 8
Paprika – 1 tsp
Thick yogurt – 2 heaped tbsps; lightly whipped with a fork
Green chilies – 1-2
Method:

Dry roast the garam masala to release the flavours. Cool & then grind in the coffee grinder.

Puree the tomatoes in the blender with the ginger-garlic paste.

Heat oil in a pan & fry the onions til golden brown. Add the garam masala & fry for a minute.

Add the tomato paste & continue to roast till the sides leave oil.

Add the yogurt & cook again till the sides leave oil, the sides leaving oil indicated that it’s been well roasted & the excess water has been done away with. Add salt to taste.

Now add the chicken pieces & stir fry well to ensure all the pieces are well coated with the masala. Add the paprika, & a slit green chili if desired. Then add about 1/2 a cup of water; give it a gentle but quick stir, & cook covered, on simmer, for about an hour till done. The curry will leave oil on the sides when done, & the flavours will mature beautifully.

Take 1 tbsp of oil (I took it from the curry itself), heat it in a small pan, add the fenugreek leaves & stir fry for a minute or 2 until they wilt & turn deep dark green.

Turn this into the curry, stir in gently simmer for a further 2 minutes for the flavours to be absorbed.

Enjoy this wholesome curry with naan or rice.

I’m sending this seasonal & now firm favourite recipe over to Val @ More than a Burnt Toast and Ivy @ Kopiaste to enter into their wonderful Event: WORLD FOOD DAY.

In Val’s words: “The blogging community spans the globe so I would like you to submit a recipe which represents your country that would feed at least 6 people. You can send something that is a family favourite or a regional favourite that uses local and perhaps seasonal ingredients.We could then lay each dish back to back and have enough food to feed everyone on our street. If more people joined we could feed everyone in our city…our country…the world…you get the picture!!! A conga line of international dishes to feed the world!!!!The aim of the Event is to make people aware of the world’s increasing hunger and how the use of biofuel impacts in the poor countries’ harvests and needs. ” I think it’s a super cool way to pass the word around & increase awareness in the way we best enjoy. Please head to her blog for more info.

This is also off to Ruth’s Bookmarked Event, & to the Constable’s Larder for their Low & Slow Event. There’s something about slow cooking that brings out the best of flavours in certain dishes. This is just so ‘one of them’!

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