Tag: South Asian
Chicken Tarkari
Chicken Tarkari
Chicken tarkari is the Nepalese version of chicken curry. Chicken pieces are marinated in turmeric, salt, and black pepper, seared, then braised in chicken stock with onions, tomatoes, and spices. The tarkari is best served with steamed basmati rice. You can make this dish vegetarian by substituting vegetables, but I will choose protein.
Equipment
- Spice grinder
Ingredients
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs cubed
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds ground
- 1 tsp mustard seeds ground
- 1 tsp cumin seeds ground
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp ginger minced
- 4 dried red chilies
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 roma tomatoes chopped
- 2 cups chicken stock
Garnish
- cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Season the chicken with ground turmeric, black pepper, and salt. Marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan or wok over medium high heat. Add in the garlic, ginger, ground spices, dried chilies, and bay leaves. Cook for 30 seconds until aromatic.
- Add in the onions. Cook for 5 minutes until translucent.
- Add in the chicken. Sauté for 5 minutes, searing on all sides.
- Stir in the tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Season with salt to taste.
Pakistani Stewed Beef with Whole Spices
Pakistani Stewed Beef with Whole Spices
What we have here is some serious Pakistani home cooking at its best. Beef stew meat is stewed with an abundance of whole spices and aromatics. Once the meat is cooked down and the liquid has evaporated, yogurt is stirred in and cooked down even more. The beef is coated in the sauce instead of swimming in a heavy gravy. The stewed beef is garnished with cilantro and slivers of ginger. Eating this amazing dish will make you feel good inside. This dish can substitute lamb or chicken for the protein.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 10 dried Kashmiri chilies
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 8 whole cloves
- 3 black cardamom
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 10 black peppercorns
- 1 head garlic peeled and minced
- 3 roma tomatoes chopped
- 3 green chilies finely chopped
- 2 lbs beef stew meat
- 2 cups water
- salt to taste
- 1 cup plain yogurt
Garnish
- cilantro chopped
- ginger peeled and julienned
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Sauté the onions for 10 minutes.
- Add in all of the whole spices and dried chilies. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until aromatic.
- Add in the tomatoes, garlic, and green chilies. Sauté for 5 minutes until the tomatoes cook down.
- Add in the beef stew meat. Brown for 5 minutes.
- Pour in the water. Bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 90 minutes.
- Uncover the pot. Turn up the heat to medium high. Cook down until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt.
- Stir in the yogurt.
- Cook for up to 10 minutes until the majority of the liquid has cooked down.
Spring Onion Pakora
Spring Onion Pakora
If you’ve eaten at an Indian restaurant, you most likely have had pakora of some sort. Pakora consists of the main ingredient fried in a chickpea batter and served with a green chili chutney. My favorite use of pakora is to batter spring onions. Other ingredients that can be used include cauliflower, white onions, potatoes, paneer, and even chicken.
Ingredients
- 2 cups spring onions cut into 2” pieces
- 3/4 cup chickpea flour
- 1 tbsp rice flour
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp turmeric
- 2 green chilies finely chopped
- 2 tsp sesame seeds
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 4 tbsp water
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Mix together the chickpea flour, rice flour, and dry spices.
- Mix in the green onions, ginger paste, sesame seeds, green chilies, and water. The batter should be very thick.
- Heat up 2” of vegetable oil in a pot over medium heat. Using a cookie dropper, drop scoops of the batter into the oil, making sure not to overcrowd the pot. Fry for 3 minutes. Gently flip the pakoras and fry on the other side for 2-3 more minutes.
- Drain on paper towels.
