On ‘Loye Akhtar’ or ‘Greater Eid’ there is an overload of mutton and beef. With all this talk about red meat, a white meat recipe seems out of place, but this is something we have for Eid breakfast biannually. It’s our desi-take on sausages and tomatoes for breakfast. Words cannot describe the elation one feels when it is teamed up with a crackling paratha right off the stove. If that’s not good enough, sip sweet, milky and well-brewed tea and I guarantee you sheer bliss. Isn’t that what we are aiming for-to start the day feeling blissful.

 

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 chicken, cut-up into 8-10 pieces
  • 3 tsps. fresh coriander, chopped
  • 1 heaped tbsp. ginger, finely chopped
  • 1 tsps. garlic, crushed
  • 2-3 green chillies, chopped
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • ¼ cup oil ( add more if you like)
  • 9 medium tomatoes
  • 3 tbsps. ketchup or chilli garlic sauce
  • 9 tbsps. water
  • Preparation time : 20 minutes
  • Cooking time : 1 hour

Instructions:

  • Deep fry the chicken first, till its golden brown.
  • In a wok, add the fried chicken and all the other ingredients.
  • Cover and cook for 30 minutes over very gentle heat.
  • Then uncover and cook on medium heat for 5-7 minutes, till the water evaporates and the oil separates from the chicken.
  • Reduce the flame again and add tomato ketchup or chilli garlic sauce or a combination of two. Stir for another 5 minutes.
  • Then for the next 10 minutes, add about 3 tbsps. of water after every 3 minutes, stirring  gently but constantly.
  • Remove from heat and garnish with ginger and cilantro.

I am a self-taught cook, with of course lots of help and encouragement from my mommy and a tremendous amount of support from my hubby. Cooking is cathartic for me; it relaxes me and the sense of achievement I get after a well cooked meal is second-to-none. Teamed up with my love for reading and writing,its pure joy. Most of my recipes are my mother’s -she is my greatest inspiration and go-to person for culinary emergencies (we all have them, don’t we?)- and from magazines such as Good Housekeeping and Hello. Having spent a couple of years in South-east Asia, (read Singapore and Malaysia), I caught a very oriental bug. Which is…which is… well its using my cell phone to take snaps of the meals I am about to gobble up. In my defense, it’s strictly limited to my travels abroad. For that, I have dedicated a picture blog called ‘Food Casserole.’