Chicken Pickle

What's there in a pickle that makes it so amazing? Mom's love? A feeling of home even being away from home? The much needed spice in the boring and mundane food? The reasons can be many but a pickle is something that we all love to savor. A pickle can be vegetarian or non-vegetarian, sweet or sour, but the taste of it is just inexplicable.

I have been fond of pickles since I can remember. Mango, garlic, mixed,  squid, dry-fish, prawns,you name it and I have tasted it. Long time, back, I remember having a prawn pickle which tasted heavenly. In all these years, a mango pickle during the summers is like a ritual. Recently, in one of the regular visits to the departmental store, I bumped onto a chicken pickle. It did taste awesome! I definitely wanted to try this at home. I have always preferred pickles which has a South-Indian touch to it and I always love the idea of modifying any recipe a little bit. A little bit of innovation becomes your signature style. I also believe firmly that cooking is just incomplete without your personal touch!

Here comes the recipe:

Ingredients:


Chicken (minced) - 500gms.
Vinegar - 1 cup.
Ginger-Garlic paste - 200 gms.
Mustard seeds (black) - few.
Dry chillies - 4.
Curry leaves - a bunch. 
Turmeric powder - One teaspoon.
Red chilli powder - Two teaspoon.
Cumin powder - One teaspoon.
Coriander powder - One teaspoon.
Asafoetida - a pinch.
Salt to taste.
Oil- 5 tablespoons.

Procedure:

Marinate the chicken with the ginger-garlic paste, vinegar and salt. Refrigerate it overnight.
In a wok, heat oil.
Add the dry chilli, asafoetida, mustard seeds and the curry leaves.
Add the marinated chicken.
Then add the turneric, red chilli, coriander and cumin powder.
Do not add water.
Check for the consistency.
Store it in an air-tight container in a cool place once it comes to room temperature.


Have it after at least 2 days, if not more. 
Once opened, keep it in the refrigerator so that it doesn't get spoilt.

Story of my life

Everyone has a story to tell,
A story that speaks of so many emotions.
Days spent and nights gone by,
Dreams shattered and teardrops splattered
I sit here to write my own,
But I don't know where to start and where to end.
Life is like a meandering river going from places to places.
Only when I know where and why it goes,
I will have my story to tell.

It's raining tonight

If it rains tonight,

I will let go of myself too.

Pent up feelings and thoughts

Only if it rains tonight.

I keep thinking whether you think of me

I do it all the time.

The memories are too great a burden to bear

Like heavy clouds in the sky.

What if it doesn't rain tonight?

The world will laugh because it will rain inside me.

Come back, if you can

Not to be a part of my life

But to take back the part of you that still lives inside me

Right there in my heart.

I know it is going to rain tonight

Like all the other things it will also take you along

Liberation awaits me.

A long way...

I have a long way to go,

Long enough for my patience to run out.

I have lost everything,

Everything but myself in a journey called life.

They say that time heals every wound,
Wounds that scar you for eternity.
Eternity is a pretty long time,
Long enough for my patience to run out.

What do I do to get the happiness that I deserve?
Happiness that is long overdue.
I know time will change and it will change for good.
God will answer my prayers,answer all those questions that I have been asking for long.
Hope and faith is what keeps me waiting, 
Wait till my patience run out.

A memory

The light is too strong and I am off balance.
A little high on alcohol and a lot low on life.
This is the place where I first saw you.
Blue eyes,fair skin and a smile that made the sky look grey.
You made a place in my heart,the place where we built a home together.
A paradise it was,with love and happiness galore.

It has been a year since you left me.
Everyday I come here,hoping that I would see your face,hoping that you would take me home.
A home that was once ours.
Oh, I see you there! But you just dissipated into nowhere.
Your eyes did not recognize me.

I still come back here everyday,hoping to see the light in your eyes that once glowed for me.
The light is too strong and the bridge is too high.
Just like you, I too became a memory.

A love story

Tonight will be the last time, I will think of you.
I know you will think of me too under the starlit sky.
The sky that wrapped us once together. 
Tonight it's split into two.
One is mine and one is yours.
Memories that we made together slowly fade into oblivion.
Ours was a love story that ended too soon.
I will remember you as a wilted rose in between the pages of my favorite book.

Achari Chicken

The best part of Chicken lies in its versatility. You just can't count the ways in which you can savor it. Although being a Bong, my top priority has always been Fish but I just can't stop experimenting with it every now and then.


Few days back, I was just fiddling with my phone when I came across a Bengali Recipe app which enlisted some very good recipes. This particular recipe was cooked with Beef. As it's a strict no-no- in my house, so I thought why not try it with chicken? It must taste good and trust me, it did taste good!


Ingredients:

Chicken - ! kg.
Onions - 300 gms, finely chopped.
Ginger-Garlic paste - 200 gms.
Vinegar - 1 & 1/2 cups.
Yogurt - 1 cup.
Red chilli powder - 3 teaspoons.
Dry chilli - 2-3.

Fenugreek seeds - little bit.
Mango Pickle - 4 teaspoons.
Salt to taste.
Oil- 5 tablespoons.




Procedure:

Marinate the chicken with ginger-garlic paste, vinegar, yogurt, red chilli powder and salt. Keep it aside for 3 hours.

In a wok, heat oil.

Add dry chilli and fenugreek seeds.

Add the onions and fry till translucent.

Add the marinated chicken. Cook till the chicken is boiled.

Add the mango pickle. Cook it for another 10 mins on medium flame.

Serve hot with rice or roti.

Coriander Fish

I don't remember when I fell in love with cooking. It was the sheer love for food that made me take a shot at it. I find the entire process of cooking very engaging and rejuvenating.

I have tried this particular recipe many a times. Not only it's very easy but it tastes a little different too.
Do give it a try!



Ingredients:

Rohu fish - 500 gms.
Coriander leaves - 2 bundles, finely chopped.
Garlic - 50 gms.
Black cumin - One and a half teaspoon.
Turmeric powder - One teaspoon.
Green chillies - 5-6.
Salt to taste.
Oil- 4 tablespoons.

Procedure:

Deep fry the fish. Keep it aside.
Make a fine paste of black cumin, garlic, coriander leaves and green chillies.
Heat oil in a wok, add the paste and bring it to a boil.
Add turmeric and salt.
Add the fried pieces of fish and let it cook for 5 minutes in medium flame.
Garnish with green chillies and serve hot with rice.