Cooking with Love-ly Greens

Upon kind request from my dear husband, I have been cooking all sorts of greens, lately. So much that, I wanted to add greens to all my dishes.

When I googled for a chicken recipe with greens, came across quite a few interesting combination, and finally settled for the one in this page. This recipe seemed very simple and also suited me. I modified a little, well, mostly the method and consistency and tossed in a few additional ingredients.

Methi and Chicken is an authentic hyderabadi recipe. The soft chicken complements the slightly bitter methi well, and the tangy tomato gravy adds an additional taste to this curry.

METHI CHICKEN/MURGH CHICKEN

• Onion - 2 [very finely chopped]
• Tomato - 2 [blend to a coarse paste]
• Fresh Methi leaves - 1 bunch
• Ginger Garlic paste - 2tsp
• Chicken - 0.7 lb - 1 lb.
• Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
• Cumin powder - 1tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1tsp
• Yogurt - 1 tbsp
• Red chili powder - 3tsp or as required.
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Oil - 3tbsp
• Coriander leaves - 4-6 stalks.

Wash and marinate the chicken with 1/2 tsp salt and turmeric powder for 10 minutes.

Take a heavy-bottomed pan, heat oil, splutter the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cardamon, clove and curry leaves. Add the onion and fry till nice brown. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes.

Add cumin powder, coriander powder and red chili powder and fry for 1 minute. Now add the chicken pieces and toss everything to coat the chicken well. Cover and cook for 15 minutes in a low flame, till the chicken is tender.

Now add the methi leaves and cook for another 2 minutes in a medium flame uncovered, till the methi leaves starts to wilt.

Add the tomato puree along with yogurt and 1/2 cup water and bring to boil. Cook for another 10-15 minutes until the oil oozes out. Add coriander leaves and switch off.

Note: For the chicken to be tender, after thawing, transfer the chicken to a Ziploc bag. Take a big, nice pestle or any similar tool and beat the chicken on both sides, taking care not to crush the chicken or tear the bag. This helped me especially when I used frozen poultry.

Sending this recipe to the event Served with Love, organized by Gourmet Affair.