Kadai Chicken

Kadai Chicken is popular on a lot of restaurant menus. The delicious and spicy dish tastes great and the aroma is fantastic. You cannot really go wrong ordering this dish. It goes well with either rice or any of the Indian breads. The only downside like any restaurant food is that is swimming in oil and is bit on the sweet side. The best alternative is of course to make it at home.

The name kadai comes from the name of utensil in which the chicken is cooked in. Kadai is the deep saute dish that is common in all Indian kitchens. It is very similar to the Chinese Wok. Take a look at this Kitchen Utensils post which talks about the Indian Kadai.

While I could have easily cooked the dish in the kadai I chose to cook it in my quickly becoming favorite pan the Cast Iron Pan. If you have an iron kadai that might be the perfect utensil for cooking this chicken recipe. The recipe itself is very quick and easy. If chicken is not your thing check out these recipes,

Kadai Mushroom
Kadai Paneer

Kadai Chicken
Cooking Time:30 minutes
Ingredients

1. 1 1/2 lbs of chicken (I used boneless chicken thighs)
2. 1/2 cup of thinly sliced onion
3. 2 tomatoes finely diced
4. 3-4 shallots chopped or about 2 tbsp of chopped red onion
5. 4-5 garlic cloves chopped
6. 1 1/2 piece of ginger chopped
7. 5-6 green Thai chilies (optional)
8. 1/2 tbsp coriander powder + 1 tsp of cumin powder
9. 3-4 tsp of turmeric powder
10. 1/2 tbsp of red chili powder (or to taste)
11. handful of fresh methi(fenugreek) leaves or coriander leaves or 2 tsp of kasuri methi
12. salt to taste
13. 2-3 tsp of oil
14. seasonings - 1/2 tsp cumin seeds , 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, small piece of cinnamon stick, small piece of star anise

Method

1. Wash the chicken with turmeric powder, drain the water as much as possible, sprinkle chili powder and salt and let it sit while you start the cooking. Or you could marinate it for an hour ahead of time.
2. In a small saute add a few drops of oil and saute the shallots, garlic and ginger for a few minutes till the onion becomes translucent. Cool and blend coarsely. Set aside. Alternately you could just grate the garlic and ginger and chop the shallots really fine.
3. Heat the cooking pan - kadai or cast iron pan, add oil let it become hot. Season with the cumin, fennel seeds, cinnamon stick and star anise.
4. Add the sliced onion and the green chilies if using, and saute till the onions starts to become brown. (Add in the garlic, ginger, shallot if using the grated kind and saute for 2-3 minutes.)
5. Add in the chicken and let it saute for 6-8 minutes. The chicken will let out moisture and will evaporate as the chicken cooks .
6. Add in the coriander, cumin, chilli powder and turmeric powder. Mix.
7. Add in the finely chopped tomatoes and let it cook for another 4-5 minutes till the tomatoes become mushy and fall apart. If you are using the blended ginger, garlic paste add it at this time and let it saute for another 3-4 minutes.
8. Add more salt if required and the chopped coriander and fresh methi leaves. Let saute for another 3-4 minutes. The chicken will start to look dry and coated at this point. Turn of the heat when the desired level of moisture and roast is reached. We like it with a little bit of gravy.
9. If you are using dried kasure methi leaves, crush it in the palm of your hands and add it to the chicken, mix and turn of the heat right away.
Note:
10. You can either use fresh methi leaves or leave it out and use just coriander leaves or use both. If fresh is not an option add dried kasuri methi.
11. If you want a spicier dish add a few slit green chilies while sauteing the onions.
12. Ginger and Garlic can be used raw either grated or chopped really fine or saute them both with a little bit of onions/shallots coarsely blend and use.
13. Chicken with bones, breast meat can all be used.

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Cream of Wheat / Semolina - Breakfast Porridge with fruits and nuts

Pardon Me! I know I keep repeating this but breakfast is the most important meal of the day. For fear of becoming a breakfast scold I will tell you what happens around our house if we delay or skip breakfast. All hell breaks loose, we start snapping at each other and as the sugar level starts to goes down the irritability and anger slowly start to rise to the surface which sometimes ends in an eruption that is not pretty to say the least.

So if you are irritable or unable to concentrate in the mornings either at work or at school and are always day dreaming about the next meal or snack you can enjoy the explanation is simple enough. You made the decision to skip breakfast! Well breakfast does not have to be elaborate but it can tasty, quick and filling.

To this end I always have a few ingredients in the pantry at all time like this Cream of Wheat for instance. Cream of Wheat is nothing but finely ground wheat and it is also called Semolina. I prefer the Cream of Wheat by Quakers which is a little bit more coarser with brown specks compared to the Indian kind. The very white very fine vella ravai sold in Indian grocery stores have very minute sand particles in them and I have unlucky quite a few times in picking the wrong brand perhaps. The prudent thing for me is to stay away from them.

Unroasted Cream of Wheat

Heat milk, add the cream of wheat and whisk briskly.


Heat milk, add the cream of wheat and whisk briskly.

Use the kind you prefer and what is available to you. I normally do not make 2 breakfasts or 2 of anything, that is one for the kids and one for us. Yesterday when I set about to make Upma, DD standing right next to me watching me roast the cream of wheat complained about having Upma again. I offered her an option if she wanted to cook something she is welcome to. She chose to make this porridge which if I may say so myself turned out delicious. It is like eating your favorite pudding early in the morning.



The texture tends to get pasty which is not very desirable so I strongly recommend taking the time to dry roast the cream of wheat before cooking with it. I assure you doing this is well the time and effort.

Cream of Wheat/Semolina - Breakfast Porridge
Cooking Time:20 minutes
Serves: 2
Ingredients

1. 1/2 cup of cream of wheat
2. 1 1/2 cups of Milk (use almond milk for a vegan version)
3. 2 tsp of raw cane sugar (or maple syrup or honey)
4. 6-8 Dates chopped
5. 2 tbsp chopped roasted nuts
6. Diced fresh fruits (mangoes, bananas, berries)

Method

1. In a wide mouthed pan dry roast the cream of wheat for about 5-6 minutes stirring continuously to avoid burning.
2. In the sauce pan heat the milk, when it comes to a boil lower the heat and slowly stir in the roasted cream of wheat while whisking. Do not dump the whole thing in one shot, pour it in slowly as you are whisking to avoid lumps. Add sugar or sweetener of choice.
3. Cook for 3-4 minutes and add more milk if too thick. It gets a shiny sheen once cooked. Add in the dried fruits and nuts.
4. Serve warm with fresh fruit on top.

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