Saturday, July 14, 2007

Chicken Do Pyaza


This one is the quickest and the easiest way of preparing a Indian style chicken dish that I am aware of ...... again a vintage mom's recipe which I love for the ease and simplicity ... According to mom the story goes that this dish was invented by the chefs of the Nawab of Awadh during one of the hunting trips of the nawabs.During the hunt the chef was so caught up in the action that he forgot to make preparations for the elaborate dishes he had planned . So , the chef just chopped up all that ingredients and tossed them into the pot . The result was a simple dish and aromatic dish that the Nawab loved this one so much that it became on the favorites of his...

I don't know whether the story is true or whether it was mom's invention to satisfy the umpteen questions I used to have about everything ...but it definitely makes for an interesting anecdote which I love to share with whoever is willing to listen ;-) .


Now this chicken do pyaza is quite different from the one you would have had in restaurants ...you will not find chuncky pieces of onions etc in this one ...but the taste would definitely make it one of the favorites .... and the good thing is that you donot have to spend hours in the kitchen "bhunoing" the masala as is the case with most other north Indian non-veg dishes ....just roughly chopped up onions,ginger ,garlic....lots of whole spices and the chicken ...toss them all into the ubiqitous pressure cooker ..and let it cook ....and after 20-25 mins ...voila your dish is ready :-)

Ingredients :-


Chicken - cleaned - 3/4 kg

Onion - 3/4 kg - 3-4 large onions - roughly chopped

Ginger - 1 and 1/2 inch - roughly chopped

Garlic - 6-7 large pods - roughly chopped

Tomato - 2 large

Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece

Cloves - 6-7

Black pepper - 7-8

Whole black cardamom - 1

Whole dried red chillies - 9-10

Green cardamom - 2

Oil - 3-4 tb sp.

Red chilli powder - 1tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - as per taste

Garam Masala powder - a little



Method :-


Clean up the chicken pieces and keep them aside. Roast all the dried whole spices on a warm pan till you can smell the aroma , then just crush them slightly . Heat up the oil in the pressure cooker , once the oil is hot add the whole spices , saute for a minute , then add the roughly chopped up garlic and ginger followed by the onions ..(we need a large quantity of the onion coz it will make the semi dry gravy in this dish).Once the onions are translucent , add the tomatoes saute till it is a little soft ...now add the chicken . Saute till the chicken becomes white in color .Add the red chilli powder , turmeric powder and salt and saute for 2-3 minutes . Then close the pressure cooker and keep the flame on high , after the 1st whistle lower the flame to low . After the 2nd whistle , turn off the flame and after depressurizing the cooker open it . There will be a lot of water left in the cooker so put the cooker on the burner and cook till almost all the water has evaporated .Then add the garam masala powder and mix the contents a few time so that everything is well mixed and the oil starts to separate a little . Taste for salt ....put in the serving dish and garnish with coriander .


Serve with Chapatis/parantha/rice .

Serves : 4

Note : since the dish is semi dry it will be better to serve it with a raita or even plain curd.


15 comments:

FH said...

Looks delicious,great dish for a weekend lunch!:)

SPICE OF LIFE said...

Yes it is Ashaji...do try it someday and let me know how u find it ....when i make it I don't need to make anything else for atleast 2 meals ;-)

Lakshmi said...

Waise main toh vegetarian hoon. How about substituting Chicken with Gobi/Paneer?

SPICE OF LIFE said...

u can try it with paneer ..or better still with raw jackfruit (kathal) that also tastes yummy...

Srivalli said...

looks so delicious..will try it...thanks

Srivalli
www.cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com

Bong Mom said...

looks delicious...should give it a try soon

SPICE OF LIFE said...

Thanks Srivalli and Sandeepa ....do try it out and let me know how u find it ....

Kajal said...

Great going dish....:)

SPICE OF LIFE said...

thanks Kajal ....try it sometime u'll definitely find it good.

Bindiya said...

this chicken recipe is great! my hubby likes chicken with pyaaz ,no tomatoes ,i will definitely try this,and thx for ur lovely comment on my blog
bindiya
http://inlovewithfood.blogspot.com/

SPICE OF LIFE said...

thanks Bindiya and Kajal ...for visting my blog and the nice comments ..Bindiya do try this one ..I am sure your husband would love it ...

Shella said...

The chicken looks yummy. The colour itself is so appetizing. Great going!!

Deeba PAB said...

Tripped onto your site off Bindiya's. This recipe does look ever so good & full of flavour!

Unknown said...

i tried this recepie and am making this chicken again and again its just tooo yummy.

Unknown said...

looks delicious,i will try it,mouth watering,yummmmmm