Beetroot Chicken Curry

Beetroot also is known as beets are packed with nutrients, contains sources of fiber, iron, vitamin C, etc. 

Now, what's your excuse to not include them in your diet? 

I was astounded when I first heard about this dish. I wondered how a Veggie like a beet would go along with chicken. Anyhow, I was pretty sure the curry would bring in an impressive color without the addition of artificial food coloring. Color does play an important role here, imagine the color of beets being yellow. 🤢

I used to prepare this curry quite often, then I totally forgot about this curry, but when I had some lonely beets in my fridge lying there without any purpose, I thought to prepare this dish. I had no clue how the recipe goes, totally fail to remember the recipe, but with my instinct I prepared it and Alhamdulilah became a success. 😃

Now back to the recipe. This curry is especially great for kids who hate veggies, specifically beetroot. They won't even know these nutrients are breaking into their tummies. What else is good news to mommies? 😁

This curry is super easy to cook, this is one of those dishes that I make when I have little to no time. Takes about half an hour to 45 minutes from start to finish. 

I love such simple, nutritious and yummy dishes. If you're on a lookout for the same who have bumped at the right place. Without further a-do let's move on to the recipe.

Ingredients :

• 800 gms Chicken
• Salt
• 2 tsp Kashmiri Chilli powder
• ¼ tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Ginger garlic paste for marination
• 1 large beetroot, peeled and grated
• 2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• A handful of curry leaves
• 3 green chilies slit
• ½ tsp garam masala powder
• 1 tsp Kashmiri Chilli powder
• 3 - 4 tbsp Coconut oil
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 2 tsp Ginger Garlic paste
• 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
• Salt as required

Instructions :

Semi deep fry the marinated chicken for 5 mins each side on medium-high heat in 2 or 3 batches, do not overcrowd the pan/Kadai.

Meanwhile, grate the beetroot and grind the grated beetroot with the tomatoes and grind to a paste in a mixy or grinder.

Drain the chicken pieces well.

Take a Kadai or pan and add in 3-4 tbsp of oil used for frying or for better flavor add coconut oil.

Sautee the chopped onions on medium-low heat.

Add curry leaves and ginger garlic paste. Sautee and once the raw smell of gg paste is gone and fragrant add in the green chillies.

Now add the spices like chili powder and garam masala powder. Sautee on lowest heat till the rawness of the spices has vanished.

Now add the tomato-beetroot mixture to the pan and add 1/2 cup water, and salt, let it cook well for about 5 minutes.

Add in the chicken pieces, mix well to coat all the spices and masala to the chicken and let it cook for 5 minutes on medium-low heat.

Relish this amazing gravy with chappati, roti, battoora, puri, etc. Enjoy!

Notes :

• Marinate with gg paste, salt, Turmeric, and Kashmiri Chilli powder for at least ½ an hr. The more time kept, the better.
• Chicken with bones cut in small pieces is best for this recipe. It makes the dish even more succulent.
• Dont worry about the less frying time, small pieces of chicken with bones get cooked fast. Also, the chicken will get cooked in the gravy for another 5 - 10 minutes.
• Chicken with bones in gravies needs no more than 20 minutes of total cooking time.
• Though beetroot is a sweet vegetable, to balance the sourness and spiciness and other flavors, I add the tomato ketchup at the end.
• You may add more water according to your preference depending on how thick you want the gravy. But be careful with the water, if the consistency changes, the gravy will look watery and will taste bland.

Sparkling Passion Fruit Mojito 

Beat the heat with this PASSION FRUIT MOJITO.🍹

Glazed Upside Down Banana Loaf

Having ripe bananas at home and you have no idea what to do with them? Worry not! Upside down Banana Loaf Cake is simply delicious, the best accompaniment for tea time, also a wonderful snack if you have kids at home. This utterly butterly delicious banana cake is definitely going to be everyone's favorite snack. 

1. Preheat the oven to 180℃. 
2. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add in the brown sugar and let it get to a boil on medium-low flame. Pour the glaze into the loaf pan.

1. Slice the banana and place them carefully, lined in a pattern on the sauce poured.
2. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Now smash the other banana with the help of a fork in a separate bowl. Add in the butter, egg, sugar, vanilla essence, yogurt, blueberries/raisins and combine them using a spatula.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Now add in the rest of the ingredients; the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix till well combined.
5. Pour the mixture to a loaf pan.
   
   
   
   
6. Now bake the loaf for around 50 mins till a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
   
7. After the loaf almost cools, about 20 mins later, go around the sides of the loaf using a blunt knife and level the bulge layer and make it a flat surface, as it is an upside-down loaf.
   
8. Now place the loaf upside down on your serving plate and tap the loaf pan a few times for the loaf to loosen and drop on the plate or serving platter. Get ready to be mesmerized! 😋

Note:

•  To make home-made cinnamon powder, you need not buy one, you may grind it to fine powder by adding a tsp of sugar when grinding the cinnamon, it helps the powder to be finer.
• I have only shown 1 egg in the picture, this is because I was experimenting and using my instincts and felt 2 eggs would be required which only dawned on me while I mixed the batter.

Koshari/ Kosheri - An Egyptian Delight

Being bought up in Dubai, I know a long list of dishes from different cuisines which I am yet to try. I always like to experiment once I try the authentic homemade ones so that I can figure out the real taste, which is not always practical for all the dishes I try. I have always seen this dish where ever I go in Dubai, a place where you have access to all sorts of cuisines. Alhamdulilah. We were neighbors to Egyptians a decade ago, they used to serve us their delicacy; stuffed grapevine leaves. But I never got to taste Kosheri, yet their whole house smells of this dish. When I cooked this I felt nostalgic of the childhood memories, when they used to open their door this smell used to gush into our noses. I was not too much into food when I was a child, always a picky eater. Don't ask when I developed a fondness towards food. 😄

So recently when I went for a gathering where all sorts of nationalities were assembled, a dear friend introduced me to Koshari. Was I delighted to try the authentic, homemade Koshari? I loved it! Couldn't wait to try it at home already. My dear friends helped me with the type of rice to look for in stores. I bought it the same day and tried it for Friday lunch. It was awesome indeed. I made a salmon side dish to go along with it.

Now lets come back to Koshari. Koshari is not only fun to say, but it is also definitely fun to cook too, with basic pantry ingredients, this dish defines how basic ingredients can form into a delicious and scrumptious meal. This humble bowl of comfort food might not seem very TASTY to the sight but the flavors that come from combining the tomato gravy and fried onions that has a vinegar hint to it (which I am usually not fond of) is out-of-the-world good.

Like I said, was I veracious when I said I wanted to try authentic Kosheri, I definitely said that because it-is-a-big-deal! Story ahead... Last week when I was roaming around Carrefour and I was dead hungry I came across Koshari and I bought it expecting it to be okayish. But when I tasted I felt so bad since the taste was not even up to the mark to say an okay. It was bitter. So next time you try from such stalls etc don't expect you can get the authentic taste. Here I have tried my take to replicate the one I tried from the gathering and I must say, it is very light on the tummy and addictive. 👌👌😋 Try my version and let me know what you think of it in the comments below.

Ps: My hubsy cannot have anything vegetarian on its own, hence the salmon with coriander-butter sauce happened to show up🤣

Ingredients:

For the Rice:

1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil

2 Cups Calrose Rice
2 cup Dark Brown Lentil
1/2 cup angel hair pasta
1 small onion diced

1/4 cup oil
3 cup water 

1 chicken/veg stock cube

Salt

For the sauce:
2 cups crushed tomatoes
1 cup water
1 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Coriander Powder
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
Salt as required

For the dressing :
1 cup water
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
Salt as required
2 minced garlic

Assembling Ingredients:
2 cups small elbow pasta cooked
1 cup chickpeas cooked
1/2 kg Onions sliced
Salt
1-2 tbsp white vinegar

Instructions:

• Immerse the 1/2 kg sliced onions in white vinegar. Cover and set aside for 1 hour.
• Now in the 2 cups crushed tomatoes add the ingredients mentioned under *for the sauce*. Mix, cover and put them on a medium flame till it boils and once boiled, put them on simmer for 10 mins.
  
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• To make the dressing, in a different bowl, mix the ingredients under the sub *for the dressing*. Give a good mix and set aside.
  
• Rinse the onions soaking in vinegar in cold water and drain off excess water. Now fry them in a deep pan with oil, check if the oil is hot enough and fry until the onion becomes a little more than golden brown but not dark brown.
  
  
  
  
• While the onions are frying, in a deep bottom vessel boil the dark brown lentil with some salt. 
  
• Next, boil the elbow pasta and check the tomato sauce in between and give a stir.
  
• In another vessel, let's boil the water with salt and Chicken/Veg stock (Optional) which will be used for boiling the rice and angel hair pasta.
• Next, sautee the diced onions in little oil and some salt, and once translucent add the angel hair pasta and stir fry for about a minute and add the calrose Egyptian rice and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Now add the boiling stock water to it. Once the water is bubbling, put the flame on simmer and let it get cooked covered for about 10-12 minutes.
  
  
  
  

• It's now time to plate! The most interesting part. First onto a serving plate put the rice and angel hair pasta mix first, top it with the boil dark brown lentils. Unto that add the cooked chickpeas and pour in the yummy tangy sauce and sprinkle the crispy fried onions on top.
• When serving, drizzle the dressing over the Kosheri and you are ready to feast on!😋

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PS: The recipe might seem a bit complicated, rather a lot of dishes to do but all that effort was well worth in the end. My family approved! 😃

Do try this recipe and don't forget to share your experience/feedback with me here in the comments or feel free to send me a mail. Also, do tag me at #taystedit if you try out my recipes on Facebook, Instagram etc so that I can see when you make it. ♡♡♡♡