Mughlai Murg Mussalam

Taking up from where I left yesterday...  I have been thinking about myself quite a bit these days. It really surprises me that how certain incidents in your life can taper down certain unwanted characters in you and shape you to become a totally different person. There were times when I used to get really hyper and worried about how things would turn up but now, somehow I have mellowed down, not wanting to stress myself thinking too much about the future. I see that as a very good sign... something I really wanted to happen in me! That doesn't mean that I don't think about the past, but at the same time, the way my life is now, Alhamdulillah, I feel so contented and pacify myself regarding why Allah must have made those incidents happen in my life and also that He will be there to lift me up in case of any more crisis. Sometimes you need certain hits to come your way to change yourself for good... InShaAllah, only hoping to carry forward the new change in a really positive way... :)

To the recipe for today - if you are not a person of spice, this is the curry for you. While browsing through my cookbooks, I saw this recipe and what fancied me was naturally the saffron in the curry!!! Hehe... This is such a mild curry, but having a distinct flavor of the ground masala and the saffron, of course. Even though we had this curry with chapathis, I feel that it would go best with some white rice due to its mildness. I always though musallams were meant to be whole - like whole chicken, whole vegetable, etc. so I was surprised to see a musallam with cut pieces of chicken. As long as it tastes different and good, then why not try it? :) Off to this simple recipe...



Ingredients:

1 kg chicken, cut into medium pieces
2 onions, sliced and squeezed in salt water

For paste:
1/4 cup shallots
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
2 dry red chillies, only skin
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

For masala:
3/4 tsp garam masala powder
2 meduim tomatoes, sliced
1 tbsp. oil
1 tsp peppercorns, crushed
1/4 cup milk
A pinch saffron
Salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a saucepan. Saute the peppercorns for a minute, then add the onion. Cook till soft. Add the ground masala and sauté for around 5 minutes. Add the chicken pieces and stir well. Add the garam masala powder along with the tomatoes and adjust the salt. Mix well.

Close the pan and allow to cook the chicken. Add water if required (I did not!). Dissolve the saffron into warm milk. Add this to the cooked chicken. Allow to boil. Switch off the flame and serve hot with rotis or rice!