Green chicken

Tring tring....tring tring
Tring tring... tring tring

The phone continues to yell tring tring....tring tring.

Now my mom yells back "Cannt anybody pick up the phone!!!!"

"I am looking for the cordless" came my reply.

The cordless at my home cannot be found that easily, they will be hidden in the kitchen rack, between the pillows, sides of the couch, loo rack, sometimes inside the wardrobe too!

"You and your reasons. Go and pick up the mainline" my mom screamed back.

I ran to the baseline in the living room and finally reached for the phone and said "Hello" .

"What ya doing tom?" was the first sentence my cousin M spoke when I lifted the phone.

"Its weekend. So nothing much. Sleep n rest up" I replied her.

"Hmmm. ok". A short silence.

" Why? Are you planning to come here" I questioned her.

"Well ya. Thought I shall visit you" She replied.

"Ok great. Come".

"Idiot!!! Wont you invite me for lunch" She screamed.

I chuckled

"Ok come for lunch" I concluded the call.

"Bye"

"Bubye"

I had invited my cousin M (rather she invited herself) for lunch yesterday and since she is a expecting mother, I wanted to cook something simple, aromatic and flavorful for her taste buds.Her husband who is also my cousin is a vegetarian, so I need to plan for a mixed menu.
Ahem!!! having these vegetarians around for lunch/dinners is a pain in the wrong place. We need to cook both veggie n non-veggie stuffs and thats lot more work. :-(

The first thing that I came to my mind was peas pulao and green chicken. The post for today is the refreshing Green chicken. This dish seems to have been originated from the Nilgiri regions of South India.It is a semi-gravy dish prepared by marinating the chicken in coriander-mint-yogurt mix. They taste absolutely delightful. The aromatic corainder/mint paste blends beautifully with the tender chicken and unfolds the most exotic taste out of it. We just loved the way it tasted: simple n perfect. I was so happy that she enjoyed her food.

She is expecting her baby in the first week of March.We gave her a small curio of Lord krishna along with beetal leaves and kumkum when she left. (the most traditional way to give gifts to South Indian girls)

Ingredients

• 1kg chicken
• 1 kg onions
• 1 tbs ginger-garlic paste
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1-2 tsp pepper powder
• Salt
• Oil to cook
• 1/2 tbs lime juice

For the marination

• 1 bunch mint leaves
• 1 bunch coriander leaves
• 8-10 long green chillies
• 1/2 cup yogurt

Method

Clean the chicken and keep aside.
Grind the fresh coriander, mint leaves and green chillies to a fine paste. Now add the green paste to the chicken along with salt and yogurt. Mix thoroughly and marinate for 2-4 hours in the refrigerator.

Heat the oil in a cooking vessel. Once heated up, add the finely chopped onions and cook for 15min on a low flame. Add little salt during the cooking. Now add the ginger-garlic paste and turmeric powder and saute for 3-5min. Add the marinated chicken along with the marinade. Since its a semi-gravy dish, add little water if necessary. Cover and cook for 30min in low flame.

When they have begun to thicken, add cumin powder, garam masala and pepper powder and mix thoroughly. Adjust salt to taste and turn off the flame.

Pour in the lime juice and serve hot with pulao/steamed rice/ roti/naan.