Lajawab walnut Murg/ walnut Chicken

It is funny how I have these,"food /meat dreams" I am pretty aware of the origin of these food dreams. It actually all started when I was very desperate to get on  Rajdhani (A train) in Calcutta/India  ,which had started to move and was gaining momentum before my eyes,I was obviously missing the train which meant I would not be able to  visit my family in Pune .

We had driven 3 hours from Haldia to Calcutta to board a train from Calcutta to get to Pune(our home ) Traffic jams in Calcutta are very common and a pain in the neck. We made good timing but got held up on the Howrah bridge ,which happens to be a 5 minutes drive from the Calcutta railway station. This could be touch & go for us , me & my husband and our 2 year daughter, had to get on this train , for which the tickets were booked months in advance and we realized it might not happen. Hearts thumping hard ,fingers crossed,I was praying hard to God and in the heat of the moment I decided I would give-up eating meat  for a year if I was able to get on the train.

Well- It so happened that my husband did get on the train while I was still on the station platform,and he managed to pull the chains.Which is a mechanism used in emergencies for the train to stop. Stop it did. And sure it was an emergency,the husband was on the train while the wifey dear was on the platform with daughter dear on her left shoulder and  a hand bag & cool jug on the other shoulder almost on the verge of tears. We did make it to Pune. But my  brief  Pune sojourn without meat was sheer torture . I did stay off meat for 1 year BUT not in my dreams. Everyday was ," feasting on the meat night" for me hehehehe.

I do dream off & on about food, especially when I have some special dish on my mind  and don't  get around to eating it :)

I dedicate this dish to all  those  who at some point have deprived themselves of meat ,for various reasons and are now back to it .

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
Time to cook: 20 minute
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
Chicken: 500 gms
Onion: 1 big grated
Curd: 1 cup
Tomato puree: 1 cup
Ginger: 1 tbsp paste
garlic: 1 tbsp paste
green Chili: 2 chopped fine
cumin: 1tbsp
Roasted coriander powder: 1tbsp
garam masala: 1tsp
Cream: 2 tbsp
walnuts ground: 1 cup
salt: 1tsp

Method:
Take the chicken pieces,you can use drumsticks/breast/mix pieces ,anything you desire. Put this in
a bowl along with curd, ginger,garlic,salt and  half cumin  powder and mix well. refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile take a pressure cooker and add 2 tbsp oil and add the grated onion  along with fine chopped green chilli and cook till deep golden brown.

Now add tomato puree and cook till you see the oil on the edges. Now add roasted coriander powder and  the remaining cumin powder to this masala. Cook till the dry spices have blended well with the masala. Now add the marinated chicken,cook for couple minutes.

Add very little water(3 tbsp) and pressure cook for 5 minutes on high flame. Depending on your taste medium rare or well cooked chicken. I will cook it for 3 whistles. wait for the steam to escape then remove the lid and if you see too much liquid then cook on high flame,without the lid for some more time,till the consistency is desirable . It should be as thick as the pancake batter. Now add the powdered walnuts , 1 tsp garam masala and cook for 5 minutes then add a dollop of cream and garnish with cilantro.

Enjoy with naan or roti and think of what you would be missing if you  were not eating this yummaayy chicken dish :)

Note: I totally respect the decision of those who  choose  not to eat meat.