Ali (aka Salman) Farooqi: cooking

On lazy and snowy Sunday I decided to cook for family. The original recipe is by my mother-in-law. It is a low-carb, high-protein dish. It is Stuffed Spinach and Mushroom Chicken. Here is a quick recipe:

Ingredients:

Spinach (bowlful). one chopped onion, one chopped tomato, paste of 1 garlic and 1 ginger.

1) Melt some butter in a pan, add chopped onions. After few mins add other ingredients (tomatoes, spinach, mushroom). keep stirring it. Remove it after 15-20 mins as we don't want to completely cook the stuffing.

2) In a big skillet, heat some butter and then place 3 chicken breast (slit). Stuff 2 table spoon of stuffing inside each chicken and close it. Generously sprinkle salt and red chilli powder on top.

3) Cover the skillet and let the chicken cook in medium-low heat. 20 mins each side. Be careful not to let the stuffing fall apart. You can use skewer for added perfectionism.

(Optional) Added by Chef Baig - Take garlic powder mix it with bread crumbs. Dip the chicken in egg batter than coat it with garlic breadcrumbs and fry

4) After it turns brown on both sides, turn off the heat and sprinkle mozzarella cheese and cover it for few mins.

5) Savour it. Eat it with green salad and garlic bread.

Below are the pictures I took while making it:

Nope it is not the KFC-rival fried chicken Recipe I am about to blog, I will leave that for the franchisee to sell that poison(I do like it I admit). This is about Palak Ghosht.
Spinach (Palak) has always been associated with Popeye the Sailor Man. Since my childhood Palak Ghost has been one of my favorite desi dishes partly because I was made to belief that my biceps and triceps will protrude instantly and I will go in to some sort of super hero transformation saving my 'Lilly' from Brut - kids imaginations are weird sometimes ; I finally realize it after my seeing my 6 year old son talk.
Ok so my wife and kids were coming back from Houston and I was suppose to pick them up from Buffalo on Saturday afternoon which means I had only few hours of window on Friday evening to restore the order of our place and prepare some food for dinner next day. I resisted catering from outside as they had it enough while there (It was my wife's cousin's wedding they went to attend) ; I also resisted my mom's food as I wanted to make something myself.
I did the grocery from a desi store after work and here how the events leading to Palak Gosht unfolded. I started at 11:30 pm on 13th June Friday - pretty daring to be in the kitchen cooking by myself on that day lol. Preparation time was almost an hour (I was making Karhai Chicken simultaneously as well). It was my first ever attempt and I used one helpline : calling my mom in the middle of the night for re-reinforcements.
- 1.5 lb of veal meat (washed ,cleaned and cut into bite-sized pieces)
- Half Ginger - peeled, chopped and MB-ed*
- Few Garlic cloves - chopped and MB-ed*
- 2 onions - peeled, sliced
- Heat the oil in a Vessel ('Pateli' for Urdu and 'Bagona' for Hyderabadi) and put the above items and stir it
- Generous pinch of Salt, light sprinkle of Turmeric Powder, Coriandar Powder (1 teaspoon) and Red Chili Powder (1 teaspoon) and 2 cups of water and close the lid for 30 mins on medium-low heat
- Toss 2 diced tomatoes into the mix and keep stirring it
- Throw in frozen spinach pack in it and keep stirring it
- Dial down the ignition to low heat and keep stirring it
- Check if the meat is tender (by sampling a random piece from the Vessel and try to dissect it)
- Add in a pinch of Garam masala and toss some whole green chillis and keep ...... (you know the drill)
- Keep the heat low and keep stirring, this painful and tedious step is called 'Bhoonna'
- Put it away from the oven and transfer it in a white dish with a green spoon (Yes , presentation is equally important as food preparation :) )
- Ready to devour. It tasted good and my wife and in-laws were amazed that I made it myself :)
Pretty sure made Popeye - the Sailor Man proud too (A)

*MB-ed - process involves making a paste by using Magic Bullet