Pishima r Chicken

Pishima, my  late Father in laws sister has come to visit, to stay for a few days with us. She and my 
Ma in law  were up to their stories, discussion wound round the streets of Lucknow and the narrow lanes of Agra and I was all ears.....Pishima and her siblings were very naughty...stories said it all.

Aarti Pishi From London

It was a huge house we lived in, remember ? she said to Ma, surrounded by greenary. We had a
 long Varandah (Patio) and rooms spread out on all sides. Now these children don't believe us when they have KFC in between  their fingers, that we weren't allowed to haveMurgi ( chicken) at our place. Our childhood was absolutely different and the present " Macdonald" generation wont believe it when we say that
 no non-veg was ever cooked inside the kitchen, even onion-garlic wasn't allowed entry. Non-veg ( that too only fish preparations) was always cooked outside, that too in the far end of the courtyard !

Utensils kept aside separate and after eating men were to cleanse themselves before entering the house.
We were upper class Brahmin's and had "Narayan" so this had to be done.

Pishima continued with her story....Once my eldest cousin decided that he would cookMurgi ,as he had heard from his other friends that it tasted delicious. We kids were all asked to keep it a top secret, none of the elders were to know or else we would be thrashed properly. Very excitedly we four little ones agreed to it. It was great fun to keep a secret!!

Now, the decision was easy to make but where in the hell would we keep the live chicken? Earlier dressed chicken was not heard of and one had to buy a Whole Live Chicken !!

Now it was decided that the chicken would be hidden in the store where coal was kept. In those days,
 gas stoves were unheard of and coal  ovens were used in the kitchen for  cooking. So my elder brother bought a chicken  and kept it locked till evening as he arranged for other things.The chicken was to be had at dinner.

Now all was done top secret and we got down to eat. Fathers seat was moved away from ours so that he would not notice that we were having chicken. We very happily were having our food , chatting excitedly, giggling away......when suddenly mid-way through the meal Babu ji (We called him that lovingly) asked in his deep voice.....the food is delicious , but why haven't I been served that dish.....pointing to the chicken !!!

All of us became serious at once. The munching stopped all at once and there was pin drop silence ....

Babuji broke the silence....breaking into a laughter.....
Ha Ha ha ha.........and you kids thought I wouldn't know what was going on in my own house, he said laughing.

We were spared the spanking that night, but Ma made us all remove our clothes and take a bath after that dinner, in the freezing temperatures of Lucknow winter!!

Aarti Pishi with niece payal mukherji

 Pishima with Nephew Soumitra Chatterjee

Unlike today, old memories were never photographed. Memories need to be captured I feel. If you don't write it down you'll lose some of it.

Doi Diye Murgir Kalia :

Murgi (chicken)...........................1,cut into big size pieces

Onion Paste.................................of two medium onions

Ginger Paste................................1 tbsp

Garlic Paste.................................1 tbsp

Yoghurt.......................................500 grams

Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder........1/2 tsp

Green Chilly Paste.......................2 tsp or as per taste

Salt..............................................to taste

Bay Leaf......................................2

Clove...........................................2

Cinnamon.....................................2

Green Cardamom.........................2

Desi Ghee.....................................4 tbsp

Refined Oil...................................1tsp

Sugar...........................................1/2 tsp 

Turmeric Powder.......................1/2 tsp

Method :

Heat the Desi ghee in a deep pan and add the Bay leaves,Cinnamon, Cardamoms, Cloves in it.

Almost immedietely, add the Onion-Ginger- Garlic-Green chilly pastes. Stir to fry all of them well till the ghee rises to the top.

Add salt and the Mangsho. Cook till all are reddish.

Now add a little water to the Yoghurt and beat well. Add this yoghurt and mix all in.

Put a lid and allow the murgi to cook on low flame.

When the chicken is soft serve it with rice or roti. But before you do so kalia must have its bright red colour. For that heat 1 tsp oil in a small pan.In it add 1/2 tsp sugar and caramalise it. Add 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and 1/2 tsp kashmiri red chilly powder to it.

Before everything burns add to the kalia .

Enjoy !!

THANKS FOR VISITING.... I HOPE YOU WOULD HAVE FOUND MY POSTS USEFUL....PLEASE LEAVE BACK YOUR COMMENTS....I WOULD BE HAPPY TO HEAR FROM YOU....