Lucknow Chicken Gravy

1. Chicken 1k.g
2. 5 green chilli made into a paste, 1T. of ginger and garlic paste, red chilli paste or powder - 1/4tsp. Add all this to the chicken and marinate it well.
3. Finely chop 1 large red onion. Add no curry leaves in Mughal dishes.
4. 10 casuanuts, 3 whole pieces of 2inch size coconut, 1T. of fried Sesame seeds, soak it in warm water for 20 minutes and grind it into a thick paste.
5. In the warm pan, add oil or ghee (ghee in the original recipe, but I twist to avoid weight gain). Add all the whole spices 1 or two each. And leave for just 2 minutes
6. Next add the onion and fry well till brown. Now add the chicken (marinated) to the oil and cook on low heat for 12 minutes. Now add the poppy seed paste with casuanuts and coconut, and saute well for 3 minutes.Add the water and cook till done. This the most tastiest gravy I have ever tasted, shared and taught on television by the royal family of Lucknow which they kept for long as their family recipe! You may want to try this.

Hyderabadi Mughal Chicken Gravy (tried and tested alone)

1. Chicken 1kg cut into small pieces and marinated well with 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt,  garam masala powder, and coriander powder.
2. Fry 1 large onion finely chopped till brown in colour.
3. 3T. of thick curd.
4. 1T. of Ginger and Garlic paste (homemade please only fresh one preserve the oils in it, after all one's cooks for your family!)
5. Slit green chillies - 3
6. Coriander powder - 1T. Red chilli powder - 1T. (kashmiri red chillies if not found use 1/2 tsp.). Saffron powder - 1/4 tsp. Garam Masala powder - 1/2 T.
7. Peanut Paste - 1T. Sesame or poppy seed paste - 1T (fry them, soak them and grind it into paste. Again cook everything fresh). Coconut paste - 1T.
8. To the marinated chicken add all the pastes, the curd and the friend onion. Now add this to a pan.
9. Set the pan on the stove on low heat, and let it self cook on low heat. If required add just 2 cups of water to the chicken and cook till done. Sometimes the chicken cooks itself without water. But personally I find it failing at time, dont know why. I leave that to you. But in the recipe you dont add the water. I dont believe in garnishing when you cook for family.

Moor Kuzhambu

A South Indian Speciality. There are many versions to it, cooked differently by each community. But my favourite is this, out of all the versions that I have personally tried over the years.

1. Brinjal - 2 or Ladies finger (fried) 1 cup
2. Peel the Brinjal, cut it into cubes, and fry it in just 1T. of oil
3. Make a paste from 2 pieces of coconut (cut in 2 inch size), 1T. of cummin seeds (not roasted), Casuanuts 12 in number, Green Chilli - 4, 1T of soaked channa dal, 1T of soaked raw rice. Soak them for 12 minutes in warm water and later grind them into a thick paste.
4. To one cup of curd (not sour), add 2 cups of water and beat it into a thick butter milk.
5. In a pan add the 3T of oil, add 1/4tsp of mustard seeds, 1T of curry leaves, 1 red chilli (kashmiri less fiery), asafoetida pdr. 1/2 tsp, and add the paste and saute it for 2 and 1/2 minutes on low heat. Next add the butter milk freshly made. On top add the finely chopped coriander leaves, and let it boil on low heat till bubbles are formed. Add to it the fried brinjal pieces and remove from stove and serve.