An Invitation to Indian Cooking - Madhur Jaffrey [46]
Peel the hard-boiled eggs, and 10 minutes before the chicken is fully cooked put them in the pot, spooning some sauce over them as well. Pour saffron and saffron water over chicken. Cover and continue simmering until chicken is tender.
To serve: Lift chicken carefully out of pot and place it on warmed platter. Arrange eggs around it. If you like, skim the oil off the sauce before pouring it over chicken and eggs. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve with a fish pullao or Rice with Peas. You could also serve any vegetable you like: Fried Eggplants with Sour Green Chutney, or a cauliflower or bean dish might be nice. A yogurt relish is almost a must with Murgh Mussallam. I often serve Yogurt with Spinach.
Duck—stuffed and roasted
SERVES 2
The duck here is stuffed with rice, spices, raisins, and nuts to make a superbly festive meal. I find that a 4–4½-pound duck really serves only two people well. It has a large cavity inside and rather small legs. Most of the meat is around the breast area, and that is not too much.
1 duck, 4–4½ pounds, at room temperature—liver, gizzard, and heart included
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ teaspoon whole cumin seeds
½ teaspoon whole fennel seeds
15 fenugreek seeds
1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
A piece of fresh ginger, 1 inch long and ½ inch wide, grated or minced
1 hot green chili, cut into thin rounds, or ⅛–¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
3 tablespoons tomato sauce
3 tablespoons minced Chinese parsley (coriander greens or cilantro)
2 cups cooked rice
2 tablespoons golden raisins
1 tablespoon dried apricots, chopped to the size of raisins
3 tablespoons pine nuts or slivered blanched almonds
½ teaspoon salt (more if the rice is unsalted)
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1½ teaspoons lemon juice
1½ teaspoons sugar
Additional salt, pepper
If the duck was frozen, defrost completely well ahead of time. It must be at room temperature before you cook it. Pat it dry (otherwise it will not brown well). Prick the skin with a fork to allow the lining of fat to ooze out as it melts. Mince the liver, gizzard, and heart.
Preheat oven to 450°.
Heat the oil in a 10–12-inch skillet over medium-high flame, and add the cumin, fennel, and fenugreek seeds. Stir. When the cumin seeds begin to darken (this will take 10 to 20 seconds) add the onions, ginger, and green chili if you wish to use it. Fry, stirring, for about 2 minutes or until onions turn a little brown. Now add at intervals, continuing to stir and fry, the minced liver, gizzard, and heart; after a minute or two, the tomato sauce and minced Chinese parsley; in another 2 minutes, the cooked rice, turning heat to low; and finally, the raisins, apricots, and pine nuts or almonds, mixing everything well. Stir and fry another 5 minutes.
Season with salt, cayenne pepper (if you wish to use it instead of the green chili), black pepper, lemon juice, and sugar.
Stuff the duck loosely with the mixture in the skillet, truss, place it in roasting pan breast up, and set in the preheated oven.
Let duck brown for 20 to 25 minutes. There is no need to baste. Remove fat with a bulb baster as it accumulates in roasting pan.
Turn heat to 350° and let duck cook another 1½ hours, or until the juices of the bird run a clear yellow when it is pricked.
To serve: Place duck on a warm serving platter. Sprinkle skin with a little salt and freshly ground pepper. Serve with green beans or peas, or with a simple green salad if you like.
Khitcherie unda (scrambled eggs, Indian style)
SERVES 2–3
3 tablespoons butter
½ medium-sized onion, finely chopped
½ cup finely diced fresh tomato (1 smallish tomato)
1 tablespoon chopped Chinese parsley (coriander greens or cilantro)
½–1 hot green chili’, finely sliced
4 medium-large eggs? well beaten
Salt and pepper to taste
Melt the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté them for a minute or until they begin to turn translucent.
Add diced tomato, parsley, and sliced green chili. Stir and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until tomatoes soften a