Indian Cooking Class ... Recipe Included!

I went back to cooking class today, this time at Beyond Indus, the restaurant at the Taj Mount Road Hotel that specializes in north Indian Cuisine. It is among the best restaurants that I have enjoyed anywhere. Executive Chef Easo Johnson and his assistants showed us how to make four different dishes.

Paneer Akhtari Kebab - firm cottage cheese cut into rounds, stuffed with mint chutney and fresh coriander, marinated in a yogurt sauce, skewered and cooked in a Tandoor oven.



Murgh Malai Kebab - boneless chicken marinated in a cheese and cream sauce and cooked in a Tandoor oven. The oven is cylindrical, clay-lined and heated with charcoal - you can see it glowing at the bottom between the chicken skewers.



Dal Tadka - a curried lentil dish, plus one other chicken curry dish. I thought I had the name and recipe for this last dish, but when I checked my handouts, I had one for another dish instead.

I enjoyed watching the preparation of the dal.



Chef Johnson also made us two kinds of bread. Here, he is preparing a very thin and soft bread, that he calls handkerchief bread, which he cooks on something that looks like a wok inverted over a gas flame. Behind him, you can see his assistant preparing naan, putting them on a holder and then sticking them to the inside wall of the Tandoor oven.



When the naan are done, he retrieves them with skewers.



We then enjoyed the results of the lesson!





And finally ... a recipe! I chose only one, because I felt I could describe the ingredients and preparation for this one the best of all of them. The tang of the marinade, sweetness of the dairy and heat of the chilies create a delicious combination.

Murgh Malai Kebab

Ingredients:

500 g boneless chicken
40 g ginger-garlic paste
40 g salt
150 g cheese, grated
3 egg yolks
60 g fresh cream
10 g small hot green chilies, chopped
15 g fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Comments on the ingredients:

Ginger-garlic paste: I didn't get a recipe for the paste, but I would suggest you combine peeled and roughly chopped fresh ginger and garlic in a proportion you find appealing then blenderize them with enough water to form a paste to coat the chicken.

Cheese: Chef Johnson used a firm white cheese that he described as Indian cheddar, although it did not have a cheddar flavour. A mild firm white cheese would probably work well.

Fresh Cream: This cream had a consistency similar to sour cream - it was not liquid cream but it was not sour cream either. I'll confirm later what it actually was. You'll want to create a sauce that is fluid enough to easily coat the chicken but still thick enough to adhere reasonably well to the meat while it is cooking.

Preparation:

1. Combine the chicken with the ginger-garlic paste and salt and let it marinate in the fridge for about 6 hours.
2. After the chicken has marinated, mix the cheese and egg yolks well, then add them to the chicken
3. Add chopped green chilies.
4. Mix well. Add cream and mix gradually.
5. Skewer the chicken pieces and cook in a hot Tandoor until done. Unfortunately, nobody I know has a Tandoor oven at home, so you'll have to experiment with a regular oven or maybe a barbecue with a lid, using the temperature you usually use for cooking boneless chicken.
6. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander leaves.

Enjoy!