Chicken Stew

Hello friends,

Yes, I admit I thought I'd never write again. Probably. It may be apathy or plain, old laziness. But I somehow convinced myself not to let this blog die because I still love to cook and I still love to share my recipes with the world. Maybe, my dream of opening a pop-up restaurant will never materialize or maybe it will. Only time can tell. But in the meanwhile, we can have this, a timeless classic and a sure-shot dish to woo someone in a lazy winter evening. Or afternoon. Don't be picky. If the company is right, it might be 4 o' clock in the morning and you will still be willing to rustle up something for them. If you have a friend like that, don't let them go. Feed them chicken stew with a side of buttered bread.

Preferably in bed! ;)

Ingredients:

400 gm chicken (skinless but bones on)
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 a tsp of white pepper powder
1 onion
1 large potato
1 carrot
2 cups of water
1/2 tsp finely chopped ginger
1/2 tsp finely chopped garlic
10 whole black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 tsp vegetable oil (or any flavourless oil)
1 tsp butter (optional)
2-tablespoon milk
Salt to taste

Preparation:

I generally cook chicken stew in a pressure cooker and I start cooking it in the cooker pan itself. You can easily do it in a deep pan or casserole or even a kadai with a lid. I think in a pressure cooker, the chicken and veggies don't lose moisture fast, which, in case of this stew, is a good thing, for this way everything remains succulent later on.

First of all, I wash the chicken pieces thoroughly. You can use boneless chicken, but half the flavour of the broth comes from the juice that seeps out of the bones and therefore, I would recommend chicken with bones. You can also opt for leg pieces only. Also, please avoid the liver, ribs, neck portion or parts of chicken with clotted blood or impurities because the chicken is mostly boiled and the impurities would rise to the surface making the stew look dirty.

Once the chicken is thoroughly cleaned, I like to marinade it for ten minutes or so with a little white vinegar and a pinch of white pepper powder. This step is optional but I somehow feel it helps reduce the raw smell and make the meat more tender.

While the chicken is marinading, the potato and carrot need to be peeled and cut into large chunky pieces. The onion should be quartered and it should be made sure the petals are separated.

Now, heat oil in a pressure cooker and add the bay leaf and peppercorns but don't let the oil smoke. Once they peppercorns start spluttering, add the finely chopped ginger and garlic and without waiting, add the onions. Stir for thirty seconds (don't wait until your onions become translucent) before adding the chicken pieces one by one (after making sure they are relatively dry). Turn them over with a slotted spoon once and add the rest of the veggies. At this point, you must realize, you are NOT stir-frying them, but sweating them, in their own steam. You can fry the chicken first and then do the veggies and re-introduce the chicken later on, but this is my short-cut method and trust me, it doesn't matter much in the end.

Add salt and two cups of water at this stage, cover the lid and crank up the heat. Bring up to a boil and let it cook until two whistles. Let it cool down a bit and let the steam to escape before opening.

After opening the lid, check if the chicken is cooked and also check the broth for seasoning. If there are any impurities floating on the surface, carefully fish them out too.

Turn the oven on again on a gentle flame and add warm milk (otherwise it may curdle) and a dollop of butter. Give it a gentle mix.

Serve immediately with buttered toast. I'd suggest preparing your toast while you are waiting for the pressure cooker to cool down so that you can serve it immediately after adding the milk and butter and the colur changes to a glorious cream.

Enjoy! :)