Chicken Stew For The Soul

I have not been able to blog recently since my little girl was a wee bit ill. As I kept awake at nights to nurse her to health, I couldn't help reflecting - some of my dear friends ask me "how do you manage two kids when I find it difficult with one?" and I wonder how my mom brought up four of us. And my grandmoms with six and seven kids each. Bearing in mind that they didnt have access to the conveniences and gadgets that I most often take for granted.
My mom is undoubtedly the best cook in our family. Her siblings, in-laws, nephews, nieces, children, grandchildren all love to eat anything prepared by her. We have a custom,- after a wedding in the family the newly wed couple gets invited to each extended family for a meal. A way of welcoming, getting to know and bonding with the new member of the family. By the end of all the visits, the couple put on loads of weight, with the best spreads topped with a lot of love! During these visits all the married members into the family have also become fans of mom's cooking at the first bite.
Mom's Chicken Stew is a served with delicious Palappams (which I promise to post soon). Like most traditional cooks, mom's recipes had no measures. Just a little bit of this and a little bit of that... Before I left home I was determined to record her recipes and managed to do so successfully and most importantly I learnt that the main ingredient was lots of love. I hope someday my kids will also join me in the kitchen, like many of my foodie friends are already doing a good job of it.
A big thank you to Kristy from My Little Space for this award. Will pass it on soon.

Sharing with you mom's Chicken Stew For the Soul.

Ingredients-
1kg chicken

For marinade-

• 1tsp ground tumeric
• 1tsp ground red chilli
• 1tsp ground coriander
• 3tsps ginger garlic paste
• juice of 1 lemon
• Salt to taste

some marinated pieces

Mix all the ingredients and marinate for a couple of hours. For best results marinate previous day, place it in a ziplock and freeze overnight. Defreeze it before you are ready to prepare the stew.

For the stew-

• 1tsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 large onion
• 2 potatoes
• 2 green chillies
• 1sprig curry leaves
• 1tsp ground coriander
• 1cup coconut milk
• 1/2tsp garam masala
• salt to taste
• fresh coriander

whole spices-

• 1 cinnamon stick broken
• 5 cardamoms
• 5 cloves

Preparation-

• Slice the onions, slit the chillies, cube the potatoes and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan or pressure cooker, splutter mustard seeds.
• Add the whole spices and stir till you begin to get the aroma of the spices.
• Add sliced onions,curry leaves and green chillies and saute.
• Stir in the ground coriander and add the marinated chicken. Stir so that the chicken is covered well in the sauteed mixture.
• Cover and let it cook. When it is half done add the cubed potatoes.
• When the chicken is almost done add the garam masala,salt and coconut milk and stir.
• When done put off the heat and garnish with chopped fresh coriander.
• Have I forgotten the most important ingredient? Stir it with lots of love for the family and friends who will partake of the meal.
• Serve hot chicken stew with freshly made appams.

Sending this for http://gayathriscookspot.blogspot.com/2011/12/walk-through-memory-lane-event.html