• 1 cup daal (lentil) (I personally prefer to mix urud and masoor daals)
•  4 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon mirchi (red chilly) powder (more can be added for a higher spice level)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Process

• Rinse the daal (I typically rinse it 2 times)
• Put the the daal in water and let boil on high (watch carfefully to prevent it from boiling over)
• Once boiling lower heat to medium
• Add salt, mirchi, cumin, and turmeric powders
• Let boil and reduce heat to low-medium (so that it remains hot but does not boil over)
• Add lemon juice and tomato paste
• Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the daal splits and is well cooked, soft
• Warm oil in another small pot or pan and add cumin seeds
• When the cumin seeds begin to pop, add to the daal
• Garnish with cilantro

• 4 – 5 large potatoes
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon mirchi (red chilly) powder
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoon tomato paste

Process

• Peel potatoes and cut them into small cubes
• Warm oil in a pot and add the mustard seed
• When the mustard seed starts to pop, add the turmeric powder, mirchi powder, salt, water and tomato paste
• Mix well and let cook for about 10 minutes on medium heat
• Mix again and let cook until dry and potatoes are well done (check and mix frequently to prevent overcooking or burning)

• Cooking oil
• ~3 pounds chicken (chopped breast pieces work best, but leg quarters are fine too)
• 5 cinnamon sticks
• 10 cardamom pods
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3 tablespoons garlic paste
• 3 tablespoons ginger paste
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 2 teaspoons coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• mirchi (red chilli pepper) powder (amount depends on your preference. I personally use 2-3 teaspoons for a lower medium spice level)
• 3 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large tomatoes
• ~ 1 cup water
• Tomato paste
• 1 can coconut milk

Process

• Heat the oil with cinnamon and cardamom
• Once you can smell the aroma of the cinnamon and cardamom, remove the cinnamon and cardamon from pot
• Add the chopped onions and cook until onions turn golden brown
• Add the garlic and ginger pastes, cumin, croiander, turmeric, and mirchi powders, and salt
• Chop the tomatoes and add to pot
• Add the water (you can add more than a cup if you prefer a more saucy curry, but keep in mind the coconut milk will also be added later)
• Cook until a paste-like consistency is reached
• Add 1/2 can tomato paste, mix well and let cook for about 3-5 minutes
• Add the chicken
• Cover and let cook on medium-high heat until chicken is almost cooked
• Add coconut milk and let cook until dry (or until preferred level of sauciness is reached)
• Garnish with cilantro
• Can be served with rice or roti/naan (Indian breads)

Chicken

• 3-4 pounds of chicken (breast or leg quarters both work just fine)
• 4-5 tomatoes
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 can tomato paste
• 3 teaspoons garlic paste
• 3 teaspoons ginger paste
• Whole Masalas
  • 2-3 cinnamon sticks
  • 6-8 cardamom pods
  • 3 teaspoons cumin seeds
  • 6-8 black peppercorns
• Powder Masalas
  • Mirchi (red chilli) powder (amount varies based on your spice level preference, I personally use 3 teaspoons)
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 2 teaspoons coriander powder
  • 2 teaspoons cumin powder
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 4 teaspoons salt
• 1 pinch saffron
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 2 cups fried onions
• 1/2 – 1 cup oil (depends are your preference, I personally keep the oil at minimum for health reasons)
• 1/4 tablespoon lemon juice

Rice

• 4 cups rice
• 7 teaspoon salt
• Whole Masalas
  • 2-3 cinnamon sticks
  • 6-8 cardamom pods
  • 3 teaspoons cumin seeds
  • 6-8 black peppercorns
• 1 pinch saffron
• yellow food color

Process

Chicken

1. Chop and cook tomatoes until tomatoes are soft
2. Put tomatoes aside and grab a different cooking pot
3. On medium-high heat, heat oil and fry the onions
4. Once onions begin to turn golden-brown, add water, tomato paste, garlic and ginger pastes, the whole masalas, the powder masalas, salt, saffron, yogurt, and lemon juice
5. Mix well and cook for 3-5 minutes
6. Add and mix-in the cooked tomatoes and cook for another 2-3 minutes
7. Add and mix-in the chicken
8. Cover pot and let cook 10-15 minutes, mix periodically to prevent the bottom of pot burning
9. Leave aside. You may choose to leave the chicken mix overnight to really marinate the chicken, but if you don’t have the time it’s no problem. It still comes out really tasty!

Rice

1. Fill another pot about 3/4 with water
2. Add the rice, whole masalas, and saffron
3. Mix well and bring to a boil (covering the pot will expedite the boiling but it’s not needed)
4. After water boiled 1-2 times and rice has puffed, drain the water (keep the whole masalas and saffron mixed in with rice)

Putting it all together

1. Grab a large pot (I typically rinse out the pot I used to make water and use that pot)
2. Add the chicken mix
3. Add a layer of rice
4. Sprinkle a little yellow color and mix the rice gently (you want half the rice to be colored and half remaining white)
5. Continue adding layers of rice and coloring until all the rice has been added to the pot
6. Heat the oven to 300 degrees and stick the covered pot into the oven 15-25 minutes. This will also finish cooking the chicken if it wasn’t totally cooked
7. Garnish with cilantro
8. Mix well before serving