Picnic Fried Chicken at the Zoo

These cranes are sharing secrets. “I love our new little guest, don’t you?” “She loves our long beaks I guess, with which we pick our fish?” “She’s human, and is here to visit us today.” “Ah, ok, I hope she says hello to the deer next door.” “She looks like, she would”...She would definitely dear crane, the mommy will ensure she does what you want.

The day turned out real beautiful, with the sun rhyming in rhapsody. Oh how my little S loved the zoo trip. Why not, she was accompanied by her grandma- her favorite in the whole wide world…and her cute questions made us laugh all the way…” Oh, look at beautiful birdy! Can she eat chips? Where are her teeth?”  And even if you don’t have any teeth, I still I love you dear crane .Thank you for the vanity oblige for one pretty picture.

Certainly not like the lazy giraffe who founds it too much an effort to move his long neck. Or the white tiger that preferred to sunbathe and get some color on his pale coat instead of one sly glance at us. No problem, keep your distance. We’ll go and coax the deer to smile for us.

Little feet are aching now, time to hop on to a train. Bye Bye...

Honk Honk here we come......our train trip is done and we are ready for our picnic lunch...today the Kosha Mangsho aar Luchi has replaced the Buttermilk Fried Chicken & Potatoes and Pea dressing and some desserts.We too adapt with time, don't we little one , but then...

Food is how I remember those days. And those were the days.

Picnic Fried Chicken 

Ingredients

1 chicken (900 gms), cut into chunky pieces

Salt to taste

1 1/2 cups flour (maida)

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp garam masala 

1 cup buttermilk

vegetable oil to fy

Directions

Wash and pat dry the chicken. Now mix the salt, flour, ground black pepper, and garam masala in a large, big bowl. Thoroughly coat the chicken in the flour mixture, dusting off the excess. Keep it aside for a few minutes and then pour the buttermilk into a second bowl. Dip the chicken in the buttermilk, then back to the   flour and spice mixture.

Heat vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed pan(about 360° F to be precise) then place the chicken in the oil, one by one.Fry the its golden brown in color. Check once done by piercing the the fried chicken. Its done once you see the juices run clear. 

Soak the excess in  a paper towel and devour . I tried mine with potatoes and peas in Greek yogurt dressing. 

My picnic table can fire up your valentine's too. Why not try it once.  

Murgir Jhol or Bengali Chicken Stew

Murgir Jhol /Bengali Chiken Stew

It's that day of the week again. Sunday morning is here. Time to have 2 cups of morning tea instead of one and time to read the paper tad 15 minutes longer. Linger over the cover story, mull over the bad state of economy , give a dirty glance over the crime rate and last but not the least -  lap up the scoops.

Today's scoop is all about a scandalous romance. Romance between Bilawal Bhutto and Hina Khar. So who are they ? Bilawal Bhutto is the chairman of the ruling Pakistani People's Party, and is also the nominated heir to his mother- Ex Benazir Bhitto and father - President Asif Zardari's respective legacies. To top it all - he has the bollywood hero's looks and Hina Khar is seriously mind blowing' as a Pakistani foreign minister, mother of two, married to a loaded guy.

How can we (India) help : This is the piece which makes the scoop all the more interesting , and quoting Shobha De's solution "Apart from asylum in India, we could make life a lot more fun for this couple. As neighbors, we owe them this much..... This is a fabulous, heaven- sent opportunity to strengthen bilateral relationships between the two nations." ha! do you think?

Now that I have  a smirky smile on my face, the day starts to roll ...Murgir Jhol in the name of India- and Pakistan. What say!

PS: I do not do scoop blogging and commenting on other peoples lives is not my hobby either . let's admit - we love a little bit of snooping around and reading oh-so -out of reach scoops .

Murgir Jhol /Bengali Chiken Stew


500 gms chicken with bones (skinless)
100 gms potato- cut in cubes
1/2 cup of any other vegetable of choice
1 cup thick doi (plain yogurt for the marination)

Dry Stew Masala

1 tsp of whole Corriander Seeds
1/4 tsp of Cumin seeds
5-6 black peppercorn seeds
6 cloves/Laung

Make a paste of the
above spices
few cloves of garlic
2" piece of peeled and chopped ginger
1 tomato
1 onion

Marinate 500 gms of whole cut up chicken with 1 tsp of Garlic Paste, 1 tsp of Ginger Paste, yogurt, a little turmeric powder, salt and lime juice. Keep aside for a few hours.


Heat vegetable oil  in an open lid pan

Add to the oil with a thin 1" stick of cinnamon and 3-4 green cardamom (gently crushed ), add the spice paste. Now stir fry, add the vegetables and meat , stir fry till the chicken starts to brown a bit.

Add about 1 cup of water. When cooking in a pan- wait till the the veggies are meat are all well done.

Garnish with green chilies and coriander.

Serve with steamed rice

I'm sending this entry to the Ongoing Serve It Series - Serve It - Boiled