Today’s post features a pulse recipe from my sister Nadia and her son, who is our own little junior Master Chef in training!  I can’t wait for him to visit again so we can check out Parisian patisseries together. The love of food is a family affair in our household, as is the case in most South Asian families.  In fact, it was the original inspiration to start Dolce & Masala (which is a combination of Italian and Hindi phrases that mean sweet and spicy).  I was living in Rome and had grand visions of showcasing family recipes, taking cooking classes to learn more about authentic Italian regional cooking, and basically eating my way through Rome. 

Now I’m hoping to use the Covid 19 confinement period to catch up on content sharing on the blog.  Eating Europe’s Historic Rome food tour and a private cooking class in Sienna (which I still need to write about) were far and away among the best experiences I had in Italy.  I also hope to put more traditional Sylheti recipes up. In my research, I have found many Facebook and other social media groups out there with tons of photos and posts of Sylheti dishes, but no one seems to share recipes.  My theory is that most Sylehtti home cooks tend not to need recipes themselves, but I hope to catalog as many as I can and I am roping in help — especially as it’s difficult to find certain ingredients in confinement. My sister had just bought a new enamel cast iron pot – my personal favorite for cooking curry — from Amazon so it wasn’t that difficult to convince her to contribute.     

Nadia has shared her chicken and chickpea curry recipe (“chole murgh”) below.  To be fair this recipe would be considered more of a fusion — built on a North Indian or Lahori/Pakistani staple.   Although North Indian style chole masala (also referred to as “channa masala“) —  which utilizes the more common garbanzo beans that are used in hummus — was never served in our home, we both love it so much that we have developed our own fusions versions with or without meat.  I like to make mines with arrabiatta sauce and serve with penne rigatoni pasta. A move that will likely earn the consternation of Italian and Indian nonnas everywhere. Garlic and tomatoes feature in both cuisines, so I figure why not experiment. We hope you enjoy it and come up with your own fusion serving style!

You can find Nadia on Instagram @sunshinestatefoodie!

Print Recipe

Spicy Chicken & Chickpea Curry

Course

Main Dish

Prep Time

10-15 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 1 Whole chicken cut into pieces About 3 lbs
• 1 can of 16oz chickpea (Garbanzo Beans)
• 1 large onion sliced finely
• 5 grated garlic cloves
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 Cloves
• 2 Cardamom Pods
• 5 whole peppercorn
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp Curry Powder
• 1/2 tsp garam Masala
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tomato chopped
• 1/4 cup cooking oil I used olive oil
• 1.5 cup Water
• Salt to taste
• Cilantro to garnish

Course Main Dish Prep Time 10-15 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes Servings people Ingredients 1 Whole chicken cut into pieces About 3 lbs 1 can of 16oz chickpea (Garbanzo Beans) 1 large onion sliced finely 5 grated garlic cloves 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 2 Cloves 2 Cardamom Pods 5 whole peppercorn 1/4 tsp turmeric 1 tsp Curry Powder 1/2 tsp garam Masala 1 tsp red chili powder 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1 tomato chopped 1/4 cup cooking oil I used olive oil 1.5 cup Water Salt to taste Cilantro to garnish

Instructions

1. In a pan heat up oil, add in the cumin seeds and garlic. Cook till brown.
2. Add in the onions and tomatoes. Sprinkle in the salt and cook till mixture is softened.
3. Add in the dry spices and cook till oil separates from the onion and spice mix.

   
4. Add in the chicken pieces, stir and cover. Leave chicken to cook through. Stir as needed to prevent sticking.
5. Rinse chickpeas and add to pot. Stir then add 1.5 cups of water. Stir again and leave to boil.

   
6. Turn off heat.
7. Garnish with cilantro

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