I first enjoyed this dish at a friend's bachelor party, on a rooftop, in Vishakhapatnam, India.
The memory of the flavor of the dish stayed with me for a long time.
Scoured many an Indian restaurant for the dish, never saw it listed on the menu. Hmm, wonder why?
(I have since learned that it can be prepared to order; but the results have been disappointing).
This particular recipe comes from Madhur Jaffrey's "Indian Cooking" (Barron's, 1983):
"Chicken in a butter sauce (Makkhani Murghi)." Quote, "This is a wonderfully simple but spectacular dish..."
Simple it isn't. I can categorically state that it is the most difficult and involved dish we have ever prepared.
But it comes closer to that rooftop dish from India than any other preparation I have tasted.
The recipe begins with... first preparing Tandoori Chicken! Now, I imagine that it would be a lot
simpler if you have leftover Tandoori chicken on hand (we don't). Otherwise, for most people,
things would end at that point (you eat all the Tandoori chicken)!
However, it is worth the effort to prepare it at least once. The blissful, rich flavor is something to be savored,
and as I said, the memory of the meal will stay with you for quite some time. That is why we didn't
eat the Tandoori chicken (it was quite tempting), but patiently slogged on through the second phase.
The recipe is quite involved. If it's something you might want to tackle, best to locate a copy of the book
(there are many other fine and simpler recipes therein, and it is a worthwhile addition to a cookbook library).
And I might add that we have only prepared the dish once. It takes some time, but it was worth it.
We will undoubtedly prepare it again sometime, but only for a very, very special occasion.
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