APPYAYAN: Mughlai cuisine

Mughlai Cuisine : Mughlai cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines not only in India, even in Abroad, whose origin can be traced back to the times of Mughal Empire. Mughals were an Islamic imperial power and descendants of the Timurids of Turkistan. Timurid prince Babur who invaded India on sixteenth century. Mohammad Akbar, Jahangir, Shahjahan are some of the famous Mughal emperors who ruled over India and Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Jama Masjid are some of the finest example of Mughal Architecture. They brought exotic spices, dried fruit and nuts and new cooking methods to India.
Mughlai cuisine consists of the dishes that were prepared in the kitchens of the royal Mughal Emperors. The cuisine is strongly influenced byPersian and Turkic cuisines of Central Asia.This cuisine dominates in the northern part of India and has strong influences of Muslim Cooking. 'Mughlai' dishes as they are called have lots of milk and cream with whole spices to make a rich and spicy meal. Mughlai food is quite spicy and has a very unique aroma. Mughlai cuisine includes many famous dishes such as Kormas, Kebab, Kofta, Pasanda and Biryani, Jalfrezi, raan (roast lamb) and pulao.The rich preparation of Mughlai food consisting of flavored sauces and butter based curries is so tempting that food lovers are bound to crave for more and more food.
I also love the richness of Mughlai cuisine and tried some of them in my kitchen. I'll share a simple but aromatic Mughlai Potato dish today, which is just lip-smacking. This can satisfy your crave for resturant style food at your home within 30 minutes...try it out

Mughlai Potato...........................

Ingredients :

Small baby potatoes/new potatoes
Green peas : 1/2 cup
Onion : 2 (medium-grated)
Fresh root ginger : 1" (grated)
Garlic : 3 cloves
Green chillies : 1 or 2 (as per your tolerance level)
Dahi/Yoghurt : 2/3 cup
Poppy seeds : 2-3 tsp.
Green cardamoms : 2
Cloves : 4
Turmeric powder : 2 tsp.
Coriander powder : 1 tsp.
Cumin powder : 1 tsp.
Chilli powder : 1-2 tsp. (as per your tolerance level)
Sugar : 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Oil/ghee: 3 tblsp.
Cream : 2 tblsp.(optional)
Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:

Wash and peel the potatoes, prick them allover using a toothpick or cocktail stick. Sprinkle a pinch of turmeric and little salt over them and keep aside for 10-15 minutes.
Spice preperation : Grind cloves, cardamoms, poppy seed, chillies, ginger and garlic to a fine paste using very little water.
Heat oil in a pan, fry potatoes from all sides until lightly browned, remove and keep aside. Marinate potatoes with curd/yoghurt, above paste and salt. Keep aside for at least 45-60 mins. (frying potato is optional, but I prefer to do it)
In the same oil, add grated onion and fry until it is browned, then add cumin, coriander, chilli and turmeric powder. Add 2-3 tblsp water to avoid the spices to burn. Fry the spices with onion for 2-3 minutes or until oil seperates.
Add marinated potato mixture in that and fry for another 3-4 minutes. Then add enough water to cook potatoes. Season with salt, simmer the heat and let it cook covered until potatoes are tender, not over cooked. Add peas now, mix well.
Add cream, sugar and salt, if needed. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until peas are tender.
Your mughlai potato is ready to serve, garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot.