Saturday lunch.....Yen ga Hanggam ga Thongba -Machal Apouba Haap-paga( Chicken cooked with Mustard leaves)

To avoid all the reading , mind maps, writing, referencing etcetera...etcetera and to divert my mind I decided to cooked my fav. chicken dish the other day, one of the recipes invented purely out of desperation ...for some reason I was not able to make chicken   the way my cousin back home makes it, the very typical Meitei style chicken or "Yen Thongba" in Meiteilon cooked on iron kadhai (which according to me is one of the best chicken curry in the whole world) is one of my all time favorite dish and it taste even better if cooked on fire wood and not on gas. I have done few changes to the original recipe to suit my taste and added few ingredients, one of the most important ingredient is the "Machal-Apouba" a mix of masala available only in Manipur and made by this SHG group located in Imphal, I am a great fan of the "Machal" brand and got almost 2 dozen with me. The recipe and pics are below:

Ingredients:

• 500 gm chicken.
• 1 onion
• 4-5 garlic cloves.
• 4-5 green chilles
• Ginger- 2/3 inches long
• 4-5 leaves of hanggam.
• 2 potato
• Bay leaves (Tej patta)
• 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder.
• Machal (1/3 of the packet is used)
• 3-4 Tbsp cooking oil.
• Coriander leaves to garnish. 
• Salt to taste.

Method:

• Marinate the chicken for 20-30 mins with salt, turmeric powder, chille powder and 1 tbsp oil. 
• In a deep frying pan add oil and once its smoking hot add the bay leaves and chopped garlic. Fry for few mins and add the chopped onion and green chillies. Fry for 4-5 mins on low flame.
• Once the onion turns golden brown add the potato's and ginger and cook with the lid covered on low flame for 10-15 mins.
• Add the marinated chicken and cook with the led covered on low  flame. Add 1/4 tbsp of Machal apouba and mix it well with the chicken. Remember to stir it every few mins so that the chicken is not burned on one side.
• Once the chicken is half cooked add turmeric powder, 1/4  tbsp of Machal apouba and mix it well. Continue cooking on low flame.
• Add 2 cups of  boiling hot water in the chicken, increase the heat and bring it to a boil. Check the potato's and once the potato's are cooked add the hanggam, cover the led and cook for few mins 4-5 mins. Make sure that the hanggam is not over cooked
• Add some more machal apouba, salt to taste and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. 
• Serve hot with rice and eromba.

Ingredients