Slow cooker Bengali Chicken Curry

This Bengali Chicken curry is very close to my and many bengali's heart. It is a soul food for us and I have very fond childhood memories related to this chicken curry. Meat on Sunday afternoon was a done thing for most  families when I was growing up, All the nieghbourhood uncle's along with my father queuing up at the local butcher  and waving each other with a black plastic containing the meat was a sight every sunday morning. 

Chicken with potatoes, cooked and marinated with mustard oil, garnished with fresh cilantro/mint from the backyard was generally a common dish in all bengali households lovingly termed by us bengali's as 'Robibarer Murgir Jhol'

The Potato and Mustard oil is basically the difference that Bengali chicken curry as compared to other chicken curries in India.
The spice factor in this curry depends on you, some regions make it spicy and hot while others make it very light and watery.
I am used to the later one and this is such a stress buster for me that I actually ate this prepared by my mother before going to the hospital to deliver my first baby..... Surprised!! but believe me this is not spicy and kind of soupy, so its a feast for your taste buds.

Ingredients:
Chicken - 1,skinless, cut in medium pieces
Onion - 2, finely sliced
Potatoes - 2, peeled and cut into medium pieces
Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tbsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tbsp
Green Chili - 3, sliced
Cumin Powder - 1 tbsp
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tbsp
Cardamom (small) - 3 to 4
Cinnamon sticks - 2 Cloves - 4 to 5
Fried Cumin Powder - 1/2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Mustard Oil - 1/3 cup

Mint leaves/ Coriander leaves

Direction:

Wash the potatoes and keep them aside.

Heat oil in a skillet and fry ginger garlic paste, green chili, cumin powder, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves for about 45 seconds.

Add onions and fry it till golden brown. 

Add all the ingredients in slow cooker except the coriander/mint leaves. 

Add one cup water and cook on slow for 6-7 hrs.

Garnish with coriander/ Mint leaves. 
My mother always used mint leaves because we loved the flavor.

Serve with a cube of  butter and hot rice.

Slow Cooker Tom kha Gai (Thai coconut milk and chicken soup)

 It’s the soup I crave when I’m sick in bed or when I’ve had a very busy day and need something comforting or a portion of delicious comfort food on a chilly day.

This generally is made in my slow cooker when I know it will be a long and busy day for me either with my daughter or my household shopping. Having a hot bowl of soup, sitting beside my window after a busy day is total bliss for me.

This classic Thai chicken soup gets its rich flavor from quintessential Thai ingredients: coconut milk, lemongrass, fresh galangal, lime juice, chile paste, and cilantro.

A flavorsome Thai coconut chicken soup. Tom Kha Gai, among Thailand’s most popular soups, may be served at the beginning of a meal or even as the entrée, perhaps with noodles. One thing about the foods of Thailand – they all have a sense of taste balance, including sweet, salty, tangy, and savory references altogether. This unique Thai coconut chicken soup is bursting with exotic flavor.

Tom kha kai or Tom kha gai literally means chicken galangal soup is a spicy hot soup in Loa Cuisine and Thai Cusine.  The fried chilies add a smoky flavor as well as texture, color, and heat, but not so much that it overwhelms the soup.  Thai-style tom kha gai does not use dill weed, whereas Lao-style tom kha gai usually uses it, which is a common herb used in Lao cuisine. Cilantro is used in Thai soup instead of dill weed.

Ingredients

6 cups chicken  stock

2 cans (or 28 ounces) full fat coconut milk 

1 tomato cut into small pieces

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup shredded/ boneless chicken

6 Shitake mushrooms cut in half

4 stalks fresh lemongrass, lower white part chopped into 1-inch chunks, then smashed with a knife 

6 red shallots, peeled and chunked (Sub: 3 smashed cloves of garlic plus a bit of red onion)

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves

4-5 fresh red bird’s eye chili peppers, smashed with a knife (Sub: Sriracha sauce or red chili powder 1/2 teaspoon)

3-inch chunk of fresh galangal root, sliced (Sub: ginger, but galangal is really what makes the flavor of this dish authentic.) 

8-10 fresh kaffir lime leaves, remove stems and tear and bruise by hand (Sub: zest of two lime and four-bay leaves) 

2 teaspoons coconut palm sugar (Sub: 3 teaspoons brown sugar)

Direction:

1. Place all ingredients, except the fresh cilantro and mushrooms, into the slow cooker, and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or on low for 6-7.

Add the mushrooms during the last 20 minutes of cooking, and top with cilantro when serving.

I generally enjoy my Tom Kha Gai with noodles, so I made some. Now I am ready to sip, slurp, and enjoy!