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Emperor Shah Jahan's chicken dinner with naan

Emperor Shah Jahan's chicken dinner with naan (bread)
Mughal feasts #5 on 30 October 2011

For the Mughal feast #5 cooked 2 recipes on Sunday afternoon on the 30 October 2011 for Emperor Shah Jahan from Shah Jahan's section in the S. Husain "Emperor's Table". The two recipes were
1. Chicken Royal or "Murgh-e-Taaus" and
2. Almond Pistachio Bread or "Nana-e-Nemat"

This was a delicious, nutty, and sweet combination of dishes, both using almonds, pistachios, saffron, ghee, and yogurt. The bread complimented the saucy chicken curry.  Neither of them used the more common curry spices of cumin, coriander, or cayenne pepper, but the chicken included some cinnamon, cloves, white or black pepper, and turmeric. These get an overall rating of B+, with the chicken rating an A- and the bread a B-. The chicken was very rich and filling in its white yogurt marinade and sauce, added to which were several small amounts of pastes from poppies, almonds, and sunflower seeds, enriched by some cream, sprinkled with mace, green cardamom power and saffron, and garnished with nuts - pistachios, pine nuts, and walnuts. Not to be outdone by the chicken, the naan was garnished with almond power, pistachio slivers, chopped raisins, and saffron dissolved in rose water. It is perhaps these garnishes that made these recipes distinct for the Shah Jahan's dinner.  Deej's one remark - cardamom flavor dominated the chicken too much.


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