I’ve mentioned before how awesome the Philadelphia food scene is, and it seems to only be getting better! One of the latest additions to the Philadelphia restaurant scene is Makhani, which just opened in Old City. Owned by restaurateur Shafi Gaffar, the restaurant includes a 34 seat dining room as well as a private space on the second floor for up to 50 for special events. The restaurant also provides delivery throughout Philadelphia.
Makhani, which means “with butter”, specializes in North Indian curries that usually have thick, moderately spiced and creamy gravies. The use of dried fruits and nuts , as well as the incorporation of dairy products like milk, cream, home-made cottage cheese, ghee (clarified butter) and yogurt, play an important role in the cooking of both savory and sweet dishes. Everything in the kitchen, from the breads, to the sauces, to the desserts, are made in-house and from scratch using high quality, fresh ingredients from Chef and his culinary team. Makhani will also offer authentic Indian dishes in a specially designed Tandoori clay oven brought over direct from India. On the menu, look for an extensive list of notable vegan options, as 50% of the menu is vegan.
Source: Society Hill Films
The made-to-order, farm-to-table menu from executive chef Sanjoy Banik is a relatively uncommon approach to Indian restaurants in the region. The flavors of Indian food can take up to ten hours to develop, so many restaurants pre-batch their preparations. The menu includes modern spins on traditional North Indian cuisine, and also features some unexpected ingredients, such as lobster, scallops, and lamb shanks.
Source: Society Hill Films
Gaffar is originally from Bangladesh, where is family owns a mango garden/farm and works as inspiration for many dishes on the menu, including Indian Mango Chicken (shown above)- a dish made of “spiced chicken breast cooked in our homemade mango sauce with fresh mangoes.” I decided to try to make my own version at home using my multi-pot to mimic the flavors of a dish that requires cooking for a long period of time to fully develop its flavors.
My version uses chicken thighs and differs in overall flavor to the version at Makhani, so I strongly suggest trying out their version as well!
Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 8 oz frozen mango chunks
- 1 (14 oz) can light coconut milk, thoroughly shaken
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon chopped ginger
- 0-2 dried red chili peppers, depending on your spice tolerance
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 2 tablespoons oil (to make dairy free) or ghee
- 6 cardamom pods, smashed
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup chicken broth or water
- 2 cups cooked rice
- fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish
- fresh mango slices, for garnish
Note: I have a COSORI 6 Qt Electrical Pressure Cooker, so my directions below are based on using that rather than another brand. I’ve included step by step photos, times, and pressure settings so that any multi cooker can be used.
Combine the ground coriander, turmeric, sweet paprika, garam masala, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
Season the chicken with the mixture and set aside.
Add the bag of frozen mango to a blender along with the coconut milk and process until completely smooth. Set aside.
Add the onion, ginger, chili peppers and fennel to a small food processor and process until fully combined. Set aside. Note: two chilies makes this quite spicy. I suggest using one.
Pre-heat your multi-pot on the saute setting, medium heat. When pre-heated, add the oil or ghee followed by the cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, tomato paste and the pureed onion-ginger mixture. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
Add in the chicken and pour in 1 cup chicken broth or water. Secure the lid on your multi-cooker, making sure the pressure release valve is in the locked position. Press the “poultry” setting on your multi-cooker and adjust to set for 10 minutes at high pressure. Press “start.”
Once the unit has reached optimal cooking pressure (~10 minutes), the unit will beep once and start counting down from 10 minutes. You’ll notice that the pressure release valve rises up during this time. The pressure cooker will beep 3 times to alert you when cooking has finished. It will automatically go on to “keep warm” mode for up to 6 hours.
Once cooking is complete, turn off the pressure cooker by pressing “stop/cancel”. Using an oven mitt, move the pressure release value to the “release” position to let out the pressure in the unit. Wait for the float value to drop down before opening the pressure cooker.
Return the unit to saute mode and pour in the mango/coconut milk mixture. Stir to combine, using a wooden spoon to scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
Bring to a boil and let simmer for 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
Spoon over rice and top with fresh mango slices and cilantro. If possible, discard the cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks as you spoon it out (they should not be eaten).
I had such a difficult time photographing this because of how amazing this smelled! The sweetness of the mango is very fragrant, but is much more subtle flavor-wise than scent-wise.
Depending on how many chilies you used, this dish can be pretty spicy. I like some heat, so two chilies was great for me! It was nice to bite into the fresh mango slices for some sweetness to offset some of that heat too.
The pressure cooker does a pretty good job of speeding up the flavor development, but there is nothing compared to what time does to enhance flavor! When visiting Makhani, be sure to try their housemade naan, tandoori chicken wings, veggie pakora, and, of course, the mango chicken!
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 8 oz frozen mango chunks
- 1 (14 oz) can light coconut milk, thoroughly shaken
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon chopped ginger
- 0-2 dried red chili peppers, depending on your spice tolerance
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 2 tablespoons oil (to make dairy free) or ghee
- 6 cardamom pods, smashed
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup chicken broth or water
- 2 cups cooked rice
- fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish
- fresh mango slices, for garnish
Instructions
- Combine the ground coriander, turmeric, sweet paprika, garam masala, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
- Season the chicken with the mixture and set aside.
- Add half of the bag of frozen mango to a blender along with the coconut milk and process until completely smooth. Set aside.
- Add the onion, ginger, chili peppers and fennel to a small food processor and process until fully combined. Set aside. Note: two chilies makes this quite spicy. I suggest using one.
- Pre-heat your multi-pot on the saute setting. When pre-heated, add the oil or ghee followed by the cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, tomato paste and the pureed onion-ginger mixture. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add in the chicken and pour in 1 cup chicken broth or water. Secure the lid on your multi-cooker, making sure the pressure release valve is in the locked position. Press the “poultry” setting on your multi-cooker and adjust to set for 10 minutes at high pressure. Press “start.”
- Once the unit has reached optimal cooking pressure (~10 minutes), the unit will beep once and start counting down from 10 minutes. You’ll notice that the pressure release valve rises up during this time. The pressure cooker will beep 3 times to alert you when cooking has finished. It will automatically go on to “keep warm” mode for up to 6 hours.
- Once cooking is complete, turn off the pressure cooker by pressing “stop/cancel”. Using an oven mitt, move the pressure release value to the “release” position to let out the pressure in the unit. Wait for the float value to drop down before opening the pressure cooker.
- Return the unit to saute mode and pour in the mango/coconut milk mixture. Stir to combine, using a wooden spoon to scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pot.
- Bring to a boil and let simmer for 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
- Spoon over rice and top with fresh mango slices and cilantro. If possible, discard the cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks as you spoon it out (they should not be eaten).
delicious mango chicken! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
Thanks for sharing this great recipe with us this weekend my parents will be impressed.