Chicken Pakora

Chicken pakoras are one of those crowd pleasing appetizer or an awesome evening snack with your hot tea. These can be made fresh or from left over fried or baked chicken.

These pakoras can be stuffed into any rolls with shredded veggies, a hot sauce and some mayo to make lunch for kids.

INGREDIENTS:

For Chicken:

3 Cups 2" Cooked chicken tikka cubes

OR

1Lb 2" Chicken cubes

1 Tsp ginger garlic paste

1 Tsp chili powder 

1/2 Tsp fennel powder

1/2 Tsp garam masala powder 

1 Tsp lemon juice

Salt to taste 

Batter:

1/2 Cup gram flour

1/4 Cup plain rice flour

2 Tblsp corn flour

1/2 Tsp salt or to taste

A pinch cooking soda

1/2 Tsp chili powder 

1/4 Tsp ajwain/carom seeds (optional)

2 Green chilies deseeded and choppped 

1 Tblsp choppped curry leaves

1 Tblsp choppped coriander leaves

Oil for deep frying 

METHOD:

 You can use already cooked left over chicken tikka pieces.

Or if using fresh chicken, use breast pieces (preferably). Clean and cut them into small 2" cubes, pat them dry and marinate in the spice mix given under for chicken and marinate in the fridge for about 30 minutes to 2 hours.

For Pakora:

 Mix all the ingredients under pakora except oil. Rub them all over the chicken pieces and let it marinate for another 30 minutes. You can also make this ahead and leave it in the fridge for a day. 

When using cooked pieces you might need a little water to make paste of the spice mix.

If using fresh chicken the moisture from the chicken will help. 

It's better to keep the batter to coat like a thick layer rather than runny.

So take care adding water.

Heat a deep frying pan over medium hot temperature and add oil. Once ready reduce the flame a little bit and fry the chicken pieces in batches until crispy and brown.

Serve hot with your favorite sauce.

You can reheat leftovers from fridge in a toaster oven or from freezer in a convection oven.

Methi Chicken Curry

Growing up methi leaves were not that common in our households unlike their seeds. The flavor of frying the seeds always reminded me of the methi seed flavor infused fish curries. So on my first introduction with this dish I was almost deceived by the flavor that I belived and thought what I tasted was fish. I should admit I was disappointed a bit because it was far away from my home in an alien land, lol.  

Ok thats the story behind my liking for methi chicken (oh that reminds me, should try it with fish sometime, and what fish should I use? I think that should be a seperate brainstorming session)

Now try this recipe and be creative with your palette and pair it with butter toasted bread (Yes, I meant our plain old bread), rice, roti or naan.

Make it a thick and hot gravy. Tomato paste is optional though I recommend it because it adds an edge to the the tang and thickness. 

Go try this dish and leave your comments.

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs Chicken, cubed

1 medium Onion, finely chopped

2 medium Tomatoes, pureed

2 tsp Tomato paste (optional)

1 tsp Shahi jeera

2 tsp Ginger garlic paste

1 tsp Turmeric powder

4 tsp Chili powder

2 tsp Coriander powder

2 tsp Cumin powder

2 tsp Garam masala powder

2 tbsp Yogurt

2 tblsp dried Methi leaves

2 sprigs Curry leaves

2 tblsp choppped Coriander leaves

4 tblsp Olive oil (cooking oil)

Salt to taste

11/2 cup warm water

METHOD:

 Heat a deep pan on medium flame and add the oil. When it's warm, add shahi jeera and fry for few seconds.Then add curry leaves followed by onions with a little salt. Salt helps onions wilt fast and adds flavor. Fry onions until they turn golden brown.

Once onions turn golden, add ginger garlic paste and fry until the raw smell is gone. Then add the tomato paste (if using) and let the oil seperate. Then add in the pureed tomato, close the pan and let it cook on low flame for five mins. 

Now open the lid and add the dry masalas except garam masala, followed by the chicken.

Fry for few minutes and add yogurt. Then add the methi leaves and the water, stir well, add more salt if needed, close the lid, reduce flame and simmer until the chicken gets cooked. 

Switch off flame, add garam masala and chopped coriander leaves and leave it with closed lid for a few minutes before serving.

 

Sis's Sesame Chicken

I This recipe has an interesting story. I was talking to my sis and she said she made sesame chicken,one of the recipes I had shared with her long back. Because I hadn't made any sesame chicken in quite some time (I used to make one with Indian spices and another Chinese fusion) I asked her for the recipe and she said it was my fusion find. But surprisingly over the conversation I realized it's not both the recipes I usually make but she has came up with this recipe from three other recipes I have given her. We usually share recipes while talking over phone and she never jots down, just depends on her memory. No harm anyway this taste so good and so I named it so.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb Chicken             

1/4 Cup Shallots              

5 Dried Red Chillies

2 Tblsp Caraway Seeds  

1 Tblsp  Ginger Paste      

1Tblsp Garlic  Paste       

1Tblsp Black Pepper     

1Tsp Garam Masala   

1Tblsp Yogurt                

1 Tsp Salt                     

2 Tblsp Sesame Seeds   

2 Sprigs Curry Leaves      

1/2 Cup Oil For Frying                

METHOD :

     Clean and cut the chicken into desired size pieces, preferably medium size. Pat dry.

Make a coarse marinade using all the ingredients except sesame seeds and curry leaves.

Reserve a tablespoon or two of the marinade and rub the remaining all over the chicken pieces and keep them well covered for 30 mins. Check and adjust your salt level.

Heat a pan with oil in medium high heat and shallow fry the chicken pieces and remove them to a plate lined with paper towel.

Once all the chicken are fried, heat two teaspoons of oil in a separate pan and add the reserved marinade and give it a stir. Then add the curry leaves and sesame seeds and fry them. Add the fried chicken pieces to this and saute them well until the chicken gets coated with the marinade and sesame seeds.

Sissy's sesame chicken is ready. Serve hot as a starter or side dish.

Crispy Fried Chicken

An never ending demand is always there for chicken especially fried chicken. This recipe helps you make fried chicken that is very crispy outside, soft and juicy inside. The steps may look like too much but I can guaranty you that its worth the extra effort. You will definitely taste the juicy meat.
 This can be served as a starter or side dish. Even goes well as a side for biryani or any rice meal.   

INGREDIENTS :

1 lb Chicken cubes  (bone in/less)
1/2 Cup Coconut Oil (for deep frying) 

Step 1 :
1 tbsp Soy Sauce       
Few Lemon Wedges
1 tsp Salt                 
1/2 tsp Pepper Powder 
1/4 tsp Salt                    
2 Cups Water                

Step 2 :
1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste 
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder    
1 tblsp Lemon Juice           
1 tblsp Red Chilly Powder 
1 tsp Black Pepper          
1 tsp Fennel Seeds           
1 tsp Garam Masala         
1 tblsp Roasted Rice Flour  
1 tsp Salt                         


METHOD :
                  Clean the chicken pieces and mix the ingredients under step 1 and soak the chicken pieces in that liquid for about 20 to 30 mins. This helps retain the moisture of the chicken and helps absorb the spices into the meat.
                 Pound the fennel seeds and pepper seeds together to a coarse powder. To this add the rest of the ingredients from step 2. Now squeeze out the chicken pieces from the soaking liquid and rub this spice mixture well over the pieces to completely coat them. Check for salt in the spice mix before rubbing in to the chicken pieces and adjust according to your taste.
   Heat oil in a deep pan for about an inch or two at medium high flame.When it is hot enough reduce the flame to medium low and drop the chicken pieces in batches. Fry them stirring in between until golden brown and drain onto absorbent paper towels to take out any extra oil.
         If you plan to make ahead for parties keep them on trays in oven at 200 degrees. Squeeze lemon juice before serving which is optional. Crispy fried chicken is ready.

Aappam

Aapam is a breakfast/dinner staple in my town. The good thing about this dish is that it can pair well with any side dish sweet or savory. Most commonly it is used with coconut milk and sugar, along with a mashed banana, or chicken/meat/fish/egg curries as well for vegetable stew or potato based gravies. Another interesting side dish to go with it is maasi (dried fish) sambal (like thoku).

A favorite in my house is aapam with chicken malaai karahi.

INGREDIENTS:

2 Cups Raw/Basmati/Long grain rice

3 Tablespoon Cooked rice

1 Cup Grated Coconut

1/2 Tsp Baking/Cooking Soda

Water

Salt

METHOD:

       Clean and soak the rice along with cooked rice in water for atleast 2 hours. Then grind along with the grated coconut in a mixer/ grinder to a smooth batter. You can add about a cup of water while grinding. The batter shouldn't be too thick or thin. 

To this add about a teaspoon of salt, mix well and keep in a warm place to ferment for about 6 to 8 hours. Depending on the weather this might even happen in two hours.

Once fermented you can refrigerate or use immediately. When you are ready to use add the cooking soda and mix well. 

 Heat a slightly shallow pan with a lid over medium high heat. Pour a laddleful of batter swirl around the pan and cook with the lid on. This might take two to three minutes to cook soft and smooth in the center with crispy sides.

P.S: Actually you can add a ladleful of dosa batter to the aapam batter to get a bit more soft center.

Alternately if you do not have cooked rice you can add 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds and 2 teaspoons urud dal while soaking the rice.

Gka Prow Gai (Basil Chicken)

 Its end of summer and wanted I to use the last batch of basil leaves from my garden. I was looking for Thai recipes, because they make use of lots of basil in their recipes which are usually very tasty and flavorful.

  I'm really happy that I came across this recipe because it solved the purpose. I actually made it a bit dry but can be made little saucy too. So now give Gka Prow Gai a try!

INGREDIENTS:

1lb Chicken Tiny Pieces/ Mince

6  Pods Garlic Chopped

1 Small Onion Chopped

25 Chopped Basil Leaves

1 Tsp Red or Green Chilly Paste

1 Tblsp Soy Sauce

1 Tsp Brown/Palm Sugar

1 Tblsp Oyester/ Fish Sauce

3 Tblsp Cooking Oil

Salt to taste

METHOD :

 Clean and cut the chicken into very small pieces. You can even mince the chicken for this recipe.

Heat oil in a pan until really hot and fry the chopped garlic followed by onion. Add the palm sugar and chilly paste and fry well. As soon as onion turns transparent add the chicken and cook well. Add about 2 tablespoons of water if necessary.

As the chicken is cooking through, add the soy sauce and fish sauce. Adjust salt, add the basil leaves and stir together  until the dish is almost dry.

You can even switch off stove and take it out while its still saucy.

Goes really well with rice or roti. If you are planning to serve it as a starter, make it out of chicken strips.

Chicken Kurma

Chicken Kurma is another beloved speciality of my mom's. I still remember those childhood days when my mom made this kurma. This is made to accompany ghee rice or coconut cream rice. Its fragrant aroma always fills the house, and even wafts down half the street (believe me). Her key ingredient is white pepper powder, which gives that added bite of flavor. You can use black pepper powder if you don't have white and also you can grind two teaspoons of poppy seeds along with coconut to get that extra richness.

The potatoes in the gravy provide extra creaminess. You can make vegetarian kurma by adding vegetables like potatoes, carrots, cauliflower or peas.

INGREDIENTS:

2 lb Chicken

2" Inch Piece Cinnamon

2 Green Cardamoms

4 Cloves

1 Small Bay Leaf

2 Tblsp Oil

2 Onions

1 Small Tomato

4 Green Chillies

2 Tblsp Chopped Coriander Leaves

2 Tsp Ginger Garlic Paste

1 Medium Potato cut into pieces

To Grind:

1/4 Cup Grated Coconut

2 Tsp Coriander Powder

2 Tsp White Pepper Powder

1 Tsp Cumin Powder

1/2 Tsp Garam Masala Powder

Salt to taste

METHOD:

  Clean and cut the chicken into medium size pieces.

   Make a smooth paste of the items given under "to grind" along with water as needed.

Heat a deep pan on medium flame. Add oil once the pan is hot enough and fry the  whole spices cinnamon, cardamom, clove and bay leaf. Then add the finely chopped onion along with a pinch of salt (this lets the onion sweat and helps brown quicker). Once it turns light brown add the slit green chillies and ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute or two.

Then add the chopped tomato and let it wilt, about 3 minutes.

Potatoes are added now and fry for a minute.

Now add the chicken pieces along with 1/4 tsp salt give a nice stir and let it turn color.

Now its time to add the ground coconut spice paste. Stir everything together and add 1/4 cup or little less water (depends how liquidy the ground paste is) and bring it to a boil. Now reduce flame and cook with a closed lid for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Take care and stir in between because the coconut paste tend to stick to the bottom and might burn.

Once the chicken gets cooked add more water if needed, check for salt and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. This kurma is an excellent combination for coconut cream rice though it can be served with chappathi or roti.

Sambal Oelek Chicken Fry

 Chicken sambal oelek fry is a quick chicken fry made with fewer ingredients. I was browsing through and came across this recipe by Lakshmi Nair of Asianet. But I modified the recipe a bit according to our taste.

The ingredients reminded me of the Thai red Chilly paste I make at home and hence the name. The dried red chillies are really hot and the acidity in vinegar helps cut off the heat. It also helps soften the chicken meat because we don't marinate the chicken in this recipe.

Kashmiri chillies give the vibrant red color to the fry. If Kashmiri chilly is not available you can substitute 1 teaspoon of paprika while grinding the paste or just use dried red chilly. The paste doesn't have to be smooth, actually the coarser one is the better.

Corn flour helps hold the spice  paste to the chicken when dropped in oil.

This paste can be pre-made and refrigerated for about a week and frozen for atleast three months.

 Do try this recipe if you love fries and if you are a chicken fanatic.

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs Chicken medium pieces

15 Dry Red Chillies 

5 Kashmiri Red Chillies 

10 Nos Pearl Onions 

10 Nos Garlic Pods

2 Tblsp Vinegar 

2 Tsp Salt

1 Tblsp Corn Flour

1/2 Cup Boiling water 

1/2 Cup Coconut/ Frying Oil

METHOD:

    Clean and cut the chicken into medium pieces, wash and drain any excess water.

In a bowl soak the chillies in hot water for about 5 mins and drain.

In a food processor grind the red chillies along with shallots and garlic pods in vinegar into a paste. It doesn't really have to be a smooth paste. 

Add salt mix well and check for taste and add more salt if necessary.To this paste add the corn flour and rub this mix evenly into the chicken pieces.

Heat oil in a frying pan and deep fry the chicken pieces until dark red and crispy.

Chicken sambal oelek fry is ready and served as a starter or side dish.

Green Chilly Chicken Curry

It was a cloudy autumn day. It sounded so hard to get up and hit the kitchen let only to do a elaborate cooking.But the weather demanded something spicy and sophisticated. Browsing and brainstorming finally made me realize that something has to be made which would go with chappathi or plain rice without any further accompaniment. This recipe sounded easy and quick. So I decided to go for it.

  Actually the recipe asks for marination but to hasten the process, just add a tablespoon of vinegar to the marinade and instead of green chillies you can add jalapeños but lesser in quantity.

This dish can be both made dry or as a curry with gravy.

Green chilly curry chicken is definitely worth trying and a recipe to be saved.

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs Chicken Pieces 

4 Medium Onions

10 Green Chillies/ 5 Jalapeños 

1 Cup/1/2 Bunch Chopped      Cilantro/Coriander Leaves

1/2 Cup/5 Twigs Curry Leaves

3 Tblsp Black Pepper Corns

11/2 Tblsp Jeera Seeds

11/2 Tblsp Ginger Garlic Paste

4 Tblsp Oil

Salt to taste

METHOD:

   Cut the chicken into small to medium sized pieces,clean and drain the water and keep aside.

 Grind together ginger garlic paste,curry leaves,coriander leaves and the spices along with 1 tsp oil and 11/2 tsp salt.

Rub this paste onto the chicken pieces and marinate for atleast an hour.

Cut the onion and grind it to a coarse paste.

Heat a deep pan over medium heat and add three tablespoons of oil. Pour the onion paste along with a pinch of salt and cook covered for about 5 to 7 minutes and then uncovered until it changes color to slight brown. Once done add the marinated chicken pieces to the browned onion and give a nice stir. Then along with a little water cook covered until the chicken is cooked through. Take care to open the lid and stir or add water in between making sure it doesn't get burnt.

Once the chicken gets cooked,remove the lid,check for salt and add more if needed, raise the heat and pour the remaining oil and fry well.If you prefer gravy you can skip the last step add a little water to desired consistency.

The green chilly chicken curry is ready.

Chicken Cori Kabob

If you're thinking of making something quick and easy for Iftar, try this Chicken cori(ander) kabob. I named it so because coriander leaves are the main ingredient which gives the color and adds flavor to the kabob. We happened to have a similar kabob long back in a restaurant. I tried making my own version of the kabob a few times, every time adding or avoiding an ingredient from the list. Finally I think I got the right combination. Its simple, easy, quick to make and tastes great. If you do not have an oven, no worries, just make patties and shallow fry them over the stove with very little oil.

INGREDIENTS:

1lb Chicken Breast pieces 

1 Cup Chopped Coriander Leaves

2 Tablespoons Ginger Garlic Paste

4 Green Chillies 

1 Teaspoon Black Pepper Powder

1 Teaspoon Salt

2 Slices Plain Bread

1 Egg

2 Teaspoons Olive/Canola/ Vegetable Oil

METHOD:

    Clean the chicken pieces, coriander leaves and green chillies.

    Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Prepare a cookie tray by lining with aluminum foil and apply oil on the foil just to make sure the kabobs don't  stick to the foil.

    Place the chicken pieces in a food processor and pulse it few times to mince it. Then add all the other ingredients together and run the processor just to breakdown all the ingredients and form a lump.

Remove it to a plate and check for salt, and add more if needed.

To this, add the olive oil, mix and keep aside.

Get the skewers ready by cleaning and applying oil to it.

Now roll the chicken along the skewers like a tube.

Place the skewers on the prepared trays and bake for about 20 mins, turning once in between.

When timer is done check by inserting a toothpick. If it comes out clean, remove from oven and let it cool down a bit. 

Using a fork, push the kabobs out of the skewers onto a plate, slice and serve.

Chicken Chilly Dosa

 Dosas are a regular in many of our breakfast or dinner tables. Sometimes the kids might not want to have the same or you might want to break the routine. Then you should try this chicken chilly dosa. If you are a vegetarian try it with tofu or paneer or just the veggies. It can be eaten with or without any side dish.

INGREDIENTS :

Dosa Batter         - 1Cup 

Tomato Ketchup  - 2 Tblsp

Soy Sauce           - 2 Tsp

Red Chilly Flakes - 1/2 Tsp

Cheese Shredded - 2 Tblsp (optional)

Spring Onion       - 3 Tblsp

Coriander Leaves - 3 Tblsp

Olives Chopped  - 2 Tblsp (optional)

Chicken Breast   - 1 Big Piece

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 Tsp

Red Chilly Powder - 2 Tsp

Ginger Garlic         - 1 Tsp

Salt                       - To taste

Oil                         - 1/4 Cup

METHOD :

   Clean and cut chicken into small chunks. Marinate with ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilly powder and salt. In a pan under medium high heat add two teaspoons of oil and fry them until its no longer pink in the center.

 Keep aside. 

This dish can be made with left over fried or baked chicken too. Job made easy.

 Chop the spring onions and olives. Mix together ketchup and soy sauce.

 In a Dosa tava spread thin dosa, sprinkle oil all over, keep the flame medium low. Brush the ketchup soy sauce mix allover the  dosa.Then sprinkle the chopped veggies, prepared chicken, cheese and the chilly flakes. Sprinkle some oil over. Let the dosa cook until crisp and when done roll over and transfer to the plate. Your chicken chilly dosa is ready.

 Serve with your favorite chutney or just plain. Tastes super good.

Chicken Dry Roast

    Chicken Dry Roast is a simple yet delicious dish. Helps your fried chicken craving without being fried. My mom used to make this but her version has a few other ingredients as well. I'll post that version later. Got this recipe from one of my favorite chefs. This is a famous Andhra dish, Chicken Veppudu. Very flavorful and tastes really yum when served hot. Give it a try and you will want to do it again and again. Adjust the spice levels to your taste, especially chilly powder. The hotter the better. But here I have given only medium to mild heat.

INGREDIENTS :

Chicken Breasts   - 1 lb
Onion                   - 1 medium
Tomato                 - 1 medium
Curry Leaves        - 2 sprigs
Ginger                   - 1Tsp
Garlic                     - 1Tsp
Chilly Powder        - 1Tsp
Coriander Powder  - 1Tsp
Turmeric Powder   - 1/4 Tsp
Cinnamon              - 1"piece
Cardamom             - 2 nos
Cloves                    - 2 nos
Cashews                 - 1 Tblsp
Salt                         -1/2 Tsp
Oil                           - As needed

METHOD :

                Clean and cut the chicken into small cubes. Chop the onion and tomato into small pieces. In a pan pour a tablespoon of oil and fry the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Add the chopped onions and fry until golden brown. Add ginger and garlic paste, then add the tomatoes and fry well. Add the turmeric powder and then the chicken and simultaneously add the coriander and chilly powder and let the chicken cook in this masala until done. Do not add any water because the chicken gives out water during cooking.
                  Heat a bigger pan, add two tablespoons of oil, fry curry leaves and add the cashews. Once the chicken is done, transfer the whole content to a pan and fry well until dry and everything comes together.
                 Serve as a starter or as a side dish. You can adjust the amount of oil according to your diet needs. Tastes almost like fried chicken.

Chicken Malai Karahi

Chicken malai  karahi , very recently came across this dish.Very rich and flavorful. After tasting this dish I wanted to try it at home. Though I could guess a few ingredients, wasn't really sure how it would turn out. So searched the web and found two recipes. But in some way both the recipes sounded as if they won't taste as good as the one we enjoyed. So I tried to combine both the recipes came up with this one which was so close in taste. It's really simple and easy to make  with very few ingredients. I would make a healthy version by substituting low fat sour cream and milk instead of yogurt and heavy cream. Hope you would enjoy chicken malai karahi as much as we did. 

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken  : 1 lb
Yogurt    : 1/2 cup
Coriander Powder : 2 tsp
White Pepper Powder : 2tsp
Jeera Powder  : 1tsp
Garam Masala :  1/2 tsp
Heavy Cream : 1/4 cup
Fresh Coriander Leaves : 1/2 cup
Canola oil : 1/4 cup 

Method :

  Clean and cut chicken in to small pieces. Heat a sauce pan over medium heat. Add oil to the pan and when almost hot add the chicken pieces and cook the chicken pieces , remove and keep aside.
Discard the liquid  in  the pan and add  a tablespoon of oil in the pan and add the cooked chicken pieces along with the spice powders and fry them well.
  Now add the yogurt along with salt, give it a stir close the lid over medium low fire and allow the chicken to blend with the yogurt and the spices.Cook until  the raw smell goes away for about 5 to 7 minutes. Open the lid, check for salt and add the cream. Give it a stir and cook until the cream gets heated through. Finally add the chopped coriander leaves and transfer to a serving dish.
 The fresh smell and taste of the herb adds the real flavor to the curry,that the fresh coriander leaves are a must for this recipe.

Chicken Dahi Roast

A simple and easy chicken recipe, I would say. It's versatile too as it can be had with rotis or with rice. It can be made quickly if boneless pieces are available.

INGREDIENTS :
Boneless Chicken Cubes - 1lb
Yogurt                              - 2 cups
Cumin Powder                 - 1tsp
Ginger and Garlic             - 2tsp
Red Chilly Powder           - 1tsp
Turmeric Powder              - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala                   - 1/4tsp
Onion                                - 2  Nos
Tomato                              -1 No
Green Chilly                     - 3 Nos
Coriander Leaves              -2 Tblsp
Oil                                     -3 Tsp
Salt                                    -To Taste


METHOD:
                
 Clean and cut chicken into pieces of desired size. To this, add the yogurt, split green chillies and all the spice powders along with a little salt and marinate for 30 mins.
 In the meantime, heat 2 tsp oil in a pan and cook the onions until slightly brown. Add the tomatoes and fry for 2mins.
 Now add the marinated chicken pieces. Close with a lid and cook the chicken on medium low flame for 10 mins. Remove lid and add salt. If you are serving with rice, you might want to remove the curry from the stove when it reaches a gravy consistency.
 If you like it to be a dry fry, add the remaining oil and fry until dry. Finally garnish with the coriander leaves.

Moong Dal Fried Chicken

       I got this recipe from my sister a long time ago and used to make it as often as I could when the recipe was still new. It has been quite sometime since I last made it and I'd almost forgotten the recipe. But today when the kids asked about this "long time no see" green fried chicken to their aunt who has visited them, she made this for them. It sure will be loved by kids and adults who love fried chicken.
Kudos to whoever thought of this recipe, as green gram is an unconventional choice for a crispy exterior in chicken fry. It's real simple and easy and can be made with few ingredients. Do make sure to adjust the salt and heat according to your taste buds.    
      

INGREDIENTS :

Chicken Medium Pieces : 1 lb

To Marinate :

Coriander Leaves            : 1 Cup
Green Chillies                 : 3 Nos
Ginger Garlic Paste         : 2 Tsp
Lemon Juice                    : 1 Tbsp
Pepper Powder                : 1 Tsp
Garam Masala                 : 1/2 Tsp
Salt                                  : To Taste

To Coat  :

Green Gram                     : 11/2 Cups
Kosher Salt                      : A Pinch

To Fry :

Oil                                    : 1 Cup

METHOD :

               Cut the chicken into medium sized pieces and clean them in water and pat dry. Chicken can be either bone in or bone less according to your liking. Make a paste of all the ingredients given under "to marinate" and rub well over the chicken pieces. Cover and let them rest for about 20 to 30mins.

             In the meantime grind the green gram to a coarse powder in a coffee grinder. Make sure it doesn't turn out to be too powdery or has bigger grains. Something similar to the size of couscous would be perfect. Mix salt to this and keep aside.

  When ready to fry, heat oil in a deep pan. Take the marinated chicken pieces coat them well in this gram mix and deep fry until brown turning sides twice or thrice. Make sure its evenly browned on all sides but take care not to over fry them because then it would turn hard to bite.

 Serve as a starter or a snack if you are a chicken lover or with roti and yogurt sauce as a meal.

            
              

Asian Pepper Chicken

In one of our trips to Chennai we had a similar dish made with shrimps. After months I remembered this and thought of recreating the recipe with chicken. It turned out good but I still thought something was missing. After a try or two, I came up with this recipe. With very few and simple ingredients, it is easy to make but is still rich in taste . It can be a side dish for any meal and as a dry dish it serves well as a starter. It sure is a crowd-pleaser. When thought of blogging this dish, my girls chose the name Asian Pepper Chicken.

INGREDIENTS :

  Chicken Breasts -3
  Chicken Bouillon - 1 cube
  Ginger  -2" piece
  Garlic  - 6pods
  Spring Onion  - 3 nos
  Green Chilly   - 2 nos
  Coriander Leaves - 7 sprigs
  Corn Flour - 1 tsp
  Soy Sauce - 3 tblsp
  Crushed Black Pepper - 2 tblsp
  Salt - to taste
  Olive Oil - 2 tblsp

METHOD:
Clean and cut the chicken breasts into small cubes (I usually cut them into thin strips which I prefer). Chop the ginger, garlic, green chillies, coriander leaves and the spring onions and keep aside.
In a sauce pan over medium heat add one tablespoon oil and add the chicken cubes. Give it a stir and cover with the lid and let it cook.You don't have to add water because the chicken gets cooked from the heat from the oil and the liquid oozing from the meat. Cook until the meat is no longer pink in the center, giving them a stir or two in between. Remove the chicken pieces and discard any liquid in the pan.
In the same pan add the remaining oil and fry (give a quick stir, you don't have to actually cook them)  the chopped veggies adding them in the order as ginger, garlic, green chilly and spring onion (save some of  the green spring onion for garnishing). Add the chicken stock cube and let it get mixed. Now add the soy sauce and fry for a minute, then add the cooked chicken pieces and fry them well to get coated with the sauce.
Season with freshly crushed black pepper and check for salt. Now mix the corn flour in a tablespoon of water and add to this and give it a good stir and finally add the chopped coriander leaves. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with the reserved spring onion.
  

Tangy Chicken Tikka

 Made this tikka for lunch.Ray says it really turned out "awesome" and the best  tikka "ever"( for that matter she sure has a "tangy" tooth). The tikka was so soft and flavorful and perfectly seasoned. You can make it either bone-in or boneless. If you prefer bone-in buy a whole chicken and cut them into 12 or 16 pieces. Please never buy legs and thighs because that would totally spoil the taste. This chicken can be marinated over night.If you choose to do so, its ok to avoid vinegar in the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken Breasts : 2
Lemon Juice  : 2 tblsp
Lemon rind : 1tsp
Vinegar : 1tblsp
Turmeric Powder : 1tsp
Chilly Powder : 2tsp
Pepper Powder : 1tsp
Coriander Powder : 1tsp
Fennel Powder : 2tsp
Olive Oil : 2 tblsp
Dried Parsley : 1 tblsp
Salt : to taste

METHOD:

Pre- heat oven to 425 degrees. The hotter the oven the perfect texture would be your tikka, so don't worry about the high heat. Clean and cube the chicken breasts. Mix all the other ingredients to make a paste. Rub the spice paste well over the chicken cubes. If you use bone-in chicken make sure the spice mix gets well coated all over the chicken pieces.
Prepare a cookie sheet by lining with aluminum foil and brush with olive oil or non stick spray. Spread the chicken pieces on the sheet evenly spaced. Bake in the pre-heated oven for ten mins. In between check the  chicken tray and pour out any water collected in the tray. After ten mins flip it over and sprinkle olive oil over the chicken pieces and bake for another 10 mins.
Remove from oven and serve immediately. You can prepare the tray ahead and leave it in the fridge overnight (not more than 8 hrs., if in the fridge but can be left longer in the freezer) and bake before serving.