Chicken Tikka

This is one of the dry dishes I learnt first. I always thought cooking chicken was a lot of work, since any non-vegeterian meal at my home would be prepared on a Sunday and I would see my mom toiling in the kitchen for a long time. So my idea of any non-veg dish was first it is elaborate to make, second it was so hard so never try it on weekdays. These two myths were burnt in my brain so hard, that I did not even attempt to cook a non-veg dish after I moved out of home for sometime. But my craving for chicken made me try something and this was a simple recipe I learnt from a book. I made my own very small improvements to the dish and now one of my favorites. It is one of the dishes I always prepare for a party or a get-together, because most of the preparation is done the previous day.





Ingredients


Chicken breasts – 2 lbs

Oil - 2 Tbsp

Curry leaves – 1 sprig(optional)

Sliced onion and coriander leaves – To garnish



For marinade:



Chilli powder – 2 Tbsp(as per taste)

Salt

Garam masala – 1 tsp

Ginger garlic paste – 2 Tbsp

Curd / yogurt – ¼ cup

Lemon juice – 2 Tbsp



1. Cut the chicken breasts into small bite sized pieces and set aside.

2. To prepare the marinade mix all the ingredients listed for marinade in a large bowl.

3. Now add the diced chicken pieces in the bowl and mix it well. Then transfer the chicken pieces to a Ziploc bag or an airtight container and store it in a refrigerator. Allow it to marinate for overnight preferably, if in a hurry 2-4 hours of marinating should also be okay. But longer period of marinating betters the taste of the dish.

4. Now take a heavy wide bottomed vessel and heat 2Tbsp of oil and then add the curry leaves. Add the marinated chicken pieces and cover it with a lid. Allow it to cook on a very low flame for 15- 20mins. The juices from the chicken and the marinade should be enough to cook the chicken.

5. Once the water from the chicken starts to evaporate, stir the chicken every few minutes and cook until each chicken pieces are separate, dry and light brown in color.

6. Garnish the chicken tikka with onion and coriander leaves. Enjoy it as an appetizer or side dish.





Tips for marinating the chicken:

In case of meat/poultry never fork the meat prior to marinating. The holes thus created due to forking allow the marinade juices to flow out of the meat.

Do not prepare or use excessively thick marinades for marination. The thick marinades cannot penetrate very well and thus the final flavors of the main dish get affected.

To marinate inside a Ziploc bag- Place the chicken into the bag and pour in the marinade. Remove as much air as possible from the bag and seal it. Make sure that the chicken is well coated, by massaging the chicken in the stock. Fold the bag in half.

If marinating time is longer than one hour, place the marinating chicken in the refrigerator.

Reduce oil in the marinade for more flavor. The best marinade (unlike the best salad dressing) is about half oil and half acid.

Chicken shouldn't be marinated longer than called for in the recipe. The chicken can become mushy if marinated too long, as the acid breaks down the flesh.

You can marinate an entire chicken or chicken parts. Piercing the chicken with a fork, or cutting it into smaller pieces will help it absorb marinade.
Removing the skin from the chicken will help it absorb marinade

In general, two hours of marinating is long enough for the meat to soak up the flavor, but poultry can marinate for up to two days in the refrigerator, according to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Very acidic marinades can actually toughen the meat over time, so follow the recipe or package directions.

Arisiyum Parupu Satham

Yet another delicacy from the kongu region and my second entry for JFI - Toor dal. This is a simple, no-nonsense one-pot dish and really easy to make. I make this dish when I need a quick fix for a no-compromise meal and neither in a mood to cook, nor to eat out. This meal has different versions and this is how my grandmother / mother make it at home. I remember the taste of dal and rice with ghee melting inside my mouth. A pretty impressive meal when you are back from school and hungry. I wish someone cooks for me now when I am back from office. My aunt prepares it with moong dal and I will post the recipe sometime later.

The consistency of the completed meal is somewhat mushy and somewhere between bisi bele bath and plain steamed rice. It tastes heavenly when had with ghee or yogurt. You can also have it with kathirikaai kara kuzhambu / brinjal curry.

Ingredients:

Rice – 2 cups
Toor dal – 1 cup
A small sized onion – 1
Tomato – 1
Dry red chillies – 2 or 3 (According to the spice level)
Curry leaves – 1 spring
Turmeric – 1
Sambar powder – 1 tbsp
Garlic – 2 pods
Salt
Oil

Optional ingredients :

Cinnamon – 1” bark
Clove – 2

1. Soak the toor dal and rice for half an hour. Dice the onion tomato
2. Take a pressure cooker and heat oil or ghee, and then add cinnamon and clove. After that add dry chillies, garlic, onions and fry till the onions are transculent.
3. Now add the sambar powder, salt , tumeric and stir in. Add the tomatoes and cook till it is soft.
4. Now add the soaked dal and rice mixture , add the required amount of water and close the lid. Cook the mixture for the desired amount of time, I usually cook it for three whistles so that the rice and dal are cooked properly.
5. Open the cooker lid stir in the rice, add coriander leaves to garnish.

Enjoy the arisiyum paruppu sadham with a generous serving of ghee and pickle. It tastes heavenly with yogurt and papad too.

Paruppu Urundai kuzhambu

Parupu urundai kulambu / kuzhambu or lentil dumplings in tamarind and coconut sauce, is a delicacy of the kongu region or the kongu nadu region. This is a family recipe that was passed from my grandmother to my mother and then to me. I can confidently say that the parupu urundai kulambu made by my grand mother should be the world’s best followed closely by mother’s for the second spot. When we are away from home such recipes is one more reason for us to feel homesick.

Click here for the Parupu Urundai Kuzhambu Recipe

Vatha Kuzhambu

The last two weeks had been quite busy with official and personal things. Added to this routine, we had guests over on the weekends and hence did a lot of eating out at the restaurants. This Saturday I tried to cook a complete vegetarian meal with menu comprising of tomato dal, vatha kulambu and a potato curry. I strongly believe that any vegetarian thali/ meal is not complete without a vatha kozhambu and sutta appalam.

Vatha kuzhambu is a south Indian dish served mainly with rice and papad. It has a single vegetable/ vathal as a base and is a simmered stew of tamarind with a set of spices. Usually it is prepared with brinjal/eggplant or okra/lady’s finger. Vathals can also be used. I guess vathals are the reasons for the authentic taste. Vathals are dried vegetables and can be bought from any Indian grocery store. Sundakaai vathal, manathakkali vathal or vendakaai vathal are some examples.




To Grind:
Corriander seeds 1 tbsp
Methi seeds – ½ tbsp
Urad dal – 1 tbsp
Channa dal – 1 tbsp
Red chillies – 3/ 4 (depends on the spice level)

Ingredients:
Shallot / Pearl onions – 9 or 10 (You can substitute half of a red onion if shallots are not available.)
Garlic pods – 4 /5 (This is optional)
Tamarind – A small lemon sized ball
Vathal/ Vegetable of your choice(I used sundakaai vathal)
Sambar powder – 1 tbsp
Turmeric
Salt
Oil - 2 tbsp
Pepper - 1 tbsp
Asofetida / Hing – 1 pinch
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Procedure :

1. Soak the tamarind in water and extract the tamarind pulp. To make your work easier you can microwave the soaked tamarind for 30 seconds.
2. Dry roast all the ingredients that has to be ground and make them into a smooth dry powder.
3. In a heavy bottomed pan (traditionally a cast iron kadai is used), heat few spoons of oil. Usually sesame oil or gingely oil is used , but any oil would do good. If you are planning to use vathals instead of vegetables, now is the good time to fry those. Once done take it and leave it aside. You can add it at a later time to the kuzhambu.
4. Add the mustard seeds, curry leaves, asafetida, urad dal and channa dal to the oil.
5. Now add garlic, fry till its raw smell goes off add then add onions, fry till they turn to golden brown color. Add the sambar powder, tumeric , salt and sauté for 2 mnutes.
6. If you are planning to add vegetables add it now and sauté for few more minutes.
7. Now add the tamarind pulp and let it simmer for around 10-15 minutes.
8. Then add the dry ground masala powder, stir well. Add the vathals immediately after the masala powder and allow it to boil for 10 more minutes.
9. If vatha kolambu is too watery add 1 tsp of rice flour and allow it to boil to get the required consistency.
10. Enjoy vatha kuzhambu with hot steamed rice and sutta appalam.

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Make Ginger Chicken with the help of this Video !!!