Breaded Chicken

Tweet

I love breaded chicken! Of course, the deep fried version is my favorite but the skillet fried version is a close second. Then again, skillet fried being healthier maybe we should bump it up to numero uno. What do you say?



This recipe is inspired by 'barefoot contessa.' Recently, I saw her on TV featuring zesty lemon breaded chicken. It looked terrific, and seeing that it was skillet fried I decided to give it a whirl myself. Not disappointed at all, and will definitely keep making it with or without lemon zest.



Having not used any lemon zest, I made a lemon vinaigrette with juice of one lemon and double the quantity of extra virgin olive oil. Spice up the vinaigrette with freshly ground black pepper, and a shallot or two, and you have a fantastic dinner.



Ingredients:

Chicken Breast - 3
All-purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Bread crumbs - 1/2 cup
Parmesan Cheese - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1/2 tspn
Pepper - generous amount
Egg - 1
Cajun Spice - 1/2 tspn
Butter - for skillet frying
Olive oil - for frying

Method:

1. Take each chicken breast in a zip lock bag and without closing it pound the chicken with a mallet or rolling pin
2. Mix flour, Cajun spice, salt and pepper and keep it in a dinner plate
3. In another plate take bread flour and parmesan cheese
4. Beat one egg in a bowl in which you can dip the chicken breast
5. Coat each chicken breast in the flour mixture followed by the egg and lastly coat it with the bread crumbs.
6. Heat the butter and olive oil in a skillet and fry the chicken for 3 to 4 minutes on each side

Contributor: Sunitha
Inspired by Barefoot Contessa's recipe

Egg n' Cauliflower

Tweet

     I have been cooking, but not updating the blog (obviouslyJ).  No particular reasons – that’s just how it is some times!  Then I made some cauliflower and egg and thought, "now here is something to share!"  If you are like me,  on a rainy day like today, when husband decides to work from home, then this one is for you.  Quickly stirred up and yet satisfying.  It's double good becuase it goes well with both rotis and rice!

    A little crunchy onions here, the piquant thai chilies there, and ofcourse, eggs and cauliflower everywhere.  It's a simple, tasty dish and nobody needs to have any special culinary skills to put it together.

  If you stayed with me so far, go on and take a peek at the recipe.  You won't be disappointed.  It's too easy to pass.

Ingredients:
Cauliflower      - 1/4
Eggs                - 1
Green Chillies  - 2 (thai chillies)
Onions            - 1/2
Garlic              - 1 pod
Ginger             - a pinch grated or chopped fine
Salt                 - to taste
Oil                  - 1/2 tbspn

Method:

1. Heat a non stick pan (I prefer non-stick for this dish) with the oil
2. Add the onions and saute till translucent and add the ginger, garlic and green chilies sauteing well and chilies are cooked too
3. Add the cauliflower, lower the heat to a bare minimum and cook the cauliflower it will just take a couple of minutes to cook the cauliflower and yet keep it crunchy
4. Once done salt the cauliflower taste to make sure its enough
5. Beat the egg and pour over and mix in rapidly getting it scrambled



Serve with roits or rice.

Contributor: Sunitha

Tandoori Chicken

Tweet

Thanks for all your wishes to Sunitha and me.Thanks for your understanding and continued support.

Today's dish is so popular that it doesn't need any introduction.My family just love this and we make it quite often.Usually I do not add any food color,rather I would add more Kashmiri chilli powder for the color.See you all with another delicacy, soon :-)



Ingredients:

Chicken Drumsticks- 6-7
Yogurt- 4-5 Tbsp
Ginger-Garlic Paste- 1 Tbsp
Lemon Juice- 1 tsp
Pepper powder- 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder- 1/2 Tbsp
Kashmiri chilli powder-1 Tbsp
Garam Masala- 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 Tbsp
Turmeric- a pinch
Red food color (optional)- a few drops
Salt- To taste
Oil- 1 Tbsp



Method:

1.Clean the drumsticks and remove all the water by placing them on paper towels.
2.Prepare the marinade by mixing together all the ingredients except the oil, listed.If you have time it would be great if you could take out all the water from yogurt by letting it hang in a muslin cloth for some time.
3.Make some incisions on the drumsticks and apply the marinade on each of them.
4.Finally sprinkle the oil on top and cover it, keep in the refrigerator for overnight or at least 8 hours.
5.Preheat the oven at 450 degree F.Place an Aluminum foil on a baking tray. (this would help reduce the mess).Place the drumsticks a few inches apart and spray with some oil.
6.Bake for about 30 minutes ,turning the sides in between.
7.If your oven has broil option keep it at 500 degree F, broil for 10 minutes,again turning the sides in between.If you are not broiling, keep it at 450 for another 10-12 minutes or until it is done.
8.If you have a grill, keep it on high until the chicken is done.This takes about 20-25 minutes.

Contributor: Namitha

Chicken in Peanut Sauce

Tweet

   This one is an experiment I did after reading through some thai recipes.  I did not have mountain sauce or thai paste to make it all thai so I improvised because it was one of those day when I was desperate for something different.  The flavor of pineapple, peanuts and capsicum/bell pepper brings the dish together.  My husband thought, for once, it had to be sweeter but I did not add any more sweet than what the pineapple was bringing in. 

Ingredients:

Chicken Breast - 2 cut into small pieces
Onion               - 1/2 of a medium sized one
Ginger              - 1 tspn chopped fine
Garlic               - 1 or 2 tspn chopped fine
Capsicum/ Bell Pepper - 1/2
Green Chilies    - 2 nos
Chili powder    - 1 tspn
Pepper             - for taste
Fish sauce        - 1 tspn
Peanut butter    - 1 Tbspn
Pineapple         - 3/4 cup chunks with some juice (I used canned pineapple chunks)
Canola Oil        - 1 Tbspn
Chicken Stock  - 1 cup

Method:
1. Heat 1 Tbspn of oil in a pan and saute onions, ginger and garlic
2. Follow with chicken pieces till it turns white
3. Add bell peppers and green chilies and saute for a minute
4. Add fish sauce, peanut butter, chili powder and tomatoes and saute
5. Add a cup of chicken stock and cook the chicken until the sauce thickens.  Add ground pepper if you want the dish to be spicier
6. Garnish with spring onions/scallions and serve with rice or rotis

Contributor: Sunitha

Chicken curry in a jiffy

Tweet

I make this chicken curry when I am in a hurry. Much simpler than how I usually I make.  Throw everything into the pressure cooker and cook it down.  Having said that, some of the frying I take time to do does help to enhance and flavor and nobody can really say the difference. Almost!



Ingredients:

Chicken- 2lbs
Onions (finely chopped)-2
Ginger paste- 1 1/2 Tbsp
Garlic Paste- 1 1/2 Tbsp
Chicken masala (I used Eastern)- 2 Tbsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt
Garam Masala- 1 tsp
Red Chilli powder- 1 Tbsp
Coriander powder- 2 Tbsp
Tomato puree- 3 tsp
Curry leaves- 2 Sprig

Method:

1.Clean and marinate the chicken in chicken masala ,turmeric powder and salt.
2.Deep fry the onions in oil and keep aside.
3.Heat a tbsp of oil in a pressure cooker, saute the ginger and galic paste till the raw smell leaves.
4.Add all the spice powders into it and saute on low heat.
5.Throw in the fried onions and tomato puree and mix well.
6.Add the marinated chicken and curry leaves and saute for 3-4 minutes on low heat.
7.Add enough water to cook the chicken (I added 1 1/2 cup water) ,cover and cook till 2 whistles.
8.Open and mix well once all the pressure is released.Serve with ghee rice/fried rice/roti etc.



Contributor: Namitha

Chicken Chili

Tweet

Being in the south of USA it will be a shame if I don't write about its cuisine or at least my favorites. Chili's with corn bread or rolls are one of my favorites.  The recipe today is more or less opening cans and throwing things together, however, I will follow it some day with a more authentic' from scratch' recipe. A can of beans, tomatoes, cooked chicken and stock all thrown together can make a great chili like I have done today.  Hope you will enjoy this dish which will agree with our Indian palates with the addition of chili powder and cumin.  The combination of meat and beans too in this recipe is quite interesting you will agree.  A one pot meal, a choice on a lazy day.
       

      Ingredients:
Seasoned Southern Sytle field peas -  1 can (14 oz)
Onion                                             - 1/2 chopped
Tomato                                          - 1/2 of a big tomato chopped fine (To avoid skin showing in the dish you may blach the tomato and peel it)
Garlic                                             - 4 cloves
Cumin                                            - 1 tspn whole (powder/crush it)
Chili Powder                                  - 1/2 tspn
Pepper powder                              - as per taste
Salt                                                - to taste
Capsicum                                       - 1/2 finely chopped
Chicken Broth                                - 1/2 cup
Cooked/Grilled chicken                  - 1/2 to 3/4 cup chunks
Olive Oil                                         - 1 Tbspn

Method:
1. Heat 1 Tbspn of olive oil in a deep pan
2. Saute the onions followed by the garlic, tomatoes and bell peppers and saute after each addition
3. Throw in the can of beans and 1/2 cup of chicken broth
4. Add 1/2 cup of chopped cooked chicken (I used grilled chicken)
5. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes on low heat and serve garnished with cilantro and a dollop of whipped cream

Notes: You can eat the chicken chili like you would a soup.  You could also serve it as a side dish with baked pork, steamed asparagus and potato salad .
2. I especially find chili's very close in taste to the Indian dishes with the addition of cumin so you could even make cook kidney beans at home and then add all the ingredients as mentioned in this recipe and make a chili.

Contributor: Sunitha

Bachelor's Eggroast

Tweet

This is my hubby's recipe.  He apparently started doing this as early as when he was in high school and my mom in law says she never helped him with the recipe.  This is the simplest egg preparation I have come across yet but totally loved by all at home.  I hope you have the same success satisfying the palettes of your dear ones with an easy yet scrummy egg roast.

  I am enjoying the monsoons. Rain splattering outside, my children screaming and screeching at any bug that flies into the house, its chaotic, homely fun. It's wild.  I have to add there is nothing like moms cooking.  I guess it's rightly said that the taste is because they add a pinch of love.  I am wrapping that love and this weather over me like my favorite afghan.  I will need it when I leave.



Ingredients

Eggs,hard boiled- 4-5
Onions finely chopped- 2
Salt
Oil- 2-3 Tbsp
Red chilli powder- 1 tsp

Method:

1.Heat oil in a pan and saute the onions, do this on medium high heat and stir often.Turn down the heat when the onions become golden brown.
2.Add the salt and chilli powder and saute for a couple of minutes.
3.Cut the eggs into halves and place them on the pan, cut side down and put all the onion slices on top of the pieces.
4.Turn the egg halves when the side is slightly browned.
5.Do the same for the other side too. Serve warm with roti or rice.



Notes:

1. I have tried this with garam masala, coriander powder etc. But we like this with just the chilli powder,exactly like my hubby used to do :-)

Contributor: Namitha

Butter Chicken

Tweet

   The summer days in Nashville are proving to be quite exciting.  Yesterday I went out to see the Chihuli exhibit in Cheekwood gardens.  They are beautiful artwork with blown glass.  I hate seeing very colorful, jazzy stuff in my favorite garden but I have to agree that it was quite tastefully presented keeping in sync with  colors around.  Obviously, I was tired after hours of walking around garden, and getting back home to cooking was the last thing on my mind.  However, there was nothing to eat at home so I had to cook.  I know I could buy something out but then again I wanted to eat Indian and it we don't have any close by.  I took the chicken breast I had frozen and cooked some butter chicken.  Since it was a small quantity it was not too much labor and this I hope will help some of you out there who like smaller proportions for cooking.  The effort was worth it though I could have done without cooking yesterday.  I hope you enjoy this recipe. 

Ingredients:

Chicken - 2 breasts

Marination
Yogurt - 1/3 cup
Chili powder - 1 tspn
Coriander powder - 1/2 tspn
Garam Masala - 1/2 tspn
Kasturi Methi - 1 pinch
Salt - 1 tspn
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tspn

For the Gravy:
Cumin - 1/4 tspn
Black cumin - 1/4 tspn (shah jeera)
Onions - 1 medium size
Ginger - 1 Tbspn chopped
Garlic - 5 plump cloves chopped fine
Tomato - 1 Big (blanched, peeled)
Oil        - 2 Tbspn
Chili Powder -  1 1/2 tspn
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tspn
Garam Masala - 1 tspn
Kasturi Methi - 1 Pinch
Butter   - 1 Tbspn

 Method:
1. Mix all the ingredients for marination and mix in chicken breast cut in small pieces and keep aside for 1/2 hr to 1 hr
2. For the gravy: Heat oil in a pan and splutter both the cumin
3. Add the finely chopped onions and saute followed by ginger and garlic till translucent or even a little more done but I did not brown the onions
4. Switch off the fire, add in all the powders serve it out into a bowl and keep aside to cool
5. Once cool grind the onion mixture to a paste.  You could also add your blanched tomato at this time since it will give enough moisture to make a puree of all the ingredients together
6. Cook the chicken in the oil left from frying the onions on medium heat. This is to cook the chicken keeping it's juices intact.  So increase the heat a little but make sure the chicken is not overdone or brown.  When all the yogurt gravy sticks to the chicken and its cooked through add the ground puree
7. If you feel the gravy need more cooking allow it to cook with the chicken on medium to low fire for 10 to 20 minutes.  The gravy will bubble and splutter so you cook close it but also be aware the gravy tends to burn easily so make sure you are stirring it intermittently.  If you want the gravy thinner add water and let it come to  a boil.  I did not add any water since I wanted a thick gravy
8. Once the gravy is cooked add 1/4 cup of fresh cream, stir in and turn the fire off

 Contributor: Sunitha

Szechuan Chicken

Tweet

   Photographing Chinese food is a joy.  Their color on black or white background is stunning.  My love for this food though goes beyond photography.  I am addicted to Chinese food.  Addiction can sometimes lead people in the positive.  I started experimenting with Chinese food a long time back.  I always have soya sauce and oyster sauce at my disposal.  A very sharp chili sauce which I found after coming to the US has  become indispensable now.  Today's recipe uses soya sauce and vinegar for sure but otherwise the flavors are more from the garlic, dry red chili and sesame oil making it piquant and I loved this variation.   It's a brave move to name this dish Szechuan because I am unable to vouch for authenticity.  However, after chasing the internet for some history I found that Szechuan cuisine originated in Sichuan Province in China and the cuisine used Sichuan pepper which makes all the difference.  I used regular chilies from the Indian store and hence this is probably more of a Indian Szechuan Chicken.  The only other reason I braved this move in naming it so is the liberal use of sesame oil, a generous amount of ginger and garlic.  Either ways it is tasty.  I know you have only my word to go by but try it for sure you will not be disappointed.

Ingredients:
1. Chicken Breast      - 2
2. Ginger                   - 1 Tbspn
3. Garlic                    - 2 Tbspn
4. Onions                  - 1/2 of medium
5. Cabbage               - a small wedge
6. Carrot                   - 1
7. Bell Pepper           - 1
8. Pepper                  - 1 tspn
9. Dry Red Pepper    - 10 nos
10. Tomato Ketchup - 1/2 Tbspn
11. Soya Bean          - 4 Tbspn
12. Scallions (spring onions) = 2 for garnishing
13. Rice Vinegar      - 1 Tbspn (most recipes for Schezwan I have seen Sherry being used.  I din't have any so used rice vinegar and I know this is not a preferred substitute.  Please use dry sherry if you have)
14. Sesame Oil         - 3 Tbspn (The taste is quite sharp, use canola oil and just a little sesame oil if you are not used to or like the taste of sesame oil.  The sesame taste is distinct and gives the dish a feel as if from a restaurant)

Method:
1. Marinate chicken with salt and pepper for at least 1/2 hour
2. Heat some oil in a wok and saute the thinly sliced chicken till the pink flesh turns white and its cooked through and keep aside
3. Add some more oil into the wok followed by chopped onions and saute for a couple of minutes
4. Tip in the chopped ginger and garlic in this order and saute
5. Add julienne carrots, cabbage and bell pepper sauteing after each addition
6. Add a tablespoon of rice vingegar, 2 tbspn soya bean sauce and check for salt and if needed
7. Move this off into another dish.
8. In the same wok add either 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock or water and let it boil
9. Add 1 Tbspn of corn starch into 1/2 cup of water and stir to dissolve
10. Pour this and 1 Tbspn ketchup and 2 Tbspn or soya bean sauce, thicken
11. Tip in the chicken and vegetables and stir in and serve hot over rice or cooked noodles

Notes:
1. When making chinese food I prefer having all the ingredients chopped and kept ready before the wok is heated
2. On medium high or high flame the ingredients and dropped in and cooked quickly
3. Make sure your chicken is cooked well
4. Szechuan cuisine uses star anise and brown sugar and you may use one of star anise when you start frying the onions and 1 tspn of brown sugar when you make the sauce
5. Since I did not want the sweetness and still have a little to bring the flavors together I used 1 Tbspn of ketchup.

Contributor: Sunitha

Chicken in a Blanket

Tweet

  I am sure you will all agree it's a good idea to save for a rainy day.  Now, today's recipe is one like that.  I bungled up big time.  I am way off with photographing and even though I made some nice sauteed broccoli I  never got around to taking a picture.  However, these old pictures I had with me will save my day.  Its chicken marinated in garlic powder, salt, paparika and oregano wrapped in cooked cabbage leaf.  The name for the dish is probably a misnomer.  I got the idea of doing this dish after I read about pig in the blanket.  One of the reasons for keeping this recipe away for so long was in the hope that I will make pig in the blanket first and then as a variation talk about this one.  Well, some of our bad time management skills catches up with us and good intentions have to be sacrificed.

Ingredients:
Chicken Breast - 2
Garlic powder - 1/2 tspn (you could sprinkle some if you do not care for too much of a garlicky taste)
Oregano - 1/2 tspn (again it's optional add as much or little.)
Olive oil - 2 tspn
Salt - to taste
Cabbage leaves 6

Method:
1. Boil water with salt in a fairly large pan to immerse cabbage leaf without breaking it.
2. Cook for just a few minutes until you feel they are pliable and you can work with them to wrap meat in
3. Marinate chicken for an hour
4. Heat olive oil in a pan and cook chicken till done
5. Cut the chicken into small pieces and add jalepeno, pickled or fresh shallots finely chopped
6. Place the meat on one edge and carefully wrap it
7. It's ok if it breaks you can add a piece of chicken on top of your wrap and tightly secure it with a tooth pick

Enjoy as a snack

Contributor: Sunitha

Kaada Roast/ Quail Roast

Tweet

There is a famous saying in Kerala about the quail which goes like this, 1000 chicken = 1/2 of a quail.This could be because it's a high calorie,high cholesterol meat.Most of the Toddy shops in Kerala serves this as a side dish. We have already told you about the toddy shops here.



Ingredients:

Quail- 5-6
Onion- 3
Oil- 3-4 Tbsp
Green chillies- 2-3
Tomato- 1
Garlic cloves(grated)- 9-10
Ginger grated- 3 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Salt- To taste
Chilli powder- 2 1/2tsp
Pepper powder- 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder- 2 tbsp
Garam masala- 2 tsp
Curry leaves- 1 sprig
Coconut milk- 1 cup

Method:

1. Marinate the quail with turmeric and salt.
2.Meanwhile heat oil in a pan and saute the onion till it starts turning slight golden brown in color.
3.Add chopped green chillies ,ginger and garlic. Saute till the raw smell leaves.
4.Throw in finely chopped tomato and saute again.
5.Now add the other spice powders and curry leaves and mix well.
6.Mix the marinated quail and close the lid to cook for 3-4 minutes.
7.Pour in the coconut milk and mix well.
8.Close the lid and cook on low heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring a couple of times in between.
9.Open the lid and stir continuously to dry off any water content.
10.Take out into a serving bowl.




Contributor: Namitha

Hoisin Chicken

Tweet

The gloomy weather shows no signs of letting up. The weekend was misty , murky and mundane except for some hoisin chicken I made. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Yes it was. The other day, I saw some pictures of hoisin chicken in Peanutts blog and drooled.  Instantly decided I need to try this sauce. I picked up a bottle on my regular shopping fix at the grocers and I have to say, not disappointing at all! Let’s try a positive statement. It‘s exquisite!

The recipe on Peanutts blog called for steaming the chicken but I did my own thing. Her recipe looks scrumptious and was helpful to understand how much of the sauce I can add without totally messing up. Please click on the highlighted link to reach her page.

If there are any authentic ways of cooking with hoisin sauce I am in the dark of the same.  Today’s recipe has nothing to do with authenticity but a lot to do with fun, both cooking and eating.

The chicken was marinated for a couple of hours and stir fried with vegetables that I picked up on random from the refrigerator. They were the misplaced, running around kinds who were looking lost in my vegetable tray, needing help. I spruced then up with some trimming and tossed in. Following, I thickened the sauce,  pouring over the cooked chicken and vegetables and sprinkling with sesame seeds to close the deal.



Ingredients:
Chicken Breast - 2
Green chillies    - 4 nos
Capsicum red and green (Bell Peppers)         - 1/2 cup diced
Cabbage          - a couple of leaves torn
carrots              - 1/2
Hoisin sauce      - 3 Tbspn
Oyster sauce    - 2 Tbspn
Soya bean sauce - 1 - 2 Tbspn
Sesame seed     - to sprinkle on top (approximately 1 tspn)
Oil                     - 2 tbspn
Ginger                - 1 Tbspn thinkly chopped
Garlic                 - 1/2 Tbspn chopped
Corn starch        - 1 Tbspn
Water or Chicken broth - 1 and 1/4 cup


Method:
1. Marinate the chicken in 1 tbspn hoisin sauce, 1 tbspn oyster sauce and 1 tbspn soya bean sauce for 2 hours or freeze it till you want to use next
2. Heat oil in a pan and stir fry the chicken with ginger and garlic till cooked
3. Spoon them out and in the remainting oil proceed to saute the vegetables like bok choy, cabbage, bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower etc.  I have used cabbage, bell peppers and carrots.
4. Add some more of all the three sauce just enough to spice up the vegetables.  Just a little is fine.
5. Once they are cooked al dente throw back the chicken and cook them all together and transfer into your serving dish
6. Add a cup of water and all the three remaining sauce and bring to a boil.  Add the corn starch dissolved in 1/4th cup water and add to the boiling sauce.  Thicken and add to the prepared chicken and vegetables and sprinkle with sesame seeds


Notes:
1. All meaurements are approximate
2. Avoid or reduce green chillies.  I like the dishes hot and add quite a few chillies.  This one was quite piquant so reduce the no of chillies if you like your dish mild.
3. I like cabbage, bok choy, peppers, broccoli or cauliflower, celery, scallions etc in the chinese style dishes I make. I have never used potatoes for example in these preparations and so cannot vouch for it going well even though I tend to loosely state add vegetables of your choice.

Chicken Curry - 1

Tweet

    Curry as you know is any vegetable, fish or meat in a gravy.  And chicken curry can be made with different gravies. The difference between the gravies are the ingredients used to make them.  I would call the most basic one to be of onion and tomato.  The variations from the basic is when consistency and richness is changed by addition to the basic.  Fesh cream, coconut milk, cashew nuts ground to a paste, spinach or other leafy vegetables pureed or poppy seed paste etc to name a few. We will continue to update our blog with the variations in future.

  I am sharing the tomato and onion gravy spiced with curry powder and garam masala today.  By curry powder here I mean  coriander powder, paparika, turmeric.  'Garam masala' is a blend of whole spices like cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and fennel seeds.  Then again there are many more spices which are added and deleted as per taste and cuisine.

   I will share the way I make garam masala in my next post.

   The timings below are all approximate and even the powders mentioned are how I like it.  Depending on your tolerance towards the spices add and subtract.  Remember, thickening of the gravy is from the onions, tomato and coriander powder make your variations keeping this in mind.  At home we like the curries to be so spicy that it hits our senses so to speak. 

Ingredients:
Chicken             - 1 pound
Onions               - 2 medium
Garlic                 - 1 whole chopped coarsely it yields around 1/4 cup
Ginger                - a big piece when coarsely cut yields 1/4 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tspn
Chilli powder      - 1 tbspn
Black Pepper     - 1/4th tspn
Coriander           - 3 tbspn
Garam masala    - 1 1/2 tspn
Tomato              - 2 medium size ones that you get on vine and which are sour
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup packed chopped fine
Oil                      - 4 Tbspn (use according to your convenience as long as you can saute the onions golden brown)
Salt                    - 1 tspn or as per taste (use your judgement use half and only remaining after tasting)

Method:

1.  Saute onions till translucent and starting to turn golden
2.  Add ginger,garlic and saute
3.  Add all the powders and saute till oil leaves the pan or if you are using less oil on a low fire make sure you cook the powders till the raw smell leaves
4. Add tomato chopped and saute and stirring make sure oil leaves pan before you add chicken. The moisture from the tomato allows you to see the oil seperating so wait patiently and do this process on medium low
5. Add the washed clean and dried chicken and mix well.  At this point on a medium low heat again let the chicken cook until you see water leaving the chicken. Stirring intemittently.
6. I would cook the chicken in  its own water for approximately 20 - 30 minutes or until all the water has dried up and the chicken is cooked in its gravy.
7. Once the water has dried add 1/4th to 1/2 cup of boiling water and stir
8. Let the water combine well to make a thick gravy


Notes:
1. I make sure the chicken cooks on the stove on a medium low fire for 30-45 minutes.  This ensures we recommended cooking time for poultry is reached as well as the spices have permeated the meat.
2. Kashmiri chilli powder available in Indian stores are less hot compared to the paparika.  As such you may opt for this chilli powder to keep the color and consistency and keeping the curry mild.

Contributor: Sunitha

Sizzling Chicken Drumsticks

Tweet

   Over weekends, you will agree we all like to have some special food to enjoy family time.  Last weekend, rather than buying frozen nuggets I decided to bake some drumsticks. I like experimenting with chicken because it beautifully adapts with a myriad of flavors.  You add orange juice or mango or garam masala or whatever you can think of and chicken, like a sponge will absorb and blend with it to make a delectable dish.

   So here is how I cooked the drumsticks.  Go ahead and feel free to try different ingredients to personalize it.


Drumsticks – 6 nos
Soya Bean Sauce – 2 tbspn
Garlic Powder – ½ tspn
Chili Powder – 1 tspn
Pepper Powder – 1 tspn
Alcohol – 1 Tbspn
Oil - 1 - 2 tspn
Salt - to taste ( I did not add any because the soya bean sauce I have with me is quite salty, so if you are adding a sauce add salt with caution)

1. Add all the ingredients and marinate the chicken for at least two hours.
2. Line a dish with oil and set aside
3. Preheat oven to 350 degree F/ 180 degree C and bake chicken for 20 – 30 minutes.  Time of cooking  depends upon your oven so adjust accordingly.
4. 10 - 15 minutes through the cooking time check the chicken.  Take the dish out and baste it (pour the juices and oil over the chicken) and flip the pieces to ensure both sides are equally browned.
5. Continue cooking.
6. Once chicken is cooked remove pan from the oven and add the alcohol, I added whiskey. You will hear the sizzling noise and an aroma is imparted which will definitely have your mouth watering.


Serve with pickled chili's, onions and tomatoes. This works well as a starter or make it a full meal by having some cooked vegetables with it.


Awards:


There have been a lot of awards being given away from Priya and Sangeetha and we accept and treasure them.