Chicken Hariyali Tikka

Mahesh and I hosted the super bowl game this sunday and I thought, why not replace the chicken wings with something a little more healthy and yet, delicious! So there.. I made this minty-coriander delight. The name 'hariyali' means green.. this is primarily a north Indian entree'.

Ingredients:
3 pounds of boneless chicken breasts
Marinade contents:
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
5 green chillies
1 cup fresh coriander leaves
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 cup yogurt
Salt to taste

Preparation:
Grind the coriander, green chillies and mint into a fine paste (you may use yogurt to make the grinding easy).
Mix this paste with the rest of the ingredients.
Cut the chicken into small size chunks.
Mix with the marinade.
Let it marinate overnight or at least 5-6 hours.
When ready to cook, arrange the chicken cubes into the skewers. If you have veggies (bell peppers, onions, mushrooms etc) you can alternate them with the chicken.
Cook in a conventional oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes and then broil for 5-10 minutes.
I strongly suggest cooking chicken "breast-meat" on a grill however, as the oven makes the chicken somewhat dry.

Serve hot with raita and naan!

Garlic Herb Pasta with Chicken and Shrimp

After coming back from work, sometimes I just don't feel like reaching out for the cutting board and start chopping.. And that's when I reach out for the IQF(Individual Quick Freeze) based frozen goods. One issue to solve though is to cook them in a manner that just gives it a made fresh from scratch taste and suits our respective taste buds. Mine and my husband's taste preferences are lots of flavour and spice, so my recipes are all full of both elements ;)
This is one of my favourites!

Ingredients:
1 packet of frozen "Penne pasta with chicken, shrimp and garlic herb sauce" (The brand I like is 'Viola' however go down the isle of frozen meals and pick up any packet that refers to a pasta meal with garlic herb sauce and if you follow the instructions below, you will most certainly get good results.)
1 chicken breast cooked & seasoned (again - look for this in the frozen foods, this is one thing you can very quickly get used to, and will love it forever!)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp lemon-pepper
salt
1 chicken bullion
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 cup penne pasta or garden rotini

Preparation:
Sprinkle 2 tbsp of water on the frozen chicken breast and heat for 1.5 minutes in the microwave. Allow it to cool down
Cut in half and slice it into thin strips
Optional step: Saute the chicken strips on a pan with some lemon pepper and crushed red pepper
In a deep dish, cook the garden rotini/penne pasta until done, drain and set aside
On medium heat, in a separate cooking pan, add 1 tsp olive oil
Add the thyme, rosemary and crushed red pepper
Now follow instructions to cook the frozen pasta on the stove
Once the frozen pasta is half thawed on stove, add a chicken bullion cube to the mix and 1/4 cup water
Add the lemon pepper and cook until the sauce, pasta is completely thawed and almost done.
Add the additional pasta that you just boiled and set aside with the rest of the frozen pasta mix.
Add chicken to the pasta and mix
Serve hot!

Serving suggestion:
Garnish with some fresh parmesan cheese and chopped parsley

Chicken Bihari Kebab

For the longest time I used to think that Bihari Kebab is only made out of ground beef. During my last visit to visit Mahesh's(my husband) parents in Atlanta, we went to eat at a restaurant called 'Lukma'. Mom ordered Chicken Bihari kebab and it was just delicious.

I returned to Austin but the taste just haunted me and I had to give it a try on my own. So I started reading online and I found there are several ways to make them with beef.

This is a recipe with some of my personal favourites in grilling ingredients that I tried with and found very pleasing results.

Ingredients:
2 lbs Chicken breast fillets cut in thin strips length wise

Marinade ingredients:
1/4 cup yogurt
1/4 of raw medium size raw papaya
1 tbsp amchur
1/2 lime freshly squeezed
1.5 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp red chili powder
2-3 green chillies
2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp Shaan Bihari Kebab Masala
Salt to taste

Preparation:
Cut the onions in wedges and saute them in a pan until they turn golden brown
Let the onions cool down, and then in a blender, grind the onions, green chillies, ginger, garlic and yogurt(for providing the liquid consistency while grinding)
Once that becomes a paste, add the raw papaya cut into pieces and blend.

For preparing the marinade, add the contents from the blender in a long dish (so the chicken pieces can sit lengthwise), add the rest of the marinade ingredients, add the meat.
Cover with a lid, and refrigerate overnight.

Cooking on a grill:
Make sure the heat is mild/low, as the breast pieces are very delicate and will burn off easily.
Take some skewers and arrange the meat in length.
Before putting on the grill, make sure there's plenty of marinade on all sides, especially the bottom of the meat.
Spray some oil for protective coating and effective cooking.
Let the meat cook on the bottom, do not turn the meat until the bottom is done completely else the marinade will not come off with the meat when you turn.
Cook to completion.

Cooking in a conventional oven:
Most kebab dishes taste good on a grill, however in this case, I found cooking in the oven more effective as we can carefully regulate the heat and broil it when needed in controlled conditions.
All the instructions are the same for placement of the meat and grilling, except the temperature conditions.
I cooked the meat on lo Broil settings until the 1st turn of the kebabs. For the second turn, you can put it in high broil as the breast meat cooks very fast. Really, what you are broiling at this point is the marinade.

Serve with yogurt raita or fresh onions and lime.

Masala grilled Chicken

For 10-12 pieces of uncut chicken thighs:
Marinade
0.5 cup yoghurt
1.5 tbsp red pepper
1 tbsp turmeric
3 tbsp readymade garam-masala (OR you can make it fresh by mixing 5
pieces cloves, 2 tbsp cumin, 3 cinnamon sticks, 2 cardamoms peeled and
grind it in the coffee grinder)
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
Handful of fresh corianger leaves finely chopped
1 tbsp lime juice
salt to taste (maybe around 1 tbsp)

Mix it all up with the chicken and marinate for 4-5 hours, or overnight.

When you are ready to grill, take the chicken abt 30 mins or 1 hr
before so it comes to room temperature before putting on the grill. Grill on one side for about 20 minutes, flip them to the other side and grill for another 20 minutes or until the pink is gone.
Note that every grill is different and so you may need to experiment and check on the chicken periodically.
I usually put it on the lowest heat settings so it's slow grilling process which doesn't dry out the meat or burn the exterior too quick.

Serve:
Serve with fresh onions marinated in lime juice, tomatoes, cucumbers cut in circlular shapes.

Chicken Dum Biryani

In some ghee/oil, Fry some jeera, onions, and tej patta, if you have that biryani flower like thing, add that too - add basmati rice and fry until you can smell the rice (about 5 mins or so)
Cook it, put less water than usual, so the rice is dry and not sticky.

For the chicken:
Heat some oil, add 1 tbsp garam masala, stir for about 5 secs, add 1 big onion, cut into small pieces
Add 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste, 4-5 green chillies
Stir until golden brown
Add the chicken, salt to taste, mix
Stir, cook for 15 mins
In some oil, add onions(more the better), ginger garlic, green chilles
Once fried , add 1/2 tbsp garam masala powder(either fresh or readymade)
Add 2 tomatos(if small). If big, one is enough
add turmeric, red chilli powder
fry the tomato until fully cooked and oil separates
Cook with lid on until chicken is fully cooked and leaves water.
Once cooked, remove the lid and let the water evaporate and the chicken is browned on the sides
Add pudina leaves, coriander leaves if available
fry the chicken until oil comes out
make sure some sauce is there

Add a layer of chicken at the bottom, layer of rice, layer of chicken again and layer of rice.
Optionally, you can add some kewra water to this
Optionally you can add some saffron dissolved in water and sprinkle
Put it in the oven so the flavor spreads to the meat and rice. At about 350 for 10-15 mins. Be careful, so it doesn't stick to the dish.

Chinese chicken fried rice

Ingrediants
[For 4 people]
2 cups ooked rice (better if its left over as the moisture in the rice is either evaporated or lost in refrigeration giving it a dry consistency, which is key). If you are preparing the rice fresh, once cooked lay it out on a open dish so the heat and vapor is gone.
Boneless chicken breast(or thigh meat) cut into very small pieces. Marinate for 30 mins in soy sauce + salt + worcester sauce(if you have this sauce - this is optional)
5-6 garlic cloves
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tsp white pepper
3 dried red chillies
3 eggs
1 onion (1 big or 2 small)
Green peas
Spring Onions or shallots for garnish

Process
In a wok, heat some oil (You can add butter to give it a richer taste)
Add 5-6 garlic cloves finely cut TIP: shouldn't let them brown too much otherwise they will give a bitter taste
when they just about start to turn yellow, add onions(one big, or 2 small) finely cut - can be largely cut if you like to see them.
add 1 tsp black pepper
add some red pepper flakes and red chillies. You can also add green chillies instead
once onions are fried, add the chicken, salt to taste; about 1-2 tbsp soy sauce
let the chicken cook until the pink is gone
once cooked, push it to the side, and break open 3 eggs - scramble them on the wok
once the eggs are cooked, mix with rice and stir
Add 2 tsp white pepper.
1 tsp black pepper again
check the taste to see if more soy sauce is needed
add spring onions if you have, else its fine
toss it, and serve.

Minced Chicken Kebabs

2 lbs Minced chicken Trays (serves about 7-8 people about 4-5 pieces)

Marinade:
1 big red onion - cut into small pieces
4-5 green chillies - cut finely
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
coriander leaves finely cut
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp fresh squuezed lime juice (substitute with lime concentrate if you dont have fresh limes)

Garam Masala: In a coffee grinder(if you dont have one, buy it - it's
worth it), blend the following:
4-5 cloves
2 cardamoms peeled & seeded
3 small pieces of cinnamon
3 tbsp cumin
1/2 tbsp coriander seeds

Enhancers/Optionals:
Add handful of fresh pudina leaves finely cut, to the marinade
1/2 tbsp amchur (dry mango powder)

Procedure:
Mix all (chicken, marinade, garam masala) of the above ingrediants together. It might be better if you use your hands or a food processor in the lowest settings.
Marinate for 3-4 hours. If you dont have time to marinate it, dont worry - they will still taste good. Marination just gives that extra edge on the final taste.

For arranging them into the kebab sticks, shape them into cylindrical

around the skewers by dipping your hands in beaten eggs (1-2 should be good enough)

Spray some cooking oil on the kebabs [Optional]

If you dont have skewers, alternatively you can arrange a sieved tray on top of a deep dish baking tray and place the kebabs on the tray. The sieved tray is needed to drain down the water from the kabab below.

Prepare a deep dish oven baking tray by covering the bottom surface with aluminium foil. This is so that the juices from the kebabs dont leave a layer of dried spices after the kebabs are done.

Cook for 30 minutes at 400F. Take out the kebabs, turn them so they face the other side and put them back in the oven for another 30 minutes or until cooked. Once fully cooked, broil them for 2-3 minutes at 500F - this gives a nice roasty color to the kebabs.

Presentation:
Once done, take them out of the skewers and place them on a dish, sprinkle some lemon juice, and serve with fresh onions on the side.
Alternatively, if you used short skewers you can present them with the skewers in a plate with cut lemons and onions on the side.