There was ricotta cheese sitting in the fridge and I had to make a chicken dish for dinner. I wanted to make something different to avoid the curry smell and the spicy taste which the kids are fed up of eating day in and day out. I imagined what kind of taste the kids would appreciate, so had to incorporate the ingredients to get the flavour I wanted. The smooth texture of the ricotta cheese with the hung yoghurt and the subtle flavour of the cardamom along with the other ingredients made a good marinade. The white chilly powder spiced up the whole dish deceptively. White chilly powder can be a good substitute for white pepper if you want to avoid the strong odour of white pepper which cuts out all the other flavours in the food. The Minar brand of white chilly powder is available in grocery stores and in Ottawa at the Desi price club.
Ingredients:
1 Whole chicken - 1.5kgs
Ricotta cheese - 1/2 cup
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tspns
White chilly powder - 1tspn
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tspn
Coriander powder - 1tspn
Hung yoghurt or thick curds - 1/4 cup
Raw papaya powder (kachri powder) - 1tspn
Salt - 1/2 tspn
Olive oil - 1 tbspn + 1 tblspn for basting
Method: Clean, wash and cut the chicken breast into bite size pieces, towel dry and set them aside. Rub them with salt and kachri powder and leave for 10 mins. Kachri powder is used to tenderise the chicken. It is important to use thick curds or hung yoghurt because we do not want a runny marinade. The chicken pieces should be dry too. Mix together all the marinade ingredients including olive oil and leave to marinate for 1-2 hrs. Put the chicken pieces in a baking tray or cookie sheet covered with tin foil and broil on high for 4-6 mins on each side. Do not cover the chicken while broiling. Baste them with olive oil while broiling. Serve them hot with sliced onions and lemon wedges. Alternatively you may also bake the chicken (if the pieces are of big size and the quantity is large) on 400 degrees fahrenheit for 45 minutes.
