Badami Chicken

This is a lip smacking, rich tasting chicken dish which can be prepared quickly. My kids loved it and called it the best chicken dish they have ever tasted!

Ingredients:

Whole chicken cut into 8 - 12 pcs

Onions - 1 big size

Coriander seeds - 1/2 a tspn

Fennel seeds (saunf) - 1/4 tspn

Star anise - 1

Bay leaf - 1

Almonds - a handful

Red chilly powder - 2 tspns

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tspn

Yoghurt - 1/2 cup

Ginger garlic paste - 3tspns

Green chillies - 4 small

Cilantro - a few sprigs

Vegetable oil - 2 tblspns

Salt to taste

Method:

Clean, wash and drain the chicken. Grind almonds with the star anise and keep aside. Rub the chicken with salt, 2 tspns ginger garlic paste, 1 tspn red chilly powder, 1/4 tspn turmeric powder, one tblspn yoghurt and leave to marinate for 1 hr. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add fennel and coriander seeds and bay leaf to the hot oil followed immediately by chopped onions. Fry till golden brown, add remaining 1 tspn ginger garlic paste, turmeric, and chilly powder to the onions stir for sometime then add the marinated chicken. Turn over from all sides and cook till the chicken changes color and gets nicely roasted in the masala. Add whole green chillies and the remaining yoghurt. Make a paste of the almond & star anise mixture with a little water and add to the chicken. Blend well and leave to simmer for 10 - 15 minutes till the mixture thickens. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with ghee rice or Naan.

The subtle flavour of anise combined with almonds gives a rich taste and flavour to the dish.

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WHITE CHICKEN KORMA

Ingredients:
1 Whole Chicken - 2 lbs 

For the Marinade:

Yogurt - ¼ cup

Cream cheese - 2-3 tablespoons

Fennel seeds - 1 tsp

Nutmeg - 1/8 tsp

Mace - 1/8 tsp

Star anise - 1star

Black pepper corns - 2 tsp

Garlic paste - 1 tbs

Lemon juice - 1 tbs

Whipping cream - 2 tbs

Green chilies - 4 chopped

Saffron - a pinch dissolved in warm milk.

Vegetable oil - 1 tbs

Salt to taste

For the Korma:

Black pepper corns - 1/2 tsp

Mace - 1/8 tsp

Nutmeg - 1/8 tsp

Star anise - 1 star

Green cardamoms - 4

Black cardamom - 1

Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp

Bay leaves - 2

Vegetable oil 2 - 4 tbs

Fried onion paste - ¼ cup

Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp

Coriander powder - 2 tsp

Yogurt - ½ cup

Green chilies - 4 - 6

Cilantro chopped - ¼ cup

Full cream - ¼ cup

Salt to taste

Chicken Preparation:

1. Cut the chicken at the joints (6 pieces) and the breast into 6 pieces. Clean, wash and towel dry. Then rub the chicken with salt and lemon juice and leave to rest for 15 minutes.

2. Blend together cream cheese, yoghurt and whipping cream well. Grind together fennel, mace, nutmeg, star anise and pepper. 

3.Add the dry ground spices, garlic paste, chopped green chilies  salt, saffron and one tbs oil to the cheese mixture and mix well to make a smooth paste. Massage the chicken pieces with this mixture thoroughly and marinate for 4-6 hrs.

4. Place the marinated chicken in the oven in the top shelf and broil on high on both the sides and when it starts browning a bit, remove and keep aside to cool. The chicken may not be completely cooked, but it doesn't matter because we'll be cooking it in the korma again. We just want to give it a grilled look. 

Method:
1. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pot.

2. Sizzle the whole spices (Black and green cardamoms, fennel seeds, star anise, mace, nutmeg  and pepper corns in the vegetable oil for 10 seconds then add fried onion paste, coriander powder, green chilies and yoghurt. Mix well. 

3. Now transfer the broiled chicken with all its juices to the pot.  Adjust the salt and simmer for some time till the chicken is completely cooked (10- 15 minutes). Add some water if the gravy is too thick. Finally add the whipping cream, simmer for 2 more minutes and serve hot garnished with some chopped coriander. Enjoy!

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