Smoked White Chicken

I have been looking for a good brand of garam masala powder for so long and only last week this new Zafrani Shaan garam masala attracted my attention and when I checked the ingredients, I knew this is it!

I am not a fan of Shaan spices at all and I hate them all except for one or two as they are all the same. But this one has just the garam masala spices and not cumin or coriander or anything else like other brands, plus it has saffron too.

I used it today in the marinade for smoked white chicken. The garam masala enhanced the taste and the smoky flavour in the chicken was awsome. Everybody just loved it. In fact they were all duped into believing that I barbequed the chicken when I didn't.Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

Chicken - one whole

Garlic paste - 1 tblspn

Dhania (coriander) powder - 1 tspn

White Chilly powder - 1 tspn

Shaan's Zafrani garam masala - 2 tspns

Yoghurt - 1/2 cup

Salt - 1/2 tspn

Lemon juice or red wine vinegar- 1 tblspn

Olive oil - 1 tblspn

Whipping cream - partially skimmed - 1-2 tblspns

Method:

1.Clean, wash and drain the chicken. Rub lemon juice or red wine vinegar (I used red wine vinegar this time) and leave for 15 mins.

2. For the marinade mix together garlic paste, dhania powder, white chilly powder, salt and shaan's zafrani garam masala with the yoghurt. Add salt and olive oil.

3. Rub the chicken pieces with the marinade and set aside for a couple of hrs.

4. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.

5. Put the chicken in a roaster pan and cook in the oven for 40 mins.

6. After 40 mins brush the chicken generously with the whipping cream and leave for 10 more mins.

7. Now light up a coal placed in a tin foil shaped like a tiny bowl, drop a blob of ghee or butter on the burning coal and immediately keep it in the center of the roasting pan on top of the chicken.

8. Turn off the oven. Cover the roaster pan with the lid and place it in the hot oven for another 10 mins.

9. The smoked creamy white chicken is now ready. Serve hot with rumali rotis (these rotis are as thin as a ladies handkerchief and so the name) green yoghurt chutney & some cucumber or radish etc.

10. For the green chutney, blend together two stalks of mint, a handful of coriander, 1 inch piece of ginger, 1 green chilly, salt to taste and 1 tblspn of yoghurt. When everything is well blended add more (1/2 cup) yoghurt to it. The chutney is ready.

11. The rumali rotis as seen in the picture above are home made. You can try them at home if you have a gas stove. Check out their recipe on www.vahrehvah.com. He shows you how to make them on a flat skillet but I love to be traditional so I make mine on an inverted cast iron wok on the gas stove.

12. Enjoy the smoked white chicken with rice, rotis, parantas, dal and raitas of your choice. 

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Chicken Maqlooba

This is Chicken Maqluba - a popular Palestinian Arab dish which I made for dinner. Most people also think of it as the national dish of Palestine. It is made with lamb or chicken with vegetables and rice. It is basically a one pot dish of meat, vegetables and rice all layered and cooked together. Then the pot is flipped over on the serving platter to display the maqluba which is a sight to behold! I followed a recipe from You tube which I just tweaked a bit by using italian rice instead of falak basumati. Italian rice has that firm texture and nutty flavour which I thought would go well with the maqluba. Here's the recipe: 

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1 Whole (1.5kgs)

Potatoes - 3-4 medium size

Egg plant - one large

Onion - 1 big

Butter - 1 tbs

Olive oil - 2 tbs

Vegetable oil for frying 

Italian Rice - 3 cups

ghee (clarified butter) 2 tbs

Spices for the chicken:

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp

Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Cumin powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

All spice -1 tsp

Seven spice -1 tsp

Spices for the rice: Salt and pepper- 1/2 tsp each; All spice - 1/2 tsp; turmeric - 1 tsp.

Method: 

1. De-skin the chicken, cut into 12 pieces at the joints, clean, wash, drain and keep aside. 

2. Heat a tbs of butter in a big pot and add the diced onion to it. 

3. When the onions sweat a little add the chicken to the pan followed by the spices and mix well. Keep turning over and brown the chicken in the pan. 

3. Add 3 - 4 cups of water and let it cook for sometime till the chicken is done.

4.Slice the egg plants and potatoes separately. Rub a little salt and keep them aside for sometime. The egg plants sweat a little on rubbing salt. Press them gently to drain the water and wipe with paper towels. This way they don't absorb oil when frying.  

5. Deep fry them separately. Drain on paper towels.

6. Boil water in another pot. Add the rice. When the rice is 80% cooked, drain well, then add the spices to the rice, mix well and set aside.

7. Take a small round roaster and grease it with some clarified butter (1tsp) on the inside. Then sprinkle a little of the spiced rice at the bottom.

8. Now spread a layer of the chicken pieces (reserve the broth) on top of the sprinkled rice.

9. Then spread a layer of baked/fried egg plant on top of the chicken. Then a layer of potatoes on top of the egg plant or you can layer both together - one eggplant and one potato slice, all stacked together.

10. Finally add the spiced rice on top. Pour the reserved broth on top of the rice. Cover the roaster with the lid and place it in the pre-heated oven (at 350 degrees fahrenheit) for 15 mins till you see the steam gushing out as soon as you open the lid. Take care not to keep your face close to the roaster when you are uncovering the roaster. It is better to open it little by little. 

11. Keep a round serving platter ready. Remove roaster lid and close it with the serving platter.

12. Put your oven gloves on (thick insulated ones) and holding the roaster bottom with one hand and the top of the closed serving platter with the other, overturn the roaster carefully on to the serving platter and slowly rest the serving platter on the counter top. Remember it is very hot so you have to do it very carefully and tactfully balancing it really well. Otherwise ask someone to help you.

13. Let this rest for 2 mins. Take a serving spoon and tap the roaster's overturned  bottom and all the sides slowly to release the maqlooba from sticking to it.

14. Lift the roaster up slowly to display the maqluba sitting majestically on the serving platter like a queen. The chicken is crisp and golden which was steaming at the bottom of the pot now crowns the dish on the top.The fried egg plant and potato slices like hidden gems add more to the glory. It is a dish beautiful to behold and delicious to eat. There is aroma in the air and many hungry stomachs to feed. Serve hot with yoghurt and salad on the side.  Enjoy.

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Creamy Mushrooms

This is another quick recipe which is ready in no time and is very flavourful and light. The white mushrooms coated with flour and sauteed in olive oil gives a creamy texture to this dish.  

Ingredients:

White button mushrooms (whole) - small size 1 box (1/2 lb)

Garlic - 1 big clove

Thai red chilly- 1

Fresh parsley chopped - 1 tbs

Butter/Olive oil - 2 tbs

Chopped onions - 2 tbs

Flour - 2 tbs

Soup stock - 1/2 cube (chicken or vegetable)

Method: 

1. Clean, wash and dry the mushrooms with a paper towel. Dust the mushrooms with white flour.

2. Heat a tbs of butter/olive oil in a non-stick pan.

3. Lightly fry the mushrooms coated with flour till they moisten a bit. Do not add any salt yet. Remove and set aside.

3.Add another tbs of butter/olive oil to the pan and fry the chopped onions till golden brown.

4.Add chopped garlic followed by 1 tbs flour. Stir fry on medium heat till it changes colour. Add a little water, salt, pepper and chopped parsley. Mix well and let it simmer for 2 mins.

5. Add the fried mushrooms  Turn over and cook till the mixture thickens and the mushrooms are done.- hardly takes 2 mins. Sprinkle some black pepper on top. Serve hot and enjoy! 

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Quick Creamy Chicken

I made this chicken for my son's lunch this morning. I was pressed for time and I could think of nothing better than this, considering his canadian taste buds. I packed this with some cooked pasta. 

Here's the recipe!

Ingredients: 

Chicken breast - 1 whole cut into bite size pieces.

Corn Flour - 2 tblspns

Salt to taste

Garlic cloves - 2 medium grated

Thyme- 1/4 tspn

Philadelphia cream cheese - 2 tblspns.

Black pepper - a pinch

Olive oil - 2 tblspns

White button mushrooms - a few

Method:

 1. Clean, wash and cut the chicken breast into bite size pieces. Drain, wipe with paper towels and toss the pieces in corn flour after rubbing them with salt. 

2. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan, add the coated chicken pieces and lightly fry them till they turn opaque. Do not brown them.

3. Slice the mushrooms and add them to the pan. Stir and toss them with the chicken pieces till they soften a bit. Add 1/2 - 1 cup of water, give it a stir and cook for 2 mins gently on medium heat. Now add the grated garlic and thyme followed by whipped philly cheese and a dash of black pepper. (Beat the philly cheese with a tblspn of milk or water to avoid lumps. Give it a good stir till it thickens a bit. If it is too runny add 1/2 a tspn corn flour mixed with water.

4. Remove from the stove and serve with rice or pasta. Enjoy!

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Nargisi kofte

This recipe is a result of my passion for fusion cuisine. I am highly impressed and inspired by the idea of fusion cooking. It is nothing but a marriage of different cultures that gives you a single eating experience where imagination is the limit! 

The traditional nargisi kofta is usually stuffed with boiled eggs or onion chutney (chopped onions and green chillies mixed with yoghurt). I didn't like biting into a kofta and eating the boiled egg. It was like eating two different things in one. Anything stuffed I feel should give a unique combined taste. So I mixed mint chutney with the hard boiled yolks and stuffed the mixture in the boiled egg whites before enclosing them with the kofta dough. They were basically devilled eggs with the mint chutney egg yolk filling, stuffed inside the koftas - something different, yet a marriage of two different cultures - the East and the West! I also tried mixing mashed egg yolks with cheddar cheese and it tasted really good with the melted cheese inside. Well, you can go on trying different combinations and the sky is the limit!

          Here's the recipe.                                                                      

                                            
                                                            











Ingredients:        
Lamb or Beef        - 1/2 kg
Channa dal            - 1/2 cup
Green chillies        - 4- 6 small
Cloves                   - 6
Green Cardamom-  6
Onion small             1
Garlic  cloves        - 4 medium
Turmeric                - 1/2 a tspn
Red chilly powder - 1/4 tspn
Salt to taste
Hard boiled eggs  - 4
Mint chutney - 2 tblspns
Cheddar cheese (grated) - 1/2 cup
                                            
Method:
1. Clean and wash the meat (lamb or beef), cut into cubes or chunks.
2. Clean and wash the channa dal.
3. Take a pot and add the washed dal and the meat cubes and all the other ingredients except the hard boiled eggs.
4. Cook on medium heat with the lid on till you see steam coming out.
5. Open the lid, give it a stir and check to see if the meat has stiffened a bit and is no longer pink.
6. Remove from the stove. Let it cool for a while.
7. Pick out the whole spices (cloves and cardamoms) from it and keep aside.
8. Pick out the meat pieces as well and set aside.
9 Grind the rest of the cooked ingredients in a wet grinder. If the dal is moist with a little water left at the bottom, then do not add any more water. This would be sufficient enough to grind the dal. Otherwise add 2 tblspns of water and grind the dal finely with the green chillies, onion and garlic.
10. Remove the dal mixture and set aside.
11.Now shred the meat pieces in the grinder by pulsing them 2 or 3 times.
12. Grind the cloves and cardamom finely in a dry grinder or use a mortar & pestle to crush them fine.
13. Add the ground dal mixture to the shreded meat in the wet grinder along with some cilantro (1/4 cup) salt and the ground whole spices and pulse till everything is well blended. The kofta dough is now ready. If the dough feels too dry sprinkle a little bit of water or knead it well with wet hands.
14. Take a little kofta dough the size of an egg and roll it into a small ball in the palm of your hand. Make small balls of the same size with the entire kofta dough.
15. Peel the hard boiled eggs, cut into two halves breadthwise and set aside.
16. Pick the hard boiled yolks from the halved eggs, mash them, sprinkle a litle salt & pepper then mix with 2 tblspns of the mint chutney. If you are not using chutney add the grated cheese to the mashed yolks, do not add salt as the cheese is salty enough.
17. Fill the hard boiled egg whites with the mashed yolk & mint chutney filling or cheese filling to make devilled egg halves.

18. Take one kofta dough ball, make a depression in the center, widen it so that it is big enough to hold the devilled egg half.
19. Cover it completely with the kofta dough. Repeat the same process for all of them.

20. Deep fry in hot oil till crispy and golden. Serve hot with ketchup or mint chutney. Enjoy!


Mint Chutney:
Fresh Mint leaves - 1 cup
Cilantro - 1/2 cup
Garlic - 2 cloves
Green chillies - 4 - 6 small ones
Tamarind (seedless) - size of 1/2 a lime
Salt to taste.

Method: Grind all the above ingredients together with a little salt. Your chutney is ready for the stuffing.
For serving the chutney with snacks add a small tomato and a small onion and pulse one or two times after grinding the above ingredients.

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Pepper Chicken

This recipe can be used for a whole chicken as well. For the whole chicken use the zafrani chicken baking technique by closing and cooking the chicken for 1 hr at 350 degrees fahrenheit and then roasting the chicken on convection roast in the last half hour. If you do not have convection roast setting in your oven then raise the temperature to 400 degrees fahrenheit and let it roast for 30 mins.

Ingredients:
Whole Chicken- 1 cut into pieces at the joints.
Garlic cloves- 4 med size
Black Pepper corns - 1 tblspn
Cumin seeds - 1 tspn
Green chillies - 2 small size (optional)
Cloves - 6 (optional)
Green cardamoms - 6 (optional)
lemon juice - 2 tblspns
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Clean, wash and cut the chicken into 8-12 pieces at the joints only. If you cut the bones they not only bleed a lot while cooking but you will get small pieces of bones in your mouth when you eat the chicken which is really annoying.
2. Rub the chicken with 1/2 a tspn salt and lemon juice and set aside for 10 mins.
3.Grind together garlic, pepper, cumin and green chillies. For added flavour and spicy taste you can add the optional ingredients. Otherwise just keep it light to satisfy a western palette.
4. Rub the chicken with the ground masala, put them in the baking dish and let it rest for 1/2 an hour.
5.Bake the chicken in the preheated oven at 400 degrees fahrenheit for 45 mins.
6. Remove from the oven and serve hot with ghee rice or peas palao.

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Spinach Dill Vadai (fritters)

These vadas smell great when frying and taste great too. They are very flavourful and make a good evening snack with tea. I made them for Ifthaar with ganji (a kind of flavourful rice porridge made in south India especially for ifthaars). They disappeared in no time.

Ingredients:
Whole urad dal - 1 cup
Spinach chopped - 1 cup
Dill chopped - 1 cup
Onions chopped - 1/2 cup
Green chilles chopped - 4-6 small
Curry leaves chopped - 1/4 cup.
Cliantro chopped - 1/2 cup
Ginger chopped - 1 tbs
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil to deep fry - 2 cups

Method:
1.Clean, wash and soak the urad dal overnight or for atleast 4 hrs. Clean wash, drain and wipe dry the spinach and dill after picking the leaves from the stems. Then chop them well and set aside.

2. Take half the dal and grind it fine in a food processor. Remove and set aside.

3. Put the rest of the dal and pulse it just two or three times so that it breaks up a little. Remove and mix it with the finely ground dal to make a sticky dough. Do not add water while grinding. You could just sprinkle a little bit when you finely grind the first half.

4.Mix together chopped onions, green chillies, ginger and curry leaves and chop them all together on the cutting board with a little salt which is just enough for the onions.

5. Add a little salt to the ground urad dal and mix well. Now add the chopped spinach, dill, cilantro, curry leaves and onion mixture and mix everything well with the urad dal.

6.Take a lump of the vadai batter with wet hands press gently to give a flat shape and make a hole in the center using your fingers and thumb and gently immerse it in the oil. You have to be really very careful at this step. You can use a flat spatula to slowly drop the vadai in the oil if you are not confident.

7. When it turns golden brown at the bottom and crispy on the sides, it is time to turn it over and fry on the other side.

8. Fry in batches of 4 - 6 depending on the size of your frying pan till all of them are evenly browned and crisp.
.
9. Remove from frying pan, drain on paper towels and serve them hot with mint  or red coconut chutney.

10. Or you can enjoy them with ganji (rice porridge).  

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