chicken – Meal Haven

Chicken Schezwan

A perfect blend of chicken and bell peppers with sweet, savoury and spicy sauces. You can also substitute the chicken with cottage cheese (paneer) or cauliflower and the bell peppers with broccoli.

Ingredients:

For Marinade:

Boneless chicken – 500 gms

Egg – 1

Pepper powder – 1/2 tsp

Corn starch – 1/4 cup

Soya Sauce – 1 tsp

Salt – as required

For Stir Fry

Oil – 3 tbsp

Red or Green or Orange Bell Pepper – 1 (cut into big squares)

Dried Red Chillie – 1 long

Garlic chopped fine – 5 to 6 cloves

Ginger chopped fine – 3/4 inch piece

Green chillie chopped fine – 1

Red Chillie paste – 2 tsp or as per your taste

Spring Onion – 2 sprigs for garnish

Sesame seeds – (for granish) -optional

For Sauce

Soy sauce – 1 1/2 tbsp

Tomato ketchup – 3 tbsp

Tomato paste store bought – 2 tsp

Hoisin sauce – 1/2 tsp (optional)

Ground Schezwan Pepper Corn or Ordinary black Pepper powder – 1/2 tsp

Rice wine Vinegar – 1 tsp

Sugar – 1/2 tsp

For the paste

Long Red chillies – 5

Medium Hot Water – 2 tbsp

To make the red chillie paste, soak the red chillies in water for 30 minutes and drain. Blend them in a mixie jar to a smooth paste. Keep aside.

Make a sauce of all the ingredients and keep it aside in a bowl.

Preparation:

Clean and wash the boneless chicken. Cut it into small cubes and keep it aside. beat an egg and add it to the chicken alongwith the corn flour and pepper powder. Deep fry the chicken in batches and keep it aside.

In a pan, add oil and heat it. Add the finely cut green chillies, finely cut ginger and garlic and saute on high flame for 2 minutes. Into it, add the long red chillie and bell peppers and saute for a minute and then, add the sauce and saute it again on high flame for 2 minutes. Add half of the red chillie paste (can store the other half of the paste in fridge for 3 – 4 days) and saute well for a minute until the raw smell goes off. Next, add the fried chicken pieces into it and mix well to coat the chicken pieces. Stir it again for 2 – 3 minutes. Switch off the flame and add chopped spring onions and sesame seeds.

Serve hot with fried rice.

KFC Style Fried Chicken

Non-Vegetarian, Snacks

When a friend asked me to try this one, I never expected it to be so finger licking good….. Here, I have made some variation to suit my palette and the result was that it tasted as good as KFC, if not even better. The flavourful crust with the succulent pieces is so darn delicious.

Ingredients:

Chicken thighs – 1/2 kg

Egg – 1

Red chillie powder – 1/2 tsp

Buttermilk – 1/4 cup

Salt as needed

Oil for fying (sunflower or corn oil)

For the coating

All Purpose Flour – 2 cups

Garlic powder – 1/2 tsp

Red chillie powder – 1/4 tsp

Pepper powder – 1/4 tsp

Dried Oregano – 1/4 tsp (optional)

Dried Basil – 1/4 tsp (optional)

Salt

Preparation:

Clean and cut the chicken into medium sized pieces. Marinate the chicken in buttermilk, chillie powder, egg and salt. Mix it well and let it marinate for 2 -3 hours.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix the ingredients for the coating together well. Do not add water to it.

When you are ready to fry, take a chicken piece from the buttermilk and make sure to drip the excess liquid and dust it well all over with the flour. The chicken should be well coated with the flour. Repeat the process for other pieces too.

Heat oil in a pan. When it is smoking hot, drop the chicken pieces into it. Reduce the flame to medium low and fry for about 5 minutes. When it is golden brown, flip it to the other side and fry well. Remove and transfer the chicken pieces onto a kitchen tissue or plate.

Chicken Kurma

Non-Vegetarian

One of my mother’s most sought after recipes for lunch and dinner parties. Goes well with puris, parathas, birinji, rice, iddlis, appams, almost anything. It is not a very spicy dish but more of a rich, creamy taste.

Ingredients:

Chicken – 1/2 kg

Green chillies – 4 if spicy (otherwise 6)

Turmeric powder – 3/4 tsp

Tomatoes – 1 no. + 1/2 no.

Onion chopped – 1 no. + 1/2 onion

Chopped coriander – 3/4 tbsp

Mint leaves/Pudina – 8 -10 leaves

Juice of 1/4 lime

Oil – 1tsp + 2 tbsp + 1/2 tbsp butter or ghee

Aniseed/Saunf – 1/2 tsp

Cloves – 2 +1

Cinnamon – 1/2 inch + 1/2 inch piece

Cardamom – 1 +1

Bay leaf 1 big cut into 2 or 2 small leaves

Ginger paste – 1 tsp

Garlic paste – 3/4 tsp

Curd slightly sour – 2 1/2 tbsp

Milk – 1/2 cup

Water – 1 1/2 cup

Grated coconut – 4 tbsp

Almonds – 8 (soaked in water and deskinned) OR

Cashews -8

Khus Khus/Poppy seeds – 1/2 tsp

To grind:

Grind grated coconut , khus khus and almonds to a smooth paste. Keep aside.

2. Heat 1tsp oil in a pan. Add 1 clove, 1/2 inch cinnamon, 1 cardamom and fry. Then add green chillies chopped in half, as it may burst otherwise. Fry for 3 minutes till the green colour changes slightly. Then, add 1/2 chopped onion, saute well and then 1/2 tomato and fry. Grind and keep aside separately.

Preparation:

Marinate the chicken for 30 minutes with curds, half of ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder and salt.

Heat oil and ghee. Add saunf, 2 cloves, 1/2 inch cinnamon, 1 cardamom and bay leaf . Saute once and add chopped onion. When it turns slightly golden, add chopped mint leaves, half of the coriander leaves, rest of the ginger-garlic paste and fry well on low flame till the raw smell of garlic goes off. Then add the tomato-onion-green chillie paste and saute again. Add 1 chopped tomato and saute till it turns pulpy. Add marinated chicken and saute on low heat till it becomes slightly thick. Add 1/2 cup milk and 1 1/2 cup water and cook on low flame till the chicken is cooked. Then add the coconut, almond, khus khus paste and boil on low flame for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

Switch off the flame and add juice of 1/2 lime and serve garnished with coriander leaves. You can also take a hard boiled egg, chop the whites into small bits and using the grater, grate the yolk as garnish. I have added half cooked boiled eggs, cooked on low heat for 5 minutes in my recipe. Hard boiled egg sliced and quartered or slivered almonds can also be used as garnish.

Tamilnadu Chicken Biriyani

Non-Vegetarian, Rice

My comfort food. This aromatic blend of herbs, spices and rice blends in your mouth and tantalises your taste buds. There are 4 or 5 different types of biriyanis in Tamilnadu, Chennai style, Ambur style, Dindigul style, Kongunadu style etc , the Ambur biriyani being the most popular. I learnt this version of the Chennai style of biriyani from my mother in law. We also make another version of the Chennai biriyani at my mom’s house with only green chillies, which is equally awesome. Will update the re’cipe soon.

In this recipe, I have used the spice’ kalpasi’ or ‘dagad phool” , (pictured below). This spice enhances the flavour of the biriyani. But make sure that you use only 1 or 2 pieces/flowers of the same as it has a strong flavour. You may also chose to omit it from the recipe, if you do not have it n your pantry.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice – 3 cups

Water – 1 cup + 3 1/2 cup

Curds – 2 tbsp

Pudina/Mint leaves – 3/4 cup

Coriander leaves – 3/4 cup

Onions – 4 big + 1 onion

Tomato – 3 small or 2 medium

Chicken – 1 Kg

Garam masala powder – a pinch (optional)

Cloves -6

Cinnamon – 2 inch stick

Small Cardamom – 4

Big black cardamom – 2

Bay leaf – 3

Dagad phool /Kalpasi/black stone flower – 2 pieces

Sauf – 1 tsp

Green chillies – 8

Red chillie powder – 1tsp

Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp + 1/2 tsp

Ginger and Garlic paste – 1 tbsp heaped

Coconut milk powder – 1 tbsp

Ghee – 1 tbsp

Oil – 1 tbsp

Cashewnuts and raisins fried – 8 pieces each

Instructions:

Marinate the chicken with 1/2 tsp turmeric and curds/yogurt for 1 or 2 hrs. Soak rice for only 20 minutes before you start cooking the rice. After 20 minutes, pass the rice through a colander and keep the rice aside.

Grind 5 green chillies with little water in a mixie coarsely. Keep aside. Slice the onions (5) thinly.

Heat a wide thick bottomed vessel. Add oil and ghee and heat it. When it becomes hot, add a pinch of the garam masala powder, the cloves, cinnamon, small cardamom, black cardamom, bay leaf, saunf and dagad phool. Then, add sliced onions and 3 green chillies slit lengthwise and saute. Then add the ginger garlic paste and saute well until raw smell goes away. Now add the green chillie paste, coriander leaf, pudina leaves and tomatoes and saute for 3- 4 minutes. Then in goes the 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, chillie powder 1/2 tsp and salt. Saute again and add in the marinated chicken. Add 1 cup water and close the lid and cook the chicken.

In a pan, heat 3 1/2 cups water. When it starts to boil, add the prepared chicken masala and the coconut milk powder to it and stir. Adjust the salt. When the water starts to boil, add the rice to it . Close and keep on high for 3 -4 minutes and when the water has been almost absorbed and the rice comes to the top, reduce the flame to the minimum on a small burner and keep the vessel covered and cook for 20 minutes. (or you could also place the vessel on an iron griddle/tawa, on very low flame for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a kadai and deep fry 1 big sliced onion until brown in color. Also, fry the cashewnuts and raisins and keep aside.

Serve the biriyani garnished with fried onions, raisins and cashewnuts.

Chicken Pepper Fry

Non-Vegetarian

An absolute favourite from the kitchens of Tamilnadu. If you enjoy the flavour of pepper, you will enjoy this one. You can have it with bread, parathas, chapati, pulav or white rice too. This authentic recipe has been passed down from my great grandmother and is relished by all.

Ingredients:

Chicken – 1 kg

Pepper – 1 1/2 tsp

Coriander Seeds – 2 tsp

Green chillies – 2

Onions – 2 big

Ginger garlic paste – 2 tbsp

Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp

Pudina or Mint leaves – a handful chopped (optional)

Coriander leaves – a handful chopped

Curry leaf – 1 sprig

Oil – 2 tbsp

Preparation:

Dry roast the pepper and coriander seeds and powder them fine. Heat oil, add the finely chopped onions and the green chillies slit lengthwise. Next, add the ginger-garlic paste and saute well. Add in the mint leaves, coriander leaves and saute again. Next in goes the chicken cut into pieces and the turmeric powder. Fry it well and add the curry leaves and the powder (pepper and coriander seeds). Saute well until the oil gets separated from the sides. Remove and serve garnished with curry leaf.