Sour cream Fried Chicken

I wish all my readers, each and every one of you, a happy, healthy and peaceful 2012!

If you want to take a break from tandoori chicken or tikkas or kebabs ... this is recipe you should try. Its a nice, refreshing break from the (nice, refreshing but) regular (ly used) flavor.
I have eaten (the halal) KFC only once in my lifetime n frankly speaking I am glad about it. Apart from all the "main stream concerns" , I felt it was very bland for my taste.

This particular recipe is very flavorful with the mustard and spices in the breading mixture. The original recipe asks to fry the chicken in vegetable shortening, but I have used vegetable oil instead. I bet frying in the shortening would certainly make a difference but ....

Ingredients:

Marinade

1/2 C whole milk

1 C sour cream
3 tbsp. Dijon Mustard
2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)
3 1/2 to 4 lbs Chicken (approx. 8 to 10 big pieces)

Breading

2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. salt
2 tsp paprika/ chili pdr
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Oil for frying.

Method:

In a bowl, combine the ingredients for the marinade. Lightly season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and place them in the bowl with the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 12 hours.

In a plate, combine the ingredients for the breading mixture, toss the marinated chicken  until they are well coated with the mixture. Place the breaded chicken on a rack with a baking sheet. When all of the pieces are breaded, refrigerate them for 15 minutes.You can skip this step n fry the pieces directly, but refrigerating them, even if its only for 15 mins, will give you a crispier crust .

In a large skillet, heat oil over low heat until it reaches 350 degrees F. Test 1 piece first. The oil should bubble and react as you add the first piece. Use a pair of heat-resistant tongs to gently place the chicken pieces in a single layer in the skillet over medium heat. Cook, undisturbed, 5 to 8 minutes, or until you can see the underside of the chicken browning. Remove the skillet from the heat and gently turn the pieces on their second side. Cook for an additional 10 minutes.

When the chicken is cooked through, remove it and transfer it to a rack. Serve immediately or keep in a warm oven until ready to serve.

Enjoy !

Murgh Malai Kabab Bites

A very Happy and Healthy New Year to all my readers and fellow bloggers !

Haah ! Its so good to see you ...

The new year has begun and I am glad I checked out one of my resolutions already :) posting here, before the first month ends that is.

A lot happened since we last met in Oct 2010. All of it involved a lot of cooking, some hits and some misses, and a lot of eating out too !

Lets see....we bought our first house, then came the moving , then it was eid-ul-adha (bakri eid), then we were settling down, we had friends visiting us, then the house warming, then of course we were travelling and shopping. Throw in few snowstorms and there you go, 3 months of madness in less than three sentences  :)

Now, as we are still settling ...(yeah...thts right... slowly but surely...) I am kinda trying to get back into the blogging mode, catching up, see all the deliciousness I have missed, welcome new friends, which reminds me , I wanna thank all of you who emailed me, left their comments, sent their wishes, Thank You very much , I am trying to reply all the comments / questions/ suggestions ASAP.

Coming to the recipe, when I say bites its not exactly an amuse-bouche, the kababs are may be 2 or 3 biters, but they are super delicious ...try any size ... I marinated the chicken overnight but half hour should also suffice.

Ingredients :

2 C Chicken breasts, cubed

1 tsp.ginger paste, 

1 tsp. garlic paste,

1/2 tsp. chili pdr or to taste,

1/4 tsp. turmeric

1/2 C cream,

salt, to taste

1.5 tsp. dhania pdr

1/2 C panko (optional)

olive oil, for shallow frying.

Method:

Combine all the ingredients except panko and oil and let it marinate at room temperature for at least half an hour, or overnight in the refrigerator. Heat oil in a pan , dip the chicken pieces in the panko/bread crumbs and shallow fry on medium heat until both sides are golden brown. Drain on a paper towel/ tissue. Serve hot / warm.

I am sending this to the Ramadan Friendly Recipes event at "the halal foodie" blog

Enjoy!

Grilled Indian Pizza

Come Thanksgiving and you see a lot of material on what to do with the Leftover turkey. Whether we cook one or not everyone has some or the other leftover after a party night or even after a night out in the restaurant when you think you could eat everything you ordered but it finally ends up in a box instead.

So what do you do with leftovers ? I simply make a pizza ... its the semi home made way !

I "heart" Pizza and I think you can showcase your creativity and come up with tons of different flavors and toppings. Like this one, I had some reshmi kababs, so decided to make an Indian Pizza.

Sure the home made pizza dough tastes much better and healthier, but having a packet of frozen dough really helps you fix a quick meal. To make it even quicker I use the store bought pita bread or roghini naan as my base and cook it on the griddle, yes this is a tawa top pizza :)

Though everything is store bought, I am splitting the list of ingredients to show how I made it the Semi Home Made way , as this is my first post for the ongoing event.

Ingredients:

Store bought / ready to use:

Whole wheat pita bread / Roghani naan,
Plain or flavored hummus,

Reshmi kabab / any kabab/ rotisserie chicken, chopped or shredded,

Bombay Sandwich spread (I used Swad brand, any chutney is fine)

ketchup,

chili powder,

pudina / mint leaves,

Colby cheese (use any cheeses you have handy),

cheddar cheese,

chaat masala.

Ghee. (optional)

Method:
Spread some hummus on the pita bread, then some ketchup, sprinkle the chicken , chili powder, cheeses, top with some sandwich chutney and fresh mint leaves. Heat a pan/ griddle/grill , put a little bit of ghee/ butter and put the pita bread with all layers , let it cook covered on low just until the cheese melts, sprinkle with chaat masala. Serve with chips and fruit juice.



This is my entry to the following events:

Sunday Snacks - Cheese hosted by Mirch Masala and

Semi Home Made Indian Recipes hosted by myself.

Tangdi Kabab

This is one of my favourites when it comes to Chicken. For this particular recipe I always deep fry the chicken but you can choose to bake it or grill it. If you don't have Greek yogurt handy you can use plain yogurt, just make sure to drain all the excess water overnight, so its really thick n creamy. One thing I like about this recipe is , it makes a great finger food and is ideal for entertaining, coz once you marinate the chicken, all you have to do is fry it.

Ingredients:
(all measurements are approximate, please feel free to suit your taste)

6 chicken drumsticks,
1 (5.3 oz) container plain Greek yogurt, (I used Oikos)
1 tbsp.ginger paste,
1 tbsp. garlic paste,
1 tsp. chili pdr, or as per your taste,
1/4 tsp. garam masala powder,
2 tbsp. tandoori chicken masala,
salt, to taste,
few drops red food coloring,
2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice,
2-3 tbsp. cornstarch/ white corn flour.
chaat masala , for garnishing (optional)

Method:


Make a few deep slits in the chicken drumsticks and keep aside.


Its very important that the marinate is thick and not runny, so even if I use Greek yogurt I drain it for some time in a colander with paper towel. Now to the thick yogurt add ginger , garlic pastes, all the spices and lemon juice and mix well. Now add the chicken drumsticks n toss them so as to coat them with the marinate. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4-6 hrs. or overnight for best results.

Bring it to room temperature, sprinkle cornstarch, mix well before you deep fry or bake or grill them until nice and crispy. Serve with a lemon wedge. You could also garnish it with some chaat masala.



Enjoy !