Indian Tandoori Chicken Recipe ( in oven)

 

Tandoori Chicken is a very popular Indian dish which is traditionally baked in a preheated clay oven called Tandoor. Indian spices normally have very good flavor and this dish particularly has all important spices, making it very popular around the world.

As my kids love this chicken,I made so many attempts with the recipes that I came across to make them taste exactly like the ones we get in the Indian restaurants. Every time, it was not up to the mark and was not totally satisfied. Finally, I tried a recipe from a book with very few changes( not much though)- I added kasoori methi and adjusted the amount of spices- Voila!!!, it tasted exactly the way I was looking for . I made the Tandoori Chicken using this recipe first time, about an year ago and updated in Facebook, but for no reason, this recipe got delayed to be posted .

Ingredients

2 lbs. chicken, bone-in and skinned

3 tbsps. lemon juice

1/3 cup Greek yogurt/ strained yogurt/hung yogurt

3 tbsps. heavy cream

2 tbsps. gram flour/ chickpea flour

2 tbsps. ginger garlic paste

2 to 3 tsp. red chilli powder

1 tsp. ground coriander

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. garam masala

1 tbsp. crushed kasoori methi

1/8 tsp. red or orange food color

Salt ( as needed)

clarified butter /ghee or melted butter  or olive oil( to brush)

Method

1. Make incisions on the chicken pieces and place in a large non metallic bowl. Rub in the lemon juice and salt. Cover and chill for at least half an hour.

2. Meanwhile, put the yogurt in a separate bowl and add the cream and gram flour. Beat until well blended and smooth. Add the remaining ingredients except the oil/ butter and mix thoroughly. Pour over the chicken and rub in well.

3. Cover and chill for about 4 to 6 hours, or overnight. Return to room temperature before cooking.

4. Preheat the oven to the maximum- 550 degree Fahrenheit at baking mode. prepare the baking sheet by brushing it with oil. Using tongs bring the chicken pieces one by one onto to the sheet, reserving the remaining marinade. brush with some butter/oil and bake for about 25 to 35 minutes, flipping the chicken pieces once in the middle of baking and while returning it back to the oven, pour the remaining marinade on the other side. Once fully done( When the meat is no longer pink and when the meat near the bone is pierced, the juice should run clear), remove from the oven and brush the chicken with melted butter/ ghee.

5.Serve it hot, with a drizzle of lemon juice all over the chicken and with fresh sliced onion.

Source : Indian: 100 Everyday Recipes (100 Recipes)(Click to buy)

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Read the entire recipe here

Kongunadu Arisimparuppu Saadham with Val dhal /Avarai Paruppu Saadham/Val Dhal Rice Recipe

 

Arisimparuppu- ( In Tamil- அரிசிம்பருப்பு - அரிசியும் பருப்பும்) Rice + Lentils . It is a kongunadu style dhal rice , very easy and a comfort food for anyone from kongunadu . Sambhar rice, pongal everything has the same Rice and some dhal combinations, but the procedure  differs and so does the taste.

Arisimparuppu is either made with thoor dhal or Split Val dhal. I have posted earlier a thoor dhal used arisimparuppu recipe. with minor changes, but not touching the authentic roots, here comes another recipe. Val dhal gives an enhanced flavor to the rice. Pieces of coconut are normally added in the mutton curry, chicken curry and in  the Arisimparuppu Rice in the rural parts of Kongunadu District and I simply love it. In kongunadu kitchen,you can find the wide use of ponni boiled rice, shallots and coconut and you can find everything in this recipe, and that may be one of the main reasons I love it .

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup ponni pulungal arisi ( ponni boiled rice) *

3/4 cup minus 2 tbsp split val dhal / avarai paruppu

about 15  shallots/ pearl onion chopped

5 to 6 pieces of peeled whole garlic

1 small size tomato, chopped

2 thai green chillies, split lengthwise

1/8 tsp asafoetida

few springs of curry leaves

2 to 3 dry red chillies (broken)

1 tsp black mustard

1 tsp channa dhal / kadalai paruppu

1 tsp or more kuzhambu Milagai thool/ Sambhar Powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/4 cup sliced coconut

1 tbsp. coriander leaves, chopped

4 tbsp. Cooking Oil

Salt ( as per taste)

    

Method

1. Soak rice and lentils in water for 10 minutes( Do not soak any longer, else the lentils will be mushy when pressure cooked). Drain and Reserve.

2. In a pressure cooker, add oil, and once it is hot, add the dry red chillies, mustard and channa dhal. once the mustard splutters and channa dhal turns golden brown, add the shallots, garlic,green chillies , coriander leaves and curry leaves. Saute at low medium,until the shallots becomes translucent.

3. Add the tomato and sauté until mushy. Reduce to low flame, add 3 1/4 cup water, then the rice and lentil, followed by  the Kuzhambu Milagai Thool/ Sambhar powder, turmeric powder, asafoetida ,coconut slices andsalt.

4. Cover with lid with the weight on and cook for 3 sounds on medium flame.

5. Even after the pressure goes off, wait for 5 more minutes  and then use the spoon to give a gentle stir to mix the rice once. At this point a teaspoon of ghee can used to stir.

6. Serve it  hot with coconut oil or ghee for the first serving and with yogurt for the second serving, with potato- brinjal poriyal. That is how it is served normally.

Notes

1. The rice and lentil should be cooked, not be mushy. the consistency shouldn’t be like what we cook for pulao and it shouldn’t be mushy like pongal – hope you got it .

2. The rice : lentil should be 2 : some what lesser than 1 always. And the water is calculated like for 1 cup of rice ( take only rice into account and not the dhal here), it is two cups and a small portion, but not too much for the dhal. Here in the recipe, for 1 1/2 cups rice, I have added 3 cups water and just 1/4 additional water for the dhal.

2. Do not add more tomato, else it will ruin the taste.

3. If not using boiled rice, substitute with sona masoori.

4. Split Val dhal can be found in lentil aisle in desi grocery stores.

5. The sliced coconut is frozen and it is desi delight brand.

                                                                                

Read the entire recipe here

Homemade Strawberry Jam Recipe

We had been to a nearby strawberry farm and as a result of it, had about 5 pounds of strawberries. There was nothing in mind other than to make the strawberry jam. Homemade – the best, feel so content and happy when my kiddo doesn’t want to have his favorite store bought jam and prefers for his mom made jam .

Homemade Strawberry Jam without Pectin / Homemade Strawberry Jam using Lemon Juice

Ingredients

4 lbs. fresh strawberries, hulled

5 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup (or more) lemon juice

Method

1. Wash the strawberry and dry them using a paper towel. Chop and then mash- optional( I didn’t mash)

2.In a pot,bring in the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice and stir at low flame until the strawberries are dissolved. Then increase the flame to high and continuously stir( but make sure it is not burnt) until it reaches a thick sauc-ey consistency as in the video.

Right consistency for the Perfect Strawberry Jam

3. Transfer it to sterile jar ( s) and seal. Put the jars for water bath for longer shelf life and then refrigerate. Have it over bread/bagels or lick it as such .  I was able to make 1 big jar and 1 medium size jar full of jam. The petite jar in the picture was shared with one of our friends .

How to sterilize the jars

Bring a pot of water to boil. Switch off the flame and put the pre-washed jars and lids into the hot water for about 10 minutes. Remove and wipe off the moisture using a paper towel or a clean towel and place it over a clean towel/ paper until the jam is transferred.

Water Bath

Place the jam filled –sealed jars in hot boiling water for about 10- 15 minutes exactly. This will help in the long shelf life of the jam/preserves.

Repairing the runny jams

If the jam is runny even after a long stir or if you feel that the already canned jam is runny the quick fix is to add some lemon juice and stir. The jam will get fixed .

Other important things to remember

I referred so many recipes all around the web,which called for about 10 minute stirring, which didn’t work out (atleast for me)…you need to stir even more longer for the perfect jam consistency. While stirring make sure you are doing it continuously, else you have high chance of burning it, and also at the last stage, making usre it is not overdone.

For the mentioned quantity I split into three portions ( half the way I realised ) and continued stirring, as frequent stirring is easier with small quantity.

Recipe Source allrecipes and so many websites were referred.

Label Courtesy : eatdrinkchic

Read the entire recipe here

Paneer and Corn Pakora Recipe

 

My second one got a pack of papodums from the pantry and asked to fry those , guess he wanted to remind me that it has been long time since I fried those for him . He loves papodums, pakoras, murukkus- anything that is crunchy and slightly spicy. There was a pack of paneer block lying in the refrigerator, so I asked him to wait for an hour and prepared these pakoras.

Paneer and Corn Pakora Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup grated paneer

3/4 to 1 cup chick pea (gram) flour

2 tsp. rice flour

1/4 cup corn (crushed)

1 medium size onion finely chopped

2 to 3 green chillies *

few sprigs curry leaves

3 to 4 tbsp. coriander leaves

1/ tsp. asafoetida

1/2 tsp. red chilli powder*

1 tbsp. ginger garlic paste

Salt (as per taste)      

Oil ( For deep Frying)

Method

1. In a medium size bowl, add all the ingredients one by one, except the oil and knead with the fingers, until it forms a dough.

2. Heat a pain with oil for deep frying and once it is hot, pinch out small pieces of dough and drop in the oil. Fry on both sides, until golden brown and crisp on both the side. Once done, drain on a paper towel, to absorb excess oil.

3. Serve it with your favorite dip.

Notes

• A big pinch of ground saunf can be added for extra flavor.
• Using the pulse mode in the blender, churn once for crushing the corn.
• Red chilli powder and green chillies can be added according to your taste buds.

Read the entire recipe here