Restaurant Style Chilli Chicken / Chilli chicken recipe

Chicken is one meat that is a favoriterea of all beyond belief! When cooked, it can be presented in many guises. Sauté it, fry it, toss it, bake it, steam it – eat it the way you want to. Chilli chicken is one of the most popular Indo-Chinese style chicken appetizer or starter that is served in Chinese restaurants across the globe. Vegetarian alternates to this are chilli paneer, chilli mushroom, chilli gobi(cauliflower) and tofu chilli… Boneless chicken (fillets or cubes) are marinated in soya sauce, chilli sauce and pepper. Then deep fried and then seasoned in sauces. It’s spicy, it’s got a crunch from the flour coating over the chicken and the capsicum, and it’s really quite delicious.

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken 500 grams

Red chilli crushed – 1 tspn

Onion – 1 medium, big cubes

Green Bell Pepper/Capsicum – 1 medium, big cubes

Oil 2 tablespoons

Garlic chopped 5-6 cloves

Ginger chopped one-inch pieces

Tomato ketchup – 2 tbspns

Soya Sauce – 2 tbspns

Chilli sauce – 2 tbspns

Salt to taste

Cornflour/ corn starch – 1 tbspn

Egg 2

Spring onion greens 2-3

Method:

Cut the boneless chicken into one to one and a half inch sized pieces. Heat oil in a pan, add chopped garlic, ginger, onion & capsicum and sauté for two minutes. Add tomato ketchup, soya sauce, half of the chilli sauce and mix. Add one cup of water and mix.

Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat and let it simmer for five to ten minutes. Meanwhile take chicken pieces in a bowl. Add salt, remaining chilli sauce, cornstarch, half of the crushed red chillies and mix.

Add a whole egg and mix. Heat sufficient oil in a wok and deep-fry the chicken pieces taking care that they do not overcook. Fry on high heat for two to three minutes for colour only.

Drain onto an absorbent paper. Add salt and the remaining crushed red chillies to the sauce and stir. Add cornstarch blended in water. Cook, stirring continuously, till the sauce thickens.

Arrange the fried chicken pieces on a serving plate. Beat one egg. Remove the sauce from heat and add the beaten egg slowly in one flow. Mix gently and pour over the fried chicken pieces.

Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot as an appetizer or main dish with fried rice, Schezwan fried rice, Hakka noodles or Schezwan noodles.

Recipe Source: SanjeevKapoor.com!!!

Restaurant-Style Tandoori Chicken / Tandoori Chicken Recipe / Oven Roasted Chicken Tandoori

Tandoori chicken as a dish originated in the Punjab before the independence of India and Pakistan. Although tandoor cooked chicken dates back to as early as the Mughal era, the dish is believed to be invented by Kundan Lal Gujral, a man who ran a restaurant called Moti Mahal in Peshawar(Source Wikipedia). The Chicken drumsticks are marinated in warm, fragrant spices and yogurt that tenderises them, and the marinated chicken is skewed on to the skewer and cooked in a heated clay oven known as the Tandoor to make a mouth-watering appetizer. Tandoor is heated by charcoal or wood which also add to the smoky flavour. (A tandoor, or an outdoor clay oven is traditionally used to make tandoori chicken, along with other delicacies like naan or tandoori roti.)

Rather than mostly being eaten as in starters and appetizers, Tandoori chicken sometimes is also eaten as a main course traditionally with naan (an Indian Flatbread).  It is traditionally cooked at high temperatures in a tandoor (clay oven), but can also be prepared on a traditional barbecue grill.

Tandoori chicken is an Indian classic for a reason. No Indian celebration is complete without mounds of these tasty, delicately spiced, grilled chicken pieces, coupled with cucumber and tomato slices, sprinkled over with cilantro and with lemon or lime slices beside them to squeeze over. Traditionally tandoori chicken is served with a yogurt raita and a mint/ chutney, which adds another level of freshness and flavour to this simple, elegant dish.

My husband is a great fan of Tandoori chicken. This paired with Tandoori Roti & Garlic Mayo dip is his all-time favorite. In India whenever we go out for dinner this is the first thing that we order. But after coming to Canada, we rarely visit any Indian restaurants, so I started making this at home. This Indian classic Tandoori Chicken is actually very easy to make at home in the oven! Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

Chicken drumsticks - 4 – 6 nos

Cooking Oil – 1 tbspn

Marinade:

Plain yogurt - ½ cup

Tandoori masala - 4 tbspns

Kashmiri chilli powder (optional) - 1 teaspoon

Cooking oil - 1 tbspn

Garlic – 3 cloves, minced

Ginger - ½ inch piece, grated

Juice of 1 medium size lemon

Salt to taste

Method:

Whisk together all the ingredients for the marinade. Rub into the chicken pieces and marinate for at least 4 hours, or ideally overnight, in the refrigerator. When ready to make the tandoori chicken, preheat oven to 450 F. Brush a heavy baking tray with about 1 - 2 tablespoons oil, then arrange the drumsticks in a single layer. Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes, depending on the size of your drumsticks, turning once or twice, or until cooked through.

Serve with Lemon slices, Yogurt Raita (plain yogurt, chopped cucumber, chopped cilantro and salt to taste) or Mint Chutney

Honey Glazed Chicken Skewers

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken - 500 grams

Honey – 3 tablespoons

Garlic, minced – ½ tablespoon

Ginger, minced – ½ tablespoon

Salt to taste

Garam Masala – ½ tablespoon (Optional)

Pepper powder – ¾ tablespoon

Method:

Step 1- Lets make the marinate for the chicken. In a mixing bowl, add garlic, ginger, pepper, salt, honey and garam masala. Mix it well to form a fine paste.

Step 2 - Soak skewers in a shallow dish of cold water for 30 minutes. Drain.

Step 3 - Cut chicken into 3cm cubes. Thread onto skewers. Arrange in a ceramic dish. Pour over marinate. Turn around such that all the sides are coated with the marinate. Cover and leave it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Step 4 - Remove skewers from marinade. Preheat a barbecue plate / Grill Plate on high heat until hot. Cook skewers for 3 minutes each side, or until cooked through.

 Step 5 - Serve Hot

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

Ingredients:

Chicken pieces - 500 grams

Basmati rice -  1 1/2 cups ( soaked for 30 minutes)

Bay leaves  -   2 nos

Green cardamoms   -  10 nos

Black peppercorns   -  1 tsp

Cinnamon  -  3 inch stick

Caraway seeds /shahi jeera - 1/2 tsp

Cloves   - 10

Onions sliced - 5 large

Tomatoes –  ½ cup

Ginger paste - 1 tbsp

Garlic paste - 1 tbsp

Red chilli powder   -  1 tbsp

Coriander powder -  1 1/2 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Gram masala Powder - 1/2 tbsp

Yogurt   - 1 cup

Fresh coriander leaves, chopped - 2 tbsp

Fresh mint leaves, chopped - 2 tbsp

Ghee - 4 tbsp

Salt to taste

Oil as required

Saffron /kesar , a few strands mixed  in 1/4 cup milk     

Method:

Prepare the rice-

Heat five to six cups of water in a deep pan.  To it add drained rice, salt and half of all the whole spices (bay leaves, cardamoms, black peppercorns, cinnamon stick) and cook till three fourth done. Drain and set aside.

Make fried onions-

Heat sufficient oil in a kadai and deep-fry half the onion slices till golden. Drain and place on an absorbent paper.

Marinate the Chicken –

Take chicken pieces in a bowl. Add ginger paste, garlic paste and salt and mix. Add the remaining wholes spices (caraway seeds, cinnamon stick, black peppercorns, cloves and green cardamoms), red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, gram-masala powder, half the fried onions crushed, yogurt, coriander leaves, half of the mint leaves and one tablespoon oil and mix. Let it marinate for about two hours in the refrigerator.

Cook the chicken -

Heat two tablespoons ghee in a pan, add marinated chicken and diced tomatoes.  Stir and cook on high heat for three to four minutes. Now reduce heat and cook till almost done with lid on.

Layering the rice –

Heat the remaining ghee in a thick-bottomed pan. Spread the chicken with thick gravy, now spread the rice over the chicken as a layer. Sprinkle remaining mint leaves and fried onions. Sprinkle saffron milk. Cover with a lid and seal the sides of the lid with dough. Then cook it in low flame for 15 minutes.

Serve hot with a raita.