Tandoori Chicken

Tandoori Chicken is an Indian take on "Roasted Chicken" . The word 'Tandoor' is originally an Indian form of cooking - Roasting " Tandoor " But with the advancement in technology, Now we can use electric grills, coal grills, electric BBQ's , electric Tandoors etc for roasting. 

When the weather starts getting chilly and a cool breeze blows and the leaves turn brown and there are showers now and then, We know that Autumn is here and the monsoon is on it's way back. Hot and juicy Roasted chicken goes perfectly in such weather. 

Ingredients:

• Chicken: 800 grams 
• Kashmiri red chilly powder: 2 Tsp
• Lemon juice: 3 tsp
• Butter
• Onions cut into rings
• Salt  
• Hung curd: 200 grams  
• Ginger-garlic paste: 50 grams
• Garam masala powder: 1 tsp
• Chaat masala: 1/2 tsp
• Mustard oil: 2 tsp
• Tandoori chicken Masala (spices/ Everest seasoning )
• Lime cut into wedges/ slices
• Edible orange colour (optional)

Method:

• Skin, wash and clean the chicken. Make incisions/ cuts with a knife on the breast and leg pieces.  
• Make a mix of kashmiri red chilly powder, salt, hung curd, mustard oil, ginger garlic paste, garam masala powder, tandoori masala powder and marinate the chicken with this mix and keep it in the refrigerator for 5 to 6 hours.

• Now brush the marinated chicken pieces with melted butter and grill it in the microwave for 20mins. I have chosen the auto grilling tandoori option in my microwave (LG), All microwaves have this option.
• After 10 minutes turn over the chicken (flip it over)  and grill for 10 minutes again (each side for 10 minutes)
• Give it standing time in the micro for at least 5 minutes.

• Now take it out carefully and glaze the chicken with butter and then roast it directly over an open flame (over your stove or charcoal BBQ) approximately 3-4 minutes on each side while turning it around

• Remove it from the flame once it's roasted and serve it with a dash of lemon juice and a pinch of chaat masala from the top.

Serve hot with onion rings and lemon slices

~Enjoy!~

ANOTHER VERSION : Boneless tandoori Chicken Tikka for this season 

Here: Recipe Link

PS: Note:-

• I have used a microwave and my stove for roasting it, The same can be done over an electric grill/ electric tandoor or coal BBQ as well.
• The Masalas (Spice Powders that I have used are given below). +EVEREST MASALA (C&F) 

  

Paneer Posto (Cottage Cheese cubes with Poppy Seed Paste)

This dish, Makes me nostalgic, because when I got married there were only 2 dishes I could make with confidence, this one which is a cottage cheese delicacy and the other was pumpkin with eggs.
I especially wanted to write this on my blog so that one day our children can cook up these kind of delicate things instead of burgers and sandwiches and with the passage of time we tend to forget things as we grow old, and may forget many ingredients too. This serves as a permanent reference .

Ingredients:

• Half a coconut (will be made into paste)

• 4-5 green chillies
• 2 tsp of mustard seeds
• 2 tsp of poppy seeds

• 1 tsp of salt 
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 1 tsp of turmeric powder
• 250 grams of paneer( cottage cheese)

• 2 tsp of mustard oil

 Method:

• First make a fine paste out of the coconut, green chilly, mustard and poppy seeds in a mixer or blender, adding 1/4 th cup of water, sugar and salt to it and  keep in aside.

• Now take a bowl and grease the bowl with mustard oil and place the the cottage cheese (paneer) cubes in it nicely. 

• Now add the paste made from poppy, mustard and coconut evenly over the paneer and stir it a little so that the paneer cubes get evenly coated with the paste Then spread 1 tsp of mustard oil from top.

.

There are two ways to cook this:

• Either microwave it on high for 10 minutes covered in cling film (plastic cling wrap)    

                                                  Or

• Steam the mixture made above in a pressure cooker / steam cooker / slow cooker, without a whistle (in pressure cooker) for around 20 minutes.

• It's optional but you can garnish your dish with fresh coriander  leaves. 

~Enjoy with hot rice~