Chicken Tikka (Indian Barbecued Chicken)

Ever face those situations where you crave something delicious and spicy but are too lazy to cook an elaborate meal or run to the store for something?
Relax - this is just the right thing for you.
I found this recipe on wikiHow and even better they allow us to integrate it in our blogs. I tried it right away and here is how it turned out...try it...really easy and very tasty.

Things You'll Need

1. Boneless and skinless chicken pieces or strips - about 1 pound for 3 person servings
2. A knife to cut the chicken
3. A mixing bowl and a spoon or fork
4. Plain yogurt (refrigerated)
5. A teaspoon of turmeric powder
6. Red Chili powder (to your taste)
7. A teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste
8. Cling foil and aluminum foil roll
9. Baking pan and skewers (even bamboo will do)
10. Green or mango chutney
11. Coriander Leaves (optional)
12. Lemon quarters (optional)

Steps

1. Thaw the chicken, if frozen. Take the boneless chicken pieces or strips and cut them into pieces. Make each piece about 1 inch long and wide. You need not be very precise - just make sure they are the right size to fit on a skewer.
   
2. Add a scoop of plain (preferably refrigerated) yogurt into a bowl. The quantity of yogurt should be just enough to cover all the chicken pieces.
   
3. Sprinkle a teaspoon of turmeric powder and red chili powder on top of the yogurt. Finally, add a teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste on the top.
   
4. Stir the entire mixture in the bowl with a spoon or fork for 5 minutes and drop in the chicken pieces one at a time with one hand, stirring the mixture in the bowl with your other hand using the fork or spoon.
   
5. Cover the bowl with cling foil and let it stand in the fridge for about 30 minutes (but you can leave it in overnight, if you have the time). This allows the chicken to absorb more flavor.
   
6. Preheat your oven to about 450 degrees when you are ready. Line a pan with aluminum foil and keep it aside.
   
7. Take the bowl out of the fridge and arrange the chicken pieces on skewers, then place the skewers on top of the pan. Essentially, both ends of the skewers should rest on opposing side walls of the pan so that the chicken is hanging in mid-air above the base of the pan.
   
8. Bake the chicken for about 10 to 15 minutes. You will notice that fat drips out of the chicken into the pan.
   
9. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and carefully remove the chicken pieces off of the skewers and into a serving dish. If you plan to consume it in stages, leave the rest back in the oven to keep it warm (but ensure you switch off the oven first).
   
10. Serve hot with green chutney or mango chutney or eat as is.
    

Tips

• You may garnish the finished tikka with some coriander leaves.
  
• If the tikka turns out to be spicier/hotter than your taste, squeeze a lemon quarter over it to reduce the spice effect.
  
• To make a cooler tikka (called Malai Chicken Tikka), in the marinating mixture, use heavy cream instead of red chili and marinate a little longer. This will make the chicken soft and tender and the absence of chili reduces the spice.
  
• A Charcoal grill enhances taste.
  
• One teaspoon of yogurt per chicken piece+3 additional spoons is a good equation when you're preparing the chicken.
  
• Go easy on the chili if you are not used to hot spices.
  

Warnings

• Take great care when using the oven. Remember it can be very hot and can burn you.
  
• When adding or removing the pan from the oven, remember it can be very hot. Use an oven mitt.

Food of the Nawabs - Biryani

Every time I think of Hyderabad, I do not think of its rich culture, its Nawabs or even its more modern day form of a fast growing information technology hub. All I can think of is biryani. I was quite young, not sure how young when I had my taste of Hyderabadi Biryani. And I have been hooked onto biryani since then. Slow cooking with rich ingredients, richer flavors and an even richer history is how I see a biryani. What started a camping food for warring armies, received devotion in the kitchens of awadhi and hyderabadi princes to become what we know of today's biryani. Make no mistake. Cooking a biryani is a slow, tedious process. But the end result is hugely satisfying.

Now I do not have the master chefs cooking for me. So I cannot afford to spend the 4-5 hours need to cook an authentic biryani. But I can cook a mean biryani, in about an hour or so. Again the end result is not authentic but pretty close. Here is a list of stuff you are going to need.

1. Boneless chicken thighs - 1lb
2. Large onion finely chopped- 1
3. Large onion sliced - 1
4. Large tomatoes finely chopped - 3
5. Shan bombay biryani masala - 4 tsp
6. Red chili powder -2 tsp
7. Garam masala - 2 tsp
8. Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
9. Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
10. Jeera/Cumin powder -1/2 tsp
11. Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp each
12. Curd/yogurt - 1.5 cup
13. Turmeric - 1 tsp
14. Oil - 1/2 cup
15. Butter - 1 stick
16. Coriander leaves finely chopped - 1/2 cup
17. Bunch of mint leaves
18. Cashew nuts -1/4 cup
19. Resins -1/4 cup
20. Green chillies -2-3 (slitted)
21. Long grain Basmati rice - 2 Cups
22. Cloves -4-5
23. Star Anise Seeds - 2 tsp
24. Bay leaves - 3-4

Marinate the chicken

1. Combine 1/2 cup curd, 1 tbsp oil, jeera powder, 1 tbsp red chili powder, 1tbsp garam masala, 1 tbsp corriander powder, salt and half of ginger garlic paste.
2. Mix well.
3. Add chicken and rub the marinade all over the chicken.
4. Marinate the chicken for 2 hours or overnight for best results.

Soak the rice

1. Wash and rinse the rice in cold water. Remove water and the leave the rice alone for 30-45 minutes.

Fry onions & cashew nuts

1. In a pan take 1/4 cup of oil
2. Fry cashews till golden on medium heat.
3. Spread out the sliced onion on paper and let dry for some time.
4. Sprinkle little rice flour or all purpose flour. (Optional)
5. Fry these till brown, crispy and caramelized.
6. Keep in cool and dry place.
7. Use the same oil for making biryani curry.

Gravy for the biryani

1. Put 1/4 cup oil (remained after frying onions and cashews) in a thick bottom pan.
2. Add jeera and let it crackle.
3. Fry onions and chillies till the onions are slightly pink and cooked.
4. Add remaining ginger garlic paste and fry for some time.
5. Add 1tsp turmeric and fry for some time.
6. Add Shan biryani masala, chili powder and coriander powder and mix well.
7. As soon as the onions flavor up add tomatoes.
8. Cook the tomatoes till the oil starts leaving edges. This is very important as it removes the raw flavour of tomatoes.
9. Then add curd and again fry till the oil leaves the edges.
10. Chop up half of the mint leaves and add them to the gravy.
11. Add chicken and salt and cook covered on medium flame till it is about 90% done.

Cook the rice

1. Fill a large soup pan with water.
2. Bring it to a boil.
3. Add salt, 1 tsp oil, remaining jeera, cloves, bay leaves and Staranise.
4. Let it boil for another 2 minutes then add the soaked rice.
5. Let the rice cook uncovered till it is 80% done. To check this, press a grain of rice in your index finger and thumb. If you feel a hard tiny semolina/sooji size grain into the rice, its done.
6. Drain the rice. If you feel it is getting overcooked, immediately pour cold water over the drained rice.

Now its time to layer the biryani

1. Grease a thick bottom pan with 1 tbsp of oil and butter.
2. Layer 1/2 of the gravy with 1/2 of the chicken pieces.
3. Uniformly Layer 1/2 of the rice.
4. Spread some fried onion, cashews and mint leaves.
5. Again layer gravy with the remaining chicken pieces. Keep some gravy for last layer.
6. Spread remaining rice.
7. Uniformly pour remaining gravy over the rice.
8. Spread all the cashews, fried onion and mint leaves.
   

Cook(Dum) biryani

1. No water is added to cook biryani. So it is very important to cook it in a very thick bottom pan. If you don't have it, layer the biryani in a wide pan and put the pan over a thick griddle.
2. Cover the pan using thick aluminium foil and then put the lid. This will ensure that the vapour is trapped inside and is used to cook the biryani.
3. Cook it over medium (not very low) flame for 7-10 minutes.
4. Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani is ready to serve.
5. Use boiled eggs, coriander and lemon for garnishing.