Indian-Barbecued Tandoori Chicken

Image by MadMan the Mighty via Flickr

Indian-Barbecued Tandoori Chicken

Ingredients:
3 very young broiling chickens (about 2 to 2-1/4 pounds each)
2-1/2 teaspoons unseasoned natural meat tenderizer
1/3 cup lemon juice

Marinade:
2 large cloves garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger root
1 teaspoon ground roasted cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon red pepper
1 teaspoon tandoori coloring, or 1 tablespoon paprika
1/3 cup plain yogurt
Usli ghee or light vegetable oil for basting

How to cook:
Cut the wings off the chickens. Remove the neckbone carefully. Place the chickens on a cutting board and quarter them neatly. Then pull away the skin, using kitchen towels for a better grip if necessary. (Reserve the wings, neck, and skin for the stockpot.) Prick the chicken all over with fork or a thin skewer. Make diagonal slashes, + inch deep, 1 inch apart on the meat. Put the meat in a large bowl. Add meat tenderizer and lemon juice to the chicken, and rub them into the slashes and all over for 2 minutes. Cover and marinate for + hour. Put all the ingredients of the marinade into the container of an electric blender or food processor, and blend until reduced to a smooth sauce. (Alternatively, garlic and ginger may be crushed to a paste and blended with the remaining ingredients.) Pour this marinade over the chicken pieces and mix, turning and tossing, to coat all the pieces well. (A note of caution: Since certain brands of Tandoori coloring tend to stain the fingers, it is advisable either to use a fork to turn the chicken pieces in the marinade or use a pastry brush to spread it over the chicken.) Cover and marinate for 4 hours at room temperature, or refrigerate overnight, turning several times. Chicken should not remain in the marinade for more than 2 days, because the marinade contains a meat tenderizer which, with prolonged marinating, alters the texture of the chicken meat to very soft and doughy. Take the chicken from the refrigerator at least 1 hour before cooking to bring it to room temperature. The chicken is now ready to be either roasted in the oven or broiled over an electric or charcoal grill.

To roast in oven:
Start heating the oven to 500-550 degrees. Take the chickens out of the marinade. Brush them with the ghee or vegetable oil, and place them on an extra-large shallow roasting pan, preferably on a wire rack. Set the pan in the middle level of the oven, and roast for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through. There is no need to baste while the chicken pieces are roasting, because the enclosed environment keeps the chickens from drying excessively.

To broil indoors:
Preheat the broiler. Brush the grill with a little oil to prevent the meat's sticking. Place the chicken pieces, slashed side up, on the grill, and brush the slashed side with ghee or vegetable oil. Cook 2 to 3 inches away from the heat for 20 minutes. Turn and cook the other side for another 10 minutes, or until the chicken pieces are cooked through. Brush often with ghee or vegetable oil during cooking.

To grill outdoors:
Fire the coal well in advance (about 1-1/2 hours before you are ready to begin cooking), so that a white ash forms over the surface of the coal. This is when the coal is at its hottest. Place the grill at least 5 inches away from the heat, and rub generously with oil. Place the chicken pieces, slashed side up, over the grill and brush them with ghee or vegetable oil. Let chicken cook without turning for 10 minutes. Turn, baste the other side, and cook for 10 minutes. Continue to cook, turning and basting the chicken every 10 minutes, until it is done. The cooking time for broiling and grilling usually varies widely. Much depends upon the intensity of the heat and its distance from the chicken. The point to remember is that the chicken pieces have been marinating in a very strong tenderizing solution for two days and therefore will cook much faster than standard broiled or barbecued chicken.

Serve the chicken immediately, lightly brushed with ghee or oil.

Indian-Barrah Kebab

Indian-Barrah Kebab

Ingredients:
21 lb Lamb shoulder chops
1/2 Inch cube ginger root
1/2 ts Ground nutget
-peeled and chopped
1/2 ts Ground black pepper
2/3 c Thick set plain yogurt
1/2 ts Ground cinnamon
1/2 ts Salt or to taste
1/2 ts Cayenne or chili powder
1 tb Cooking oil
1/2 ts Turmeric
1 ts Ground cumin
2 Garlic cloves, peeled
1 tb Sesame seeds
2 tb Onions, chopped coarse

How to cook:
Trim off excess fat from chops and flatten each chop with a meat malle a rolling pin. Wipe clean with a dramp cloth. Put all ingredients except chops, oil, cumin and seeds, into a blender food processor and puree. Put chops into a larege bowl and pour the blended ingredients over them. Using your fingers, rub the marinade w into each chop. Cover the container with plastic wrap and leave to marinate at least 8 hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil, this w help reflect heat and keep your roasting pan clean. Arrange the chops the roasting pan in a single layer ( reserve the remaining marinade) a cook in the center of the oven for 10 minutes - turning the chops over once. Reduce heat to 400 F. Mix the remaining marinade with the oil and cumin. Brush the chops wi this and sprinkle half the seeds on top. Return the pan to the upper of the oven for 10 minutes. turn the chops over and brush this side w the remaining marinade mixture and sprinkle the rest of the seeds as before. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes.

Indian-Tomato Chutney

Indian-Tomato Chutney

Ingredients:
Onion - 2
Tomato - 2
Red Chillies - 5
Coriander leaves - few
Oil - 3 tsp
Salt to taste

How to cook:
Chop onions and tomato very finely and keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan, add red chillies to it and fry for one min.
Add chopped onions to it and fry till golden brown.
Then add chopped tomatoes to it and fry for 5 Min's or till raw smell goes off.
Finally add chopped coriander leaves to it.
Grind coarsely and serve it with dosa, idli.

Indian-Ragi Dosa

Indian-Ragi Dosa

Ingredients:
Ragi flour / Finger Millet flour - 2 cups
Urad dal - 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Water
Oil

How to cook:
Wash and soak urad dal and methi seeds in water for 3 to 4 hrs.
Drain the water and grind by adding little water to make a smooth paste.
Transfer this to a large bowl and add ragi flour and salt tot it and mix well.
Close the bowl and keep it for 6 to 8 hrs for fermentation.
After this fermentation, stir the batter well. Now its ready to make dosa.
Heat the dosa pan and pour ladleful of batter on the pan and spread the batter in circular motion to form pancake of roughly 8" inch diameter.
Drizzle th oil on the surface and edges of the dosa. Flip the dosa and cook for one minute.
Serve the dosa with Chutney/Sambhar/ Chicken kurma etc.