#newbiechef

While chicken is an easy meat to cook, Indian preparations of the same can be a bit time consuming given the number of ingredients involved to bring out the flavours! Here is a simple dish with minimum ingredients but maximum taste!

Ingredients:  500gms of chicken cubes 3 tbsps of curd  1 tbsp of black pepper powder 1 tbsp of lemon juice  salt (approx 1tbsp) cumin seeds 2-3 bay leaves 3-4 pieces of cardamom  3-4 pieces of cloves  A few black peppercorns 4 medium sized onions finely chopped 2 tbsps of ginger garlic paste 2 sliced green chillies 2tsps each of coriander powder and garam masala  Finely chopped coriander leaves

This is a recipe passed down to me by my mother and one which is very close to my heart. The low prep + cooking time makes it an instant hit! While the dish is traditionally Burmese, here is my take on it. 

Ingredients:  500gms of diced boneless chicken 3 big onions Small bunch of spring onion  1 cup of fresh coriander 1 cup of garlic cloves 1-2 lemons 3-4 green chillies 2 packets of veg/egg hakka noodles 1 tbsp of ginger paste Salt Oil Sugar 1tbsp of red chilli powder 200ml of coconut milk

What is better than skillet fried chicken? Skillet chicken with veggies - a complete meal! While the recipe ma seem deceptively similar to the one for the Lemon Chicken, the replacement of lemon juice with stir fried veggies makes the dish totally different! Your family is sure to love this yummy healthy dish.

Ingredients: 3 whole chicken breasts 4 tbsps each of oregano, parsley and basil flakes 5 tbsps of olive oil 2 tbsps of salt 1 cup of chopped garlic 2 red bell peppers and 2 yellow bell peppers thinly sliced 300gms of sliced button mushrooms 

Process: 1. Take the chicken breasts and cut slits into the chicken breasts about 1cm (½ inch) apart, on both sides. but don’t cut all the way through the chicken breast - it should be cut about only 25%-30% of the way down on both sides. 2. Take the two chicken breasts in a bowl and add the 3 tbsps each of oregano, parsley and basil flakes, 3 tbsps of olive oil and 2 tbsps of salt into the bowl. Mix everything well so as to make sure the breasts are well coated with the marinade. Keep aside for 10-15 minutes till the veggies are getting sautéd.   3. Take a pan, add 2 tbsps of olive oil, and then add in the chopped garlic, sliced bell peppers, sliced mushrooms and 1tsp of salt. Sauté till the veggies become soft. Turn off the stove and keep aside.  4. Take a grill pan and add the chicken breasts one by one and grill/sear till the chicken is cooked through. Remove from pan and add into the pan with the sautéd veggies.  5. Turn on the stove and given the chicken veggie mixture a nice toss. Turn off the stove.  6. Garnish with some oregano, parsley and basil flakes and serve hot.

Who doesn’t like some zesty and tangy chicken? The tanginess of lemon lifts up the chicken dish and makes for great dinner. An accompaniment of Garlic Cheese Toast elevates the dish further. 

Ingredients:  2 whole chicken breasts 3 tbsps each of oregano, parsley and basil flakes 4 tbsps of olive oil 2 tbsps of salt 4 tbsps of lemon juice 1 cup of chopped garlic 2 slices of bread 1.5 cubes of  cheese grated

Process:  1. Take the chicken breasts and cut slits into the chicken breasts about 1cm (½ inch) apart, on both sides. but don’t cut all the way through the chicken breast - it should be cut about only 25%-30% of the way down on both sides. 2. Take the two chicken breasts in a bowl and add the 3 tbsps each of oregano, parsley and basil flakes, 4 tbsps of olive oil, 2 tbsps of salt, 3/4 cup of chopped garlic and 4 tbsps of lemon juice into the bowl. Mix everything well so as to make sure the breasts are well coated with the marinade. Keep aside for 1-1.5 hours.   2. Take a grill pan and add the chicken breasts one by one and grill/sear till the chicken is cooked through. Remove from pan and keep aside.  3. Take the bread slices, add some chopped garlic on top of the bread slice and add some grated cheese as well. Now put this in the microwave and heat on high for about 2-3 minutes (check in between intervals to see if the cheese has melted and the garlic is slightly roasted).  4. Serve the toast along with the lemon chicken. 

Just to mix things up a bit - here is a slightly different version of the Skillet Chicken with Stir Fried Veggies to turn it into a fun salad bowl. The mashed potatoes and bread are good accompaniments. 

Ingredients:  2 whole chicken breasts  4 tbsps each of oregano, parsley and basil flakes  5 tbsps of olive oil  2 tbsps of salt  1 cup of chopped garlic  2 red bell peppers and 2 yellow bell peppers thinly sliced  100gms of sliced babycorn 2 big potatoes Milk Butter Toasted Bread

When one thinks of street food, rolls can’t be far from one’s thoughts! See below for a quick and simple recipe for chicken rolls, one of the most popular street food items in Kolkata.

Ingredients: 250gm boneless chicken cubes Oil Ginger garlic paste Yogurt Garam Masala Powder Coriander Powder Red Chilli Powder Turmeric powder Chaat Masala 1 green bell pepper 1 medium sized onion Lemon Coriander leaves Ready to heat Lachcha Paratha (or if you want to make the paratha - then you will need all purpose flour, vanaspati ghee (Dalda), 5g salt, 15g sugar, 200ml warm water)

Process:  1. Take a bowl, add 2tbsp of oil, 2 tbsp of yogurt, 2 tbsp of garam masala powder, 1 tbsp of red chilli powder, 2 tsp of turmeric powder, 2 tsps of coriander powder, 1 tsps of chaat masala, 1tbsp salt and mix well. Then add in the chicken cubes and mix well again to ensure the chicken is thoroughly coated in the marinade.  Keep aside for 15-20 minutes.  2. While the chicken is marinating, slice the green bell pepper and the onion. Then take a frying pan, add 1tbsp of oil, and add in the thinly sliced green bell pepper and onion and fry till they become soft.  3. Now add in the marinated chicken, mix well and cook for 15-20 minutes (can cover with a lid to cook the chicken faster). Stir intermittently to make sure the chicken is getting cooked properly. In this process, the chicken will release water as it gets cooked, make sure to keep frying till the water/gravy almost reduces completely (As we are not making a gravy, we need fried chicken). 4. When it is almost done, squeeze a lemon to pour some juice into the mixture. Now remove the chicken from heat and add the cooked mixture onto the cooked parathas (You can heat the ready to make parathas available in the store for this purpose. Please see below for the recipe to make it from scratch), garnish with coriander leaves and roll it. 

Chicken Biryani + Raita is a classic combination which is loved by most and makes for perfect weekend lunch. This is my take on a not so spicy version of chicken biryani!

Ingredients: 

For Chicken Biryani 500gms of curry cut chicken (in-bone) 5 big sized onions thinly sliced Salt  Sugar 10g each of ginger and 5-6 cloves of garlic 3-4 green chillies 200gms of curd 30gms of chopped coriander 30gms of mint leaves 2tbsps each of turmeric powder and Bengali garam masala powder 3tbsps of ghee Lemon juice from 1 medium sized lemon Oil 500gms of Basmati Rice Whole spices (a few pieces each of green cardamom, bay leaf, cinnamon and clove)

For raita 1 medium sized onion grated 1 cucumber peeled and grated 2tbsps of chaat masala Salt Chopped coriander leaves 100gms of curd

Process: I have split the process in different sections as follows: 

Chicken marination 1. Take a frying pan, add oil and add the sliced onions. Add some salt and sugar and fry till the onions turn golden brown and soft, then keep side. Once the fried onions have cooled, set aside 1/4th of it and use the rest to make a fine paste in a mixer grinder.  2. Take the garlic, ginger and green chillies, chop them finely and grind to a paste in a grinder mixer and keep aside. 3. Add the onion paste from Step 1 and the ginger-garlic-chilli paste from Step 2 to a bowl with 500gms of chicken (curry cut). 4. Add curd, chopped coriander and mint leaves (majority of the chopped coriander and mint leaves from the quantities mentioned in the ingredients section) into the mixture from step 3. Then add in turmeric powder and home made garam masala, salt, ghee, lemon juice and keep aside for 1-1.5 hours. 

Rice 1. In a bowl take 500gm of rice and soak it in water for 1 hour.

Actual cook  1. Take a frying pan, add 2tbsps of ghee and add in the the marinated chicken to the pan once the ghee has heated. Cover the pan with a lid and let the chicken cook. Stir occasionally and splash water if you notice that the chicken is starting to stick to the bottom of the pan. 2. Once the chicken is half done, start cooking the rice simultaneously in a separate pot by first draining the soaked rice and adding it into a fresh pot of boiling water.  3. Add the whole garam masala spices (green cardamom, bay leaf, cinnamon, clove), coriander and mint leaves (use only some of the portion remaining from what was used for the chicken marination) in to the boiling water. 4. Once the rice is half done switch of the gas, drain the water, and remove the whole spices. 5. Check to see if the chicken is cooked completely. Once the chicken is done, take a thick bottomed pot and grease it with ghee. Add some of the chicken to the bottom. Then add some of the rice from step 4, then add in some of the fried onion which had been kept aside. Then again add in the chicken curry on top of the rice. Repeat the process till both the chicken and rice is completely used up. Add the remaining fried onions, coriander and mint (the last of the coriander and mint leaves) as the last layer.  6. Heat a skillet and place the pot (with the biryani mixture) on top of this and cover with a lid which can be seal with dough made of flour. Continue heating in this manner for half an hour. 7. Remove from heat and keep the pot covered for another 15 mins. Then remove the lid and mix the rice and chicken to make an even mixture. 8. Serve hot with raita (Recipe below).

Who doesn’t love Mexican food? But I bet there are so many of us who would rather just order it in than make it, because well, we can’t really nail the Mexican flavours in our own kitchens, right? WRONG! Here is a simple recipe for Quesadillas, which tastes as smashing as your restaurant Quesadillas!

Ingredients: 4 Tortillas (used the store bought ones) 500gms of Chicken breast cut into small cubes 1 medium sized onion sliced long 1 green bell pepper and 1 red bell pepper, both sliced long 1tbsp Red Chilli powder  1/2tsp of Garlic Powder  1/2tsp Black Pepper Powder  1tsp Cumin Powder 2 cubes of cheese grated Oil Salsa sauce (store bought) 1tsp Salt Butter