Restaurant Style Chicken Tikka

There is nothing as tranquil as being on the beach, early morning when everything around is so beautiful, so fresh and so serene, but on nice sunny day. Being in the UK, warm weather is something we’ve been missing these days, so we need to utilise as much as of the sunny days we get.. It used to be the other way around while I used to live in Abu dhabi. We used to pray for rain, and when it drizzles, we stretch our hands out the window to catch few drops.Few precious drops..

We have been living in this part of Tyne & Wear for more than a year and half and it was not until recently that we discovered one of the beautiful beaches around, Fish Quays. It’s just couple of minutes from my son’s school and on days with less house chores, I drive down to spend some time on the beach. The beach in the morning is beautiful with fresh air to breathe in, less crowded apart from few elderly people sitting in their cars enjoying the beach or walking their dogs. It is very refreshing and relaxing. There are many old benches lined along the shore, where I sit for a while looking far at the sea, the fort, the ships, gulls etc.

But these days, in spite of it being spring, it is just like another winter. So cold, and with the wind, it just makes it all worse. The other day, when I went to the beach, the tide was really low so I just walked down a bit further skimming through the slippery dirt-green sea weed covered rocks. I had seen a bloke returning with a little bagful of mussels. So I just looked around the grooves and creases to see if I could spot something. I was super excited to see some fresh live mussels clutched on to the mossy rocks covered in slimy see weeds. 

As most woman I also get sold for anything that comes free and on sale, so, I started picking them, but was a bit wary if there would be some creatures around. Despite that, it was too cold that my fingers started getting numb, so I left the idea of picking them. Sad I dint carry my camera with me that day, I couldn’t any pictures of the mussels, mossy rocks etc. But here are few pictures for you that I captured on a bright sunny day, when the tide was high, no shore to be seen and no mossy rocks. It was all under the furious sea. I will share more pictures in some other post, when I get to take more of them.

Now, coming to the recipe, chicken tikka is something that needs no introduction. Mildly spiced boneless chicken cubes cooked on a charcoal grill is a crowd pleasing appetizer and is very popular in countries all over the world. It has gained much popularity over time. The tikka is traditionally made in a hot clay based oven called Tandoor. But at home, it can easily made in a very hot oven. I usually set my oven to 200ºC when I bake kebabs but many recipes asks to set the oven at 230 or so. 

This is one of the regular starters that we order at any Indian restaurant or take-away. This recipe of chicken tikka tastes just like restaurant one, if not better. I have been making this for years now, making no changes and can easily be doubled. I found this recipe on net long back, and I haven’t got the link saved. So, if this recipe belongs to someone you know, please write to me, I will add the link.

Chicken Tikka

Serves 3 - 4

Ingredients:

400 gm Skinless boneless chicken pieces ( 2 medium breast pieces)

2 tbs Fresh lemon/lime juice

½ - ¾ tsp Salt

2 tbs Greek yogurt

2 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 tbs ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 ts ground turmeric

1 tsp minced ginger

1 tsp red chilli powder

½ tsp - 1 tsp methy leaves crushed (fenugreek leaves)
Few drops of orange red food colour (optional)
2-3 tbsp butter, melted or ghee

2 tomatoes, cored, and flesh scooped out

2 onions cut into squares

Extra lemon/lime juice to squeeze on the kebabs.

6 Bamboo skewers, soaked in water for an hour (6- to 8-inch)

Preparation:

1. Wash the chicken and place it n a colander to drain off excess water. Wipe off the excess water using a kitchen towel and cut the chicken into 2" thickness.  Combine chicken, lemon juice and salt in a bowl and let it sit for 30 minutes. 

2. Mix Greek yogurt, minced garlic and ginger, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder and chilli powder in small bowl. Add food colour and mix well. Add in the chicken cubes and stir until chicken is well coated with spice mixture.

3. Refrigerate chicken at least 3 hours or overnight. I usually marinate it overnight to let the flavours steep in.

4. Preheat the grill to 200ºC. Thread chicken on skewers, alternating with onion wedges and cubed tomatoes.

5. Brush chicken and vegetables with melted butter. Grill kebabs until well cooked, turning frequently, and applying butter in between. Cook until you see brown spots here and there. It will take about 20 minutes. Keep checking for doneness in between, as overcooking them can make them dry and ruin the taste. Squeeze lemon juice once they are done, if required. You can also sprinkle little garam masala to boost up the spice level.

Notes and tips:

1. The bamboo sticks should be soaked in cold water to prevent the wood from burning while cooking.

2. If you have no skewers, just lay the kebabs flat on a baking tray and cook till done, turning sides and basting with melted butter or ghee every time you turn, to keep them juicy.

3. You can also pan fry them in little oil, if you have no access to oven.

4. Make sure that there is no moisture in chicken at all prior to marinating.

Chocolate, Fruit and Nut Biscotti

If I adore something, I would definitely be making different flavours and varieties of them. Biscotti are one among them. I have been making these jewelled cookies on and off whenever I feel like baking something that uses no butter and something that could be stored for a while. Biscotti are great to snack or for an evening tea and easy to make so I tend to load them with whatever fruits and nuts I have in hand. 

Talking about Biscotti, these are Italian biscuits that are baked twice until dry, crisp and crunchy. They are studded with dry fruits, nuts and chocolates. We normally have it by dunking in tea/coffee. These are fantastically versatile and we can use our own favourite combination of dry fruits, nuts or chocolates. I found this recipe on Good Housekeeping Magazine but added apricots, and more nuts. As my husband dislike chocolate, I added chocolate just to half the dough and they were just delicious, with or without chocolate.

Chocolate, Fruit and Nut Biscotti

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: About 45 minutes

Makes: About 40 mins

Ingredients:

90g shelled pistachios

70g lightly roasted hazelnuts

70g apricots, chopped

1 cup (200g) caster sugar

3 (~190g) medium eggs, lightly beaten

75g milk/dark chocolates, chopped into small chunks

1 tsp vanilla essence

275g all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

Preparation:

1. Line a large baking sheet with baking or parchment paper. 

2. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.

3. Add in eggs and stir until clumps form, then bring together with your hands, kneading until smooth.

4. Add nuts and chocolate and knead until evenly distributed (dough will be a stiff and a bit sticky) sprinkle little flour to make it less sticky and manageable, but don’t add too much.

5. Preheat the oven to 180 ºC (160 ºC Fan), gas mark 4.

6. Now, on a lightly floured surface, divide the dough in half and roll each dough into two 15 inch sausage shapes. Place them on lined sheets, spacing much apart. Bake them for 25 minutes or until the dough is slightly golden and has spread, then cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Turn down the oven to 140 ºC (120 ºC Fan), gas mark 1.

7. Using a serrated bread knife, cut rolls diagonally into 1cm thick slices. Lay flat on baking sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes until dry and lightly golden – They will harden on cooling.

8. Cool completely on wire rack and once completely cooled store in an airtight container.

Lemon Curd

Lemon curd is a thick citrusy sauce of velvety texture. This luscious, smooth and creamy curd can be spread on toasts, lemon cakes, cup cakes, drizzled over ice creams, cakes, scones, tarts and also used to sandwich macarons. As lemons are the prime ingredient and the one that dominates the flavour use fresh lemons that are plumb, juicy, firm and don’t have any blemishes on them. Fresh lemons contributes a lot to the flavour of the sauce, so, do not replace fresh lemon with the bottles ones you get in stores.

As the lemon curd calls for cooking of eggs, I cooked it over a saucepan of simmering water instead of stove top cooking. You can also cook it over stovetop on a very low heat with constant stirring to prevent scrambling. But, if you leave it unnoticed, you might end up having some scrambled eggs in the mixture. To be on the safe side, it is always best to pass the sauce through a strainer once done to get rid of any lumps. Cover with a cling film to avoid a film forming on the surface and let keep refrigerated. You can also freeze this.

Lemon Curd

Ingredients:

3 egg yolks

1 large egg

½ cup (100g) sugar

¼ cup lemon juice (Juice of 1 ½ large lemons)

50g cold butter, diced in small pieces

Finely grated zest of 1 or 2 lemons

2 tsp corn flour, mixed in 2 tbsp water

Preparation:

1. Place yolks, egg, lemon juice, corn flour mixture and sugar in a bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Cook till curd is thick and creamy and coats the back of the spoon. Make sure you stir constantly through out to avoid the egg scrambling.

2. Remove from heat and strain to remove any lumps. Stir in butter and mix well until butter is melted and the curd is smooth and velvety.

3. Pour into a bowl, cover with a cling wrap right on the surface and let it chill in the fridge till ready to use.

4. When ready to use, stir a little with a spoon or spatula to loosen the texture. Put in a piping bag and pipe as you wish.

Cabbage Thoran / Cabbage Varavu/ Kerala Style Cabbage Stir-fry

Certain foods, songs and places bring lot of old memories. For me it takes me down the memory lane and I get lost in them. It usually happens when it comes to songs and certain foods. I can truly relate each incident to each food or song. Recently I downloaded an application on my phone where you can access to worldwide radio stations. I now have access to some fantastic stations that play continuous 90’s Hindi hit songs which I used to listen while I was young. Boy, did it take me back to my childhood days from the time I first left for UAE to my school days through to my college days. Those were one of the best times of my life, no worries, with all siblings together under one roof with lot of chaos, noise, fights, chit chat and with loving parents to care and love for. I miss all of that innocent part of my life and I just wish if I could go back in time.

Certain songs and foods also take me back to my good old days with my dearest granny, one of my favourite personalities. May her soul rest in peace. I used to spend loads of time with her during our vacation back home, sit out in the veranda during monsoon, watching the rain and reading newspaper or just random talks and nibbling on some pistachios. And I cherished every moment I spent with her and I wish she was still with us. At times, I miss her a lot. How I wish the time never changed, people never changed and life never changed. It makes me very emotional at times, few tears dripping down my cheeks when I go through those memory lane and think of the people whom I love in my life and have left us.

This cabbage thoran is one that takes me back into my first school days in Kannur. We used to have lunch from our school canteen and rice, thoran, pappadom, sambhar, pickle and fish fry was one menu that I remember. Cabbage thoran was one that appeared on regular basis and something that I never liked so much. Recently, after making spring rolls I had quite a bit of cabbage leftover and I planned to use it up by making some thoran. It came out well and we really liked it. Those old school memories just came to me, un-invited. Cabbage thoran also contributes to Kerala Sadya.

Cabbage Thoran / CAbbage Varavu/ Kerala Style Cabbage Stir-fry

Serves 4

Ingredients:

400g/ 3 heaped cups of thinly shredded cabbage

½ a cup finely chopped onion

2 green chillies slit

2 tbsp coconut oil

½ tsp mustard seeds

¼ - ½ tsp turmeric powder

1 twig curry leaves

1/3 cup freshly grated coconut or frozen

salt to taste

Preparation:

1.Heat oil in a saucepan, splutter mustard seeds. Add curry leaves and green chillies and sauté for 30 seconds.

2. Throw in onions and add salt. Sauté until onions go soft. Add in turmeric and sauté for few seconds.

3. Add in the shredded cabbage, turmeric and mix well. Cover and cook until almost done

4. Add coconut, mix well and cook till done.

Serve alongside plain rice and other curries.

Note: If the cabbage is releasing lot of moisture, open the lid and cook on high heat. Here the cabbage is quite tough and so I add couple of spoons of water, cover and cook it.