Achari Fish Tikka / Spicy Pickled Fish Fry

Here comes pickles season.....the markets are flooded with huge green kairis that are bound to make your mouth water!!!

Had gone shopping a few days back and picked up a packet of pickle masala just on a whim...guess just looking at those yummilicious kairis made me want to pick it up...Anyway, now that I had the masala I had to use it. Making mango pickle is really time consuming and needs accuracy. And time is something I am lacking right now with all the guest dropping over and my kiddo vacays and so on and so forth!!!

I had a huge and totally boneless piece of ghol fish which was sitting in the fridge so I though why not use it with the achar masala?? I make prawns pickle which stays for 8 to 10 days in the fridge but here making pickle was not possible as ghol fish is really delicate and tend to break so fish pickle was out....but since the fish was already marinating I went ahead and pan fried it...and it came out totally yummy with just the right amount of zing and punch!!

Since I had some left over marinade I just added the maida and besan to it and coated the potato roundels and pan fried them..they perfectly complimented the achari tikka...so do go ahead and make these.



Ingredients:

8 / 10 pieces       Ghol fillets (You can use rawas or surmai fillets also)
2 tsp                   Mango pickle masala (I used bedekar's)
2 tsp                   Ginger Garlic paste
2                         Lemons
1/2 tsp                Haldi powder
1/2 tsp                Namak Shamak (the pickle masala already had a little salt)
4 tsp                   Besan
4 tsp                   Maida
Oil for frying

Method:

Remove the juice of the lemons.

Marinate the fish pieces in the lemon juice, pickle masala, ginger garlic paste, haldi powder and salt and leave them for atleast an hour.

Mix the besan and maida. Do not add water.

Take the marinated fish pieces and roll them in the besan, maida mixture till evenly coated.

Shallow fry in oil on a skillet or non stick tawa on low heat till crisp and evenly browned.

If you have some left over marinade just toss in the remaining besan and maida. Add a little water to make a thick batter. Now dip the potato roundel in it and pan fry them on low heat.

Serve the achari fish tikka with crisp white onions.

Egg Cutlet

Tasted this creation at a restaurant named"Atithi "on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway. And I must say it was absolutely delicious!!! This restaurant is owned by a Parsi and serves some really authentic Parsi delicacies. Wanted to try more but since we were in such a rush and it was already past lunch time,I ordered this one and I must say I am gonna come back for more!!!! And a review is definitely in order...

Back to the Egg Cutlet....i have tried to recreate the taste but made certain changes here and there. Moreover at the restaurant it was served with potato salli (they taste like potato wafers but are sort of shredded and fried crisp) which was very good accompaniment. 

Ingredients:

6 to 7        Boiled Potatoes
4              Hard Boiled Eggs
1/2 cup     Sooji rawa
1 tsp         Namak Shamak
2 tsp         Cornflour
Oil for frying

For the chutney:

1 cup        Pudina leaves
1/2 cup     Coriander leaves
1 cup        Grated fresh coconut
6 / 7          Garlic cloves
1 inch        Ginger
3 / 4          Green Chillies
1/2 tsp       Namak Shamak
a pinch of sugar

Method:

Prepare the chutney by grinding all the ingredient for chutney finely using very little water. Remove and keep aside.

Mash the boiled potatoes and remove all lumps. Add the salt and the cornflour and mix again.

Cut the boiled eggs lengthwise.

Assemble the cutlets. Put the pudina chutney on the egg and cover it evenly with the mashed potato mixture. Prepare all the cutlets similarly.

Heat oil in a kadhai. When hot reduce the flame to medium. Roll the cutlets in the sooji and deep fry on medium flame till golden. 

erve hot with tomato ketchup and pudina chutney. You can also serve it with potato wafers and onion rings.

Popcorn coated Chicken

This is one recipe I couldnt resist making....

Moreover the chilly winter here in Mumbai had me craving for some real deep fried stuff. Also the thought of combining the crunch of popcorn with some succulent spicy chicken was enough to have me salivating!!!

The Olive dip is to neutralize or atleast to minimize the fieriness of the chicken.

Ingredients:

8 /  10                  Boneless Chicken pieces (small)
1                          Egg Yolk
2 tbsp                  Cornflour
2 tbsp                  Flour
1 tsp                   Ginger Garlic Paste
1/2 tsp or more   Red Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp                Namak Shamak
1 packet             Act II Popcorn
Oil for frying

for the Olive Dip:

2 tbsp               Mayonnaise
6 / 7                  Black Olives (finely Chopped)
1                       Small Red Bud Chilli (finely Chopped)


Method:

Prepare the marinade by mixing the ginger garlic paste, the salt, red chilly powder and a few drops of oil. Add the chicken pieces and keep aside for 1 hour.

Separate the egg yolk, add a tsp of cornflour, a tsp of flour, a pinch of salt and a tbsp of cold water and mix thoughly to make a paste like batter.

In a plate mix the rest of the dry cornflour and the flour.

 

Pop the popcorn and crush them nicely.

Heat oil in a kadhai. Take a chicken piece roll it in the dry flour.Remove. Dip it in the egg yolk batter and roll it in the crushed popcorns till evenly coated. Fry in the oil, a few at a time till golden. Drain and remove on absorbent kitchen towel.

To make the Olive Dip, mix all the ingredient and serve.

Crispy Chicken Seek Kebabs / Spicy Minced Chicken Satay

Sundays are meant for Cocktails,Starters and Conversations! Thats our plan for most of our sunday Lunches!
Ever since I bought Panko Crumbs, I m just in love with the crispy and golden crust it gives with minimal efforts! A Spiced Chicken Seek Kebab, with a crispy crust , sounds , just the twist I wanted to give to my Sunday Starter!
Have added a few bits of cashews for added taste and texture. And lots of green chillies for that extra spicy kick!
This kebab is traditionally roasted or grilled on skewers over coal. I have domesticated it , using wooden staty sticks and grilled over tawa or girdle.
I served it with yogurt and mint chutney, made by wisking yogurt with mint chutney(ground mint and coriander with 1-2 green chillies) and salt and sugar.

Ingredients:

200 gms Minced Chicken
1 small egg
4-5 cloves Garlic,chopped
1 Inch Ginger ,peeled and chopped
3-6 Green Chillies chopped
5-8 Cashewnuts,chopped in chunks
1/2 Cup chopped Coriander Leaves
1 tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Salt
1 Cup Panko Crumbs or regular bread crumbs
Wooden Staty Sticks
2-4 tbsp Oil for frying.

Add half the egg to the minced chicken and mix.
Now add chopped garlic,ginger,green chillies and coriander to the chicken.
Add garam masala and salt and cashewnuts to the mince mixture  and knead together.
Add some cornflour if the mix is too loose.
Keep aside for atleast and hour.

Grease palms with some oil and take small portions of the mince mixture and gather them across the satay sticks.
Repeat for the remaining mixture.
Lightly brush the mixture with egg and roll them in panko crumbs.
Heat grill or tawa and drizzle some oil over it.

On low flame,roast the kebabs, till they are golden brown on all sides,turning them on all sides.

Serve with lime wedges,onion rings and mint and yogurt chutney.

 

 

 

 

Tamarind Chicken/Imli Chicken /Khatta Sukka Chicken

 
We had once booked a bungalow at Lonavala and apart from the beautiful weather, the cook there was amazing.....

He used to make mouthwater Aloo Paratha.  Another of his speciality was this Imli chicken!!!

I did try to get him to part with the recipe but he refused giving all sort of vague reasons....ya everyone loves their own secret recipes!!!! So...I tried to recreate the same here by just judging from the taste, which I must admit was difficult because it was busting with so much flavour..It was almost impossible to recreate all the flavours but nevertheless i have tried...

The result was similar but then I was only "thinking with my tastebuds".

Ingredients:

200 gms         Boneless Chicken
15 to 20         Garlic Cloves
2 inch piece   Ginger
7 to 8             Pepper corns
1 tsp              Saunf
1/2 tsp           Jeera
2 tsp             Tamarind Pulp

1/2 tsp          Red chilli powder
1/2 tsp          Namak Shamak
1 tbsp           Cornflour
1/4 tsp          Sugar
2 tsp             Oil

Method:

Coarsely grind the ginger, garlic, pepper, saunf and the jeera. Here you can also add a couple of green chillies to increase the spice and reduce the chilli powder.

Now marinade the chicken with the tamarind pulp, the coarsely ground paste, chilli powder, sugar, salt and lastly add the cornflour. You can increase the amount of cornflour here. The cornflour serves the purpose of binding all the ingredients together. Let the chicken marinate for atleast 4 to 5 hrs.

Heat oil in a non stick pan. When hot, toss in the chicken and stir. Reduce the heat and cook covered. It will take only about 20 mins to cook. Open the lid and cook till dry.

Serve garnished with coriander leaves.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

I like to indulge in "Deep Fried Goodness" once in a while, especially on sundays...
I still remember my Dad saying, "anything deepfried tastes good...even if you make a pakoda out of paper , it ll taste good!"
Well , I must say it was an exagerrated statement, but I do agree , deep fried stuff does taste yumm , and its so called Indulgence...hence fit only for occassions! But even deep fried recipes need to have the correct ingredients and technique to make them worth the calories they are loaded with.

In an attempt to make the perfect crispy fried chicken , I tried this technique of marinating chicken in buttermilk and some seasonings and then deep frying them. The result was a juicy,melt in mouth chicken!! It did lacked the extra crispiness of KFC style chicken made earlier..but yes it did have a nice crust!

Ingredients:

200 gms Boneless Chicken cut in strips or thin slices
2-3 Cups Buttermilk
1 Cup Maida or all purpose flour
1-2 tsp Namak Shamak
2 tsp Mixed Herbs
Oil for deep frying
For the Salad:

1/2 Cup Shredded Cabbage
1 Small Capsicum julliened
1 small Onion Sliced
3-7 Black Olives sliced
1-2 tsp vinegar
1 tsp Sugar

For the Dressing:
2 tbsp Mayonaise
1 tsp Fresh Cream
1/2 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Mixed Herbs
1/2 Tsp Tobasco sauce


Add 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp mixed herbs to the butter milk and immerse the chicken pieces completely in it.

Let the same marinate in refregirator for atleast 3 hours,perferrably overnight.

Mix flour with herbs and salt and keep aside.

For the salad, mix all the vegetables and add vinegar and sugar and keep aside for 30 mins.

Wisk all the ingredients for the dressing and add to the salad vegetables and toss.

Heat oil in a pan till medium hot.
Take the marinated chicken from the buttermilk mixture and dip it in the flour mixture till completely coated.

 Now dip it again in the buttermilk and again in the flour,and toss till it completely coats the chicken.

Deep fry it in hot oil on both sides till golden brown and crisp.

Repeat for the remaining chicken.

Serve with the vegetable salad,garnish with some olives.

 

Crispy Fried Chicken / KFC style Fried Chicken

On our regular casual weekend outings in Nasik , we just saw a huge hiring add outside what looked like a prospective restaurant or a food joint. And yes, that was a hiring add for KFC staff..yes Kentucky Fried Chicken!! Wow...I was overwelmed...finally an outlet in Nasik, no more need to stand in overcrowded Mc Donalds outlet or wait at the Subways just to be told that they are out of Bread!( yesit happened to me twice here, at Subway , when they told me they are out of bread and the fresh batch would take 25 30 mins to bake...Gosh!!)
At Mumbai , it was just for granted that you have access to the best , be it food or clothing or anything!! Its only when you lose it , that you realise the significance!! ( Man, i miss travelling by overcrowded local trains and those rikshaws..it was just so convinient!)
Ok so back to us gazing the KFC coming soon board...and my husband was like, you better apply for a cooks job there..to know their secret crispy fried flaky chicken recipe!! And i secretly agreed....and we laughed it off...
But despite all attempts at home , i wasnt able to get my chicken right....that was until today, when I perfected my recipe , to get just that crispy fried goodness on my plate....!!
And I really didnt get time for the garnish and presentation , since it was just made in the spur of the moment! But nevertheless the taste is just divine!! Crisp, super light and juicy inside!!

 














Ingredients:

200 gms Boneless Chicken,cut into thin slices
1 egg,lightly beaten
200 ml milk
Oil for frying

For Dusting:
1 Cup Maida or all purpose flour
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Mixed Herbs
1 tsp Paprika

For Marinating Chicken:
1 tsp Vinegar
1/2 tsp Msg
1 tsp Garlic powder (optional)
1 tsp Mixed Herbs


Marinate the chicken slices in all the marinade ingredients ,preferrably overnight or atleast 2-3 hours.

Mix the egg and milk and beat it to mix thoroughly.

Sieve the maida with baking powder and salt.
Add the herbs add paprika and mix.

Heat oil in a kadhai.(You can deep fry big chunks of chicken if you like, I have used slices , to reduce the oil used for frying,since the oil gets dark with the flour , so cant be reused)

Dip the chicken pieces in the egg milk mixture and drop them in the flour mixture.Make sure the chicken is evenly coated with dry flour.

 

 

 

 

Coated chicken waiting to be deep fried into crispy juicy bits

 

Again drop the coated chicken in the egg milk mixture and then roll them in the dry flour mixture.
Now put the chicken to fry in hot oil on a medium flame, till its crisp and brown.
Serve with dips of your choice..
I served with a veg.mayo salad! Yumm

Crisp,crumblyand juicy!!