Chicken Roulades & oven baked potato chips

Ingredients

For the Roulades

4 chicken thighs - skinless and boneless

4 cups spinach - chopped

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium onion - finely chopped

4 flakes of garlic - finely chopped

4 teaspoons Cajun seasoning

4 strips of bacon (you can use turkey bacon - thats what I used)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2/3 cup chicken stock OR white wine

2 teaspoons corn starch

2 tablespoons light cream OR half'n'half

1 teaspoon chopped chives

salt to taste

crushed pepper

For oven fried chips

4 potatoes - sliced thin

salt

pepper

paprika powder

olive oil

Method

Chicken Roulades

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the chicken thighs in between plastic wrap and flatten it with a rolling pin or with a meat tenderizer. Season one side with cajun seasoning. Be careful, as cajun seasoning is spicy - so add according to taste.

In a karahi, add the butter, when it melts, to it add the garlic and then the onions. fry till they become transparent. Then add the chopped spinach and cook till all the moisture has been cooked off. Add salt to taste and pepper.

Divide the spinach filling between the 4 chicken pieces and roll up neatly. Wrap a strip of bacon neatly and tie it securely with a fine string.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and brown the rolls all over. Take these browned rolls and place them neatly in a baking dish. Pour in the wine OR the chicken stock and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, till they get tender. Transfer the chicken to a serving plate and remove all the string.

Strain the wine OR chicken stock liquid in a saucepan. Blend the corn starch in some water and add it to the juices in the saucepan and stir to avoid any lumps. Add the cream and stir well till the whole mixture is well incorporated. Bring to a boil. Add alt and pepper if needed. Now add the chopped chives. Pour the sauce around the chicken in the serving dish.

For oven chips

Place the slicked potatoes on a cookie sheet. Drizzle some olive oil on top of it and then add salt, pepper and paprika powder. Let it bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 to 15 minutes. Chips are ready

The roulades and the chips are ready to be served with some nice green salad.

Chicken Tikka Skewers

Ingredients

6to 7 Boneless/skinless thigh or breast pieces of chicken (as per choice) - cut into 1 inch pieces

2 large vidalia /red onions - cut into 1 inch pieces

2 large bell peppers (green, re, orange, yellow - any color of choice) - cut into 1 inch pieces

2 tablepoons tandoori masala

1 teaspoon garlic paste

1 teaspoon methi powder

1 teaspoon salt

a pinch of red coloring

4 tablespoons oil

4 tablespoons melted butter (for basting) - if using unsalted butter, then increase the salt to be added to the marinade

Method

In a ziploc bag - add the oil, tandoori masala, garlic powder, methi powder, salt and red coloring and mix well. To this mixture add the chicken pieces and coat each piece with the marinade. Let this mixture sit in the fridge for atleast 2 hours - overnight is better.

When the grill is all set and fired up - take skewers (if using wooden skewers - let them be soaked in water overnight to avoid getting burnt) and add a chicken piece, followed by an onion piece and then a bell pepper piece (as shown in the picture). Once all the skewers are done - place it on the hot grill - baste it with melted butter and cover and let it cook. Chicken cook s fast, so it should be done in 10 minutes on one side. Now turn the skewers and baste the other side with butter and let it cook for another 10 minutes.

Chicken tikka BBQ is ready to be served with mint yogurt dip and tossed salad.

Recipe for mint yogurt chutney/dip - http://merakitchen.blogspot.com/2008/04/yogurt-chutney.html

Chole Bhature

My husband loves Chole Bhature in veg food. He is a hard core non-veg eater (I am sure you have guessed it from the entries on the blog - most of it is non-veg). The other day he was returning from a trip and it being a Thursday, I was not going to cook any non-veg food - so he asked me to make Chole Bhature.

Ingredients

For Chole

1 cup kabuli chana - dry garbanzo beans

1 cup water

2 teaspoons tea powder OR 2 tea bags

2 medium onions - finely chopped

6 to 7 cloves garlic - finely chopped

1 medium tomato - finely chopped

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 inch ginger - finely grated

1 teaspoon cumin

4 tablesoons oil

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

2 teaspoons chole masala (I used everest masala)

salt as per taste

For Bhature

2 cups all purpose flour (Maida)

4 tablespoons of semolina (Rawa)

1/2 cup yogurt

1/2 teaspoon yeast OR 1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup warm water (if using yeast)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

oil for frying

Method

For Chole

Heat the 1 cup of water and when it comes to a boil, add the tea/teabags - let it boil for about 2 minutes. Strain this water and add it to the kabuli chana/garbanzo beans. Add more water till the water covers all the beans. Let it soak for 5 to 6 hours. Tea is added to the chana to get the dark color - it does not change the taste.

In a pressure cooker - add the chana with the tea water. Add another cup of water, turmeric powder, a pinch of salt and let it cook under pressure until 3 whistles. Once the pressure is released, check the chana for doneness. Take a ladelful of chana in a bowl and crush it into a fine paste and then add it back to the boiled chana - this is done to give the chole curry some thickness.

In a karahi - add 4 tablespoons of oil. When it gets hot - add the cumin seeds and the chopped garlic. Be careful not to burnt he garlic. Immediately add the chopped onions and fry till they turn golden brown. Now add the tomatoes, ginger and the chopped corinader. Mix well till the mixture leaves the sides of the karahi. Now add the chilli powder and the chana masala and salt as per taste. Mix this well till everything is incorporated. Now add the boiled chana and mix well. Add water only if needed - or as per your desire of curry consistency. Cover and let it simmer on medium low flame for about 15 minutes.

Chole is ready to be served with bhature, raita and chopped onions.

For Bhature

If using yeast - then in 1/4 cup of warm water, add the yeast and let it sit for about 1/2 hour.

In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients (do not use baking powder if you are using yeast). Add the yogurt and the yeast mixture and mix well. Add water only if required to get a soft pliable dough. Cover it with a damp muslin cloth/kitchen tissue and let this mixture sit for about 2 hours in a warm and dark place.

Heat oil in a karahi. Make small balls of the dough and roll them into round or tear shaped flats and fry in the hot oil till golden brown.

Serve hot with chole.

We even like bhature with tandoori chicken - makes a yummy and sinful combination.

Chicken Tikka Pita Sandwiches

Well, the murg malai tikka was not enough for dinner. So, we decided to have some pita bread sandwiches with the murg tikka as the highlight :)

Ingredients

Whole wheat pocket pita

shredded lettuce

roughly chopped cucumber

roughly chopped onions (optional)

hummus

tzatziki sauce

Murg Malai Kebab - shredded

Method

Cut the poket pita into half. Open the pocket and on one side spread hummus and on the other side spread the tzatziki sauce. Then add the lettuce and cucumber and onions and top it with the shredded chicken kebabs.

Serve with hummus and tzatziki sauce.

We got the hummus and the tzatziki from a grocery store. It can be easily made at home too.

link for tzatziki - http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Tzatziki

link for hummus - http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Hummus_(Greek)

Murg Malai Tikka

The other day we were bored of the routine dal, chawal, roti and sabzi routine. We both wanted to cook something together and something that we had never cooked before. Too much of brainstorming and finally we decided on Murg Malai Tikka.

We went to the grocery store to get the supplies for the meal - and saw some nice mint. Immediately thought of making Murg Malai Tikka in 2 different ways - one in red color with traditional spices and one in green color with mint and coriander.

Ingredients

8 skinless and boneless chicken thighs - cut into 1 inch pieces

For the green tikka

1/2 cup mint leaves

1/2 cup cilantro

9 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup heavy cream

For traditional spices

9 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon ginger paste

2 teaspoon kashmiri chili powder

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon dhania jeera powder

1 teaspoon garam masala powder

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup heavy cream

Method

Blend together all the ingredients for the green masala tikka, except the heavy cream - in a blender to a fine paste. Add it to the heavy cream and then in a ziploc bag, mix half the chicken pieces with this mixture and let it mariante for atleast 2 hours - overnight will be good.

For the traditional spices mix - add all the ingredients in a ziploc bag. Mix well and then add the other half of the chicken pieces and mix well. Let it marinate for atleast 2 hours - overnight will be good.

Preheat the oven on broil @ 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Put the chicken pieces on skewers. With a drip pan under the skewers, spray some non-stick spray and then let it broil in the oven. After 10 minutes -turn the skewers to get the other side done. The tikka are ready in about minutes.

Serve with lemon wedges and sliced onions and cucumber.