Easy Chicken Roast

Ingredients:

1 Whole Chicken
Minced garlic(1 whole clove)
Cayenne/Red chilli powder - 2tspn
Crushed black pepper - 1 tspn
Dried onion powder-2 tbs*
Peanut oil/Olive oil - (3-4) tbs
Dried thyme - roughly 2 tbs
Dried oregano - roughly 1 tbs
Baby potatoes(you can leave the skins on) washed thoroughly - about 10-12
Baby onions(again you can leave the skins on if you feel they are clean) -10-12
Lemons- 2 large ones
Finely chopped coriander/parsley - about a handful

salt to taste

Preparation:

Step 1 :
Preheat the oven at 180°c.Prepare the rub by adding in the minced garlic,onion powder,cayenne powder,black pepper,chopped parsley,salt and sufficient oil to mix it all up well in a bowl.

Step 2 :
After the chicken is completely skinned,washed,cleaned and pat dried;apply the rub on it and massage it well;taking care to put some of the rub inside the cavity as well.Use a spoon or a brush if you must.

Step 3:
Prick the lemons well with a fork and place them inside the cavity.At this point you can tie the thighs together with a string to avoid the moisture from chicken escaping out and hence helping it to cook well from inside.You can skip the tying part if you wish and directly place the chicken backbone side up in the baking tray.

Step 4:
Toss the baby onions and baby potatoes in the remaining rub and just randomly place them in the tray along with the chicken.Personally i like to line the tray with aluminium foil before placing the chicken in to save on a lot of washing up later.

Step 5:
Pour a generous amount of oil over the chicken and the veggies and cover the entire tray with foil.Place it inside the oven at about 165°c for about 35-40 mnts.
After this remove the foil nd raise the temperature of the oven to 200°c and cook for another 10 mnts.This will crisp up the chicken.

Step 6:
It is a good idea to let the chicken rest for a couple of minutes after it is done.
Place the chicken on a chopping tray.Now simply use a kitchen knife to cut along the breastbone and the backbone to split it into two,and further along the joint above the thigh to make four large pieces in total.
Collect the juices from the tray nd season if needed.
Serve it hot with roasted veggies on the side and spoon the juices that you collected over it.
Bon Appetite :)

*dried onion can also be easily prepared by roasting,cooling and then grounding thinly sliced onions lined up on a baking tray on moderate heat in a conventional oven.

Moroccan feast!!

One rule to eat in my house is that no rules are followed.We can easily be found eating an Indian bhel for starters,a Chinese stir fry for main course and an a very English creme caramel for desserts.I guess this is how we Indians are...a potpourri of odd  things,flavors,colors and textures put together.We love to assemble up incongruous stuff in ways that it suddenly becomes meaningful.Food is one such thing...as long as it pleases people who are eating it,i give a damn about what the gourmets have to say.For me food has only one objective to fulfill and that is to seduce the senses and lure them to consumption and beyond.

Few days back Indian cricket had a rendezvous with one of its historical and glorious moment that I'm sure every Indian will remember for a long time to come.Now sport events are when all males of a particular specie are at their craziest best and need  a lot of food and beer to sober up(their female counterparts are left to do their own thing....cooking and cribbing!!)....but it usually peaks on the day of the finale and suddenly there are these innumerable trips to the kitchen,the refrigerator and the loo:-).Tired of playing stewardess the entire week i gave in and decided to make something that could be cooked without a lot of supervision and would still get me accolades from people(and also gimme the much needed time to do all the cheer leading right in my living room);I zeroed in on a moroccan Tagine with chicken,preserved lemons and olives.I usually make this and the Moroccan Herrera (spicy chick pea soup) when all of the family(including my extended family) gathers on holidays and are all hungry after long hrs of chit chat and gossip.

A tagine is an earthen pot with a heavy and flat bottom and a conical lid that creates a slow cooking environment for vegetables and all sorts of meats,rendering them tenderness and an earthy aroma that is reminiscent of flavors from "handi daal" or "handi chicken" or whatever.It is a great excuse to eat in togetherness,dipping each morsel of bread in the silken gravy and in conversation.

Moroccan food is actually very easy on the Indian palate because of the familiar spices and flavors.This dish is versatile enough to let you use whatever vegetables you have in stock including carrots,baby potatoes,aubergines,green peas, sweet potatoes and so on.Pickled lemon and sweet flavors like raisins or dried apricots are also added sometimes to give it a different dimension.It is also possible to make this dish entirely vegetarian and still retain its basic character.Here is the recipe:

Chicken Tagine with Potatoes,Raisins and Green Olives


Ingredients




Half a kg of chicken(i used only chicken thighs,6 pieces)It is alright to use regular curry cut chicken that we mostly get from the markets here.
Minced garlic cloves-4 or 5
Saffron threads or saffron extract ,depending on what you use-equivalent of 4 to 5 threads
Half a cup of extra virgin olive oil
Turmeric powder-1 tsp
Dried ginger powder-1/2 tsp
Cumin powder-1 tsp
cinnamon powder-1/2 tsp
paprika/red chilli powder(optional)
Preserved lemon(washed and pulp removed)-1 whole lemon
Green olives
Potatoes-2 medium sized,peeled and cut into thick wedges or baby potatoes,peeled -around 10 to 12
Golden raisins-two tsp /dried apricots-2(just cut them into two halves or it will render the gravy an overly sweet taste
freshly chopped coriander/parsley
Chicken broth,veg stock -1 cup
Salt to taste


Preparation:

• In a bowl mix all the spices and aromatics(garlic,grated onion,dried ginger powder,cumin powder,turmeric,cinnamon powder,paprika and saffron threads/extract and some salt).
• Add the olive oil and chopped coriander/parsley to this mixture and combine it to make a paste.

• Now coat all the vegetables,onion slices and chicken thighs in this paste and layer them in the tagine(or a flat and heavy  bottomed pan) with onion slices going in the first layer and the rest arranged above them.

• Throw in some green olives,apricots/raisins and the preserved lemon chopped or whole.
• cover the pan with some foil and let it rest in the refrigerator for about an hr before transferring it to a charcoal fire/gas top or oven.I cooked it covered on a low flame for about 15 mts,added a cup full of broth and transferred it into oven at around 180°C/350°F for about 25 mts.
• Serve it hot and still bubbling with either Bread ,Couscous or plain white Rice.

Health Fact:

The traditional Mediterranean diet is characterized by a high intake of vegetables, legumes, fruits and nuts, and cereals, and a high intake of olive oil but a low intake of saturated lipids, a moderately high intake of fish, a low-to-moderate intake of dairy products (and then mostly in the form of cheese or yogurt, which contain friendly bacterial probiotics), a low intake of meat and poultry, and a regular but moderate intake of wine.In other words, freshness, small portions, moderate quantity of wine along with such food and above all pleasure in food consuming, obviously make the winning combination for a long and healthy life.

desi tadka!!!

For me no sophisticated meal can beat the taste of good old "chulhe di roti "with a dollop of home made white butter on it...yum"!! ("Chulha" is the clay oven that uses fire wood and is found in most rural indian households) The hearty and robust food that is made from freshly procured goodies in these households are not just yummy tasting but can also put any of those so called"healthy and low calorie fancy sounding fancy tasting"foods to shame in terms of their nutritional value.I try and source these ingredients from the best possible places(read nearby village markets)which is easier for me beacause i live in a place that makes   shopping in local rural markets as easy as shopping in an upmarket store for ingredients from far off shores.

Now "makke di roti and sarson saag"(corn/maize meal tortillas and mustard greens curry) is one such favourite combination that almost all of us would have loved at some point.This recipe originated from rural areas of punjab where farmers would eat this after a long and tiring day of working in the fields.This is usually accompanied by a tall glass of full cream sweet to the core" lassi"(a drink made from sweetened yoghurt).

But i decided to stay away from it because it is so popular that almost everyone knows the recipe so well its no point retelling it again.

Instead; i did a jowar (sorghum)roti with a hearty palak paneer with a twist(i called it patiala palak paneer because i couldnt find a heartier sounding name).Here is the recipe:

patiala palak paneer

ingredients

fresh paneer(cottage cheese)-250 gms
palak(spinach)puree-1 cup(i blanched the spinach leaves in hot salted water for a minute before pureeing it)
tomatoes(sliced in strips)-2 medium sized ripe ones(if u want u can deseed them)
grated onions-1 medium sized bulb
garlic cloves-8 to 10
grated ginger-1"inch
whole coriander seeds-i tspn
cumin seeds-1 tspn
whole dry red chillies-2 or 3
cumin powder-1 tspn
garam masala powder-1 tspn
paprika.red chilli powder-1 tspn
turmeric powder-1 tspn
salt to taste
oil/ghee to saute

procedure:

• heat a tblspn of oil/ghee in a heavy bottommed pan or wok.when the oil is hot enough add cumin seeds and the whole coriander seeds followed by the red chillies.

• Add the whole garlic cloves and then throw in the grated onion and ginger.saute till the mixture is well cooked and is golden in colour.

• Add the powdered spices i.e. turmeric,paprika,cumin powder and then add the tomatoes.add a little water to bring together the spices and cook till the masalas start to leave oil from the sides.

• Now add the pureed spinach,salt and garam masala.Cover and cook at low heat for about 6-7 mts.do stir it in between.add paneer and cook for further 3 or 4 mts.water can be added according to the desired consistency,just remember to season it accordingly.add some white butter in the end(optional) and remove from heat.serve with hot bread/chapati/paranthas.

Jowar rotis(sorghum flat bread)

Mix a cup full of jowar meal with a three quarters cup of very hot water.Mix vigourously with a spatula and cover immediately.keep this covered for 10 to 12 mts(after which it also gets easier to handle as it cools down by then).Now take out the dough on a floured surface and knead it adding some wheat flour when needed to.also add a big spoonfull of sesame seeds to enhance the taste if you like it.i added it while rolling the dough into chapatis though.this much dough will make some 4-5 medium sized ,slightly thick rotis.

roll the chapatis and when needed use some wheat flour to dust.

note: do not roll the chapatis too thin or else they'll turn very hard and chewy after cooking.

• cook on the griddle/pan on  medium heat on both the sides till well done,use some ghee if required.Serve hot with daal or curry and some pickles on the side.

Health tip:

Including slower carbs(maize,sorghum,whole wheat and millets etc) in our daily dinner menu is far more beneficial for our bodies as opposed to excluding carbs totally in dinner(i know this is what most health freaks do)because not only it helps bring satiety and thus better sleep;but also when combined with good  proteins(paneer,tofu, legumes and lentils etc),ensures that the body effieciently repairs itself overnight hence increasing the chances of fat burning through the day.Happy eating!!