Chicken Ghee Roast (Warning - It's Red Hot!)

Why am I giving you a recipe for a crazy-red-hot dish in the middle of summer? Have I lost my bonkers (and my taste buds)? Ahem ahem… that was a nice opening spiel, don’t you think? Now, getting down to business. If you think about it – all the ‘hottest’ food in the world comes from the ‘hottest’ places. Mexico, Indonesia, Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland…all famous for foods that send you running, to pack your tongue with ice! Logically, you would expect these people to be sipping on watermelon juice and eating a cucumber salad and not trying to replicate the external temperature assault, internally! So why do they do it?

The wisdom of ages pours forth now (actually this is a result of being a closet trivia junkie!). Spicy food is your best bet to cool down. Capsaicin, the chemical in all spicy food is in cahoots with our central nervous system to help regulate the temperature in our body. It starts by increasing the blood circulation and dilating capillaries – resulting in more of a surface area to cool. And it also makes you sweat - which is a natural defense against overheating!

So this recipe is right where it belongs – in the middle of summer in a hot-hot country like India! I cheated and ate a cool mint raita with it, but you can be braver and go the whole hog. Happy Cooling down!

Chicken Chops Masala - Like Mumma makes

My horoscope this weekend prophesized that I would take a long drive and even have a picnic. Boy was I skeptical! I hardly get my a** out of bed earlier than noon on a Sunday, so I was pitting my practiced laziness against the schemes of the universe. We went out for a party on Saturday night and like with all parties came home in a more than happy daze and flopped into bed. I challenged the universe to beat the combo of my hangover + laziness!

I got a call at 9:00 AM in the morning… groan. I rolled over and half blinking looked at the screen. It was my sister. I picked up the call, knowing that leaving it unanswered would just lead to a barrage of calls until I wished the phone would self destruct. Would I please drop her to her exam center? – she had to take an MBA admission test. Since I was the one who goaded her to apply, I had to give in. I didn’t even have time to get breakfast in. Drove like a maniac and picked her and my mom up. Then we started the long drive to Electronic city. Wait…Did I just say long drive? Aaargh… part one of horoscope rebelling – fail!

Reached the spot and quickly wished her luck, while she ran in to write her exam. Mom and I decided to wait for her to finish, so we were loitering around and checking out the campus. My stomach was literally grumbling now. Mom smiled and said she had a surprise for me. She had packed some lunch because she knew I wouldn’t have time to eat at home! She unpacked a basket to reveal my favorite Chicken Curry, steamed rice, fruit and a plate, forks and water! I literally had a picnic in the park. The universe had won!

P.S. This recipe below is mom’s brilliant Karnataka Style Chicken Chops Masala which is best eaten with Ragi Balls or Mudde. I however love it with my white rice or Ghee Rice!

Ghee Rice Mummy Style

My mum is a fantastic cook. So is my mom-in-law. Whatever I make falls two spots short of whatever they churn out, by just chucking random ingredients into the pan. Life’s not fair is it?! I always console myself thinking that they had 8 hours a day for the last 30 years to practice their art while I’ve just had weekends. Score settled. Anyway, they’ve always been more than willing to share their gems of wisdom with me, which I reverently jot down in a little notebook to ‘try’ replicating at home. Alas, it’s always a not quite. Am sure the wily women are not disclosing the magic ingredient! How else would they get me to come home often? So here is my mum’s Ghee Rice. It’s the most amazing accompaniment to any curry/ gravy. And don’t worry, even without her secret ingredient (shall we be soppy and say ‘love’) it still rocks my boat!

Ghee Rice

Prep time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 10 mins

Serves: 4-6

What you need:

3 cups Jeera Rice (or any aromatic short grain)

½ Lemon, juice of

3 med Onions, sliced

3 tsp Ginger Garlic paste

6 Green Chilies

2 pieces Cinnamon (1 inch each)

2 Bay leaves

8 Cloves

5 Cardamom pods (green)

10 whole Cashews

75 ml Oil

100 ml Ghee (Clarified Butter)

Salt and Pepper to taste

To garnish:

Handful of fresh peas/ chopped Fresh Coriander

What to do:

Soak the bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom in 3 Tbsp of water for 5 mins. Wash and soak rice for 5 mins. Drain and mix with lemon juice, set aside. Heat the oil in a cooker frying pan. When it is hot add in the ghee. (This is to prevent it from burning). Put in the whole spices sans water, reduce the heat. Toss in Onions and sauté on medium flame till they turn translucent. Add ginger garlic paste, fry well. Toss in the chilies and sauté for 5 mins. Add the cashews, sauté again. Now add the rice and stir well to coat the grains with the oil mixture. Pour in 4 ½ glasses of water. Wait till the water comes to a boil. Pressure cook with weight on for 10-12 mins. Let it stand for 10 mins before serving or till pressure disappears. Serve hot with curry. My favourite is Chicken Chops Masala or Andhra Chilli Chicken. Maybe I’ll share the recipes in the coming posts. Heaven!

Lemon Rice (Chitranna)

This post is for ‘someone’ who asked me recently, whether I had locked my kitchen up as he dint see any new posts on the blog :P Considering that ‘someone’ is also a Vegetarian and South Indian … this recipe should appeal to him. Lemon Rice is something that mom made in a jiffy for breakfast IF – she was out of time or there was rice leftover from last night’s dinner. So as a teenager I used to ho and hum when I saw lemon rice on my plate. But now I completely understand the lemon rice logic – it’s a healthy, simple, no wastage dish. Not to mention for all the ho-ing and hum-ing it was and is delicious!

Lemon Rice

Prep time: 15 mins
Serves: 4

What you need:
1 ½ cups Rice (uncooked) / 2 ½ cups cooked Rice
1 Onion sliced
1 Lemon (Juice of)
3-4 green Chilies
½ tsp Channa Dal
½ tsp Urd Dal
½ tsp Turmeric
½ tsp Ginger paste
½ tsp Mustard seeds
4 tsps Oil
6-7 Curry leaves
Salt to taste
Handful of peanuts
Grated coconut to Garnish

What to do:
Deep fry peanuts, keep aside. Cook rice and fluff out rice to cool and separate grains.
In a wok heat 4 tsps of Oil, Add mustard seeds, urd and channa dal and fry till mustard splutters. Add sliced onions and slit chilies and sauté till soft and transparent. Put in ginger and fry for a min. Finally add in turmeric and salt. Pour this mixture over the rice and mix well to incorporate the yellow color evenly. Mix lemon juice in, toss in the peanuts and garnish with grated coconut. Serve hot!

Note: Mixing the peanuts in the end keeps them crunchy to the bite.